Library  of  the  Theological  Seminary 

PRINCETON         -       NEW  JERSEY 


Gift  of 

President  Francis  L.  Patton 

1914 

BS1415  .Z85 

Zeockler,  Otto,  1833-1906. 

Book  of  Job. 


COMMENTARY 


ON   THE 


HOLY  SCRIPTURE 


CRITICAL,  DOCTRINAL,  AND  HOMILETICAL, 


WITH  SPECIAL  REFEKENCE  TO  MINISTERS  AND  STUDENTS, 


BY 

JOHN  PETER  LANGE,  D.D. 

PROFESSOE    OF    THEOLOGY    IN    THE    tIMVERSITY    OF    CONN, 

ASSISTED  BY  A  NUMBER  OF  EMINENT  EUROPEAN  DIVINES. 


TRANSLATED  ENLARGED,  AND  EDITED 


BY 

PHILIP  SCHAFP,  D.D. 

PROFESSOR    OF    THEOLOGY    IN    THE    UNION    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY,    NEW    YORK, 

IN  CONNECTION  WITH  AMERICAN  AND  ENGLISH  SCHOLARS  OF  VARIOUS 

DENOMINATIONS. 


VOL.  VII.  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT: 

THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

WITH  A  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


NEW    YORK: 

SCRIBNER,  ARMSTRONG  &  CO.,  654  BROADWAY. 


There  are  now  issued  of 

faiigf's  Coiuiiientar!) 

Eight  Volumes  on  the  Old  Testament,  and  ten  on  the  New  Testament,  as 

follows. 

OLD    TESTAMENT  VOLUMES: 

Psalms. 

Proverbs,  Song  of  Solomon, 

and  Ecclesiastes. 
Jeremiah  and  Lamentations. 
The  Minor  Prophets. 

In  Preparation  :  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Deuteronomy  (i  vol.),  Isaiah  (i  vol.), 
Daniel  and  Ezekiel  (i  vol.) 

NEW  TESTAMENT  VOLUMES: 


I. 

Genesis. 

V 

II. 
III. 

Joshua,  Judges,  and  Ruth. 
First  and  Second  Kings. 

VI 

IV. 

Job. 

VII. 
VIII 

I.  Matthew. 
II.  Mark  and  Luke. 

III.  John. 

IV.  Acts. 
V.  Romans. 

VI.  Corinthians. 
VII.  Galatians,  Ephesians,  Phil- 

IPPIANS  and   COLOSSIANS. 


VIII.  Thessalonians,  Timothy, 
Titus,   Philemon  and 
Hebrews. 
IX.  James,    Peter,    John    and 

JUDE. 

X.  Revelation.  With  an  Index 
to  the  New  Testament  por- 
tion. 


***  The  New  Testament  portion,  it  will  be  observed,  is  cotnplete. 


Each  one  voL  8vo.  Price  pervol.,  in  half  calf,  $7.50;  in  sheep,  $6.50;  in  cloth,  $5.00. 

Any  or  all  of  the  volumes  of  Lange's  Commentary  sent,  post 'or  express 
charges  paid,  on  receipt  of  the  price  by  the  publishers. 


^^^ ''  ^^'^^^ 


^^^  '  IVIAK    1^) 


/A 


^^rfTii 


OK  OF  JOB. 


A  RHYTHMICAL  VERSION  WITH  INTRODUCTION 
AND  ANNOTATIONS 


PEOF.  TAYLEIl  LEWIS,  LL.  D. 

UNION    COLLEGE,    SCHENECTADY,    N.  Y. 


A.  OOMMEISTTA-RY 

1  BY 

OTTO  ZOCKLER,  D.D. 

PROFESSOR    OF    THEOLOGY    AT    GREIFSWALD. 

TEANSLATED   FEOM   THE   GEEMAN   WITH   ADDITIONS 

BY 

PROF.  L.  J.4vANS,  D.D. 

LANE    THEOLOGICAL    SliMINARY,    CINCINNATI,    OHIO 


TOGETHER   WITH 

A  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS 

BY 

PHILIP  SCHAFF. 


NEW   YORK: 
SCEIBNEE,  AEMSTROXG  &  CO.,  654  BEOADWAY. 


Entered,  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S74,  by 

SCRIBNER,  ARMSTRONG  &  CO., 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Conjri'css  at  Washington. 


JAS.  B.  RODGERS  CO., 

ELECTROirPEES  AND  PRINTERS, 

52  &  54  N.  Sixth  St.,  Philadelphia. 


PREFACE  BY  THE  GENERAL  EDITOR. 


This  volume  embraces  three  distinct  parts,  as  follows: 

1.  A  General  Introduction  to  the  Poetical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  by  the  American 
Editor,  It  corresponds  to  a  similar  Introduction  to  the  Prophetical  Books,  In  its  pre- 
paration I  have  chiefly  consulted  Lowth,  Herder,  and  Ewald,  I  might  have  considerably 
enlarged  it  by  introducing  more  specimens,  and  discussing  minutely  the  difficult  questions 
of  Hebrew  metre,  rhyme,  and  versification  generally,  but  the  great  extent  of  this  volume 
suggested  brevity. 

2.  A  new  Version  of  the  Book  of  Job,  with  brief  philological  annotations,  a  preliminary 
essay,  and  a  series  of  dissertations  on  the  more  difficult  passages  of  the  Book,  by  Prof.  Tayler 
Lewis,  who  has  made  Job  for  years  the  object  of  special  study!  He  discusses  with  rare 
ability  and  vigor  its  grand  all  pervading  Theism,  its  leading  idea  and  aim,  and  finds  in  the 
humble  and  unconditional  submission  to  the  Divine  will  the  final  answer  to  Satan's  question 
in  the  Prologue :  "  Will  a  man  serve  God  for  naught?"  The  theistic  relation  of  man,  made 
in  the  image  of  God,  so  strongly  expressed  in  Job  and  Genesis,  contains  "  the  power  of  an 
endless  life"  (Heb.  vii.  16),  though  a  future  state  is  not  dogmatically  expressed.  The  veiled 
Shemitic  idea  has  more  moral  power  than  the  Greek  or  Vedaic  conceptions  of  another  life, 
though  the  latter  seem  so  much  more  definite  and  mythologically  clear.  The  Rhythmical  Ver- 
sion aims  at  fidelity  and  conciseness,  smoothness  of  measure,  and  harmony  with  the  Hebrew 
accentuation  and  divisions.  The  Exegetical  Notes  pay  special  attention  to  the  broken,  ejacu- 
latory  or  soliloquizing  style  of  Job's  speeches,  as  distinguished  from  the  less  impassioned  ad- 
dresses of  others ;  also  to  the  passages  on  the  great  works  of  nature,  and  those  questions  in  the 
latter  part  of  Job  which — according  to  Humboldt's  dictum — have  not  as  yet  been  answered 
by  science.  (See  especially  notes  on  chs.  sxviii.,  xxxvi.  to  xxxix.)  Of  the  twelve  Excursuses 
on  important  sections,  those  on  the  famous  passage  ch.  xix.  25  (pp.  173  sqq.),  on  the  peculiar 
character  of  Job's  speeches  (175),  and  on  the  Angel  Intercessor  (pp.  208  sqq.)  deserve  special 
attention. 

3.  The  Commentary  of  Prof.  Zoeckler,  prepared  for  the  Lange  Series  (Leipzig, 
1872,  pp.  321),  translated  by  Dr.  L.  J.  Evans,  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  Old  Testament 
Literature  in  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  Cincinnati.  Prof.  Evans  has  given  a  faith- 
ful   and   idiomatic  version   of   the  German  work,   and  has    added   valu.able    references, 

V 


PREFACE  BY  THE  GENERAL  EDITOR. 


citations,  and  critical  remarks,  mostly  in  the  exegetical  part,  vvliere  the  general  uti- 
lity of  the  commentary  seemed  to  require  it.  He  has  also,  in  the  Introduction  (pp. 
252-262),  ventured  upon  a  new  and  ingenious  suggestion  in  respect  to  the  vexed  question  of 
the  authorship,  which  deserves  careful  consideration.  He  ascribes  it  to  king  Hezekiah,  and 
regards  the  beautiful  ode  after  his  recovery,  which  Isaiah  has  preserved  (ch.  xxxviii.  9-20), 
as  the  key-note  rather  than  the  echo  of  Job.  To  the  same  age,  though  not  the  same  author, 
Ewald,  Eenan  and  Merx  assign  the  composition.  But  the  conjectures  of  a  post-Mosaic  and 
post-Solomonic  authorship  leave  it  an  inexplicable  mystery  that  a  pious  Israelite  enjoying 
the  blessings  of  the  theocracy  and  the  temple  service,  should,  in  such  a  long  poem  on  the 
highest  theme,  have  purposely  ignored  the  sacred  laws  and  institutions  of  his  Church,  and 
gone  back  to  a  simpler  and  more  primitive  religion.  Ancient  literature  furnishes  no 
example  of  such  a  complete  reproduction  of  a  byegone  age.  For,  whoever  was  the  author, 
he  certainly  represents  a  patriarchal  state  of  society  and  a  religion  of  the  order  of  Melchize- 
dek,  the  cotemporary  of  Abraham,  the  mysterious  lepehr  mv  denv  rov  inpiarov,  [iaailEVQ  diKaio- 
OL<VT]r,  cnrdrup,  n/xi/Tup,   ay£V£al6yTjTnc. 

But  I  cannot  enter  into  details.  The  object  of  the  Preface  is  simply  to  introduce  the 
reader  to  the  contents  of  this  volume.  The  remaining  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  division 
of  this  Commentary  are  considerably  advanced,  even  in  anticipation  of  the  German 
work,  which  has  not  yet  reached  Isaiah,  the  last  historical  Books,  and  the  post-exilian 
Prophets. 


PHILIP  SCHAFF. 


New  York,  November  7,  1874. 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTION 


POETICAL  BOOKS  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

BY 

PHILIP  SCHAFF. 


rjiTE:E^j^TXj:E?.E. 

I.     SPECIAL   WORKS. 

*  Robert  liOWtb  (son  of  William  Lowth,  who  wrote  a  Commentary  on  the  Prophets,  born  at  Wiachester,  1710,  Prof, 
of  Poetry,  O.xfiril,  since  1741,  Bishop  of  London,  Mince  1777,  died  1787) :  De  Sacra  Poexi  Ilebrseorum  Prieteclioncs  Academics, 
1753  ;  with  copious  notes  by  John  David  Michaelis  (Prof,  in  Guttingen,  d.  1791),  Giitt.  1770 ;  another  ed.  with  additional  notes 
by  Rosenmuller,  Leipz.  1815 ;  best  Latin  edition,  with  the  additions  of  Michaelis,  BosenmiiUer,  Richter,  and  Weiss,  Oxon. 
1828.  English  translation  {"Lectures  on  the  Sacred  Poetry  of  the  Hebrews,  with  the  principal  notes  of  MichaeW )  by  G.  Oregory, 
1787;  re-edited  with  improvements  by  Calvin  E.  Slnive,  Andover,  1829.  Comp.  also  Lowth's  prelim  nary  dissertation  in  his 
translation  of  Isaiah  (13th  ed.,  Lond.,  1842).  Lowth's  work  is  the  first  earnest  attempt  at  a  learned  and  critical  discus- 
sion of  Hebrew  Poetry. 

*  J.  Gottfried  Herder  (an  almost  universal  genius  and  scholar,  poet,  historian,  philosopher  and  theologian,  horn 
1744  at  Mohrungen  in  East  Prussia,  died  as  court  chaplain  at  Weimar,  1S03) :  Geist  der  Hehraischen  Poesie,  Dessau,  1782  ; 
3d  ed.  by  Jusli,  Leipz.,  1825.  Full  of  enthusiasm  for  the  purity  and  sublimity  of  Hebrew  poetry.  English  trans- 
lation by  President  James  Marsh,  Burlington,  Vt.,  1833,  2  vols.  Comp.  also  the  firot  twelve  Letters  of  Herder  oil  the  Study  of 
Theology. 

Li.  T.  Kosegarten  :   Veber  den  Dichtergeist  der  heil,  Schriftsleller  und  Jesu  Chr.,  Groifsw.,  1794. 

A.  Ougler :  Die  heil.  Kunst  der  Hebriier.    Landshut,  1814, 

J.  Li.  SaalschutK  :  Von  der  Form  der  fiebriiischen  Poesie.    Konigsberg,  1825. 

M.  Nicolas;  Forme  de  la  poesie  hebraique,  1833. 

J.  Cr.  'Wenricll :  Commenlatio  de  poeseos  Hebraicse  atque  Arahicx  origine,  indole  mutvoque  consensn  atque  discrimine. 
Lips.  1843  (276  pp.). 

J.  t».  Sommer  :    Vom  Peime  in  der  hebr.  Volk^-poesie,  in  his  Bibl.  Abhandlungen,  Bonn,  1840,  pp.  85-92. 

H.  Hlipfeld :  Rhythm  and  Accentuation  in  Hebrew  Poetry,  transl.  by  Prof.  Charles  M.  Mead  in  the  Andover  'Biblio- 
theca  Sacra '  for  1867. 

*  Isaac  Taylor  (Independent,  a  learned  layman,  d.  1865) :  The  5j)fV(7  of  the  Hebrew  Poetry,  repub..  New  York, 
1862  (with  a  biographical  introduction  by  Dr.  Wm.  Adams). 

Eriist  Meier  :  Geschichte  der  poelischen  Nalional-LUeratur  der  Bebr'dtr,  Leipz.,  1856.  The  same :  Die  Form  der  Hehra- 
ischen Poesie,  Tubingen,  1S53. 

Older  essays  on  Hebrew  poetry  and  music  by  Lowth  (see  above),  Ebert,  Gomarus,  Schramm,  Fleury,  Daunhauer, 
Pfeiffer,  Leyser,  Le  Clerc,  Hare,  and  others  may  be  found  in  the  XXXIst  and  XXXlId  vols,  of  Ugolini'S  Tliesaurus. 

II.     ARTICLES   IN   CYCLOPEDIAS. 
G.  B.  Winer ;  Poesie  hebrdische  in  his  Bibl.-Eealworlerbuch,  Vol.  II.,  204-268  (3d  ed.,  1849). 
Ed.  Reuss :  Hebraische  Poesie,  in  Herzog'a  Beal-Enajclopmdie,  Vol.  V,,  598-608. 

W.  A.  Wrlglit :  Hebrew  Poetry,  in  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  (enlarged  Am.  ed.),  Vol.  III.,  pp.  2549-2561. 
Diestel :  Dichthmst  der  Hebraer,  in  Schenkel's  Bibellexicon,  I.,  607-615. 

III.     COMMENTARIES   AND   ISAGOGICAL  WORKS. 

*  H.  Ewald  :  Die  Dichter  des  Altcn  Bimdes,  in  3  Parts,  Gottingen,  185'1-'G7 ;  2d  ed.,  1865  sqq.,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  300,  Full  of 
genius  and  independent  research. 

E.  Meier  :  Die  poet.  Bllcher  des  A.  T.,  Stuttgart,  1864. 

J.  G.  Taihinger:  Die  dichterischenSchiften  des  A.  B.  Stuttg.,  18E6-'58. 

R.  'IVeber:  Diepnet.  BiicherdesA.  B.  Stutt?.,  1853-'60. 

Tayler  Eewis  :  Metrical  Version  of  Koheleth,  with  an  introduction  (in  an  Appendix  to  h's  translation  of  Lange  on 
KnheU'th\  New  York,  1870. 

The  relevant  sectiotis  in  the  Critical  Introductions  to  the  Old  Testament  by  De  Wette,  Hakvernick,  Keil,  BleeK, 

HOFXE,  €te. 


viii  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 

^  1.     ORIGIN  OF  POETRY. 

Poetry  and  music — the  highest  and  most  spiritual  of  the  fine  arts — are  older  than  the 
human  race  ;  they  hail  from  heaven  and  from  a  pre-historic  age.  The  old  legend  traces  the 
origin  of  music  to  the  angels,  and  Raphael  paints  St.  Cecilia,  the  patroness  of  church  music 
as  faintly  echoing  the  higher  and  sweeter  chorus  from  the  celestial  world.  The  same  applies 
to  poetry,  for  music  presupposes  poetry  and  derives  from  it  its  inspiration.  Christianity  was 
sung  into  life  by  the  anthem  of  the  heavenly  hosts,  who  existed  before  the  hexaemeron  or 
certainly  before  man,  and  who  are  the  agents  of  God  in  the  realm  of  nature  as  well  as  in  all 
great  epochs  of  revelation.  The  same  angels  raised  their  anthems  of  glory  and  peace  at  the 
completion  of  the  first  creation  by  the  hand  of  the  Almighty.     Then 

"  The  morning  stars  sang  together, 
And  all  the  sods  of  God  shouted  for  joy."* 

As  poetry  and  music  began  in  heaven,  so  they  will  end  in  heaven,  and  constitute  a 
rich  fountain  of  joy  to  angels  and  sanctified  men. 

I  2.     POETRY   AND   RELIGION. 

Poetry  and  music  came  from  the  same  God  as  religion  itself,  and  are  intended  for  the 
same  holy  end.  They  are  the  handmaids  of  religion,  and  the  wings  of  devotion.  Nothing 
can  be  more  preposterous  than  to  assume  or  establish  an  antagonism  between  them.  The 
abuse  can  never  set  aside  the  right  use.  The  best  gifts  of  God  are  liable  to  the  worst  abuse. 
Some  have  the  false  notion  that  poetry  is  necessarily  fictitious  and  antagonistic  to  truth. 
But  poetry  is  the  fittest  expression  of  truth,  its  Sabbath  dress,  the  silver  picture  of  the  golden 
apple,  the  ideal  embodied  in  and  shining  through  the  real.  "  Let  those,"  says  Lowth,t  "  who 
affect  to  despise  the  Muses,  cease  to  attempt,  for  the  vices  of  a  few,  who  may  abuse  the  best 
of  things,  to  bring  into  disrepute  a  most  laudable  talent.  Let  them  cease  to  speak  of  that  art 
as  light  and  trifling  in  itself,  to  accuse  it  as  profane  or  impious ;  that  art  which  has  been 
conceded  to  man  by  the  favor  of  his  Creator,  and  for  the  most  sacred  purposes ;  that  art, 
consecrated  by  the  authority  of  God  Himself,  and  by  His  example  in  His  most  august  minis- 
trations," Dean  Stanley  says  :t  "  There  has  always  been  in  certain  minds  a  repugnance  to 
poetry,  as  inconsistent  with  the  gravity  of  religious  feeling.  It  has  been  sometimes  thought 
that  to  speak  of  a  book  of  the  Bible  as  poetical,  is  a  disparagement  of  it.  It  has  been  in 
many  Churches  thought  that  the  more  scholastic,  dry,  and  prosaic  the  forms  in  which  reli- 
gious doctrine  is  thrown,  the  more  faithfully  is  its  substance  represented.  Of  all  human 
compositions,  the  most  removed  from  poetry  are  the  Decrees  and  Articles  of  Faith,  in  which 
the  belief  of  Christendom  has  often  been  enshrined  as  in  a  sanctuary.^  To  such  sentiments 
the  towering  greatness  of  David,  the  acknowledged  preeminence  of  the  Psalter  are  constant 
rebukes.  David,  beyond  king,  soldier,  or  prophet,  was  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel.  Had  Ea- 
phael  painted  a  picture  of  Hebrew  as  of  European  Poetry,  David  would  have  sate  aloft  at  the 
summit  of  the  Hebrew  Parnassus,  the  Homer  of  Jewish  song." 

?  3.   THE   POETRY   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

More  than  one-third  of  the  Old  Testament  is  poetry. 

This  fact  is  concealed,  and  much  of  the  beauty  of  the  Bible  lost  to  many  readers  by 
the  uniform  printing  of  poetry  and  prose  in  our  popular  Bibles.  The  current  versicular  divi- 
sion is  purely  mechanical,  and  does  not  at  all  correspond  to  the  metrical  structure  or  the  laws 
of  Hebrew  versification. 

The  poetry  of  the  Old  Testament  is  contained  in  the  Poetical  Books,  which  in  the  Jewish 

*  Job  xxxviii.  7. 

f  Lectures  on  H.  P.,  Rtowe's  ed.,  p.  28. 

J  Hislnri/ of  the  JewUh  aiurch.  II.  164,  Am.  ed. 

g  This  disparaging  remark  about  crcf  ds  is  too  sweeping  and  inapplicable  tri  the  oldest  and  best,  the  Apostles'  and  Niccne 
creeds,  which  sound  like  liturgical  poems  through  all  ages  of  Christendom,  together. with  the  Te  Demn  and  Gloria  in  Exceisia 
of  the  same  age. 


§3.    THE  POETRY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


canon  are  included  among  the  Hagiographa  or  Holy  Writings,  namely,  Job,  the  Psalms,  the 
Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Song  of  Solomon.  Besides  these  the  Lamentations  of  Jere- 
miah, and  most  of  the  Prophets  are  likewise  poetic  in  sentiment  and  form ;  and  a  number  of 
lyric  songs,  odes,  and  prophecies,  are  scattered  through  the  historical  books. 

The  poetic  sections  of  the  New  Testament  arc  the  Magnificat  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  the 
Benedictus  oi  Za.ch.Sir\iCa,  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis,  the  Nunc  dunittis  of  Simeon,  the  Parables  of 
our  Lord,  the  Anthems  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  several  poetic  quotations  in  the  Epistles,  e.g., 
1  Tim.  iii.  16. 

Sometimes  the  prose  of  the  Bible  is  equal  to  the  best  poetry,  and  blends  truth  and  beauty 
in  perfect  harmony.  It  approaches  also,  in  touching  the  highest  themes,  the  rhythmical  form 
of  Hebrew  poetry,  and  may  be  arranged  according  to  the  parallelism  of  members.*  Moses 
was  a  poet  as  well  as  a  historian,  and  every  prophet  or  seer  is  a  poet,  though  not  every  poet 
a  prophet.  The  same  is  true  of  the  prose  of  the  New  Testament.  We  need  only  refer  to 
the  Beatitudes  and  the  whole  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  Parables  of  our  Lord,  the  Pro- 
logue of  St.  John,  the  seraphic  description  of  love  by  St.  Paul  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
second  Corinthians,  and  his  triumphant  ptean  at  the  close  of  the  eighth  chapter  of  Romans, 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  Erasmus,  surpasses  the  eloquence  of  Cicero.f 

In  this  wider  sense  the  Bible  begins  and  ends  with  poetry.  The  retrospective  vision  of 
the  first  creation,  and  the  prospective  vision  of  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  are  pre- 
sented in  language  which  rises  to  the  summit  of  poetic  beauty  and  power.  There  can  be 
nothing  more  pregnant  and  sublime  in  thought,  and  at  the  same  time  more  terse  and  classi- 
cal in  exi^ression  than  the  sentence  of  the  Creator : 

"  Let  there  be  light!     And  there  was  light." 

Is  there  a  loftier  and  more  inspiring  conception  of  man  than  that  with  which  the  Bible  in- 
troduces him  into  the  world,  as  the  very  image  and  likeness  of  the  infinite  God?  And  the 
idea  of  a  paradise  of  innocence,  love  and  peace  at  the  threshold  of  history  is  poetry  as  well 
as  reality,  casting  its  sunshine  over  the  gloom  of  the  fall,  and  opening  the  prospect  of  a 
future  paradise  regained.  Then,  passing  from  the  first  chapters  of  Genesis  to  the  last  of  the 
Apocalypse,  how  tender  and  affecting  is  St.  John's  description  of  the  new  Jerusalem — the  in- 
spiring theme  of  all  the  hymns  of  heavenly  home-sickness  from  "  Ad  perennis  vitas  fontem" 
to  "  Jerusalem  the  golden,"  which  have  cheered  so  many  weary  pilgrims  on  their  journey 
through  the  desert  of  life. 

Hebrew  poetry  has  always  been  an  essential  part  of  Jewish  and  Christian  worship. 
The  Psalter  was  the  first,  and  for  many  centuries  the  only  hymn-book  of  the  Church.  It  id 
the  most  fruitful  source  of  Christian  hymnody.  Many  of  the  finest  English  and  German 
hymns  are  free  reproductions  of  Hebrew  psalms;  the  23d  Psalm  alone  has  furnished  the  key- 
note to  a  large  number  of  Christian  hymns,  and  the  46th  Psalm  to  Luther's  master-piece : 
"Ein'  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott.^' 

As  among  other  nations,  so  among  the  Jews,  poetry  was  the  oldest  form  of  composition. 
It  precedes  prose,  as  youth  precedes  manhood,  and  as  feeling  and  imagination  are  active 
before  sober  reflection  and  logical  reasoning. 

Poetry  and  music  were  closely  connected,  and  accompanied  domestic  and  social  life  in 
seasons  of  joy  and  sorrow.  They  cheered  the  wedding,  the  harvest,  and  other  feasts  (Jos.  ix. 
3  ;  Jud.  xxi.  19;  Amos  vi.  5;  Ps.  iv.  8).  They  celebrated  victory  after  a  battle,  as  the  song 
of  Moses,  Ex.  xv.,  and  the  song  of  Deborah,  Judg.  v. ;  they  greeted  the  victor  on  his  return, 
1  Sam.  xviii.  8.  The  shepherd  sung  while  watching  his  flock,  the  hunter  in  the  pursuit  of 
his  prey.  Maidens  deplored  the  death  of  Jephthah's  daughter  in  songs  (Judg.  xi.  40),  and 
"David  the  death  of  Saul  and  Jonathan  (2  Sam.  i.  18),  and  afterwards  Abner  (2  Sam.  iii.  33). 
Love  was  the  theme  of  a  nobler  inspiration  than  among  the  sensual  Greeks,  and  the  Song 

*  Isaac  Taylor  says  (1.  c.  p.  6S):  "  Biblical  utterancps  of  the  first  truths  in  theology  possDBS  the  grandeur  of  the  1  .ftiest 
poetry,  as  well  as  a  rhythmical  or  artificial  stnicture." 

t  ^' Quid  unq^iam  Cicero  dixU  (jrandilnquentiunT''    The  heathen  rhetoriciin,  Longinns,  p'aced  Paul  amnng  tlio  greatest 
©raters. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


of  Songs  celebrates  tlie  Hebrew  ideal  of  pure  bridal  love,  as  reflecting  the  love  of  Jehovah 
to  His  people,  and  prefiguring  the  union  of  Christ  with  His  Church. 

g  4.   THE   SPIRIT   OF   HEBREW   POETRY. 

In  a  wider  sense  all  true  poetry  is  inspired.  The  civilized  nations  of  antiquity,  particu- 
larly the  Greeks,  regarded  it  as  a  divine  gift,  and  poets  as  prophets  and  intimate  friends  of 
the  gods;  and  all  the  ceremonies,  oracles  and  mysteries  of  their  religion  were  clothed  in 
poetic  dress.  There  is,  however,  a  two-fold  inspiration,  a  Divine,  and  a  Satanic ;  and  the 
poetry  which  administers  to  pride  and  sensual  passion,  idolizes  the  creature,  ridicules  virtue, 
and  makes  vice  attractive,  is  the  product  of  the  evil  spirit. 

The  poetry  of  the  Hebrews  is  in  the  highest  and  best  sense  the  poetry  of  inspiration  and 
revelation.  It  is  inspired  by  the  genius  of  the  true  religion,  and  hence  rises  far  above  the 
religious  poetry  of  the  Hindoos,  Parsees  and  Greeks,  as  the  religion  of  revelation  is  above 
the  religion  of  nature,  and  the  God  of  the  Bible  above  the  idols  of  the  heathen.  It  is  the 
poetry  of  truth  and  holiness.  It  never  administers  to  trifling  vanities  and  lower  passions ; 
it  is  the  chaste  and  spotless  priestess  at  the  altar.  It  reveals  the  mysteries  of  the  divine  will 
to  man,  and  oflers  up  man's  prayers  and  thanks  to  his  Maker.  It  is  consecrated  to  the  glory 
of  Jehovah  and  the  moral  perfection  of  man. 

The  most  obvious  feature  of  Bible  poetry  is  its  intense  Theism.  The  question  of  the 
existence  of  God  is  never  raised,  and  an  atheist — if  there  be  one — is  simply  set  down  as  a 
fool  (Ps.  xiv.).  The  Hebrew  poet  lives  and  moves  in  the  idea  of  a  living  God,  as  a  self- 
revealing,  personal,  almighty,  holy,  omniscient,  all-pervading  and  merciful  Being,  and  over- 
flows with  his  adoration  and  praise.  He  sees  and  hears  God  in  the  works  of  creation,  and 
in  the  events  of  history.  Jehovah  is  to  him  the  Maker  and  Preserver  of  all  things.  He 
shines  in  the  firmament.  He  rides  on  the  thunder-storm,  He  clothes  the  lilies.  He  feeds  the 
ravens  and  young  lions,  and  the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills,  He  gives  rain  and  fruitful  seasons. 
He  is  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  of  Moses,  David  and  the  prophets.  He  dwells 
with  Israel,  He  is  their  ever-present  help  and  shield,  their  comfort  and  joy,  He  is  just  and 
holy  in  His  judgments,  good,  merciful  and  true  in  all  His  dealings.  He  overrules  even  the 
wrath  of  man  for  His  own  glory  and  the  good  of  His  people. 

To  this  all-prevailing  Theism  corresponds  the  anthropology.  Man  is  always  represented 
under  his  most  important  moral  and  religious  relations,  in  the  state  of  innocence,  in  the  ter- 
rible slavery  of  sin,  or  in  the  process  of  redemption  and  restoration  to  more  than  his  original 
glory  and  dominion  over  the  creation.  Hebrew  poetry  reflects  in  fresh  and  life-like  colors 
the  working  of  God's  law  and  promise  on  the  heart  of  the  pious,  and  every  state  of  his  expe- 
rience, the  deep  emotions  of  repentance  and  grief,  faith  and  trust,  gratitude  and  praise,  hope 
and  aspiration,  love  and  peace. 

Another  characteristic  of  Bible  poetry  is  the  childlike  simplicity  and  naturalness  with 
which  it  sets  forth  and  brings  home  to  the  heart  the  sublimest  ideas  to  readers  of  every  grade 
of  culture,  who  have  a  lively  organ  for  religious  truth.*  The  scenery  and  style  are  thoroughly 
oriental  and  Hebrew,  and  yet  they  can  be  translated  into  every  language  without  losing  by  the 
process — which  cannot  be  said  of  any  other  poetry.  Greek  and  Eoman  poetry  have  more  art 
and  variety,  more  elegance  and  finish,  but  no  such  popularity,  catholicity  and  adaptability. 
The  universal  heart  of  humanity  beats  in  the  Hebrew  poet.  It  is  true,  his  experience  fiills  far 
short  of  that  of  the  Christian.  Yet  nearly  every  phase  of  Old  Testament  piety  strikes  a  cor- 
responding chord  in  the  soul  of  the  Christian;  and  such  are  the  depths  of  the  divine  Spirit 
who  guided  the  genius  of  the  sacred  singers  that  their  words  convey  far  more  than  they 
themselves  were  conscious  of,  and  reach  prophetically  forward  into  the  most  distant  future.f 

*  "  Not  less  in  relation  to  the  most  higlily-cultured  minds  than  to  the  moat  rude— not  less  to  minds  disciplined  in  ab- 
stract thought,  than  to  such  as  are  unused  to  generalization  of  any  kind— the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  in  the  metaphoric  style, 
and  their  poetic  diction,  are  the  fittest  medium  for  conveying,  what  is  their  purpose  to  convey,  concerning  the  Divine  Na- 
ture, and  concerning  the  spiritual  life,  and  concerning  the  correspondence  of  man — the  finite,  ■with  Ood — the  Infinite." 
This  idea  is  well  carried  out  in  the  work  of  Isaac  Taylor,  see  p.  50. 

i  The  higher  order  of  secular  poetry  furnishes  an  analogy.    ShaUesponre  was  not  aware  of  the  deep  and  far-reaching 


§4.    THE  SPIRIT  OF  HEBREW  POETRY. 


All  this  applies  more  particularly  to  the  Psalter,  the  holy  of  holies  in  Hebrew  poetry. 
David,  "  the  singer  of  Israel,"  was  placed  by  Providence  in  the  different  nituations  of  shepherd 
courtier,  outlaw,  warrior,  conqueror,  king,  that  he  might  the  more  vividly  set  forth  Jehovah 
as  the  Good  Shepherd,  the  ever-present  Helper,  the  mighty  Conqueror,  the  just  and  merciful 
Sovereign.  He  was  open  to  all  the  emotions  of  friendship  and  love,  generosity  and  mercy  • 
he  enjoyed  the  highest  joys  and  honors;  he  suffered  poverty,  persecution  and  exile,  the  loss 
of  the  dearest  friend,  treason  and  rebellion  from  his  own  son.  Even  his  changing  moods  and 
jiassions,  his  sins  and  crimes,  which  with  their  swift  and  fearful  punishments  form  a  domestic 
tragedy  of  rare  terror  and  pathos,  were  overruled  and  turned  into  lessons  of  humility,  com- 
fort and  gratitude.  All  this  rich  spiritual  biography  from  his  early  youth  to  his  old  age, 
together  with  God's  merciful  dealings  with  him,  are  written  in  his  hymns,  though  with  refe- 
rence to  his  inward  states  of  mind  rather  than  his  outward  condition,  so  that  readers  of  very 
different  situation  or  position  in  life  might  yet  be  able  to  sympathize  with  the  feelings  and 
emotions  .expressed.  His  hymns  give  us  a  deeper  glance  into  his  inmost  heart  and  his  secret 
communion  with  God  than  the  narrative  of  his  life  in  the  historical  books.  They  are  re- 
markable for  simplicity,  freshness,  vivacity,  warmth,  depth  and  vigor  of  feeling,  childlike 
tenderness  and  heroic  faith,  and  the  all-pervading  fear  and  love  of  God.  "  In  all  his  works  " 
says  the  author  of  Ecclesiasticus  (xl.  8-12),  he  praised  the  Holy  One  most  high  with  words 
of  glory  ;  with  his  whole  heart  he  sang  songs,  and  loved  Him  that  made  him.  He  set  sino-- 
ers  also  before  the  altar,  that  by  their  voices  they  might  make  sweet  melody  and  daily  sing 
praises  in  their  songs.  He  beautified  their  feasts  and  set  in  order  the  solemn  times  until  the 
end,  that  they  might  praise  His  holy  name,  and  that  the  temple  might  sound  from  morning. 
The  Lord  took  away  his  sins  and  exalted  his  horn  forever ;  He  gave  him  a  covenant  of  kino-s 
and  the  throne  of  glory  in  Israel."* 

This  inseparable  union  with  religion,  with  truth  and  holiness,  gives  to  Hebrew  poetry 
such  an  enduring  charm  and  undying  power  for  good  in  all  ages  and  countries.!  It  brings 
us  into  the  immediate  presence  of  the  great  Jehovah,  it  raises  us  above  the  miseries  of  earth 
it  dispels  the  clouds  of  darkness,  it  inspires,  ennobles,  purifies  and  imparts  peace  and  joy,  it 
gives  us  a  foretaste  of  heaven  itself. 

In  this  respect  the  poetry  of  the  Bible  is  as  far  above  classic  poetry  as  the  Bible  itself  is 
above  all  other  books.  Homer  and  Virgil  dwindle  into  utter  insignificance  as  compared  with 
David  and  Asaph,  if  we  look  to  the  moral  effect  upon  the  heart  and  the  life  of  their  readers. 
The  classic  poets  reach  only  a  small  and  cultured  class  ;  but  the  singers  of  the  Bible  come 
home  to  men  of  every  grade  of  education,  every  race  and  color,  every  condition  of  life,  and 
every  creed  and  sect.     The  Psalter  is,  as  Luther  calls  it,  "  a  manual  of  all  the  saints,"  where 

meaning  of  his  own  productions.    Goethe  said  that  the  deepest  element  in  poetry  is  "  the  unconscious"  (d(w  Unheumsste) 
and  that  his  m;ister-piece,  tlie  tragedy  of  Faust,  proceeded  from  the  dark  and  hidden  depths  of  his  being. 

*  Comp.  Ewahi's  admirable  portrait  of  David  as  a  poet,  in  the  first  volume  of  Die  Didder  des  A.  B.,  p.  25.  Prof.  Perowne 
in  his  Commentary  on  the  Psalnis,  vol.  I.,  pp.  8,  9  third  ed.  (1873),  gives  this  truthful  description  of  him  :  "As  David's  life 
shines  in  hia  poetry,  so  also  does  his  character.  That  character  was  no  common  one.  It  was  strong  with  all  the  strength 
of  man,  tender  with  all  the  tenderness  of  woman.  Naturally  brave,  his  courage  was  heightened  and  confirmed  I)y  that 
fairli  in  God  which  never,  in  the  worst  extremity,  forsook  him.  Naturally  warm-hearted,  his  affections  struck  tlieir  roots 
deep  into  the  innermost  centre  of  his  being.  In  his  love  for  his  parents,  for  whom  he  provided  in  his  own  extreme  peril — 
in  his  love  for  his  wife  Michal — for  his  friend  Jonathan,  whom  he  loved  as  his  own  soul — for  his  darling  Absalom,  whoso 
death  almost  broke  his  heart — even  for  the  infant  whose  loss  he  dreadi'd — we  see  the  same  m.an,  the  same  depth  and  truth, 
the  same  tenderness  of  personal  affection.  On  the  other  hand,  when  stong  by  a  sense  of  wrong  or  injustice,  his  sense  of 
which  WHS  peculiarly  keen,  he  could  flash  out  into  strong  words  and  strong  deeds.  He  could  hate  with  the  same  fervor 
that  he  loved.  Evil  men  and  evil  thinjs,  all  that  was  at  war  with  goodness  and  with  God — forthese  be  found  no  abhorrence 
too  deep,  scarcely  any  imprecations  too  strong.  Yet  he  was,  withal,  placable  and  ready  to  forgive.  He  could  exercise  a 
prudent  self-control,  if  he  was  occasionally  impetuons.  His  true  courtesy,  his  chivalrous  generosity  to  his  foes,  his  rare 
delicacy,  his  rare  self-denial,  are  all  traits  which  present  themselves  most  forcibly  as  we  read  his  history.  He  is  the  truest 
of  heroes  in  the  genuine  elevation  of  his  character,  no  less  than  in  the  extraordinary  incidents  of  his  life.  Such  a  man  can- 
not wear  a  mask  in  his  writings.    Depth,  tenderness,  fervor,  mark  all  his  poems." 

t  Winer,  too,  derives  from  the  religious  character  of  Hebrew  poetry  its  "sublime  flight  and  never-dying  beauty." 
Angus  says  :  "  The  peculiar  excellence  of  the  Hebrew  poetry  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  employment  of  it  in  the  noblest  service, 
that  of  religion.  It  presents  the  loftiest  and  most  precious  truths,  expressed  in  tlie  most  .appropriate  laneuage."  Ewald 
remarks  that  "  Hebrew  poetry  is  the  interpreter  of  the  sublimest  religious  ideas  for  all  times,  and  herein  lies  its  most  im- 
portant and  imperishable  value." 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


each  one  finds  the  most  truthful  description  of  his  own  situation,  especially  in  seasons  of  af- 
fliction. It  has  retained  its  hold  upon  the  veneration  and  affections  of  pious  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians for  these  three  thousand  years,  and  is  even  now  and  will  ever  be  more  extensively  used 
as  a  guide  of  private  devotion  and  public  worship  than  any  other  book.  "  When  Christian 
Martyrs,  and  Scottish  Covenanters  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth,  when  French  exiles  and 
English  fugitives  in  their  hiding-places  during  the  panic  of  revolution  orof  mutiny,  received 
a  special  comfort  from  the  Psalms,  it  was  because  they  found  themselves  literally  side 
by  side  with  the  author  in  the  cavern  of  AduUam,  or  on  the  cliffs  of  Engedi,  or  beyond  the 
Jordan,  escaping  from  Saul  or  from  Absalom,  from  the  Philistines  or  from  the  Assyrians. 
When  Burleigh  or  Locke  seemed  to  find  an  echo  in  the  Psalms  to  their  own  calm  philosophy, 
it  was  because  they  were  listening  to  the  strains  which  had  proceeded  from  the  mouth  or 
charmed  the  ear  of  the  sagacious  king  or  the  thoughtful  statesman  of  Judah.  It  has  often 
been  observed  that  the  older  we  grow,  the  more  interest  the  Psalms  possess  for  us  as  indi- 
viduals; and  it  may  at  most  be  said  that  by  these  multiplied  associations,  the  older  the  hu- 
man race  grows,  the  more  interest  do  they  possess  for  mankind."* 

^5.     POETIC   MERIT. 

In  its  religious  character,  as  just  described,  lies  the  crowning  excellence  of  the  poetry  of 
the  Bible.  The  spiritual  ideas  are  the  main  thing,  and  they  rise  in  richness,  purity,  subli- 
mity and  universal  importance  immeasurably  beyond  the  literature  of  all  other  nations  of 
antiquity. 

But  as  to  the  artistic  and  aesthetic  form,  it  is  altogether  subordinate  to  the  contents,  and 
held  in  subserviency  to  the  lofty  aim.  Moses,  Solomon,  David,  Isaiah,  and  the  author 
of  Job,  possessed  evidently  the  highest  gifts  of  poetry,  but  they  restrained  them,  lest  human 
genius  should  outshine  the  Divine  grace,  or  the  silver  pitcher  be  estimated  above  the  golden 
apple.  The  poetry  of  the  Bible,  like  the  whole  Bible,  wears  the  garb  of  humility  and  conde- 
scends to  men  of  low  degree,  in  order  to  raise  them  up.  It  gives  no  encouragement  to  the 
idolatry  of  genius,  and  glorifies  God  alone.  "  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto 
Thy  name  give  glory,"  (Ps  cxv.  1.) 

Hence  an  irreligious  or  immoral  man  is  apt  to  be  repelled  by  the  Bible;  he  feels  himself 
in  an  uncongenial  atmosphere,  and  is  made  uneasy  and  uncomfortable  by  the  rebukes  of  sin 
and  the  praise  of  a  holy  God.  He  will  not  have  this  book  rule  over  him  or  disturb  him  in 
his  worldly  modes  of  thought  and  habits  of  life. 

Others  are  unable  to  divest  themselves  of  early  prejudices  for  classical  models  ;  they  es- 
teem external  polish  more  highly  than  ideas,  and  can  enjoy  no  poetry  which  is  not  cast  in 
the  Greek  mould,  and  moves  on  in  the  regular  flow  of  uniform  metre  and  stanza.  And  yet 
these  are  no  more  essential  to  true  poetry  than  the  music  of  rhyme,  which  was  unknown  to 
Homer,  Pindar,  Sophocles,  Virgil  and  Horace,  and  was  even  despised  by  Milton  as  "  the  in- 
vention of  a  barbarous  age  to  set  off  wretched  matter  and  lame  metre,  as  the  jingling  sound 
of  like  endings  trivial  to  all  judicious  ears  and  of  no  true  musical  delight."  This  is  indeed 
going  to  the  opposite  extreme;  for  although  rhyme  and  even  metre  are  by  no  means  neces- 
sary, especially  in  the  epos  and  drama,  they  yet  belong  to  the  perfection  of  some  forms  of 
lyric  poetry,  which  is  the  twin  sister  of  music. 

If  we  study  the  Bible  poetry  on  its  own  ground,  and  with  unclouded  eyes,  we  may  find 
in  it  forms  of  beauty  as  high  and  enduring  as  in  that  of  any  nation  ancient  or  modern. 
Even  its  artless  simplicity  and  naturalness  are  sometimes  the  highest  triumph  of  art.  Sim- 
plicity always  enters  into  good  taste.  Those  poems  and  songs  which  are  the  outgushing  of  the 
heart,  without  any  show  of  artificial  labor,  are  the  most  popular,  and  never  lose  their  hold 
on  the  heart.  We  feel  that  we  could  have  made  them  ourselves,  and  yet  only  a  high  order 
of  genius  could  produce  them. 

Where  is  there  a  nobler  ode  of  liberty,  of  national  deliverance  and  independence,  than 
the  Son?  of  Moses  on  the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh  in  the  Red  Sea  (Ex.  xv.)  ?    Where  a  grander 


*  Stanley:  Hist,  of  the  Jewish  amrch,  II.  167. 


5  5.   POETIC  MERIT. 


panorama  of  creation  than  in  the  one  hundred  and  iburth  Psalm?  Where  a  more  charming 
and  lovely  pastoral  than  the  twenty-third  Psalm?  Where  such  a  high  view  of  the  dignity 
and  destiny  of  man  as  in  the  eighth  Psalm?  Where  a  profouuder  sense  of  sin  and  divine 
forgiveness  than  in  the  thirty-second  and  fifty-first  Psalms  ?  Where  such  a  truthful  and  over- 
powering description  of  the  vanity  of  human  life  and  the  never-changing  character  of  the 
holy  and  just,  yet  merciful  God,  as  in  the  ninetieth  Psalm,  which  has  been  styled  "  the  most 
sublime  of  human  compositions,  the  deepest  in  feeling,  loftiest  in  theologic  conception,  the 
most  magnificent  in  its  imagery?"  Where  have  the  infinite  greatness  and  goodness  of  God, 
His  holiness,  righteousness,  long-sufiering  and  mercy,  the  wonders  of  His  government,  and  the 
feeling  of  dependence  on  Him,  of  joy  and  peace  in  Him,  of  gratitude  for  His  blessings,  of 
praise  of  His  glory,  found  truer  and  fitter  embodiment  than  in  the  Psalter  and  the  Prophets  ? 
Where  will  you  find  such  sweet,  tender,  delicate  and  exquisite  expression  of  pure  inno- 
cent love  as  in  the  Song  of  Songs,  which  sounds  like  the  singing  of  birds  in  sunny  May  from 
the  flowery  fields  and  the  tree  of  life  in  Paradise  ?  Isaiah  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  poets  as 
well  as  of  prophets,  of  an  elevation,  a  richness,  a  compass,  a  power  and  comfort  that  are  un- 
equalled. No  human  genius  ever  soared  so  high  as  this  evangelist  of  the  old  dispensation. 
Jeremiah,  the  prophet  of  sorrow  and  affliction,  has  furnished  the  richest  supply  of  the  lan- 
guage of  holy  grief  in  seasons  of  public  calamity  and  distress  from  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem down  to  the  latest  siege  of  Paris;  and  few  works  have  done  this  work  more  effectively 
than  his  Lamentations.  And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  Book  of  Job,  the  Shakspeare  in  the 
Bible?  Where  are  such  bold  and  vivid  descriptions  of  the  wonders  of  nature,  of  the  behemoth 
and  leviathan,  and  of  the  war-horse  "who  paweth  in  the  valley  and  rejoiceth  in  his  strength, 
who  swalloweth  the  ground  with  fierceness  and  rage,  who  saith  among  the  trumpets  Ha,  ha ! 
and  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off",  the  thunder  of  the  captains  and  the  shout  of  war?"  What 
can  be  finer  than  Job's  picture  of  wisdom,  whose  price  is  far  above  rubies  ?  And  what  a  wealth 
of  comfort  is  in  that  wonderful  passage,  which  inspired  the  sublimest  solo  in  the  sublimest 
musical  composition,  those  words  graven  in  the  rock  forever,  where  this  holy  outsider,  this 
patriarchal  sage  and  saint  of  the  order  of  Melchisedec,  expresses  his  faith  and  hope  that  his 
Redeemer  liveth  and  will  stand  the  last  on  the  grave,  and  that  he  shall  see  Him  with  his 
own  eyes  on  the  morning  of  resurrection. 

The  times  for  the  depreciation  of  Bible  poetry  have  passed.  Many  of  the  greatest  scho- 
lars and  poets,  some  of  whom  by  no  means  in  sympathy  with  its  religious  ideas,  have  done 
it  full  justice.    I  quote  a  few  of  them  who  represent  different  stand-points  and  nationalities. 

Henry  Stephens,  the  greatest  philologist  of  the  sixteenth  century,  thought  that  there  was 
nothing  more  poetic  {noiT/TCKUTepov)^  nothing  more  musical  {fiovaiKurepov)^  nothing  more  thrill- 
ing {yopyurepov)^  nothing  more  full  of  lofty  inspiration  (di^vpafifiiKurEpov)  than  the  Psalms  of 
David. 

John  Milton,  notwithstanding  his  severe  classic  taste,  judges  :  "  There  are  no  songs  com- 
parable to  the  songs  of  Zion,  no  orations  equal  to  those  of  the  Prophets,  and  no  politics  like 
those  which  the  Scriptures  teach."  And  as  to  the  Psalms,  he  says :  "  Not  in  their  divine  ar- 
guments alone,  but  in  the  very  critical  art  of  composition,  the  Psalms  may  be  easily  made  to 
appear  over  all  the  kinds  of  lyric  poesy  incomparable." 

Sir  William  Jones :  "  I  have  regularly  and  attentively  read  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  am 
of  the  opinion  that  this  volume,  independently  of  its  divine  origin,  contains  more  true  subli- 
mity, more  exquisite  beauty,  more  important  history  and  finer  strains  both  of  poetry  and 
eloquence,  than  could  be  collected  from  all  other  books." 

Sir  D.  K.  Sandford:  "In  lyric  flow  and  fire,  in  crushing  force  and  majesty,  the  poetry 
of  the  ancient  Scriptures  is  the  most  superb  that  ever  burnt  within  the  breast  of  man." 

John  von  Muller,  the  German  Tacitus :  "  There  is  nothing  in  Greece,  nothing  in  Eome, 
nothing  in  all  the  West,  like  David,  who  selected  the  God  of  Israel  to  sing  Him  in  higher 
strains  than  ever  praised  the  gods  of  the  Gentiles." 

Herder,  who  was  at  home  in  the  literature  of  all  ages  and  countries,  is  full  of  enthusi- 
astic admiration  for  the  pure  and  sublime  beauties  of  Hebrew  poetrj^,  as  may  be  seen  on 
almost  every  page  of  his  celebrated  work  on  the  subject.     He  regards  it  as  "the  oldest,  sim- 


xiv  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 

plest,  sublimest"  of  all  poetry,  and  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  Alcipliron  and  Euty- 
phron,  after  the  Platonic  fashion,  he  triumphantly  vindicates  its  merits  against  all  objections, 
and  illustrates  it  with  admirable  translations  of  choice  passages. 

Goethe  pronounced  the  book  of  Ruth  "  the  loveliest  thing  in  the  shape  of  an  epic  or  idyl 
which  has  come  down  to  us." 

Alexander  von  Humboldt,  in  his  "  Cosmos,"  (where  the  name  of  God  scarcely  occurs, 
except  in  an  extract  from  the  heathen  Aristotle),  praises  the  Hebrew  description  of  nature  as 
unrivalled,  especially  the  104th  Psalm,  as  "presenting  in  itself  a  picture  of  the  whole  world." 
"Nature,"  he  says,  "  is  to  the  Hebrew  poet  not  a  self-dependent  object,  but  a  work  of  creation 
and  order,  the  living  expression  of  the  omnipresence  of  the  Divinity  in  the  visible  world." 

Thomas  Carlyle  calls  the  book  of  Job,  "  apart  from  all  theories  about  it,  one  of  the  grand- 
est things  ever  written  by  man.  A  noble  book  1  All  men's  book!  Such  living  likenesses 
were  never  since  drawn.  Sublime  sorrow,  sublime  reconciliation;  oldest  choral  melody,  as  of 
the  heart  of  manhood ;  so  soft  and  great  as  the  summer  midnight ;  as  the  world  with  its 
seas  and  stars.     There  is  nothing  written,  I  think,  of  equal  literary  merit." 

Isaac 'Taylor ;  "  The  Hebrew  writers  as  poets  were  masters  of  all  the  means  and  the  re- 
sources, the  powers  and  the  stores,  of  the  loftiest  poetry,  but  subservient  to  a  far  loftier  pur- 
pose than  that  which  ever  animates  human  genius." 

Henry  Ewald  calls  the  old  Hebrew  poetry  "  unique  in  its  kind  and  in  many  respects  un- 
surpassed, because  as  to  its  contents  it  is  the  interpreter  of  those  sublime  religious  thoughts 
which  lived  in  Israel,  and  are  found  nowhere  else  in  antiquity  in  such  purity,  vigor  and 
durability,  and  as  to  its  form  it  has  a  wonderful  simplicity  and  naivete  flowing  from  that 
sublimity  of  thought." 

Dean  Stanley  :  "  The  Psalms  are  beyond  question  poetical  from  first  to  last,  and  he  will 
be  a  bold  man  who  shall  say  that  a  book  is  less  inspired,  or  less  true,  or  less  orthodox,  or  less 
Divine,  because  it  is  like  the  Psalms.  The  Prophet,  in  order  to  take  root  in  the  common  life 
of  the  people,  must  become  a  Psalmist." 

J.  J.  Stewart  Perowne:  "The  very  excellence  of  the  Psalms  is  their  universality.  They 
spring  from  the  deep  fountains  of  the  human  heart,  and  God,  in  His  providence,  and  by  His 
Spirit,  has  so  ordered  it,  that  they  should  be  for  His  Church  an  everlasting  heritage.  Hence 
they  express  the  sorrows,  the  joys,  the  aspirations,  the  struggles,  the  victories,  not  of  one  man, 
but  of  all.  And  if  we  ask,  How  comes  this  to  pass?  the  answer  is  not  far  to  seek.  One 
object  is  ever  before  the  eyes  and  the  heart  of  the  Psalmist.  All  enemies,  all  distresses,  all 
persecutions,  all  sins,  are  seen  in  the  light  of  God.  It  is  to  Him  that  the  cry  goes  up ;  it  is 
to  Him  that  the  heart  is  laid  bare ;  it  is  to  Him  that  the  thanksgiving  is  uttered.  This  it  is 
which  makes  them  so  true,  so  precious,  so  universal.  No  surer  proof  of  their  inspiration  can 
be  given  than  this,  that  they  are  'not  of  an  age  but  for  all  time,'  that  the  ripest  Christian, 
can  u?e  them  in  the  fulness  of  his  Christian  manhood,  though  the  words  are  the  words  of  one 
who  lived  centuries  before  the  coming  of  Christ  in  the  flesh." 

§  6.    DIFFERENT   KINDS   OF  HEBREW   POETRY. 

Hebrew  poetry  mg,y  be  divided  into  lyric  didactic,  prophetic,  and  dramatic.  The  first 
two  are  the  prevailing  forms.  The  third  may  be  regarded  as  a  branch  of  didactic  poetry,  or 
perhaps  better,  as  a  substitute  for  epic  poetry.  The  fourth  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the 
Greek  drama,  and  is  in  close  connection  either  with  the  lyric  or  didactic.  Hence  many 
writers  admit  only  these  two.* 

The  absence  of  epic  poetry  in  its  proper  sense  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  revealed  religion 
excludes  mythology  and  hero-worship,  which  control  this  kind  of  poetry,  and  that  it  sub- 
stitutes for  them  monotheism,  which  is  inconsistent  with  any  kind  of  falsehood  and  idolatry. 
The  real  hero,  so  to  speak,  of  the  history  of  revelation  is  Jehovah  Himself,  the  only  true 

*  So  Perowne  (The  Boole  of  Psalms,  Vol.  I.,  p.  1.  third  pd.):  "The  pctry  'f  the  Hebrews  is  mainly  of  two  kinds,  lyrical 
ani  didactic.  They  have  no  epic,  and  no  drama.  Dramatic  elements  are  to  be  found  in  many  of  their  odes,  and  the  Book 
Of  Job  and  the  Song  of  Smgs  have  sometime=i  be-n  called  Divine  dramas;  but  dramatic  poetry,  in  the  proper  stnse  of  that 
terra,  was  altogether  unknown  to  the  Israeliti-s."' 


2  7.    LYRIC  POETRY. 


and  living  God,  to  whom  all  glory  is  due.  And  so  He  appears  in  the  prophetic  writings. 
He  is  the  one  object  of  worship,  praise  and  thanksgiving,  but  not  the  object  of  a  narrative 
poem.  He  is  the  one  sovereign  actor,  who  in  heaven  originates  and  controls  all  events  on 
earth,  but  not  one  among  other  actors,  co-operating  or  conflicting  with  finite  beings.  Epic 
poetry  reproduces  historic  facts  at  the  expense  of  truth,  and  exalts  its  hero  above  merit. 
The  Bible  poetry  never  violates  truth. 

There  are,  however,  epic  elements  in  several  lyric  poems  which  celebrate  certain  great 
events  in  Jewish  history,  as  the  Song  of  Moses,  Exod.  xv.,  and  the  Song  of  Deborah,  Judg. 
V. ;  although  even  here  the  lyric  element  preponderates,  and  the  subjectivity  of  the  poet  is 
not  lost  in  the  objective  event  as  in  the  genuine  epos.  The  Book  of  Ruth  has  been  called 
an  epic  by  GOthe.  The  Prologue  and  Epilogue  of  Job  are  epic,  and  have  a  truly  narrative 
and  objective  character;  but  they  are  only  the  framework  of  the  poem  itself,  which  is  essen- 
tially didactic  in  dramatic  form.  In  the  apocryphal  books  the  epic  element  appears  in  the 
book  of  Tobith  and  the  book  of  Judith,  which  stand  between  narrative  and  fiction,  and  cor- 
respond to  what  we  call  romance  or  novel. 

§  7.    LYRIC  POETRY. 

Lyric  poetry,  or  the  poetry  of  feeling,  is  the  oldest  and  predominant  form  of  poetry 
among  the  Hebrew  as  all  other  Semitic  nations.  It  is  the  easiest,  the  most  natural,  and  the 
best  adapted  for  devotion  both  private  and  public.  It  is  closely  connected  with  song,  its 
twin  sister.  It  wells  up  from  the  human  heart,  and  gives  utterance  to  its  many  strong  and 
tender  emotions  of  love  and  friendship,  of  joy  and  gladness,  of  grief  and  sorrow,  of  hope  and 
desire,  of  gratitude  and  praise.  Ewald  happily  describes  it  as  "the  daughter  of  the  moment, 
of  swift,  rising,  powerful  feelings,  of  deep  stirrings  and  fiery  emotions  of  the  soul."* 

Among  the  Greeks  the  epos  appears  first;  but  the  older  lyric  effusions  may  have  been 
lost.  Among  the  Hindoos  they  are  preserved  in  the  Vedas.  Lyric  poetry  is  found  among 
all  nations  which  have  a  poetic  literature ;  but  epic  poetry,  at  least  in  its  fuller  development^ 
is  not  so  general,  and  hence  cannot  be  the  primitive  form. 

Lyric  poetry  contains  the  fruitful  germ  of  all  other  kinds  of  poetry.  When  the  poetic 
feeling  is  kindled  by  a  great  event  in  history,  it  expresses  itself  more  or  less  epically,  as  in 
the  battle  and  victory  hymns  of  Moses  and  Deborah.  When  the  poet  desires  to  teach  a  great 
truth  or  practical  lesson,  he  becomes  didactic.  When  he  exhibits  his  emotions  in  the  form 
of  action  and  real  life,  he  approaches  the  drama.  In  like  manner  the  lyric  poetry  may  give 
rise  to  mixed  forms  which  appear  in  the  later  stages  of  literature.! 

The  oldest  specimen  of  lyric  poetry  is  the  song  of  Lamech  to  his  two  wives  (Gen.  iv.  23). 
It  has  already  the  measured  arrangement,  alliteration  and  musical  correspondence  of 
Hebrew  parallelism.  It  is  a  proud,  fierce,  defiant  "sword-song,"  commemorating  in  broken, 
fragmentary  utterances  the  invention  of  weapons  of  brass  and  iron  by  his  son  Tubal  Cain 
[i.e.,  lance-maker),  and  threatening  vengeance: 

Adah  and  Zillah!  hear  ray  voice, 
Ye  wives  of  Lamech,  listen  to  my  speech : 

*  Dichter  des  A.  B.  I.,  p.  17:  "Die  lyrische  Dicktung  oder  das  Lied  isl  uherall  die  niichste  Art  von  Dichtun(j,  wcMie  bei  irtjend 
einem  Volke  entsteht.  8ie  ist  es  ihrem  Wesen  nach  :  denn  sie  ist  die  Tochter  des  Au/jenbliclcs,  sckneTl  emportcommender  geicaltiger 
Empfindungen,  liefer  liulinmgen  und  fenriffer  Bewegungen  des  Gemuthen,  von  welehen  der  Didder  so  ganz  hingerissen  ist,  dass  er  in 
rich  wie.  verloren  nichts  als  sie  so  gewallig  wie  s->e  in  ihm  leben,  aussprechen  will.  Sie  ist  es  ebenso  der  Zeit  nach :  das  Jcurze  Lied  ist 
der  bestUndi^jste,  nnverwilstlichste  Theilvon  Poesie,  der  erste  und  letsle  Erguss  dichterischer  Slimmung,  wie  eine  unversieghare  Quelle, 
welche  zn  Jeder  Znt  sich  wieder  frisch  ergiessen  Icann.  Sie  ist  also  atich  bei  alien  V'dlkem  nnthwendig  die  dltcsle,  die  welche  zuersl 
eine  dichterische  Gestaltnng  mid  Kimst  grilndet  und  alien  iibrigen  Arfen  von  Dichtung  die  Wege  hahnt."  On  p.  91  Ewald  says  : 
'•  Und  so  bleibt  das  Lied  in  seinem  ganzen  reinen  nnd  vllen  Wesen  toie  der  Anfang  so  dax  E>ide  aller  Dichtung." 

f  Ewald,  1.  c,  p.  1  g :  "Der  besondere  Zweck,  welehen  der  Dichter  verfolgen  mag,  kann  im  AUgemeinen  nnr  ein  dreifacher  sein : 
er  will  entweder  mit  seinen  gefliigelten  Worten  wie  mil  einer  Lehre  andre  treffen,  Oder  er  will  erzdhlend  beschreiben,  oder  endlich  er 
loiU  das  voile  Loben  selbst  eheruo  lebendig  wiedergeben :  und  so  inerden  Lehrdichtunq,  SAnExniOHTUNG  (J?))os)  nnrf  Lebensdich- 
TUNQ  (Drama)  dit  drei  Arten  hciherer  Dichtung  sein,  welche  sich  uherall  wie  von  selbst  ausbilden  wnllen.  Erst  wenn  sie  sich  vnll- 
kimmen  aus  gf.bildet  haben,  entstehen  aach  2vohl  neue  Zwitterarten,  iiKiem  das  Lied  als  die  Vrart  aller  Dichtung  seine  eigen- 
thitmliche  Weis'  mit  einer  derselben  neu  verschmilzt  und  diese  stets  nachste  und  allgegenwdrtigste  Urdichtung  sich  so  in  neuer 
Schcip/ung  mannichfach  verjiingt." 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


For  I  have  slain*  a  man  for  wounding  me, 

Even  a  young  man  for  hurting  me. 
Lol  Cain  shall  be  avenged  seven-fold, 

But  Lamech  seventy  and  seven-fold.f 

Here  we  have  the  origin  of  secular  poetry  and  music  (for  the  other  son  of  Lamech,  Jubal, 
i.  e.,  Harper,  invented  musical  instruments),  in  connection  with  the  progressive  material 
civilization  of  the  descendants  of  Cain, 

The  other  poetic  remains  of  the  ante-Mosaic  age  are  the  Prediction  of  Noah  concerning 
his  three  sons  (Gen.  ix.  25-27),  and  the  death-chant  of  Jacob  (Gen.  xlix.  1-27) ;  but  these 
belong  rather  to  prophetic  poetry. 

In  the  Mosaic  age  we  meet  first  with  the  song  of  deliverance  which  Moses  sang  with  the 
children  of  Israel  unto  the  Lord  after  the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh's  hosts  in  the  Red  Sea  (Ex. 
XV.  1-19).  It  is  the  oldest  specimen  of  a  patriotic  ode  (from  oeiSsiv,  to  sing),  and  may  be  called 
the  national  anthem,  or  the  Te  Deum  of  the  Hebrews.  It  sounds  through  all  the  thanksgiving 
hymns  of  Israel,  and  is  associated  by  the  Apocalyptic  Seer  with  the  final  triumph  of  the 
Church,  when  the  saints  shall  sing  "the  song  of  Moses,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb"  (Rev. 
XV.  3).  Its  style  is  archaic,  simple  and  grand.  It  is  arranged  for  antiphonal  singing,  cho- 
rus answering  to  chorus,  and  voice  to  voice ;  the  maidens  playing  upon  the  timbrels.  It  is 
full  of  alliterations  and  rhymes  which  cannot  be  rendered,  and  hence  it  necessarily  loses  in 
any  translation. J 

I  will  sing  unto  Jehovah, 

For  He  hath  triumphed  gloriously: 
The  horee  and  his  rider 
Hath  He  thrown  into  the  sea. 

Jehovah  is  my  strengtli  and  song, 

And  He  is  become  my  salvation. 
This  is  my  God,  and  I  will  praise  nim;§ 

My  father's  God,  and  I  will  exalt  Him. 

Jehovah  is  a  man  of  war ; 

Jehovah  is  His  name. 
Pharaoh's  chariots  and  his  hosts 

Hath  He  cast  into  the  sea : 

*  The  perfect,  I  have  slain  (T\i'^T^,  Sept.  aneKTeiva,  Vulg.  occidi),  is  probably  used  in  the  spirit  of  arrogant  boasting, 
to  express  the  future  with  all  the  certainty  of  an  accomplished  fact.  Cbrysostom,  Theodoret,  Jerome,  Jarchi  and  others 
Bet  Lamech  down  as  a  murderer  (of  Cain),  who  here  confesses  his  deed  to  ease  his  conscience;  but  Aben-Ezra,  Calvin, 
Herder,  Ewald,  Delitzsch,  take  the  verb  as  a  threat:  "  I  will  slay  any  man  who  wounds  me." 

t  The  law  of  blood  for  blood  is  strongly  expressed  also  in  the  tragic  poetry  of  Greece,  especially  in  the  Eumenides  of 
jEschylus,  also  the  Choephorx,  398  (quoted  by  Prof.  T.  Lewis,  Com.  on  Gen.  in  loc.) : 

"  There  is  a  law  that  blood  once  poured  on  earth 
By  murderous  hands  demands  that  other  blood 
Be  shed  in  retribution.    From  the  slain 
Erynnys  calls  aloud  for  vengeance  still, 
Till  death  in  justice  meet  be  paid  for  death." 

J  Herder  says  of  this  poem,  of  which  he  gives  a  free  German  translation :  "Der  Durchgang  durchs  M'er  hat  das  alteste 
und  IclingendsU  Siegeslifd  hervorgebracht,  das  wir  in  dieser  Sprache  haben.  Es  ist  Cliorgesang :  eine  einzelne  Sti'mme,  malte 
vieUeickt  die  Thaten  selbsf,  die  der  Chor  cuffing  und  gleichsam  verhallte.  Sem  Ban  ist  einfach,  voll  Asu-manzen  und  Reimp,  die 
ich  in  un srer Sprache  ohne  Wnrtzwang  nicht  zu  gehen  wiissle ;  denn  die  ebrxische  Sprache  ist  ivegen  ihres  einformigen  Baues  snlch'r 
Minge.ndfin  Assonanzen  voll  Leichte,  lange,  aber  wenige  Wnrte  verschwi'ben  in  der  Lnft.  und  meistens  endigt  ein  dunk^er,  einsylbigcr 
Schall,  der  vielleichl  den  Bardit  des  Chors  machte."  Dr.  Lange  thus  happily  characterizes  this  ode  (Comm.  on  Ex.):  "  Wie  der 
Durchgang  durch  das  Rathe  Meer  als  eine  fundemcntale  Thatsache  des  typischen  Rriches  Gottes  seine  Beziehung  durch  die 
game  Heilige  Schrift  ausbreitet,  wie  er  sich  riickwdrts  auf  die  Sundfiuth  h'-zieht.  wHter  vorwarts  auf  die  christliche  Taitfi', 
und  schliesslich  auf  das  Endgericht,  so  gehen  auch  die  Reflexe  vnn  diesem  Liede  Moses  durch  die  game  Heilige  Schrift. 
Riickwdrts  ist  es  vorbereilet  durch  die  poetischen  Laute  der  Genesis  und  durch  den  Segen  Jakobs,  vorwarts  geht  es  durch  kleine 
epische  Laute  i'lber  auf  das  Abschiedslied  des  Moses  und  seinen  Segen  5  Mos.  .32,  33.  Zwei  grossartige  Seitenstiicke,  welchefoU 
gen,  das  Siegeslied  der  Debnra  und  das  Reltungslied  des  David  2  Sam.  22  {Ps.  18),  leilen  dann  die  Psalmen-poesie  ein,  in  wel- 
cher  vicJfach  der  Grundtnn  unsres  Liedes  wiedfr  mit  anklingt,  Pss.  77,  78,  105,  106,  114.  Noch  einmal  ist  am  SchUisse  des  N. 
T.  von  dem  Liede  3Insis  die  Rede;  es  tiint  fort  als  das  typische  Triumphlied  des  Volkes  Gottes  bis  in  die  andre  Welt  hinein, 
Offenb.  15,  3." 

g  The  E.  v.:  'I  will  prepare  Him  an  habitation'  (sanctuary),  would  anticipate  the  building  of  the  tabernacle,  but  is 
not  justilied  hy  the  Hebrew. 


§7.   LYRIC  POETRY. 


And  his  chosen  captains 

Are  sunk  in  the  Red  Sea. 
The  depths  cover  them. 

They  went  down  to  the  bottom  like  a  stone. 

Thy  right  hand,  0  Jehovah,  glorious  in  power, 

Thy  right  Iiand,  0  Jehovah,  dasheth  in  pieces  (he  enemy. 
And  in  the  greatness  of  Thy  majesty 

Thou  overturnest  them  that  rise  up  against  thee : 
Thou  sendest  forth  Thy  wnith. 

It  consunieth  them  like  stubble. 
And  with  the  blast  of  Thy  nostrils  the  waters  were  piled  up. 

The  floods  stood  upright  as  an  heap. 

The  depths  were  congealed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea. 

The  enemy  said,  I  will  pursue,  I  will  overtake, 

I  will  divide  the  spoil, 
My  soul  shall  be  satisfied  upon  them ; 

I  will  draw  my  sword, 

My  hand  shall  destroy  them. 

Thou  didst  blow  with  Thy  wind. 
The  sea  covered  them  : 
They  sank  as  lead  in  the  mighty  waters. 

Who  is  like  unto  Thee,  0  Jehovali,  among  the  gods? 

Who  is  like  Thee,  glorious  in  holiness, 

Fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders? 
Thou  stretchedst  out  Thy  right  hand, 

The  earth  swallowed  them. 

Thou  in  Thy  mercy  hast  led  the  people 

Which  Thou  hast  redeemed. 
Thou  hast  guided  them  in  thy  strength 
To  thy  holy  habitation. 

The  peoples  have  heard,  they  tremble  :* 

Pangs  have  taken  hold  on  the  inhabitants  of  Philietia. 
Then  were  the  chiefs  of  Edom  dismayed. 

The  mighty  men  of  Moab,  trembling  taketh  hold  upon  them. 
All  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan  are  melted  away  ;  > 

Terror  and  dread  fall  upon  them. 
By  the  greatness  of  Thine  arm  they  are  as  still  as  a  stone ; 

Till  Thy  people  pass  over,  0  Jehovah, 
Till  the  people  pass  over, 

Which  Thou  hast  purchased. 

Thou  Shalt  bring  them  in. 
And  plant  them  in  the  mountain  of  Thine  inheritance. 

The  place,  0  Jehovah,  which  Thou  hast  made  for  Thee  to  dwell  in, 
The  sanctuary,  0  Jehovah,  which  Thou  hast  established. 

Jehovah  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 

Here  the  song  ends,  and  what  follows  (ver.  19)  is  probably  a  brief  recapitulation  to  fix 
the  event  in  the  memory : 

For  the  horses  of  Pharaoh  «vent  in  with  his  chariots 

And  with  his  horsemen  into  the  sea, 
And  Jehovah  brought  again  the  waters  of  the  sea  upon  them ; 

But  the  children  of  Israel  walked  on  dry  land 

In  the  midst  of  the  sea. 

Moses  wrote  also  that  sublime  farewell-song  which  celebrates  Jehovah's  merciful  deal- 
ings with  Israel  (Deut.  xxxii.),  the  parting  blessing  of  the  twelve  tribes  (Deut^xxxiii.),  and 
the  ninetieth  Psalm,  called  "A  Prayer  of  Moses,  the  man  of  God,"  which  sums  up  the  spi- 
ritual experience  of  his  long  pilgrimage  in  the  wilderness,  and  which  proves  its  undying  force 
at  every  death  bed  and  funeral  service. 

*  The  poet  now,  after  giving  thanks  for  the  past,  looks  to  the  future  and  describes  the  certain  consequences  of  this 
mighty  deliverance,  whirh  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  all  enemies  of  Israel,  and  must  end  iu  the  conquest  of  Canaan, 
as  promised  by  God. 

2 


xviii  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 

In  the  book  of  Joshua  (x.  12,  13)  there  is  a  poetic  quotation  from  "  the  Book  of  the 
Upright,"  which  was  probably  a  collection  of  patriotic  songs : 

"Sun,  stand  still  xipon  Gibeon, 

And  thou,  moon,  upon  the  Talley  of  Ajalon!" 
And  the  sua  stood  still,  and  the  moon  stayed  her  course, 
Until  the  nation  were  avenged  of  their  enemies. 

The  song  of  Deborah  (Judges  v.),  from  the  heroic  period  of  the  Judges,  eight  centuries 
before  Pindar,  is  a  stirring  battle-song  full  of  fire  and  dithyrambic  swing,  and  breathing  the 
spirit  of  an  age  of  disorder  and  tumult,  when  might  was  right.* 

Another  but  very  different  specimen  of  female  poetry  is  Hannah's  hymn  of  joy  and  gra- 
titude when  she  dedicated  her  son  Samuel,  the  last  of  the  Judges,  to  the  service  of  Jehovah 
(1  Sam.  ii.  1-10).  It  furnished  the  key-note  to  the  Magnificat  of  the  Virgin  Mary  after  the 
miraculous  conception. 

The  reign  of  David  was  the  golden  age  of  lyric  poetry.  He  was  himself  the  prince  of 
singers  in  Israel.  His  religious  poetry  is  incorporated  in  the  Psalter.  Of  his  secular  poetry 
the  author  of  the  Books  of  Samuel  has  preserved  us  two  specimens,  a  brief  stanza  on  the 
death  of  Abner,  and  his  lament  for  the  death  of  Saul  and  Jonathan  (2  Sam.  i.  19-27).  The 
latter  is  a  most  pathetic  and  touching  elegy  full  of  the  strength  and  tenderness  of  the  love 
of  friendship.  His  generosity  in  lamenting  the  death  of  his  persecutor  who  stood,  in  his  way 
to  the  throne,  enhances  the  beauty  and  effect  of  the  elegy. 

Thy  Glory,  0  l8rael,f  is  slain  upon  thy  heights. 
(Chorus)  How  are  (he  heroes  fallen  I 

Tell  it  not  in  Gath, 

Publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  Askelon; 
Lest  the  daughters  of  the  Philistines  rejoice, 

Lest  the  daughters  of  the  uncircumcised  triumph. 

Te  mountains  of  Gilboa,  no  dew  nor  rains 

Comg  npiin  you,  and  ye  fields  of  offerings.^ 
For  there  the  shiuld  of  the  hero  is  poUuted,g 

The  shield  of  Saul  not  anointed  with  oil.|| 

From  the  blood  of  the  slain,  from  the  fat  of  the  heroes, 

The  bow  of  Jonathan  turned  not  back, 
And  the  sword  of  Saul 

Returned  not  empty. 

*  An  admirable  German  translation  is  given  by  Herder,  and  another  by  Prof.  Cassel,  in  his  Cvm.  on  Judges,  translated 
by  Prof.  Steenstra. 

t  Or:  "The  Glory  (the  Beauty)  of  Israel."  Ewald,  Bniisen,  Keil,  take  Sxity,  as  vocative,  "0  Israel;"  the  E.  V. 
("the  beauty  of  Israel"),  De  Wette,  Erdmann  {Die  Zurde  Israels),  and  others,  aa  genitive.  ''2'^  moans  splendor,  glory  (Isa- 
iv.  2;  xiii.  10;  .xxiv.  16,  and  is  often  used  of  the  Innd  of  Israc',  and  of  Mount  Zion,  which  is  called  "the  mountain  of  holy 
beauty,"  I^ip  '3V  in,  Dan.  xi.  45);  also  a  yizeU",  from  the  beauty  of  its  form  (1  Kings  v.  3;  Isa.  xiii.  14).  The  gazelles 
were  so  much  admired  by  thw  Hebrews  and  Arabs  that  they  even  swore  by  them  (Cant.  ii.  7 :  iii.  5).  Herder  (TsrneVs  Beh), 
and  Ewald  (Der  Sleinbock,  Israel — to  avoid  the  feminine  die  Gazelle)  take  it  in  the  latter  sense,  and  refer  it  to  Jonathan 
alone.  Ewald  conjectures  that  Jonathan  was  familiarly  known  among  the  soldiers  of  Israel  as  the  Gazelle  on  account  of 
his  beauty  and  swiftness.  Jonathan  was,  of  course,  much  nearer  to  the  heart  of  the  poet,  but  in  this  national  song  David 
had  to  identify  him  with  Saul,  so  that  both  are  included  in  the  Glory  of  Israel. 

t  r\1!05'in  'Tii't  Sept.  aypo'i  aTrapxuiv,  Xu\^.  neqne -lint  agri  yirimitiarum,  fertile  fields  from  which  the  first  fruits  are 
ga'hered.  The  E.  V.  renders  with  Jerome:  "nor  {let.  there  be)  fields  of  offerings."  On  the  diSerent  interpretations  and 
conjectures  see  Erdmann  in  Lange's  Com.  It  is  a  poetical  malediction  or  imprecation  of  such  complete  barrenness  that  not 
even  enough  may  grow  on  that  bloody  field  for  an  offering  of  first-fruits. 

g  By  blood  and  dust.  A  great  indignity  to  a  soldier.  Homer  says  that  the  helmet  of  Patroclus  was  rolled  under  the 
horses'  feet,  and  soiled  with  blood  and  dust  (II.  xvi.  794).  The  E.  V.,  following  the  Vulgate  {abjectus),  translates  Sj'JJ 
vilely  east  away. 

11  Bui  iDith  hlood.  Tlie  E.  V.,  following  again  the  Vulgnte  (quasi  non  esset),  supplies  "  as  though  he  had  not  bef.n  anointed," 
i.e.,  as  if  he  had  not  been  a  king  (1  Sam.  x.  1).  So  also  Herder:  "■  KiJniges  Schild,  als  war  er  nimmer  mit  Oel  geheiligt." 
But  the  more  natural  interpretntion  is :  "  the  shield  of  Saul  was  not  anointed  with  oil,"  as  was  usual  in  preparation  for  bat- 
tle, and  after  it  had  been  polluted  by  blood  or  corrupted  by  rust  (Isa.  xxi.  5).  The  unanointed  shield  hero  ia  an  emblem  of 
utter  defeat  and  holplesmess. 


§7.    LYRIC  rOETRY. 


Saul  and  Jonathan,  lovely  and  ple.isant  in  their  lives, 

And  in  their  deatli  they  are  not  divided. 
They  were  swifter  than'eagles, 

They  were  stronger  than  lions. 

Ye  daughters  of  laraol,  weep  over  Saul, 
Who  clothed  you  in  purple  with  delight. 

Who  put  ornaments  of  gold 
Upon  your  apparel.* 

(CbobuS)  Hoio  are  the  he.roes  falltn  in  (he.  midst  of  the  balUel 

.  O  Jonathan,  slain  upon  thy  heights  ! 

I  am  distressed  fur  thee,  my  brother  Jonathan, 

Very  pleasant  hast  thou  been  unto  me: 
Thy  love  to  me  was  wonderful, 

Passing  the  love  of  women.f 

(Chorus)  How  are  the  heroes  fallen,^ 

And  the  weap»ns  of  war  ^  perished. 

Lyric  poetry  flourished  during  the  reigns  of  David  and  Solomon,  then  declined  with  the 
decline  of  the  nation,  and  revived  for  a  short  period  with  the  restoration  of  the  temple  and 
the  theocracy,  when  the  harps  were  taken  from  tlie  willows  to  accompany  again  the  songs  of 
Zion.  It  is  altogether  improbable  that  the  Psalter  contains  hymns  of  the  Maccabtean  age, 
as  Hitzig  conjectures.     The  canon  was  closed  long  before  (B.  C.  450). 1| 

The  Magnificat  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  Benedictus  of  Zacharias,  and  the  Nunc  dimittis 
of  Simeon  are  the  golden  sunset  of  Hebrew  psalmody,  and  the  dawn  of  Christian  hymnody. 

The  various  kinds  of  lyric  poetry  are  designated  by  the  following  names^  which  occur  in 
the  titles  of  the  Psalms  :^ 

Shir  (Sept.  wJ?/),  song  for  the  voice  alone. 

Mizmdr  (Sept.  ipaTijidg)^  psalm,  song  of  praise,  with  instrumental  accompaniment  [ne'^or). 

Maschil  [avviascjc,  dc  avveaiv)^  a  skilfully  constructed  ode,  a  reflective,  contemplative, 
didactic  song. 

Ilichtham  [arijloypa^ia^  or  f'f  a-7i'}ioYfta<i>iav^  lit.,  song  of  inscription),  a  golden  poem,  or  a 
song  of  mysterious,  deep  import.  (Delitzsch:  catch-word  poem), 

Shiggaion,  an  excited,  irregular,  dithyrambic  ode. 

Thehillah,  a  hymn  of  praise.     The  plural  thehillim  is  the  Hebrew  title  of  the  Psalter. 

Tliephillah,  a  prayer  in  song.  (Pss.  xvii.,  lxxxvi.,xc.,  cxlii.,  Hab.  iii.). 

Shir  jedidoth,  song  of  loves,  erotic  poem  (Ps.  xlv.). 

Shir  hamma^alolh  (Sept.  <^fifi  tuv  hvdlio.-&uuv^  Vulg.  canticum  gradicum,  E.  V.  "  song  of 
degrees  '),  most  probably  a  song  of  the  gOings  up,  i.  e.,  pilgrim  song  for  the  journeys  to  the 
yearly  festivals  of  Jerusalem. 

*  Lowth :  "This  pasaagi  is  most  exquisite  corapositiou.  The  women  of  Israel  are  most  happily  introJuced,  and  the 
subject  of  the  encomium  is  most  admirably  adapted  to  the  female  characters." 

f  The  sweet,  tender,  devoted,  enduring  love  with  which  women  love.  A  picture  of  the  ideal  of  friendship  sanctified  by 
the  consecration  of  their  hearts  to  Jehovah.  The  Vulgate  inserts  here  the  claustj :  Sicut  mater  tmicum  amat  filinin  suuni,  ita 
ecjo  te  amabam,  which  has  no  foundation  either  in  the  Hebrew  or  the  Septuagint. 

J  The  repetition  of  this  lament,  probably  by  the  chorus,  is  entirely  in  keeping  with  the  nature  of  an  elegy,  which  likes 
to  dwell  upon  the  grief,  and  finds  relief  by  its  repeated  ntterancj. 

J  Tlie  riDTI/O  ^?2.  are  the  heroes  themselves,  as  the  living  weapons  of  war.     So  Ewald  and  Erdmann  (die  E'ustzewje 
T  T  ;  •      "  : 

des  Slreits).    Comp.  Isa.  x'iii.  5;  Acts  ix.  15,  where  St.  Paul  is  called  "a  chos«n  vessel"  (criceOo?').    It  is  less  lively  and  poetic 

to  understand  it  literally  of  the  material  of  war,  as  the  Vulgate  does  (arma  bellica),  and  Herder  who  renders: 

Ach,  wiefie.len  di".  n<'7den  und  ihre  Wajfen  des  Kri(jes 
Liegen  zerschJag'n  nmhcr. 

II  Itengstenberg,  Havernick,  Keil,  among  the  rrthodox  divines,  Gesenius,  Ewald,  Th'-nius,  Dillmann,  among  the  liberal 
r'itics,  deny  the  possibility  of  Macfabwan  Ps.ilnis.  Ewald  says  (Preface  to  Ihird  ed.  of  hs  Com.  on  the  Ps.)  against  Hit- 
zig :  "  No  hing  can  be  more  false  and  perverse  than  to  suppose  f^a^  there  can  be  Maccabnein  poems  in  the  Psalter  "  De- 
litzsch  (Cim.  fiber  d'>n  PsaUer,  new  ed.  18C7,  p.  9)  admits  the  possibility,  but  deni  s  the  existence  of  such  la'o  P.salms. 

t  For  particulars  on  the  names  aid  musical  titles  in  the  inseriptions  of  the  Psalms,  some  of  which  are  very  obsiure  und 
variously  interpreted,  we  must  refer  to  the  commentaries  of  Ewald,  Hitzig,  Dclitzsch   .Mull  (in  Lange),  and  Per  wiie. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


Kinah  {^pf/vo^),  a  lament,  dirge,  elegy,*  Here  belong  the  laments  of  David  for  Saul 
and  Jonathan,  2  Sam.  i.  19-27,  for  Abner  (2  Sam.  iii.  33,  34),  and  for  Absalom  (2  Sam.  xviii, 
33),  the  psalms  of  mourning  over  the  disasters  of  Judah,  Ps.  xlix.,  Ix.,  Ixxiii.,  cxxxvii.),  and 
the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah. 

The  Psalter  is  the  great  depository  of  the  religious  lyric  poetry  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
and  the  inexhaustible  fountain  of  devotion  for  all  ages.  The  titles  are  not  original,  but  con- 
tain the  ancient  Jewish  traditions  more  or  less  valuable  concerning  the  authorship,  historical 
occasion,  musical  character,  liturgical  use  of  the  Psalms.  Seventy-three  poems  are  ascribed  to 
David  (inS);f  twelve  to  Asaph  (^D5<^),  oneof  David's  musicians  (Ps.l.,lxxiii.-lxxxiii.);  eleven 
or  twelve  to  the  sons  of  Korah,  a  family  of  priests  and  singers  of  the  age  of  David  Pss.  xlii.- 
xlix.,  Ixxxiv.,  Ixxxv.,  Ixxxvii.,  Ixxxviii.) ;  one  to  Heman  the  Ezrahite  (Ixxxviii.)  ;J  one  to 
Ethan  the  Ezrahite  (Ixxxix.) ;  two  to  Solomon  (Ixxii.,  cxxvii.) ;  one  to  Moses  (xc.) ;  while 
fifty  are  anonymous  and  hence  called  Oiyhan  Psalms  in  the  Talmud.  The  Septuagint  as- 
signs some  of  them  to  Jeremiah  (cxxxvii.),  Haggai  and  Zechariah  (cxlvi.,  cxlvii.). 

The  Psalter  is  divided  into  five  books,  and  the  close  of  each  is  indicated  by  a  doxology 
and  a  double  Amen.  In  this  division  several  considerations  seem  to  have  been  combined- 
authorship  and  chronology,  liturgical  use,  the  distinction  of  the  divine  names  (Elohistic  and 
Jehovistic  Psalms),  perhaps  also  the  five-fold  division  of  the  Thorah  (the  Psalter  being,  as 
Delitzsch  says,  the  subjective  response  or  echo  from  the  heart  of  Israel  to  the  law  of  God). 
We  have  an  analogy  in  Christian  hymn-  and  tune-books,  which  combine  the  order  of  sub- 
jects and  the  order  of  the  ecclesiastical  year,  modifying  both  by  considerations  of  convenience, 
and  often  adding  one  or  more  appendixes.  The  five  books  represent  the  gradual  growth  of 
the  collection  till  its  completion  after  the  exile,  about  the  time  of  Ezra.  The  collection  of 
first  book,  consisting  chiefly  of  Psalms  of  David,  may  be  traced  to  Solomon,  who  would  natu- 
rally provide  for  the  preservation  of  his  father's  jioetry,  or,  at  all  events,  to  King  Hezekiah, 
who  "commanded  the  Levites  to  sing  praise  unto  the  Lord  with  the  words  of  David  and  of 
Asaph,  the  Seer"  (2  Chron.  xxi.  30 ;  Prov.  xxxv.  1). 

If  we  regard  chiefly  the  contents,  we  may  divide  the  Psalms  into  Psalms  of  praise  and 
adoration,  Psalms  of  thanksgiving.  Psalms  of  faith  and  hope  under  afiiiction,§  penitential 
Psalms,  didactic  Psalms,  historic  Psalms,  Pilgrim  Songs  (cxx.-cxxxvi.),  prophetic  or  Mes- 
sianic Psalms.  But  we  cannot  enter  here  into  details,  and  refer  to  the  full  and  able  Intro- 
duction of  Moll's  Commentary  in  this  series. 

Before  we  leave  lyric  poetrj^,  we  must  say  a  few  words  on  the  Lamentations  ('"'''J'j?,  ■^pfjvoi^ 
elegise)  of  Jeremiah — the  most  extensive  elegy  in  the  Bible.  They  are  a  funeral  dirge  of  the 
theocracy  and  the  holy  city  after  its  destruction  by  Nebuchadnezzar  and  the  Chaldees,  and 
give  most  pathetic  utterance  to  the  most  intense  grief.  The  first  lines  strike  the  key-note. 
Jerusalem  is  personified  and  bewailed  as  a  solitary  widow  : 

(Aleph),  How  sitteth  s.ilitary 

The  citj'  oDce  full  of  people! 
She  has  become  as  a  widow ! 

She  that  was  great  among  the  nations, 
A  princess  over  the  provinces, 
Has  become  subject  to  tribute. 

*  From  6  e  Ae'Yeiv,  to  cry  woe,  woe!     Comp.  the  German,  Klaglied,  Trauerlied,  Todtenlied,  Grahlied. 

t  Thirty-seven  in  the  first  Book.  Ts.  iii.-xli.,  18  in  the  second,  1  in  the  tliird,  2  in  the  fourth,  15  in  the  fifth  Book.  The 
Septuagint  ascribes  to  David  S.5  Tsalms  (including  xcix.  and  civ.,  which  are  probably  his).  The  X.  T.  quotes  as  his  also  the 
anonymous  Pss.  ii.  and  xcv.  (Acts  iv.  2."),  26;  Hebr.  iv.  7),  and  Ps.  ii.  certainly  h.as  th?  impress  of  Wis  style  and  ago  (as  Ewald 
admits).  But  some  of  the  Psalms  ascribed  to  him,  either  in  the  Hebrew  or  Greek  Bible,  betray  by  their  CliRldaisms  a  later 
age.  Hengstenberg  and  Alexander  mostly  follow  the  Jewish  tradition  ;  Delitzsch  {Co»ime)dar  iiber  die  Psidmen,  p.  7)  thinks 
that  at  least  fifty  may  be  defended  as  Davidic ;  while  Hupfeld,  Ewald,  and  epperially  Hitzig,  considerably  reduce  the  number. 
Ewald  regards  Ps.  iii.,  iv.,  vii.,  viii.,  xl.,  x v.,  xviii.,  xix.,  xxiv.,  xxix.,  xxxii.,  ci.,  aa  undoubted!}'  Davidic ;  Ps.  ii.,  xxiii.,  xxvii., 
Ixii.,  Ixiv.,  ex.,  cxxxviii.,  as  coming  very  near  to  David. 

X  This  Psalm  is  called  shir  tuisntor  and  ma.vhil,  and  is  siscribed  both  to  the  sons  of  Korah  and  to  Heman  the  Ezrahit", 
of  the  age  of  Solomon  (1  Kings  r.  11).  The  older  commentators  generally  regard  the  former  as  the'singers  of  the  shir,  the 
latter  as  the  author  of  the  manehil.    Hnpfold  thinks  that  the  title  combines  two  conflicting  traditions. 

2  What  the  Germans  wou!d  call  Krcn--  und  Trost-Psalmen. 


?8.    DIDACTIC  POETRY. 


(Beth)  Sho  weepeth  bitterly  in  the  night, 

And  her  tears  are  upon  her  cheeks : 

She  hatn  no  comforter 

From  among  all  her  lovers  : 

All  her  friends  have  turn'd  traitors  to  her, 
They  have  become  her  enemies. 


(Lamed)  Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  that  pass  by? 

Behold  and  see, 
If  there  be  any  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow, 

Which  is  inflicted  on  me. 
Wherewith  Jehovah  hath  afflicted  me 

In  the  day  of  His  fierce  anger. 


The  ruin  and  desolation,  the  carnage  and  famine,  the  pollution  of  the  temple,  the  desecration 
of  the  Sabbath,  the  massacre  of  the  priests,  the  dragging  of  the  chiefs  into  exile,  and  all  the 
horrors  and  miseries  of  a  long  siege,  contrasted  with  the  remembrance  of  former  glories  and 
glad  festivities,  and  intensified  by  the  awful  sense  of  Divine  wrath,  are  drawn  with  life-like 
colors  and  form  a  picture  of  overwhelming  calamity  and  sadness.  "  Every  letter  is  written 
with  a  tear,  every  word  is  the  sob  of  a  broken  heart !"  Yet  Jeremiah  does  not  forget  that  the 
covenant  of  Jehovah  with  His  people  still  stands.  In  the  stormy  sunset  of  the  theocracy  he 
beheld  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day,  and  a  new  covenant  written,  not  on  tables  of  stone,  but 
on  the  heart.  The  utterance  of  his  grief,  like  the  shedding  of  tears,  was  also  a  relief,  and 
left  his  mind  in  a  calmer  and  serener  frame.  Beginning  with  wailing  and  weeping,  he  ends 
with  a  question  of  hope,  and  with  the  prayer  : 

Turn  lis,  O  Jehovah,  and  we  shall  turn; 
Renew  our  days  of  old ! 

These  Lamentations  have  done  their  work  very  effectually,  and  are  doing  it  still.  They 
have  soothed  the  weary  years  of  the  Babylonian  Exile,  and  after  the  return  they  have  kept 
up  the  lively  remembrance  of  the  deepest  humiliation  and  the  judgments  of  a  righteous  God. 
On  the  ninth  day  of  the  month  of  Ab  (July)  they  are  read  year  after  year  with  fasting  and 
weeping  by  that  remarkable  people  who  are  still  wandering  in  exile  over  the  face  of  the 
earth,  finding  a  grave  in  many  lands,  a  home  in  none.  Among  Christians  the  i^oem  is  best 
appreciated  in  times  of  private  aflliction  and  public  calamity;  a  companion  in  mourning,  it 
serves  also  as  a  book  of  comfort  and  consolation. 

The  poetic  structure  of  the  Lamentations  is  the  most  artificial  in  the  Bible.  The  first 
four  chapters  are  alphabetically  arranged,  like  the  119th  and  six  other  Psalms,  and  Pro- 
verbs xxxi.  10-31.  Every  stanza  begins  with  a  letter  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet  in 
regular  order ;  all  the  stanzas  are  nearly  of  the  same  length ;  each  stanza  has  three  nearly 
balanced  clauses  or  members  which  together  constitute  one  meaning;  chaps,  i.,  ii.  and  iv. 
contain  twenty-two  stanzas  each,  according  to  the  number  of  Hebrew  letters;  the  third 
chapter  has  three  alphabetic  series,  making  sixty-six  stanzas  in  all.  Dante  chose  the  terza 
rima  for  his  vision  of  hell,  purgatory,  and  paradise;  Petrarca  the  complicated  sonnet  for  the 
tender  and  passionate  language  of  love.  The  author  of  Lamentations  may  have  chosen  this 
structure  as  a  discipline  and  check  upon  the  intensity  of  his  sorrow— jierhaps  also  as  a  help 
to  the  memory.    Poems  of  this  kind,  once  learnt,  are  not  easily  forgotten.* 

I  8.     DIDACTIC   POETRY. 

Didactic  poetry  is  the  combined  product  of  imagination  and  reflection.  It  seeks  to  in- 
struct as  well  as  to  please.  It  is  not  simply  the  outpouring  of  subjective  feeling  which  car- 
ries in  it  its  own  end  and  reward,  but  aims  at  an  object  beyond  itself.     It  is  the  connecting 

*  "In  the  scatterings  and  wanderings  of  families,"  says  Isaac  Taylor  (p. 375),  "and  in  lonely  jounieyings,  in  deserts 
and  cities,  where  no  synagogue-service  could  be  enjoj-ed,  the  metrical  Scriptures — infixed  as  they  were  in  ihe  memory,  by 
the  \ery  means  of  these  artificial  devices  of  verrsets  and  of  alphabetic  order,  and  of  alliteration — became  food  to  the 
soul.  Thus  was  the  religious  constancy  of  the  people  and  its  brave  endunnce  of  injury  and  insult  sustained  and 
anim  ted." 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


link  between  pure  poetry  and  philosophy.  It  supplies  among  the  Shemitic  nations  the  place 
of  ethics,  with  tliis  difference,  that  it  omits  the  reasoning  and  argumentative  process,  and 
gives  only  the  results  of  observation  and  reflection  in  a  pleasing,  mostly  proverbial,  senten- 
iious  style,  which  sticks  to  the  memory.  It  is  laid  down  in  the  Proverbs  and  Ecclesiastes. 
Many  Psalms  also  are  didactic  (i.,  xix.,  xxxvii.,  cxix.,  etc.),  and  the  Book  of  Job  is  a  didac- 
tic drama  (see  below). 

The  palmy  period  of  didactic  or  gnomic  poetry  is  the  peaceful  and  brilliant  reign  of  So- 
lomon, which  lasted  forty  years  (B.  C.  1015-975).  He  was  a  favorite  child  of  nature  and 
grace.  He  occupies  the  same  relation  to  the  Proverbs  as  David  to  the  Psalter,  being  the 
chief  author  and  model  for  imitation.  He  was  the  philosopher,  as  David  was  the  singer,  of 
Israel.  The  fame  of  his  wisdom  was  so  great  that  no  less  than  three  thousand  proverbs  were 
ascribed  to  him.  "God  gave  Solomon  wisdom  and  understanding  exceeding  much,  and 
largeness  of  heart,  even  as  the  sand  that  is  on  the  sea-shore.  And  Solomon's  wisdom  ex- 
celled the  wisdom  of  all  the  children  of  the  east  country,  and  all  the  wisdom  of  Egypt.  For 
he  was  wiser  than  all  men ;  than  Ethan  the  Ezrahite,  and  Heman,  and  Chalcol,  and  Darda, 
the  sons  of  Mahol :  and  his  fame  was  in  all  nations  round  about.  And  he  spake  three  thou- 
sand proverbs:  and  his  songs  were  a  thousand  and  five.  And  he  spake  of  trees,  from  the 
cedar  tree  that  is  in  Lebanon  even  unto  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of  the  wall :  he  spake 
also  of  beasts,  and  of  fowl,  and  of  creeping  things,  and  of  fishes.  And  there  came  of  all  peo- 
ple to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  from  all  kings  of  the  earth,  which  had  heard  of  his  wis- 
dom "  (1  Kings  iv.  29-34).  According  to  a  rabbinical  tradition,  Aristotle  derived  his  philoso- 
phy from  the  Solomonic  writings  which  Alexander  the  Great  sent  him  from  Jerusalem.* 

The  usual  word  for  a  didactic  poem  is  mdshdl  0'^^,  Trapuitila,  TrapafioA//),  a  likeness,  si- 
militude, comparison ;  then,  in  a  wider  sense,  a  short,  sharp,  pithy  maxim,  sententious  say- 
ing, gnome,  proverb  couched  in  figurative,  striking,  pointed  language.  A  proverb  contains 
muUum  in  parvo,  and  condenses  the  result  of  long  observation  and  experience  in  a  few  words 
which  strike  the  nail  on  the  head  and  are  easily  remembered.  It  is  the  philosophy  for  the 
people,  the  wisdom  of  the  street.  The  Orientals,  especially  the  Arabs,  are  very  fond  of  this 
kind  of  teaching.  It  suited  their  wants  and  limits  of  knowledge  much  better  than  an  elabo- 
rate system  of  philosophy.  And  even  now  a  witty  or  pithy  proverb  has  more  practical  effect 
upon  the  common  people  than  whole  sermons  and  tracts.f 

The  Proverbs  of  the  Bible  are  far  superior  to  any  collection  of  the  kind,  such  as  the  say- 
ings of  the  Seven  Wise  Men  of  Greece,  the  Aurea  Carmina  attributed  to  Pythagoras,  the 
Eemains  of  the  Poetse  Gnomici,  the  collections  of  Arabic  proverbs.  They  bear  the  stamp  of 
divine  inspiration.  They  abound  in  polished  and  sparkling  gems.  They  contain  the  prac- 
tical wisdom  (chokma)  of  Israel,  and  have  furnished  the  richest  contributions  to  the  diction- 
ary of  proverbs  among  Christian  nations.  They  trace  wisdom  to  its  true  source,  the  fear  of 
Jehovah  (chap.  i.  7).  Nothing  can  be  finer  than  the  description  of  Wisdom  in  the  eighth 
chapter,  where  she  is  personified  as  the  eternal  companion  and  delight  of  God,  and  com- 
mended beyond  all  earthly  treasures : 

AVisdom  is  better  than  rubies, 
And  DO  precious  things  compare  with  her. 

I,  vtiedom,  dwell  with  prudence, 
And  find  out  knowledge  of  wise  counsels. 

The  fear  of  Jehovah  is  to  hate  evil ; 
Pride,  haughtiness,  and  an  evil  way. 
And  a  perverse  mouth,  do  I  hate. 

Counsel  U  mine,  and  reflection ; 

I  am  under^tanding;  I  have  strength. 


*  Comp.  on  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  Ewald's  Geachichte  des  Vollces  Israel,  Vol.  III.  pp.  374  sqq.;  and  Stanley's  Lectures  on 
the  History  of  the  Jewish  Church,  Vol.  11.  pp.  252  sqq.  Ewald  exclaims  with  reference  to  the  visit  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba 
(p.  379):  "OgUickliche  Zeit  wo  in'dchtige  Fiirstm  mitten  in  ihren  von  heiliger  Gnttesruhe  nmfriedigt^n  Ldndern  so  zu  einander 
wallfuhrten,  so  in  Weisheit  und  was  nnch  mehr  ist.  im  regen  Suchen  derselhen  lortteifern  hJnnen  /" 

t  Cicero  says:  "Gravissim^  sunt  ad  heate  vhendiwi  breviler  emincUttie  sen'entix.'' 


§8.    DIDACTIC  POETRY. 


By  me  kings  reign, 

And  princes  decree  justice. 
By  me  princes  rule, 

And  nobles,  all  the  judges  of  the  earth. 

I  love  them  th:it  love  me ; 

And  they  that  seek  me  early  shall  find  me. 
Kiches  and  honor  are  with  me. 

Yea,  enduriog  riches  and  righteousness. 
My  fruit  is  better  than  gold,  yea,  than  refined  gold; 

And  my  increase  than  choice  silver. 

I  walk  in  the  way  of  righteousness, 
In  the  midst  of  the  path  of  rectitude ; 

To  make,  ensure  abundance  to  those  that  love  me, 
And  to  fill  their  storehouse. 


Blessed  is  the  man  that  heareth  me, 
Watching  daily  at  my  gates, 
Waiting  at  the  posts  of  my  doors! 

For  whosoever  findeth  me  findeth  life; 
And  shall  obtain  favor  from  Jehovah. 


The  description  of  the  model  Hebrew  woman  in  her  domestic  and  social  relations  (chap. 
xxxi.  10-31,  in  the  acrostic  form)  has  no  parallel  for  truthfulness  and  beauty  in  all  ancient 
literature,  and  forms  the  appropriate  close  of  this  book  of  practical  wisdom  ;  for  from  the  fa- 
mily of  which  woman  is  the  presiding  genius,  springs  private  and  public  virtue  and  national 
prosperity. 

"  The  Book  of  Proverbs,"  says  a  distinguished  modern  writer,  "  is  not  on  a  level  with  the 
Prophets  or  the  Psalms.  It  approaches  human  things  and  things  divine  from  quite  another 
side.  It  has  even  something  of  a  worldly,  prudential  look,  unlike  the  rest  of  the  Bible. 
But  this  is  the  very  reason  why  its  recognition  as  a  Sacred  Book  is  so  useful.  It  is  the  philo- 
sophy of  practical  life.  It  is  the  sign  to  us  that  the  Bible  does  not  despise  common  sense 
and  discretion.  It  impresses  upon  us,  in  the  most  forcible  manner,  the  value  of  intelligence 
and  prudence,  and  of  a  good  education.  The  whole  strength  of  the  Hebrew  language,  and 
of  the  sacred  authority  of  the  book  is  thrown  upon  these  homely  truths.  It  deals,  too,  in 
that  refined,  discriminating,  careful  view  of  the  finer  shades  of  human  character,  so  often 
overlooked  by  theologians,  but  so  necessary  to  any  true  estimate  of  human  life.  '  The  heart 
knoweth  its  own  bitterness,  and  the  stranger  does  not  intermeddle  wiih  its  joy.'  How  much 
is  there,  in  that  single  sentence,  of  consolation,  of  love,  of  forethought  I  And,  above  all,  it 
insists,  over  and  over  again,  upon  the  doctrine  that  goodness  is  'wisdom,^  and  that  wicked- 
ness and  vice  are  'folly.'  There  may  be  many  other  views  of  virtue  and  vice,  of  holiness 
and  sin,  better  and  higher  than  this.  But  there  will  always  be  some  in  the  world  who,  will 
need  to  remember  that  a  good  man  is  not  only  religious  and  just,  but  wise;  and  that  a  bad 
man  is  not  only  wicked  and  sinful,  but  a  miserable,  contemptible  fool !"  * 

The  poetic  structure  of  the  Proverbs  is  that  of  Hebrew  parallelism  in  its  various  forms. 
They  consist  of  single,  double,  triple,  or  more  couplets ;  the  members  corresponding  to  each 
other  in  sense  and  diction,  either  synonymously  or  antithetically.  Delitzsch  calls  them  two- 
liners,  four-liners,  aix-liners,  eight-liners. f  The  first  section,  x.-xxii.  16,  contains  exclusively 
two-liners.  Besides  these  there  are  a  few  three-liners,  five-liners  and  seven-liners,  where  the 
odd  line  is  either  a  repetition  or  a  reason  for  the  idea  expressed  in  the  first  lines.  A  few 
specimens  will  make  this  clear. 

*  Stanley,  Vol.  IT.,  p.  269.  A  different  view  is  presented  and  elaborately  defended  in  the  commentary  of  Kev.  .Tohn 
Miller,  of  Princeton  (New  York,  1872),  who  maintains  that  the  Proverbs,  being  an  inspired  book,  can  have  no  secular,  but 
must  have  throughout  a  spiritual,  meaning.  He  charges  King  James'  version  with  making  the  book  "  hopelessly  secular  in 
many  places  "  (p.  12). 

f  Zwei-eiler,  Vierseiler,  Sechsxeihi;  Achlzeiler.     Commentary  on  Proverbs,  Leipz.,  1873,  pp.  8_sqq. 


xxiv  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 

1.  Single  synonymous  couplets : 

CaAP.  III.  1.        My  son,  forget  not  mj  law: 

And  let  thy  heart  keep  my  commandments. 

12.  Whom  Jehovah  loveth  He  correcteth : 

Even  us  a  father  the  son  in  whom  he  deligbteth. 

13.  Blessed  the  man  who  finds  wisdom :  • 

And  the  man  who  obtains  understanding. 

XI.  25.        The  liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat : 

And  he  that  watereth  shall  himself  be  watered. 

^XVI.  32.        Ho  that  is  slow  to  anger  is  better  than  the  mighty : 

And  he  that  ruleth  his  own  spirit  than  he  who  taketh  a  city. 

2.  Single  antithetic  couplets  ; 

Chap.  x.  1.        A  wise  son  maketh  a  glad  father: 

But  a  foolish  son  is  the  ferief  of  his  mother. 

12.        Hatred  stirreth  up  strifes: 

But  love  covereth  all  sins. 

16.        The  wages  of  the  righteous  is  life :  -  "' 

The  gain  of  the  wicked  is  sin. 

XIII.  9.        The  light  of  the  righteous  shall  be  joyous: 
But  the  lamp  of  the  wicked  shall  go  out. 

25.        He  that  spareth  Iiis  rod  hates  his  son: 

But  he  that  loveth  him  givetb  him  timely  chastisement. 

XVIII.  17.        He  that  is  first  in  his  own  cause  seemeth  right: 
But  his  neighbor  cometh  and  eearcheth  him. 

3.  Single  couplets  wliich  merely  express  a  comparison : 

Chap,  xxvii.  8.        As  a  bird  that  wandereth  from  her  nest, 

So  is  a  man  that  wandereth  from  his  place. 

15.        A  continual  dropping  in  a  very  rainy  day, 
And  a  contentious  woman  are  alike. 

19.        As  in  water  face  answereth  to  face, 
So  the  heart  of  man  to  man. 

4.  Single  couplets  where  the  second  member  completes  the  idea  of  the  first  or  assigns 
a  reason  or  a  qualification : 

Chap.  SVI.  24.        Pleasant  words  nre  as  a  honey-comb, 

Sweet  to  tlie  soul  and  health  to  the  bones, 

31.        The  hoary  head  is  a  crown  of  glory, 

If  it  be  found  in  the  way  of  righteousness. 


6.  Three-liners: 


Chap.  hi.  3.       Let  not  mercy  and  truth  forsake  thee: 
Bind  tbcm  about  thy  neck  ; 
(Synomjnwtis)  Write  them  upon  the  table  of  thine  heart. 

XXVIII.  10.        Whoso  causeth  the  righteous  to  go  astray  in  an  evil  way: 

He  shall  fall  himself  into  his  own  pit, 
(ArM(hetic)  But  the  upright  shall  inherit  good  things. 

xsvii.  10.        Thine  own  friend,  and  thy  father's  friend  forsake  not : 

Neither  pro  into  thy  brother's  in  the  day  of  thy  calamity; 
(Reason)  For  better  is  a  nei^^hbor  near  than  a  brother  afar  off. 


?  8.    DIDACTIC  POETRY. 


6.  Double  couplets  or  four-liners:  xxiii.  15sq.;  xxlv.  3sq.,  28 sq.;  xxx.  5sq.,  17 sq.; 
xxii.  22  sq.,  24  sq.;  xxv.  4sq.  These  are  all  synonymous,  or  synthetic,  or  corroboratory,  but 
there  seems  to  be  no  example  of  an  antithetic  four-liner, 

7.  Five-liners ;  the  last  three  usually  explaining  and  confirming  the  idea  of  the  first  two 
lines:  xxiii.  4 sq.;  xxv.  6  sq.;  xxx.  32sq. 

8.  Triple  couplets  or  six-liners,  which  spin  out  an  idea  with  more  or  less  repetition  or 
confirmations  and  illustrations:  xxiii.  1-3,  12-14,  19-21;  xxiv.  11  sq.;  xxx,  29-31. 

9.  Seven-liners :  xxiii.  6-8.    The  only  specimen  in  the  Proverbs. 

10.  Quadruple  couplets  or  eight-liners :  xxiii.  22-25. 

But  these  four,  six,  and  eight-liners,  so-called,  may  be  easily  resolved  into  two,  three,  or 
four  single  couplets.  Take,  e.  g.,  chap,  xxiii.  12-14,  which  Delitzsch  quotes  as  a  six-liner, 
and  we  have  there  simply  three  couplets  which  carry  out  and  unfold  one  idea,  or  expand  the 
mashal  sentence  into  a  mashal  poem: 

Apply  thy  heart  to  iDStruction  : 

And  tbine  eara  to  the  words  of  knowledge. 
Withhold  not  correction  from  the  child  :  "     . 

For  if  thou  beatest  him  with  a  rod,  he  shall  not  die. 
Thou  shalt  beat  him  with  the  rod, 

And  shalt  deliver  his  soul  from  hell. 

EcCLESiASTES  or  KoHELETH  is  a  philosophic  poem,  not  in  broken,  disconnected 
maxims  of  wisdom,  like  the  Proverbs,  but  in  a  series  of  soliloquies  of  a  soul  perplexed  and 
bewildered  by  doubt,  yet  holding  fast  to  fundamental  truth,  and  looking  from  the  vanities 
beneath  the  sun  to  the  eternal  realities  above  the  sun.  It  is  a  most  remarkable  sjjecimen 
of  Hebrew  scepticism  subdued  and  moderated  by  Hebrew  faith  in  God  and  His  holy  com- 
mandments, in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  judgment  to  come,  the  paramount  value  of 
true  piety.  It  corresponds  to  the  old  age  of  Solomon,  as  the  Song  of  Songs  reflects  the  flowery 
spring  of  his  youth,  and  the  Proverbs  the  ripe  wisdom  of  his  manhood.*  Whether  written 
by  the  great  monarch  or  not  (which  question  is  fully  discussed  on  both  sides  in  this  Com- 
mentary), it  personates  him  (i.  12)  and  gives  the  last  sad  results  of  his  experience  after  a 
long  life  of  unrivalled  wisdom  and  unrivalled  folly,  namely,  the  overwhelming  impression 
of  the  vanity  of  all  things  earthly,  with  the  concluding  lesson  of  the  fear  of  God,  which 
checks  the  tendency  to  despair,  and  is  the  star  of  hope  in  the  darkness  of  midnight.  The 
key-note  is  struck  in  the  opening  lines,  repeated  at  the  close  (xii.  3) : 

O  vanity  of  vanities  !  Koheleth  saith ; 
0  vanity  of  vanities  1  all — vanity  1 

This  is  the  negative  side.    But  the  leading  positive  idea  and  aim  is  expressed  in  the  con- 
cluding words: 

Fear  God  and  keep  His  commandments. 
For  this  is  all  of  man. 

Some  regard  Koheleth  as  an  ethical  treatise  in  prose,  with  regular  logical  divisions.  But 
it  is  full  of  poetic  inspiration,  and  in  part  at  least  also  poetic  in  form,  with  enough  of  rhyth- 
mical parallelism  to  awaken  an  emotional  interest  in  these  sad  soliloquies  and  questionings 
of  the  poet.  Prof.  Tayler  Lewis  (in  his  additions  to  Zockler's  Commentary)  has  translated 
the  poetic  portions  in  Iambic  measure,  with  occasional  use  of  the  Choriambus.  We  trans- 
scribe  two  specimens  from  chap.  vii.  and  chap.  xi. : 

Better  the  honored  name  than  precious  oil ; 
Better  the  day  of  death  than  that  of  being  born. 

*  Tl  is  comparison  was  made  by  Rabbi  Jonathan  on  the  assumption  of  the  Solomonic  atifiorship  of  the  three  works. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


Better  to  visit  I'orr  >w's  liou:5e  tlian  seels  tlie  banquet  hall ; 
Sinco  tbat  (reveals)  tlie  eud  of  every  man, 
And  he  who  lives  should  lay  it  well  to  heart. 

Better  is  giief  tliaa  mirth  ; 
For  in  the  sadness  of  ihe  face  the  heart  becometh  fair. 
The  wise  man's  heart  if  in  the  house  of  mourning  • 
The  fool's  heart  in  the  house  of  mirth. 
Better  to  heed  the  chiding  of  the  wise 

Than  hear  the  sons;  of  fools. 
For  like  the  found  of  thorni  beneath  the  pot, 
So  is  the  railing  laughter  of  the  fool. 

This,  too,  is  vanity. 

Rejoice,  0  youth,  in  childhood  ;  let  thy  heart 

Still  cheer  thee  in  the  day  when  thou  art  strong. 

Go  on  in  every  way  thy  will  shall  choose, 

And  after  every  form  thine  eyes  behold ; 

But  know  that  for  all  this  thy  God  will  thee  to  judgment  bring, 

O,  then,  turn  sorrow  from  thy  soul,  keep  evil  from  thy  flesh; 

For  childhood  and  the  morn  of  life,  thoy,  too,  are  vanity. 

Eemember  thy  Creator,  then,  in  the  days  when  thou  art  young; 

Before  the  evil  da>s  are  come,  before  the  years  draw  nigh ; 

When  thou  slialt  say — delight  in  them  is  gone. 

To  didactic  poetry  belong  also  the  fable  and  the  parable.  Botli  are  allegories  in 
the  style  of  history  ;  both  are  conscious  fictions  for  the  purpose  of  instruction,  and  differ  from 
the  MYTH,  which  is  the  unconscious  product  of  the  religious  imagination.  But  the  fable 
rests  on  admitted  impossibilities  and  introduces  irrational  creatures  to  teach  maxims  of  sec- 
ular prudence  and  lower,  selfish  morality ;  while  the  parable  takes  its  illustrations  from 
real  life,  human  or  animal,  with  its  natural  characteristics,  and  has  a  much  higher  moral 
and  religious  aim.  It  is,  therefore,  far  better  adapted,  as  a  medium  of  instruction,  to  the 
true  religion.  "  The  fable  seizes  on  that  which  man  has  in  common  with  the  creatures  be- 
low him;  the  parable  rests  on  the  truth  that  man  is  made  in  the  image  of  God."  The  for- 
mer is  only  fitted  for  the  instruction  of  youth,  which  does  not  raise  the  question  of  veracity ; 
the  latter  is  suited  to  all  ages. 

There  are  no  fables  in  the  New  Testament,  apd  only  two  in  the  Old,  viz.,  the  fable  of 
Jotham :  the  trees  choosing  their  king,  Judges  ix.  8-15,  and  the  fable  of  Jehoash  :  the  cedars 
of  Lebanon  and  the  thistle,  2  Kings  xiv.  9,  and  2  Chr.  sxv.  18.  The  riddle  (parable)  of 
Ezekiel  xvii.  1-10  introduces  two  eagles  as  representatives  of  human  characters,  but  without 
ascribing  to  them  human  attributes. 

The  parable  occurs  2  Sam.  xii.  1  (the  poor  man's  ewe  lamb),  Isa.  v.  1  (the  vineyard 
yielding  wild  grapes),  also  1  Kings  xx.  39;  xxii.  19  It  was  cultivated  by  Hillel,  Shammai 
and  other  Jewish  rabbis,  and  appears  frequently  in  the  Gemara  and  Midrash.  It  is  found 
in  its  perfection  in  the  Gospels.  The  parables  of  our  Lord  illustrate  the  various  aspects 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  (as  those  in  the  Synoptical  Gospels),  or  the  personal  relation 
of  Christ  to  His  disciples  (as  the  parable  of  the  good  shepherd,  and  that  of  the  vine  and  the 
branches,  in  the  Gospell  of  John).  They  conceal  and  reveal  the  profoundest  ideas  in  the 
simplest  and  most  lucid  language.  They  are  at  once  pure  truth  and  pure  poetry.  Every 
trait  is  intrinsically  possible  and  borrowed  from  nature  and  human  life,  and  yet  the  compo- 
sition of  the  whole  is  the  product  of  the  imagination.  The  art  of  illustrative  teaching 
in  parables  never  rose  so  high  before  or  since,  nor  can  it  ever  rise  higher.* 

?  9.     PBOPHETIC   POETRY. 

This  is  peculiar  to  the  Bible  and  to  the  religion  of  revelation.  Heathen  nations  had 
their  divinations  and  oracles,  but  no  divinely  inspired  prophecy.    Man  may  have  forebodings 

*  Ewiild  (p.  54)  says  of  the  parables  of  Christ:  "  Was  liter  aus  der  Menscliemcelt  erscihlt  wird,  ist  voUknmmen  wahr,  d.  i. 
den  iiienfchlichen  Verhaltnis/ten  voUknmmen  entxprecheiid,  sodass  heiner  der  es  hurt  an  seinem  Lanein  zeweifeln  I:ann,  mid  isl  den- 
noch  nxr  Bild,  nur  Lehre,  und  nicht  anders  gemeiut.  Aber  mil  der  hocliMen  Wahrheit  der  Schildenmg  dieses  menschlichen  Lebens 
verbindel  sich  liter  Hire  hoohsfe  Eittfalt,  Lieblichkeil  mid  Vollendiing,  nni  ihr  den  tanriderstehUchstett  Zauber  zugeheii." 


?  9.    PROPHETIC  POETRY. 


of  the  future,  and  may  conjecture  what  may  come  to  pass  under  certain  conditions ;  but  God 
only  knows  the  future,  and  he  to  whom  He  chooses  to  reveal  it. 

Prophecy  is  closely  allied  to  poetry.  The  prophet  sees  the  future  as  a  picture  Avith  the 
spiritual  eye  enlightened  by  the  Divine. mind,  and  describes  it  mostly  in  more  or  less  poetic 
form.  Prophetic  poetry  combines  a  didactic  and  an  epic  element.*  It  rouses  the  conscience, 
enforces  the  law  of  God,  and  holds  up  the  history  of  the  future,  the  approaching  judgments 
and  mercies  of  God  for  instruction,  reproof,  comfort  and  encouragement.  Prophecy  is  too 
elevated  to  descend  to  ordinary  prose,  and  yet  too  practical  to  bind  itself  to  strict  rules. 
Ezekiel  and  Daniel,  like  St.  John  in  the  Apocalypse,  use  prose,  but  a  prose  that  has  all 
the  effect  of  poetry.  The  other  prophets  employ  prose  in  the  narrative  and  introduc- 
tory sections,  but  a  rhythmical  flow  of  diction  in  the  prophecies  proper,  with  divisions  of 
clauses  and  stanzas,  and  rise  often  to  the  highest  majesty  and  power.  The  sublime  prayer 
of  Habakkuk  (ch.  iii.)  is  a  lyric  poem  and  might  as  well  have  a  place  in  the  Psalter. 

The  greatest  poet  among  the  prophets  is  Isaiah.  He  gathers  up  all  the  past  prophecies 
to  send  tbem  enriched  into  the  future,  and  combines  the  deepest  prophetic  inspiration  with 
the  sublimest  and  sweetest  poetry. f 

The  earliest  specimens  of  prophetic  poetry  are  the  prediction  of  Noah,  Gen.  ix.  25-27, 
the  blessing  of  Jacob,  Gen.  xlix.,  the  prophecies  of  Balaam,  Numb,  xxiv.,  and  the  farewell 
blessing  of  the  twelve  tribes  by  Moses,  Deut.  xxxiii.  The  golden  age  of  prophetic  poetry 
began  with  the  decline  of  lyric  poetry,  and  continued  till  the  extinction  of  prophecy,  warn- 
ing the  people  of  the  approaching  judgments  of  Jehovah,  and  comforting  them  in  the  midst 
of  their  calamities  with  His  promise  of  a  brighter  future  when  the  Messiah  shall  come  to 
redeem  His  people  and  to  bless  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

We  select  one  of  the  oldest  specimens,  a  part  of  the  remarkable  prophecy  of  Balaam 
concerning  Israel,  which  has  a  melodious  lyrical  flow  (Num.  xxiv.  4-10,  17-19)  : 

He  saith  who  heareth  the  words  of  God, 
Who  seeth  the  vision  of  the  Almighty, 
Falling  down,  and  having  his  eyes  opened : 

How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  0  Jacob, 

Thy  tabernacl'^s,  0  Israel ! 
As  the  valleys  are  t^iey  spread  forth. 

As  gardens  by  the  river  side, 
As  lign  aloes  which  the  Lord  hath  planted. 

As  cedar  trees  beside  the  waters. 

He  shall  flow  with  water  from  his  buckets. 

And  his  seed  shall  be  in  many  waters, 
And  his  king  shall  be  higher  than  Agag, 

And  his  kingdom  shall  be  exalted. 
God  bringeth  him  forth  out  of  Egypt; 

He  hath  as  it  were  the  strength  of  a  buffalo : 
He  shall  eat  up  the  nations  his  enemies. 

And  shall  break  their  bones  in  pieces. 

And  smite  them  through  with  his  arrows. 

He  couched,  he  lay  down  as  a  lion, 

And  as  a  lioness ;  who  shall  slir  him  up? 
Blessed  is  he  that  blesseth  thee. 

And  cursed  is  he  that  curseth  thee. 


*  Ewald  treats  prophecy  as  a  part  of  didactic  poetry.  "  Ein  reiiier  Dickie);"  he  says  (p.  51),  "iVn  wspriingUchslen  Sinne 
des  Wnrles  ist  der  Proxihel  nicht :  was  er  ausKpricht,  soil  von  vorne  an  hestimmend,  vorschreibcnd,  beleltrend  avf  Andere  wirken. 
Aher  sein  Wort  icill  von  der  Begeisterunff  Fliigeln  getragen  von  ohen  herab  Ireffen,  und  muss  so  von  vnrn  an  erliaben  in  gleicher 
Hiihe  sich  bis  zum  Ende  hallen.  .  .  .  So  drtlugt  sick  denn  dem  Propheten  die  Idngst  gegebene  Dichterweise  umoiUkiihrlich  auf,  iihn- 
liihhebt  und  senkl  sick  bei  ihm  der  Strom  der  Kede,  nur  der  Gesang  fdlllvor  der  ungewUhnlichen  UUheund  dem  Emste  seiner 
Wurte  leicht  von  selbsi  iceg." 

f  Comp.  the  eloquent  de-cription  of  Isaiah  by  Ewald  in  his  Die  Propheten  des  Alten  Bimdcs,  Stuttg.  1840,  vol.  I.,  p.  166. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


There  sh:iU  come  lortb  a  Star  out  of  Jacob, 

Aad  a  Sceptre  shall  rise  out  of  Israel 
Anl  shall  smite  through  the  corners  of  Moab, 

And  break  down  all  the  sous  of  tumult. 
And  Edom  shall  be  a  possession, 

Anl  Seir  shall  be  a  possession,  his  enemies ; 

Whild  Israel  doeth  valiantly. 
,  -  And  out  of  Jacob  sliall  he  have  dominion. 

And  shall  destroy  the  remnant  from  the  city. 

The  nearest  approacli  which  the  prophecy  of  the  Old  Testament  several  hundred  years 
before  Christ  made  to  the  very  heart  of  the  gospel  salvation,  is  in  the  fifty-third  chapter  of 
Isaiah : 

■Who  hath  believed  our  report  ? 

And  to  whom  is  the  arm  of  the  Lord  revealed  ? 
For  He  shall  grow  up  before  Him  as  a  tender  plant, 

And  as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground  : 
He  hath  no  form  nor  comeliness  ;  and  when  we  shall  see  Him, 

There  is  no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  Him. 
He  is  despised  and  rejected  by  men  ; 

A  Man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief: 
And  we  hid  as  it  were  our  faces  from  Him, 

He  was  despised  and  we  esteemed  Him  not. 

Surely  He  hath  borne  our  griefs, 

And  carried  our  sorrows : 
Tet  we  did  esteem  Him  stricken, 

Smitten  of  God  and  afflicted. 
But  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions, 

He  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities. 
The  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  Him; 

And  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed. 
All  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray; 

We  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way  ; 

And  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  Him  the  iniquity  of  us  alL 

He  was  oppressed,  and  He  was  afflicted, 

Yet  He  opened  not  His  mouth  : 
He  is  brought  as  a  Lamb  to  the  slaughter. 

And  as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb. 

So  He  openeth  not  His  mouth. 
He  was  taken  from  prison  and  from  judgment: 

And  who  shall  declare  his  generation  1  ' 

For  He  was  cut  off  out  of  the  land  of  the  living: 

For  the  transgression  of  my  people  was  He  stricken. 
And  He  made  His  grave  with  the  wicked. 

And  with  the  rich  in  His  death  ; 
Because  He  had  done  no  violence, 

Neither  was  any  deceit  in  His  mouth  : 
Yet  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  Him  ; 

He  hath  put  Him  to  grief. 

When  Thou  shalt  make  His  soul  an  offering  for  sin, 

He  shall  see  Ills  seed,  He  shall  prolong  His  days. 
And  the  plaasure  of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in  His  hand. 

He  shall  see  the  travail  of  His  soul,  and  bo  satisfied. 
By  llii  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  servant  justify  many; 

For  He  shall  bear  tht-ir  iniquities. 
Therefore  will  I  divide  Him,  a  portion  with  the  great, 

And  He  shall  divide  the  spoil  with  the  strong ; 
Because  He  hath  poured  out  His  soul  unto  death: 

And  He  was  numbered  with  the  transgrtssors; 
And  He  bare  the  sin  of  many, 

And  made  intercession  for  the  transgressors. 

I  10.     DRAMATIC  POETRY. 

If  we  start  with  the  Greek  conception  of  the  drama,  there  is  none  in  the  Bible.     But  if 
we  take  the  word  in  a  wider  sense,  and  apply  it  to  lengthy  poetic  compositions,  unfolding  an 


§  10.    DRAMATIC  POETRY. 


action  and  introducing  a  number  of  speakers  or  actors,  we  have  two  dramas  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. The  Song  of  Solomon  is  a  lyric  drama  or  melo-drama ;  the  Book  of  Job,  a  didactic 
drama. 

The  best  judges  of  different  ages  and  churches,  as  Gregory  of  Nazianzen,  Bossuet,  Lowth, 
Ewald,  Reuan,  Stanley,  recognize  the  dramatic  element  in  these  two  jjoems,  and  some  have 
even  gone  so  far  as  to  suppose  that  both,  or  at  least  the  Canticles,  were  really  intended  for 
the  stage.*  But  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  of  a  theatre  in  the  history  of  Israel  before  the 
age  of  Herod,  who  introduced  foreign  customs;  as  there  is  none  at  the  i)resent  day  in  the 
Holy  Land,  and  scarcely  among  the  Mohammedan  Arabs,  unless  we  regard  the  single  reciters 
of  romances  (always  men  or  boys)  with  their  changing  voice  and  gestures  as  dramatic  actors. 
The  modern  attempts  to  introduce  theatres  in  Beirut  and  Algeria  have  signally  failed. 

1.  The  Canticles  presents  the  Hebrew  ideal  of  jmre  bridal  and  conjugal  love  in  a  series 
of  monologues  and  dialogues  by  different  persons:  a  lover,  king  Solomon  (Shelomoh,  the 
Peaceful),  a  maiden  named  Shulamith,  and  a  chorus  of  virgins,  daughters  of  Jerusalem. 
There  are  no  breaks  or  titles  to  indicate  the  change  of  scene  or  speakers,  and  they  can  be 
recognized  only  from  the  sense  and  the  change  of  gender  and  number  in  the  personal  pro- 
noun. The  English  version  is  much  obscured  by  a  neglect  of  the  distinction  of  feminine  and 
masculine  pronouns  in  the  Hebrew. 

The  poem  is  full  of  the  fragrance  of  spring,  the  beauty  of  flowers,  and  the  liveliness  of 
love.  How  sweet  and  charming  is  Solomon's  description  of  spring,  ch.  ii.  10-14,  which  a 
German  poet  calls  "  a  kiss  of  heaven  to  earth." 

Bise  lip,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  go  forth  I 

For,  lo,  the  winter  13  past, 

The  rain  is  over,  is  gone. 

The  flowers  appear  on  the  earth, 

The  time  for  the  singing  of  birds  is  come, 

And  the  voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land. 

The  flg-tree  spices  its  green  figs. 

And  the  vines  with  tender  blossoms  give  fragrance. 

Arise,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  go  forth  1 

My  dove,  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock, 

In  the  recess  of  the  cliffs, 

Let  me  see  thy  countenance, 

Let  me  hear  thy  voice  ; 

For  thy  voice  is  sweet, 

And  thy  countenance  is  comely. 

The  Song  of  Solomon  canonizes  the  love  of  nature,  and  the  love  of  sex,  as  the  Book  of 
Esther  (where  the  name  of  God  never  occurs)  canonizes  patriotism  or  the  love  of  country. 
It  gives  a  place  in  the  Book  of  God  to  the  noblest  and  strongest  passion  which  the  Creator 
has  planted  in  man,  before  the  fall,  and  which  reflects  His  own  infinite  love  to  His  crea- 
tures, and  the  love  of  Christ  to  His  Church.  Procul  abeste  profani !  The  very  depth  of 
perversion  to  which  the  passion  of  love  can  be  degraded,  only  reveals  the  height  of  its  origin 
and  destiny.  Love  in  its  primal  purity  is  a  "blaze"  or  "lightning  flash  from  Jehovah" 
(Shalhebeth-Jah,  ch.  viii.  6),  and  stronger  than  death,  and  as  it  proceeds  from  God  so  it  re- 
turns to  Him  ;  for  "  God  is  love ;  and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love,  dwelleth  in  God,  and  God  in 
him  "  (1  John  iv.  16).t 

*  Ewald  {Die  THrhter  des  A.  B.,  I.  72  aqq.)  asserts  very  positively,  but  without  proof,  that  dramas  were  enacted  on  the 
great  festivals,  and  at  the  courts  of  David  und  Solomon.  lie  calls  the  Canticles  "  the  purest  model  of  a  comedy  (Lustupiel)'"  ; 
Job,  "  a  genuine  tngedy  (Tr<mer/>piel)."  He  admits,  however,  that  in  no  case  could  God  (who  is  one  of  the  actors  in  Job) 
have  been  introduced  on  a  Jewish  stage,  like  the  gods  in  the  Greek  dramas.  Renan  (Le  Cantiqw.  des  Cantiques)  denies  the 
existence  of  public  theatres  among  the  Hebrews,  owing  to  the  absence  of  a  compllcsted  mythology  which  stimulated  the 
development  of  tbe  drama  among  the  Hindoos  and  Greeks,  but  maintains  that  tbe  Song  of  Songs,  being  a  dramatic  poem, 
must  have  been  represented  in  private  families  at  marriage  feasts. 

t  That  most  pure  and  godly  German  bymnist  Tersteegen,  in  his  sweet  hymn  :  "  IcJi  bete  an  die  Macht  der  Liebe"  traces 
all  true  love  to  Christ  as  the  fountain-head,  in  these  beautiful  lines  : 

Ehr'  sei  dem  hohen  Jesiisnamen, 

In  dem  der  lAehe  QiieU  ent^pringt. 
Von  dem  hnr  alh  B'dchhin  kamen, 
Aus  dem  der  Sel'gen  Sckaur  dorl  trinkl. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


A3  to  the  artistic  arrangement  or  the  number  of  acts  and  cantos  in  each  act  of  this  melo- 
drama of  Love  there  is  considerable  difference  among  commentators.  Some  divide  it  into 
five  acts,  according  to  the  usual  arrangement  of  dramas  (Ewald,  Bottcher,  Zdckler,  Moody 
Stuart,  Davidson,  Ginsburg),  some  into  six  (Delitzsch,  Hahn),  some  into  seven,  correspond- 
ing to  the  seven  days  of  the  Jewish  marriage  festival  for  which  the  successive  portions  of  the 
poem  are  supposed  to  have  been  intended  to  be  sung  (Bossuet,  Percy,  Williams).  Ewald 
subdivides  the  five  acts  into  thirteen,  Renan  into  sixteen,  others  into  more  or  less  cantos.  On 
the  other  hand  Thrupp  and  Green  give  up  the  idea  of  a  formal  artistic  construction,  such  as 
the  Indo-European  conception  of  a  drama  would  require,  and  substitute  for  it  a  looser  me- 
thod of  arrangement  or  aggregation  with  abrupt  transitions  and  sudden  changes  of  scene. 
All  the  parts  are  variations  of  the  same  theme,  "  the  love  of  king  Solomon  and  his  bride,  the 
image  of  a  divine  and  spiritual  love."  Those  who  regard  the  poem  as  an  idyl  rather  tnan  a 
drama  (Sir  William  Jones,  Good,  Fry,  Noyes,  Herbst,  Heiligstedt)  divide  it  into  a  series  of 
songs,  but  likewise  differ  as  to  the  number  and  the  pauses. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  entqr  into  the  wilderness  of  interpretations  of  this  wonderful  and 
much  abused  Song,  which  are  fully  discussed  in  this  Commentary  by  Drs.  Zockler  and  Green. 
But  I  must  protest  against  the  profane,  or  exclusively  erotic  interpretation  which  in  various 
contradictory  shapes  has  of  late  become  so  fashionable  among  scholars,  and  which  makes  the 
position  of  this  book  in  the  cano"n  an  inexplicable  enigma.  I  add  the  judicious  remarks 
of  Dr.  Angus  on  the  subject.*  "  Much  of  the  language  of  this  poem  has  been  misunderstood 
by  early  expositors.  Some  have  erred  by  adopting  a  fanciful  method  of  explanation,  and 
attempting  to  give  a  mystical  meaning  to  every  minute  circumstance  of  the  allegory.  In  all 
figurative  representations  there  is  always  much  that  is  mere  costume.  It  is  the  general  truth 
only  that  is  to  be  examined  and  explained.  Others,  not  understanding  the  spirit  and  luxu- 
riancy  of  eastern  poetry,  have  considered  particular  passages  as  defective  in  delicacy,  an  im- 
pression which  the  English  version  has  needlessly  confirmed,  and  so  have  objected  to  the 
whole,  though  the  objection  does  not  apply  with  greater  force  to  this  book  than  to  Hesiod 
and  Homer,  or  even  to  some  of  the  purest  of  our  own  authors.  If  it  be  remembered,  that  the 
figure  employed  in  this  allegory  is  one  of  the  most  frequent  in  Scripture,  that  in  extant  ori- 
ental poems  it  is  constantly  employed  to  express  religious  feeling,  that  many  expressions 
which  are  applied  in  our  translation  to  the  person,  belong  properly  to  the  dress,  that  every 
generation  has  its  own  notions  of  delicacy  (the  most  delicate  in  this  sense  being  by  no  means 
the  most  virtuous),  that  nothing  is  described  but  chaste  affection,  that  Shulamith  speaks  and 
is  spoken  of  collectively,  and  that  it  is  the  general  truth  only  which  is  to  be  allegorized,  the 
whole  will  appear  to  be  no  unfit  representation  of  the  union  between  Christ  and  true  believers 
in  every  age.  Properly  understood,  this  portion  of  Scripture  will  minister  to  our  holiness. 
It  may  be  added,  however,  that  it  was  the  practice  of  the  Jews  to  withhold  the  book  from 
their  children  till  their  judgments  were  matured."  The  most  recent  commentator,  too,  justly 
remarks  rf  "  Shall  we  then  regard  it  a^  a  mere  fancy,  which  for  so  many  ages  past  has  been 
wont  (0  find  in  the  pictures  and  melodies  of  the  Song  of  Songs  types  and  echoes  of  the  act- 
ings and  emotions  of  the  highest  Love,  of  Love  Divine,  in  its  relations  to  Humanity ;  which, 
if  dimly  discerned  through  their  aid  by  the  Synagogue,  have  been  amply  revealed  in  the 
gospel  to  the  Church  ?  Shall  we  not  still  claim  to  trace  in  the  noble  and  gentle  history  thus 
presented  foreshadowings  of  the  infinite  condescensions  of  Incarnate  Love  ?  —that  Love  which, 
first  stooping  in  human  form  to  visit  us  in  our  low  estate  in  order  to  seek  out  and  win  its 
object  (Ps.  cxxxvi.  23).  and  then  raising  along  with  itself  a  sanctified  Humanity  to  the  Hea- 
venly Places  (Epb.  ii.  6),  is  finally  awaiting  there  an  invitation  from  the  mystic  Bride,  to 
return  to  earth  onc^  more  and  seal  tlie  union  for  eternity  (Rev.  xxii.  17)  ?  ' 

2.  The  Book  of  Job  is  a  didactic  drama,  with  an  epic  introduction  and  close.  The  pro- 
logue (chs.  i.  and  ii.)  and  the  epilogue  (ch  xlii.  7-17)  are  written  in  plain  prose,  the  body  of 
the  poem  in  poetry.     It  has  been  called  the  Hebrew  tragedy,  but  differing  from  other  trage- 


*  Bihle  JTandbonlt,  Lonfl.  ed.,  p.  41t. 

t  Kingsbury,  in  t  e  "Speaker's  Commentiry  "  (vol.  IV.,  p.  G73). 


§  10.    DRAMATIC  POETRY. 


dies  by  its  happy  termination.  We  better  call  it  a  dramatic  theodicy.  It  wrestles  with  the 
perplexing  problem  of  ages,  viz.,  the  true  meaning  and  object  of  evil  and  suffering  in  the 
world  under  the  government  of  a  holy,  Avise  and  merciful  God.  The  dramatic  form  shows 
itself  in  the  symmetrical  arrangement,  the  introduction  of  several  speakers,  the  action,  or 
rather  the  suffering  of  the  hero,  the  growing  passion  and  conflict,  the  secret  crime  ^supposed 
to  underlie  his  misfortune,  and  the  awful  mystery  in  the  background.  But  there  is  little 
external  action  [Spd/xa]  in  it,  and  this  is  almost  confined  to  the  prologue  and  epilogue.  In- 
stead of  it  we  have  here  an  intellectual  battle  of  the  deepest  moral  import,  mind  grajipling 
with  mind  on  the  most  serious  problems  which  can  challenge  our  attention.  The  outward 
drapery  only  h  dramatic,  the  soul  and  substance  of  the  poem  is  didactic,  with  all  the  Hebrew 
ideas  of  Divine  Providence,  which  differ  from  the  Greek  notion  of  blind  Fate  as  the  light  of 
day  differs  from  midnight.     It  is  intended  for  the  study,  not  for  the  stage.* 

The  book  opens,  like  a  Greek  drama,  with  a  prologue,  which  introduces  the  reader  into 
the  situation,  and  makes  him  acquainted  with  the  character,  the  prosperous  condition,  the 
terrible  misfortunes,  and  the  exemplary  patience  of  the  hero.  Even  God,  and  His  great  an- 
tagonist, Satan,  who  appears,  however,  in  heaven  as  a  servant  of  God,  are  drawn  into  the 
scenery,  and  a  previous  arrangement  in  the  Divine  counsel  precedes  and  determines  the  sub- 
sequent transaction.  History  on  earth  is  thus  viewed  as  an  execution  of  the  decrees  of  hea- 
ven, and  as  controlled  throughout  by  supernatural  forces.  But  we  have  here  the  unsearch- 
able wisdom  of  the  Almighty  Maker  and  Euler  of  men,  not  the  dark  impersonal  Fate  of  the 
heathen  tragedy.  This  grand  feature  of  Job  has  been  admirably  imitated  by  Gothe  in  the 
prologue  of  his  Faust.. 

The  action  itself  commences  after  seven  days  and  seven  nights  of  most  eloquent  silence. 
The  grief  over  the  misfortunes  which,  like  a  succession  of  whirhvinds,  had  suddenly  hurled 
the  patriarchal  prince  from  the  summit  of  prosperity  to  the  lowest  depths  of  misery,  culmi- 
nating in  the  most  loathsome  disease,  and  intensified  by  the  heartless  sneers  of  his  wife,  at 
last  bursts  forth  in  a  passionate  monologue  of  Jnb,  cursing  the  day  of  his  birth.  Then  fol- 
lows the  metaphysical  conflict  with  his  friends,  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and  Zophar,  who  now  turn 
to  enemies,  and  "miserable  comforters,"  "forgers  of  lies,  and  botchers  of  vanities."  The 
debate  has  three  acts,  with  an  increasing  entanglement,  and  every  act  consists  of  three  as- 
saults of  the  false  friends,  and  as  many  defences  of  Job  (with  the  exception  that  in  the  third 
and  last  battle  Zophar  retires  and  Job  alone  speaks).!  The  poem  reaches  its  height  in  the 
triumphant  assertion  of  faith  in  his  Redee'mer  (ch.  xix.  25-27),  by  which  "  the  patriarch  of 
Uz  rises  to  a  level  with  the  patriarch  of  Ur  as  a  pattern  of  faith."  J  After  a  closing  monologue 
of  Job,  expressing  fully  his  feelings  and  thoughts  in  view  of  ihe  past  controversy,  the  youthful 
Elihu,  who  had  silently  listened,  comes  for\vard,  and  in  three  speeches  administered  deserved  re- 
buke to  both  parties  with  as  little  mercy  for  Job  as  for  his  friends,  but  with  a  better  philosophy 
of  suffering,  whose  object  he  represents  to  be  correction  and  reformation,  the  reproof  of  arro- 
gance and  the  exercise  of  humilitj''  and  faith.  He  begins  the  disentanglement  of  the  problem 
and  makes  the  transition  to  the  final  decision.  At  last  God  Himself,  to  whom  Job  had  ap- 
pealed, appears  as  the  Judge  of  the  controversy,  and  Job  humbly  submits  to  His  infinite 
power  and  wisdom,  and  penitently  confesses  his  sin  and  folly.  This  is  the  internal  solution 
of  the  mighty  problem,  if  solution  it  can  be  called. 

A  brief  epilogue  relates  the  historical  issue,  the  restoration  and  increased  prosperity  of 
Job  after  this  severest  trial  of  his  faith,  and  patient  submission  to  God. 

To  the  external  order  corresponds  the  internal  dialectic  development  in  the  warlike  mo- 
tion of  conflicting  sentiments  and  growing  passions.     The  first  act  of  the  debate  shows  yet  a 

*  W.  A.  Wrigtit  (in  W.  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Ihe  Bible,  III.  2553)  says  of  the  Book  of  Job  :  "  Inasmuch  as  it  repr  spnts 
an  action  and  a  prosress,  it  is  a  drama  as  truly  and  really  as  any  poem  can  lie  which  develops  the  working  of  pission  and 
the  a'ternations  of  fiitb,  hope,  distrust,  triumphant  confidence,  and  black  despa'r,  in  the  struggle  which  it  depicts  the  hu- 
man mind  as  engaged  in,  while  attempting  to  ?olve  one  of  the  m  'St  intricate  problems  it  cau  be  called  upon  to  regard.  It 
!■<  a  drama  as  lifn  is  a  dnima,  the  most  powerful  of  all  tragedies ;  but  that  it  is  a  dramatic  po'ni  intended  to  be  r  jirese  t  d 
upon  the  stage,  or  capable  of  being  so  repre  ented,  may  be  confidently  deuijd." 

t  The  significance  of  the  ruling  nnmbor  three  rcmiuds  one  of  the  trilogies  in  Dint  's  D'riun  Cniwd'a. 

J  See  a  fine  exposition  of  thi  <  passage  in  Dr.  Green's  Argument  of  (7ie  Bock  of  J  ,h  I'nfold  il,  New  York,  1ST4,  pp.  181  siq. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


tolerable  amount  of  friendly  feeling  on  both  sides.  In  the  second  the  passion  is  much  in- 
creased, and  the  charges  of  the  opponents  against  Job  made  severer.  In  the  last  debate 
Eliphaz,  the  leader  of  the  rest,  proceeds  to  the  open  accusation  of  heavy  crimes  against  the 
sufferer  with  an  admonition  to  repent  and  to  convert  himself  to  God.  Job,  after  repeated 
declarations  of  his  innocence  and  vain  attempts  at  convincing  his  opponents,  appeals  at  last 
to  God  as  his  Judge.  God  appears,  convinces  him,  by  several  questions  on  the  mysteries  of 
nature,  of  his  ignorance,  and  brings  him  to  complete  submission  under  the  infinite  power 
and  wisdom  of  the  Almighty,  chap.  xlii.  2-6. 

I  know  that  Thou  canst  do  all  things  ; 

And  no  thought  can  be  withheld  from  Thee. 

Who  is  this  that  hideth  counsel  without  knowledge? 

I  have  then  uttered  what  I  understand  not. 

But  hear  me  now,  and  let  me  speak ; 

Thee  will  I  ask,  and  do  Thou  teach  me. 

I  have  heard  of  Thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear ; 

But  now  mine  eyes  behold  Thee. 

Therefore  I  abhor  it  (I  recant),* 

And  repent  in  dust  and  ashes. 

The  Book  of  Job,  considering  its  antiquity  and  artistic  perfection,  rises  like  a  pyramid 
in  the  history  of  literature,  without  a  predecessor  and  without  a  rival. 

^  11.     POETIC  DICTION. 

The  language  of  Hebrew  as  well  as  of  all  other  poetry,  is,  in  one  respect,  more  free,  in 
other  respects  more  bound,  than  the  language  of  prose.  It  is  the  language  of  imagination 
and  feeling,  as  distinct  from  the  language  of  sober  reflection  and  judgment.  It  is  controlled 
by  the  idea  of  beauty  and  harmony.  It  is  the  speech  of  the  Sabbath-day.  It  soars  above 
what  is  ordinary  and  common.  It  is  vivid,  copious,  elevated,  sonorous,  striking,  impressive. 
To  this  end  the  poet  has  more  license  than  the  prose-writer ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  im- 
poses on  him  certain  restraints  of  versification  to  secure  greater  aesthetic  effect.  He  is  per- 
mitted to  use  words  which  are  uncommon  or  obsolete,  but  which,  for  this  very  reason,  strike 
the  attention  and  excite  the  emotion.  He  may  also  use  ordinary  words  in  an  extraordinary 
sense.     The  licenses  of  the  Hebrew  poets  are  found  in  the  following  particulars : 

1.  Archaic  forms  and  peculiar  words,  some  of  Aramaic  or  even  a  prior  Shemitic  dialect: 
Eloah  for  Elohim  (God),  enosh  for  adam  (man),  orach  for  derech  (path),  havah  for  haiah  (to 
be),  millah  for  dabar  (word),  paal  for  asah  (to  do),  katal  for  razah  (to  kill).  Sometimes  they 
are  accumulated  for  poetic  effect.f 

2.  Common  words  in  an  uncommon  sense:  Joseph  for  the  nation  of  Israel;  adjectives 
for  substantive  objects,  as  'the  hot'  for  the  sun,  'the  white'  for  the  moon  (Cant.  vi.  10), 
'thestro7ig'  for  a  bull  (Ps.  1.  13),  'the  flowing'  for  streams  (Isa.  xliv.  3). 

3.  Peculiar  grammatical  forms,  or  additional  syllables,  which  give  the  word  more  sound 
and  harmony,  or  an  air  of  antiquity ;  as  the  paragogic  ah  (H  ^)  affixed  to  nouns  in  the  abso- 
lute state,  0  0-),  and  i  {'-)  affixed  to  nouns  in  the  construct  state;  the  feminine  termina- 
tion aih  (for  the  ordinary  ah) ;  the  plural  ending  in  and  ai  (for  im) ;  the  verbal  suffixes  mo, 
amo,  and  emo ;  the  pronominal  suffixes  to  nouns  and  prepositions— amo  (for  am),  and  ehic 
(for  an) ;  also  lengthened  vowel  forms  of  pronouns  and  prepositions— ^a?«o  (for  lo  or  laheni), 
lemo  (for  ^7),  bemo  (for  3),  Iccmo  (for  2),  elch  (for  Sx),  adai  (for  i;!). 


*  DX'3X  (from  DKO  to  reject,  to  despise,  to  abhor),  without  the  pronominal  object,  which  is  either  the  person  of  Job 
(Sept.  eyiavTov;  Vulg.  me;  E.  V.,  mys'lf ;  Luther, micfc),  or  his  argument,  his  foolish  wisdom  (Aben  Ezra:  qnicqnid  antea  in  te 
sum  lemcre  loqmitux  c I  imperite).  Ewald  translates  indefinitely  :  Dnim  widerrufi  ich  und  iibe  lieue ;  Similarly  Zockler :  Dariim 
irlderriife  ich  und  time  Biisne. 

t  So  in  the  highly  poetic  Ps.  viii.  8  we  have  zoiieh  (sheep)  for  the  prosaic  "jxisf ,  nhtpldm  (oxen)  for  nj^;3,  sadai  (field)  for 
mil',  and  bahamoth  sadai  (beasts  of  the  field)  instead  of  inNH  D'^r\- 

V  T  V  T  T  -  - 


5  12.    VEHSIFICATION.     PARALLELISM  OF  MEMBERS. 


§12.     VERSIFICATION.       PARALLELISM   OF   MEMBERS. 

Hebrew  poetry  has  a  certain  rhythmical  flow,  a  rise  and  fall  {arsis  and  thesis),  versicular 
and  strophic  divisions,  also  occasional  alliterations  and  rhymes,  and  especially  a  correspond- 
ence of  clauses  called  parallelism,  but  no  regular  system  of  versification,  as  we  understand  it. 
It  is  not  fettered  by  mechanical  and  uniform  laws,  it  does  not  rest  on  quantity  or  syllabic 
measure,  there  is  no  equal  number  of  syllables  in  each  line  or  verse,  nor  of  lines  in  each 
stanza  or  strophe.  It  is  a  poetry  of  sense  rather  than  sound,  and  the  thought  is  lord  over 
the  outward  form.  It  differs  in  this  respect  from  classical,  modern,  and  also  from  later  He- 
brew poetry.* 

This  freedom  and  elasticity  of  Hebrew  poetry  gives  it,  for  purposes  of  translation,  a  great 
advantage  above  ancient  and  modern  poetry,  and  subserves  the  universal  mission  of  the 
Bible,  as  the  book  of  faith  and  spiritual  life  for  all  nations  and  in  all  languages.  A  more  ar- 
tificial and  symmetrical  structure  would  make  a  translation  a  most  difficult  task,  and  either 
render  it  dull  and  prosy,  by  a  faithful  adherence  to  the  sense,  or  too  free  and  loose,  by  an 
imitation  of  the  artistic  form.  Besides  it  would  introduce  confusion  among  the  translations 
of  different  Christian  nations.  The  Iliad  of  Homer,  the  Odes  of  Horace,  Dante's  Divina 
Comedia,  Petrarca's  Sonnets,  Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  Gothe's  Faust,  could  not  be  translated 
in  prose  without  losing  their  poetic  charm,  yea,  their  very  soul.  They  must  be  freely 
reproduced  in  poetic  form,  and  this  can  only  be  done  by  a  poetic  genius,  and  with  more  or 
less  departure  from  the  original.  But  the  Psalms,  the  Book  of  Job,  and  Isaiah  can  be  trans- 
ferred by  a  good  and  devout  scholar,  in  form  as  well  as  in  substance,  into  any  language, 
without  sacrificing  their  beauty,  sublimity,  force,  and  rhythm.  The  Latin,  English,  and 
German  Psalters  are  as  poetic  as  the  Hebrew,  and  yet  agree  with  it  and  among  themselves. 
It  is  impossible  not  to  see  here  the  hand  of  Providence,  which  made  the  word  of  truth  acces- 
sible to  all. 

The  few  acrostic  or  alphabetical  poems  can  hardly  be  called  an  exception,  viz.,  Pss.  xxv., 
xxxiv.,  xxxvii.,  cxi.,  cxii.,  cxix.  and  cxlv.,  the  Lamentations,  and  the  last  chapter  of  Proverbs 
(xxxi.  10  sqq.).  For  the  alphabetical  order  is  purely  external  and  mechanical,  and  at  best 
only  an  aid  to  the  memory.  Pss.  cxi.  and  cxii.  are  the  simplest  examples  of  this  class;  each 
contains  twenty-two  lines,  according  to  the  number  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet,  and  the  succes- 
sive lines  begin  with  the  letters  in  their  regular  order.  Ps.  cxix.  consists  of  twenty-two 
strophes,  corresponding  to  the  number  of  Hebrew  letters ;  each  strophe  begins  with  the  let- 
ter of  the  alphabet,  and  has  eight  parallelisms  of  two  lines  each,  and  the  first  line  of  each 
parallelism  begins  with  the  initial  letter  of  the  strophe.  The  remaining  four  acrostic  Psalms 
are  not  so  perfect  in  arrangement. 

Many  attempts  have  been  made  by  Jewish  and  Christian  scholars  to  reduce  the  form  of 
Hebrew  poetry  to  a  regular  system,  but  they  have  failed.  Josephus  says  that  the  Song 
of  Moses  at  the  Red  Sea  was  composed  in  the  hexameter  measure,  and  the  Psalms  in  tri- 
meters, pentameters  and  other  metres.  But  he  and  Philo  were  anxious  to  show  that  the  poets 
of  their  nation  anticipated  the  Greek  poets  even  in  the  art  of  versification.  Jerome,  the 
most  learned  among  the  Fathers  (appealing  to  Philo,  Josephus,  Origen,  and  Eusebius 
for  proof),  asserts  that  the  Psalter,  the  Lamentations,  Job  and  almost  all  the  poems  of  the 
Bible  are  composed  in  hexameters  and  pentameters,  with  dactyls  and  spondees,  or  in  other 
regular  metres,  like  the  classic  poems,  and  points  also  to  the  alphabetical  arrangement  of  Pss. 
cxi.,  cxii.,  cxix.,  cxlv.,  and  the  Lamentations.  Among  later  scholars  some  deny  all  metrical 
laws  in  Hebrew  poetry  (Joseph  Scaliger,  Richard  Simon) ;  others  maintain  the  rhythm  with- 


*  Delitzsch  (Com.  on  the  Psalms,  leipz.,  1867,  p.  17)  says  :  "  Die  allhebrUische  Poesie  hat  weder  Heim  noch  Metrum,  welche 
oeide  erst  im  7  Jahr.  n.  Clir.  von  derjud.  Poesie  angeeignet  mirden."  But  afterwards  he  qualifies  this  remark  and  admits  that 
the  beginnings  of  rhyme  and  metre  are  found  in  the  poetry  of  the  0.  T.,  so  that  there  is  an  element  of  truth  in  the  assertion 
of  Philo,  Josephus,  Eusebius  and  Jerome,  who  find  there  the  Greek  and  Roman  metres.  Ewald  (1.  c,  p.  104)  denies  the  ex- 
istence of  rhyme  in  Hebrew  poetry;  yet  the  occasional  rhymes  and  alliterations  in  the  song  of  Lamech,  the  song  of  Moses, 
the  song  of  Deborah,  etc.,  can  hardly  be  merely  accidental. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 


out  metre*  (Gerhard  Vossius) ;  others  both  rhythm  and  metre  (Gomarus,  Buxtorf,  Hottin- 
ger) ;  others  a  full  system  of  versification,  though  differing  much  in  detail  (Meibomius, 
Hare,  Anton,  Lautwein,  Bellermann) ;  while  still  others,  believing  in  the  existence  of  such 
a  system,  in  whole  or  in  part,  think  it  impossible  to  recover  it  (Carpzov,  Lowth,  Jahn,  to 
some  extent  also  Herder  and  Wright).  Ewald  discusses  at  great  length  the  Hebrew  rhythm, 
verses  and  strophes,  also  Hebrew  song  and  music,  without  making  the  matter  very  clear. 
Merx  finds  in  the  Book  of  Job  a  regular  syllabic  and  strophic  structure,  eight  syllables  in  each 
stich  or  line,  and  an  equal  number  of  stichs  in  each  strophe,  but  he  is  obliged  to  resort  to  ar- 
bitrary conjectures  of  lacunae  or  interpolations  in  the  masoretic  text. 

The  conceded  and  most  marked  feature  of  Bible  poetry  is  the  parallelism  of  members, 
so-called.f  It  consists  in  a  certain  rhythmical  and  musical  correspondence  of  two  or  more 
sentences  of  similar  or  opposite  meaning,  and  serves  by  a  felicitious  variation  to  give  full 
expression  and  harmony  to  the  thought.  The  parallel  members  complete  or  illustrate  each 
other,  and  produce  a  music  of  vowels  and  consonants.  Paralellism  reflects  the  play  of  human 
feeling,  and  supplies  the  place  of  regular  metre  and  rhyme  in  a  way  that  is  easily  understood 
and  remembered,  and  can  be  easily  reproduced  in  every  language.  Ewald  happily  compares 
it  to  "the  rapid  stroke  as  of  alternate  wings,"  and  "the  heaving  and  sinking  as  of  the 
troubled  heart." 

There  are  different  forms  of  parallelism,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  internal  relation 
of  the  members.  The  correspondence  may  be  either  one  of  harmony,  or  one  of  contrast,  or 
one  of  progressive  thought,  or  one  simply  of  comparison,  or  of  symmetrical  structure.  Since 
Lowth,  it  has  become  customary  to  distinguish  three  classes  of  parallelisms :  synonymous,  an- 
tithetic, and  synthetic  or  constructive.  The  majority  belong  to  the  third  class,  and  even  those 
which  are  usually  counted  as  synonymous,  show  more  or  less  progress  of  thought,  and  might 
as  well  be  assigned  to  the  third  class.  A  large  number  of  parallelisms  cannot  be  brought 
under  either  class. 

1.  Synonymous  parallelism  expresses  the  same  idea  in  different  but  equivalent  words, 
as  in  the  following  examples  : 

Ps.  VIII.  4.        What  is  man  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him  ? 

And  the  son  of  man  that  Thou  visitest  him? 

Ps.  xix.  1,  2.        The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God : 

And  the  firmament  showeth  His  handiwork. 

Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech : 

A-nd  night  unto  night  proclaimeth  knowledge. 

Ps.  an.  1.        Bless  thp  Lord,  0  my  soul : 

And  all  that  is  within  me,  bless  His  holy  name. 

These  are  parallel  couplets ;  but  there  are  also  parallel  triplets,  as  in  Ps.  i.  1 : 

Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly : 
Nor  standeth  in  the  way  of  sinners, 
Nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful. 

Similar  triplets  occur  in  Job  iii.  4,  6,  9 ;  Isa.  ix.  20. 

Parallel  quatrains  are  less  frequent,  as  in  Ps.  ciii.  11,  12,  where  the  first  member  corre- 
sponds to  the  third,  and  the  second  to  the  fourth : 

*  All  metre  is  rhythm,  but  not  all  rhythm  is  metre,  as  Augustine  says  {De  mjisica). 

t  Lowth  is  the  author  of  a  more  fully  developed  system  of  parallelism  and  its  various  forms.  But  the  thing  itself  was 
known  before  under  different  names.  Aben  Ezra  calls  it  duplicatio  (7^30),  Kimchi:  dupUcaiio  sententix  verbis  variatis. 
See  Delitzsch,  1.  c.  p.  18.  Rabbi  Azariah,  and  especially  Schottgen  {Horse  Bebraicx,  Vol.  I.  1249-1263),  as  quoted  by  Prof 
Wright  (Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bible,  III.  2557),  seem  to  have  anticipated  the  main  features  of  Lowth'a  system.  Parallollism 
is  also  found  among  o'her  Shomitic  nations,  in  Old  Egyptian  poetry,  and  amoug  the  Chinese. 


§  12.    VERSIFICATION.      PARALLELISM  OF  MEMBERS.  xxxv 

For  as  the  heavens  are  high  above  the  earth, 
So  great  is  Ilia  mercy  towards  them  that  fear  Ilim. 

So  fiir  as  the  East  is  from  the  West, 
So  far  has  He  removed  our  transgressions  from  Ilim. 

When  the  two  members  are  precisely  the  same  in  word  and  sense,  they  are  called  identic 
parallelism ;  but  there  are  no  cases  of  mere  repetition,  unless  it  be  for  the  sake  of  emphasis, 
as  in  Isa.  xv.  1 ;  Ps.  xciv.  1,  3. 

2.  Antituetic  parallelism  expresses  a  contrast  or  antithesis  in  sentiment : 

Ps.  I.  G.        For  the  Lord  knoweth  the  way  of  the  righteous : 
But  the  way  of  the  ungodly  shall  perish. 

Ps.  XXXVII.  9.        Evil-doers  shall  be  cut  off : 

But  those  that  wait  upon  the  Lord,  they  shall  inherit  the  earth. 

ProV.  X.  7.        The  memory  of  the  just  is  a  blessing; 

But  the  name  of  the  wicked  shall  rot. 

Prov.  XII.  10.        A  righteous  man  regardeth  the  life  of  his  beast, 
But  the  tender  mercies  of  the  wicked  are  cruel. 

Ho3.  XIV.  9.        The  ways  of  the  Lord  are  right,  and  the  just  shall  walk  in  them ; 
But  the  transgressors  shall  fall  therein. 

3.  Synthetic  or  consteuctive  parallelism.  Here  the  construction  is  similar  in  form, 
without  a  precise  correspondence  in  sentiment  and  word  as  equivalent  or  opposite,  but  with 
a  gradation  or  progress  of  thought,  as  in  Ps.  xix.  7-11 ;  cxlviii.  7-13 ;  Isa.  xiv.  4-9.  We  quote 
the  first : 

The  law  of  Jehovah  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul : 

The  testimony  of  Jehovah  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple. 

The  statutes  of  Jehovah  are  right,  rejoicing  the  heart : 

The  commandment  of  Jehovah  is  pure,  enlightening  the  eyes. 

The  fear  of  Jehovah  is  clean,  enduring  forever: 

The  judgments  of  Jeliovah  are  truth,  they  are  righteous  altogether. 

More  to  be  desired  are  they  than  gold,  and  much  fine  gold : 

And  sweeter  than  honey,  and  the  honey  comb. 

Moreover,  by  them  is  thy  servant  warned  : 

In  keeping  of  them  there  is  great  reward. 

To  these  three  kinds  of  parallelism  Jebb  {Sacred  Literature)  adds  a  fourth,  which  he 
calls  introverted  parallelism,  where  the  first  line  corresponds  to  the  last  (fourth),  and  the  se- 
cond to  the  penultimate  (third),  as  in  Prov.  xxiii.  15,  16.  De  Wette  distinguishes  four, 
slightly  differing  from  Lowth,  Delitzsch  six  or  eight  forms  of  parallelism,  as  we  have 
already  seen  in  the  remarks  on  the  Proverbs. 

The  pause  in  the  progress  of  thought  determines  the  division  of  lines  and  verses.  He- 
brew poetry  always  adapts  the  poetic  structure  to  the  sense.  Hence  there  is  no  monotony, 
but  a  beautiful  variety  and  alternation  of  different  forms.  Sometimes  the  parallelism  con- 
sists simply  in  the  rhythmical  correspondeyiee  of  sentences  or  clauses,  without  repetition  or 
contrast,  or  in  carrying  forward  a  line  of  thought  in  sentences  of  nearly  equal  length,  as  in 
Psalm  cxv.  1-8. 

Not  unto  us,  Jehovah,  not  unto  ns, 

But  unto  Thy  name  give  glory, 

For  Thy  mercy, 

For  Thy  truth's  sake. 

Wherefore  should  the  heathen  say, 

"  Where  is  now  their  God  ?" 

But  our  God  is  in  the  heavens ; 

All  that  He  pleased  He  has  done. 

Their  idols  are  silver  and  gold, 

The  work  of  the  hands  ot  men. 

A  mouth  have  they,  but  they  speak  not; 

Eyes  have  they,  but  they  see  not ; 


xxxvi  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POETICAL  BOOKS. 

Ears  have  they,  but  they  hear  not ; 
Noses  have  they,  but  they  smell  not ; 
Hands  have  they,  but  they  handle  not ; 
Feet  have  they,  but  they  walk  not ; 
They  make  no  sound  in  their  throat. 
Like  them  are  they  that  made  them, 
All  that  trust  in  them. 

This  looser  kind  of  parallelism  or  rhythmical  correspondence  and  symmetrical  construe 
tion  of  sentences,  characterizes  also  much  of  the  Hebrew  prose,  and  is  continued  in  the  New 
Testament,  e.  g.,  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (especially  the  Beatitudes),  in  the  Prologue  of 
John,  in  Rom.  v.  12  sqq. ;  viii.  28  sqq. ;  2  Cor.  xiii.  1  sqq. ;  1  Tim.  iii.  16 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  11,  and 
other  jiassages  which  we  are  accustomed  to  read  as  prose,  but  which  even  in  form  are  equal 
to  the  best  poetry — gems  in  beautiful  setting,  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver. 


A  NEW 


IVIAK   19  i':  .' 


KHYTHMIOAL  YEESION 


OF 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


WITH  EXEGETICAL  NOTES  AND  ADDENDA  CONTAINING 

EXCURSUS  ON  DIFFICULT  AND  IMPORTANT 

PASSAGES. 


BY  TAYLER  LEWIS. 


NEW  YORK: 
SCRIBNER,  ARMSTRONG  &  CO,  654  BROADWAY 


THEISM 


OF 


THE   BOOK  OF  JOB. 


ITS  GRAJSTDEUR  AND  PURITY. 

Among  all  writings,  inspired  or  uninspired,  tlie  Book  of  Job  stands  preeminent  for  its 
lofty  representations  of  the  pure  moral  personality,  the  holiness,  the  unchallengeable  justice, 
the  wisdom,  the  Omnipotence,  the  absolute  Sovereignty  of  God.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  its 
obscurities  and  difficulties  in  other  respects,  in  the  splendor  of  its  theism  it  is  unsurpassed. 
Whether  we  take  the  earlier  or  the  later  date  that  has  been  assigned  to  it,  the  wonder  is  still 
the  same.  "  Crude  theistic  conceptions  "  have  been  charged  upon  the  whole  Old  Testament, 
surpassing,  in  some  respects,  those  of  surrounding  nations,  yet  still  characteristic  of  the  infancy 
of  the  race  and  the  infancy  of  science.  The  Book  of  Job  refutes  this.  Our  best  modern  theo-  ' 
logy,  in  its  most  approved  and  philosophical  symbols,  may  be  challenged  to  produce  any  thing 
surpassing  the  representations  which  this  ancient  writing  gives  us  of  God  as  "  a  Spirit,  infi- 
nite, eternal  and  unchangeable  in  His  being,  power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness  and  truth." 
Nothing  approaches  its  ideal  of  the  ineffable  purity  of  the  divine  character,  before  which  the 
heavens  veil  their  brightness,  and  the  loftiest  intelligences  are  represented  as  comparatively 
unholy  and  impure.  God  the  Absolute,  the  Infinite,  the  Unconditioned,  the  Unknowable, — 
these  are  the  terms  by  which  our  most  pretentious  philosophizing  would  characterize  Deity  as 
something  altogether  beyond  the  ordinary  theological  conception.  But  even  here  this  old 
Book  of  Job  surpasses  them  in  setting  forth  the  transcending  glory,  the  inefiable  height,  the 
measureless  profundity  of  the  Eternal.  How  much  stronger  the  intellectual  and  moral  im- 
pression of  this,  as  derived  from  the  vivid  metaphors  of  Zophar,  than  any  thing  that  comes  to 
us  from  the  negatives  of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  or  from  any  such  powerless  abstractions  as 
philosophy  is  compelled  to  employ:  "Canst  thou  explore  the  deep  things  of  God?  Canst 
thou  find  out  the  Almighty  in  His  perfection  ?  Higher  than  Heaven,  what  canst  thou  do  ? 
Deeper  than  Hades,  what  canst  thou  know?  Longer  than  the  earth  ;  broader  than  the  sea ;" 
excelling  all  height,  going  beneath  all  depth,  extending  beyond  all  space ;  infinite  in  its  un- 
searchableness,  yet  never  dissociated  from  the  idea  of  a  personal  Divine  presence  more  won- 
drous in  its  nearness  than  in  any  conception  we  can  form  of  its  immensity. 

CONTRAST   BETWEEN    THIS    EXALTED  THEISM  AND    THE    DIM  ACCOMPANYING  VIEW    OF  A 

FUTURE   LIFE. 

In  connection  with  such  a  sublime  theism,  there  is  to  be  noted  another  fact,  worthy  of 
attention  in  itself,  but  more  especially  in  its  bearing  on  the  first  and  greater  aspect  of  the 
Book.  This  exalted  idea  of  God  is  almost  wholly  separated  from  any  dogmatic  view  of  a  fu- 
ture life  for  man,  although  it  most  distinctly  recognizes  what  has  ever  been  regarded  as  having 


THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


a  close  connection  with  this  latter  doctrine,  namely,  a  spiritual  world  inhabited  by  superhu- 
man beings,  good  and  bad,  among  whom  a  conspicuous  place  is  held  by  those  who  are  called 
D'n'?X  'J3j  or  "  Sons  of  God."  The  idea  of  another  side  of  human  existence,  of  some  state 
beyond,  whether  in  Sheol,  or  after  the  dominion  of  Slieol,  cannot,  indeed,  be  said  to  be  wholly 
wanting.  It  gleams  upon  us  from  certain  passages,  but  as  something  repressed  rather  than  as 
intended  to  be  prominently  revealed.  It  is  kept  back ;  a  veil  seems  thrown  over  it ;  it  is  si- 
lenced, as  it  were,  even  in  places  where  it  would  appear  to  be  almost  breaking  through,  and 
struggling  to  manifest  itself  in  circumstances  most  adapted  to  call  out  its  utterance.  This  is 
a  remarkable  feature  of  the  Book,  very  suggestive  in  respect  to  its  purpose, — its  problem,  as 
some  would  call  it, — or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  the  lesson  it  truly  teaches,  whatever  may  be 
said  as  to  its  artistic  design. 

The  Foundations  of  Religious  Belief. 
Two  tenets  are  commonly  regarded  as  fundamental  in  religion, — as  indispensable,  in 
fact,  whatever  else  may  be  received  or  rejected.  These  are,  1st,  the  belief  in  a  personal  God 
having  moral  relations  to  a  world  of  rational  beings,  a  Ruler,  Lawgiver  and  Judge,  instead  of 
a  mere  physical  Creator ;  2d,  the  belief  in  a  future  state  for  man,  or  of  some  higher  life,  how- 
ever conceived,  which  shall  give  dignity  to  that  relation,  or  make  man  a  fit  subject  of  a  divine 
moral  government  appealing  to  the  highest  motives,  and  the  most  transcending  reasons  that 
can  influence  one  appointed  to  such  a  destiny.  They  are  the  two  necessary  articles  in  everj' 
system  of  theology.  Piety  cannot  exist  without  them.  So  it  seems  to  us  in  the  present  age 
of  the  world.  We  find  it  diflicult  to  think  of  religion  as  separate  from  some  very  clear  and 
decided  belief  in  another  state  of  existence.  And  yet  it  has  not  always  been  so.  Nothing  is 
more  certain  than  that,  in  the  early  days  of  the  human  world,  this  second  article  Avhich,  in 
certain  kinds  of  modern  religionism,  seems  to  usurp  the  first  place,  to  be  the  great  dogma,  in 
fact,  giving  its  chief  importance  to  the  other,  did  certainly  hold  a  very  subordinate  rank  in  the 
mind's  conceptions.  If  it  existed  at  all,  its  form  was  most  shadowy  and  indefinite.  It  was  a 
feeling  rather  than  a  dogma  having  any  defining  limits  in  respect  to  any  conceived  time,  state, 
or  locality.  And  yet  there  was  a  strong  sense  of  a  high  moral  relation  between  man  and 
God, — a  relation  somehow  eternal,  though  one  of  the  parties  was  mainly  thought  of  as  finite, 
earthly,  and  mortal. 

The  Exalted  Piety  of  the  Patriarchal  Life  as  compared  with  the  Scantiness  of  its  Creed. 

Connected  with  this  scanty  creed,  or  rather  with  this  wholly  deficient  creed,  as  we  would 
deem  it,  there  was  an  exalted  piety,  a  rapt  contemplation  described  as  a  "  walking  with  God," 
an  adoring  view  of  the  divine  holiness,  an  ecstatic  longing  for  the  blessedness  of  the  divine 
communion.  Strange  as  this  may  seem,  it  cannot  be  denied  whilst  we  have  before  us  the 
history  of  those  early  patriarchs  who  appeared  ever  to  live  as  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  to 
whose  earthly  existence  this  feeling  gave  such  an  unearthly  aspect,  though  knowing  nothing, 
seemingly,  of  any  state  beyond. 

Difference  between  it  and  Modern  Religionism. 
It  is  difficult  for  us  to  conceive  how  it  could  have  been  so.  Nothing  of  the  kind  is  seen 
or  known  in  our  modern  world.  The  creed  of  the  materialist,  or  of  the  mortal  Deist,  as  he  is 
called,  would  seeili  outwardly  to  present  but  little  difference  from  that  of  the  patriarch  in  re- 
gard to  this  item  of  a  future  life,  but  how  utterly  does  it  repel  every  idea  of  such  an  exalted 
piety,  such  an  adoring  theism,  as  characterized  these  men  who  called  their  earthly  stage  a 
pilgrimage,  but  who  knew  not  whither  it  tended,  or  what  was  its  meaning,  except  that  it  was 
assigned  to  them  by  God.  We  never  find  such  a  belief  now,  or  rather  such  an  absence  of  be- 
lief, separated  from  some  form  of  sheer  worldliness,  sensuality,  animalism,  ambition,  utter 
selfishness  in  some  aspect,  vulgar  or  refined,— ever  characterized  by  indifference  to  all  re- 
ligious thought,  and  wholly  wanting  in  adoration  or  reverence  for  God,  though  theoretically 
believed. 


CONTRAST  BETWEEN  THIS  EXALTED  THEISM  AND  THE  FUTURE  LIFE. 


Earliest  Ideas  of  Death  and  of  Continued  Being. 
It  is  not  easy  for  us  now  to  enter  into  the  mind  of  the  early  men,  and  to  understand 
precisely  what  view  they  took  of  the  strange  phenomenon  of  death,  or  what  conception  they 
formed  of  any  possible  after  being.     It  was  a  cessation  of  visible  activity,  but  we  are  not  war- 
ranted in  supposing  that  they  regarded  it  as  extinction,  on  the  one  hand,  or  that  they  formed 
any  idea  of  something  separating,  going  off,  and  continuing  as  a  distinct  immaterial  exist- 
ence, on  the  other.     It  was  a  great  mystery  in  respect  to  which  nothing  had  been  told  them, 
except  that  it  was  a  condition  into  which  men  entered  on  account  of  sin.     It  was  the  hegiyming 
of  something,  so  far  as  the  mere  act  of  dying  or  the  cessation  of  activity  was  concerned,  but 
they  had  nothing  to  warrant  them  in  regarding  it  as  an  end  of  being.     It  was  not  annihi- 
lation.   They  had  no  such  word  or  figure — no  such  conception  to  be  expressed  by  it.    It  was 
a  state,  a  state  of  being,  instead  of  a  ceasing  to  be.     It  was  a  penal  state,  and  the  first  dawning 
of  a  better  hope  and  of  a  more  distinct  idea  must  have  arisen  from  the  strong  desire  of  deli- 
verance from  it  as  from  a  darkness  and  a  prison,  which,  although  they  may  have  interruj^ted 
their  conscious  active  powers,  did  not  destroy  their  personal  identity.     It  was  a  state  strange 
and  indescribable — inconceivable,  we  may  also  say — yet  held,  nevertheless,  as  a  fact  of  which 
they  could  give  no  account.     The  body  lies  motionless  before  them.     They  see  it  beginning 
to  undergo  a  fearful  change.     As  far  as  sense  is  concerned,  every  thing  seems  at  an  end ;  and 
yet  they  continue  to  speak  of  the  dead  man  as  one  who  somehow  yet  is.    He  has  yet  relations 
to  God  and  to  the  living.     He  is  not  all  gone.     His  "  blood  cries  from  the  ground."     God 
has  yet  a  care  for  him,  and  makes  inquisition  for  him,  as  a  yet  remaining  entity  having  rights 
and  wrongs.     Such  language  may  have  become  mere  empty  figures  as  used  now ;  but  it  could 
not  well  have  become  so  in  the  early  day ;  it  meant  something.     They  are  gone  from  the  con- 
gregation of  the  active  living,  but  they  are  gathered  into  another — into  a  community  of  beings 
in  a  similar  strange  condition.     Especially  is  this  thought  and  said  of  the  pious  :  "  They  are 
gathered  to  the  fathers,"  "gathered  to  their  people"     The  earthly  living  go  to  them ;  they 
come  not  back  to  us  (Gen.  xxxvii.  36).     This  is  before  any  pictures  of  locality  have  been 
formed.     Even  those  exceedingly  dim  conceptions  first  embodied  in  such  words  as  Sheol  and 
Hades  had  not  yet  assumed  a  rudimentary  distinctness.     The  subterranean  imagery  had  not 
yet  grown  out  of  the  forms  of  burial.     Still,  even  before  all  this,  there  was  the  feeling,  the 
sentiment,  of  something  in  man,  or  belonging  to  man,  that  did  not  perish ;  and  that,  because 
of  his  vital  moral  relation  to  the  ever  Living  God.     "  Because  He  lived,"  therefore,  in  some 
way  they  knew  not  how,  and  on  some  ground  they  did  not  understand,  "  they  should  live  also." 
Hence  that  early  Hebrew  oath,  which  afterwards  became  so  frequent,  yv^l  'm  mrr  Tl,  "  as 
the  Lord  liveth  and  as  thy  soul  liveth."     Surely  there  was  meaning  in  all  this ;  it  was  not 
mere  verbiage.     From  this  arose  that  kind  of  language  which,  as  we  learn  from  2  Sam.  xxv. 
29,  afterward  pervaded  the  common  Jewish  speech.     Thus  Abigail  uses  it  to  David  as  a  sort 
of  habitual  or  proverbial  utterance  of  the  formal  religionism ;  "  The  soul  of  my  lord  bound  up 
in  the  bundle  of  life,  D^nn  inv,  with  the  Lord  thy  God."     Compare  also  Ps.  xxxvi.  10 : 
"  For  with  thee  is  the  fountain  of  life,  D"nn  mpo,  in  thj  light  do  we  see  light."     There  is 
here  "  the  power  of  an  endless  life,"  even  though  time  conception  and  local  scenery  be  wholly 
absent.     It  is  astonishing  that  some  of  our  most  learned  and  most  acute  commentators  see  so 
little  in  such  remarkable  language,  whilst  so  keen  to  find  meaning  in  the  common-place 
ethics,  or  mystical  rhapsodies  of  Zoroastrian,  Brahminic,  or  Confucian  writings. 

Pilgrims  and  Sojourners.  The  Covenant  Idea. 
This  absence  of  local  conception,  and  of  forms  of  expression  for  it,  should  not  lead  us  to 
imagine  a  complete  destitution  of  the  idea,  or  of  the  feeling,  as  we  may  rather  call  it.  They 
were  " strangers  and  pilgrims  upon  earth"  (ffiw,  TrapeTridr^fwc,  C^J),  way-farers ;  "and  they 
that  say  such  things  make  it  clear  (f//^«i'/Cow(i')  that  they  seek  a  country."  At  the  command 
of  God,  it  is  said,  they  went  out  from  their  native  land,  "  not  knowing  whither  they  went  y' 
and  the  same  may  be  said  of  their  apparent  departure  from  the  earthly  state  of  being :  They 
went  down  to  Sheol,  not  knowing  whither  they  went,  yet  firmly  trusting  God,  who  had  made 


THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


a  "  covenant  with  them  well  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure."  Hence  the  great  significance 
of  this  covenant  idea  which  forms  so  peculiar  a  feature  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  especially 
of  the  patriarchal,  economy.  God  does  not  deal  with  them  as  He  does  with  nature.  He 
raises  them  above  the  plane  of  an  arbitrarily  imposed  and  an  involuntarily  accepted  law.  He 
stipulates  with  man,  he  jjroposes  terms  to  him,  as  one  rational  mind  to  another.  But  such  a 
transaction  implies  a  greater  being  in  the  party  thus  treated  tlian  the  transient  earthly  life. 
God  deals  not  thus  with  creatures  of  a  day.  "  He  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the 
living."  It  is  our  Saviour's  argument  with  the  Sadducees,  most  rational,  most  Scriptural,  and 
most  conclusive,  though  some  of  the  Rationalists  have  not  hesitated  to  characterize  it  as  a 
force  upon  the  text  quoted,  and  an  evasion  of  the  difficulty  presented. 

"the  power  of  an  exdless  life." 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  may  be  a  feeling,  a  sentiment,  an  influence,  call  it  what 
we  will,  that  may  have  an  immense  power  over  the  soul,  giving  it  a  most  peculiar  character, 
and  yet  wholly  undefined  in  the  forms  either  of  thought  or  of  language.  It  may  be  the  con- 
sciousness of  some  greater  being,  strongly  felt,  yet  without  any  conceived  accompaniments 
of  time,  state,  and  locality.  It  is  that  mysterious  idea  which  characterized  the  priesthood 
of  Melchizedeck,  and  which  the  Apostle  calls  "  the  power  of  an  endless  life,"  Svva/Mv  Cutj<; 
aKOTaAvrov  (Heb.  vii.  16), — of  an  indissoluble,  unbroken  being.  It  is  a  power  truly  instead 
of  a  bare  dogmatic  idea,  and  yet  indissolubly  connected  with  that  other  and  higher  idea  of  the 
eternal  God,  with  its  awful  moral  relations  to  the  human  soul. 

It  demands  a  Pure  Theism  f,rst  as  the  Ground  of  all  other  Religious  Ideas. 
Thus  it  is  that  these  two  great  articles  of  religion,  though  inseparably  connected  in  their 
essence,  stand  to  each  other  in  a  causal  relation  of  birth  and  development.  The  second,  so  far 
as  respects  its  definiteness  of  conception,  was  to  grow  out  of  the  first,  and  find  in  it  its  security 
against  all  perversion.  To  this  end  the  first  was  to  be  clearly  established,  and  to  have  the 
dominion  of  the  soul,  before  the  second  assumed  such  form  as  might  make  it,  in  any  degree, 
really  or  seemingly,  independent  of  it.  The  clear  acknowledgment  of  God  as  a  moral  Go- 
vernor, whatever  might  become  of  man,  or  whatever  might  be  thought  of  the  duration  or  the 
importance  of  his  being, — this  was  to  be  first,  not  only  for  its  own  sake  as  intrinsically  greater 
than  any  other  idea,  but  also  on  account  of  the  second  itself,  as  being  a  dogma,  which,  with- 
out such  clear  recognition  of  the  greater  dogma,  might  become  vain,  imaginative,  grotesque, 
bringing  in  all  kinds  of  monstrous  chimeras  on  the  one  hand,  or  of  pretty  sentimentalities  on 
the  other,  and,  in  either  way,  wholly  losing  all  moral  power. 

Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life  developed  from  it. 
From  the  doctrine  of  the  being,  personality,  moral  government,  and  moral  sovereignty 
of  God,  were  to  grow  out  all  other  religious  ideas.  Under  the  divine  direction  of  human 
history,  and  especially  of  the  people  who  were  chosen  to  be  keepers  of  truth  for  the  world, 
their  development  in  the  soul  was  to  be  their  revelation.  The  Scriptures  arc  the  record  of 
this  revelation,  made  by  divinely  chosen  and  divinely  guided  instruments;  or  rather  it  is  the 
record  of  the  circumstances  and  events,  natural  or  supernatural,  common  or  extraordinary,  in 
which,  under  the  divine  control,  these  developments  had  their  origin  and  growth.  Thus  the 
idea  of  retribution  was  born  in  the  sharp  human  conviction  of  something  due  to  great  crime — 
awakening  also  the  thought  that  there  might  be  a  heinousness  in  such  crimes,  and  even  in 
what  were  regarded  as  common  sins,  far  beyond  that  ordinary  estimate  which  might  itself 
have  follen  with  fallen  beings.  In  the  murderer's  conscience  was  born  essentially  the  idea 
of  Hell  before  any  Hadean  penalty  was  conceived  of,  either  as  to  mode  or  locality.  So  the 
acknowledged  relation  of  God  as  Moral  Governor,  as  Eedeeming  Angel,  as  Covenant  Friend, 
must  have  produced  in  the  souls  of  the  pious  a  feeling  that  becomes  the  preparation  on  which 
the  idea  of  a  blessed  future  being  was,  in  time,  firmly  and  definitely  to  rest.  In  such  an  ac- 
knowledged relationship  there  was  this  "  power  of  an  endless  life,"  of  infinite  being,  as  the 


THE  POWER  OF  AN  ENDLESS  LIFE. 


germ  of  every  idea  that  might  afterwards  be  held  in  respect  to  the  human  destiny  or  the 
human  soteriology. 

The  Hebrew  Despondency  more  spiritual  than  any  Heathen  Confidence,  Anacreon  and  David. 
Farewell  to  the  World — Farewell  to  the  Idea  of  God. 
This  appears  even  in  their  despondency,  or  their  moments  of  apparent  skepticism.  There 
is  really  something  more  spiritual  in  the  seeming  despair,  even,  than  in  many  a  belief  that 
might  be  regarded  as  greatly  surpassing  in  dogmatic  statement  or  conceptive  clearness.  To 
the  worldly  mind,  with  a  dim  hope  of  futurity,  or  even  with  one  possessing  some  degree 
of  distinctness,  yet  without  moral  power,  the  agonizing  thought  in  view  of  death  is  the  leaving 
behind  this  fair  earth,  with  its  prospects  of  pleasure  or  of  ambition.  See  how  it  meets  us 
in  the  heathen  gnomic  poetry,  in  the  Greek  monumental  verses,  and  in  the  Choral  odes  of  the 
Dramatists.  Very  affecting  are  such  representations,  as  they  may  be  all  summed  up  some- 
times in  that  touching  expression  so  common  in  Homer :  6pdp  (pdoc  yeXioio — "XeItzelv  0dof  rjEXioio 

"  to  see  no  more,  to  leave  forever,  the  light  of  the  sun."  See  Euripides  Hippol.  4 ;  Phge- 
Niss.  8 ;  Iphig.  in  Aul.  1218,  t'l^v  vdp  to  cpibc.  BlHeiv,  "  For  O  'tis  sweet  the  sunlight  to  behold." 
To  bid  farewell  to  this  loved  life,  with  all  its  worldly  hopes :  such  was  the  burden  of  the 
heathen  song,  whether  tuned  to  the  Anacreontic  or  the  more  solemn  tragic  key.  How  differ- 
ently affected  in  view  of  death  was  the  pious  Shemitic  mind,  whether  as  represented  in  the 
patriarchal,  the  Jobean,  or  the  more  common  Israelitish  life.  "  I  have  waited  for  thy  salva- 
tion, O  Lord,"  says  the  dying  Jacob  ;  though  should  the  Rationalist  maintain  that  there  is  no 
evidence  of  the  patriarch  having  any  distinct  hope  of  a  life  beyond  the  grave,  it  would  not  be 
easy  to  refute  him.  But  greater  still  is  the  difference,  we  may  say,  when  all  seemed  dark  re- 
specting that  other  unknown  shore.  To  the  pious  descendant  of  Jacob,  in  such  a  season  of 
despondency,  the  great  grief  of  his  departure  was  the  bidding  farewell  to  God — if  the  expres- 
sion does  not  seem  too  strange — or  the  going  out  forever  of  that  idea  which  had  been  his  life 
his  higher  life,  even  here  on  earth :  *'  Shall  the  dead  praise  T/iee  f  Shall  one  speak  of  Thy 
goodness  in  the  grave,  Thy  faithfulness  |"]i"iJiOXj  thy  covenant  faithfulness]  in  Abaddon  (the 
world  of  the  perished)  ?  Shall  Thy  miracles  be  known  in  the  darkness.  Thy  righteousness  in 
the  land  of  oblivion ?"  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  11,  13.  So  Ps.  vi.  6 :  "In  Sheol  who  shall  make  con- 
fession unto  thee  ?"  It  was  to  be  parted  forever  from  that  soul- vision  of  the  Divine  eternity, 
the  loss  of  which  was  sorer  than  any  diminution  of  their  own  being  considered  merely  in  it- 
self. Hence  the  affecting  contrasts  of  man's  dying,  going  out,  passing  away,  and  God's  ever- 
lasting continuance.  The  contemplation  of  this  is  the  reason  assigned  in  praying  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  human  life.  "  O  take  me  not  aAvay  in  the  midst  of  my  days ;  Thy  years  are 
through  aU  generations."  "  Thou  sendest  man  back  to  dissolution  (N3T  IJl,  to  decay  and 
dust),  and  thou  sayest,  return  ye  sons  of  Adam."  "  But  Thou  art  from  everlasting  unto  ever- 
lasting ;"  "  of  thy  years  there  is  no  end ;"  ^'OIV  Hi^  they  never  fiiil.  There  is,  however,  a 
rising  hope  of  eternity  in  the  very  thought,  as  though  reflected  back  on  the  human  soul  that 
thus  contemplated  itself  in  God,  and  leading  it  to  say :  "  Thou  hast  been  to  us  our  dwelling- 
place  in  all  generations ;"  or  in  the  rapt  language  of  the  Prophet :  "Art  Thou  not  from  ever- 
lasting, Jehovah,  my  God,  my  Holy  One  ?    We  shall  not  die."   Hab.  i.  12. 

This  "Fewer  of  an  Endless  Life"  thus  implied,  stronger  than  any  Dogmatic  Utterance. 
It  is  in  these  and  in  similar  ways  that  the  inspired  feeling — for  such  we  may  call  it  even 
in  its  apparent  skepticism — ^breathes  itself  out  in  many  a  passage  where  not  a  word  is  said 
dogmatically  of  any  future  state,  and  yet  the  language  seems  all  filled  with  this  "  power  of  an 
endless  life."  Thus  in  the  "  Psalm  of  Asaph,"  Ixxiii.  24 :  "  Whom  have  I  in  the  Heavens 
(but  Thee) ;  and  in  all  the  earth  there  is  nothing  that  I  desire  beside  Thee." — ^?^'  in  compa- 
rison with  Thee.  Take  away  this  seonic  inspiration,  and  all,  at  once,  collapses.  The  lan- 
guage, regarded  as  coming  from  a  mere  worldly  soul,  speaking  from  a  worldly  stand-point,  is 
wholly  overstrained.  There  is  nothing  to  call  out  a  state  of  feeling  so  high  and  rapturous.* 
"  My  flesh  and  my  heart  (my  body  and  my  soul)  both  fail,  but  Thou  art  the  strength  (the  rock) 

+  General  application. 


THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


of  my  heart,  and  my  portion  ('p^D,  my  decreed  or  allotted  portion)  for  ever."  Not  a  word 
here,  it  may  be  said,  of  immortality,  or  of  any  life  beyond  the  grave  ;  no  one  would  quote  it 
as  a  proof-text  for  the  doctrine  dogmatically  considered;  and  yet  the  power  is  there — the 
6vvafj,LQ  (^w//c  aKara'AvTov — "  the  power  of  an  endless  life." 

Examples  from,  Job —  God  mourned  for  more  than  his  Loss  or  Pain. 
So  is  it  with  Job,  though  the  darkness  and  sadness  of  his  outward  state  gives  a  different 
form  to  the  expression.  The  loss  of  proj^erty  he  hardly  mentions — his  bereavement  of  his 
childi-en  he*^barely  alludes  to ;  but  it  is  for  God  he  mourns — for  the  hiding  of  His  face,  "  the 
light  of  His  countenance,"  that  ineffable  good  for  which  our  purest  modern  religion  finds  its 
best  expression  in  the  language  of  this  ancient  theism.  Such  a  feeling  is  not  inconsistent 
with  the  daring,  and,  as  they  seem  to  us,  almost  profane,  expostulations  wrung  from  him  by 
the  long  continuance  of  his  sharp  bodily  pains.  In  every  subsidence  of  this  great  miseiy— 
for  there  must  have  been  such  seasons  of  remission,  or  he  could  not  have  borne  it — ^there  re- 
turns again  the  humbled,  mourning  spirit,  with  its  divine  want:  "Othat  I  knew  where  I 
mio-ht  find  Him  ;  0  that  I  might  set  my  cause  in  order  before  Him  ;  that  I  might  know  the 
v^ords  He  would  answer  me,"  xxiii.  3,  5;  "Wherefore  hidest  Thou  Thy  face?"  xiii.  24; 
''  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him,"  *  xiii.  15.  From  the  lowest  dejjth,  hope 
springs  up.  Just  after  he  had  said,  "  My  face  is  foul  with  weeping,  and  the  death  shade  is  on 
my  eyelids  "  (xvi.  16),  he  cries  out,  "  Even  now  my  Witness  is  in  Heaven,  my  Attestor  is  on 
high,"  t  xvi.  19 ;  "  My  friends  are  my  mockers,  but  mine  eye  droppeth  unto  God,"  20.  The 
tearful  appeal  is  made  as  unto  a  better  friend,  who,  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity,  had  never 
been  absent  from  his  soul's  most  cherished  thoughts :  "  O  that  it  were  with  me  as  in  months 
that  are  past,  in  the  days  when  God  watched  over  me  ('J^Oiy),  when  His  lamp  shone  upon 
my  head,  when  by  His  light  I  walked  through  darkness ;  when  the  Almighty  vfM  with  me ; 
when  the  secret  of  God  ["IID,  consessus  colloquium,  His  secret  presence  and  communion,  see 
Ps.  XXV.  14]  was  upon  my  tabernacle,"  xxix.  2-4.  Our  highest  rationalism  has  now  no  such 
remembrance  and  no  such  mourning.  It  may  talk  of  the  dimness  of  Job's  views,  the  inade- 
quate conceptions  entertained  by  the  author  of  the  poem  in  respect  to  the  character  of  God,  or 
the  absence  of  any  clear  mention  of  a  future  life,  but  his  darkness  is  better  than  their  light,  his 
intense  theistic  feeling  is  stronger  than  their  theory ;  they  have  no  such  skepticism,  perhaps, 
i  because  they  have  no  such  faith. 

Longing  for  Goa  as  distinguishing  the  Hebrew  Theism  from  all  other. 
It  is  the  same  feeling,  as  characteristic  of  this  ancient  theism,  which  breaks  out  in  that 
ecstatic  longing  before  alluded  to :  "  As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water  brooks,  so  panteth 
my  soul  after  Thee,  O  God  !"  Picture  the  image  of  the  thirsting  animal  (moaning,  with  out- 
stretched neck,  as  Jl;'  vividly  denotes)  in  its  intense  desire  for  the  refreshing  element;  then 
transfer  it  to  the  rational  sphere,  and  we  see  that  it  is  a  superhuman,  earth-transcending  good 
that  is  so  ardently  sought.  "  My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  for  the  limng  God  "—for  the  God  of 
life.  The  epithet  is  not  a  superfluity.  It  distinguishes  Him  from  the  dead  idol,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  equally  dead  idea,  or  theosophism,  on  the  other.  "  It  is  Thy  favor  which  is 
life.  Thy  loving-kindness  which  is  more  than  life."  Again,  Ps.  Ixiii.  1 :  "  0  God  !  O  Thou 
my  God !  my  soul  thirsteth  for  Thee,  my  flesh  longeth  for  Thee  [n'73,  denoting  that  strong 
passion  which  makes  even  the  body  faint  under  the  intensity  of  its  desire)  as  in  a  dry  and 
thirsty  land  wherein  no  water  is."  Our  Saviour  shows  His  estimate  of  the  power  of  this  lan- 
guage by  consecrating  the  image  in  His  own  highest  term  for  spiritual  blessedness — ^the  "  wa- 


*  The  Keri  here  (iS  for  vh)  of  the  Masoretic  text  must  be  very  ancient,  since  it  is  sustained  by  the  Syriac,  the  Tar- 
gum,  the  Vulgate,  and  the  Arabic  of  Saadias.  It  is  in  the  closest  grammatical  harmony  with  the  verb  IIT'N  ;  and  no  one 
can  deny  that  the  rendering  produced  is  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  spirit  of  the  whole  Book. 

t  nnti'.  A  word  from  the  same  root  in  Arabic  means  attesting  angel,  or  angels:  Anoeli,  testes  in  uUimo  jvdicio.  See 
Koran  Surat.  xi.  21.    Is  not  the  inti'  or  Attestor,  on  whom  Job  calls  here,  the  same  with  the  "7NJ  six.  25? 


I  KNOW  THAT  MY  REDEEMER  LIVETH. 


ter  of  life,"  the  "  fountain  leaping  up  to  everlasting  life."  There  is  no  mistaking  the  signi- 
ficance of  such  an  appeal  to  God.  No  joy  in  this  world  without  the  beatific  sense  of  the 
divine  presence. 

Transition  from  Despondency  to  Rapture.  Job  xix.  25. 
Such  was  this  ancient  theism.  It  carried  with  it  "  the  power  of  an  endless  life,"  without 
any  dogmatic  mention,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  the  highest  emotion  of  modern  religion 
still  finds  in  it  its  most  adequate,  as  well  as  its  most  impassioned,  exjiression.  There  is  less 
of  it  in  Job ;  but  there,  too,  we  find  it,  carrying  him,  sometimes,  out  of  the  deepest  despond- 
ency into  a  spiritual  region  where  his  sharpest  pains  seem,  for  the  moment,  forgotten.  lu  the 
first  part  of  ch.  xix.  it  seems  to  be  all  over  with  him.  No  hope,  either  for  body  or  for  soul  ; 
"  He  hath  fenced  up  my  way,  that  I  cannot  pass ;  He  hath  set  darkness  in  my  path  ;  He  hath 
broken  me  down  on  every  side,  and  I  am  gone ;  He  uproots,  like  a  tree,  my  hope ;  my  bone 
cleaves  to  my  skin,  and  to  my  flesh ;  I  am  laid  bare,  the  skin  from  my  teeth."  *  A  little  be- 
fore (xvii.  1),  he  had  said,  "My  breath  (my  breathing)  is  exhausted"  (nSan,  not  ''corrupt,^' 
but  from  the  other  sense  of  73n,  denoting  great  pain,  as  of  one  in  travail,  hard  and  painful 
breathing,  quick  panting)  ;  my  breath  comes  hard,  my  days  are  going  out  (OJ^TJ)^  the  graves 
are  my  portion."  v.  11, 12.  "  My  purposes  are  broken  off",  even  the  treasured  thoughts  of  my 
heart,"  all  my  pleasant  earthly  remembrances.  The  light  is  departing.  "Theyf  ax-e  putting 
night  for  day :"  the  shades  of  death  are  gathering  fast  around  him.  All  hope  of  life  is  gone, 
much  more  the  exjjectation  of  restored  wealth  and  worldly  prosperity,  which  the  rationalist 
would  regard  as  the  only  significance  of  the  triumphal  strain  that  follows,  xix.  25.  He  is  in 
extremis  ;  but  such  is  the  very  time  when  this  "  power  of  an  endless  life  "  asserts  itself.  At 
the  lowest  ebb,  as  though  such  a  time  had  been  necessary  to  bring  out  its  returning  force,  he 
breaks  forth  with  those  ever  memorable  words  so  sublime  and  super-earthly  in  spite  of  every 
lowering  strain  that  criticism  will  put  upon  them,  the  words  he  wished  "  engraved,"  as  his 
monument,  "with  an  iron  stile  and  lead  in  the  rock  forever:" 


I  KNOW  THAT  MY  REDEEMER  LIVETH: 

My  Avenger,  who  takes  my  part  against  my  murderer  or  the  great  unseen  evil  Power  of 
whose  hostility  Job  sometimes  seems  to  have  a  kind  of  dreamy  consciousness.  There  is  the 
same  idea  of  survivorship  so  touchingly  alluded  to  in  the  Psalms.  He  is  my  P'TIN,  my  Nach- 
mann,  my  Next  of  Kin.  He  lives  on ;  "  and  after  they  J  have  broken  up  this  skin  of  mine,  yet 
from  my  flesh  (or  out  of  my  flesh,  translate  it  as  we  will)  shall  I  see  God" — see  Him  with  the 
eyes  of  my  soul,  and  not  with  any  outwardly  derived  theoretical  knowledge — see  Him  as  the 
Living  God,  as  my  God,  and  not  a  stranger.  This  beatific  thought  of  God  as  "  all  his  salva- 
tion and  all  his  desire  "  carries  him  out  of  and  far  away  from  himself.  It  becomes  an  insup- 
portable rapture  giving  rise  to  that  same  intense  language  before  referred  to  in  the  63d 
Psalm,  and  elsewhere.  It  is  that  most  passionate  verb  n"?!),  having  for  its  subject  the  parono- 
mastic  noun  T\V12  (the  reins,  renes,  ^pevec ),  denoting  the  most  interior  part  of  the  body,  re- 

*  It  would  seem  to  denote  that  ghastly  look,  and  that  ghastly  condition  of  extreme  emaciation,  when  the  skin  will  no 
more  close  over  the  protruding  teeth.  This  sense  may  be  got  for  t07O  without  going  to  the  corresponding  Arabic  word. 
It  is  closely  connected  with  the  common  Hebrew  sense  of  escape  or  deliverance  (one  th\n^  parting  or  parted  from  another). 
It  is  like  the  accusative  with  preposition  after  passive  verbs  denoting  condition.  I  am  parted,  the  skin  of  my  teeth,  or  in 
the  skin  of  my  teeth — that  is,  the  flesh  that  covers  my  teeth.    It  denotes  the  extreme  of  emaciation  and  suffering. 

t  lO'ty .  "Tltey  are  putting."  Who  are  they  f  It  is  one  of  those  cases  whore  the  agent,  real  or  supposed,  is  not  named 
because  of  something  fearful,  perhaps,  associated  with  it.  "They" — invisible  powers,  it  may  be,  either  actually  believed  or 
used  figuratively  or  proverbially  to  heighten  the  effect  of  the  language.  Orammarians  call  it  the  using  of  the  active  for  the 
passive  impersonal,  but  this  does  not  explain  the  matter.  As  parallel  passages,  compare  Job  vii.  3,  iv.  19,  xviii.  18,  xix. 
26 ;  Ps.  xlix.  15,  and  especially  the  Greek  of  Luke  xii.  20.  It  is  generally  used  by  way  of  deprecating  something  hostile. 
But  it  may  also  be  from  reverence.    See  Isaiah  Ix.  11. 

X  The  same  idiom  referred  to  in  the  note  above.  They,  the  agent,  too  fearful  or  too  revolting  to  be  named,  may  refer 
to  the  worms  reducing  his  skin  to  shreds,  or  to  the  strange  hostile  powers  that  were  then  destroying  hia  body  through 
disease,  regarded  as  produced  by  evil  agency. 


THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


garded  as  in  nearest  connection  with  the  spiritual  emotion :  "  My  reins  faint  within  me," 
"■pn^  TirSj  )hD.  Consuming,  exhaustion,  completion,  are  the  primary  sense,  hence,  of  disap- 
pearing {schwinden),  going  out,  fainting,  swooning  with  ecstatic  joy.  Ewald's  treatment  of  the 
passage  is  most  admirable.  He,  however,  refers  "^r  to  Job  himself,  and  makes  the  personal 
idea  conveyed  by  it  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  his  insupportable  bliss:  "Nicht  ein  Fremder, 
no  more  a  stranger.  It  is  no  other  than  myself;  no,  no ;  all  doubt  is  gone.  It  is  I  [ich,  ich), 
I  that  shall  thus  behold  Him.  So  deeply  does  he  feel  the  bliss,  that  he  seems  to  have  wholly 
forgotten  the  outer  world ;  and  finally,  in  the  highest  transport,  like  one  swooning,  he  cries 
out,-  0  ich  vergehe,  0  I  am  almost  gone ;  I  faint  from  trembling  joy  and  insupportable 
desire."  Ewald,  Job,  p.  200.  He  refers  to  Psalms  Ixxxiv.  3,  cxix.  8.  Compare  also  the  use  of 
olxeraL  by  the  Greek  Dramatists,  napdla  yup  olxsrau 

Similar  Fluctuations  of  Faith  and  Hope.  Job  xiv. 
It  is  the  same  feeling,  though  in  a  calmer  or  less  ecstatic  form,  that  prompts  the  language, 
Job  xiv.  13  :  'J J32f n  ^ixcya  p'  "O,  "  0  that  Thou  wouldst  lay  me  up  (like  a  deposit)  in  Sheol, 
that  Thou  wouldst  keep  me  secret  till  Thy  wrath  should  turn  (211^),  that  Thou  wouldst  ap- 
point me  a  time  and  then  remember  me."  Is  it  really  so  ?  The  thought  suddenly  breaks  out 
of  his  gloom :  "  Is  it  really  so :  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?"  Every  thing  depends  here 
upon  what  we  regard  as  the  emotional  point  of  the  question.  The  musing,  soliloquizing  style 
should  also  be  remembered.  It  is  not  so  much  answering  his  friends,  as  talking  to  himself, 
and  pausing  between  each  solemn  utterance.  It  may  be  the  language  of  skepticism,  or  of 
rising  hope,  not  denying  the  idea,  but  expressive  of  wonder  at  some  new  aspect  of  its  great- 
ness. It  may  have  been  intended — and  the  thought  is  not  unworthy  of  inspiration — ^that  dif- 
ferent readers,  according  to  their  different  degrees  of  spiritual-mindedness,  might  take  higher 
or  lower  views  of  the  strange  interrogatory.  Even  for  Job  himself  it  may  have  had  its  various 
aspects.  There  may  have  been  intended  the  denial  or  the  doubt ;  or  there  may  have  been  the 
feeling  of  wonder  before  mentioned ;  or  it  may  have  been  an  entirely  new  view,  carrying  with 
it  a  rising  assurance:  "  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live?"  May  it  be  that  death  is  the  way  to 
life  ?  * — ^that  through  it  we  attain  the  real  life  ?  However  momentary  the  feeling,  it  imme- 
diately raises  him  to  a  higher  confidence.  Its  first  fruit  is  the  earnest  prayer  for  remem- 
brance and  security  in  Sheol ;  then  the  stronger  faith  grounded  on  the  more  unreserved  sub- 
mission :  "All  the  days  of  my  appointment "  (what  he  had  prayed  for  in  the  verse  preceding) 
will  I  wait  until  my  change  f  shall  come."     And  now  we  have  language  which  seems  to  mount 


*  It  is  the  same  style  of  musing  query  given  in  Plato,  Gorgias,  493,  A,  by  way  of  extract  from  a  lost  drama  of 
Euripides : 

Tcj  5'  oiSei',  €1  TO  ^i;r  fxiv  ktrri  KarBavelv, 
To  KarOavelv  Se  ^rjv  ? 

Who  knows  but  life,  the  present  life,  be  death, 
And  death  be  living? 

Socrates  explains  it  from  the  saying  of  the  vnse  mm  of  old,  "  that  we  are  now  dead  and  buried  in  the  body."  Who  shall  say 
that  the  same,  or  a  kindred  thought,  may  not  have  come  to  an  Idumeau  sage,  as  well  as  to  the  old  <ro^oi  to  whom  Plato 
ascribes  it  ? 

f  Umbreit  and  other  commentators  of  the  same  school  will  have  it  that  the  change  here  is  that  from  life  to  death.  The 
arguments  against  it  are  threefold.  There  is,  first,  the  consistency  of  the  conte.xt.  Secondly,  if  Hi)' /PI  stood  here  alone, 
without  any  thing  to  determine  it  one  way  or  the  other,  it  might  be  said  that  in  other  passages  the  transition  denoted  by 
the  root  is  that  oi  renewal,  whenever  connected  with  the  idea  of  life,  as  in  Ps.  xc.  3;  Ps.  cii.  27,  where  it  seems  to  denote  a 
new  garment  for  nature,  a  change  of  raiment  in  the  sense  of  renewal.  There  is,  thirdly,  the  direct  use  of  fl' 711')  the 
Hiphil,  for  reviviscence,  in  the  seventh  verse,  as  applied  to  the  comparison  of  the  tree.  Would  the  noun  here,  so  obviously 
from  it,  so  soon  lose  the  same  idea, and  be  taken  in  another  directly  opposite?  and  is  there  not  the  stronpjest  critical  reason 
for  regarding  the  use  of  the  noun  in  ver.  14  as  suggested  by  the  parallel  thought,  ver.  7  :  "  Even  as  there  is  hope  of  a  tree 
that  it  will  germinate  again  ('n'''7n'),  so  also  will  I  wait  until  my  springing  forth,  my  713'' /H,  come."  "For  Thou 
wilt  call,"  etc. 


I  KNOW  THAT  MY  REDEEMER  LIVETH.  9 

to  almost  full  assurance :  "  For  Thou  wilt  call  and  I  will  answer  Thee ;  Thou  wilt  yearn  *  to- 
wards the  work  of  Thy  hands."  The  darkness  soon  comes  over  him  again ;  but  these  words 
stand,  nevertheless,  like  the  monumental  engraving  that  describes  the  rapture  of  the  later 
passage.  Even  as  Ewald  describes  him  then,  he  seems,  for  a  short  i^eriod,  so  carried  away  by 
the  deep  question  he  is  pondering,  as  to  have  forgotten  the  outer  world  and  all  his  surround- 
ings. "  Thou  wilt  have  regard  to  the  work  of  Thy  hands ;  Thou  wilt  call  and  I  will  answer." 
It  is  "the  power  of  an  endless  life,"  carrying  him  for  a  moment  beyond  the  thought  of  death, 
or  suffering,  or  human  injustice.  It  is,  however,  but  a  transient  gleam,  and  the  close  of  the 
chapter — following,  we  may  suppose,  a  jjause  or  pauses  in  his  soliloquy — becomes  again  as 
mournful  as  its  beginning.  One  inference  most  strongly  suggests  itself  from  all  this.  There 
is  a  true  experience  here,  an  actual  life  that  is  lived.  A  soul  went  through  these  sorrows.  It 
had  these  transitions  of  hope  and  despair — now  moaning  and  expostulating  with  God,  now 
rapt  in  the  deepest  meditation,  now  praying  and  trusting,  now  utterly  cast  down,  and  now, 
when  "the  light  is  just  before  darkness,"  as  Dr.  Conant  renders  xvii.  12,  rising  suddenly  to  a 
height  of  rapture  in  which  every  thing  disappears  before  the  beatific  vision  of  God.  To  a 
mind  in  a  right  state  there  comes  from  this  an  irresistible  argument  for  the  actual  truthfulness 
of  the  history,  not  only  in  its  general  outlines,  but  also  in  what  has  been  called  its  dramatic 
representation.  This  is  not  an  invented  picture.  It  would  require  a  power  and  a  style  of 
writing  not  only  unknown  to  the  early  world,  but  surpassing  the  highest  skill  of  modern  fic- 
tion, even  could  we  suppose  the  greatest  dramatists  of  Grecian,  German,  or  English  literature 
capable  of  describing  such  a  state  of  soul,  or  of  descending,  without  divine  aid,  into  the  depths 
of  such  an  experience. 


Bidding  Farewell  to  God ;    this  Idea  in  the  Psalms  connected  with  the   Temple  and  Ritual 

Worship. 

In  language  like  this  we  have  quoted  from  Job  and  the  Psalms,  every  hope  of  future 
being,  or  of  any  greater  or  higher  being  now  connected  with  the  earthly  life,  is  sustained 
by,  and  derived  from,  the  idea  of  God.  It  is  tliis  which  gives  such  a  preciousness  to  every- 
thing associated  with  the  divine  name.  In  the  Psalms,  however,  there  is  a  peculiar  feature 
most  worthy  of  note,  because  leading  to  a  most  important  inference.  In  the  expression  of 
the  glorious  divine  attributes,  and  of  man's  great  need  of  God,  their  theism  is  substantially 
the  same  with  that  of  Job  and  the  Patriarchs.  A  new  element,  however,  appears  in  the 
passionate  language  used  in  respect  to  the  outward  divine  worship.  The  occasional  feeling 
of  despondency  in  view  of  death,  as  before  referred  to,  is  enhanced  by  the  thought  of  leaving 
every  thing  on  earth  associated  with  the  divine  name, — the  temple,  the  sanctuary,  the  altar, 
"the  courts  of  Thine  house."  Seethe  prayer  of  Hezekiah,  Isaiah  xxxviii.  Similar  to  this 
is  the  longing  expressed  when  circumstances,  even  in  this  life,  have  cut  them  off  from 
privileges  so  highly  prized :  "  0  when  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  the  face  of  God  ?" 
"How  lovely  are  Thy  tabernacles,  O  Lord  of  Hosts!  Longs,  yea,  even  faints  (nSDDJ 
T\r\i2  DJ)  my  soul  for  the  courts  of  the  Lord;  my  heart  and  my  flesh  cry  aloud  (^JJ"'')  for  the 
Living  God."  Hence  that  endeared  expression  mn"'  D'J,  "  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  used  not 
only  for  the  temple,  the  place  of  worship,  but  for  the  people  of  God  Avho  worship  there.  A 
still  further  extension  of  the  idea  makes  it  denote  the  religious  as  distinguished  from  the 
worldly  life,  or  even  as  something  transcending  the  earthly  state,  though  undefined  in  time 
and  space.  As  Ps.  xxiii.  4 :  "  I  shall  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  for  ever."  In  that 
verse  our  translation  may  be  amended.  The  words  nirr  n'Dn  Tint:',  all  belong  to  the  subject 
of  the  sentence,  as  even  the  accents  show  :  "  My  dwelling  in  the  House  of  the  Lord — shall 
be,  nD'O'  T1K7,  for  length  of  days,"  that  is,  continuously,  or  without  interruption  :  My 
religious  life  shall  not  be  simply  on  Sabbath-days,  or  on  the  stated  festivals,  but  one  un- 

*  'IDDH-  Primary  sense,  paZZMi't,  the /ace  ^rowmg"  pa/«,  like  silver,  from  strong  desire.  We  Lave  used  Dr.  Conant'a 
admirable  translation,  "yearns."  In  Ps.  l.xxxiv.  3  it  is  used,  together  with  D/^i  to  denote  the  longing  of  the  pious  soul 
for  God,  and  that  makes  more  impressive  here  the  converse  idea  of  God's  yearning  love  for  man. 


10  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

broken  adoration.  Comp.  Rev.  iv.  8.  It  is  thus  that,  when  far  removed,  or  deprived  in  any 
way  of  this  divine  presence,  they  so  earnestly  pray  ; 

0  send  again  that  heavenly  hour, 
That  vision  so  divine, 

"  Even  Thy  strength  and  Thy  glory,  as  we  have  seen  them  in  the  Sanctuary.  For  better  is 
Thy  love  than  life ;  our  lips  shall  ever  praise  Thee.  Thus  will  I  bless  Thee  while  I  live ; 
thus,  in  Thy  name,  lift  up  my  hands.  As  with  marrow  and  fatness  (beyond  comparison 
with  any  earthly  pleasure),  so  shall  my  soul  be  satisfied  ;  with  songs  of  joy  shall  my  mouth 
glorify  Thee."  It  is  a  spiritual  joy,  transcending  any  "  good  of  corn  and  wine."  It  is  a 
soul- worship,  a  soul-raj^ture,  no  mere  affair  of  trumpets,  incense,  altars,  or  cherubic  symbols, 
no  imposing  ceremonial,  however  gorgeous  or  comely  its  forms,  however  elevating  or  pietistic 
its  influence.  "  In  the  shadow  of  Thy  wings  do  I  trust."  The  outward  temple  worship 
suggests  the  image,  but  it  is  in  deepest  retirement  that  its  power  is  felt :  "  For  surely  I 
remember  Thee  upon  my  bed  ;  I  meditate  upon  Thee  in  the  watches  of  the  night ;  my  soul 
followeth  hard  after  Thee;  Thy  right  hand  upholdeth  me."  It  is  an  absorbing  devotion; 
the  whole  heart  is  there ;  the  highest  thoughts  of  God  are  there ;  it  is  a  model  which  our  best 
modern  worship  may  strive  to  reach  but  cannot  surpass.  "  For  better  is  Thy  love  than  life  :" 
No  mere  rationalistic  theism  now  talks  to  itself  in  this  way;  it  was  no  mere  theosophy, 
much  less  any  known  form  of  patrial  or  local  worship  that  used  the  language  then.  It  is  an 
abiding  sense  of  the  power  of  this  ancient  devotion  that  has  made  the  Psalms,  in  all  ages, 
the  Litany  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Inference  from  the  Absence  of  all  such  Language  in  Job. 
It  is  true  that  there  are  no  passages  of  this  latter  kind  in  the  Book  of  Job  ;  but  the 
inference  from  the  fact  is  most  obvious  as  well  as  most  important.  The  story  of  that  book, 
and  even  the  seances  (the  dramatic  discourses)  as  recorded,  to  say  nothing  of  any  later  writer 
or  recorder,  were  long  before  those  inspiring  temple  and  tabernacle  ideas.  They  were  before 
the  Mosaic  Law.  That  has  been  ably  maintained  as  proof  of  the  patriarchal  character  of 
the  book,  and  we  think  that  some  of  our  modern  Evangelical  Commentators,  such  as  Heng- 
stenberg,  and  others,  have  been  rash  in  giving  up  a  view  sustained  by  so  profound  a  scholar 
as  Spanheim,  and  indirectly  supported  by  so  learned  an  Orientalist  as  Schultens,  M  historia 
sit,  fraus  scriptoris,  says  the  former.  A  pure  dramatic  work,  avowed  to  be  such,  or  carrying 
evidence  of  its  dramatic  character  upon  its  very  face,  might  have  a  place  in  inspired  Scrip- 
ture regarded  as  given  by  God  for  human  instruction.  Almost  every  other  style  of  writing 
is  there.  But  a  parable,  an  allegory,  a  myth  even,  we  at  once  knovv  to  be  such.  There  is  no 
concealment,  no  attempt  to  conceal,  no  artifice  emjiloyed  to  put  in  what  does  not  belong  to 
the  time  of  the  composition,  or  to  keep  out  what  would  at  once  undeceive  the  reader  in 
regard  to  the  appearance  it  would  maintain.  Such  an  intention,  so  employed,  seems  certainly 
akin  to  fraud.  No  subsequent  writer  was  ever  led  to  regard  our  Saviour's  Parables  as  actual 
histories ;  but  such,  certainly,  was  the  view  derived  by  the  Prophet  Ezekiel  from  this  Book 
of  Job,  then  a  part  of  the  Jewish  Canon.  He  no  more  regarded  it  as  unreal  than  the  his- 
tories, as  contained  in  the  same  Canon,  or  firmly  held  by  tradition,  of  Noah  and  Daniel. 

Difficulties  of  the  pure  Dramatic  view  in  excluding  all  reference  to  the  Divine  Law  and 

Testimony  so  frequent  in  the  Psalms. 
According  to  the  pure  dramatic  view,  the  writer  selects  a  "  hero,"  wholly  imaginary,  or 
faintly  disclosed  in  the  dimmest  nucleus  of  an  ancient  legend.  He  clothes  him  with  the 
character  of  the  patriarchal  age.  He  carefully  keeps  from  him,  and  from  the  speakers 
with  whom  he  is  associated,  the  least  reference  to  the  Mosaic  law.  This  might  be  compara- 
tively easy,  if  it  lay  before  him  as  a  written  document,  which  he  might  at  any  time  examine, 
comparing  it  with  his  own  work,  and  expunging  or  modifying  as  the  case  might  demand. 
But  there  would  be  something  far  more  difficult.  The  Jewish  liturgical  writings,  older  than 
the  time  ascribed  by  most  modern  critics  to  the  Book  of  Job,  abound  in  references  to  this 


I  KNOW  THAT  MY  REDEEMER  LIVETH.  11 

old  law.  They  give  it  a  great  variety  of  names,  such  as  statutes,  judgments,  ordinances, 
testimonies.  See  how  this  kind  of  language  is  multiplied  in  the  cxix.  Psalm,  and  in  others 
certainly  older,  if  the  cxix.  is  to  be  carried  down  to  a  late  date.  Language  is  taxed  to  ex- 
press this  ardent  devotion  of  the  soul,  this  ecstatic  love  of  the  comparatively  limited  reve- 
lation God  had  as  yet  given  to  the  world,  and  that,  too,  veiled,  for  the  most  part,  under 
outward  and  ceremonial  ordinances.  Yet  what  a  raj^ture  does  it  call  out  for  the  spiritual 
mind :  "  O  liow  love  I  Thy  law  !  Thy  word  is  very  pure,  therefore  Thy  servant  loveth  it ; 
The  entrance  of  Thy  word  giveth  light;  Great  peace  have  they  who  love  Thy  testimonies; 
Thy  precepts  are  my  delight  C.^^'i?'^,  in  the  plural,  deliciae  mex,  my  exceeding  joy)  sweet 
to  my  taste,  yea,  sweeter  than  the  honey,  or  the  droppings  of  the  comb."  What  care  must 
it  have  taken  to  avoid  anything  of  this  kind  I  How  still  more  difficult  to  keep  clear  of 
any  such  language  as  we  first  set  forth,  not  referring  to  the  Law,  even  indirectly,  but  deriv- 
ing its  spirit  from  it,  and  full  of  those  remembrances  of  the  sanctuary,  and  of  the  outward 
worship  which  were  its  fruit.  All  this  kept  out  !*  not  the  slightest  anachronism  to  be  dis- 
covered, nothing  but  what  is  perfectly  consistent  with  that  far  more  ancient  Patriarchal 
age  to  which  the  writer  evidently  wishes  the  reader  to  regard  his  imaginary  hero  and  his- 
tory as  belonging.    It  is  incredible. 

Suck  Dramatic  Skill  and  Invention  out  of  Harmony  with  the  Idea  of  Inspiration,  and  even 

of  the  highest  Order  of  Genius. 

It  would  be  wholly  at  war  with  that  simplicity  and  truthfulness  which  we  cannot  sepa- 
rate from  the  idea  of  a  holy  and  inspired  writer.  Such  studied  precaution  would  be  incon- 
sistent even  with  the  lower  human  enthusiasm  demanded  for  such  a  work  of  genius.  It 
would  simply  be  the  genius  of  invention,  and  not  even  a  miracle  could  carry  it  out  of  itself 
and  into  that  higher  sphere  towards  which  it  soars.  Moreover,  such  a  style  of  writing  is 
inconsistent  with  any  idea  we  can  form  of  the  earliest  times.  Modern  fictitious  writing  has 
carried  the  art  to  its  utmost  capabilities,  but  even  here  it  stops  short  (as  from  the  very  nature 
of  the  case  it  must)  of  the  highest  order  of  genius.  It  always  fails  when  it  attempts  to 
meddle  with  the  most  sacred  themes.  We  may  confidently  repeat  it,  therefore,  that  such 
success  in  such  an  effort,  by  a  writer  of  the  days  of  Solomon,  is  simply  incredible. 

But  why  not,  then,  take  it  as  it  purports  to  be — a  true  story  of  the  Patriarchal  age — and 
a  substantially  true  report  of  discourses  arising  out  of  it,  given  in  that  chanting  semi-rhyth- 
mical style  that  we  know  was  earliest  employed  for  the  expression  of  all  thoughts  of  a 
higher  order,  or  regarded  as  having  an  extraordinary  value.  It  is  the  same  reflective,  medi- 
tative, self-repeating  rhythm,  requiring  little  or  no  outward  artifice,  that  we  see  in  some  of 
the  earliest  chants  in  Genesis,  in  the  Song  of  Miriam,  and  in  the  Oracles  of  Balaam, 
the  Prophet  and  Poet  of  the  early  East.  It  was  the  same,  probably,  from  which  the  later 
fixed  style  of  Hebrew  poetry  derived  its  origin.  There  seems  to  be  demanded  some  ancient 
work  of  great  repute  to  be  the  standard  of  authority  for  the  later  parallelistic  chanting,  and 
to  give  it  rule  and  fixedness  ;  just  as  Homer  became  the  model  of  the  Hexameter  for  all 
later  Epic  poetry  of  the  Greeks. 

Internal  Truthfulness.     Place  of  Job  in  Hebrew  Literature. 
There  are  other  alleged  stumbling-blocks,  and  other  objections  to  the  historical  reality 
of  the  Book,  such  as  the  appearance  of  Satan  in  the  Prologue,  the  round  and  double  numbei-s 
in  the  narrative,  and  the  theophany  at  the  close,  which  maybe  treated  elsewhere.     In  re- 
gard, however,  to  the  substantial  subject-matter  of  the  story,  it  may  well  be  asked,  why  may 

*  The  author  is  represented  as  showing  the  most  marvellous  skill  in  keeping  cut  every  allusion  to  things  most  deeply 
interwoven  in  the  Israelitish  life.  All  is  foreign  and  antique.  And  yet  Commentators  who  maintain  this,  find  the  grossest 
anachronisms  in  the  Book,  whenever  they  can  serve  the  purpose  of  assigning  to  it  some  comparatively  modern  period. 
Thus,  Merx,  p.  xli.,  finds  in  ch.  xv.  15,  19,  an  allusion  to  the  Assyrian  invasion  cf  760,  or  to  the  fact  that  foreigners  were 
in  the  land,  and  obscuring  all  the  old  ideas.  Eliphaz  is  made  to  refer  to  the  older  people  "  to  whom  alone  was  given  the 
land."  It  is  very  much  the  same  as  if  one  professing  to  give  a  dramatic  picture  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  striving  to 
keep  every  thing  in  harmony  with  that  early  time,  should  suddenly  betray  himself  by  an  allusion  to  the  late  Rebellion. 
But.  with  some,  the  greatest  iuconsisteacy  is  excusable,  if  it  will  favGr  the  latest  date  that  can  bo  given  to  the  Book. 


12  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

it  not  be  received,  as  we  receive  the  early  narrations  in  Genesis  ?  What  is  there  in  the 
testing,  the  sufferings,  and  the  final  integrity  of  Job,  more  difficult  of  belief  than  the  similar 
account  and  similar  lesson  of  Abraham's  templation,  or  of  Jacob's  long  probation,  or  of  the 
strange  vicissitudes  of  Joseph's  history,  or  of  the  exile  and  severe  trials  of  Moses  ?  Such 
questions  it  would,  indeed,  be  difficult  to  answer ;  but_  the  main  thing  here  is  that  for  which 
there  have  been  cited  these  glowing  passages  from  the  Psalms,  containing  ideas  so  apropros 
to  the  author's  supposed  times,  but  which  have  no  counterpart  in  the  record  of  his  hero's 
thoughts  and  sayings,  either  by  way  of  resemblance  or  of  contrast.  The  inference  is  a  very 
rational  one.  It  shows  that  Job  lived — and  the  first  reporter,  too,  we  think — not  only  before 
the  giving  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  but  at  that  still  earlier  time  when  there  was,  indeed,  a  most 
sublime  theism,  but  when  there  had  not  yet  been  developed  the  forms  or  the  idea  of  local 
outward  worship  in  gathered  assemblies.  There  were  no  temples,  no  sanctuaries,  no  sacred 
places.  It  was  at  the  time  when  the  family  was  the  Church,  in  which  the  father  was  head 
and  priest ;  when  pious  men  knew  each  other,  and  held  intercourse,  as  did  Abraham  and 
Jlelchizedeck,  but  when  holy  days  and  rites  (except  sacrifice),  and  outward  collective  wor- 
shiiJ,  as  such,  were  things  unknown.  That  such  things  should  have  been  before  the  time 
of  Job,  and  yet  without  the  most  remote  allusion  to  them  in  the  Book,  seems  most  incred- 
ible, even  though  the  greatest  pains  had  been  taken  to  keep  them  out.  The  spirit  of  such 
ideas,  and  of  such  observances,  would  have  somehow  come  in,  in  spite  of  every  efibrt  to 
exclude  the  letter.  To  this  collective  or  temple  worship,  or  sanctuary  holiness,  revelation 
had  not  yet  educated  even  the  pious  mind.  To  say  nothing,  however,  of  inspiration,  or  of 
the  divine  purposes,  and  viewing  it  as  a  mere  question  of  criticism,  it  may  be  maintained 
that  the  consistency  of  Hebrew  literature,  as  we  find  it,  demands  that  there  should  be 
assigned  in  it  a  very  ancient  place  to  the  Book  of  Job.  Such  we  believe,  too,  would  be 
the  almost  unanimous  decision  of  Rationalism,  should  a  similar  question,  and  on  similar 
grounds,  be  raised  in  regard  to  Greek  or  Hindu  writings. 

IDEAS  OF  A  FUTURE  LIFE  AMONG  SURROUNDING  NATIONS; 
Alleged  to  be  more  clear  than  those  of  the  Hebrews. 
At  any  date  that  may  be  taken  for  the  Book  of  Job,  there  was,  unquestionably,  among 
the  surrounding  nations  a  belief  in  a  future  life  that  had  assumed  the  form  of  a  dogma  pos- 
sessed of  a  good  degree  of  definiteness  in  regard  to  state  and  conceived  local  aspect.  Such 
v/as  the  case  even  with  Shemitic  nations  other  than  the  Hebrew.  The  Syrians  had  it. 
Pareau  has  shown  that  such  a  belief  existed  among  the  early  Arabians.  There  is  proof  of 
it,  moreover,  from  the  Koran,  all  the  more  satisfactory  as  it  comes  in  incidentally  by  way 
of  unquestioned  reference.  Repeatedly  in  the  contests  of  Mohammed  with  the  infidels 
of  his  day  do  they  characterize  as  fables  of  the  ancients,*  as  ideas  once  firmly  held  in  the 
earlier  simple  world,  but  now  regarded  as  antiquated  and  wholly  obsolete,  asatiru  'lawtvalina, 
those  doctrines  of  a  future  life,  and  of  a  resurrection,  which  he  professed  to  revive  and  to 
urge  upon  them.  If  we  may  trust  Herodotus  and  Diodorus  Siculus,  the  most  ancient 
Egyptians  had  a  similarly  clear  belief.  Says  the  latter,  Lib.  I.,  sec.  51,  "  The  abodes  of  the 
living  they  call  naraVvaeiq^  temporary  lodging-places  or  inns,  those  of  the  departed  {rereAEvrt]- 
KOTcjVj  the  dead,  not  as  extinguished,  or  non-existent,  but  as  a  state  of  being),  they  call 
auViovc  ocKnvc,  everlasting  mansions."  The  idea  of  the  present  life  as  a  pilgrimage  would 
seem  akin  to  that  expressed  in  the  patriarchal  language  :  "  Pilgrims  and  strangers  upon  the 
earth,"  and  may  have  been  derived  from  it ;  but  there  the  Hebrew  mind,  and  the  Hebrew 
imagination  was  stayed.  A  home  to  that  pilgrimage  was  indeed  implied,  and  in  that  they 
rested.  "  They  went  out,  not  knowing  whither  they  went,"  nor  making  any  inquiry,  nor 
indulging  in  any  fancy  about  it,  but  committing  everything  to  their  covenant  God.  The 
Eg}'ptian  imagination,  on  the  other  hand,  unchecked  by  any  divine  purpose  in  the  develop- 

*  See  Sui-at.  xxiii.  85  :  "  How  is  it  that  when  we  are  dead,  and  have  become  diiat  and  bones,  that  we  live  again  ?  They 
are  oi\\y  fahUs  of  the,  ancients,  v.  38.  Away,  then,  with  what  we  are  threatenetl  with  !  There  is  no  other  life.  We  live  aad 
we  die,  and  then  we  live  no  more.    Tbey  are  but  stories  of  the  early  times."    See,  al=o,  xxvi.  137,  xxvii.  69,  70. 


IDEAS  OF  A  FUTURE  LIFE  AMONG  SURROUNDING   NATIONS.  13 

ment  of  the  doctrine,  ran  on  and  made  a  distinct  Hadean  world  of  it,  with  its  distinctly 
conceived  abodes.  The  idea  being  separated,  too,  almost  wholly,  from  that  of  the  personal 
God,  or  being  independently  held  as  something  by  itself,  became  gross  and  earthly,  as  though 
it  were  a  living  in  catacombs  and  pyramids,  and  surrounded  by  a  funereal  imagery.  Other 
ancient  peoples  pictured  the  thought  with  lighter  and  more  cheerful  accompaniments.  We 
need  not  refer  to  the  Chaldteaus,  the  Persians,  and  the  Hindoos,  as  early  possessing  the 
idea  of  a  future  life  ;  for  with  them  the  rationalist  has  no  difficulty.  It  is  only  in  regard 
to  the  Jews  that  he  finds  it  hard  to  believe  in  anything  spiritual  or  unearthly.  They 
could  only  have  learned  it  from  foreign  sources ;  but,  in  regard  to  these  foreign  sources 
themselves,  no  questions  need  be  raised.  All  is  easy,  except  when  some  strange  feeling— 
of  the  true  nature  of  which  they  are,  perhaps,  not  distinctly  aware — prompts  them  to  deny 
all  traces  of  such  ideas  as  originating  in  the  Scriptures,  or  as  being  first  held,  or  inde- 
pendently held,  by  the  Hebrew  mind.  So  far,  however,  as  regards  these  surrounding  nations, 
they  are  undoubtedly  correct.  They  all  had  a  more  or  less  distinct  doctrine  of  a  future  life. 
On  that  of  the  Greeks  we  need  not  dwell.  In  the  times  referred  to,  in  the  Iliad  and  the 
Odyssey,  a  local  Hadean  world  of  spirits  was  distinctly  conceived  and  universally  held.  So 
was  it  among  the  people  of  Western  Europe.  The  best  testimony  shows  that  the  Druids, 
or  Celtic  priesthood,  possessed  it,  even  in  that  early  day. 

The  Veil  thrown  over  the  Doctrine  in  the  Old  Testament. 
And  now  here  is  the  wonder  which  has  stumbled  many.  How  is  it  that  such  a  belief,  so 
universal,  so  intimately  connected,  as  it  would  seem,  with  the  very  life  of  religion  in  any 
form,  and  without  which  we  find  it  difficult  to  conceive  of  its  having  any  power  for  the 
soul— how  is  it  that  such  a  belief  should  have  been  so  faint  among  the  people  who  are 
called  the  people  of  God?  Why  so  little  mentioned,  if  mentioned  at  all,  by  those  who 
were  chosen  as  depositaries  of  the  great  world-ideas,  or  the  truths  by  which  the  race  was 
finally  to  be  regenerated  ?  The  wonder  is  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  this  Hebrew  people, 
the  pious  among  them,  had  the  most  exalted  ideas  of  the  Divine  Being,  and  the  Divine 
Holiness,  so  far  surpassing  all  who  seemed  to  be  before  them,  in  a  distinct  conception  of  the 
other  doctrine.  How  is  it  that  in  Homer  the  belief  is  so  clearly  expressed,  whilst  in  Job 
it  is  so  veiled?  It  is  altogether  stranger  from  the  fact  that  in  Homer  there  seems  little  or 
no  demand  for  it— no  moral  demand,  we  mean — whilst  in  Job  the  attending  spiritual  cir- 
cumstances are  such  as  would  appear  to  call  for  it  in  almost  every  appeal,  whether  of  charge 
or  response.  It  would  have  cleared  up  the  great  debate  at  once.  So  we  would  have  thought. 
Instead  of  being  used,  however,  for  any  such  purpose,  it  seems  actually  repressed  when  about 
to  make  its  appearance.  In  places  where  it  may  be  said  to  have  actually  broken  through 
the  surrounding  darkness,  it  is  only  for  a  moment  that  it  shines.  It  is  laid  aside  ;  the  gloom 
returns ;  the  old  difficulties  again  crowd  the  path  of  their  ever-circling  argument.  So  is  it 
elsewhere  in  the  Old  Scriptures.  The  more  pious  the  mind,  the  more  exalted  its  conceptions 
of  God,  the  greater  the  reserve  on  this  point ;  so  that  even  when  it  seems  to  be  expressed,  or 
implied,  the  greatest  care  is  used  to  exhibit  its  dependence  on  the  higher  idea.  The 
personal  God  is  ever  the  controlling  as  well  as  the  fundamental  thought:  "  Thou  wilt  show 
me  the  way  of  life ;"  "  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  in  Thy  likeness  ;"  "  Thou  wilt  guide 
me  by  Thy  counsel,  and  afterwards  receive  me  to  glory."'-     In  other  cases,  it  is  simply  the 

*  It  was  only,  however,  by  the  more  pious  and  meditative,  or  those  who  were  chosen  as  the  mediums  of  the  written 
revelation,  that  the  power  of  this  reserve  was  chiefly  felt.  That  the  vulgar  Jewish  mind  liad  the  same  views  of  a  ghost- 
world  as  prevailed  among  other  nations  of  antiquity,  and  as  now  popularly  prevail,  is  proved  by  the  most  unmistakable 
evMence.  We  need  only  refer  to  such  passages  as  Lev.xix.  31,  xx.  6, 27  ;  Deut.  xviij.  11;  2  Kings  xxi.  16;  Isa.  viii.19,  xxix.  4. 
They  show  a  belief  so  strong  and  prevalent,  in  the  continued  existence  of  the  dead,  that  there  had  arisen,  in  the  veiy 
earliest  times,  a  class  of  persons  who  professed  to  be  mediums  of  communication  between  the  two  worlds.  They  are  called 
niD'lX,  CD' J;;T,  Necromancers,  or  "Seekers  to  the  dead,"  CD'ilO  Sx  O'tr^^T  Our  modern  Spiritualism  is  only  a 
revived  form  of  this  impiety,  so  early  condemned.  Another  example  is  furnished  by  the  case  of  Saul  and  the  Witch  of 
Endor,  1  Sam.  xxviii.  3.  Whether  these  were  wholly  or  partly  imposture,  makes  no  difference  in  the  argument.  Such  prac- 
tices could  only  have  been  grounded  on  a  very  prevalent  popular  belief  in  a  ghost-world.  Here  as  elsewhere,  the  idea, 
when  left  to  itself,  became  only  the  nourisher  of  a  pestilent  superstition;  because  the  thought  of  God,  as  the  conservative 


14  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

expression  of  the  divine  care  for  man,  and  the  strange  importance  attached  to  his  acts  and 
.moral  condition  ;  as  wlien  Job  says,  xiv.  3,  "  Upon  such  a  one  dost  Thou  open  Thine  eye, 
and  bring  me  into  judgment  with  Theef"  "What  is  man  that  Thou  shouldst  be  so  mind- 
ful of  him  ?"  Again,,  it  is  the  expression  of  a  soul  absorbed  in  Deity,  as  it  were  :  "  Whom 
have  I  in  Heaven,  or  upon  the  earth,  but  Thee  ?"  No  mention  is  made  of  another  life,  but 
the  power,  as  we  have  said,  is  there ;  the  dogmatic  presence  is  simply  veiled  in  the  splendor 
of  the  higher  idea. 

Reasons  for  this  Reserve. 
Now  there  must  have  been  some  divine  purpose  in  all  this.  May  we  not  reverently 
conclude  that  such  a  reserve,  in  respect  to  the  precious  idea  of  the  human  immortality,  was 
for  the  very  purpose  of  preserving  it  in  its  highest  strength  and  purity  ?  All  other  nations 
had  marred  the  doctrine.  They  had  early  received  it,  and  early  perverted  it.  They  exer- 
cised upon  it  all  the  license  of  an  unrestrained  imagination.  They  turned  it  into  fables. 
They  deformed  it  in  every  way ;  or,  in  endeavoring  to  add  to  its  mythical  interest,  they  took 
from  it  all  its  moral  power.  God  did  not  mean  thus  to  give  up  His  own  people  to  their 
fancies.  He  had  some  better  thing  for  them,  especially  for  the  more  pious  and  spiritual  in 
Israel.  Hence  this  veil  upon  the  sacred  idea,  and  its  indissoluble  connection  with  the 
divine.  It  was  not  because  the  Hebrews  were  deficient  in  imagination.  The  vulgar  belief 
in  a  ghost- world,  to  Avhich  we  have  referred  (see  note,  p.  13),  shows  that  they  let  it  rove, 
just  as  all  other  ancient  peoples  did,  and  even  to  an  extent  which  required  divine  legislation 
for  its  suppression.  We  can  not  compare  the  mythical  fancies  that  seem  so  universally  pre- 
valent with  the  reserve  that  was  maintained  in  the  Book  of  Job,  or  in  the  utterances  of 
David,  Solomon,  and  the  Prophets,  without  acknowledging  the  presence  of  a  divine  re- 
straint, making  the  Jewish  literature,  in  this,  as  well  as  in  its  sublime  theistic  aspect,  so 
different  from  that  of  all  surrounding  or  cotemporary  nations. 

Objections  to  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Alleged  Superiority  of  the  Greeks.  Homer,  Pindar,  et  al. 
And  yet  this  very  thing  has  been  urged  as  an  argument  against  the  Bible,  and  against 
the  spirituality  of  the  Old  Testament  writers.  The  very  fact  that  it  was  esteemed  too  awful 
a  doctrine  for  utterance,  or  even  for  the  imagination,  has  been  used  as  a  testimony  against 
its  existence  in  any  form.  Witness  the  effort  to  explain  away  every  passage  which  may 
seem,  in  any  way,  directly  or  indirectly,  capable  of  such  a  meaning.  The  Greeks,  it  h;i^ 
been  said,  were  far  beyond  them  in  the  development  of  the  doctrine  of  another  life.  As 
early  as  Homer,  and  long  before  Homer — for  it  could  not  have  sprung  up  at  once — they  had 
a  defined  topography  of  the  Hadean  land.  Besides  the  mysterious  spirit-world  in  its  general 
aspect,  as  graphically  detailed  in  the  XI.  Book  of  the  Odyssey,  there  was  the  more  special 
abode  of  the  blessed,  according  to  the  Greek  conception  of  blessedness.  Beyond  the  earth, 
or  at  the  extremity  of  the  earth,  h  Tcetpara  yaiTjc,  Odyssey,  iv.  563,  they  had  their  "  Elysian 
Plain,  where  presided  in  judgment  the  golden-haired  Rhadamanthus,  where  life  is  ever  free 

idea,  became  dissociated  from  it,  just  as  in  the  modern  doctrine,  and  the  modem  practice  that  so  closely  resembles  it. 
Hence  such  a  belief,  instead  of  being  encouraged,  is  most  sharply  condemned  in  the  Scriptures.  The  great  guilt  consisted 
in  meddling  with  what  belonged  solely  to  God,  to  be  revealed  or  veiled  according  to  the  divine  wisdom.  The  practice  of 
such  necromancy  prevailed  most  under  the  most  wicked  kings,  such  as  Manassoh  ;  and  its  evil  in  the  Divine  sight  is  shown 
by  the  vehement  denunciations  of  the  Prophet:  The  farther  the  people  departed  from  God,  the  more  common  became  this 
"  seeking  to  the  dead." 

Glimpses,  however,  of  a  better  popular  belief  in  some  higher  and  purer  spirit-world  appear  in  the  Book  of  Job  itself. 
Whether  the  word  nil,  in  the  Vision  of  Eliphaz,  iv.  15,  denote  a  spirit,  or  a  breath,  the  whole  context  intimates  a  com- 
munication supposed  to  come  from  another  world.  Calling  it  a  dream  makes  no  difference,  since  dreams  show  the  course 
of  human  thinking  and  belief.  The  thing,  however,  most  worthy  of  note  in  this  view,  is  the  nature  of  the  communication 
made.  How  different,  in  this  respect,  from  the  modern  spiritualism  referred  to  I  There  is  nothing  to  gratify  curiosity — 
ncf  talk  about  "  spheres,"  and  "progress,  or  a  "coming  light,"  but  a  most  solemn  moral  announcement.  It  is  for  this  alone 
that  the  separating  curtain  is  for  a  moment  withdrawn.  No  disclosure  is  made  of  states  or  scenes  within.  The  regulating 
divine  idea  is  all-controlling.  That  must  first  of  all  be  learned  in  its  ineffable  holiness  :"  Shall  man  be  more  just  than 
God  ?  shall  mortal  man  be  more  pure  than  his  Maker  ?"  Everything  else  is  withheld,  as  though  until  this  is  firmly  esta- 
blished in  the  soul,  the  doctrine  of  a  spirit-life  may  be.  in  itself,  morally  powerless,  and  even  unfavorable  to  a  true  piety. 


IDEAS  OF  A  FUTURE  LIFE  AMONG  SURROUNDING  NATIONS.  15 


from  care  and  toil,  where  tempest  never  comes,  nor  rain  nor  snow  invade,  but  evermore 
sweet-breathing  gah^s  of  Zephyrus  refre.'^h  the  souls  of  men."  Hesiod  gives  the  same  pic- 
ture, Works  and  Days,  154;  and  adds  to  it,  as  a  then  current  mythology,  the  conception  of 
"  The  Isles  of  the  Blessed." 

iv  fiaKcipuv  VTjUOiCiiv  anTjdca  dv/uuv  ixovTEg.     ■ 

Of  which  Pindar,  not  long  afterwards,  gives  such  a  glowing  description,  Olyrap,  II.  110* 
(Boeckh):  "Where  the  sun  is  ever  shining,  where  the  souls  of  the  just  spend  a  tearless 
eternity,  aihKpw  vl/iovrat  nluva  (or  a  tearless  existence) ;  whilst  those  of  a  still  higher  degree 
"Take  the  way  of  Jove  that  leads  to  Saturn's  tower,  where  Ocean's  gales  breathe  round  the 
isles  of  the  blessed,  where  flowers  of  gold  and  fruits  immortal  grow."  In  comparison  with 
this,  how  poor,  as  some  would  estimate  it,  is  the  dark,  shadowy,  unlocalized,  and  wholly 
indefinite  conception  of  the  Old  Testament  writers,  if  it  can  be  called  a  conception 
at  all. 

Greater  Moral  Power  of  this  Old  Testament  Reserve.  Its  connection  with  a  Pure  Theism. 
To  a  true  theological  insight,  however,  there  are  two  thoughts  which  must  reverse  the 
scale,  and  lead  to  a  very  different  conclusion.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  in  this  Greek 
picture  but  the  dimmest  idea  of  God  (if  there  is  any  such,  except  in  the  local  designations 
where  divine  names  seem  to  be  employed),  or  of  any  divine  righteousness.  It  is  such  a  view 
as  might  be  entertained  by  a  writer,  who,  in  another  place,  Pind,,  Nem.  vi.  1,  makes  us  all 
the  children  of  nature,  gods  as  well  as  men.  The  second  thought  is  its  utter  lack  of  moral 
power.  We  feel  this  as  we  read,  and  find  it  confirmed  by  the  fact  of  the  little  influence  tlie 
Greek  Hadean  conception  actually  had  upon  their  moral  or  religious  life.  In  the  Hebrew 
conception,  as  held  by  the  pious  mind,  the  idea  of  God,  so  prominent,  so  controlling,  more 
than  makes  up  for  its  dimness,  and  more  than  fills  out  all  its  scenic  or  local  deficiency. 
"  Thou  wilt  show  me  the  way  of  life ;"  "  O  that  Thou  wouldst  lay  me  up  in  Hades,"  Job  xiv.; 
"Thou  wilt  call,  and  I  will  answer;  Thou  wilt  have  regard  to  the  work  of  Thy  hands."  To 
say  nothing  now  of  such  a  triumphant  outburst  as  we  have.  Job  xix.  25,  "  I  know  that  my 
Eedeemer  liveth ;"  or  such  clear  hopes  as  are  expressed,  Ps.  xvii.  15,  "  I  shall  behold  T/nj 
face  in  righteousness;  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake.  Thy  likeness;"  the  comparison 
might  be  rested  on  one  of  the  briefest  declarations  of  Scripture,  in  which  death  is  con- 
templated as  a  going  to  God,  and  the  whole  idea  of  immortality  is  reduced  to  a  single  trust 
in  some  undefined  blessedness.  As  Psalm  xxxi.  6 :  Tin  Tp3X  'P''^,  "  Into  Thy  hands 
do  I  commit  my  spirit;  Thou  hast  redeemed  me;  Lord,  God  oi  truth."  It  matters  but  little 
whether  we  regard  this  declaration  as  made  in  extremis,  or  in  view  of  some  great  danger. 
It  is,  in  either  view,  the  committing  of  the  whole  being  unto  God,  as  something  belonging 
to  Him,  in  virtue  of  an  eternal  relation,  expressed  by  the  word,  "TilN  nnna^  "  Thou  hast 
redeemed  me,"  and  the  covenant  idea  appearing  in  POX,  which  ever  means  truth,  as  trust 
or  faithfulness,  or  truth  in  its  personal  rather  than  in  its  abstract  or  speculative  aspect. 
"Into  Thy  handa;"  that  is  all ;  but  how  immensely  does  it  transcend  in  moral  power — in 
"  the  power  of  an  endless  life," — all  those  Homeric,  Hesiodean,  and  Pindaric  pictures  which 
some  would  regard  as  so  rich  in  comparison  with  the  Hebrew  poverty. 

Comparison  of  the  Early   Hindu   and  Shemitic  Belief.       Merx'    Claim   of  Superiority  for 

the  former. 

This  lack  of  a  true  moral  and  theological  insight  is  strikingly,  though   untvittino-lv 

shown  by  Merx  [Das  Oedicht  von  Hiob.,  p.  x.),  where,  in  respect  to  this  belief  in  another 

life,  he  asserts  the  superiority  of  the  Vedas  to  the  Bible.     "  In  the  representations  of  such 

an  existence  after  death,"  he  proceeds  to  say,  "  there  is  a  deep  difference  between  the  people 

*  It  may  be  said,  too,  that  in  this  passage  of  Piudar  there  is  fully  developed  the  other  idea,  or  the  doom  of  the  wicked. 
See  line  120. 

Tot  &'  a.rrpoiT6parou  oKxiovTi  irovov. 
A  woo  on  which  no  eye  can  gaze. 


16  THEISM  OF  THE  COOK  OF  JOB. 

of  our  race  (the  Arian)  and  the  Shemitic.  The  latter  know  no  Isles  of  the  blest,  where  the 
noble  heroes  live.  All  that  is  included  in  that  word  hero  seems  to  them  a  reckless  auda- 
city. The  old  men  of  renown  (CDiy  'JJ,  or  men  of  name),  appear  to  them  as  impudent  evil 
doers.  The  Semites,  in  consequence  of  living  with  their  herds  in  the  plains,  and  shunning 
the  mountain  peaks,  fail  in  the  development  of  the  loftier  energies.  It  was  otherwise  with 
our  ancestral  kindred,  as  we  learn  from  the  monuments  of  their  religion.  It  is  true  that,  iu 
the  Vedas,  allusions  to  a  life  after  death  do  not  often  occur.  They  had  too  much  to  do 
with  the  present  world.  Still,  as  a  reward  for  piety,  there  was  held  to  be  admission  to  the 
abodes  of  the  Heavenly  Powers."  As  a  proof  of  the  superiority  of  the  Hindu  to  the  She- 
mitic belief  in  this  respect,  he  gives  us  passages  from  the  Bigveda,  ix.  113,  7-11,  in  the 
rhythmical  version  of  Prof.  Roth. 

Da,  wo  der  Schimmer  nie  erliJscht, 

Zur  Welt  des  Sonnenlichtes  hin, 
Der  ewigen  uusterblichen — 

Dahin,  0  Soma,  bringe  mich. 

Wo  Konig  ist  Vivaswant's  Sohn, 

Und  wo  des  Himmels  Innerstes, 
Wo  jene  Wasserquellcn  sind, 

Dort  lasse  mich  unstcrblich  aein  I 

Wo  man  bebaglich  sich  ergeht, 

Im  dritten  hohou  Ilimmelsraum, 
Wo  Schimmer  alle  Riiume  fiillt 

Dort  lasse  mich  unsterblich  seini 

Wo  Wunsch  und  Wohlgefallen  ist, 

Die  Hoh',  zu  der  die  Sonne  klimmt 
Wo  Lust  ist  und  Befriedigung, 

Dort  lasse  mich  unsterblich  aein : 

Wo  Freuden  und  Ergbtzungen, 

Wo  jubelndes  EntzUcken  wohnt, 
Wo  sich  ein  jeder  Wunsch  erfiillt, 

Dort  lasse  mich  unsterblich  sein. 

Other  extracts  are  made,  and  of  a  similar  kind.  There  is  a  striking  sameness  in  their  im- 
agery— all  joy  and  glitter.  The  first  thought  that  occurs  is  a  doubt  whether  a  writing  contain- 
ing such  ideas,  and  so  expressed,  can  really  be  regarded  as  very  ancient.  There  is  something 
about  this  Epicurean  Heaven  so  full  of  sunshine,*  with  such  a  glee,  as  it  were,  arising  from 
the  immediate  gratification  of  every  desire,  and  the  instantaneous  fulfilment  of  every  wish, 
that  is  inconsistent  with  the  gravity,  the  awed  contemplative  spirit,  and  solemn  reticence  of 
great  antiquity.  The  second  thought  is  its  destitution  of  moral  power.  It  is  a  mere 
picture  of  what  is  held  best  on  earth,  transferred  to  a  supposed  higher  sphere.  It  is  a  pure 
poetic  fancy,  the  product  of  the  Brahminic  imagination,  artistic  and  artificial.  It  was  never 
inspired  in  the  highest  sense.  It  was  not  born  in  any  soul  travail,  nor  nursed  by  the  con- 
templation of  any  holy  or  divine  idea.  God  is  not  in  it  as  the  chief  and  controlling  thought. 
Its  heaven  is  not  made  by  His  presence.  The  mind  that  dreamed  it  was  not  wholly  atheis- 
tical, but  it  had  nc  such  conception  as  that  of  a  covenant  God  and  Redeemer,  educating 
men  in  their  first  lesson  of  immortality  through  the  ideas  inseparable  from  such  a  relation. 
In  other  words,  these  Vedaic,  Homeric,  and  Pindaric  fancies,  so  extolled  above  the  dim 
Hebraic  conceptions,  were  lacking  in  that  element  to  which  we  have  so  repeatedly  alluded, 
6vvafiiq  i^uijg  anaTalvTov,  "  the  power  of  an  endless  life,"  of  a  being  indissoluble,  because  of  its 

*  The  resemblance  to  the  Odyss.,  iv.  565,  vi.  42,  and  especially  to  the  latter  passage,  is  very  striking.  A  close  compari- 
son strongly  favors  the  conclusion  that  the  lines  of  the  Veda,  if  the  translation  be  correct,  must  have  been,  in  some  way, 
drawn  from  these  of  Homer;  a  supposition  not  extravagant,  if  we  suppose  them  later  than  Alexander's  expedition,  and 
the  knowledge  that  may,  perhaps,  have  come  into  India  from  that  source. 

Wo  Schimmer  alle  Riiume  fiillt, 

aAAa  tiaX'diBpri 


IDEAS  OF  A  FUTURE  LIFE  AMONG  SURROUNDING  NATIONS.  17 

connection  with  the  divine.  The  Vedaic  theology,  even  in  its  pantheistic  mysticism,  hag  no 
true  recognition  of  this.  To  its  outward,  or  Epicurean  picture,  it  is  wholly  lacking.  It 
knows  nothing  of  the  aluvcog  fu?)  of  the  Scriptures,  or  the  true  immortality.  The  sonorous 
refrain — • 

Dort  lasse  mich  unsterblich  sein, 

carries  Avith  it  no  higher  conception  than  that  of  mere  undyingness.  It  is  but  a  living  on 
in  some  way  differing  from  the  present  simply  by  a  higher  joyousness,  in  some  higher 
locality,  whether  above  the  Himalaya,  or  on  the  summits  of  Olympus,  or  even  in  the  skies 
themselves,  with  the  gods  as  merely  a  higher  class  of  companions.  The  Scriptures  were 
intended  for  a  higher  education  than  this,  and  hence  their  very  silence  is  ofttimes  more 
expressive,  more  suggestive  of  ideas  that  are  full  of  life  than  the  most  positive  language 
of  other  ancient  writings.  "  O  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  Him."  How  poor  this 
groping,  sighing  despair,  it  may  be  said,  in  comparison  with  the  rapture  which  Merx  gives 
us  as  a  specimen  of  the  higher  and  clearer  ideas  of  our  Arian  kinsmen  !  But  Job's  dark- 
ness is  better  than  its  light.  The  subdued  trust  of  the  Psalmist  is  better  than  its  vain 
soaring :  "  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  death-shade  (the  terra  uvibrarum, 
see  Job  x.  21,  xxxviii.  17),  I  will  fear  no  evil ;  for  Thou  art  with  me."  Sombre  as  are  the 
thoughts  suggested  by  the  Hebrew  Tzalmavcth,  the  idea  of  the  redeeming  Presence  gives  it 
a  glory  transcending  all  the  sunlight,  all  the  shimmer,  and  sparkle  of  the  Vedaic  hymn. 

Merx  proceeds  farther  with  this  contrast,  attempting  to  sustain  it  by  reference  to  the 
modes  of  burial  or  burning  that  arose  from  the  different  vie<vs  entertained  of  death.  In 
every  thing  of  the  kind  the  superiority  is  assigned  to  the  Arian  races.  The  translation  of 
Enoch  had  been  regarded  as  an  early  intimation  of  a  higher  life  with  God,  to  which  one 
was  taken  who  had  "  walked  with  God  "  on  earth.  But  the  contemned  Shemites  must  be 
robbed  even  of  this.  "  How  widely  different,"  says  Merx,  that  is,  how  inferior,  "  were  the 
views  of  the  Hebrews,  of  whom  we  must  not  judge  from  any  thing  in  the  Enoch  legend 
{der  Henochsage),  since  the  Hebrew  origin  of  it  is  more  than  doubtful."*  It  is  certainly  a 
curious  phase  of  "the  higher  criticism,"  as  it  calls  itself,  this  constant  tendency  to  depreciate 
the  Shemitic  Scrip^tures,  whilst  never  allowing  a  doubt  as  to  the  antiquity  or  value  of  any 
thing,  however  poor  its  supporting  testimony,  that  they  may  choose  to  place  in  contrast 
with  them. 

Moral  Danger  in  separating  the  Idea  of  a  Future  Life  from  a  Pure    Tlieism.      Modern 

Spiritualism  and  Modern  Science. 
Still  the  fact  remains  a  very  strange  one,  especially  as  judged  by  the  ordinary  criticism, 
that  in  this  peculiar  Shemitic  race,  and  at  this  very  early  day,  there  should  have  been 
such  a  deep  religiousness,  such  a  lofty  piety,  and  yet  with  a  conception  of  a  future  life  so 
very  dim,  if  it  existed  at  all.  "We  wonder  most  to  find  it  so  deeply  veiled  in  this  Book  of 
Job,  where  the  clearer  view  seems  so  greatly  needed.  The  divine  wisdom,  however,  in  such, 
a  veiling,  such  a  reserve,  will  be  the  more  readily  seen  and  acknowledged,  when  we  think 
of  the  wild  fables  and  mischievous  notions  to  which  the  unguarded  Hadean  doctrine  gave 
rise  among  other  peoples  of  antiquity,  and  especially  as  it  became  more  and  more  dissevered 
from  any  regulating  divine  idea.  Of  this  we  have  already  spoken.  It  remains  to  say  that 
in  our  own  times  we  find  a  still  more  striking  proof  of  the  moral  danger  of  such  a  seve- 
rance. The  modern  "  spiritualism,"  as  it  calls  itself,  would  be  unworthy  of  grave  notice 
here,  were  it  not  as  a  manifestation  of  such  a  tendency.     It  is  becoming  almost  wholly 

*  "  More  than  doubtful."  What  knowledge  has  he  enabling  him  to  make  bo  nice  an  estimate  ?  The  reason  given  is 
that  "Enoch  is  representative  of  the  departed  year  gone  to  the Ewigkeit.'^  We  may  see  by  this  what  rapid  progress 
Rationalism  sometimes  makes.  What  EwaUl  hazarded  as  a  mere  conjecture,  founded  on  nothing  stronger  flian  the  co- 
incidence (very  remarkable  among  so  many  stated  numbers!)  of  Enoch's  age  with  the  number  of  days  in  the  year, 
Merx  treats  as  a  settled  point,  which  none  now  would  think  of  calling  in  question.  Nothing,  however,  is  more  impro- 
bable. Those  very  "  wise  Egyptians,"  as  late  as  the  time  of  Herodotus,  had  not  yet  determined  the  year  by  five  days, 
still  treating  it,  in  some  respects,  as  360,  and  yet  these  critics  would  have  it  not  only  settled  in  the  days  of  Enoch,  but 
80  well  settled  as  to  make  a  myth  ont  of  it.  Then,  again,  it  would  be  "a  mere  sentimeatalism,  suiting  well  in  modern  times, 
but  inconsistent  with  a  great  antiquity. 

-    2 


THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


naturalistic,  and  even  atheistical.  Its  continual  babble  about  natural  laws  shows  its  strong 
desire  to  keep  out,  as  far  as  possible,  the  ideas  of  God  and  moral  causation.  The  same 
may  be  said  in  respect  to  some  aspects  of  modern  science.  How  strong  the  aversion  which 
is  manifested,  in  certain  quarters,  to  the  idea  of  a  personal  God,  with  its  necessarily  asso- 
ciated ideas  of  Providence  and  Prayer  I  They  interfere  with  the  doctrine  of  fixed  evolution, 
or  of  uninterrupted  physical  causation.  And  yet  it  is  most  worthy  of  note,  that  there  is  no 
such  aversion  to  the  mere  idea  of  a  post-mortem  existence.  Some  who  have  gone  to  the 
very  verge  of  atheism  have  expressed  a  willingness  to  patronize  the  other  dogma,  provided 
it  can  be  i^resented  in  some  scientific  form.  Seijarate  it  from  the  thought  of  God,  or  of  any 
dread  moral  government;  reduce  it  to  a  mere  physical  fact,  and  there  need  be  no  objection 
to  it.  There  is  nothing  in  the  way.  The  theories  of  the  origin  of  life,  as  held  by  many, 
are  quite  consistent  with  its  continuance  in  some  finer  organization,  or  in  some  higher 
physical  development. 

Atheism  and  3faterialism  not  Inconsistent  with  some  Doctrine  of  Future  Being. 
In  this  way,  the  most  crass  materialism  may  have  its  future  state,  possessing,  perhaps,  a 
memory  of  the  former;  since  memory  and  consciousness  are  merely  the  results  of  organization, 
and  may  thus  be  carried  through  from  one  to  the  other.  Even  atheism  cannot  wholly  shut 
out  the  idea,  or  the  phantom,  if  it  would.  It  may  have  a  ghostly  world  of  the  future,  even 
as  it  makes  a  ghost  of  the  present.  It  may  have  its  spectres  and  its  demons,  all  the 
product  of  natural  laws,  even  if  it  has  no  God.  It  cannot  escape  the  thought  of  the 
fearful  by  denying  the  existence  of  any  power  above  nature.  Who  knows  what  forms  of 
being  such  an  omnipotent  and  eternal  nature  may  produce  ?  And  who  can  say  that  they 
may  not  be  inconceivably  dire  and  monstrous  ?  If  one  says,  that  cannot  be  so, — there  must 
be  something  in  the  universe,  as  a  whole,  which  prevents  the  predominance  of  what  we 
call  evil,  whether  physical  or  moral — the  question  at  once  arises,  how  does  he  know  that 
from  any  science,  with  its  infinitesimal  experience?  He  is  unconsciously  taking  refuge 
in  a  higher  doctrine,  or  borrowing  ideas  from  the  contemned  theological  sphere  of  thought. 
Even  the  Democritic,  or  the  Atomic  philosophy,  whether  in  its  most  ancient  or  its  most 
modern  form,  may  have  its  future  state.  Among  the  endless  phenomena  of  the  physical 
universe,  man  may  re-appear ;  the  very  same  man,  so  far  as  there  can  be  any  such  thing 
as  personal  identity.  Given  infinite  time,  and  infinite  space,  and  infinite  variety,  of  working, 
and  the  atoms  which  compose  his  brain  may  come  together  in  the  same  proportion,  site,  and 
arrangement  as  before.  When  this  takes  place,  there  he  is  again,  with  the  same  feelings, 
thoughts,  knowledge,  memory,  consciousness,  —  all  being,  as  before,  simjily  the  results  of 
that  peculiar  material  organization  which  alone  makes  him  what  he  is.  The  idea  of  another 
life  after  death  is  not,  in  itself,  an  absolute  essential  of  religion ;  since,  as  Genesis  and 
this  Book  of  Job  most  clearly  jjrove,  there  may  be  even  a  lofty  piety  where  there  is  only 
the  dimmest  conception  of  such  a  state.  In  its  perversion,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  even 
become  the  ally  of  irreligion.  Severed  from  the  divine  idea,  it  may  be  the  parent  of  the 
most  monstrous  superstitions,  or  link  itself  with  some  gross  doctrine  of  a  physical  metem- 
psychosis— becoming,  in  either  case,  a  more  evil  thing  than  the  densest  skepticism. 


A  PURE  THEISM  TO  BE  FIRST  TAUGHT. 
7%e  Great  Lesson  of  the  Book — The  Absolute  Sovereignty  of  God. 
'  The  distinctions  made  in  the  preceding  pages  have  been  the  more  largely  dwelt  upon 
as  furnishing  a  reason,  we  may  reverently  suppose,  why,  in  the  early  revelation,  this  doc- 
trine of  a  future  life  is  kept  so  much  under  the  veil.  It  is  that  the  other  and  the  diviner 
doctrine  may  be  the  more  fully  learned,  and  firmly  fixed  in  the  human  mind,  as  the  con- 
servative principle,  the  purifying  power  of  all  other  religious  beliefs.  The  subordinate 
idea,  as  we  have  said,  is  not  wholly  excluded  from  the  Book  of  Job.  It  now  and  then 
appears  amid  the  darkness ;  but  there  is  made  no  use  of  it  in  enforcing  the  great  lesson, 
which  is,  to  teach  the  absolute  moral  sovereignty  of  God,  and  the  unqualified  duty  of 


VARIOUS  VIEWS  OF  THE  BOOK.  19 

human  submission,  as  to  a  demand  carrying  in  itself  its  own  inherent  righteousness. 
The  theism",  the  theodice  of  the  Book  is  its  great  feature.  Never  were  the  divine  personality, 
the  divine  holiness,  the  divine  government  unchallengeable,  in  a  word,  the  absolute  divine 
sovereignty,  more  sublimely  set  fortli.  Here  there  is  no  reserve:  God  most  wise  and  good, 
most  just  and  holy,  to  be  acknowledged  as  such  whether  we  can  see  it  or  not ;  God  who 
"  maketh  one  vessel  to  honor  and  another  to  dishonor,"  who  "  setteth  on  high  or  casteth 
down,"  Avho  "bindeth  up  or  breaketh  in  pieces,"  who  is  to  be  regarded  as  having  the 
holiest  reasons  for  all  this,  yet  "  giveth  no  account  of  His  ways,"  allowing  "  no  one  to 
touch  His  hand,  and  say  unto  Him  what  doest  Thou?" 

Not  the  Solution  of  a  Problem — Not  a  Doctrine  of  Compensation. 
Such  is  the  lesson  taught.  This  is  the  problem  solved,  if  we  may  use  the  language  most 
commonly  employed  in  reference  to  the  Book.  We  do  not,  however,  regard  it  as  the  best. 
The  idea  that  the  poem,  or  drama,  of  Job  is  intended  for  the  solution  of  a  problem,  or  as 
the  authoritative  decision  of  a  debate,  has  led  astray,  we  think,  from  a  right  view  of  its 
true  character.  There  is  no  objection  to  the  word,  if  it  is  used  simply  as  a  name  for  the 
great  lesson  undoubtedly  taught,  and  which  Job  so  thoroughly  learned,  namely, — this  holy 
divine  sovereignty, — but  when  we  attempt  to  specify  any  other  issue  regarded  as  involved 
in  the  arguments  of  the  speakers,  and  as  finally  decided  by  the  divine  appearing,  we  fall 
into  endless  confusion,  as  is  evinced  by  the  number  of  varying  and  discordant  theories  to 
which  such  a  view  of  the  Book  has  given  rise.  The  design  certainly  cannot  be  to  teach 
a  future  state.  What  has  been  already  said  is  sufficient  in  respect  to  that  point.  Neither 
can  it  be  to  prepare  the  way  for  such  a  doctrine  by  furnishing  representations  which  drive 
to  its  necessary  acknowledgment  as  the  only  solution  of  the  alleged  problem.*  The  hope 
of  compensation  such  views  might  seem  to  involve  would  be  out  of  harmony  with  that  other 
and  greater  acknowledgment  which  Job  at  last  makes  so  unreservedly,  and  some  idea  of 
which  seems  to  pervade  the  Book  from  beginning  to  end.  In  respect  to  all  such  ideas  of 
compensation,  whether  in  this  life  or  in  any  other,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  no  mention 
is  made  of  them  in  the  divine  address,  whatever  may  have  been  the  subsequent  fact ;  they 
are  not  assigned  as  having  any  bearing  upon  Job's  affliction,  or  as  clearing  up,  in  any  way, 
the  mystery  that  surrounds  it.  The  same  may  be  said  in  regard  to  any  disciplinary  purpose, 
on  which  Elihu  so  largely  insists.  The  divine  voice  makes  no  allusion  to  it.  The  crimina- 
tions of  his  friends.  Job's  assertions  of  his  integrity  (in  those  most  eloquent  concluding 
appeals  of  chapters  xxix.,  xxx.,  xxxi.),  and  Elihu's  "  pretentious  wisdom,"  as  some  have 
characterized  it,  are  all  dismissed  as  b'eing,  so  far  as  the  great  mystery  is  concerned,  but  a 
"  darkening  of  counsel  by  words  without  knowledge." 

VARIOUS  VIEWS  OF  THE  BOOK. 
Delitzsch,  Merx,  Umbreit,  etc. 
"  Why  do  afflictions  befall  the  righteous  man  ?"  "  This,"  says  Delitzsch,  "  is  the  ques- 
tion, the  answering  of  which  is  made  the  theme  of  the  Book  of  Job."  "This  answer," 
he  proceeds,  "  if  we  look  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Book  alone,  is,  that  such  afflictions  are 
the  way  to  a  two-fold  blessedness."  The  first  of  these  is  the  restoration  of  the  earthly  good 
of  which  he  had  been  deprived.  This,  however,  Delitzsch  pronounces  inadequate  as  a 
solution,  and  not,  in  general,  true.  The  second  is  the  internal  blessedness  which  the 
righteous  man  finds  through  such  a  process.  "  It  is  the  important  truth,"  he  says,  "  that 
there  is  a  suffering  of  the  righteous  which  is  not  a  decree  of  wrath,  but  a  dispensation  of 
love,  and  this  is  the  heart  of  the  Book  of  Job."  To  this  general  view  he  gives  two  divi- 
sions: 1.  The  afflictions  of  the  righteous  are  a  means  of  discipline  and  purification;  2.  They 

*  According  to  this  view,  it  would  be  tentative,  and  skeptical, — we  mean  skeptical  in  a  good  sense, — like  some  of  the 
Socratic  discourses,  which  are  thus  entitled,  because  they  como  to  no  conchi.sion,  yet  have  served  a  good  purpose  in 
teaching  us  our  ignorance,  or  by  showing  the  great  value  of  the  truth  sought,  and  stimulating  to  more  earnest  study 
to  be  rewarded  by  the  disclosures  of  a  more  advanced  revelation. 


20  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

are  proofs  and  tests  of  character  coming  from  the  love  and  regard  of  God.  In  short,  "  they 
are  disciplinary  and  they  are  testing."  All  this  may  be  admitted  as,  in  some  way,  taught  in 
the  Book,  or  truly  suggested  by  it.  So,  also,  there  are  other  theories  presented  in  various 
ways  by  other  writers,  but  all  coming  to  nearly  the  same  thing.  Some  express  themselves 
with  more  freedom  in  respect  to  the  question  of  fact,  whether  the  Book  really  furnishes  the 
solution  it  seems  to  propose.  Merx,  the  latest  interpreter,  does  not  hesitate  to  pronounce 
it  a  failure.  After  saying  much  of  the  Vergeltungslehre  of  the  Mosaic  religion,  and  of  the 
Old  Testament  generally,  and  of  this  Book  as  being  polemically  opposed  to  such  a  doctrine 
of  retribution — all  of  which  Delitzsch  justly  estimates  as  "a  phantom  of  the  Rationalists" 
— he  goes  on  to  speak,  in  the  highest  terms,  of  tlie  artistic  excellence  of  the  work,  patron- 
izing it  even  to  extravagance,  but  does  not  shrink  from  saying  that  the  solution  it  proi^oses 
is  not  only  inadequate  but  false.  The  great  problem  is  still  unsolved,  and  the  writer  in- 
timates that  it  all  comes  from  the  fact  that  the  author  of  the  Book  was  ignorant  of  "the 
Critical  Philosophy,"  "  Of  this,"  says  Merx,  with  more  naiveness  than  he  ascribes  to  the 
old  poet,  "  he  does  not  seem  to  have  had  the  faintest  notion."  How  the  Critical  Philosophy 
would  have  saved  the  difficulty,  or  rather  would  have  shown  it  to  be  wholly  imaginary, 
he  endeavors  to  tell  us,  but  it  seems  far  less  clear  than  the  Book  of  Job  itself,  and  may 
be  dismissed  with  the  same  sentence  of  failure  and  inadequateness.  Still  the  objections 
made  by  such  commentators  as  Umbreit  and  Merx  have  much  force  in  them  as  api)lied  to 
many  of  the  so-called  solutions.  A  stronger  objection  to  some  of  them  is  that  they  receive 
no  countenance  from  the  prologue,  or  from  the  address  of  Jehovah  at  the  close, — where,  if 
anywhere,  such  a  clear  solution  of  the  problem  might  have  been  expected. 

Kexj  in  the  Prologue — A  Super-earthly  Probation. 
If  we  are  to  judge  it  solely  as  an  artistic  production,  then  the  plan  and  design  of  it 
are  to^be  sought  in  the  prose  introduction,  just  as  we  look  there  for  the  design  of  a  Greek 
drama,  —  and  this  without  any  nice  discussion  of  the  unimportant  question,  whether  the 
book  is  to  be  called  dramatic,  any  more  than  lyrical  or  epic.  Here  is  a  preface  with  the 
evident  design  of  explaining  what  the  mere  poem  might  leave  unknown,  and  without 
which,  as  has  been  tersely  said,  the  dramatic  speeches  would  be  artistically  a  mere  torso, — 
a  trunk  without  a  head.  In  this  introduction  we  do  find  something  which,  in  the  absence  of 
other  considerations,  we  should  be  required  to  take  as  the  leading  idea  of  the  work.  It 
is,  that  there  are  reasons  for  human  events,  even  for  the  sufferings  of  good  men,  that  may 
wholly  transcend  this  earthly  sphere,  having  no  reference  to  any  human  probation,  for  its 
own  sake,  either  by  way  of  discipline  or  retribution,  but  designed  to  serve  a  purjiose  in  the 
super-human  world.  It  is  a  problem  for  the  OTlVx  'J^  the  Sons  of  God,  one  in  which  they 
are  interested,  by  which  they  are  to  be  influenced,  but  in  which  a  man  is  the  sufferer,  the 
testing  patient  through  whom  the  truth  is  exhibited.  Thus,  earth  may  be  the  theatrum  in 
which  dramatic  events  are  represented  for  the  instruction  of  higher  beings.  It  may  be  to 
show  them  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  human  virtue,  that  man  immersed  in  nature, 
and  exposed  to  the  strongest  temptations,  may  "  serve  God  for  nought,"  that  is,  disinteres- 
tedly, or  from  pure  love  of  the  service ;  as  Job  did,  both  in  his  prosperity  and  in  his  jierfect 
submission,  at  last,  to  a  disjiensation  unexplained  and  inexplicable.  Such  a  thought  seems 
plainly  in  the  prologue ;  but  be  it  what  it  may,  there  is  a  conceivable  design  of  this  kind 
sufficiently  great  and  beneficent  to  justify  the  ways  of  God,  even  to  our  reason,  without  any 
demand  of  compensation  to  the  one  by  whom  the  example  or  the  test  is  made, — especially 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  such  a  demand,  or  even  such  an  expectation,  would  be  the  most 
direct  proof  of  its  failure.* 

*  Some  such  thought  of  a  superearthly  drama  appears  in  what  the  Apostle  says,  Eph.  iii.  10 :  "  Thit  now  through 
the  Church  there  mlglit  bo  made  known  to  the  Principalities  and  Powers  in  the  Ileavenly  World  {iv  tois  iiTovpavtoi.<;),  the 
m;inifold  (■noKvrroiKiXo';,  immensely  varied)  wisdom  of  God."  See  Olshausen  on  the  text:  "The  Church  (good  mon  on 
earth,  whether  in  their  piety  or  their  sufferings)  is  t\\<i  theatre  (seiner  Wirlcsamlceit)  through  which  this  manifold  wisdom 
and  teaching  are  made  known  to  the  angels."  In  support  of  the  idea,  Olshausen  very  properly  cites  1  Pet.  i.  12 :  ei?  S 
ifidviJ.ovaiv  dyyeAot  napaKv^ai:  "Wtich  things  the  angels  desire  to  look  into"  (to  bend  eagerly  forward  for  tBat  purpose) 
and  Paul's  language,  1  Cor.  iv.  9 :  edarpov  iyev^erifj-ev  t<?  KOtrixM  koI  ayyeAois. 


VARIOUS  VIEWS  OF  THE  BOOK.  21 


TJie  Lesson  of  Unqualified  Submission. 
T|ie  design  may  be  discipline  or  punishment,  having  reference  solely  to  the  individual. 
All  that  need  to  be  maintained  is,  that  it  is  not  necessarily  such.  They  may  be  admitted  as 
subordinate  aims,  in  connection  with  something  higher  and  more  universal.  As  thus  subor- 
dinate, they  may  even  become  prominent  in  the  dramatic  teaching,  as  seems  to  be  the  case 
in  Job,  and  yet  without  furnishing  the  idea,  or  the  grounds,  of  the  great  lesson.  Or  it  may 
be  the  design,  aside  from  these,  or  in  connection  with  these,  to  teach  the  lesson  of  absolute 
and  unconditional  submission  to  the  divine  will,  and  an  acknowledgment  of  its  necessary  wis- 
dom and  goodness,  whether  we  see  it  or  not,  either  in  the  present  or  in  any  other  life.  This 
is  quite  different  from  a  stoical  fatality,  or  from  any  mere  arbitrariness.  It  is  not  that  the 
divine  will  makes  right,  but  that  it  constitutes  for  us  an  evidence  of  ite  absolute  righteous- 
ness that  is  not  to  be  called  in  question.  The  because,  we  may  say,  has  reference  to  our 
judgments.  He  does  it  because  it  is  absolutely  right  in  itself;  we  say  it  is  right  (in  the 
absence  of  other  knowledge)  because  He  does  it.  As  the  Psalmist  says,  xxxix.  10  :  "I  was 
dumb,  I  opened  not  my  mouth,  because  Thou  didst  it."  It  is  a  theism  inadequate,  impure, 
tainted  by  some  ideas  of  fatality,  or  of  a  power  higher  than  God,  that  hesitates  in  making 
this  full  and  absolute  affirmation.  The  reasons  of  the  diviue  procedure  in  any  particular 
case  may  be  wholly  or  partially  hidden.  They  may  have  reference  to  the  individual  expe- 
rience, discipline,  or  purgation  of  the  sufferer,  and  yet  be  wholly  unknown  to  him.  Job 
vehemently  asserts  his  innocence.  There  is  something  noble  in  his  expostulations  ;  it  was 
not  a  vain  display  of  self-righteousness ;  he  was  driven  to  it  by  unjust  criminations ;  and 
yet  there  might  have  been  hidden  evils  whose  existence  his  inexplicable  sufferings  should 
have  led  him  to  suspect,  aside  from  the  question  whether  they  were,  or  were  not,  the  sole  cause 
of  the  calamities  which  had  come  upon  him.  He  should  have  searched  for  them  as  the 
Psalmist  did,  and  prayed  for  self-knowledge.  His  earnest  appeal  to  God :  "  O  show  me 
wherefore  Thou  thus  dealest  with  me,"  is  indeed  very  touching,  but  it  manifests  too  serene  a 
confidence  in  his  entire  integrity.  It  is  not  like  the  prayer  of  David:  "  Cleanse  Thou  me 
from  secret  faults;"  or  of  him  who  said:  "Make me  to  know  wisdom  in  the  inward  parts;" 
or  of  the  later  exile,  who  so  fervently  prayed  :  "  Search  ',me,  O  God,  and  know  my  heart ; 
prove  me,  and  know  my  thoughts,  and  see  if  there  be  any  evil  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in 
the  way  everlasting."  If  it  be  said  that  Job  was  very  defective  here  as  compared  with  some 
others  of  the  Old  Testament  worthies,  it  may  be  urged,  on  his  behalf,  that  the  accusations 
of  his  friends,  charging  him  with  open  transgressions  of  which  he  knew  he  was  not  guilty, 
led  him  away  into  a  mode  of  defence  just  in  respect  to  them,  but  not  maintainable  before 
the  All-knowing,  as  he  himself  afterwards  most  clearly  saw. 

Reasons  Transcending  Human  Knowledge. 
But  aside  from  this,  or  along  with  this  disciplinary  purpose,  there  may  have  been  other 
reasons  belonging  to  the  appz/ra^  the  ineffable,  the  mysterioas,  transcending,  perhaps,  the 
human  faculties,  but  which  he  Avas  bound  to  admit  as  possible,  however  much  he  or 
others  might  fail  in  finding  an  explanation  of  the  severe  trial  to  which  he  had  been  exposed. 
"  He  giveth  not  account  of  his  ways."  Such  a  view  may  be  characterized  as  harsh  and 
arbitrary,  but  it  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  highest  estimate  of  the  Divine  clemency. 
"  God  knoweth  our  frame ;  He  remembereth  that  we  are  dust."  He  hath  pity  upon  man. 
Even  the  thought  of  his  depravity,  the  fact  that  "  the  imagination  of  the  heart  of  man  is 
evil  from  his  youth,"  is  mentioned  (Gen.  ix.  21)  as  one  of  the  grounds  of  the  divine  com- 
passion. But  he  knoweth,  too— are  we  not  warranted,  from  the  tenor  of  revelation,  in  saying 
it— that  the  loftiest  height  to  which  the  human  soul  can  attain,  and  ultimately  its  highest 
blessedness,  is  the  acknowledgment  of  God's  absolute  right,  as  the  acknowledgment  of  His 
absolute  (/Zor?/ .'  It  is  that  to  which  the  human  soul  of  the  Saviour  attained  when,  in  the 
great  struggle  with  Satan,  in  the  mysterious  and  inexplicable  agony,  he  said,  "  Thy  will 
be  done." 


22  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


The  Absolute  Divine  Sovereignty  be/ore  any  Doctrine  of  Huma7i  Destiny. 
Thus  regarded,  the  value  of  a  pure  theism,  in  which  the  absolute  divine  sovereignty 
holds  its  sovereign  place,  is  beyond  that  of  every  other  dogma.*  Without  it,  alf  other 
religious  teaching  may  become  not  only  vain  but  mischievous.  Without  it,  the  doctrine  of 
a  future  life  may  become  the  source  of  the  greatest  moral  evils,  leading,  at  last,  to  atheism, 
after  having  been  the  ally  of  the  grossest  superstitions.  On  this  account,  may  we  say  again, 
was  there  need  of  a  reserve  that  might  hold  in  check  the  roving  imagination, — of  a  veil,  not 
wholly  obscuring,  but  allowing  only  the  faintest  glimpses,  now  and  then,  to  keep  the  soul 
from  utterly  sinking.  Such  a  schooling  of  the  chosen  people,  as  the  world's  rejiresentatives, 
was  demanded,  we  may  say,  until  the  other  great  and  conserving  truth  should  be  perfectly 
learned,  and  indelibly  stamped  upon  the  soul.  Far  better  a  dim  shadowy  belief  in  a  future 
life,  or  a  mere  feeling  without  any  distinct  conception  of  state  or  locality,  or  resolving  itself 
into  a  pure  elementary  trust  in  a  covenant  God, — far  better  this  than  an  unrestrained  imagi- 
native picturing,  destitute  of  all  true  moral  power,  and  to  which  the  thought  of  God,  as  a 
moral  sovereign,  is,  in  a  great  measure,  alien,  if  not  wholly  lost.  Far  better  the  old  patri- 
archal and  Hebrew  reserve  in  this  respect  than  such  a  Hades,  and  such  an  Elysium,  as  we 
read  of  in  the  Greek  poets,  or  any  such  rhapsodies  as  the  Rationalist  so  triumphantly  quotes 
for  us  from  the  Rigveda.  Among  the  many  other  solutions,  then,  of  the  Book  of  Job,  this 
seems  certainly  entitled  to  respectful  attention.  It  is  the  teaching  of  such  a  theism,  whilst 
throwing  into  the  back-ground,  to  say  the  least,  not  only  the  dogma  of  a  future  life,  but  every 
thought  of  compensation,!  discipline,  or  anything  else,  that  might  interfere  with  the  absolute 
unconditionality  of  the  greater  doctrine. 


THE  THEOPHANY. 
Its  One  Idea:  The  Divine  Omnipotence.  God  " can  do  All  Things." 
If  the  solution  of  the  problem,  as  some  call  it,  is  to  be  found  anywhere,  it  is  in  the 
address  of  the  Almighty.  That  is  what  eveiy  reader  naturally  expects,  and  is  disappointed, 
to  some  extent,  in  not  finding.  No  explanation,  however,  is  given  of  the  cause  of  Job's 
mysterious  sufferings,  nor  any  decision  made  in  regard  to  the  matters  in  debate  between  him 
and  his  antagonists.  Instead  of  that,  one  idea,  predominant  and  exclusive,  pervades  every  part 
of  that  most  sublime  exhibition.  It  is  that  of  power,  omnipotent  j^ower,  first  as  exhibited 
in  the  great  works  of  creation,  J  and  afterwards  in  those  greater  productions  of  nature  that 

*  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  even  now,  in  this  advanced  age  of  theology,  there  is  arising  a  new  need  of  this 
idea.  There  is  something  in  the  naturalistic  tendencies  of  our  science,  and  our  literature,  which  more  and  more  demands 
a  revival  of  the  thought  of  a  personal,  holy,  omnipotent,  unchallengeable  God,  who  "doeth  all  things  according  to  His 
good  pleasure,"  whether  through  nature,  or  against  nature,  or  above  nature.  The  sharpening  of  this  would  give  a  new 
edge  to  every  other  religious  dogma.  The  ideas  of  sin,  holiness,  accountability,  would  receive  a  new  impress  of  clearness 
and  power.  The  doctrine  of  a  future  life  would  get  a  moral  significance,  throwing  in  the  back-ground  those  naturalistic 
and  merely  imaginative  features  which  are  now  making  it  a  matter  of  curious  speculation,  or  of  physical,  rather  than  of 
ethical  interest.  Such  a  sudden  sharpening  of  the  divine  idea  would  have  a  startling  effect,  like  the  actual  witnessing  of 
a  miracle,  in  bringing  so  near  the  thought  of  God  as  to  set  it  in  a  new  and  surprising  light,  resembling  vision  rather 
than  theory,  and  calling  forth  something  like  the  exclamation  of  Job,  when  "the  hearing  of  the  ear"  had  become  an 
actual  beholding. 

t  As  matter  of  outward  fact,  indeed,  there  is  set  forth  in  the  close  of  the  drama  a  full  compensation.  It  forms,  what 
some,- who  are  fond  of  the  more  artistic  criticism,  call  "the  outer  disentanglement,"  or  Die  Lijsiing  in  Uusserer  Wirklich- 
keit;  but  we  are  nowhere  told  that  this  entered  into  the  idea  of  the  poem.  As  such,  it  would  be  inconsistent  with  the 
thought  so  prominent  in  the  prologue,  or  the  possibility  of  a  man's  serving  Sod  for  nought.  As  a  mere  outward  scene, 
however,  it  has  a  certain  appropriateness,  like  the  matter-of-fact  close  of  a  Greek  drama,  sometimes  brought  in  as  a  satisfac- 
tion to  the  reader,  to  save  him  from  pain,  by  m.aking  a  harmony  in  the  outward  narrative.  But  in  Job  the  great  lesson  ia 
complete  without  it.  We  read  it  with  pleasure,  as  something  simiily  due  to  dramatic  consistency,  that  when  the  spiritual 
drama  is  over,  the  hero,  as  the  Rationalists,  with  some  propriety,  call  him,  may  not  bo  left  in  bis  state  of  suffering;  but  the 
great  inward  design  is  concluded  by  the  submission  of  Job,  which  would  have  been  utterly  spoiled  by  the  intimation 
of  any  expected  recompense.  The  apparent  design,  too,  of  the  prologue  is  satisfied  \.'ithout  it.  When  Job  submits,  Satan 
is  baffled,  and  God's  judgment  is  true. 

X  It  is  worthy  of  note  how  the  appeal  is  made  alike  to  the  great  natural  and  the  great  supernatural,  as  though  the 


THE  THEOPHANY.  23 


seem  next  in  rank  to  the  creative  power  itself.  Nothing  is  said  of  any  jiurpose  in  the  great 
trial,  or  of  anything  which  should  be  made  known  to  Job  as  i)reparatory  to  his  submission. 
There  is  no  hint  in  respect  to  ultimate  compensation  as  a  motive  for  endurance,  such  as  is  held 
out  in  the  Gospel  to  the  Christian :  "  They  that  endure  unto  the  end,  shall  be  saved.'' 
There  is  no  allusion  to  any  scheme  of  discipline,  no  suggestion  of  afflictions  which  are  only 
evils  apparently,  since  they  are  designed  for  purification,  or  as  a  preparative  for  a  higher 
blessedness.  The  curtain  is  not  withdrawn  to  disclose  to  us  any  vision  of  optimism  as  a  motive 
for  the  creature's  submission.  Nothing  of  this  kind  appears,  but  only  that  idea  of  power, 
omnipotent  power,  thundered  forth  in  tones  that  seem  intended  to  silence  rather  than  to  con- 
vince. However  strange  it  may  seem,  this  is  all  the  voice  we  hear,  startling  and  confounding 
at  first,  but  soon  causing  us  to  forget  everything  in  a  feeling  of  its  sublime  ai)propriatcncss : 
"  Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth  ?"  What  knowest  thou  of  the 
divine  purposes  in  thy  own  creation,  or  in  that  of  the  univei'se  ?  What  right,  therefore,  hast 
thou  to  challenge  any  of  them  as  unrighteous  or  unwise,  much  less  to  dream  of  any  fatality, 
or  of  any  nature  of  things  by  which  they  might  be  baffled,  whether  they  be  purposes  of  justice 
or  of  clemency  ?  It  would  seem  as  though  its  only  design  was  to  overwhelm,  and  it  is 
overwhelming.  Job  falls  upon  his  face  and  acknowledges  that  he  has  learned  the  lesson. 
It  is  not  mere  terror.  Deep  is  the  reverence ;  but  there  is  also  the  conviction  of  the  under- 
standing and  the  conscience:  "I  know  that  Thou  canst  do  all  things,  and  that  no  j^urpose* 
of  Thine  can  be  hindered."  Had  he  doubted  it  before  ?  It  would  certainly  seem  so,  whether 
at  the  time  he  had  been  fully  conscious  of  it  or  not. 

TJie  Old  Idea  of  Fate — The  Name  El  Shaddai  as  Opposed  to  it. 
A  feeling  of  something  irresistible  in  the  vast  surrounding  nature,  something  with 
which  it  is  vain  for  man  to  struggle,  and  against  which  not  even  a  divine  power  could  help 
him,  shows  itself,  more  or  less,  in  all  the  early  heathen  religions,  as  it  appears  afterwards  in 
the  systems  of  philosophy.  They  called  it  fate,  /zoZpa,  doom,  destiny.  It  was  superior  to 
gods  as  well  as  to  men.  It  was  irrational,  inconsistent  with  any  true  theistic  conception,  but 
its  ever-pressing  nearness,  as  well  as  the  vastness  and  indefinableness  of  its  aspect,  gave  it  an 
overpowering  weight.  That  some  feeling  of  this  kind,  some  beginning  of  a  fatalistic  idea, 
may  have  been  in  the  minds  of  God's  people,  tainting  even  the  otherwise  pure  theism  of  the 
patriarchs,  Avould  seem  probable  from  the  stress  laid  ujion  that  assuring  epithet,  niy  lii^ 
occurring  so  often  in  Genesis  and  Job,  and  furnishing  such  strong  evidence  of  the  antiquity 
of  the  latter  Book.  "  Almighty  God,"  "'"'^5'  'i^,  Deus  potentisslmus,  omnipotens,  TravroKpurup^ 
the  strong  God,  Deus  sufficiens,  HOi^JO  UOO  li'3''  nS  *ltyN',  "  from  whom  nothing  can  be  hin- 
dered," to  whom  nothing  can  fail — this  was  the  great  name  of  strength  and  encouragement  which 
God  Himself  employs  to  cheer  the  hearts  of  those  early  men,  and  keep  them  from  fainting 
in  their  pilgrimage:  "'"'ti'  ^X  'JX,  "I  am  El  Shaddai,  therefore,  fear  ye  not,  but  walk  before  me." 
Thus  regarded,  too,  much  of  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament  respecting  the  divine  power, 
the  divine  sovereignty,  and  the  extreme  jealousy  that  guards  against  the  least  impeachment 
of  these  attributes,  loses  all  its  seeming  harshness.  Like  the  denunciations  of  idolatry, 
it  is  conservative  of  pure  religion.  It  is  a  protest  against  the  nature-worship,  the  fatalistic 
ideas  that  were  everywhere  coming  in  to  pervert  the  true  theistic  concejjtion.     Thus  viewed, 

distinction  had  not  then  been  made ;  or  the  line  drawn,  as  in  our  modern  thinking;  or  as  though  to  the  Divine  Mind  such 
a  distinction  waa  of  no  account.  Nature  and  law  are  clearly  recognized  in  the  Bible;  but  both  departments,  the  natural 
and  the  supernatural,  are  regarded  as  equally  illustrating  the  power  and  greatness  of  God  as  manifested  in  all.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  the  appeal  to  the  great  animal  creations,  surpassing  man  in  strength  and  magnitude.  It  is  not  to  show 
design,  or  utilitarian  ends,  as  in  our  modern  natural  theology,  and  hence  to  demonstrate  the  existence  of  a  Deity.  Job  is 
not  addressed  as  doubting  that,  or  as  needing  any  proof  of  God's  wisdom  and  goodness.  Everything,  on  the  other  hand, 
bears  upon  this  one  idea  of  omnipotence.  It  is  to  show  that  God  "  can  do  all  things "  —  a  truth  which  Job  confesses 
(xlii.  2),  in  language  intimating  that  he  had  not  before  fully  realized  it. 

*  Literally,  "hindered  from  Thee."  1^^  has  its  Syriac  sense  of  diminution,  restraint,  failure.  LXX.  aBwanl  Si  (rot 
ovSeV.  The  Syriac  has  "  nothing  can  be  hidden  from  Thee,"  and  in  this  it  resembles  our  common  version.  Dr.  Conant's  is 
better  :  "  And  from  Th«e  no  purpose  can  be  withheld ;''  but  fails,  we  think,  in  giving  the  full  thought,  which  is  that  of 
insufficiency ,  or  want  of  power  in  the  execution. 


24  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

it  is  the  language  of  paternal  Deity,  encouraging  to  faith  and  submission  as  the  only  bles- 
sedness of  the  human  state ;  "  Fear  not,  for  I  can  do  all  things." 

The  Fatalistic  Idea  betrays  Itself  in  the  Speeches  of  Job  and  his  Friends. 
Such  a  misgiving  dread  of  some  insurmountable  fatality,  putting  his  case  beyond  the 
reach  even  of  any  divine  help,  seems  to  lurk  in  the  speeches  of  Job  at  the  times  of  his  ex- 
tremest  despair.  The  fi-iends  were  not  pressed  to  it,  as  he  was,  by  an  anguish  unendurable. 
They  had  not  his  experience  to  breed  a  doubt.  Free  from  pain  and  trouble,  they  could 
theorize  complacently  on  the  divine  excellencies,  "  speaking  good  words  for  God,"  as  Job 
taunts  them,  and  expatiating  at  their  ease  on  this  attribute  of  omnipotence.  Here  the 
speeches  of  Zophar  and  Bildad  are  peculiarly  eloquent,  however  ill-timed.  Job,  too,  is 
roused  to  emulation,  and  strives  to  surpass  them  (see  especially  chs.  xxv.  and  xxvi.).  And 
yet  this  very  style  of  speech  seems,  now  and  then,  to  betray  a  want  of  the  confidence  it  so 
loudly  assumes.  The  speaker  seems  to  indulge  in  it  as  a  mode  of  fortifying  himself  in  a  faith 
not  wholly  free  from  a  lurking  skepticism.  None  of  them,  however,  ever  intimated  a  doubt 
of  the  justice  and  wisdom  of  God.  In  his  extreme  anguish,  Job  may  seem  to  be  approaching 
some  thought  of  the  kind,  but  immediately  revolts  from  it,  as  from  the  edge  of  an  abyss.  He 
cannot  give  it  up :  God  is  good ;  He  is  righteous ;  He  is  most  pure  and  holy ;  but  may  it  not 
be  that  there  is  something,  be  it  fate,  be  it  nature,  be  it  an  invisible,  fiendish*  power,  that 
baffles  all  His  mercy  and  all  His  wisdom.  "  The  earth  is  given  into  the  hands  of  the  wicked," 
ix.  24;  is  this  the  work,  or  the  permission,  or  the  weakness  of  God?  ><in  'D  13N  X7  CDX, 
"if  not,  who  then?"  Would  there  be  such  sore,  evils?  Above  all,  would  they  come 
upon  the  innocent,  if  he  could  help  it?  Is  there  not  a  nature,  a  fixed  order  of  things  (as 
Job,  according  to  Merx,  would  have  said,  had  he  understood  "  the  Critical  Philosophy,"  or 
the  distinction  between  "  the  moral  and  the  practical  reason,")  which  cannot  be  set  aside  ? 

The  Divine  Address  adapted  to  this  Fatalistic  Idea. — Job's  Renunciation  of  it. 
He  has  not  ventured  to  say  it  openly  in  words ;  the  very  thought  seemed  to  demand  re- 
pression whenever  it  showed  itself,  however  dimly,  to  the  consciousness.  It  was  there,  how- 
ever, as  is  shown  by  the  language  of  the  divine  address  so  directly  adapted  to  such  a  state 
of  soul,  and  the  closing  acknowledgment  of  Job,  expressing  a  new  and  clear  conviction  that 
admits  no  doubt.  It  is  absolute  certainty,  —  the  certainty  of  sight,  as  compared  with  any 
abstract  theorizing,  or  any  traditional  "  hearing  by  the  ear  :"  I  hiow," — it  is  like  the  ecstatic 
assui-ance  he  had  of  his  Redeemer's  living — "I  know]  ih&t  Thou  can^i  do  all  things ;  and 

*  There  is  language  in  chapter  xvi.  from  which  it  would  seem  that  Job  had  such  beings  in  view,  —  a  multitude  of 
them,  in  fact,  as  well  as  the  great  enemy  mentioned  in  the  prologue.  Such  expressions  as  those  in  versos  9  and  10,  of  that 
chapter,  can  hardly  be  used  of  the  three  friends  :  "  His  anger  rends  me;  he  lies  in  wait  for  me  (''JDDB'\  cognate  with 
{DtJ/,  Satan);  he  gnashes  on  me  with  his  teeth;  mine  enemy  ('11,*).  sharpens  his  eyes  upon  me  (glares  at  me) ;  they 
gape  upon  me  with  their  mouths  "  (11;?:},  like  the  yawning  Orcus,  Is.  v.  14).  We  are  shocked  at  the  very  thought  of  such 
words  being  applied  to  God,  although  most  of  the  commentators  have  so  taken  them.  The  language  that  follows  :"  God 
delivers  me  up,"  etc.,  though  strong,  is  in  a  different  style  ;  simply  presenting  the  idea  of  an  unjust  surrender  into  Satan's 
hands.  It  might  be  said,  too,  that  the  absence  of  any  expressed  subject  (simply  implied,  he,  they,  etc)  is  evidence  of  some- 
thing fearful  in  the  thought,  as  in  the  cases  mentioned,  note,  p.  7.  The  referring  them  to  God,  would  be  inconsistent, 
moreover,  with  the  appeal  to  the  Witness  on  high,  ver.  20.  The  language  of  vers.  9  and  10  shows  an  imagination  wildly 
excited,  as  though  at  the  sight  of  fiends  making  hideous  faces,  scowling,  and  glaring  at  him.  It  would  seem  strange,  too, 
that  Satan  should  so  figure  in  the  prologue,  and  that  afterwards  no  allusion  whatever  should  be  made  to  him.  It  would 
not  bo  artistic,  if  that,  as  some  say,  is  the  chief  character  of  tho  book.  Is  there  not  an  implied  reference  to  this  great 
persecutor  and  murderer  {av0pu>TT6KTovoi,  John  viii.  44),  in  the  appeal  to  the  Avenger  or  Redeemer,  xix.  25?  Raschi  speaks 
very  confidently  in  respect  to  the  language,  xvi.  9,  as  though  it  could  not  admit  of  a  doubt:   "  Satan  here  is  the  enemy;" 

t  Morx,  the  latest  commentator  on  Job,  in  the  short  notes  he  adds  to  his  new  text  and  translations,  is  very  fond  of 
putting  the  word  dogmatic  to  the  ren  ierings,  ancient  or  modern,  which  he  rejects.  He  means  by  this  to  stigmatize  them 
as  made  in  a  dogmatic  interest,  even  though  sometimes  giving  the  only  possible  meaning  which  tho  Hebrew  will  admit. 
He  ought  to  have  seen  how  greatly  his  own  version  is  affected  by  that  precisely  identical  kind  of  interest,  which  we  may 
call  the  dogmatic  anti-dogmatic.  He  cannot  understand  this  passage  according  to  the  text,  and  so  ho  does  not  hesitate  to 
give  a  different  punctuation,  allowing  him  to  render  it :  "  Thou  knowest  that  Thou  canst  do  all  things,"  an  answer  which 
wholly  mars  the  forcp  of  Job's  appeal.  Altliough  it  may  still  be  taken  as  his  confei^sion  of  tho  great  truth,  yet  the  putting 
it  thus  in  the  second  person  makes  it  not  only  a  pointless  assertion,  but  seems  greatly  to  change  the  aspect  and  spirit  of  tho 


THE  THEOPHANY.  25 


that  nothing  is  hindered  from  Thee."  It  is  as  though  he  had  said :  Now  I  am  sure  of  it ; 
if  the  continuance  of  my  misery  is  not  from  Thy  want  of  goodness  and  mercy,  much  less  is 
it  from  Thy  lack  of  power ;  nothing  is  too  hard  for  Thee ;  no  nature  can  baffle  Thee ;  no 
fate  stands  in  Thy  way ;  no  invisible  power  of  evil,  however  mighty,  can  prevent  Thee  from 
"doing  according  to  Thy  sovereign  will,  either  in  the  armies  of  heaven,  or  among  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  earth."  He  bows  before  this  divine  utterance  as  conclusive,  not  only  of  its  own 
truth,  but  in  respect  to  everything  in  the  character  and  government  of  God  that  ma^  'have 
been,  either  directly  or  indirectlj'^,  called  in  question.  It  is  Thou  then  who  hast  done  it,  and 
therefore  is  it  holy,  just,  and  wise.  Once  shown  that  it  is  truly  God's  act — not  nature's,  merely, 
or  Satan's — and  that,  if  it  had  not  been  such,  everything  in  nature  that  stood  in  the  way  would 
have  been  crushed  out  if  necessary, — all  else  follows  to  the  believing  soul.  Thou  hast  done 
it,  therefore,  is  it  right  ?  I  ask  no  farther.  "  Surely  have  I  uttered  what  I  did  not  under- 
stand; things  wonderful,"  far  beyond  my  knowledge.  But,  oh!  "hear  me  now;  let  me  speak; 
let  me  ask  of  Thee,  and  do  Thou  give  me  knowledge.  By  the  hearing  of  the  ear  had  I  heard 
of  Thee ;  but  now  Thou  comest  near,  and  I  confess  Thee  as  the  Almighty.  Wherefore,  I 
reject  myself  (my  arguments),  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes."  There  is  deep  feeling  here, 
as  of  one  who  has  come  to  a  new  view  of  himself  and  of  his  relations  to  God.  It  is  to  be 
noted,  however,  that  it  is  not  from  any  disclosure  of  the  causes  of  his  sufferings,  nor  from 
any  hope  held  out  of  their  alleviation,  but  altogether  from  this  thunder  voice,  the  tones  of 
which,  however  varied  in  the  presentation  of  the  great  natural  or  the  great  supernatural, 
ever  modulate  themselves  to  this  one  key  of  Omnipotent,  unchallengeable  power. 

God  the  Only  Power  in  the  Universe. 
Not  only  no  other  God,  but  no  other  power  than  God  in  the  universe.  Compare  Isaiah 
xliv.  6  :  "  I  am  the  first,  and  I  am  the  last ;  beside  me  there  is  no  God."  It  reminds  us  of 
the  oft-repeated  Arabic  formula,  so  concise,  and  yet  so  full :  No  God  but  God,  which  must 
have  entered  most  significantly  into  the  early  religion  of  the  Arabians,  as  we  may  judge  from 
its  prevailing  use  in  the  later  Koranic.  The  Mohammedan  fatalism,  as  it  has  been  called, 
may  sometimes  have  a  superstitious  aspect,  but,  in  its  pious  form,  as  thus  expressed,  it  is 
rather  a  protest  against  a  physical  fatalism,  or  against  any  other  power  than  God,  such  as  is 
made  here  in  the  challenge  of  Shaddai,  the  Almighty.  There  is  not  only  no  other  2:)ersonal 
Deity,  but  no  power  in  Nature,  or  in  Fate,  or  in  any  systeyn  of  things,  that  can,  for  a  moment, 
stand  in  His  way,  if  the  vindication  of  His  holiness,  His  wisdom,  or  His  goodness,  demand 
its  breach,  or  its  removal. 

JoVs  Mus'mg  Soliloquy  and  Confession — Note  on  the  Genuineness  of  the  Elihu  Portion. 

In  this  view,  we  see  the  force  of  that  musing,  wondering  language  which  intervenes,  ver. 
3,  where  Job  seems,  without  any  reason,  to  be  repeating  to  himself  the  words  of  the 
Almighty,  as  though  they  struck  him  in  a  new  aspect,  or  suggested  something  which  he  had 
not  thought  of  before :  "  Who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without  knowledge  ?" 
They  seem  so  strange,  that  Merx  and  others,  with  a  lack  of  critical  insight,  we  think,  reject 
them  as  an  interpolation  or  a  misplacement.  As  first  uttered  by  Jehovah,  we  have  reason  to 
regard  them  as  most  directly  applical^le  to  the  speech  of  Elihu,  who,  although  uttering  great 
truths  (the  soundest  ethical  doctrine,  and  approaching  the  nearest  of  all  the  speakers  to  a 
solution  of  the  supposed  problem),  had  yet  done  it  in  a  somewhat  pretentious  manner.  As 
the  last  speaker,  too,  he  may  be  regarded  as  first  noticed  in  the  divine  address.  It  does  not 
militate  against  this  that  it  is  said  :  "  The  Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind."    There 

passage.  It  would  be  as  though  he  had  said :  I  submit,  I  lay  my  hand  upon  my  mouth,  because  any  other  coiirse  would 
be  of  no  avail.  Thou  knowest,  Thyself,  that  Thou  art  infinitely  strong,  and  canst  do  as  Thou  pleasost ;  of  what  use,  then, 
any  remonstrance  ?  God  knoweth  the  difficulties  and  darkness  of  our  minds  as  well  as  our  bodily  frames.  We  may,  there- 
fore, believe  that  a  doubt  in  respect  to  His  power  would  bo  less  displeasing  to  Him  than  such  a  captious  irreverence.  There 
is  a  shadow  of  authority  for  Merx.  The  pointing  is  of  the  first  person,  but  the  closing  yod  is  supplied  by  the  Keri.  It  is 
the  same  in  this  respect  as  in  Ps.  cxl.  13,  r\_yT  for  'Jl>n\   in  full,  and  iu  jTb?^  for  Tl'ti'y,  Ezek.  xli.  19.     It  may  be 

also  taken  as  an  Aramaism,  as  it  woirid  doubtless  have  been  called  could  it  have  been  made  to  suit  a  rationalistic  purpose. 


26  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

is  nothing  in  tlie  way  of  regarding  these  first  words  as  the  briefest  allowable  notice  of  the  man 
whose  voice  had  just  done  sounding,*  stopped,  as  it  were,  by  the  sudden  interruption,  and  then 
followed  by  the  turning,  in  a  different  style,  to  Job  the  subject  of  the  general  answer  :  "  But 
gird  up  now  thy  loins,  like  a  man  ;  I  have  something  to  say  to  thee."  In  this  second  appeal, 
xlii.  3,  Job  seems  to  take  the  language  to  himself,  and  yet  in  a  manner  which  shows  that  it 
had  not  been  his  first  thought.  In  a  sort  of  dreamy  maze,  he  says  over  the  former  words 
of  Jehovah,  which  had  made  so  deep  an  impression  on  his  mind  :  "  Who  is  this  ?  Who  is 
this  that  darkens  counsel  by  words  without  knowledge  ?"  Yes ;  it  is  I.  I  am  the  man ; 
I  see  it  now ;  I  am  that  man  who  has  uttered  what  he  understood  not.  It  is  a  still  deeper 
feeling  of  what  he  had  said  before:  "Surely  I  am  vile  (Merx,  weak — dogmatic^),  what  shall 
I  answer  Thee  ?  I  lay  my  hand  upon  my  mouth.  Once,  twice  have  I  spoken,  but  I  will 
not  answer.  I  say  no  more."  "  Who  is  this  (dost  Thou  ask)  that  darkens  counsel  by 
words  without  knowledge?"  To  whomsoever  else  they  are  applicable,  surely  they  apply  to 
me.  In  his  deep  confession  and  self-abasement,  he  thinks  only  of  himself  and  his  position 
in  the  sight  of  God.  And  herein  lies  the  difference  between  Job  and  the  others.  They  stand 
in  amazement,  it  may  be,  awed  by  this  display  of  the  divine  majesty,  yet  without  prostration 
or  confession.  Still  confident  in  their  own  wisdom,  they  may  actually  regard  these  thunder- 
tones  of  omnipotence  as  a  decision  in  their  favor,  as  their  vindication,  in  fact,  instead  of 
their  rebuke.  For  had  not  they,  also,  all  of  them,  expatiated  on  this  idea  of  the  divine 
power,  to  the  crushing  and  humiliation  of  the  trembling  Job  ?  The  repetition  of  the  words, 
"  who  is  this  f"  has  the  appearance  of  interrupting  the  train  of  thought  and  feeling.  On  this 
account,  the  critic  rejects  what  a  closer  insight  into  this  rapt,  soliloquizing,  ejaculatory  style, 

*  The  genuineness  of  the  speech  of  Elihu,  which  has  been  much  attacked,  may  be  defended  on  three  grounds  that,  aside 
from  their  moral  weight,  are  entitled  to  attention  from  those  who  patronize  the  Book  chiefly  on  its  alleged  artistic  merits. 
These  are — 

1st.  That,  without  it,  the  appearance  and  address  of  Jehovah  must  be  taken  as  immediately  following  ch.  xxxi.,  in 
which  case  the  words,  "Who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel,"  etc.,  must  refer  directly  to  the  clearest,  most  consistent,  and 
most  eloquent  speech  in  the  Book,  namely.  Job's  noble  vindication  of  his  fair  life  against  the  damnatory  accusations  of  his 
friends.  It  is  a  most  manly  appeal,  undeserving,  we  reverently  think,  of  being  thus  characterized  as  vain  and  dark,  at 
least  in  comparison  with  those  of  the  others.  Besides,  the  term,  Ti'Hp,  counsel,  teacldng,  argument,  cannot  be  applied  to 
it  as  it  can  to  the  speech  of  Elihu,  which  ia  ostentatiously  didactic.  Job's  apjieal,  ch.  xxxi.,  is  simply  a  vindicatory 
statement  of  fact,  in  opposition  to  unrighteous  charges.  If  he  is  divinely  commended  for  anything,  except  his  last  words 
of  submission  and  repentance,  it  must  be  for  this  noble  defence. 

2d.  The  language,  "  Who  is  this,  ete."  would  be  applicable  to  much  in  the  general  style  and  spirit  of  Elihu's  discourse. 
Although  the  divine  answer,  as  a  whole,  is  addressed  to  Job,  yet  nothing  would  seem  more  natural  than  such  an  incidental 
reference  to  the  last  speaker,  who  is  seemingly  interrupted  in  his  eloquence  by  the  sudden  rebuke  of  the  supernatural 
voice.  It  was  a  giving  counsel,  an  assumption  of  wisdom,  a  claiming  "to  speak  for  God;"  and  although  we  think  that 
those  critics  altogether  overstrain  the  matter  who  charge  Elihu  with  being  merely  a  loquacious  babbler,  or  a  vain  preten- 
tious disputant,  yet,  as  an  attempted  vindication  of  the  divine  ways,  it  was  a  more  fit  subject  for  this  comparative  cen- 
sure, than  the  honest  and  glowing  words  of  Job  in  ch.  xxxi.,  to  which  it  immediately,  or  without  the  least  preparation, 
succeeds,  if  the  part  of  Elihu  is  left  out.  The  repetitions  of  this  last  speaker,  on  which  some  have  so  much  insisted,  are 
of  little  consequence.  They  may  be  blemishes,  or  rhetorical  excellencies,  according  to  the  stand-point  from  which  they 
are  viewed.  The  specimens  we  have  of  the  old  Arabic  Seance,  or  Consessus,  show  that  such  a  repetitive  style  of  sententious 
moralizing  was  held  in  literary  repute.  At  all  events,  it  is  characteristic,  and  this  they  should  regard  as  a  dramatic  merit 
in  what  they  call  a  "  work  of  art."  But,  aside  from  this,  there  is  something  in  the  whole  of  ch.  xxxvii.,  and  especially  in 
the  closing  verses,  to  which  the  language  is  very  applicable,  as  referring  to  the  last  speaker,  although  the  divine  address 
is  described,  generally,  by  the  historian,  as  made  to  Job,  to  whom,  personally,  it  immediately  turns.  The  words  "  darken- 
ing counsel,"  etc.,  denote  invalidity  of  argument,  doubtless,  but,  along  with  this,  they  are  descriptive  of  the  apparent 
timidity,  abruptness,  and  awe-struck  confusion  that  seem  to  characterize  the  close  of  Elihu's  harrangue.  It  is  the  lan- 
guage of  one  gazing  on  some  strange  appearances.  The  emotion  and  the  exclamations  thence  produced  mingle  with  his 
didactic  utterances,  so  that  he  says,  ver.  19  :  "Tell  us  what  we  shall  saj',  for  we  cannot  order  our  speech,  by  reason  of 
darkness."     And  this  sugeests  the — 

3d  Ground,  namely,  That  the  whole  scene  is  a  reality,  and  that  this  interlude  of  Elihu,  and  especially  his  abrupt  ex- 
clamatory closing  words,  are  a  convincing  evidence  of  it.  It  is  either  a  painting  from  the  life,  or  it  is  the  most  consummate 
art.  There  is  the  strongest  internal  evidence  that,  during  this  speech  of  Elihu,  there  is  represented  the  approach  of  the 
storm-cloud,  the  rising  tornado,  interrupting  and  confusing  his  words,  calling  away  his  attention,  and  giving  rise  to  broken 
remarks  on  the  vivid  phenomena  that  accompany  it,  until  he  is  suddenly  silenced  by  the  awful  voice.  Some  of  the  best 
commentators  have  thus  regarded  the  language  as  referring  to  an  actual  coming  storm.  Delitzsch  cites  Bridel  for  the 
opinion  that  the  thunder,  mentioned  xxxvii.  1,  is  not  a  mere  matter  of  eloquent  description,  but  something  actually  pre- 
sented to  the  senses:  "L'feclair  brille,  la  tonnere  gronde."  It  is  the  language  of  an  eye  and  ear  witness,  or  if  it  is  a  mere 
work  of  art  —  it  is  so  arranged  and  expressed  as  to  convey  that  impression.  So  Rosenmiiller,  in  the  words  of  Bouillier: 
'•  Inter  verba  Elihu,  dum  ha^c  loqueretur,  tonitru  exauditum  ;  ad  cujus  csecura  murmur,  mox  in  fragorem  horreadum  et 
fulgur  erupturum,  circumstantes  jubet  contremiscere."    So,  also,  on  the  comment  on  2TM,  vor.  22;  "Ceterum  splendoris 


THE  THEOPHANY.  27 


shows  to  be  in  harmony  with  tlie  tone  and  spirit  of  the  scene.  The  seeming  irregularity 
gives  vivid  evidence,  not  only  of  its  artistic,  but  of  its  actual  scenic  truthfulness.  It  supplies 
that  emotional  connection  which  carries  us  over  all  seeming  logical  or  philological  breaks. 

Job  Distinguished  from  the  Others  by  his  Submission. 

For  what  else  is  Job  commended'  but  for  the  completeness  of  this  submission,  with  its 
deep  humility  and  hearty  penitence?  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  answer  to  this,  except 
what  has  arisen  from  the  theory,  very  ancient,  indeed,  and  supported  by  the  highest  authori- 
ties, that  the  design  of  the  Book,  and  especially  of  the  theophany  at  its  close,  is  the  deci- 
sion of  a  debate,  or  to  determine  which  party  had  the  better  of  this  long  argument  about 
the  cause  of  Job's  sufferings.  As  the  traditional  view  we  are  reluctant  to  call  it  in  question, 
and  yet  it  may  be  very  defective,  if  not  in  itself,  yet  by  rejecting  or  ignoring  another  which 
is  important  as  collateral,  and,  in  certain  aspects,  may  be  regarded  as  presenting  the  pre- 
dominant lesson.  Job  is  approved  not  for  what  he  said,  or  chiefly  for  what  he  said,  in 
chs.  iii.  or  xvi.,  or  even  in  chajsters  xxviii.  and  xxxi.,  but  for  the  few  words  spoken,  xl.  4, 
xlii.  2-6.  This  is  in  accordance  with  the  opinion  of  Abenezra,  the  most  judicious  of  the 
Jewish  commentators,  who  restricts  the  words  of  God,  xlii.  7 :  "Ye  have  not  spoken  to 
me  the  thing  that  is  right,  as  my  servant  Job  hath  done,"  solely  to  the  confession  Job 
had  made  (xl.  4,  xlii.  2-6),  and  they  had  not. 

ex  aquilone  mentio  pertinet  ad  descriptionem  appropinquaatis  media  in  terapestate  Dei."  We  find  the  beginning  of  this 
in  the  close  of  ch.  xxxvi. :  "  Ilis  thunder  is  announcing  Him  ;"  the  cattle  (HJp'D),  feeding  on  the  plains  are  startled  by 
the  ominous  noise  (xxxvi.  33).  Then,  immediately  (xxxvii.  1),  "At  this"  (r\Kf  7  ^IX,  as  though  pointing  to  something 
coming  on  and  visible  to  all),  "  my  heart  trembles,  and  leaps  out  of  its  place."  "  Hear,  0  hear,  the  roar  of  His  voice,  the 
muttering  that  proceedeth  from  His  mouth ;  under  the  whole  h»avens  He  is  sending  it ;  His  lightning  to  the  far  horizon. 
After  it,  hark,  a  sound  is  roaring  (JXty%  descriptive  future).  He  is  thundering  with  His  majestic  voice,  and  we  cannot 
trace  them  when  that  voice  is  heard."  It  is  all  most  graphic,  calling  to  mind  the  speech  of  Prometheus  (JJscn.  Prom. 
Vinct.  lOSl)  as  he  goes  down  in  the  midst  of  the  storm  : 

^pvxia-  5'  VX'^  irapafiVKOiTai — 
hmo  it  bellows  long  and  loud.    Here,  as  there,  it  is  the  deep  baritone  thunder  reverberating  all  round  the  horizon.     "  There 
is  no  tracking  it  (n22py   N '7),  though  the  sound  is  heard."    It  seems  to  be  everywhere;    there  is  no  determining  the 
long  roll  to  any  particular  quarter  of  the  sky.    Then  follows  a  stillness  for  a  time,  during  which  the  black  ni>  D  i^  slowly 

rising.  Again  the  speaker,  though  there  is  an  awe  upon  his  soul,  attempts  to  go  on  with  his  moralizing  on  the  voice  and 
the  marvellous  works  of  God ;  in  all  of  which  he  seems  more  or  less  influenced  by  the  signs  in  the  heavens  as  they  become 
more  and  more  startling,  or  give  rise  to  occasional  sudden  remarkings  upon  particular  phenomena  :  "  See  how  He  spreads 
His  lightning  cloud  (Cosant),  and  turns  it  with  His  guidance  every  way  "  (v.  12).  The  tempestuous  wind  (v.  17),  is  grow- 
ing in  heat  and  strength ;  the  intervals  of  darkness  become  overpowering ;  he  "  cannot  order  his  speech  by  reason  of 
them."  But,  lo,  a  new  and  startling  appearance,— a  strange  light  coming  out  of  the  North.  He  calls  it  27T!,  gold,  liter- 
ally, but  here  most  probably  a  golden  sheen  (LXX.  ve'i^ij  xP"<''«'''yo"»''"i).  some  electrical  or  auroral  light  (aureus, aurum), 
suddenly  gleaming  forth  from  the  Borealic  region,  or,  it  may  be,  lining  the  edge  of  the  nimbus,  as  is  sometimes  the  case 
when  it  is  heavily  charged  with  the  electric  fluid.  "From  the  North,  see,  the  amber  light  is  coming,"  comp.  Ezek.  i.  4 
(nnX%  descriptive  future).  It  is  this  phenomenon,  so  remarkable  and  so  suddenly  arresting  the  attention  of  all,  that 
gives  the  subsequent  language  its  ejaculatory  character.  There  is  terror  mingled  with  the  glory:  "Surely  with  God  there  is 
dreadful  majesty."  What  follows  is  in  the  same  broken  and  elliptical  style.  ntJ?,  "  Shaddai,  He  it  is ;  wo  cannot  find 
Him  out."  All  through  there  are  those  descriptive  features  indicating  something  coming  on  of  an  eventful  character. 
The  language  becomes  more  and  more  that  of  one  subdued  in  spirit,  and  awed  by  the  sense  of  a  near  divine  presence, 
driving  him  from  his  loquacious  wisdom :  "  Great  in  strength  and  righteousness ;  He  answers  not "  (PI  JJ?'_  N  7  in  Kal, 
instead  of  Piel);  surely  should  we  fear  Him  ;"  that  is  now  more  becoming  than  argument,  however  seemingly  profound  ; 
for  "  He  regardeth  not  the  3^7  'DDn,  those  who  are  wise  in  their  own  understandings,"  and  presume  to  judge  of 
His  ways. 

"  Then  answered  Jehovah  from  the  storm-cloud,"  H"^  yDH,  ■with  the  article,  the  storm-cloud  that  has  been  described. 

TT  :  - 
As  thus  viewed  in  connection  with  Klihu's  speech,  and  especially  the  latter  part  of  it,  so  broken  and  abrupt,  there  is  a 
power  in  the  whole  representation  which  compels  us  to  regard  it  as  consummately  artistic  or,  what  is  still  more  credible, 
an  actual  painting  from  the  life,  a  real  scene  from  that  olden  time,  and  an  actual  theophany,  like  those  witnessed  by  Abra- 
ham, Moses,  and  Elijah.  On  the  other  hand,  cut  out  the  speech  of  Elihu,  or  bring  the  divine  address  right  after  ch.  xxxi., 
and  we  seem  to  have  a  hiatus  in  the  drama  which  all  criticism  fails  to  mend. 

The  remarkable  language,  v.  22,  about  "  the  gold  coming  from  the  North  (the  Borealic  aurora)  may  well  bo  compared 
with  Ezek.  i.  4:  "A  storm  (ni^'D)  coming  f  om  the  North,  and  a  brightness  in  the  circuit,  and  in  the  midst  of  it, 
SoBTin  rj?3)  like  the  color  of  brass  (aurichalcum)  Vulg.  quasi  species  electri." 


28  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OP  JOB. 


GROUNDS     OF    JOB'S     COMMEliTDATION". 

Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Dispute. 

In  order  to  determine  how  far  such  a  view  may  be  defended,  let  us  briefly  review  the 
general  course  of  the  narrative,  and  of  the  argument,  so  far  as  it  can  be  called  by  that  name. 

In  the  first  stages  of  Job's  grievous  affliction,  he  seems  to  have  borne  it  perfectly. 
Philosophical  stoicism  must  confess  itself  immeasurably  transcended  by  such  a  declaration 
as  is  ascribed  to  Job  i.  21 :  "  The  Lord  gave,  the  Lord  hath  taken,  blessed  be  the  name  of 
the  Lord."  What  is  there  in  Seneca  or  Epictetus  to  compare  with  this  conception  of  "the 
old  Dichter,"  as  the  Eationalists  call  him?  Again,  that  declaration  afterwards  made  to  his 
tempting  wife :  "  Shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  God,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil  ?" 
No  language  could  more  clearly  and  strongly  express  that  idea  of  unconditional  submission 
on  which  we  have  insisted, — that  unreserved  surrender  that  asks  no  questions  as  to  the  cause 
or  the  issue,  makes  no  demand  of  compensation,  hints  at  no  injustice,  seeks  for  no  other 
reason  of  its  being  right  than  that  God  hath  done  it,  and  that,  therefore,  it  must  be  right. 
"In  all  this,"  it  says,  "Job  sinned  not  with  his  lips,"  ii.  10.  The  latter  words  in  this  place 
— though  not  occurring  in  the  previous  passage,  i.  22,  where  it  is  said,  absolutely,  "  Job 
sinned  not," — must  have  a  significance.  They  may  denote  the  beginning  of  a  change,  to  a 
degree,  perhaps,  of  which  he  was  yet  unconscious.  Easchi  regards  it  as  a  negative  pregnant, 
implying  that,  though  his  words  were  right,  there  was  the  beginning  of  something  wrong 
in  his  thoughts  and  feelings;  i<£3n  1273  73X,  "but  he  sinned  in  his  heart."  Below  the  lips, 
£v  Ty  Kapdia,  in  that  deep  unconscious  place  lying  beneath  the  thoughts,  and  out  of  which,  as 
our  Saviour  says,  thoughts  ascend  [hvafiaivovai),  there  had  been  some  working  of  that  hidden 
force  which  afterwards  breaks  out  so  irrepressibly.  Another  supposition  may  be  indulged, 
that  there  had  come  upon  him,  or  doubtless  had  greatly  increased,  that  severe  bodily  an- 
guish which,  in  its  protracted  continuance,  is  so  unendurable.  Christian  martyrs  have 
borne  it  with  divine  aid,  such  as  we  may  suppose  Job  here  not  to  have  had,  and  because 
of  the  briefness  of  the  pain,  soon  destroying  itself,  or  leading  to  insensibility.  Without  this, 
or  when  there  is  no  remission  or  alleviation,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  such  anguish  con- 
tinuing on,  and  beyond  a  certain  degree,  cannot  be  endured.  The  man  cannot  refrain  from 
fiercely  crying-  out,  and  it  matters  but  little  what  the  language  of  his  cry  may  be,  since 
it  is  only,  in  any  sense,  a  physical  expression  of  this  unendurable  agony.  "  He  knoweth  our 
frame."  God  doth  not  blame  Job  for  this ;  neither  should  his  friends  have  blamed  him. 
But  this  is  what  they  did,  and  it  was  the  beginning  of  that  wrong  direction  taken  in  their 
subsequent  discoursings,  and  growing  more  and  more  devious  and  confused  at  every  step. 
They  could  not  put  themselves  in  Job's  position.  They  were  astonished  at  his  wild  out- 
cries, leading  them  to  imagine  something  terrible  in  his  state  of  which  they  had  never 
thought  before.  It  was  this  that  first  led  to  their  chiding  tone.  They  regarded  it,  not  as 
the  involuntary  language  of  extreme  suffering,  having  little  of  any  more  accountability 
attached  to  it  than  the  mere  physical  manifestations  of  tears  and  groans,  but  as  the  evidence 
of  rebellion  in  the  spirit,  or  of  some  unknown  actual  guilt.  They  had  witnessed  this 
during  the  days  of  their  astonished  silence,  until  they  can  refrain  no  longer.  His  violent 
language  seemed  to  them  like  an  outburst  of  profanity ;  they  undoubtedly  knew  of  his  fair 
reputation  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity,  corresponding  to  the  character  which  God  Himself 
gives  of  His  servant.  "They  had  heard  of  all  this  evil  that  had  come  upon  him." 
Immediately  each  starts  "from  his  place;"  they  make  an  appointment  (^"'i^^^P  "to  go  and 
mourn  with  him,  and  to  comfort  him,"  At  the  sight  of  their  friend,  so  changed  by  suffering 
that  "  they  knew  him  not,  they  wept  aloud,  and  rent  their  garments,  and  threw  dust  upon 
their  heads."     In  all  this  there  is  the  deepest  sympathy,  but  no  unfavorable  judgment. 

No  Polemical  Interest — The  Rationalists'  Fanciful  Vergeltungalehre. 
Neither  had  they  any  polemical  interest  against  him  in  maintaining  the  old  Vergeltungs- 
lehre,  "that  phantom  of  their  own  imagination,"  of  which  the  Rationalists  are  so  fond. 


GROUNDS  OF  JOB'S  COMMENDATION.  29 

There  is  no  evidence  that  they  had  come,  "each  from  his  place,"  to  dispute  with  him  about 
that.  There  is  no  such  doctrine  of  retribution  in  the  Mosaic  Law,  as  differing  from  the 
later  Christian,  or  from  the  universal  experience  of  the  world  in  either  the  earliest  or  the 
latest  times.  Always  have  men  believed,  and  had  reason  to  believe,  both  truths  >  that  im- 
pious deeds  are  often  strikingly  punished,  even  in  this  world,  and  also  that  the  righteous 
often  suffer  in  a  manner  that  seems  inexplicable.  The  Rationalists  describe  their  Vergel- 
tungslehre  as  peculiar  to  the  old  Patriarchal  and  Mosaic  times ;  but  there  is  abundant  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary  in  the  narratives  of  Genesis.  Good  men  are  represented  as  suffering, 
without  any  impeachment  of  their  characters,  either  on  the  part  of  God  or  man,  or  on  the 
ground  of  any  specific  guilt  assigned  as  the  cause  of  it.  The  lives  of  Jacob,  Joseph,  and 
Moses  prove  this.  So  does  the  whole  history  of  the  Israelites  in  their  sore  bondage,  for 
which  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  immediate  sufferers  received  or  expected  compensa- 
tion, and  who  certainly  were  not  worse,  to  say  the  least,  than  the  nations  around  them, 
who  had  none  of  those  severe  trials  which  were  sent  upon  God's  chosen  people.  So  far 
as  there  was  any  basis  for  the  idea  in  the  Mosaic  institutions,  it  will  generally  be  found 
in  connection  with  promises  made  to  families  and  nations,  rather  than  to  individuals. 
This  is  the  case  with  the  Fifth  commandment,  which  is  so  often  cited  in  support  of  this 
imaginary  Vergeltungslehre.  Although  seemingly  addressed  to  individuals,  yet  it  is  in  the 
national  aspect  that  that  motive  is  chiefly  held  out.  It  was  the  nation  that  was  to  reap 
the  direct  benefit.  It  was  not  simply  long  life,  but  length  of  days,  continued  generations, 
"  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  to  thee."  And  so  it  is  in  regard  to  otlier 
blessings  promised  to  the  Israelites.  Their  political  aspect  is  everywhere  specially  pre- 
dominant, and,  in  this  sense,  they  ever  held  most  true.  The  people  among  whom  filial 
reverence  was  maintained,  as  a  foundation  virtue,  along  with  that  deference  which  a  new 
generation  owed  to  the  experience  of  the  elders  —  such  a  people  would  have  "  length  of 
days;"  th^eir  institutions  would  derive  a  strength  and  a  permanency  from  such,  a  cause 
which  no  other  could  give.  The  words  "  in  the  land  "  show  this.  Promises,  thus  made  to 
nations  have  no  such  reserve  as  must  be  supposed  to  be  connected  with  them  when  made, 
really  or  apparently,  to  individuals  whose  cases  are  affected  by  such  a  multiplicity  of  out- 
side moral  and  physical  relations.  They  have  no  exceptions,  expressed  or  implied,  and 
history  would  show  that,  in  such  a  civic  sense,  they  always  hold  true.  The  nation  has 
only  an  earthly  being,  and  this  difference  was  felt,  even  before  the  individual  after-life 
was  distinctly  maintained.  The  individual  virtue  stood  on  a  higher  platform.  It  was 
connected  with  a  higher  order  of  ideas.  Though  the  thought,  as  a  conception,  was  not 
dogmatically  formed,  or  consciously  received,  yet  there  was  in  it  this  mysterious  "  power 
of  an  endless  life."  Hence,  the  question  Avhich  Job's  friends  mistakingly  put  in  refe- 
rence to  the  individual,  might  have  been  fairly  asked  in  reference  to  a  people,  "When 
did  a  nation  perish,  being  innocent?"  When  did  a  people  cease  to  flourish  that  perse- 
veringly  obeyed  God's  commands,  and  acknowledged  Him  to  be  its  Lord  ? 

This  fantastic  Vergeltungslehre,  as  thus  held  by  the  Rationalists,  is  inconsistent  more- 
over with  the  tone  of  the  most  important  and  most  serious  of  the  Psalms.  Comp.  Pss. 
Ixxiii.,  xvii.,  etc.  In  Ecclesiastes  it  is  most  expressly  repudiated.  In  the  Proverbs,  a  purely 
ethical  book,  there  seems  to  be  more  of  it,  but  nothing  more  than  any  system  of  popular 
ethics,  ancient  or  modern,  must  admit,  namely,  that  virtue  is,  in  the  main,  favorable  to  happi- 
ness or  prosperity  in  this  world,  and  that  the  practice  of  it,  therefore,  may  well  be  recom- 
mended by  the  moralist  on  tliat  ground.  In  the  Proverbs  themselves,  however,  there  is 
evidence  that  the  general  truth  has  its  exceptions,  not  arbitrary,  but  arising  out  of  cir- 
cumstances and  reasons  connected  with  a  higher  ground,  demanding  a  higher  rule  trans- 
cending the  ordinary  experience. 

Job^s  Violent  Language  the  First  Cause  of  Crimination — Opening  Address  of  EHphaz. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  Job's  friends  held  this  secular  Vergeltungslehre  as  a  thing 
exceptionless.  Their  own  speeches  frequently  admit  the  contrary  idea.-,;  Thej' would,  per- 
haps, have  advised  Job  to  examine  himself,  try  his  ways,  pray  God,  as  the  Psalmist  does, 


30  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB, 

"  to  sliow  bim  if  there  miglit  be  some  unknown  evil  tbing  in  bim,"  tbat  tbus  he  might  be 
"  led  in  the  way  everlasting."  They  might  have  urged  him,  as  the  calmer  Elibu  afterwards 
did,  to  regard  afflictions,  however  sore,  as  sent  in  love  for  some  mysterious  good  of  disci- 
pline or  purification.  But  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  they  would  have  charged  him  with 
crimes,  had  they  not  been  led  to  do  so  in  consequence  of  the  seeming  profanity  of  his 
violent  language,  and  his  own  apparent  criminations  of  the  divine  justice.  This  first  explains 
the  doubt ;  and  then  the  increasing  harshness  of  their  imputations  is  the  natural  conse- 
quence of  the  controversial  spirit  engendered,  becoming  the  more  personal,  paradoxical  as 
it  may  seem,  in  proportion  as  it  becomes  more  dogmatic  and  abstract.  Yet  still  the  open- 
ing language  of  Eliphaz  is  that  of  a  true  friend — a  pious  friend  who  wished  to  sooth  the 
sufferer,  and  yet  mildly  rebuke  his  violently  complaining  spirit.  Together  with  astonish- 
ment and  compassion,  it  manifests  a  tender  diffidence  which  is  very  finely  expressed  in  Dr. 
Conant's  translation :  "  Should  one  venture  a  word  to  thee ;  wilt  thou  be  offended  ?  but 
who  can  forbear  speaking  ?"  It  seems  to  come  after  a  silence  occasioned  by  a  subsidence 
in  the  great  anguish.  There  had  been,  too,  a  sort  of  cadence  in  Job's  language  which  lets 
us  into  the  interior  of  the  man,  showing  that  his  former  state,  though  outwardly  fair  and 
prosperous,  was  not  free  from  spiritual  trouble :  "  I  was  not  at  ease,  I  was  not  tranquil, 
I  was  not  at  rest,  yet  trouble  came  "  (iii.  26).  There  was  something  strange  about  the  case; 
yet  the  words  of  Eliphaz,  that  follow,  are  far  from  crimination,  or  even  suspicion.  It  is  the 
gentlest  of  reproofs,  reminding  him  of  what  he  himself  had  done  to  others  in  similar  cases 
of  suffering,  and  counselling  him  now  to  do  the  same  for  his  own  support  and  consolation  : 
"  Lo  Thou  hast  admonished  many :  Thou  hast  strengthened  the  feeble  hands ;  Thy  words 
have  confirmed  the  faltering."  Surely  this  testifies  to  a  belief  in  Job's  previous  reputation 
for  benevolence  and  piety.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  spirit  of  the  harsh  charges 
that  seem  to  be  made  by  this  same  Eliphaz,  xxii.  5-10.  "  Thou  hast  comforted  many" — 
it  is  the  mildest  of  rebukes,  if  it  be  a  rebuke  at  all — "  but  now  it  comes  to  thee,  and  thou 
faintest ;  it  toucheth  thee,  and  thou  art  confounded.  Is  not  thy  religion  thy  confidence 
(so  l^^^"*',  should  be  rendered) ;  thy  hope,  is  it  not  the  uprightness  of  thy  ways  ?"  Job's 
character  for  integrity  is  remembered  and  admitted,  with  the  intimation  that  he  should  now 
derive  comfort  from  the  thought.  Keeping  before  us  this  most  natural  view  of  Eliphaz's 
attempt  to  comfort,  we  have  the  key  to  what  follows.  It  was  not  received  as  it  should  have 
been ;  and  hence  the  beginning  of  that  personal  controversy  which  arose,  in  a  great  measure, 
from  Job's  violent  retorts.  He  begins  it ;  although  he  has  the  better  of  tliem  afterwards, 
when  the  polemical  spirit,  thus  aroused,  has  driven  them  far  from  the  sympathy  they  came 
to  express. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  effect  produced  upon  our  minds  by  this  latter  turn,  or  had  this 
speech  of  Eliphaz  stood  alone,  we  should  have  carried  with  us  a  different  feeling,  resulting 
in  a  different  style  of  interpretation.  The  words  that  follow  would  have  appeared  to  us  in 
another  light :  "  Remember  now" — consider  your  own  experience,  try  and  recall  a  case — 
"when  has  the  innocent  perished?"  The  perfectly  innocent,  some  would  say  in  order  to 
soften  the  imputation,  but  the  emphasis  is  on  the  word  "I^X.  The  use  of  it  is  consistent  not 
only  with  the  belief,  but  even  the  firm  persuasion,  of  Job's  comparative  guiltiness,  and  the 
hope  of  his  speedy  restoration  after  a  temporary  trial.  "'^'<  is  an  extreme  word  of  perdition. 
Here,  especially,  as  the  spirit  of  the  context,  and  its  association  with  that  other  strong  term 
nriDJ  very  clearly  show,  it  denotes  a  final,  irrecoverable  doom.  It  is  suggested  by  the  idea 
intimated  above,  that  Job  should  not  forget  his  religion,  his  confidence  in  God,  but  should 
derive  a  pure  comfort  from  the  thought  of  "  the  uprightness  of  his  ways."  God  does  not 
mean  to  destroy  you ;  you  shall  not  utterly  sink  under  this  trouble  ;  all  will  come  right  at 
last.  Such  is  the  spirit  of  the  appeal.  Good  men  may  suffer  affliction,  but  where  have  you 
known  the  innocent  to  perish?  "Therefore,  hope  thou  in  God;  for  thou  shalt  yet  praise 
Him,  who  is  the  salvation  of  thy  face  (thine  open  salvation),  and  thy  God."  There  is  noth- 
ing forced  in  such  a  view.  There  may  have  been  a  want  of  appreciation  of  Job's  extreme 
suffering,  such  as  an  outside  comforter  would  find  it  difficult  to  conceive,  but  it  seems  the 
best  thing  that  he  could  do,  and  the  best  advice  he  could  offer  him  under  the  circumstances. 


GROUNDS  OF  JOB'S  COMMENDATION.  81 

It  is  confirmed  by  the  repetition  of  the  question  in  language  still  more  cmpliatic,  and  in- 
tended to  be  still  more  assuring :  "  When  were  the  righteous  cut  off  (nriDJ*) — finally  cut  off? 
Cheer  up,  therefore,  give  not  way  to  despair,  God  will  not  forsake  thee." 

It  is  not  a  questioning  of  Job's  righteousness,  but  an  assuming  of  it,  in  fact,  as  the 
ground  on  which  he  should  yet  exercise  hope  in  the  divine  restoring  goodness.  The  remark, 
however,  here  as  well  as  elsewhere,  leads  to  an  enlargement  on  the  doom  of  the  wicked  man : 
but  any  application  of  this  to  Job  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  evident  assumptions  of 
the  context.  This  doom  of  the  wicked  is  not  thy  doom.  He  has  no  fear  (no  religion),  no 
hope  as  thou  hast.  Severe  as  may  be  thy  pains,  thy  case  is  very  different  from  that  of  the 
men  "  who  plough  iniquity  and  reap  mischief."  Thou  shalt  not  perish  as  those  "roaring 
lions  "  of  evil.  He  who  "  breaks  their  teeth  "  shall  bind  up  thy  wounds.  Therefore,  hope 
on.  Then  follows  that  sublime  account  of  the  spiritual  appearance,  and  the  moral  lesson 
it  brings  from  the  unearthly  sphere,  so  different  from  the  gabble  which  the  modern  natural- 
izing "  Spiritualism "  would  have  given  us  in  its  stead,  as  has  been  before  remarked. 
It  is  still  that  grand  theism,  presented  all  alone,  and  in  its  ineffable  purity,  as  intended 
to  precede  all  other  articles  of  faith — God's  personal  being,  and  His  immeasurable  holiness  : 
"Shall  a  man  (i^1J.5<,  weak  mortal  man)  be  just  with  God?  Shall  a  man  ("I3J,  the  strongest 
and  most  confident  man)  be  pure  before  his  Maker?"!  He  had  indeed  given  Job  credit  for 
uprightness ;  he  had  clearly  intimated  that  he  might  and  ought  to  find  comfort  in  the  re- 
membrance ;  but  here  comes  the  vision  of  the  night,  the  solemn,  sober,  second  thought, — 
that  there  is  something  far  more  holy  than  our  best  righteousness,  high  as  that  may  seem 
when  a  man  compares  himself  with  other  men,  or  any  standard  of  human  ethics.  It  is 
an  intimation  that  even  Job,  with  all  his  uprightness,  and  though  fully  corresponding  to 
that  charming  account  given  of  his  moral  character  in  the  prologue,  cannot  yet  so  stand  upon 
his  righteousness  as  to  cry  out  against  suffering — even  extreme  suffering — as  though  it  were 
a  strange  injustice.  Far  different,  indeed,  is  his  case  from  that  of  those  "  lions  "  of  iniquity 
to  whom  Eliphaz  alludes, — those  utterly  Godless  transgressors  to  whom  their  utter  perdition 
is  but  a  "reaping  of  what  they  have  sown;"  but  still  he  is  not  righteous,  he  is  not  pure 
before  God. 

Increasing  Severity — Cause  of  it — Mutual  Recriminations — Note   on  the  Atrocious   Charges 

of  ch.  xxii. 

Such  is  a  fair  interpretation  of  this  fourth  chapter.  As  uttered  in  a  similar  spirit,  must 
we  regard  much  of  the  language  of  the  fifth  ;  although,  probably  from  some  signs  of  impa- 
tience in  Job,  it  seems  to  increase  in  severity :  "  Call  now ;  is  there  any  one  who  will  answer 
thee"  whilst  indulging  in  such  extravagant  appeals?  Who  of  the  Holy  Ones  can  listen  to 
thy  imprecatory  language ?  "It  is  the  foolish  (evil)  man  whom  wrath  slayeth  ;  it  is  the 
simple  man  whom  envy  killeth."  The  noun,  ^^Jp,  could  be  better  rendered  jealous;/.  It 
furnishes  the  key  to  the  train  of  thought,  or  the  view  Eliphaz  took  of  Job's  state  of  mind,  as 
complaining  of  God,  because  men  manifestly  wicked  had  lived  and  died  more  free  from  pain 
than  himself.  Though  the  language  be  dark,  and  full  of  a  passionate  abruptness,  such  seems 
to  be  the  meaning  of  what  he  had  said,  iii.  14-17,  about  "kings  and  counsellors  "  who, 
after  lives  of  uninterrupted  prosperity,  have  lain  down  beneath  their  costly  monuments, 
leaving  their  houses  full  of  treasure.     Why  could  he  not  have  "so  lain  down, "J  at  the  end  of 

*  The  primary  sense  of  ^n  J  is  abnegation, — treating  a  thing  as  though  it  was  not,  or  casting  it  off  as  utterly  false 
and  vile.  Hence  in  Hiiihil  it  gets  the  sense  of  putting  out  of  sight  (if^ai'i^eti',  which  is  used  in  the  Greek  to  denote  ex- 
treme destruction),  cxsiirpai'ti,  deZeuii.    The  Niphal  is  passive  of  Hiphil.    See  its  strong  sense,  Exod.  xxiii.  3;  Zech.  xi.  8. 

■f  More  just  tha,n  Qoi,  mare  pure,  etc.  So  our  translation  and  Luther  have  it,  with  which  Dr.  Conant  agrees.  The 
Vulgate,  Dei  comparalione.  Umbreit,  Ewald,  Delitzsch,  Dillmann,  Merx,  Rosenmiiller,  et  al.,  reject  the  idea  of  |0,  com- 
parative, and  regard  it  as  equivalent  to  UV,  xxv.  4;  Coram  Deo,  and  in  Numb,  xxxii.  22 ;  Jeremiah  li.  5.  The 
reasons  are  that  the  other  rendering,  "more  just  than  God"  would  bo  an  utterly  extravagant  thought,  which  no  one 
would  think  of  seriously  holding.    And  yet  it  might  be  suggested  by  Job's  bitter  complainings. 

X  III.  13.  'Hits'':  "I  should  have  slept;  then  would  there  have  been  rest  to  me" — '7  XViY  to  mo,  or  even  to  me. 

T 

The  impersonal  form  with  the  preposition  is  emphatic.  This  feeling  of  distrust  and  jealousy  is  made  more  clear  by  what  ho 
says  at  the  close  about  his  want  of  rest,  even  in  the  day  of  his  prosperity  :  "  What  ho  had  somehow  feared  had  come  upon 
him,"  iii.  25. 


32  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

an  untroubled  life,  and  "  been  at  rest."  To  correct  this  murmuring  jealousy,  Eliphaz  insisLs 
upon  what  his  own  experience  had  taught  him  to  the  contrary :  "  I  have  myself  seen  the 
wicked  taking  root,  but  soon  I  cursed  his  habitation  "  (his  seemingly  undisturbed  stability). 
I  have  seen  what  followed  them,  the  ruin  of  their  posterity,  the  restorations  they  were  com- 
pelled to  make.  He  is  not  here  charging  Job  with  personal  crimes,  but  cautioning  him — • 
and  surely  there  was  need  of  it — against  being  led  into  complaints  of  God  as  one  who  lets 
the  wicked  live  and  prosper,  and  die,  at  last,  without  any  "  bands  {dolores,  Ps.  Ixxiii.  4)  in 
their  death."  This  experience  of  Eliphaz  was  true.  There  is  a  Vergeltungslehre.  God  does 
not  let  the  wicked  ultimately  prosper,  even  in  this  world.  During  their  own  lives,  and  in 
their  posterity  after  them,  this  general  law  of  the  divine  government  receives  its  manifesta- 
tion. Job's  mere  groaning  under  his  misery  as  something  inexplicable,  is  very  different  from 
the  feeling  which  suggests  such  comparisons,  as  though  there  were  really  no  God  ruling  in 
the  earth,  and  all  things  happened  alike  to  all,  or,  what  is  worse,  God  actually  favors  un- 
righteousness. He  himself.  Job  seems  to  say,  with  all  his  uprightness,  was  in  fact  more 
miserable,  had  a  more  grievous  lot,  than  those  wicked  tyrants.  It  was  this  •^^'■?p,  or  envy, 
that  was  killing  him.  So  it  seemed  to  Eliphaz,  and  it  is  enough  in  interpreting  that  the  idea 
furnishes  the  clue  to  the  train  of  thought.  God's  favoring  the  wicked,  or  suffering  them  to 
go  with  impunity,  is  very  different  from  the  idea  that  he  may  send  suffering,  explained  or 
unexplained,  upon  the  comparatively  righteous — Eliphaz  is  here  repelling  the  former 
idea. 

Some  similar  view  may  be  taken  of  most  of  the  speeches  of  the  friends  in  controversy.* 
They  can  be  explained,  or  regarded  as  essentially  modified,  without  supposing  that,  in  the 
beginning,  they  had  any  thought  of  charging  him  with  crime.  That  would  have  been 
wholly  inconsistent  with  the  friendly  motive  which  brought  them  from  their  distant  homes 
to  mourn  and  weep  with  him.  The  story,  it  will  thus  be  seen,  is  best  interpreted  by  regard- 
ing it  as  an  actual  picture  of  actual  life.  But  even  artistic,  or  dramatic  propriety  would 
be  grossly  violated  by  such  a  preposterous  fact,  that  they  should,  all  of  theni,  all  at  once, 
fall  to  making  charges  against  him,  not  only  so  atrocious,  but  so  motiveless  and 
abrupt. 

*  Even  the  harshest  parts  assume  something  of  a  different  aspect  when  wo  thus  take  into  view  the  origin  and  progress 
of  the  controversy.  Many  of  these  cliarges  will  appear  to  he  essentially  hypothetical.  For  it  is  clear  that  ttie  friends 
of  Job  had  no  knowledge  of  any  crimes  that  he  had  committed.  In  ch.  xxii.  Eliphaz  seems  to  charge  him  directly  with 
the  most  atrocious  deeds.  But  the  beginning  of  the  chapter  is  evidently  the  repelling  of  the  idea,  on  which  Job  seems 
strongly  to  insist,  of  a. personal  controTersy,  as  it  were,  between  him  and  God,  or  as  one  contending  with  him.  It  is  not, 
as  Eliphaz  would  seem  to  argue,  such  a  personal  contending  whatever  else  it  may  be ;  for  that  could  only  be  on  account  of 
some  great  sins  which  had  truly  roused  the  divine  anger.  This  hypothetical  view  may  be  carried  clear  through  the  chap- 
ter: "Will  lie  for  fear  of  thee  rebuke  thee,  or  enter  with  thee  into  controversy?  Is  it  not  rather  (xbn),  or  ivoiild  it 
not  be  rather  n3"1  THJ^T,  thy  great  evil,  or  for  some  great  evil  of  thine?"  So  the  Vulgate  takes  it  as  a  hypothetical 
question  instead  of  a  direct  charge :  Numquid  timens  argwat  te  ei  non propter  malitiam  tuam phirimam  ;  "Would  it  not  be 
on  account  of  thy  wickedness,  and  because  of  thine  iniquities  numberless?"  Thus  stated,  hypothetically,  the  ''2  that 
follows  is  specificative.  Would  it  not  be  on  account  of  thy  numerous  iniquities,  namely,  that  thou  hadst  taken  a  pledge, 
that  thou  hadst  stripped  the  naked,  favored  the  mighty,  and  oppressed  the  widow,  etc.  *  The  manner  of  stating  these 
crimes  (the  standing  Bible  examples  of  great  wickedness)  would  also  seem  to  show  tli.-vt  the  imputations  were  hj'potheti- 
cal,  instead  of  direct.  It  may  be  a  suspicion  occasioned  by  Job's  vehement  complaints,  but  it  would  hardly  seem  to 
amount  to  anything  stronger,— or  a  mere  cmjecture,  as  Cocceius  regards  it :  "  Na,m  fort assis  pignus  cepisti,  c<c.— conjectu- 
raliter  et  disjunctive  explico,  nulla  repugnante  Grammatica,  ne  crudeliores  sententias  quam  ipsi  ami.i  in  Jobum  cudam." 
TJmbreit  and  Ewald  express  surprise  at  the  particularity  of  these  atrocious  accusations,  and  wonder  how  Eliphaz  came 
to  the  knowledge  of  them,  but  the  charges  themselves  they  would  easily  explain  by  their  all-explaining  Vergeltungslehre : 
Job  suffered  severely  ;  therefore,  he  must  have  been  an  enormous  sinner. 

What  soon  follows  shows  that  we  must  somehow  modify  the  interpretation  that  makes  these  charges  to  be  direct, 
or  as  something  truly  believed  by  the  speaker:  "  Acqiiaint  now  thyself  with  Ilim  (ver.  21),  and  be  at  peace  "  (CIDi;^) 
give  up  this  idea  of  a  contention,  or  be  composed.  There  is,  indeed,  a  general  exhortation  to  return  to  the  Almighty,  and 
pnt  away  evil ;  as  it  had  also  been  said  that  he  was  in  darkness  and  terror,  on  account  of  the  spirit  he  showed  (vers.  10, 
11,  23).  But  it  is  not  the  kind  of  language  we  should  expect  to  he  used  towards  one  who  had  robbed  widows,  and  broken, 
the  arms  of  orphans.  Nothing  less  than  unconditional  repentance  and  restitution  would  have  been  thought  of.  But 
how  different  the  advice  of  this  reproving  friend:  pDH  (the  Kal,  ver. S,  and  denoting  quieting,  profitable  intercourse) 
Hero,  in  Iliphil,  it  is  well  rendered  "acquaint  thyself,"  ho  quiet  before  God,  become  familiar  with  Him,  learn  to  think 
better  of  Ilim  and  His  ways ;  "  lay  up  His  words  in  thy  heart."  It  is  addressed  to  one  supposed  to  bo  in  the  wrong,  yet 
still  having  some  degree  of  favor  with  God,  or,  at  least,  one  with  whom  God  was  not  contending,  aa  Ua  contends  with  tha 
hardened  and  atrocious  sinner,  so  particularly  described.  . 


GROUNDS  OF  JOB'S  COMMENDATION.  33 


Tlie  Dispute   turned  into  the  Defensive  on  the  Part  of  the  Friends — Does   God  favor  the 

Wicked  f 
lu  all  tlio  steps  of  the  discussion,  it  will  be  discovered  that  it  is  not  so  much  a  dispo- 
sition to  impute  actual  crime  to  Job  as  to  repel  his  seeming  assaults  upon  their  theoretical 
views  of  the  divine  justice.  The  question,  whether  afflictions  may  not  come  upon  the 
righteous,  is  lost  sight  of  in  another  which  engages  all  their  zeal :  Does  God  favor  the 
wicked?  Does  He  let  them  prosper,  and  ultimately  die  in  peace,  as  Job  sometimes  seems 
to  assert?  They  strongly  maintain  the  negative.  This  leads  to  the  most  vivid  pictures 
of  the  doom  that  awaits  an  evil  life.  Job,  not  to  be  outdone,  and  not  heeding  his  consis- 
tency,* is  drawn  to  vie  with  them  in  the  assertion  of  his  own  experience  to  the  same 
effect.  Sometimes  they  all  seem  to  say  very  much  the  same  thing,  and  then  it  is  worthy  of 
note  how  some  commentators  strive  to  give  a  good  aspect  to  Job's  language,  and  a  bad 
look  to  theirs ;  all  coming  from  the  traditional  assumption  in  regard  to  the  judgment  at 
the  end  of  the  Book.  And  their  apparent  recriminations  may,  in  fact,  be  taken  in  two 
ways  :  Such  is  the  doom  of  the  wicked,  the  enormous  evil-doers ;  but  you,  Job,  are  not  one 
of  them,  although  you  are  now  behaving  very  wrongly ;  therefore,  you  may  yet  hope  in  God. 
Or  it  may  be  an  actual  imputation  of  crime.  The  first,  as  we  have  seen,  may  be  the  view 
taken  of  Eliphaz's  early  address  ;  the  second,  as  the  effect  produced  by  the  exasperation  of 
debate.  It  is  thus  they  get  themselves  entangled  in  a  question  truly  collateral,  yet  seemingly 
connected  with  the  other  and  more  important  issue  :  Are  sufferings,  in  themselves,  evidence 
of  crime  ?  Why  they  are  sent  upon  good  men,  or  why  they  are  permitted  even,  may  remain 
a  mystery;  and  that  mystery,  we  think,  is  not  solved  or  attempted  to  be  solved  in  this  Book 
of  Job.  But  surely  it  is  something  quite  different  from  the  other  thought,  that  God  suffers 
the  wicked  to  go  with  impunity,  or  makes  no  difference  between  them  and  His  servants, 
even  in  this  world. 

The  Didactic  Value  of  the  Speeches  as  Inspired  Scripture. 
The  idea  that  the  chief  design  of  the  Book  is  the  decision  of  a  debate  has  had  an 
effect,  more  or  less,  in  perverting  its  exposition.  It  all  depends  upon  the  view  we  take  of 
the  language  used,  ch.  xlii.  7,  and  the  object  of  its  most  immediate  reference.  Before 
dwelling  on  that,  however,  there  may  come  in  here  a  remark  in  respect  to  the  value  of  the 
various  speeches  in  their  didactic  use.  It  is  true  that,  in  a  dramatic  work,  we  look  to  the 
great  lesson  which  it  teaches  as  a  whole  ;  and  in  consistency  with  this,  much  of  what  is 
said  may  be  regarded  merely  in  its  dramatic  propriety,  and  not  in  its  absolute  didactic  truth 
as  uttered,  more  or  less,  by  all  the  speakers.  It  may  be  a  question,  however,  whether  we 
can  apply  this  strictly  to  a  composition  we  deem  inspired,  or  divinely  given,  even  though 
there  may  be  grounds  for  calling  it  dramatic  God  may  instruct  us  by  this  style  of  writing, 
as  well  as  by  other  kinds  to  which  we  give  the  names,  historical,  poetical,  parabolic,  ethi- 
cal, or  even  mythical,  if  the  evidences  of  such,  or  such  a  kind  of  diction  appear  on  the 
very  face  of  it.  Thus,  Job  may  be  said  to  contain  internal  evidence  of  a  dramatic  intent. 
It  is  not  a  mere  collection  of  precepts,  or  lofty  sayings,  but  a  great  spiritual  action,  a  true 
praxis  or  drama,  the  instructiveness  of  which  does  not  absolutely  depend  upon  the  precise 
truth,  or  exact  moral  value  of  every  utterance  that  composes  it.  This  is  easily  understood, 
and  not  to  be  dwelt  upon.  And  yet  the  thought  is  not  irrational,  that  such  an  inspired 
drama,  or  one  that  has  a  true  divine  authorship,  and  for  a  divine  purpose,  through  what- 
ever media  it  may  have  been  composed,  may  be  so  written,  so  arranged,  and  so  acted,  as  to 
combine  both  ideas,  the  dramatic  and  the  preceptive.  Even  if  we  regard  the  speeches  of 
Job's  three  friends  as  wrong  in  their  applications,  they  may,  nevertheless,  form  a  body  of 

*  This  appears  especially  in  chapters  xxi.  and  xxvii.,  where  Job  wonUl  seem  to  aim  at  surpassing  them  in  this  kind 
of  painting.  Sometimes  the  transition  is  quite  sudden,  as  though  he  had  felt  ho  had  gone  too  far  in  the  opposite  direction. 
The  surprise  occasioned  by  this  has  led  to  forced  constructions.  Thus,  xxi.  17,  some  wou'd  render  rTDD,  "  Imw  seldom," 
or,  "how  often,"  with  the  implied  idea  of  doubt,  or  with  a  sarcastic  reference.  This  is  contrary  to  the  constant  usage 
of  nOD.  and  Ps.  Ixsviii.  40,  cited  by  Gesenius  and  HupfeU,  does  not  support  it. 
3 


34  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


preceptive  trutli  of  tlie  liighest  value,  far  beyond  anything  to  be  found  in  Seneca  or 
Epictetus.  In  this  view  it  may  be  said  of  each  one  of  them,  that  they  are  Sacred  "  Scrip- 
ture, profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  instruction  in  righteousness,"  or  that  they  are 
divine  words  "  most  pure,"  as  the  Psalmist  says,  "  like  silver  tried  in  an  earthen  vessel, 
and  seven  times  purified."  Thus  regarding  them,  the  practical  expositor,  and  the  preacher, 
may  study  them  with  confidence,  as  golden  sentences  containing  golden  truth,  and 
which,  when  "  opened  up,"  as  the  old  lovers  of  Scripture  used  to  say,  will  furnish,  each 
by  themselves,  most  profitable  themes  of  meditation.  It  would  be  difiicult  to  point  out  a 
single  utterance  made  by  the  three  friends  of  Job  that  does  not  contain,  in  itself,  such  a 
golden  thought,  and  worthy  of  a  writing  for  which  there  is  claimed  a  divine  authorship. 
All  ancient  and  modern  books,  Oriental  or  Occidental,  will  be  searched  in  vain  for  a  purer 
or  loftier  theism  than  that  set  forth  in  these  speeches  of  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and  Zoijhar.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  Job's  language,  when  regarded  as  a  calm  utterance,  or  something  more 
than  a  dramatic  groan.  His  impassioned  assertions  of  his  integrity,  his  casting  away  of  all 
false  humility,  his  vehement  expostulations  with  God,  so  almost  terrifying  us  by  their  bold- 
ness :  "  Wilt  Thou  put  in  fear  the  driven  leaf;  wilt  Thou  pursue  the  withered  chaff?" — all 
this  may  be  regarded  even  with  reverence  as  viewed  from  the  stand-point  of  the  sufferer. 
There  is  no  cant  about  Job  ;  no  affected  piety ;  no  mere  sentimentality  ;  no  cold  and  showy 
theorizing.  All  this  seeming  irreverence,  nevertheless,  is  consistent  with  a  manly  piety, 
most  anxious  to  understand  its  true  relation  to  the  Holy  One.  He  seems,  at  times,  upon  the 
borders  of  profanity.  He  makes  the  boldest  declarations ;  but  they  are  all  renounced  after- 
wards, when  a  new  aspect  of  the  matter  is  presented  to  his  mind,  leading  him  to  say  DNOX, 
"  I  reject ;"  I  throw  them  all  away  ;  I  cannot  bear  them  now.  He  argues  no  more  ;  neither 
does  he  remain  silent  like  the  others ;  but  falls  upon  his  face,  saying,  only  :  "  I  repent  in 
dust  and  ashes."  Here  he  said  "  the  thing  that  was  right,"  wholly  right ;  but  even  during 
the  calmer  periods  given  to  him  from  suffering,  he  seems  to  rise  immediately  to  a  higher 
position.  It  is  after  such  pauses  that  he  brings  in  those  impassioned  soliloquies  in  which 
the  disputants  around  him  seem  wholly  lost  sight  of;  as  in  that  meditation  on  the 
unsearchable  Wisdom,  ch.  xxviii.,  or  when  he  breaks  out  with  that  sublime  appeal :  "  I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  liveth ;"  or  when  he  says,  "  0  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  Him ;" 
or  when  he  shows  that  he  can  surpass  Zophar  and  Bildad  in  magnifying  the  divine  glory, 
whilst  he  is  behind  none  of  them  in  sententious  wisdom. 

The  right  "sayings  about  God"  for  which  Job  is  commended. 
If,  however,  there  are  to  be  found  in  the  Book  any  utterances  in  themselves  false  or  evil, 
they  are  to  be  looked  for  in  those  passages  in  which  Job  seems  to  pass  almost  entirely  beyond 
the  bounds  of  reverence,  if  regarded  as  speaking  of  God  (as  in  ch.  xvi.),  and  not  rather  of 
the  evil  being,  of  whom,  in  some  way,  he  seems  conscious  as  a  great  and  malignant  antago- 
nist. (See  note,  page  7.)  But  the  exposition  which  proceeds  upon  the  idea  of  the  Book 
being  the  solving  of  a  problem,  or  the  decision  of  a  debate,  must  find  these  false  things  "  said 
about  God,"  or  to  God  ("''7X),  in  the  utterances  of  the  three  friends.  This  might,  perhaps,  be 
maintained  if  there  is  intended,  not  their  abstract  truth,  but  their  practical  application  to 
the  sufferer ;  but  then  they  could  hardly  be  called,  with  consistency,  "  wrong  things  about 
God."  They  would  have  been,  rather,  wrong  things  said  about  Job.  Now  it  may  be  admit- 
ted, that,  with  all  his  errors  and  extravagances,  there  was  a  general  rightness  belonging  to 
Job's  position.  In  spite  of  his  expostulations  and  vehement  upbraidings,  even  of  Deity  Him- 
self, there  was  something  in  his  impassioned  sincerity,  that  called  out  the  divine  pity,  the  di- 
vine admiration,  to  speak  anthropopathically,  so  as  to  give  even  his  errors,  in  the  divine 
sight,  an  interest  beyond  that  of  the  cold,  theoretical,  unappreciative,  casuistical  wisdom  of 
his  antagonists.  In  reference  to  the  whole  action  of  the  drama,  instead  of  the  mere  dialecti- 
cal merit,  it  might  have  been  said,  in  the  old  patriarchal  style,  that  "  Job  found  favor,  or 
grace,  in  His  sight ;  "  and  in  this  way  the  traditional  exposition  may  be  accepted.  We  may 
take  it  as  implied  also  in  any  form  of  the  decision,  and  it  may  stand,  if  insisted  on,  as  the 
leading  solution  of  the  Book  :  "  Job  found  grace  in  the  sight  of  God."     With  this,  however. 


GROUNDS  OF  JOB'S  COMMENDATION.  35 

the  question  may  still  be  raised,  whether,  in  the  declaration,  xlii.  7,  HJOJ  ''7«  amm  xS, 
"Ye  have  not  spoken,"  &c.,  there  was  not  intended  a  more  special  saying,  a  particular  and 
noted  declaration  standing  by  itself,  as  outside  of  the  long  discussion — not  something  which 
Job  had  said  better  than  they,  but  something  which  he  had  said,  and  they  did  not  say  at  all, 
— not  something  said  about  God,  but  directly  to  Him,  and  according  to  the  almost  exception- 
less usage  of  that  most  frequent  preposition, /S^. 

Meaning  of  w^,  xlii.  7. 
This  is,  in  the  first  place,  an  almost  purely  philological  question.  The  particle  is  one  of 
the  most  common  in  Hebrew,  and  we  might  also  add,  one  of  the  most  uniform  in  its  meaning 
and  application.  Let  us,  therefore,  examine  whether  ''^X,  in  this  place,  has  been  rightly 
translated  by  the  makers  of  the  English  and  other  versions.  If  not,  it  might  be  asked,  why 
have  so  many  commentators  taken  the  wrong  direction  ?  The  answer  may  be  found  in  the 
influence  of  the  view,  so  early  entertained,  that  the  Book  was  intended  as  the  solution  of  a 
problem,  and  the  decision  of  a  debate.  The  supposed  dramatic  character  and  construction 
aided  this  idea.  The  tendency  thus  given  would  at  once  affect  this  passage,  and  the  same 
feeling  would  perpetuate  the  peculiar  interpretation  it  had  originated.  Instead  of  taking  as 
a  key  the  clear  and  usual  sense  of  the  preposition,  they  made  it  subservient  to  a  hypothesis 
derived  from  other  sources.  This  inverse  method  appears  very  plainly  in  one  of  the  notes  of 
Tympius  (285)  to  Noldlus'  Concordance  of  the  Hebrew  Particles :  "  Luth.,  Anglic,  Trem,, 
Piscat.,  Belgic,  Schmid,  Glass,  Geier,  de  me.  Nam  amici  Jobi,  non  ad  Deum  loquuti  sunt, 
sed  de  Deo."  Here  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  there  is  a  decision  of  something  said  con- 
cerning God,  and  the  preposition  is  rendered  accordingly.  Tympius,  with  the  LXX.,  Syriac 
and  Vulgate,  would  render  it  before  me,  but  it  is  from  the  same  idea  of  a  judicial  debate, 
only  carried  still  farther  in  that  direction  ;  "  for  the  friends,"  he  says,  "  non  sinistre  loquuti 
sunt  de  Deo  tantum,  sed  et  de  Jobo,  de  cruce  fidelium,  de  impiorum  in  hac  vita  prosperitate," 
&c.  Some  commentators,  when  they  come  to  this  place,  simply  say  7X  for  i]^^  or  '"7X  for  wj; 
and  that  is  all  the  notice  they  take  of  it ;  or  they  content  themselves  with  rendering  it  about, 
concerning,  in  respect  to,  von  mir,  in  Beziehung  auf  mich  (see  Dillmann,  Delitzsch,  Roseumiiller, 
et  al),  without  giving  any  reasons.  But  ^X  for  ^V  is  as  rare  in  the  Hebrew  as  ad  for  de  in 
Latin,  or  the  English  to  in  the  same  sense.  We  say,  indeed,  speak  to  a  question,  or  to  a  point 
in  debate,  but  this  is  a  technical  sense ;  it  is  figurative,  moreover,  denoting  direction,  or  keep- 
ing the  mind  intent  upon  a  thing,  and  never  used  with  a  person  or  a  personal  pronoun. 
How  infrequent  in  Hebrew  is  this  supposed  use  of  "^X  for  7;^,  may  be  seen  from  the  few  cases* 
given  by  Noldius,  and  of  out  many  hundreds  adhering  to  the  common  usage. 

*  From  these  we  may  at  once  exclude  those  in  which  ^X  follows  the  verb  X3J,  or  X33nn,  to  prophesy.     They  may  be 

T  •  ..  -  .     . 

rendered,  prophecy  concerning;  but  the  preposition  does  not  lose  its  original  idea  of  direction — prophecy  to,  or  at,,ox 
against.  So  also  where  Noldius  renders  it  propter  as  Lam  iv.  17:  "our  eyes  are  consumed,"  UrntJ^  iN,  "on  account  of 
our  help."  The  idea  is,  looking  to  or  fm-  our  help,  elliptically  expressed.  There  is  the  same  kind  of  ellipsis  in  the  few 
other  examples  he  gives,  as  1  Sam.  iv.  21:  "  this  she  said  (looking  to,  in  view  of)  the  taking  of  the  ark,"  &c.  There  is  no 
need  of  rendering  it  propter  ;  the  vivid  pathos  is  lost  by  so  doing.  2  Sam.  xxi.  1 :  "And  the  Lord  said,"  7lXty  7X — 
there  is  an  ellipsis  any  way.  "  And  the  Lord  said— to  Saul  "—that  is,  look  to  Saul.  Noldius  fills  it  up  tamely :  "  (it  is)  on 
account  of  Saul  and  his  bloody  house."  1  Kings  xix.  3 :  "He  went,  )^iiy  Sn,  for  his  life  "—a  peculiar  phrase,  but  may 
be  rendered  literally,  instead  of  by  propter,  on  account  of.  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  3,  "  My  heart  and  flesh  cry  out,"  Tl  7X~  7N,  ren- 
dered by  Noldius  :  "On  account  of  the  living  God,"  but  far  better  literally,  "<o  the  living  God."  So  in  the  cases  where 
he  would  render  it  de,  it  will  be  found  that  the  object  is  ever  present,  and  there  is  the  idea  of  direct  reference,  or  point- 
ing to  it.  As  1  Sam.  i.  27,  where  Hannah  says,  "  I  prayed,  niH  "IJ^JH  Sx,  for  this  child,"  as  something  present— the  di- 
rect object.  2  Kings  xix.  32,  "Thussaith  the  Lord,"  "1^0  SX-  It  was  indeed  abotU  the  King  of  Assyria,  but  how  much 
more  vivid  is  it  when  taken  directly,  to,  at,  against ;  Deodat.  French  'Version,  touchant  U  roi.  The  two  or  three  others 
under  that  head  can  all  be  resolved  in  the  same  manner.  2d  Psalm  7,  pn  ^X  iTlDDX,  cannot  be  rendered  "  concerning 
the  decree."  Gen.  xx.  2,  "And  Abraham  said,  7}"^^/  Sx,  to  Sarah,  she  la  my  wife."  Sarah  was  present,  and  the  saying 
was  to  her — as  an  intimation  to  Abimelech. 


36  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OP  JOB. 


Commentators  find  it  difficult  to  determine  for  what  sayings,  in  the  general  argument,  Job  is  com- 
mended.    The  word  HJIDJ,  xlii.  7. 

T       : 

Another  argument  for  the  view  here  taken  is  derived  from  the  disagreements  among 
commentators  in  respect  to  the  things  said  for  which  Job  is  commended  and  the  friends  are 
condemned.  According  to  EwaLi  and  Schlottmann,  HJOJ  denotes  subjective  truth,  upright- 
ness, integrity.  Zoslder  takes  the  other  view:  It  was  Job's  correct  knowledge,  and  truthful 
assertion  of  his  own  general  innocence,  in  which  he  was  right,  and  they  were  wrong,  because 
they  failed  to  acknowledge  it,  or  were  silent  about  it.  So  Delitzsch  says:  "The  correctness  in 
Job's  speeches  consists  in  his  holding  fast  the  consciousness  of  his  innocence  without  suffer- 
ing himself  to  be  persuaded  of  the  opposite."  This  would  make  it  almost  contrary,  in  spirit 
at  least,  to  the  language  of  his  confession,  when  he  says  DNOX:  "  I  reject  (throw  away,  re- 
nounce, recant),  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes  ;  "  or  in  the  other  place,  xli.  4 :  "  I  lay  my 
hand  upon  my  mouth  ;  once  have  I  spoken — twice — I  will  say  no  more."  Raschi  takes  this 
"once — ^w/ce  "  as  referring  specially  to  Job's  two  hard  sayings,*  ch.  ix.  22 ;  the  first:  "He 
consumes  the  righteous  with  the  wicked,"  the  second  :  "  When  the  scourge  destroys  suddenly. 
He  mocks  at  the  distress  of  the  innocent."  It  is  as  though  Job  meant  to  specify  these,  be- 
cause they  were  the  only  ones  he  could  remember.  In  his  Rabbinic  particularity,  Raschi 
overlooks  the  Hebraism  :  "  Once — twice,"  repeatedly,  over  and  over  again,  "  have  I  uttered 
what  I  understood  not,  things  too  hard  for  me,  which  I  knew  not."  See,  too,  how  Dillmann 
strives  to  make  out  a  case  for  Job  against  the  friends,  and  labors  with  his  distinction  between 
the  subjective  and  the  objective  ti'uth  ;  as  though  the  declaration  itself  of  the  Almighty 
needed  defending  and  clearing  up  as  much  as  Job's  integrity.  In  some  senses,  he  Avould 
maintain,  both  were  right  and  both  were  wrong.  Not  every  word  he  uttered  in  itself  was 
true,  nor  were  their's  all  wrong  ;  but  only  on  the  whole,  or  on  the  question  of  Job's  inno- 
cence, was  the  balance  of  truth  in  his  favor.  Truly  this  is  a  very  unsatisfactory  view  of  the 
great  matter  which  God  decides,  as  though  it  were  a  mere  question  as  to  the  weight  of  argu- 
ment in  a  debate  about  Job's  absolute  or  comparative  innocence;  it  being  a  fact,  too,  of 
which  Job  had  knowledge,  whilst  they  could  only  judge  from  outer  circumstances.  A  man 
should  maintain  his  integrity,  if  he  is  not  guilty  of  particular  crimes  laid  to  his  charge ; 
that  is  true  ;  but  is  there  no  higher  lesson  taught  in  this  Book?  Again,  this  mere  summing 
up  of  a  balance  of  right,  with  so  much  difficulty  about  it  as  to  occasion  such  a  diversity  of 
comment,  is  inconsistent  with  the  clearness  and  peculiar  nature  of  that  word,  njIDJ,  It  is 
not  used  of  personal  moral  character,  either  subjectively  or  objectively,  like  "^t^".  p'"'^*,  etc. 
Such  a  view  of  the  word  would  seem  to  confine  it  to  things  said  about  Job,  instead  of  some- 
thing said  about  God  and  addressed  directly  to  Him.  The  radical  idea  of  the  word  is  firm- 
ness, that  which  shall  stand;  hence  completeness,  security,  perfection.  When  used  of  an  outward 
object  it  expresses  its  best  and  most  finished  state,  as  in  the  infinitive  form,  Prov.  iv.  18, 
□vn  J'1D3,  the  perfection  of  the  day,  aradephv  ijiiap,  when  the  sun  has  reached  its  height,  and 
seems  to  stand — "  clearer  and  clearer  unto  the  perfect  day."  As  a  saying,  it  is  here  the  one 
most  perfect  saying  that  could  be  said — a  saying  expressing  all. 

The  Real  Utterance  for  which  Job  is  Commended. 
We  must  search  among  Job's  sayings  for  something  corresponding  to  the  high  and  dis- 
tinguishing commendation  expressed  by  this  word  HJ'OJ, — something  that  stands  the  test, 
clear,  decided,  full.  When  found  there  will  be  no  mistaking  it.  It  will  have  a  superlative, 
a  finished,  and  not  a  mere  comparative  excellence.  Other  things  said  may  have  been  more 
or  less  correct,  but  this  is  right,  exactly  right,  the  very  thing, — something  which,  if  it  had  not 

*  See  Raschl  Comment.  Job  xl.  4,  xlii.  7.  In  the  latter  place  he  puts  his  strained  interpretation  in  the  moutli  of 
Deity  Himself:  "Te  have  not  spoken  the  riglit  like  my  servant  Job,  "1C;X  Hj?  DX  O  ''D  y^Q  x"?  XIH  "'iriK' 
1J1  H/DD  Xin  y\^'\)  Dn  10X,  for  lo,  he  never  traosgressed  against  Me  except  in  that  he  said,  The  innocent  and  the 
Wicked  He  alike  consumes,"  and  "  of  the  scourge,"  etc. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  AS  A  WORK  OF  ART.  37 

been  said,  would  liavc  left  all  else  dark,  undecided,  insecure.  Such  was  the  sayiny,  ch.  xl.  4 
xlii.  1-6,  and  for  this  we  may  believe  that  Job  was  specially  commended.  It  was  also  said 
directly  to  God,  and  this  perfectly  suits  the  preposition  ^X^  xlii.  7,  without  any  necessity  of 
giving  it  a  tense  which,  to  say  the  least,  is  very  unusual,  and  only  to  be  resorted  to  when  the 
context  allows  no  other.  Tiiis  is  certainly  not  the  case  here.  In  giving  to  'j'X  the  same 
sense  which' ^-^  has  immediately  above,  in  the  words  ^rx-^N,  there  is  suggested  a  reference 
to  Job's  confession  ;  and  we  venture  to  say,  that,  had  it  been  so  rendered,  in  the  early  ver- 
sions, there  would  hardly  have  been  a  thought  of  any  other  interpretation.  Commentators, 
generally,  as  Aben  Ezra  has  done,  would  have  restricted  it  to  that  memorable  saying  unto 
God,  and  so  have  avoided  the  never-to-be-settled  disputes  as  to  the  particular  respects  in 
which  Job  had  the  better  of  the  argument  against  his  three  friends.  There  is  also  some- 
thing in  the  appointment  of  Job  as  the  sacrificing  and  interceding  priest  for  the  others 
that  is  in  beautiful  harmony  with  the  view  here  taken  of  the  difference  between  him  and 
them.  They  had  not  fallen  upon  their  faces,  and  laid  their  hands  upon  their  mouths; 
they  had  not  confessed,  and  "  repented  in  dust  and  ashes."  This  Job  had  done.  He  lium- 
bled  himself,  and  therefore  did  God  highly  exalt  him  to  be  a  priest  and  a  mediator  for 
the  others.  We  will  not  say  that  this  might  not  have  been  a  proper  distinction  conferred 
upon  him  for  his  success  in  the  argument  by  which  he  maintained  his  own  righteousness  ; 
but  the  whole  spirit  of  the  Scriptures,  old  and  new,  seems  more  in  harmony  with  the  in- 
terpretation which  regards  the  other  as  the  prominent,  if  not  the  only  view  to  be  taken  of  this 
great  decision.  It  need  only  be  further  said,  in  this  place,  that  the  LXX.  have  rendered 
i*?,  "'"^"^v  Z^"",  the  Vulgate,  coram  m'i,  in  my  presence — ^before  me.  To  the  same  purport 
the  Syriac  ""^ip.  These  are  better  than  the  modern  versions,  since  they  leave  open  the 
question  of  reference.  They  are  in  better  harmony,  too,  with  the  usual  sense  of  the  prepo- 
sition than  the  renderings  of,  or  concerning,  in  Beziehung  auf  mich,  etc.;  but  even  these 
translations  have  been  influenced  by  the  idea  of  a  debate  held  in  the  presence  of  a  judge, 
or  umpire,  who  is  to  decide  on  the  merits  of  the  argument.  It  is  a  notion  quite  plausible, 
closely  connected  with  the  dramatic  conception,  but  receiving  no  countenance  either  in  the 
abrupt  address  of  Jehovah,  or  in  anything  previously  said  by  the  several  speakers. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  AS  A  WOP.K  OF  ART. 
Errors  of  Interpretation  arising  from  so  regarding  it. 
The  tendency  to  this  idea  of  a  problem  to  be  solved,  or  of  a  debate  to  be  decided,  ap- 
pears especially  in  those  commentators  who  have  most  to  say  about  the  Book  of  Job  as  a 
work  of  art,  lauding  it  greatly  in  this  way,  as  though  to  make  up  for  w^hat  sometimes  seems 
lacking  in  a  true  appreciation  of  its  divine  merit.  It  has  given  rise  to  supposed  plans  and 
divisions  as  variant  as  they  are  artificial.  The  great  outlines  of  the  Book  are  marked  upon 
its  very  face ;  but  when  the  attempt  is  made  to  discover,  under  this  main  scheme,  a  more 
artistic  development,  the  result  is  very  unsatisfactory.  Besides  the  prologue  and  epilogue, 
which  are  evident  enough,  the  main  body  of  the  work  has  been  arranged  under  certain 
divisions,  or  stages  in  the  dramatic  action,  all  regarded  as  having  been  regularly  planned  in 
the  mind  of  the  artist.  These  are  described  by  technical  names  invented  for  the  purpose. 
There  is  the  fJfff'c  and  the  yvmc, — the  envelopment  and  tbe  development,  the  tying  up  and 
the  loosing.  The  subdivisions  are  arranged  most  artificially,  though  we  can  hardly  call 
them  artistic,  the  great  excellence  of  which  is  the  absence  or  concealment  of  all  studied 
artificial ness.  For  example,  some  give  as  1st.  The  Ankniipfung,  or  Introductory  Statement, 
of  which  nothing  need  be  said ;  2d.  The  Movement  of  the  Debate,  or  the  Commencing 
Development,  iv.  xiv. ;  3d.  The  Second  Movement,  or  the  Advancing  Development,  xv.,  xxi. ; 
4th.  The  Third  Movement  of  the  Debate,  or  the  Most  Advanced  Development,  xxii.,  xxvi. ; 
5th.  The  Transition  from  the  Development  (or  rather  the  maximum  Envelopment),  to  the 
Solution,  or  from  the  f^ecr^f  to  the  commencing  "^vatq.  Job's  Vindication,  xxvii.,  xxxi. ;  6th. 
The  Consummation,  or  the  Durchbruch,  the  breaking  through,  the  transition  from  the  6iai.g 


38  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

to  the  ^'t'dtr^  the  Speech  of  Elihu,  xxxii.,  xxxvii. ;  7th.  The  Solution  in  the  Consciousness, 
xxxviii.  42 ;  8th.  The  Solution  in  outward  Actuality,  Job's  Restoration  to  Prosperity,  xlii. 
7-17.  Tliis  i.-i  Zockler's.  In  the  scheme  of  Delitzsch  we  have  1st.  The  Introduction ;  2d. 
The  Opening;  3d.  The  Entanglement;  4th.  The  Transition  to  the  Unravclmont ;  5th.  The 
Unravclment  Divided  into  6th,  Tlie  Unravelment  in  the  Consciousness ;  7th.  The^Unravel- 
ment  in  outwai'd  Reality,  There  is  no  need  of  giving  the  Divisions  of  Umbreit;  Ewald,  etc. 
They  are  all  marked  by  the  same  artificialness.  They  may  be  an  assistance  to  the  memory  ; 
but  the  reader  feels  that  he  is  getting  little  or  no  help  from  them  in  regard  to  the  governing 
idea  of  the  Book,  or  the  meaning  of  particular  passages.  The  very  fact  of  the  differences 
existing  between  them  detracts  from  their  reliability.  Thus  regarded,  they  may  be  in  the 
way  of  a  true  appreciation  of  the  Book,  whatever  aid  they  may  seem  to  give  in  its  critical 
study ;  for  almost  any  division  furnishes  some  facility  in  that  respect.  If,  however,  the  old 
author  really  had  no  sucli  scheme  mapped  out  in  his  own  mind, — if,  under  the  influence  of 
some  divine  enthusiasm,  he  was  simply  gi%'ing  vent,  irregularly  it  may  be,  to  thoughts  of 
which  his  soul  was  full, — or  was  truthfully  relating  a  story  which  he  had  heard,  and 
which  was  firmly  believed  in  his  day, — then  all  reasonings  from  such  artistic  divisions  would 
be  "  a  darkening  counsel  by  words  without  knowledge,"  leading  farther  and  farther  from 
the  actual  fact,  and  from  the  divine  thought.  It  all  proceeds  upon  the  fixed  idea  that 
the  object  of  the  Book  is  solely  a  debate,  dramatically  presented  and  dramatically  concluded. 
There  is  a  problem  to  be  solved,  a  ^sai^,  or  an  entanglement  first  to  be  made,  as  intricate  as 
possible,  and  then  to  be  untied.  For  this  purpose,  God  dramatically  appears  at  the  end, 
like  a  Dens  ex  machina,  and  closes  the  debate  by  deciding  in  favor  of  one  of  the  parties, 
and  against  the  others. 

The  Reality  of  the  Tlieophany — Compared  with  other  Theophanies  in  the  Bible, 
It  is  a  clear  answer  to  the  above  dramatic  view,  that  the  divine  speech  itself  decides 
nothing,  though  Job  may  be  regarded  as  afterwards  commended  for  the  humbling  and 
penitence- producing  effect  it  had  upon  him.  We  may  say  this  without  irreverence.  That 
most  sublime  address  hardly  takes  notice  of  any  of  the  points  about  which  they  had  been 
wrangling,  whether  regarded  as  matters  of  fact,  or  of  abstract  truth.  It  had  a  higher  pur- 
pose, a  grander  lesson  to  teach,  — that  lesson  of  unconditional  submission,  without  the  learn- 
ing of  which  all  solutions  of  problems,  whether  higher  or  lower,  would  be  of  no  avail.  God 
"makes  His  glory  to  pass  before  them,"  as  He  did  before  Moses  when  hidden  in  the 
cleft  of  tlie  rock,  or  before  Elijah,  in  Horeb,  when  "he  wrapped  ^lis  face  in  his  mantle  at  the 
presence  of  the  Lord."  So  Job  fell  on  his  face  before  God,  whilst  the  otliers  stood  speech- 
less in  bewildered  astonishment.  To  him  the  vision  presented  itself  in  its  most  interior 
aspect.  He  saw  something  in  it  beyond  the  eye  of  sense,  —  he  heard  something,  as  he 
himself  seems  to  affirm,  beyond  "  the  hearing  of  the  ear."  They  stood  Eweoi^  like  Paul's 
companions  on  the  journey  to  Damascus,  aKo'mvTe^  filv  Seupovv-eg  <J'  oh,  hearing  the  outv/ard 
sounds,  distinguishing  the  words,  it  may  be,  in  their  lexical  and  logical  sense,  but  having 
no  spiritual  perception.  Perhaps  they,  too,  had  they  fallen  on  their  faces,  might  have  had 
their  inward  eye  opened,  as  Job's  was,  and  with  the  same  spiritual  effect.  But  lie  alone 
"made  confession  unto  righteousness  ;"  therefore,  he  was  justified  and  they  were  condemned. 
We  are  not  attaching  too  much  importance  to  this  divine  appearance  in  making  it  the  cen- 
tral idea  as  well  as  the  central  fact,  of  the  Book.  Why  should  it  be  turned  into  a  poe- 
tical drama,  any  more  than  other  similar  manifestations  recorded  in  the  Scriptures? 
There  is  no  other  part  of  the  Bible  in  which  the  tlieophany  so  belongs  to  the  very  essence 
of  the  revelation.  It  is  here  the  very  lesson  taught.  It  is  something  given  for  its  own 
sake,  and  not  merely  as  a  scenic  means  to  something  else.  It  is  that  to  which  all  the 
parts  of  the  wondrous  narrative  are  preparatory,  and  in  which  all  its  words,  and  all  its 
ideas,  all  its  arguments,  true  or  false,  have  their  culminating  significance.  Though  formally 
solving  no  problems,  it  is  not  a  more  barren  display.  What  more  instructive  than  such  an 
announcement  of  a  personal  divine  presence  challenging  to  itself  the  homage  of  all  ra- 
tional beings?    And  such  is  the  very  idea  of  revelation.     It_is  not  primarily  to  teach  us 


SrEECH  OF  ELIIIU.  39 


doctrines,  or  to  give  us  moral  precepts,  or  to  solve  questions  of  ethical  or  even  theological 
casuistry,  but  to  bring  nigh  to  us  the  divine  power,  and  right,  and  vivid  personality.  All 
revelation,  in  short,  is  the  revelation  of  the  glory  of  God.  To  those  who  say  that  this 
seems  a  harsh  and  arbitrary  teaching,  the  answer  is,  that  it  is  most  intimately  connected 
with  the  loftiest  human  well-being.  For  men  to  see  it  is,  in  fact,  their  most  satisfying 
knowledge,  to  confess  and  feel  it  is  their  highest  blessedness. 


SPEECH  OF  ELIHU. 

The  chasm  ifs  rejection  would  leave  between  the  last  words  of  Job,  chap,  xxix.-xxxi.,  and  the 

Divine  Appearance. 

Had  the  Book  of  Job  ended  with  the  si^eech  of  Elihu,  the  reader  would  have  had  good 
grounds  for  regarding  this  portion  as  containing  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  which  so  much 
has  been  said.  Suffering,  as  intended  for  purification  and  discipline,  and  therefore  consistent 
with  the  goodness  of  God,  and  a  general  righteousness  in  the  sufferer  ;  this  is  the  main  idea 
it  enforces,  and  in  a  way  to  bring  out  some  of  the  best  practical  ethics  to  be  found  in  this  or 
any  other  book.  No  part  of  Job  is,  in  this  respect,  better  adapted  to  the  moralist  or  the 
preacher.  Chapter  xxxiii.,  especially,  is  a  mine  of  precious  instruction,  clear  and  practical, 
full  of  consolations  to  good  men  amid  all  the  trials  of  life,  and  of  strength  for  the  ijcrform- 
ance  of  its  duties.*  He  comes  the  nearest,  too,  to  the  speech  of  Jehovah,  so  far  as  any  ap- 
proach can  be  made  to  it,  in  the  descriptions  of  the  divine  power  as  exhibited  in  the  greater 
natural  phenomena.  This  seems  to  be  done,  too,  for  a  similar  purpose ;  to  show  that  God  is 
hindered  by  no  physical  fatality ;  every  thing  that  takes  place  is  by  the  divine  decree,  or 
the  divine  permission.  "He  hath  done  it,"  and  therefore  (not  as  a  reason  in  itself,  but  as 
demanding  the. assent  of  the  finite  intelligence)  is  it  holy,  just  and  good.  "Why  dost  thou 
strive  with  Him  (HH''"',  litigate,  reason,  argue) ;  for  He  giveth  no  account  (i^Vl  ^'  He  maketh 
no  answer)  in  respect  to  His  matters  "  (xxxiii.  13).  We  have  already  dwelt  on  a  few  of  the 
arguments  for  the  genuineness  of  this  portion  of  the  Book,  and  especially  on  the  difficulty 
that  would  be  occasioned  by  having  nothing  between  the  noble  vindication  of  Job  xxix.- 
xxxi.  and  the  sudden  mention  of  the\  whirlwind  out  of  which  Jehovah  speaks.  But  there 
are  also  internal  evidences  in  its  favor.  As  before  said,  it  is  remarkably  characteristic,  and, 
in  fact,  the  very  traits  that  are  urged  against  it  should  commend  themselves  to  those  who 
claim  so  much  critical  insight.  It  is  true  that  Elihu  hesitates  and  repeats,  but  for  this  there 
is  a  fair  and  natural  explanation.  He  gives  us  the  impression  of  one  personally  diffident  in 
the  presence  of  the  older  and  the  wiser,  so  esteemed,  yet  conscious  of  having  important  and 
timely  truth,  the  utterance  of  which  he  cannot  suppress  (xxxii.  18-20).     He  asks  pardon  of- 

*  The  substance  of  the  argument  for  and  against  the  much  controverted  genuinoDoss  of  the  Elihu  passage,  is  briefly 
yet  clearly  given  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Davidson,  in  his  excellent  Commentary  on  Job,  the  first  volume  of  which  was  published 
in  1862.  After  presenting  the  main  objections  in  the  text,  with  very  satisfactory  answers  of  his  own,  as  well  as  from 
Stickel  and  others,  he  gives,  in  a  note  to  page  xli.,  some  others  which  he  justly  styles  "  examples,  less  of  reason  than  of 
critical  petulance"  :  "  As  the  following,  (1)  That  Elihu  does  not  appear  in  the  Prologue.  But  Job's  three  friends  are  not 
named  as  coming  to  debate  with  him;  their  object  was  condolence.  (2)  Elihu  is  not  named  in  the  Epihigne.  But  there 
was  really  nothing  to  say  of  him  ;  so  far  as  he  agreed  with  Job  he  is  commended  in  his  commendation  ;  so  far  as  he  agreed 
with  the  words  of  God,  he  has  his  reward  in  hearing  his  own  sentiments  repeated  by  the  divine  lips.  The  reference  made 
even  to  the  friends  of  Job,  in  the  Epilogue,  is  but  casual ;  for  the  drama  concerns  Job  only,  and  takes  end  with  him  ; 
and  even  Satan,  who  should  have  come  before  the  curtain  humbled  and  prostrate,  to  receive  the  jeers  of  an  assembled 
world,  nowhere  appears.  (3)  Job  makes  no  answer  to  Elihu.  And  for  the  best  of  reasons  :  His  heart  is  stricken  by 
Elihu's  words.  (4)  Elihu  addresses  Job  by  name,  as  the  original  disputants  do  not.  But  Elihu  comes  in  as  an  arbiter, 
and  must  use  names  to  distinguish  between  both  parties  whom  he  addresses ;  and  Qod  Himself  adopts  the  same  mode  of 
addressing  Job  in  opposition  to  the  friends."  The  objection  arising  from  Elihu's  alleged  Aramaisms,  is  well  answered  by 
Stickel  (cited  by  Davidson),  in  saying:  "  that  Elihu  is  himself  an  Aramean  (ch.  xxxii.  2,  of  the  fiinily  of  Ram,  that  is, 
Aram),  and  naturally  spoke  in  that  dialect."  But  these  Aramaisms  are  greatly  over.stated.  There  is  evidence  in  several 
places  of  I  ther  persons  being  present  during  parts,  at  least,  of  this  long  discussion — some  to  pity,  some  to  mock  Job,  and 
some  as  silent  spectators. 

t  T^'^i^Dri-    The  article  (</ie   storm)  is  very  natural,  if  we  take  it  in  connection  with  those  strong  premonitory  symp- 
T  T  :   — 

toms  of  an  approaching  tempest  that  marked  the  close  of  Elihu's  speech.     In  the  other  supposed  connection  it  is  ftir  from 

being  easy,  though  possibly  allowable. 


40  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OP  JOB. 

ten,  as  Eliphaz  had  done  in  the  beginning,  but  with  a  good  grace,  manifesting  reverence  for 
age,  and  respect  for  suffering,  but  still  more  respect  for  what  he  deems  true  and  right.  The 
"  higher  criticism,"  as  Davidson  says,  "  cannot  maintain  its  gravity  over  these  peculiarities, 
and  discharges  at  them  a  great  amount  of  bad  language."  "  His  speeches,"  it  says,  "  are 
filled  with  gemachtes  Pathos,  and  erfolglos  Forclrtes,"  with  other  charges  of  a  similar  kind. 
Now,  nothing  is  less  reliable,  or  more  uncertain,  than  this  kind  of  jaunty  remark  in  respect 
to  an  ancient  composition.  It  is  a  pretentiousness  worse  than  any  that  can  be  imputed  to 
Elihu,  which  would  pretend  to  judge  thus  of  words,  and  style,  and  the  genuineness  of  certain 
kinds  of  phraseology,  in  a  literature  aflFording  such  scanty  means  of  comparison.  Besides, 
it  is  very  easy  to  imagine  some  critical  theory  of  the  Rationalists  in  which  these  very  pecu- 
liarities, or  similar  ones,  would  probably  be  cited  as  all-important.  Striking  Arabian  circum- 
locutions, they  might  be  called,  such  as  marked  the  old  seances,  and  were  regarded  as  a 
literary  excellence,  or  marked  Kohelethisms,  or  any  thing  else  that  might  be  thought  to  have 
a  critical  interest,  or  a  bearing  upon  the  question  of  some  supposed  place  or  time  of  author- 
ship. 

If  Elihu  is  the  last  speaker,  then  the  words,  "  who  is  this  that  darkens  counsel,"  «fcc.,  might 
be  regarded  as  spoken  of  him  incidentally,  or  as  first  disposing  of  "what  had  just  preceded, 
although  the  address,  generally,  is  to  Job.  There  might  be  assigned  reasons  for  this,  con- 
sistent with  the  favorable  view  we  have  taken  of  him.  The  confusion  of  speech,  before  al- 
luded to  as  occasioned  by  the  appalling  approach  of  the  storm,  and  which,  he  himself  con- 
fesses, would  furnish  a  ground  for  it.  These  opening  words  resemble  very  much  his  own 
language,  as  though  echoed  back  to  him  from  the  thunder-cloud  :  "  Is  it  told  Him  that  I  am 
speaking?  ("^^ix  tense  of  description)  we  cannot  order  our  speech  in  the  presence  of  CJ^??),  or 
by  reason  of  the  darkness."  Or,  again,  it  might  be  called  a  "darkening  of  counsel,"  not  in 
respect  to  its  abstract  truth,  but  when  presented  as  a  solution  of  the  great  problem,  to  the 
exclusion  of  other  grounds  in  the  proceedings  of  Him  who,  according  to  Elihu  himself, 
"  giveth  no  account  of  His  ways." 

THE   BOOK   NOT   A  SOLUTION   OF   THE   PROBLEM   OF   EVIL. 

One  might  be  led  to  think,  at  first  view,  that  the  great  matter  worthy  of  such  a  sublime 
Book  as  this,  would  be  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  evil — how  sin  came  into  the  world, 
and  man  is  held  accountable.  It  is  the  question  of  the  ages,  to  the  settling  of  which  not  even 
the  Critical  Philosophy  makes  an  approach.  There  is,  however,  no  allusion  to  it  in  the  di- 
vine allocution,  except  as  comprehended  in  that  awful  declaration  of  power  and  sovereignty, 
seeming  to  say,  as  the  voice  said  to  Moses  :  "  I  will  be  gracious  to  whom  I  will  be  gracious — ■ 
forgiving  iniquity,  transgression  and  sin — visiting  iniquities  unto  the  third  and  fourth  gene- 
ration, and  showing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  me  and  keep  my  command- 
ments." Beyond  this,  no  solution  is  offered,  and  Merx  is  right  in  saying,  however  irreverent 
it  may  seem,  that  if  any  clearing  up  of  this  dark  problem  had  been  the  design  of  the  Book, 
it  must  certainly  be  regarded  as  a  failure; — that  question  stands  just  as  it  did  before. 

TTie  Divine  Address,  and  the  modern  Natural  Theology.  No  argument  from  Design. 
It  has  been  said  that  this  speech  of  Jehovah  contains  an  implied  argument  similar  in  sub- 
stance to  the  one  offered  by  our  modern  Natural  Theology.  So  IMerx,  Das  Gedicht  von  JSiob, 
pa.  XXX. :  "  It  is  to  exhibit  the  theology  of  nature,  and  that  the  rational  aims  visible  therein 
furnish  proof  that  God  has  like  rational  aims  in  all  His  government,  moral  as  well  as  physi- 
cal." With  this  he  connects  what  Job  says  about  Wisdom,*  ch.  xxviii.,  etc.,  as  a  preparatory 
or  transition  step  in  the  Losung  or  Solution  of  the  Problem.  The  argument  may  be  thus 
stated :  The  divine  speech  is  an  exhibition  of  God's  wisdom  in  nature ;  therefore  must  we  re- 

*  It  is  in  respect  to  this  that  Job  is  assigned,  by  many  commentators,  to  wliat  they  call  the  Chokma  portion  of  the 
Bible,  making  it  coeval  with  the  Proverbs,  or  the  time  of  Solomon,  a  little  earlier  or  a  little  later.  Delitzsch  supposes  the 
Wisdom  of  the  Proverbs  to  be  an  advance  development,  and  therefore  later.  Merx,  on  the  other  hand,  regards  the  author 
of  Job  .as  "  polemizing  "  against  the  Proverbs  writer.  ISut  why  not  the  other  way,  if  there  is  a  difference,  the  author  of 
Prov.  viii.  "  polemizing  "  against  the  older  author  of  Job? 


THE  TRUTHFULNESS  OF  THE  NARRATIVE.  41 


gard  it  as  intended  to  show  that  He  must  be  equally  wise  in  His  spiritual  government.  But 
that  would  not  be  a  solution.  It  would  be  simply  an  assertion,  on  a  grander  scale,  of  what 
is  assumed  by  all  the  speakers  throughout  the  Book,  all  of  whom  seem  to  vie  with  each  other 
in  lauding  the  divine  wisdom.  Job  especially  dwells  upon  its  greatness  and  unsearchable- 
ness  (xxviii.  20,  &c.),  leaving  to  man,  as  his  peculiar  and  highest  wisdom,  the  duty  of  re- 
verencing it  (ver.  28),  acknowledging  it,  and  "  departing  from  evil."  Architectural  excel- 
lence is,  indeed,  a  pervading  idea  of  this  divine  address  ;  but  that  power,  almighty  power,  is 
the  predouxjnant  one,  is  shown  not  only  in  the  general  style  of  its  thunder  tones,  but  also  in 
its  effect  on  Job,  whose  first  words  in  reply  are :  "  I  know  that  Thou  canst  do  all  things,"  as 
before  cited :  Now  I  know  it,  whatever  misgiving  thought  of  some  fatality  I  may  have  be- 
trayed in  former  words  now  wholly  renounced.  It  does  not  tell  us  in  general  that  God  acts 
solely  from  moral  reasons;  there  is  something  in  the  language  that  gives  the  idea  of  artistic 
purposes  regarded  as  having  a  value  in  themselves,  aside  from  any  moral  or  utilitarian  con- 
siderations. He  may  make  worlds,  and  lesser  works,  such  as  some  of  the  great  animals,  for  the 
glory  and  beauty  of  them,  irrespective  of  any  benefit*  to  man,  or  to  other  rational  beings. 

77ie  Divine  Ways  Transcending  and  Ineffable.  Eph.  iii.  10 ;  John  ix.  3. 
There  may  be  aesthetic  reasons.  And  then,  again,  there  may  be  others  altogether  ineffa- 
ble, whose  explanations  man  could  not  receive  if  God,  or  super-human  beings,  should  offer 
them.  What  right  have  we  to  apply  the  measure  of  our  Ethics,  or  our  Psychology,  or  our 
Ontology,  to  Him  "whose  ways  are  above  our  ways,  and  whose  thinking  is  above  our  thinking, 
even  as  the  heavens  are  high  above  the  earth,"  that  is,  immeasurably  and  inconceivably  be- 
yond us?  Sober  Scripture  sanctions  such  a  representation.  As  before  intimated,  the  designs 
of  God,  in  His  dealings  with  men,  may  be  connected  with  eflfects  to  be  produced  in  higher 
spheres  (Eph.  iii.  10,  before  cited) ;  and  so  what  He  does,  or  permits  to  be  done,  to  individuals 
may  have  relations,  wise  and  just,  extending  far  beyond  them,  whether  in  the  present  world 
or  in  any  other.  We  are  safe  here  in  simply  receiving  the  teaching  of  our  Saviour  (John  ix. 
2)  when  "  the  disciples  asked  him :  Eabbi,  who  sinned,  this  man  himself,  or  his  parents,  that 
he  was  born  blind?"  It  was  for  the  sin  of  neither,  is  the  answer,  "but  that  the  works  of  God 
might  be  made  manifest  in  him."  Here  is  no  throwing  it  upon  nature,  as  the  Rationalist 
would  have  done,  but  a  positive  assertion  of  a  Divine  purpose,  and  yet  that  that  purpose  had 
respect  to  something  altogether  separate  from  any  punishment,  discipline,  or  general  well- 
being  of  the  individual  sufferer.  "  Who  art  thou  that  repliest  against  God?  Shall  the  thing 
formed  say  unto  him  who  formed  it,  Why  hast  thou  made  me  thus?"  Such  is  the  idea  that 
is  brought  to  us  by  this  voice  from  the  thunder-cloud.  It  is  that  of  a  personal  omnipotence 
unchallengeable,  doing  all  things  wisely,  all  things  well,  yet  giving  no  account  (nj;?""  vh,  an- 
swering not)  to  any  who  demand  the  reason  of  its  ways.  It  is  the  first  great  ti'uth  for  man  to 
learn — the  predominant  truth  to  take  rank  before  all  others — the  fundamental  truth,  not  for 
the  infancy  of  the  world  merely,  but  most  especially  needed  in  this  age  of  naturalism,  of 
scientific  boasting,  of  godless  spkitualism. 

THE  TRUTHFULNESS  OF  THE  NARRATIVE. 

Is  Job  a  truthful  narrative,  a  legend  with  a  dim  nucleus  of  fact,  or  a  pure  fiction  ?  In 
answer  to  the  first  of  these  questions,  some  would  deem  it  sufficient  to  say,  that  the  book  is  a 
poem  on  its  very  face.  But  this  does  not  settle  the  matter.  It  may  be  so  called  unquestion- 
ably; and  yet  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether,  at  the  date  of  its  authorship,  even  assigning 
it  to  the  Solomonic  period,  there  was  that  clear  line  of  distinction  between  prose  and  poetry 
that  afterwards  existed.  All  high  and  animating  thought  has  a  tendency  to  measured  lan- 
guage, to  some  kind  of  formal  emphasis  or  repetition  called  parallelism,  and  which,  in  the 
Shemitic  tongues,  at  least,  is  the  beginning  of  rhji;lunical  movement.  It  seems  to  be  a  demand 
of  strong  emotion,  or  of  some  strong  interest  in  the  thought  expressed,  whether  devotional, 

*  The  modern  Natural  Theology  has  very  little  like  it  in  the  Bible.  It  may  be  said,  too,  in  general,  to  be  out  of  the 
line  of  the  ancient  thinking,  Pythagorean  and  Platonic,  as  well  as  Shemitic.  Ideas,  divine  thoughts,  as  having  in  them- 
selves an  artistic  or  intellectual  excellence,  in  a  word,  the  glory  of  God,  take  precedence  of  mere  utilitarian  final  causea. 


42  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

proplietic,  or  sententious.  There  is  reason,  too,  for  tliiuking  that  the  more  animated  colloquial 
style  among  the  Hebrews  and  other  Shemitic  peoples  had  much  of  this  parallelism  or  germi- 
nal poetiy ;  as  in  the  language  of  Abigail  to  David,  1  Sam.  xxv.  28,  29,  or  in  the  pleadings 
of  the  widow  of  Tekoah,  2  Sam.  xiv.  13,  15,  and  other  places  that  might  be  cited,  where  just 
in  proportion  as  the  thought  or  feeling  rises  in  earnestness,  do  the  words  also  seem  to  rise  into 
a  species  of  parallelism,  and  take  on  more  and  more  of  a  rhytlimical  aspect.  Thus  viewed,  the 
style  of  the  speeches  in  Job  may  be  held  to  be  the  natural  one  for  the  expression  of  such 
thoughts,  requiring  neither  study  nor  artifice.  That  was  the  way  men  talked  when  deeply 
earnest,  or  under  the  influence  of  strong  emotion,  or  when  the  gravity  of  the  ideas  discussed 
seemed  to  demand  something  corresponding  to  it  in  the  style  of  utterance,  some  measured 
cadence,  be  it  of  the  simplest  kind,  that  might  mark  them  as  grave  and  emphatic.  The  exact 
prose  style,  on  the  other  hand,  may  have  been,  in  fact,  the  more  artificial,  as  carefully  avoid- 
ing this  kind  of  sententious,  emotioual  utterance,  so  ill  adapted  to  statistical  narrative,  though 
suiting  well  the  thoughtful  soliloquy,  or  some  forms  of  animated  colloquialism.  There  is, 
therefore,  really  nothing  unnatural,  nothing  artificial — rather  the  reverse — in  the  fact  that 
these  speeches  in  Job  have  this  easy  rhythmical  cadence,  which  the  reader,  if  he  have  taste 
and  feeling,  must  acknowledge  to  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  gravity  of  the  subjects  dis- 
cussed. Far  removed  as  we  are  from  this  Oriental  style,  we  should  have  been  a  little  sur- 
prised, nevertheless,  had  the  lamentations  of  Job,  and  the  responses  of  his  friends,  been  car- 
ried on  in  the  same  kind  of  talk  we  have  in  the  prologue  and  other  narrative  Scripture.* 

*  Instead  of  a  sense  of  artificialness,  it  is  truly  with  something  like  a  feeling  of  ease  and  freedom  that  we  emerge  from 
the  curt,  statistical  dialect  Into  these  more  spontaneous  utterances,  in  whatever  parts  of  the  Bible  they  may  occur.  As  when 
Moses,  as  though  weary  of  his  lawgiving,  breaks  out  into  song : 

Give  ear,  0  ye  heavens,  and  I  will  speak  ; 
And  hear,  0  Eirth,  the  words  of  my  mouth. 

Equally  unconscious  of  anything  artificial  was  Isaiah  when  he  opens  his  prophecy  with  similar  language,  or  predicts 

that  men 

Shall  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares, 

Their  spears  into  pruning-hooks ; 
Or  the  sententious  Solomon  thus  falling  into  measure  in  the  utterance  of  his  prudential  wisdom  : 

My  son,  hear  the  instructions  of  thy  father, 
And  forsake  not  the  law  of  thy  mother. 

It  is  found  everywhere  in  Scripture,  and  in  the  mouths  of  all  classes,  whatever  may  be  their  variety  of  character : 

Lord,  when  Thou  wontest  out  of  Zion, 

When  thou  marched'st  out  of  the  field  of  Edom. 

— Deborah. 

Where  thou  goest,  I  will  go  ; 

Where  thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge  ; 

Thy  people  shall  be  my  people, 

Thy  God  my  God. 

—Ruth. 

The  Boul  of  my  lord  is  bound  in  the  bundle  of  life ; 
The  souls  of  thine  enemies  cast  forth  from  the  sling. 

—Abigail. 
For  we  must  needs  die,  and  are  as  water  spilt. 
But  God  doth  gather  again  his  banished  ones. 

—Widow  of  Tbkoah.    / 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  spake  by  me ; 
His  word  was  in  my  tongue. 

— Last  Words  of  David. 

The  Lord  maketh  poor  and  maketh  rich ; 
He  bringeth  low  and  lifteth  high. 

— Hannah. 

So  in  Luke,  Eliza'ieth,  and  Mary,  and  Simeon,  break  out  spontaneously  in  this  same  rapt  measured  langnaore;  and  in 
like  manner  does  John  in  the  Revelation  rise  into  poetry,  if  we  choose  to  give  it  that  name.  It  is,  however,  nothing 
essentially  different  from  what  we  have  in  the  Psalms  and  Job,  and  even  in  Eoclesiastes.  Those  who  made  such  utterances 
did  not  think  they  were  speaking  or  writing  pottry  as  a  studied  or  artificial  language..  The  state  of  soul,  as  caused  by  the 
moving  circumstances,  made  it  spontaneous;  usage  made  it  easy;  It  was  a  natural  speaking— not  an  improvising  as  some 
might  be  inclined  to  call  it;  for  that  implies  something  like  Icnaclc or  slcill,  however  acquired,  and  has,  besides,  but  little 
of  value  or  significance  beyond  the  mere  surprise  it  occasions.  It  need  only  be  said,  that  we  have  something  of  an  echo 
of  this  old  style  in  the  Koranic  rhymes  and  cadences,  though  there  the  artifice  is  clearly  visible. 


THE  TRUTHFULNESS  OF  THE  NARRATIVE.  43 

The  Book  of  Job  a  Drama,  and  yet  subjectively  true. 
The  two  ideas  are  perfectly  consistent.  It  may  have  the  dramatic  form,  the  dramatic 
interest,  the  dramatic  emotion,  the  dramatic  teaching,  and  yet  be  substantially  a  truthful  nar- 
rative. Making  allowance  for  what  are  merely  matters  of  language,  such  as  the  use  of  round 
and  double  numbers  to  express  things  that  are  beyond  statistical  estimate,  we  may  believe 
in  the  general  outward  verity,  whilst  regarding  this  mode  of  stating  the  vastness  of  Job's 
possessions,  and  the  suddenness  of  his  calamities,  as  itself  evidence  of  a  subjective  truthful- 
ness. It  testifies  to  the  deep  impression  left  by  the  story  as  explicable  only  on  some  basis  of 
actuality  consistent  with  emotional  hyperbole,  but  repelling  the  thought  of  artistic  skill  or 
frigid  invention.  It  is  this  subjective  truthfulness  which  is  all  that  is  required  for  a  true 
faith  in  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  It  includes  every  thing  else  of  value,  and, 
once  firmly  held  throughout,  brings  with  it  the  idea  of  the  outward  supernatural  as  not 
easily  separable  from  such  a  book,  and  such  a  history,  lying,  as  it  does,  in  the  midst  of 
such  cotemporary  human  surroundings.  We  are  compelled  to  take  with  it  a  corresponding 
measure  of  objective  truth,  regarded  as  separate  from  the  necessarily  emotional  language, 
or  as  far  as  may  be  demanded  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  impression.  In  this  way,  what 
we  have  called  subjective  truthfulness  may  be  very  easily  defined.  It  is  the  perfect  honestj'-  of 
the  writer  or  writers  whom  God  has  chosen  as  the  recorders  of  the  great  objective  events 
which  constitute  the  revelation  He  has  made  to  the  world.  We  are  only  to  suppose  that 
they  heartily  believed  the  truth  of  what  they  wrote,  according  to  its  evident  intent  as 
historical,  dramatic,  or  allegorical,  to  be  judged  of  according  to  the  clear  marks  left  upon  its 
style.  When  we  thus  believe  in  the  perfect  honesty  of  the  writers,  we  shall  find  ourselves, 
if  truthful  and  candid,  compelled  to  believe  in  a  great  deal  more.  Applying  this  to  the 
Book  of  Job,  we  can  thus  hold  that  the  writer,  whoever  he  may  have  been,  and  in  whatever 
age  he  may  have  lived,  truly  believed  the  substantial  historical  verity  of  what  his  pen  has 
transmitted  to  us.  This  subjective  truthfulness  is  unaffected  by  the  steps  or  media  through 
which  such  a  belief  may  have  come  to  him.  It  may  have  been  in  one  of  three  ways  :  the 
writer  may  have  been  an  eye-witness ;  or  he  may  have  received  it  from  near  cotemporary  tes- 
timony, in  which  he  fully  trusts  ;  or  it  may  have  reached  him  through  a  tradition,  of  whose 
substantial  truthfulness  he  has  no  doubt.  There  has  thus  come  to  him  the  substance  of  the 
story :  a  rich  and  prosperous  man  suddenly  reduced  to  the  extreme  of  poverty,  bereavement, 
and  pain  ;  his  sore  trial,  the  treatment  of  his  friends,  the  prolonged  discussions  between  them, 
the  alleged  divine  interposition,  and  the  sufferer's  restoration  to  a  state  of  still  greater  pros- 
perity. Along  with  this  is  the  idea  of  a  super-earthly  nexus  of  events,  originating  the  pro- 
vidential means  by  which  the  trial  is  brought  about,  and  furnishing  a  reason  for  the  strange 
suffering.  This  revelation  of  events  belonging  to  the  superhuman  sphere,  and  the  modes  by 
which  they  may  be  supposed  to  become  known  to  the  human  mind,  whether  as  pictorial  ac- 
commodations, or  in  any  other  way,  present  a  question  standing  by  itself.  The  ground  of 
faith  in  them,  is  the  same  as  that  of  other  Scriptural  narratives  which  carry  us  above  the 
plane  of  human  knowledge.  It  is  enough  for  one  who  believes  in  the  Bible  as  truly  a  divine 
book,  that  they  are  spiritually  and  dramatically  consistent  with  the  earthly  events  of  the 
story  and  the  spiritual  design  to  which  they  furnish  the  key.  On  the  round  numbers  we 
have  already  remarked.  They  should  disturb  no  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  style  of  the 
Bible.  They  are  simply  methods  of  expressing  vastness  without  regard  to  statistical  accu- 
racy. It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  the  use  of  units,  tens,  and  hundreds,  in  such  narra- 
tives, would  have  furnished  good  ground  of  suspicion,  or  actually  detracted  from  our  perfect 
trust  in  this  subjective  truthfulness  of  the  writer  which  we  rationally  regard  as  beyond  every 
other  excellence.  The  same  may  be  said  in  respect  to  the  rapid  connection  of  the  events.  It 
is  a  picture  giving  us  the  most  vivid  impression  of  suddenness,  or  one  trouble  coming  whilst 
another  is  fresh  in  its  effect  and  remembrance,  breaking  the  victim,  as  Job  says,  "  with  breach 
upon  breach."  Human  experience  confirms  this  as  something  not  infrequent  in  the  great 
trials  of  life,  to  whatever  causation  they  may  be  referred.  Such  a  story  leads  to  hyperboles. 
They  may  almost  be  said  to  be  its  natural  and  therefore  most  truthful  languoge.     Their  ab- 


44  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

sence  would  betray  an  unemotional  state  out  of  harmony  with  the  deep  interest  of  the  events 
believed.*  They  would  characterize  the  style  even  of  an  animated  eye-witness.  Still  more 
mifht  they  be  expected  in  one  who  gives  such  an  account  its  second  transmission  ;  and  thus 
this  language  of  emotion  would  become  its  fitting,  or,  as  we  might  even  call  it,  its  truthful 
vehicle,  getting  a  traditional  form  which  is  the  strongest  evidence  of  a  once  vivid  actuality, 
easy  to  be  distinguished  from  the  wild  myth,  or  the  more  fanciful  legend.  The  same  view 
may  be  taken  of  Job's  restoration.  In  itself,  it  is  not  an  improbable  event.  The  round 
numbers  here  are  doubled,  but  this,  too,  is  matter  of  language.  It  is  a  mode  of  expressing 
•  the  fact  that  the  restored  prosperity  greatly  exceeded  that  of  the  former  state ;  as  in  sober 
descriptive  Greek  we  may  have  6t7TAdaLog  used  as  only  another  term  for  irolvTrldcLnq^  or  the 
multifold.f  In  judging  of  this  truthfulness,  it  is  enough  if  we  can  be  satisfied  of  the  absence 
of  all  invention,  or  of  any  thing  that  looks  like  literary  artifice.  There  is  abundant  internal 
evidence,  that  the  scenes  and  events  recorded  were  real  scenes  and  real  events  to  the  writer, 
whoever  he  may  have  been.  He  believed  the  stoiy;  he  gives  the  discussions  either  as  he 
heard  them,  or  as  they  had  been  repeated,  over  and  over,  in  many  an  ancient  consessus.  The 
very  modes  of  transmission  show  the  deep  impression  it  had  made,  in  all  the  East,  as  a  most 
veritable  as  well  as  most  marvellous  event.  It  may  be  this,  and  yet  as  truly  a  drama,  with 
its  heroic  action,  whether  outward  or  spiritual,  and  having  as  much  right  to  the  uamej  as 
any  others,  so-called,  which  are  inventions,  either  in  whole  or  in  part. 

*  It  is,  in  fact,  this  very  kind  of  language,  indicating,  as  it  does,  the  absence  of  invention,  which  shows  the  state  of 
the  writer's  mind  in  relation  to  it,  and  his  firm  belief  in  the  substantial  trulh  of  the  story,  whether  derived  from  near 
witnesses,  or  from  remoter  tradition.  As  we  have  elsewhere  remarked  (Note  to  Lange  Gen.,  p.  319),  "  there  is  something 
in  this  subjective  truthfulness  as  denoted  by  wide  and  rounded  statements,  which  is  far  more  precious  to  a  right  faith, 
than  any  attempt  at  objective  or  s'-ientific  accuracy."  "All  the  high  hills  tinder  the  whole  ^eair«,"  Gen.  vii.  19,  is  evi- 
dently the  language  of  a  spectator  deeply  moved  by  the  scene  as  he  beliolds  it.  How  much  more  full  of  satisfaction  is  this 
to  a  right  thinking,  than  any  numerical  or  geographical  settlement  of  the  question  about  the  extent  of  the  flood.  In  the 
emotion  evidently  denoted  by  such  words,  there  is  carried  the  vivid  impression  of  reality,  and  this  is  what  we  most  need. 
So,  too.  Acts  ii.  5  :  '•  And  there  were  dwelling  in  Jerusalem  Jews  devout  men  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven  1"  We 
cannot  resist  the  feeling  of  some  most  real  memorable  assemblage,  that  gave  rise  to  such  an  impassioned  description.  It 
is  not  at  all  the  style  of  legend  liut  of  deep  emotion.  A  still  more  remarkable  proof  of  our  seemin?  paradox,  is  the  lan- 
guage of  the  loving  and  beloved  disciple,  John  xxi.  23.  What  a  vivid  reality  must  there  have  been  in  that  character  which 
calls  out  the  seemingly  extravagant  language:  "Not  even  the  world  could  contain  the  books  that  should  be  written." 
The  comparison  is  to  be  taken,  not  as  a  measure  of  outward  fact,  but  as  an  expression  of  devotion,  of  admiration,  of  bound- 
less love.  In  this  sense  it  is  no  extravagance  ;  the  hyperbole  wholly  disappears.  When  John  wrote  that  Gospel,  the 
world  of  sense,  with  all  its  images,  fiviled  to  set  forth  the  excellence  of  Christ.  "  Heaven  and  earth  were  full  of  his  glory." 
He  must  have  lived,  most  objectively  lived,  who  produced  such  an  impression.  Inwardly  it  was  the  most  truthful  of  ut- 
terances. Let  us  suppose  that  the  statement  Jiad  been  more  guardedly  made,  and  instead  of  the  world  it  had  been  said  : 
"  Hardly  a  folio  volume  would  have  sufficed  for  the  recital  of  what  Jesus  had  done  ;"  how  would  it  have  diminished  that 
real  power  and  truthfulness  to  which  the  strongest  utterances  were  inadequate. 

The  same  view  may  be  taken  of  all  parts  of  the  Old  Testament,  where  immense  numbers,  especially  round  numbers,  are 
employed;  as  in  the  emotional  statements  of  certain  great  battles  with  their  countless  slaughter.  The  case  is  different 
when  statistical  accuracy  enters  into  the  very  essence  of  the  account,  as  in  the  details  of  the  Tabernacle  and  of  the  Leviti- 
cal  sacrifices. 

t  A  difficulty  is  made  from  the  statement  of  Job's  age  at  the  close  of  the  Book.  It  comes  from  adding  the  number 
there  mentioned  (140  years)  to  his  supposed  former  life,  which  could  hardly  have  been  less  than  50  or  CO  years,  thus 
making,  iuall,  two  hundred  years  or  more.  But  there  is  no  need  of  this;  the  most  easy  and  unforced  rendering  would 
take  this  term,  140  years,  as  the  entire  length  of  his  life.  He  lived  till  he  became  140  years  old.  This  is  in  harmony 
with  his  seeing  his  children  to  the  fourth  generation,  or  great  grand-children,  even  though  born  after  he  was  fifty  years 
old.  The  words  nX'l  "'"^nX,  "  afier  this;'  are  not  in  conflict  witli  such  a  view.  It  may  very  easily  be  rendered  :  "Af- 
ter this  Job  lived  on,  even  'to  the  age  of  140  years."  Such  an  age  is  not  improbable,  even  for  a  later  time  than  the  patri- 
archal.   There  ar;<  examples  of  Huch  longevity  in  quite  modern  times. 

t  There  are  the  best  of  reasons  for  calling  Job  a  drama,  if  we  do  not  take  the  word  in  too  narrow  a  sense.  It  has  all 
the  essential  parts  of  such  a  composition:  its  Prologue,  its  Dialogue,  and  its  Crisis.  It  has,  moreover,  its  great  3.9\ov, 
trial  or  prize.  It  is  the  very  heart  of  the  Book,  possessing  even  an  Epic  grandeur  of  interest.  The  integrity  of  Job,  the 
■very  soul  of  Job,  we  may  say,  is  the  matter  of  this  test,  the  subject  of  this  ayutv,  or  strife  between  God  and  Satan.  To  ac- 
commodate Homer's  language,  Iliad  xxii.  160,  to  a  fur  higher  theme  : 

ov^  leprfiov^  ou5e  |3o€t7j, 
aWH  vrepl  *YXH2  ixipvavTat.  iQai/aTOto. 

Even  if  its  action  were  wholly  spiritual,  it  would,  none  the  less,  be  entitled  to  the  name  dramatic.  It  has,  however,  as 
much  of  outward  movement  as  the  Prometheus  Vinctuc  of  iEschylus,  or  the  Philoctetes  of  Sophocles.  In  the  latter,  too. 
the  dramatic  interest  is  chiefly  in  the  spiritual  strife  arising  out  of  intense  bodily  pain. 


THE  TRUTHFULNESS  OF  THE  NARRATIVE.  46 


Or  it  may  be  regarded  as  purely  poetic,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  form,  with  the  exception, 
perhaps,  of  a  few  human  elements,  whether  legendary  or  historical,  that  may  have  aided  in 
inspiring  the  idea  of  its  composition.  By  those  who  adopt  this  view,  as  is  done  by  some  of 
our  most  pious  as  well  as  learned  commentators,  it  is,  of  course,  held  that  the  Prolo^-ue,  and 
the  Theophany  at  the  close,  belong  to  the  dramatic  scenery.  As  maintained,  however,  by 
men  like  Hengstenberg,  Dillmaun,  and  Delitzsch,  this  theory  of  poetic  invention  does  not 
come  from  any  such  aversion  to  tlie  very  idea  of  the  supernatural  as  characterizes  the  whole 
Rationalist  school.  It  is  not  with  them  the  mere  shunning  of  difficulties,  or  for  the  sake  of 
making  the  Book  more  credible  and  acceptable  as  a  part  of  Holy  Writ.  They  think  that 
they  discover  in  the  Book  itself,  in  its  apparent  plan  and  style,  evidence  of  such  dramatic 
intent.  And  this  does  not  diminish  its  value.  There  is  almost  every  style  of  writing  in  the 
Bible,  historical,  devotional,  ethical,  allegorical,  and  even  mythical.  God  may  employ  this 
dramatic  mode  of  representing  truth  as  well  as  any  other.  It  may  be  received  as  we  receive 
the  parables  of  our  Saviour.  There  v/ould  be  demanded,  however,  a  method  of  exegesis  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  would  be  proper  for  such  books  as  Genesis  and  Samuel.  Another 
reason  is  that  they  regard  this  kind  of  didactic  representation  as  belonging  to  what  they  call 
the  Chokma  period  (the  Wisdom  or  Philosophy  period)  of  Hebrew  literature,  and,  there- 
fore, not  to  be  judged  by  the  same  rules  that  would  be  ajiplied  to  the  older  Scripture.  This 
view  of  Job  as  being,  in  the  main,  a  poetic  invention,  at  least  in  its  superhuman  representa- 
tions, may  be  regarded  as  the  one  now  current  in  the  Christian  Church.  The  weight  of  criti- 
cal argument  may  even  seem  to  be  in  its  favor ;  and  yet  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  consider  what 
may  be  said  for  the  older  view,  and  whether  there  is  such  a  difference,  in  this  respect,  be- 
tween Job  and  other  parts  of  the  Bible. 

The  Rationalist  is  repelled  by  the  supernatural  everywhere.  He  has  a  most  irrational, 
and  yet  an  easily-explained,  dislike  to  the  very  idea,  in  whatever  part  of  the  Scriptures  he 
may  meet  with  it.  Viewing  it  then  as  a  question  wholly  by  itself,  it  may  well  be  asked,  why 
the  superhuman  accounts  in  Job  may  not  be  received  just  as  we  receive  them  in  the  nar- 
rations of  Exodus,  or  of  Luke's  Gospel,  or  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  question  may 
refer  to  the  supernatural  simply  when  displayed  upon  earth  as  visible  matter-of-fact,  or  to 
superhuman  scenes  narrated  as  transpiring  in  a  superhuman  sphere.  In  regard  to  the 
latter,  it  may  be  said,  as  we  have  before  hinted,  that  the  difficulties  are  by  no  means  pecu- 
liar to  the  Book  of  Job.  The  question  as  to  the  mode  of  mspiration,  or  the  way  in  which 
such  superhuman  or  ante-historical  facts  become  known  to  the  writers,  meets  us  in  other  parts 
of  the  Bible.  The  same  mystery  hangs  over  the  first  of  Genesis.  It  suggests  itself  imme- 
diately in  reading  such  accounts  as  that  of  2d  Chronicles  xviii.  18-21,  or  the  recitals  of  divine 
messages  coming  to  the  prophets.  If,  however,  we  are  convinced,  on  general  grounds,  that 
the  Bible  is  a  divine  book  in  the  honest  sense  of  the  word,  that  is,  given  specially  by  God 
for  our  instruction  in  a  way  that  other  books  are  not,  the  minor  difficulties  vanish.  If  the 
Book  of  Job,  or  any  other  book,  is  truly  inspired,  and  we  receive  it  as  such,  then  may  it 
be  trusted  that  God  provides  for  all  such  communications,  whether  by  trance  vision,  by  sym- 
bolic imagery,  or  by  filling  some  human  mind  with  the  general  idea  and  the  accompanying- 
emotion,  then  leaving  it  to  its  own  modes  of  conceiving,  as  controlled,  more  or  less,  by  its  mea- 
sure of  science,  and  clothed  in  its  own  necessarily  imperfect  human  language.  Thus  may 
it  be  given  to  us  in  the  Holy  Canon  as  the  representative  of  a  superhuman  fact,  some  know- 
ledge of  which  is  demanded  as  a  fact  ineffiible,  or  incapable  of  communication  in  any  other 
way.  To  deny  the  possibility  of  this  is  simply  the  bold  irrationality  of  affirming  that  there 
can  be  no  communication  between  the  infinite  and  the  finite  mind,  or  of  still  more  recklessly 
asserting  that  there  arc  no  superhuman  scenes — that  between  man  and  God,  if  there  be  a 
God,  there  is  an  infinite  blank,  unoccupied  by  beings  or  events,  and  in  which  nothing  can 

We  may  say,  too,  on  the  ground  of  the  same  authorities,  that  its  historical  truth,  be  it  more  or  less,  does  not  at  all 
stand  in  the  way  of  its  dramatic  character.  Some  degree  of  such  historical  truth,  real  or  supposed,  is,  in  (iict,  demanded 
by  it.  All  the  Greek  tragedies  are  80  constructed  on  old  narratives  believed  to  be  real ;  such  as  those  of  the  Trojan  and 
Argonautic  ages.  It  needed  something  of  tlie  kind  to  inspire  them  ;  so  that  while  a  few,  like  the  Fcrsx  of  J<)scuyli;s, 
are  almost  wholly  historical,  none  are  pure  fictions. 


48  THEISM  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

take  i>\sice  that  may,  in  any  way,  affect  the  course  of  the  human  histoiy  either  collective  or 
individual.  Some  such  general  view  in  regard  to  modes  of  revealiug  may  be  rationally 
adopted  by  one  who  regards  the  book  of  Job  as  true  and  inspired— that  is,  in  some  way 
given  by  God  as  other  books  are  not.  If  uninspired,  if  a  mere  human  production,  then 
this  Book  of  Job  has  for  us  simply  an  archaic  interest,  like  the  early  Arabian  songs,  or  some 
Carmen  Moallakat  written  in  golden  letters,  and  suspended  in  the  temple  at  Mecca.  If  no 
higher  view  can  be  taken  of  it  than  this,  then,  surely,  the  vast  amount  of  comment  bestowed 
upon  it,'by  Rationalists  as  well  as  by  believers,  has  been  far  beyond  its  desei-ts.  The  immense 
labor  might  have  been  better  devoted  to  other  and  more  useful  purposes. 

Tlie  Supernatural  in  Job  not  to  be  Rejected. 
A  rejection  of  the  book  on  the  ground  of  its  supernatural  and  superhuman  origin  is  simply 
in  accordance  with  the  procedure  of  the  Eationalists  everywhere.    They  even  think  it  too  much 
for  its  poetry,  unless  regarded  as  fiction  throughout,  or  without  any  nucleus  of  truth,  however 
dim  and  legendary.     Thus,  in  defiance  of  such  passages  as  Isaiah  vi.  1-Al,  Umbreit  asserts 
that  the  Old  Testament  recognizes  no  theophanies  after  the  times  of  Moses.     In  Job,  there- 
fore, it  was  a  pure  jjoetic  fiction,  hardly  admissible  unless  the  action  and  the  scenery  are 
dramatically  assigned  to  the  Patriarchal  i^eriod.     And  so  he  asks  with  an  expression  of  con- 
tempt for  any  one  who  might  even  imagine  the  contrary :  "  Wenn  die  ganze  Sache  Dichtung 
war,  was  war  denn  die  Gotteserscheinung  im  Sturme  ?     Wahrheit  ?"     It  is  not,  however,  the 
degree  of  outward  splendor  in  the  theophany,  or  the  magnitude  of  the  sense  marvel,  as  we 
may  call  it,  that  makes  the  difficulty  for  this  class  of  interpreters.     The  objection  is  to  any 
idea  of  God  in  the  world  as  a  manifest  causation,  whether  it  be  in  "the  whisper,"  or  in  "the 
thunder  of  his  power"  (Job  xxvi.  14).     They  are  haunted  by  the  thought  of  their  dislike  to 
the  miraculous  in  any  sense,  or  of  any  divinely-caused  deviation  from  "the  course  that  things 
would  otherwise  take,  whether  in  nature  or  in  history.     And  yet  they  must  reject  the  most 
undeniable  facts,  or  admit  marvels  greater,  in  truth,  than  any  that  may  be  styled  physical 
miracles — strange  deviations  from  the  general  course  of  things  in  the  moral  and  spiritual 
human,  that,  to  a  thoughtful  contemjilation,  are  more  inexplicable  than  any  analogous  de- 
partures or  irregularities,  seemingly,  in  nature.     Such  an  anomalous  spiritual  i^henomenon 
is  the  very  position  of  this  old  book  of  Job,  or  this  old  "poem,"  lying,  as  it  does,  in  the  lite- 
rature of  the  ancient  heathen  world.     Let  the  serious  yet  intelligent  reader  fix  his  mind  upon 
the  cotemporary  theologies  and  mythologies.     A  little  to  the  south-west  lies  Egypt,  so  lauded 
now  for  its  ancient  culture,  and  its  alleged  longaeval  supremacy  in  what  is  called  civilization, 
or  the  peculiar  condition  of  "the  higher  man," — Egyjit,  so  well  known  then  as  the  land  of 
crocodile  and  serpent  worship,  of  the  grossest  animal  superstition,  of  the  most  debasing,  God- 
forgetting  worldliness.     Not  far  to  the  east,  or  just  beyond  the  Indus,  are  the  monstrous  forms 
of  Nature  worship,  as  exhibited  in  the  strangest  combinations  of  mystic,  pantheistic,  and  po- 
lytheistic ideas.     To  the  Mediterranean  west,  yet  still  within  the  Shemitic  knowledge,  are  the 
myriad  fancies  of  the  Greek  mythology,  with  its  Bacchanalian  festivals,  its  worship  not  only 
destitute  of  moral  power,  but  the  cherisher  everywhere  of  impure  ideas — aesthetic,  it  is  true, 
famed  for  its  ideas  of  the  beautiful  in  art,  yet  most  unclean.     Almost  in  contact  with  it  lies 
the  Dagon  idolatry,  or  fish  worship,  of  the  Philistines  and  the  Phoenicians.     To  the  north, 
on  the  Euphrates,  the  weird  Chaldaean  and  Babylonian  superstitions,  as  we  learn  from  the 
dark  phantoms  of  them  that  haunt  us  in  reading  the  book  of  Daniel.     Right  below  it,  on 
the  south,  the  Sabsean  idolatry,  or  star  worshiji,  which  had  infected  the  primitive  monotheism 
of  the  Shemitic  Joktanites.     There  is  no  need  of  going  farther  in  such  a  summary.     Every- 
where was  there  the  rapid  verifying  of  Paul's  words  (Rom.  i.  21-28),  setting  forth  the  ways  in 
which  men  destroy  for  themselves  the  pure  knowledge  of  a  personal  God.     Now  think  of  this 
book  of  Job  in  the  midst  of  such  surroundings — the  transparent  purity  of  its  religious  ideas 
yielding  in  no  respect  to  the  loftiest  of  modern  conceptions,  the  marvellously  sublime  repre- 
sentations it  makes  of  the  divine  personality,  omnipotence,  infinity,  unsearchableness,  wisdom, 
grace  and  holiness — in  a  word,  its  distinguishing  theism  jealous  even  of  the  admiration  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  the  "  sun  in  its  splendor,  the  moon  walking  in  brightness,"  lest  it  might 


THE  TRUTHFULNESS  OF  THE  NARRATIVE.  47 

seem  to  detract  from  the  reverence  due  to  Him  "who  setteth  his  glory  above  the  Heavens." 
What  restraining  and  conserving  influence  kept  it  so  clean,  so  rational,  so  holy,  in  the  very 
midst  of  such  abounding  impurities?  If  tendencies  so  universal  and  so  constant  may  be 
called  nature,  then  surely  must  there  have  been  here  the  manifestation  of  a  divine  povper. 
That  One  above  the  human  sphere  should  sometimes  speak  to  us,  even  though  it  might  be  in 
a  voice  from  the  cloud,  is  not  a  greater  marvel  for  the  reason,  though  it  might  be  more 
astounding  to  the  sense.  For  reason,  too,  has  its  marvels,  and  one  of  them — the  greatest  of 
them,  perhaps — would  be  such  an  everlasting  silence  of  the  super-human  worlds,  or  that  to 
man — himself  a  supernatural  as  well  as  a  rational  being — no  direct  communication  should 
ever  come  from  a  higher  plane  than  that  of  nature. 

It  is  the  moral  sublime  of  the  book  of  Job  that  makes  the  supernatural — if  fair  criticism 
should  allow  us  to  regard  it  as  having  such  an  element — all  the  more  easy  of  belief.  With 
such  an  accompaniment,  it  becomes  all  the  more  natural — if  wc  may  use  the  seeming  paradox 
— or  the  more  to  be  looked  for  in  the  whole  course  of  things  including  every  movement, 
moral  and  spiritual  as  well  as  physical.  It  seems  fitting  that  there  should  be  a  theophany  in 
such  a  drama ;  and  this  fittingness  would  be  none  the  less  if  we  regard  the  human  elements 
as  being,  at  the  same  time,  an  outward  historical  reality.  And  so  we  might  say  of  the  super- 
natural everywhere  in  the  Bible,  so  different  from  the  wild,  grotesque,  unmeaning,  or  mon- 
strous supernatural  that  meets  us  in  all  those  "other  ancient  mythologies"  with  which  the 
Eationalist  is  so  fond  of  classing  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  In  these  other  books,  these  "other 
mythologies,"  there  is  nothing  to  give  significance  to  the  miraculous,  whereas  throughout  our 
Holy  Book,  from  the  opening  creative  scenes  to  the  apocalyptic  closing,  it  is  the  great  moral 
and  spiritual,  the  great  theological  ideas,  that  make  the  supernatural  events  narrated  seem  its 
fitting  and  most  reasonable  accompaniment.  It  would  be  strange,  on  the  other  hand,  that,  in 
connection  with  such  grand  unearthly  teaching,  the  appearance  of  a  super-earthly  power, 
the  intervention  of  a  super-earthly  mind  or  voice,  should  be  wholly  lacking. 

It  is  thus  that  we  may  hold  in  respect  to  this  Book  of  Job.  Is  there  internal  evidence, 
as  some  of  the  best  critics  maintain,  for  regarding  it  as  a  divine  poem,  and  the  opening  and 
closing  events  as  the  appropriate  dramatic  scenery  ?  Such  a  view  is  entirely  consistent  with 
a  belief  in  its  inspiration,  and  of  its  being  designed  to  occupy  a  high  place  in  the  Divine 
Canon.  Aside  from  such  a  theory,  however,  and  such  alleged  internal  evidence,  or  regarded 
simply  in  themselves,  the  supernatural  events  that  appear  to  be  set  forth  in  this  book  may 
be  received  just  as  we  receive  similar  narrations  in  other  parts  of  the  Bible.  What  is  there 
in  the  voice  from  the  storm  cloud,  or  even  in  the  prolonged  utterances  that  follow  it,  more 
incredible  than  the  voice  from  Sinai  with  its  specific  law-givings,  the  voice  to  Elijah  in 
Horeb,  the  voices  that,  in  some  way,  came  to  the  Prophets,  the  voice  from  the  burning 
bush,  the  voice  that  spake  to  Paul  from  the  midday  sky  ?  Above  all,  what  is  there  in  it 
more  strange  or  faith-surpassing  than  what  is  told  us  in  respect  to  our  Saviour's  baptism, 
when  the  Heavens  opened,  and  the  Spirit  descended  like  a  dove,  and  a  voice  from  the  firma- 
ment was  heard  saying:  "This  is  my  Beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased?"  In  all  these 
cases  the  exceeding  greatness  of  the  moral  sublime  throws  in  the  back-ground  the  physical 
strangeness.  There  is  a  harmony  in  it  which  not  only  favors,  but  demands  assent.  Granting 
the  human  elements  of  the  story,  just  as  they  are  narrated,  in  all  their  human  and  natural 
grandeur,  the  supernatural,  whether  voice  or  appearance,  seems  but  its  fitting  complement. 
It  is  true,  that  to  those  who  are  eye-witnesses  of  the  event,  the  miracle  is  the  attestation  of 
the  doctrine;  but  for  minds  that  read  or  contemplate  it,  the  couverse  also  holds:  it  is  the 
glory  of  the  truth  that  makes  the  miracle  easy  of  beUef. 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


The  term  Rhythmical  is  preferred  to  Metrical,  because  the  latter  name,  though  in 
itself  appropriate,  is  also  used  of  Biblical  translations  not  strictly  in  Rhythm,  or  Metre,  but 
only  adopting  the  metrical  division,  h  orixotr^  or  as  suggested  by  the  Hebrew  parallelism. 
The  present  is  an  attempt  to  give  the  Book  of  Job  in  a  true  rhythmical  form.  The  deter- 
mination of  that  form,  however,  requires  careful  study.  There  are,  it  is  said,  some  old  Eng- 
lish Versions  of  Job  in  rhyme.  That,  however,  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  Aside  from  the 
difficulty  such  a  method  would  make  in  preserving  the  exegetical  accuracy  demanded,  it  was 
felt  that  to  such  a  production  as  Job  the  jingle  of  rhyme  would  be  altogether  belittling.  Our 
common  blank  verse  line  of  five  feet  would  present  no  great  difficulty  in  itself.  With  a  little 
change,  even  our  Common  English  Version  might  be  put  into  that  form  with  a  preservation 
of  all  such  accuracy  as  it  possesses.  But  there  were  two  objections  to  it.  The  first  is  that 
such  blank  verse,  though  having  more  dignity  than  rhyme,  would  become  too  monotonous,  as 
the  reader  would  presently  feel,  and  would,  therefore,  be  poorly  adapted  to  the  exceedingly 
passionate  and  abrupt  parts  of  this  divine  poem.  In  the  second  place,  it  would  require  a  dis- 
regard of  the  Hebrew  accentuation  and  parallelism  as  determining  the  close  of  lines,  and  de- 
manding inequality.  What  we  call  blank  verse  is,  in  fact,  only  rhythmical,  or,  rather,  mea- 
sured, prose.  The  divisions  into  lines  on  the  page  of  the  book  are  but  for  the  eye.  The 
thought  goes  over  them,  not  only  to  the  comijletion  of  sentences,  but  of  clauses  and  subordi- 
nate divisions.  In  other  words,  the  ends  of  lines  are  not  marked  by  any  peculiar  cadence 
either  in  the  rhythm,  as  in  Greek,  or  in  the  thought,  as  in  Hebrew.  By  the  ear  alone,  one 
could  not  tell  whether  the  reader  was  at  the  beginning,  at  a  mid  caesura,  or  at  the  ends  of 
verses.  Now  the  Hebrew  parallelisms,  whether  they  have  within  them  what  may  strictly  be 
called  rhythm  or  not,  are  ever  marked  by  distinct  closings,  determined  both  by  the  cadence 
of  the  thought,  and  by  the  position  of  the  accents.  This  must  be  attended  to, — and  the 
translator  has  aimed  at  its*  strictest  observance.  For  such  a  purpose,  inequality  of  lines  is  • 
absolutely  demanded,  since  the  Hebrew  divisions  thus  made  are  of  very  different  lengths. 
Besides,  such  inequality,  if  rightly  managed,  is  an  excellence  and  a  beauty  in  itself.  It 
prevents  monotony,  and  gives,  moreover,  the  freedom  that  is  wanted  in  the  more  impas- 
sioned parts, — especially  in  Job's  sighing,  soliloquizing,  and  sometimes  almost  delirious 
utterances. 

Thus  the  reader  will  perceive,  that  in  order  to  preserve  these  important  elements  of  pa- 
[rallelism  and  accent,  there  has  been  employed  a  very  peculiar  kind  of  rhjiihm.  It  bears  an 
outward  resemblance  to  what  is  sometimes  incorrectly  called  Pindaric  in  English  verse.  But 
this  is  a  misnomer,  because  the  true  Pindaric  has  different  kinds  of  feet,  or  measures,  as  well 
as  different  lengths  of  lines.  Here,  however,  one  kind  of  foot,  the  iambus  ( ■-'  — )  or  the 
iambic  spondee,  is  universal.  Other  feet,  as  they  very  rarely  occur,  are  merely  substitutes 
for  it.  Thus  the  anapaest  (  o  ^  — )  is  used  sometimes  at  the  beginning  of  a  line,  as  also  a 
choriamb  ( — o  o — ),  occasionally,  but  ever  in  such  a  way  as  to  commence  a  dipode  with  the 
stronger  ictus.  The  tribrach  (  o  o  o  )  very  rarely  occurs.  It  is  avoided  as  unmusical,  though 
commonly  regarded  as  admissible  among  English  iambi. 

4  49 


50  SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 

In  regard  to  the  lines,  the  principal  one  is  the  common  pentameter,  or  blank  verse  line 
of  English  poetry.  The  Alexandrine  comes  in  much  more  rarely,  and  almost  always  in  the 
second  or  closing  part  of  a  parallelism.  In  such  a  position,  especially  at  the  end  of  some 
impassioned  utterance,  comes,  now  and  then,  the  heptameter,  or  long  line  of  seven  feet,  used 
by  Bryant  in  some  of  his  poems,  and  by  Chapman  in  his  translation  of  Homer.  It  is  equi- 
valent to  two  lines  of  our  Common  Metre,  but  much  more  harmonious,  on  account  of  its  long 
unsevered  movement.     As  in  the  first  line  of  the  following  couplet: 

And  thou  thyself  |  in  ripened  age  |  unto  thy  grave  |  ehalt  come, 
A3  sheaf  that  in  its  season  to  the  garner  mounts ; 

the  second  being  an  Alexandrine.  Mingled  with  the  common  blank  verse  line  of  five,  there 
comes  very  frequently  one  or  more  of  four  feet;  whilst  in  the  transitions,  and  in  the  com- 
mencement of  some  new  peculiar  strain,  there  are  short  lines  of  three,  and  occasionally  of 
two  feet,  or  a  single  dipode.  The  trimeter  not  unfrequently  makes  a  very  satisfactory  close 
after  pentameters : 

Higher  than  Heaven's  height!  what  canst  thou  do? 
Deeper  than  Sheol's  depths!  what  canst  thou  know? 
Its  measurement  is  longer  than  the  earth, 
And  broader  than  the  sea. 

But  what  need  of  this?  it  may  be  said.  The  great  thing  is  to  get  the  idea,  however  it 
may  be  expressed,  in  English.  Attempts  at  verse  must  necessarily  impair  the  force  and 
clearness  of  the  thought.  To  this  it  may  be  replied,  in  the  first  place,  that  facility,  smooth- 
ness in  reading,  are  to  be  desired,  if  the  sense  is  not  sacrificed,  and  that  the  feeling  accom- 
panying the  thought  may  be  a  most  important  part  of  the  thought  itself.  In  the  second 
place,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem  to  some  minds,  it  may  be  maintained  that  the  sense  is 
actually  made  more  clear  in  a  rhythmical  translation,  if  properly  done,  inasmuch  as  it  gives 
that  element  of  emotion  without  which  the  sense,  in  its  essence  and  entirety,  is  not  truly 
received.  There  may,  indeed,  be  an  overloading,  and  an  obscuration,  arising  from  too  much 
artificialness;  but  whether  that  can  be  charged  upon  the  present  attempt,  is  left  to  the 
judgment  of  the  reader.  For  fuller  reasons  in  support  of  a  position  that  may  seem  so  para- 
doxical, he  is  referred  to  the  Introduction  to  the  Metrical  Version  of  Ecclesiastes,  Vol.  X.  of 
the  Lange  Series,  page  171.  The  ground  taken  is  that  we  cannot  do  justice  to  poetry  unless 
we  read  it  as  poetry, — that  is,  not  simply  knowing  it  to  be  such  in  the  original,  but  feeling  it 
to  be  so  as  we  peruse  the  translation.  Now  this  cannot  easily  be  done  in  a  rough  unrhyth- 
mical prose  version.  The  disorder  in  the  dress  is  constantly  interfering  with  this  feeling  we 
wish  to  have.  Thus  reading  it  as  prose,  in  spite  of  our  knowledge  of  its  being  poetry,  we  are 
constantly  expecting  the  more  logical  transitions;  and  when  they  are  not  found,  it  seems  all 
a  disconnected  and,  sometimes,  unmeaning  rhapsody.  A  very  simple  rhythm,  if  it  be  smooth, 
may  give  the  feeling  that  should  accompany,  whilst  yet  keeping  as  close  to  the  lexical  and 
grammatical  sense  as  any  purely  prose  translation  could  do.  By  this  simple  outward  pro- 
cess, the  soul  of  the  reader  is  set  in  the  right  direction.  The  subjective  predominates.  He 
gets  into  the  current  of  thought  and  feeling,  and  the  purely  emotional  transitions  become  not 
only  easy,  but  natural.  When  they  occur,  they  are  felt  to  be  something  we  might  expect,— 
and  the  mind  thus  prepared,  not  only  apprehends  them  at  once,  but  sees  in  them  an  exqui- 
site emotional  appropriateness.  Thus  the  passage  is  actually  better  understood  from  the  very 
fact  of  its  rhythmical  form.  In  this  way  a  verse  translation  of  a  poem  in  another  language, 
with  the  same  number  of  words,  or  with  a  very  small  difference,  may  carry  the  whole  sense, 
that  is,  both  emotion  and  idea,  more  surely  and  more  distinctly  than  any  prose  version  could 
have  done  that  had  been  constructed  with  the  utmost  regard  to  lexical  accuracy.  This  may 
be  tested  by  a  comparison  which  would  appeal  to  every  reader's  common  sense,  as  well  as 
literary  taste.  Take  Bryant's  translation  of  the  Iliad.  Its  blank  verse  is  not  only  very 
smooth,  as  verse,  but  remarkably  fiiithful.  It  is  an  evidence  how  near  one  may  bring  the 
English  to  the  Greek,  and  yet  preserve  a  simple  though  musical  metrical  form.  Let  the 
eflFect  of  this  be  contrasted,  not  with  the  overloaded  rhymes  of  Pope,  but  with  the  best  prose 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  RHYTHMICAL  VERSION.  51 

translation  tiiat  could  be  made,  having  for  its  aim  the  utmost  lexical  accuracy,  and  availing 
itself  of  every  help  that  could  be  derived  from  the  study  of  Eustathius,  and  of  all  the  scho- 
liasts. Certainly,  Bryant  carries  us  farther  into  the  very  soul  of  Homer  than  any  such  prose 
translations  could  possibly  do,  even  though  aided  by  so  complete  a  scholastic  apparatU'^. 

From  such  a  view,  the  Biblical  commentator  himself,  dry  as  his  work  generally  is,  gets 
a  new  insight,  as  it  were,  by  coming  into  the  emotional  spirit  of  the  language  he  is  explain- 
ing. But  all  this,  it  may  be  said,  is  interpreting  by  the  imagination;  it  is  letting  one's  self  be 
led  away  by  a  feel-ing  which  may,  or  may  not,  have  come  from  the  passage.  There  is,  in- 
deed, danger  of  this;  but  then  it  may  be  truly  said  that  a  man  with  no  emotion  from  what  he 
is  studying — a  man  having  a  mere  intellectual  interest,  or  possessed  of  little  or  no  imagina- 
tion— can  never  be  a  good  commentator,  or  a  good  translator  of  Job,  or  of  the  Psalms,  or  of 
the  Hebrew  Prophets,  or  even  of  Homer.  He  must  certainly  ftiil  in  what  is  more  essential 
than  any  mere  grammatical  exegesis,  most  valuable  and  important  aa  that  may  be. 

Again,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  emphasis,  and  of  what  may  be  called  emotional  or  ex- 
clamatory power  in  certain  Hebrew  words  and  idioms,  which  the  corresponding  words  in 
English,  and  the  nearest  English  idioms,  fail  to  express.  There  is  needed  some  interjection, 
some  qualifying  particle,  which  comes  in  easy  and  natural  when  it  so  comes  from  the  sus- 
tained flow  of  rhythmical  feeling  instinctively,  as  it  were,  selecting  the  right  words.  One  of 
the  coolest  temperament  cannot  read  Job  without  seeing  that  there  must  be  in  it  much  of  this 
post-scenio  language.  It  may  be  a  tone,  a  sigh,  a  pause  of  silence,  an  imploring  or  a  depre- 
cating look,  a  demonstrative  gesture,  all  of  them  intimated  in  the  words  themselves,  or  re- 
vealed in  the  answers  of  the  disputants  who  understand  their  fullest  import,  and  all  making 
up  that  life-scene,  tbat  unmistakable  reality,  which  is  insisted  on  in  the  Addenda,  Excursus 
I.  and  II.,  pp.  5-6. 

It  is  this  consideration  to  which  the  translator  would  appeal  as  justifying  epithets  occa- 
sionally, though  quite  rarely,  applied  by  him  to  Hebrew  nouns.  In  all  such  cases  it  will  be 
found  that  they  belong  to  the  emphasis  of  the  passage,  and  that,  without  them,  the  English 
reader  would  receive  a  deficient  idea,  and  certainly  a  deficient  feeling,  of  the  substantives  to 
which  they  are  attached.  Thus  "visions  dire,"  vii.  14;  the  epithet  is  necessary  because 
jVin  means  more  than  vision  in  this  place.  It  is  more  than  the  seeing:  it  is  the  thing  seen — a 
phantom,  a  spectre.  So  nmin^  iv.  13,  rendered  "vision-seeing  trance,"  is  more  than  any  slum- 
ber, however  deep.  Its  vision-seeing  or  clairvoyant  nature  appears  from  Gen.  ii.  21 :  Adam's 
deep  sleep;  Gen.  xv.  12:  Abraham's  vision-seeing  trance;  1  Sam.  xx.  12:  the  sleep  that  God 
sent  upon  Saul.  It  is  used,  indeed,  of  deep  slumber  generally,  but  in  Job  iv.  13  it  evidently 
has  this  mysterious  trance  significance  which  is  so  unmistakable  in  the  passages  referred  to. 
A  similar  remark  applies  to  those  occasional  cases  where  the  translator  has  placed  words  in 
brackets,  though  forming  a  part  of  the  movement  of  the  line.  They  denote  something  quite 
evidently  to  be  implied,  whether  as  hidden  in  some  emotional  particle,  or  as  indicating  a 
thought  that  has  come  in  during  some  touching  pause  of  silence,  especially  in  the  speeches 
of  Job  (see  Addenda  aforesaid,  pa.  6),  and  which,  though  unexpressed  in  words,  appears  in 
the  coloring  it  gives  to  what  follows  as  something  well  understood  by  the  repliants  and  all 
who  were  spectators  of  the  scene. 

A  few  words  in  regard  to  the  language  and  style  of  the  Version.  Of  the  first,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  aim  has  been  to  make  it  as  pure  Saxon-English  as  possible.  A¥ords  of  that  kind 
have  ever  been  preferred.  Some  very  plain  and  even  homely  expressions  have  been  used,  as 
having  all  the  more  force  and  pathos  by  reason  of  their  plainness.  Much  use  has  also  been 
made  of  the  poetical  element  of  inversion,  but  not  at  all,  it  is  thought,  beyond  the  degree  of 
which  the  English  is  capable.  It  has  often  seemed  to  the  writer  that,  throughout  the  English 
Bible,  the  translators  might  have  kept  much  more  of  this  than  appears;  as  in  that  beautiful 
example,  Acts  iii.  6:  "Silver  and  gold  have  I  none,  but  what  I  have,  that  give  I  unto  thee." 
In  this  way,  whilst  making  the  Scriptures  more  impressive,  and  even  more  clear,  they  might 
have  enriched  our  language  with  vivid  forms  of  speech,  which  the  very  reading  of  the  Bible 
would,  long  ere  this,  have  completely  naturalized,  even  had  they  seemed  strange,  or  semi- 
poetical,  in  the  beginning. 


52  SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 

In  this  matter  of  style,  too,  may  be  mentioned  the  use  of  the  nominative  independent, 
which  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  English,  especially  in  animated  or  poetical  English,  and  is 
still  more  marked  in  the  Arabic,  where  the  subject  so  often  stands  by  itself,  as  Vinchoatif,  to 
use  De  Sacy's  and  the  native  Arabic  tcchnic,  whilst  the  pronoun  representing  it  is  expressed 
or  included  in  the  form  of  the  verb.  It  is  also  quite  coramoti  in  Hebrew,  so  that  whilst  it  may 
be  used  freely  in  an  English  translation  of  any  Hebrew  sentence  containing  subject  and  pre- 
dicate [r^nonciatif),  it  is  actually  demanded  when  the  subject  stands  first,— as,  for  ex- 
ample, xi.  2 : 

A  flood  of  words,  demands  it  no  reply? 

Or,  again,  where  it  is  the  object  of  the  verb  that  is  thus  treated : 

That  night !  thick  darkness  seizo  it. 

Other  similar  features  of  style,  in  respect  to  which  pains  have  been  taten,  might  be  men- 
tioned, were  it  not  for  the  fear  of  making  this  Introduction  too  long.  There  need  only  be  a 
reference  to  the  pauses  and  notes  of  silence  introduced  in  some  places,  especially  in  Job's 
hesitating  and  panting  speeches, — as  the  whole  subject  is  fully  discussed  in  the  Addenda, 
pp.  178, 179,  to  which  the  reader  is  directed. 

To  the  text  of  the  Version  there  have  been  added  in  the  margin  quite  full  exegetical 
notes.  These  have  been  intended  to  explain,  not  only  every  departure  from  the  Common 
English  Version,  but  also  every  thing  in  the  Version  offered  that  might  seem  to  demand  elu- 
cidation for  the  reader,  besides  a  careful  presentment  of  those  difficult  passages  on  which  all 
commentators  have  dwelt,  more  or  less.  In  this  part  of  the  work  the  author  has  taken  pains 
to  avail  himself  of  the  best  helps.  The  old  Versions  (Greek,  Latin,  and  Syriac)  have  con- 
tinually been  consulted,  the  Targum,  the  Jewish  Commentary  of  Kaschi,  the  old  Commenta- 
tors as  their  opinions  are  given  in  Poole's  Synopsis,  the  best  of  the  more  modern,  such  as 
'LuD.  DE  DiEU,  ScHULTENS,  Umbreit,  Ewald,  Dillmann,  Delitzsch,  Schlottmann, 
Pareau,  Merx,  Davidson,  Good,  Eosenmueller,  Barnes,  Noyes,  together  with  Conant 
and  our  own  Zockler,  who  are  not  the  least  among  them.  More  or  less  consulted  have  been 
other  German  commentators,  such  as  Heiligstedt,  Vaihinger,  Hirzel,  et  al.  Im- 
portant aid  has  also  been  derived  from  the  French  Version  of  Kenan.  To  these  may  be 
added  that  immense  work,  Caryl  on  Job,  in  two  very  large  folio  volumes.  (1650.)  This 
quaint  old  Puritan  Commentator  has  not  been  appreciated  as  he  deserves.  Equal  in  Bibli- 
cal learning  to  the  most  learned  of  an  age  abounding  in  such  men  as  Usher,  Pocock, 
LiGHTFOOT,  BoCHART,  he  excells  them  all  in  that  spiritual  discernment  which  makes  him 
especially  serviceable  to  those  who  would  obtain  the  deepest  acquaintance  with  this  Book  of 
Job.  It  is  to  him  not  a  work  of  art,  not  a  drama,  not  a  fiction  in  any  sense,  but  a  divinely 
given  case  of  religious  experience.  His  critical  as  well  as  practical  remarks  are  all  pene- 
trated with  this  idea,  giving  him  an  insight,  even  into  Hebrew  words  and  idioms,  which  the 
learning  that  lacks  such  a  conviction  so  often  fails  to  supply. 

The  translator,  moreover,  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  after  giving  these  valuable  helps 
all  due  attention,  he  has  not  wholly  rejected  his  own  independent  judgment.  Often  has  it 
been  yielded  in  deference  to  superior  authority  and  further  study.  In  other  cases,  however, 
it  is  maintained,  though  always,  he  thinks,  with  a  becoming  diffidence. 

The  whole  is  submitted  to  the  reader  with  the  hope  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  making 
Bome  contribution  to  our  Biblical  Literature. 

T.  Xi. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION 


OF  THE 


BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Chapter  I. 

1  There  was  a  man  in  tlie  land  of  Uz  whose  name  was  Job.     This  man  was  pure 

2  and  just,  one  who  feared  God  and  shunned  evil.     There  were  born  to  him  seven 

3  sons  and  three  daughters.  His  wealth  was  seven  thousand  sheep  and  goats,  and 
three  thousand  camels,  and  five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen,  and  five  hundred  she  asses, 
and  a  very  great  household  of  servants.  And  this  man  was  great  above  all  the 
Sons  of  the  East. 

4  Now  his  sons  used*  to  hold  a  feast,  each  one  of  them  at  his  own  house,  and  on 
his  own  day  ;  and  they  sent  invitations  to  their  sisters  to  eat  and  drink  with  them. 

5  And  it  was^  the  way  of  Job  when  these  festival  days  came'  round,  that  he  sent  and 
purified  them.  To  this  end  he  rose  early  in  the  morning,  and  offered  burnt-offer- 
ings according  to  the  number  of  them  all ;  for  it  was  a  saying*  of  Job :  it  may  be 
that  my  sons  have  sinned  and  cursed*  God  in  their  hearts.  Thus  did  Job  con- 
tinually. 


1  Ver.  4.  Used  to  bold.    WV)  O /H,  went  and  made. 

,  T ;         :  T 

"1771  lias  frequently  in  Hebrow  the  force   of  an  auxiliary 

verb,  giving  to  the  verb  that  follows  it  the  sense  of  constant 
or  habitual  action.  Comp.  Gen.  xxvi  l:; ;  .Indgca  iv.  24 ;  1 
Sirauel  ii.  26;  Gt-n  viii.  3,  and  many  other  places.  Wo 
have  a  similar  idiom  in  common  English:  He  went  and 
said. 

2  Ver.  5.  And  it  was  the  fray  of  Job.  "And  it  came 
to  pass"  will  not  do  for  the  rendering  of  Tl^l  here,  since  that 
would  denote  only  a  single  event. 

8  Ver.  5.  Came  round.  Onacrountof  the  Iliphil  form 
^3'pn.  some  would  make  sons  the  subject,  giving  it  a  per- 
missive sense,  as  Conant  does  :  Tf)e'/  let  thf.  feast  days  go 
round.  There  are  examples,  however,  of  Iliphil  verbs  n^ed 
intransitively,  and  it  may  here  have  the  sense  of  Kal.  Isaiah 
xxix.,  although  the  Kal,  in  its  primary  idea,  seems  to  have 
a  very  different  significance  namely,  that  of  cuttirtg,  as  in 
Isaiah  x.-Sl;  Job  xix.  The  incongruity  of  the  apparently 
intransitive  Iliphil  would  probably  disappear  if  we  knew 
the  exact  connection  between  the  primary  and  secondary 
senses  of  the  root.  We  may  still  give  it  something  of  a 
Hiphil  rendering,  and  yet  keep  nnU'fDn  '0'  fur  the  sub- 
ject:  When  the  days  had  made  their  round — their  end  or 
seclimi.  Or  it  may  borrow  its  sense  from  the  unused  root 
Pip,  whence  risJ'pPi  Pa-  xix.  7,  a  circuit,  or  occursus,  kol- 

Tavnnna,  a  meeting,  as  the  Vulgate  and  LXX.  have  it  in  that 
place. 


<  Ver.  5.  It  was  a  sayinsr  of  Job.  The  general 
aspect  of  the  passage  demands  the  frequentative  sense  for 

TON ;  or  it  may  be  rendered  he  thought  (1373   lOX.  He 

• :        -  T 
said  in  his  heart.  Gen.  xvii.  17:  Ps.  xiv    1);  or  it  may  be 
thus  taken  without  the  ellipsis,  like  <i>jifj.'i.  in  Homer. 

s  Ver.  6.  And  cursed  God.  This  is  the  old  render- 
ing of  the  Syriac  (VDif ).  favored  by  the  LXX.  icoica  evevo- 
r)a-av  irpb<;  tov  fieb;'),  although  the  VuLGATE  renders  it  hene- 
di.xeruiit,  which  Luther  follows.  .luNius  and  Tremellius, 
mali'dixerint,  although  in  the  other  place,  ii.  9,  they  very 
inconsistently  render  it  benedicendo.  Aside  from  the  strong 
demands  of  tiie  context,  the  arj-'ument  for  the  older  render- 
ing is  found  in  the  analogy  of  languages.  The  primary 
verbal  sense  of  Tl^  (whatever  may  be  the  order  of  its  con- 
nection with  the  noun  sense  of  ^^3,  the  knee)  is  to  pray. 

Hence,  in  Piel  to  bless,  to  pray  for  good,  or,  as  here,  for  evil, 
that  is,  to  curse  (the  English  word  itself,  according  to  \Vob- 
ster,  having  had  a  good  origin  in  cross — to  pray  evil  in  the 
name,  or  with  the  sign,  of  the  cross).  In  like  manner,  tho 
cnrresponiiing  verbs,  both  in  Greek  and  Latin,  apao/xai, 
precor  (the  la'ter  with  the  same  radical  letters  as  the  He- 
brew verb,  PRK,  BRK)  have,  also,  the  two  senses  of  prayer 
and  malediction,  although  tho  bad  sense,  from  the  greater 
cursing  tendency  of  the  Greeks,  is  so  much  more  frequent 
than  in  Hebrew.  So  also  KaTeOxojiat,  joined  with  apdoixai, 
MSCB.  Sept.  Tkeb.  633— 

Hence  opds  apatrdai,  found  frequently  (or  some  similar 

53 


54 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


6  Now  it  was  the®  day  when  the  Sons  of  God  came  to  present  themselves  before  the'' 

7  Lord ;  and  Satan  (the  Adversary  or  the  Accuser®)  came  also  among  them.  And 
the  Lord  said  to  Satan,  Whence  comest  thou  ?     And  Satan  answered  the  Lord  and 

8  said :  From  going  to  and  fro  in  the  earth,  and  walking  up  and  down^  in  it.  And 
the  Lord  said  to  Satan :  Hast  thou  observed  my  servant  Job,  that  there  is  none 
like  him  on  the  earth,  a  man   pure   and  just,  fearing  God  and  shunning  evil  ? 


phrase)  in  the  dramatic  poets,  may  have  the  benedictory  or 
the  'iiuledictory  sense.  Tha  former  is  the  more  ancient  (as 
wo  have  it  Herodotus  i.  V.i2,  apaa-dai.  ayaOd,  and  just  above 
in  the  same  section,  KaTeu';(eTai  c5  yipea-Oai),  the  latter  the 
more  common.  It  is  tiue,  that  tliey  generally  have  an 
object  expressed,  or  a  substatitive  nouu,  like  apa  aprj,  which 
seems  to  determine  their  application  ;  but  then  there  is  the 
same  peculiaiity  about  the  noun  itself.  Thus  apa  more 
commonly  means  a  curs',;  but  it  has  also  the  older  sense  of 
bk'shig  or  prayer ;  as  iu  Herodotus  vi.  G3;  dprji'  inonio-avTo 
Tral&a.  yei'to-^at,  "  they  made  a, prayer  that  he  mig;ht  have  a 
son;"  and  therefore  he  waa  called  Demaratus,  "the  people- 
prayed-for'"  king.  If  the  context  helps  to  determine  which 
sense  is  to  be  given  to  the  Greek  verbs,  there  may  be  said  to 
be  the  same  demand  of  the  context  in  such  passages  as  these 
in  .Job  and  in  1  Kings  xxi.  10.  At  all  events,  the  facility 
with  which  these  verbs  are  used  in  this  double  way  furnishes 
an  argument  tor  those  who  hold  to  a  similar  tendency  in 
Hebrew.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  thought  that,  in  some  of  the 
verbs  referred  to,  the  imprecatory  force  came  from  the 
compounded  jireposi'ion.  as  in  KarapaoiMai  Karevxaixai,  im- 
precor.  The  preposition,  however,  only  gives  direction  to 
the  action  of  the  verb,  and  may  be  consistent  with  either 
sense — blessings  upon,  or  curses  at. 

Besides,  in  the  case  of  the  Greek  apaojaat  and  the  Latin 
precor,  the  cursing  sense  occurs,  when  the  context  demands 
i.",  without  any  prepo^ition — bene  pre.cari  or  male  precari 
being  equally  independent  uses.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  too, 
that,  according  to  Lane,  the  corresponding  Arabic  verb  in 
the  viii.  Conjugation  (TIjUX)  has  the  sense  of  vitupera- 
tion, reviling,  detraction.  There  is,  moreover,  the  analogy 
of  other  similar  words  in  Latin.  Sacro,  for  example,  may 
mean  to  consecrate  or  to  make  accursed.  So  saci-r  may  mean 
/loly,  sacred,  or  impious,  accursed,  horrible.  Virg.  auri  sacra 
fames,  "accursed  hunz/er  for  gold.'''  In  this  w  >y  sacra  and 
exseci-or  (execrate)  come  to  be  used  in  the  same  way.  The 
same  law  of  contraries  seems  to  prevail  in  respect  to  some 

other  Hebrew  words  of  a  similar  kind.    Thus  the  verb  tj/Tp 

••It 
purus  mundus  fuit—holy,  clean — and  Htl'Tp.  meretrix,  one 

polluted,  consecrafa  in  the  bad  sense  of  the  Latin  saerata. 
So  II3"in  (ii'*  a  verli,  or  as  a  noun)  may  carry  the  idea  of 
something  holy,  consecrated,  or  something  doomed,  accursed, 
avdOeaa.  There  is  the  same  equivoque  in  the  Arabic  haram. 
It  is  not  without  a  natural  giound,  this  diversity  and  almost 
contrariety  of  meaning.  It  comes  from  the  foct,  that  the 
feelings  of  reverence  and  of  awe,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
fear,  detestation,  and  even  of  abhorrence,  on  the  other,  do 
sometimes  approach  each  other.  The  terms  are  thus  used 
in  respect  to  things  or  ideas  to  which  we  cannot  stand 
indifferent.  This  is  the  rase  with  the  idea  of  a  personal 
God.  Fearful  as  ia  the  thought,  yet  experience,  as  well  as 
Scripture,  teaches  th-at  where  there  is  no  love  for  Him, 
there  must  be  aversion.  Not  to  bless,  as  Job  does,  ver.  21, 
is  to  curse. 

The  ararument  for  the  old  translation  is  strengthened  by 
the  invalidity  of  the  reasons  given  for  the  new.  In  tlio  first 
place,  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Hebrew  TITjl  ever  means 

'••  T 
"to  bid  farewell,"  like  the  Greek  p^aipetx-,  or  eav  x<*''p"'') 
unless  this  place  is  found  to  bear  testimony  to  it.  And, 
secondly,  there  is  but  slight  evidence  that  the  Greek  phrase 
Itself  is  ever  used  in  malara  part  m.  Its  etymological  signi- 
fication, to  rejoice  (like  the  Latin  vale,  Greek  eppioao,  be  well, 
be  strong),  is  out  of  harmony  with  such  a  use.  It  is  a  bid- 
ding fare.ivell,  an  1  may  thus  come  to  mean  abandoning, 
giving  up,  especially  when  connected  with  tVio,  but  ever 
with  Borrow,  never  with  bitterness.  It  does  not  mean  to 
renounce  or  denounce  in  this  harsh  way.  And  if  it  did,  that 
would  be  so  near  to  cursing  as  to  take  away  all  its  value  as 
an  exiiliinaticm  of  the  seeming  difficulty.  Such  a  formula 
woiiUl  be  most  peculiarly  iuapi)roi)riale  to  the  charge  against 
Naboth,  1  Kings  xxi.  10,  "Thou  hast  said  farewell  to  the 
king,"  as  a  Tiioiic  of  renouncing.  There  is  not  a  particle  of 
evidence  in  the  Old  Testament  that  treason  or  rebellion  was 
ever  expressed  in  that  way.  The  Vulgate  and  the  LXX.  in 
rendering  it  literally  euAd-yijica?  and  benedixisti.  thou  hast 
blest  the  long,  either  misunderstood  it  or  regarded  it  as  a 
sneering  irony  on  the  part  of  the  witnesses.    Here,  too  (1 


Kings  xxi.  10),  the  faithful  Syri.ac  renders  it  cursed  ("TIV 
mDJ).  Pcofauity  of  some  kind,  some  evil  speaking,  careless 
or  presumptuous  speaking  about  God  (mala  dictio)  would  be 
the  I  iu  the  young  men  would  be  most  likely  to  fall  into 
when  heated  by  wine;  and  this  was  the  very  thing  that 
made  Job  so  solicitous  about  them,  even  as  he  was  ever  so- 
licitous for  the  honor  of  God  whom  "he  feared."  It  shows, 
too,  how  justly  he  was  entitled  to  the  character  given  to 
hinaasone  who  not  only  feared  God,  but  shunned  evil — 
everything  that  had  the  appearance  of  evil,  or  that  might 
lead  to  it.  See  his  own  description  of  the  highest  human 
wisdom,  xxviii.  28.  See  also  the  remarks  on  this  touching 
recital  of  his  God-fearing,  paternal  solicitude,  ExcuRsns 
iv.,  p. 

6  Ver.  6.  The  day.  The  article,  as  Conant  says,  denotes 
here  a  particular  time,  as  set  lor  this  purpose.  The  render- 
ing, therefore,  of  E.  V.,  there  was  a  day,  called  for  amend- 
ment. 

'  Ver.  6.  Tlie  Lord.  The  translator  has  followed  E. 
V.  in  this  rendering,  instead  of  the  rendering  Jehovah  which 
Cunant  gives  whenever  mri''  occurs.  His  is  the  more 
faithful  translation  undoubtedly,  and  yet  it  was  something 
entitled  to  a  better  name  than  superstition  which  led  our 
old  translators  to  avoid  the  frequent  mention  of  this  highest 
of  the  divine  appellations.  We  can  hardly  condemn  the 
Jews  for  carrying  the  feeling  still  farther,  even  to  the 
avoidance  of  the  writing  it,  except  in  copies  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  It  is  the  great  and  ineffable  name,  and  the 
effect  must  be  bad  if  its  pronunciation  is  repeated  every- 
where in  the  numerous  cases  of  its  occurrence  throughout 
the  Scriptures.  What  would  make  it  sound  worse  is  the 
fact  of  its  being  the  proper  name  of  Deity,-  as  it  were,  iu 
distinction  from  others  which  are  descriptive.  If  used  thus,  it 
would  come  to  sound  like  Zeus  in  Greek,  Jupiter  iu  Latin  or 
Ormuzd  among  the  Persians,  or  TiiOR  of  the  Scandinavian 
mythology,  and  that  is  the  reason,  doubtless,  why  the  scoff- 
ing infid  is  are  so  fond  of  giving  the  name  in  full  in  their 
offensive  and  irreligious  caricatures.  The  thought  is  of  im- 
portance at  the  present  time,  when  Bible  revisions  are  so 
much  talked  of.  Dr.  Conant's,  or  the  new  Baptist  version, 
is,  in  D>any  respects,  an  improvement  on  the  old,  and  we  can 
only  hope,  therefore,  that,  before  it  goes  into  common  use 
in  that  denomination,  there  may  be  a  change  ba(-k  to  the 
old  method.  Still  more  exceptionable  are  the  new  modes 
of  writing  and  pronouncing  this  sacred  name  such  as  Jah- 
veh,Jehveh,  etc.  Etymologically,  they  may  be  more  correct 
than  that  given  by  the  vowels  long  attached  to  it;  but  it 
disturbs  the  sacred  feeling  that  inheres  in  the  name  as  pro- 
nounced on  solemn  occasions,  and  as  it  appears  in  the  few- 
cases  of  its  expression  by  our  old  translators.  Some  of  the 
German  Rationalists  seem  to  delight  in  being  especially 
offensive  in  this  way.  It  occurs  a  number  of  times  in  this 
Prologue,  and  comes  again  in  the  Epilogue,  or  the  two  clos- 
ing chapters,  but  in  the  dramatic,  or  spoken  part,  it  occurs 
but  once,  xii.  9,  and  that  in  a  declaration  more  than  usually 
solemn  and  emphatic.  If  we  regard  them  as  actual  discour- 
ses, it  is  evident  that  the  speakers  shunned  the  utterance  of 
th(!  name.  If  it  is  a  poetical  invention  merely,  then  the 
writer  must  have  felt  that  its  frequent  introduction  in  the 
dialogne  jiarts  would  have  been  a  violation  of  a  sacred  dra- 
matic propriety.  There  is  one  occasion,  as  it  occurs  in  the 
Prologue,  in  which  it  was  deemed  best,  by  the  present  trans- 
lator, to  give  the  name  itself.  It  is  in  Job's  most  solemn 
act  of  submission,  ch.  i.  21,  where  strong  emotion  causes 
him  to  break  out  into  thechanting  style. 

8  Ver.  6.  The  Accuser— the  Adversary.  The 
meaning  of  the  name  is  given  here  on  the  ground  that  it 
woidd  be  suggestive  to  the  reader  in  those  passages  of  the 
dialogue  where  Job  speaks  of  "  his  enemy,"  and  would  give 
a  deeper  significance  to  what  ho  says,  xix.  2j,  of  his  Gael, 
Ave)ige.r,  Redeemer. 

0  Ver.  7.  Ooing:  to  and  fro— walking  np  and 
down.  Dr  Conant's  version,  roaming  over — walking  about, 
is  undoubtedly  more  in  accordance;  with  modern  speech,  and 
therefore,  an  improvement ;  but  the  present  translator  must 
confess  his  preference  of  the  old  English,  as  more  graphic. 
Compare  the  language,  1  Pet.  v.  8:  '-The  Accuser,  like  a 
roaring  lion,  walks  about  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." 
It  must  have  come  from  the  Apostle's  familiarity  with  this 
language  in  Job. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


55 


9     Then   Satan  answered   the  Lord  and  said :    Doth  Job   fear   God   for   nouglit  ? 

10  Hast  thou  not  made  a  hedge^°  about  him,  and  about  his  house,  and  about  all  that 
he  hath  on  every  side.     Thou  hast  blessed  the  work  of  his  hands :  his  wealth  has 

11  spread  abroad  in  the  land.     But  put  forth  thy  hand  now  and  touch  all  that  he 

12  hath,  and  see  if  he  will  not  curse  thee  to  thy  face.  And  the  Lord  said  to  Satan  : 
Behold,  all  that  he  hath  is  in  thy  power ;  only  against  his  person  put  not  forth  thy 
hand.     So  Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

13  Now  it  was  the  day  that  his  sons  and  his  daughters  were  eating  and  drinking 

14  wine  in  the  house  of  their  brother,  the  first-born.  And  there  came  a  messenger  to 
Job  and  said :  The  cattle  were  ploughing,  the  she  asses  were  feeding  beside  them, 

15  when  the  Sabseans  fell  upon  them  and  took  them ;  The  servants  also  have  they 
smitten  with  the  edge  of  the  sword;  and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

16  While  he  was  still  speaking,  there  came  another  and  said  :  The  fire  of  God  fell 
from  heaven,  and  burned  the  flocks  and  the  young  men,  and  consumed  them ;  and 
I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

17  While  he  was  still  speaking,  there  came  another,  and  said:  The  Chaldeans 
made  three  bands,  and  set  upon  the  camels  and  took  them.  The  servants  also 
have  they  slain  with  the  sword ;  and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

18  While  he  was  still  speaking,  there  came  another  and  said  :  Thy  sons  and  thy 
daughters  were  eating  and  drinking  wine  in  the  house  of  their  brother,  the  first- 

19  born.  And  behold,  there  came  a  great  wind  from  the  direction  of  the  wilderness, 
and  struck  upon  the  four  corners  of  the  house,  so  that  it  fell  upon  the  young 
people,  and  they  are  dead ;  and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

20  Then  Job  arose  and  rent  his  garment,  and  shaved  his  head ;  and  he  fell  to  the 
earth  and  worshipped.     And  he  said  : 

21  All  naked  from  my  mother's  womb  I  came, 
And  naked  there  shall  I  again  return. 
Jehovah  gave,  Jehovah  takes  away ; 
Jehovah's  name  be  blessed. 

22  In  all  this  Job  sinned  not,  nor  charged  cruelty^^  upon  God. 


10  Ver.  10.  !>Iade  a  hedge  abont  him.  Among  the 
striking  epithets  which  the  Greek  [luets  affix  to  the  name  of 
the  supreme  god  Zeus,  n»  one  is  more  suggestive  of  certain 
scriptural  ideas  tlian  that  of  Zei;?  'Epxeio?  (derived  Latin 
Jupiter  Herceus)  literally,  "the  God  of  the  household,"  of 
the  enclosure"  (from  ep/coy,  a.  fence,  hedge,  or  wall) — the  "  God 
of  families,"  of  the  domestic  relations.  It  is  thus  the  style  of 
Scripture  not  to  shrink  from  placing  side  by  side,  as  it  were, 
the  two  extremes  in  the  divine  idea:  the  "God  Eternal,  Al- 
mighty, Most  Hi^i"  (sea  the  names  El  Olam,  El  Shaddai, 
El  Elycm,  as  they  occur  in  Genesis)  in  close  connection  with 
epithets  denoting  pafrial,  local,  and  even  family  relations. 
He  is  the  God  of  the  universe,  iravTOKpaTiap,  and  at  the  same 
time,  a  Sebs  jrarpuitos,  God  of  Israel,  the  God  of  Ilis  people, 
of  his  elect,  in  a  closer  sense  than  was  ever  dreamed  of  in 
any  Grecian  mythology.  This  epithet  is  a  gem  from  the 
ancient  mine  of  ideas.  The  thought  it  carries  is  from  the 
patriarchal  days.  "Thou  hast  made  a  herige  about  him  and 
about  his  house,  and  all  that  he  hath."  God  does  not  deny 
what  Satan  says,  although,  for  his  own  transcending  rea- 
sons. He  gives  him  permission  to  enter  that  sacred  enclosure, 
aud  lay  it  waste  for  a  season,  that  it  may  be  restored  to  a 


state  of  more  perfect  security.  Ho  is  called  Zeu?  'EpKeio?, 
say  the  Scholiasts,  because  his  statue  stood  in  the  cpicos, 
and  that  these  frigid  fouls,  and  many  modern  critics  with 
them,  think  to  be  enough.  They  never  think  of  asking  the 
question  that  lies  back  of  this  :  why  was  his  btatue  placed 
in  that  spot?  There  was  in  it  the  same  idea  that  is  repre- 
sented in  those  words  of  the  Latin  poet : 

"  Sacra  Dei,  sanctique  patres  " — 

80  pregnant  with  a  meaning  of  which  he  himself  perhaps  had 
a  very  inadequate  conception, — the  sacred  famil;/  idea,  now 
so  fiercely  assailed  in  some  quarters — those  holy  domestic 
relations  so  closely  allied  to  religion,  and  where  Righteous- 
ness lingers  last  when  taking  its  departure  from  the  earth  : 

"extrema  per  illos 
"  Justitia  excodons  terris  vestigia  fei;it." 

iiVer.22.  Cruelty,  nS-DH  :  enormiiy.  Anything 

T  ;    • 

abnormal,  anomalous,  inexplicable.  See  the  note  on  the 
word,  ch.  xxiv.  12. 


56 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Chapter  II. 

1  Again  it  was  the  day  when  the  Sons  of  God  came  to  present  themselves  before 
the  Lord ;  and  Satan  came  also  among  them  to  present  himself  before  the  Lord. 

2  Then  said  the  Lord  to  Satan  :  Whence  comest  thou  ?  And  Satan  answered  the 
Lord  and  said :    From  going  to  and  fro  in  the  earth,  and  from  walking  up  and 

3  down  in  it.  Then  said  the  Lord  to  Satan :  Hast  thou  observed  my  servant  Job, 
that  there  is  none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a  man  pure  and  just,  fearing  God  and 
shunning  evil  ?  And  still  he  holds  fast  his  integrity,  though  thou  didst  move  me 
against  him  to  destroy  him  without  cause. 

4  And  Satan  answered  the  Lord  and  said  :  Skin  after  skin^ ;  yea  all  that  a  man 

5  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life.     But  put  forth  thy  hand  now,  and  touch  his  bone  ; 

6  touch  his  flesh  ;  and  see  if  he  will  not  curse  thee  to  thy  face !  And  the  Lord  said 
to  Satan :  Behold,  he  is  in  thy  hand,  only  spare  his  life. 

7  Then  Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  smote  Job  with  a 

8  grievous  sore,  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  to  his  crown.     And  he  took  a  potsherd  to 

9  scrape  himself  therewith,  as  he  sat  among  the  ashes.     Then  said  his  wife  to  him : 

10  Dost  thou  still  hold  fast  thine  integrity  ?  Curse"  God  and  die.  But  Job  said  to 
her :  Thou  speakest  as  one  of  the  foolish  women  speaks.  Shall  we,  then,  accept' 
good  at  the  hands  of  God,  and  shall  we  not  accept  evil  ?  In  all  this  Job  sinned  not 
with  his*  lips. 

11  Now  three  friends  of  Job  heard  of  all  this  evil  that  was  come  upon  him.  And 
they  came,  each  one  from  his  place,  Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  and  Bildad  the  Shu- 
hite,  and  Zophar  the  Naamathite,  for  they  made  an  appointment  together  to  go 

12  and  mourn  with  him,  and  to  comfort  him.  And  they  lifted  up  their  eyes  afar  oif, 
and  knew  him  not ;   and  they  wept  aloud,  and  rent,  each  one,  his  mantle,  and 


iVer.4.  Skin  after  Skin.  Heb.  *li_j;  n;?3  I'lJ^i 
or  skin  for  s?cin,  if  we  wish  to  take  1V^  in  the  same  way  as 
at  the  end  oi  the  verse,  ll^aj  "1j,0,/«»"  ^'is  life.  But  it 
comes  to  the  same  thing.  From  the  sense  of  a/^er,  which 
certainly  belongs  to  '^^2,  anil,  in  Arabic,  is  the  prominent 
sense,  comes  that  of  ej-change,  oue  thing  after  another,  or 
taking  the  place  of  anotlmr;  the  preposition  coming  before 
either  the  price  or  the  thing  exchanged.  But  wliat  is  the 
meaning  of  it  ?  It  would  require  a  large  space  to  give  the 
different  views  that  have  been  entertained.  The  reader  will 
find  a  very  full  list  of  them,  as  given  by  Dr.  Conant  :  Skin 
for  skin — skin  of  another  for  skin  of  one's  self^skin  for  the 
body — skinforskin,  a  proverbial  saying,  like  for  like  —  skin 
after  skin,  as  Si-hultens  explains  it:  that  is,  a  willingness  to  he 
flayed  over  and  overagain,  that  is,  figuratively,  to  be  stripped 
of  all  his  possessions,  etc.  It  seems  strange  th.at  none  of  them 
seek  the  explanation  of  the  language  in  any  thing  beyond 
itself.  After  so  much  discussion,  it  is  with  d'ffidence  the 
translator  makes  the  suggestion  that  the  whole  difficulty  is 
cleared  up  by  simply  adverting  to  the  words  lO^i?  and 
'life's  ("  bis  bone  and  his  flesh  ")  in  the  next  verse.  "r~IVj> 

hone  is  used  for  the  very  substance  of  a  thing,  in  distinc- 
tion from  its  outside,  or  incidental  properties.  See  Exodus 
xxiv.  12.    So  C3^J,  sometimes.     But  take  it  here  for  6one, 

as  something  more  interior  than  the  skin,  or  as  containing 
the  medulla,  or  as  connected  with  the  flesh  which  has  in 
it  more  of  the  life,  the  feeling,  than  the  skin,  and  we  have 
just  the  comparison  desired.  It  is  the  interior  flesli.  the 
quick  flesh,  as  contrasteil  with  the  less  sensible  skin.  So  in 
Xix.  25,  it  is  the  contra.st  between  the  raw  flesh  to  which 
he  points  OnXT),  as  yet  remaining,  and  the  skin  which  the 
crawling  worms,  bred  by  his  disease,  had  already  nearly  de- 
voured. The  comparison  seems  obvious.  The  skin  is  outside 


to  the  b^ne,  and  to  the  quick  or  tender  flesh.  It  represents 
the  outiide  goods,  ra  e|u),  such  as  property  and  even  chil- 
dren. These  may  be  stripped  off,  like  one  cuticle  after 
another,  but  the  interior  life,  the  bone  and  the  quick-flesh, 
is  not  reached.  Touch  that  and  see  if  he  will  not  cry  out 
in  a  different  strain.  Satan  wanted  to  try  the  effect  of 
severe  bodilv  pain.  lie  knew  how  intolerable  it  was,  and 
that  other  afflictions,  though  deemed  greater,  perhaps,  when 
estimated  as  matt'  r  of  loss,  couJd  more  easily  be  borne. 
The  history  shows  that  it  was  not  the  fear  of  death  that 
was  BO  terrible  to  Job,  since  he  sometimes  exjiresses  a  desire 
to  die.     Hi's  J  then,  here  rendered  the  life  (end  of  ver.  4)  is 

not  life,  as  existence,  but  life  as  fi'eling,  feeling  of  severe 
pain.  At  the  end  of  ver.  6,  the  context  demands  the  other 
sense.  He  will  give  any  thing,  says  Satan,  to  get  relief 
from  that  when  it  becomes  excruciating.  See  Remarks  on 
this  idea  of  unendurable  pain  in  the  Introduction  on  the 
Thetfm  of  the  Book,  p.  28. 

2  Ver.  9.  The  reasons  for  this  rendering  are  still  stronger 
here  than  in  the  other  passage,  i.  5.  The  wifi's  vehemence, 
and  apparent  bitterness,  deman<l  the  strongest  exjiression. 

8  Ver.  10.  Accept.  This  is  a  more  suitable  word,  and 
denotes  more  than  receive.  The  latter  word  docs  not  de- 
termine the  manner,  being,  like  the  Hebrew    np7-     73p 

occurs  in  Daniel  and  Ezra,  and  may  be  called  an  Aramaism  ; 
but  such  examples,  as  has  been  fully  shown,  prove  little 
or  nothing  in  respect  to  the  date  of  the  Book.  There  are 
still  more  decided  Aramaisms  in  Genesis  and  Judges.  There 
are  reasons,  in  some  cases,  for  regarding  them  as  marks 
of  antiquity  rather  than  of  the  contrary. 

«  Ver.  10.  liVlth  his  lips.  The  Jewish  commentators 
infer  from  this  that  while  Job  preserved  correctness  of 
speech,  he  was  already  sinning,  or  beginning  to  feel  a  want 
of  submission,  in  his  heart.  But  there  hardly  seems  any 
good  warrant  for  this.    See  Int.  T/ieism,  p.  28. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


57 


13  sprinkled  dust  upon  their  heads  toward  heaven.  And  they  sat  down  with  him 
upon  the  earth,  seven  days  and  seven  nights ;  and  none  spake  a  word  to  him  ;  for 
they  saw  that  his  pain^  was  very  great. 


B  Ver.  13.    Pain  -was  very  g^reat.     3>«3,  means, 

properly,  bodily  pain,  although  used  sometimes  for  affliction 
generally,  or  df>lor  cordis,  the  aching  of  the  soul  (see  Ina 
Ixv.  14).  But  even  this  is  on  account  of  the  do^or  corporis, 
which  may  become  so  great  as  to  overpower  everything 
else.  This  has  not  been  suflSciently  attended  to  by  com- 
mentators. See  remarks  Int.  Theism,  p.  28,  etc.  Job's  grie- 
vous cry,  oh.  iii.,  was  simply  the  expresiion  of  this  intoler- 


able pain,  which  the  fell  disease  was  bringing  upon  him. 
Satan  was  now  touching  his  bone  and  his  quick-Jlesh,  in- 
stead of  his  skin,  that  is,  any  outward  good.  See  Note  on 
ver.  4.  The  conduct  of  the  friends  sliows  this.  Had  it  been 
mental  sorrow  alone,  however  severe,  there  would  hiivo  been 
no  reason  why  they  should  not  have  spoken  to  him.  But 
to  a  man  writhing  in  such  e.Ytreme  bodily  anguish,  speech 
would  be  useless,  if  not  an  aggravation. 


Chapter  III. 


1  After  this  Job  opened  his  mouth  and  cursed  his  day. 

2  And  Job  began  and  said, 

3  Perish  the  day  when  I  was  to  be^  bom, 

The  night  that  said,'^  a  man  child  is  conceived. 

4  That  day !  O  be  it  darkness  evermore ; 
Eloah  never  seek  it  from  above, 

Nor  ever  shine  the  light  upon  its  face. 

5  Let  darkness  and  the  death  shade  calP  it  back ; 
Dense  clouds  upon  it  make  their  fixed  abode ; 
And  dire  eclipses*  fill  it  with  affright. 

6  That  night !  thick  darkness  take  it  for  its  own. 
In  the  year's  reckoning  may  it  never  joy  ; 
Nor  come  into  the  number  of  the  months. 

7  Lo !  let  that  night  be  barren  evermore. 
And  let  no  sound  of  joy  be  heard  therein. 

8  Who  curse  the  day,  let  them  forever  curse  it, — 
They  who  are  doomed^  to  rouse  Leviathan. 


1  Ver.  3.  13  iSlX.    Wben  I  was  to  be  born.— We 

follow  Raschi,  who  gives  the  future  here  its  prospective  sig- 
nificance. The  post-anticipating  imagination  goes  back  of 
birth,  and  takes  its  stand  before  the  cominu;  event,  as  though 
deprecating,  praying  against,  its  appearance.  "  The  day  nn 
which  I  was  going  to  be  born,"  he  renders  it  ""n'TI  K?  1X1 
\>M  "  and  was  then  iwt  yet  born.'"  Unless  there  had  been 
some  such  idea  as  this,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why  the  preterite 
would  not  have  been  used,  as  it   is  in  the  parallel  passage, 

Jerem.  xx.  14:  "laTl'lh''  "^Uii  DrH  inX,  "cursed  be 
the  day  in  which  I  was  born." 

a  Ver.  3.  The  nlsrtat  that  said,— More  grammatical 
as  well  as  more  sigijificant  than  our  English  Version.  Night 
is  personified.    This  is  now  generally  acknowledged. 

8  Ver.  5.  Call  it  back. — TJmbreit,  einliJsen,  redeem  it, 
buy  it  hack.  Darkness  and  Tzdlmazet.h  are  called  upon  to 
take  it  back  as  something  which  had  been  loaned  or  mort- 
gaged— reclaim  it  as  their  own — a  terrific  image. — The  other 
sense  of  7XJ,  namely,  that  ot  staining,  which  some  give  it 
here,  will  not  do  at  all. 

*  Ver.  5.  Dire  eclipses.— nnn3.  Patach  shortened 


to  mrek  in  the  construct,  state.  The  other  rendering  makes 
3  comparative,  and  takes  T'10  as  equal  to  T'">S{0  Hiph. 
part,  of  TIX:  ?»^e  those  who  nirse  the  day.  This,  however, 
would  make  what  follows  in  ver.  8  but  a  tame  repetition, 
which  is  not  likely.  From  1DD  ^^0  get  the  sense  of  convo- 
httion,  wrapping  or  rolling  together.  Hence  the  image  of 
any  great  obscuration,  veiling  or  darkening  of  the  heavens. 

6  Ver.  8.  Doomed.— The  primary  sense  of  TTlJt  is  a 
near  futurity,  something  impending,  hence  prompt,  prepared, 
and  from  that  the  sense  of  .';7ci7/<''i  whieli,  however,  does  not 
occur  elsewhere  in  Hebrew,  and  seems  to  have  been  made  by 
Gesenius  and  otherH,  for  this  one  place.  The  primary  sense, 
given  nearly  in  E.  V.,  will  do  here,  and,  in  connection  with 
it,  it  is  easy  to  take  Leviathan  in  its  usual  sense  of  some 
great  monster,  and  the  wliole  passage  as  denoting  persons 
exposed  to  some  imminent  danger,  or  in  the  extreme  of  mi- 
sery :  let  it  have  the  cursing  of  .'!»o/i— that  is,  tlie  deepest 
cursing.  Delitzsch,  and  others,  refer  it  to  a  superstition 
built  upon  the  fable  of  the  dragon  swallowing  the  moon  in 
an  eclipse.  Tlinse  who  rouse  Leviathan  are  enchanters,  who, 
in  this  way,  are  supposed  to  produce  eclipses.  It  seems  very 
far-fetched,  and  has  about  it  an  aspect  of  artificiality  quite 
alien  to  the  deep  p.assionateness  of  the  passage/  There  is,  be- 
sides, not  the  least  evidence  of  any  such  superstition  among 
the  Jews  or  the  ancient  Arabians. 


58 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


9       Be  dark  its  twilight  stars. 

For  light  let  it  look  forth,  aud  look  in  vain  ; 
Nor  may  it  ever  see  the  eyelids  of  the  dawn. 

10  For  that  it  did  not  shut  the  womb  when  I  was  born, 
Nor  hide  the  coming  sorrow  from  mine  eyes. 

11  Why  at  the  birth  did  I  not  die- 
When  from  the  womb  I  came — and  breathe  my  last  ? 

12  Why  wore  the  nursing®  knees  prepared  ? 
And  why  the  breasts  that  I  should  suck? 

13  Fpr  now  in  silence  had  I  lain  me  down  ; 
Yea,  I  had  slept  and  been  at  rest 

14  (With  kings  and  legislators  of  the  earth — 

The  men  who  build  their  mouldering'  monuments — 

15  Or  princes  once  enriched  with  gold, 
Their  homes  with  treasure  filled), 

16  Or,  like  the  hidden  birth,®  had  never  lived; 
Like  still-born  babes  that  never  saw  the  lia:ht. 


18 


19 


For  there  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling; 
There  the  weary  are  at  rest. 
There  lie  the  captives  all  at  ease  ; 
The  driver's  voice  they  hear  no  more. 
The  small  and  great  alike  are  there; 
The  servant  from  his  master  free. 


20  O  why  does  He®  give  light  to  one  in  pain  ? 
Or  life  to  the  embittered  soul  ? 

21  To  those  who  long  for  death  that  never  comes ; 
Who  seek  for  it  beyond  the  search  of  treasure ; 

22  Who  joy  to  exultation, — yea, 

Are  very  glad,  when  they  can  find  the  grave. 

23  [The  grave !'"]  'tis  for  the  man  whose  way  is  hid, — 
Whom  God  hath  hedged  around. 

24  For  still  my  groaning  goes  before  my  food, 
My  moans  like  water  are  poured  forth. 

25  For  I  did  greatly  fear,"  and  it  hath  come ; 

Yea,  it  hath  come  to  me,  the  thing  that  was  my  dread : 


'  « Ver.  12.  Tlie  nnrsing;  knees.— An  affecting 
image  of  the  preparation  made  for  the  coming  birth.  The 
tendorest  care  becomes  the  obiectof  the  direst  imprecation. 

7  Ver.  14.    Mouldering  Monuments.— fllDin- 

Delitzsch,  ruins.  So  Umbreit.  Monuments  so  called  be- 
cause now  abandoned  to  neglect, — mouldering  like  the  me- 
mories of  those  who  built  them.  There  is  here  a  bitter  irony, 
as  UMnRElT  says. 

8  Ver.  16.  Had  never  lived. — nTIN  X/  in  sense 
connects  back  with  'njty'>  ver.  1.3,  and  what  intervenes  may 
be  regarded  as  parenthetical  comparisons  :  The  first  IX,  ver. 
15,  is  simply  connective  of  vers.  14  and  15. 

9  Ver.  20.  Wily  does  He  7— God  is  evidently  the  sub- 
ject of  "Ijy.  It  is  as  though  Job  feared  to  name  him  other- 
wise than  by  the  pronoun.  There  is  no  need  of  taking  it 
passively,  as  in  E.  V.,  and  thereby  destroying  much  of  the 


power  and  pathos  of  the  passage.  Such  avoidance  in  Hebrew 
of  the  direct  naming  of  the  subject  almost  always  denotes 
something  fearful  in  the  thought  of  the  act  or  the  agent. 

1"  Ver.  23.  Were  it  not  for  the  Masoretic  accentuation  and 
division,  T3p,  end   of  ver.  22,  might   be  taken  with  the 

clause  that  follows :  the  grave  is  for  the  man,  etc..  In  that 
case,  however,  the  preceding  verb  would  have  needed  an  ob- 
jective suffix  representing  nifj.  ver.  21.    The  force  of  the 

VT 

word  n3p  may,  at  all  events,  be  regarded  as  carried  over 

into  the  following  verse,  as  the  still  sounding  refrain :  the 
grnre — it  is  for  the  man  wJiose.  way  is  hid.  etc. 

11  Ver.  2.5.  Did  jfreally  fear. — The  language  is  soli- 
loquizing. It  may  be  regarded  as  a  resitminq,  after  a  pause 
in  which  there  occurs  to  the  mind  of  Job  this  silent  protest, 
anticipating,  as  it  were,  something  of  the  kind  of  charge 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


59 


26       For  I  was  not  at  ease,  uor  felt  secure. 

Nor  rested  thoughtlessly — yet  trouble  came. 


that  might,  perhaps,  be  brought  against  him  by  the  friends. 
I  was  not  presumptuous,  ho  seems  to  say ;  this  trouble  couIJ 
not  have  come  as  a  punisliment  for  any  such  feeling.  He 
had  thought  of  adversity  in  the  midst  of  his  prosperity; 
"  hia  heart  had  not  been  haughty,  nor  his  eyes  lofty."  Ho 
may  refer  to  a  fear  ho  had  hal  of  this  awful  disease,  the  ele- 
phantiasis, which  had,  at  last,  come  upon  him.  It  is  not 
easy  to  discover  the  reason  why  some  commontators  turn 
these  distinct  preterite  verbs  of  fear,  ^rnfli).  ^mj',  into 


presents,  as  though  he  then  feared  some  other  terrible  thing 
as  coming  upon  him.  So  Delitzsch  renders  it,  although  the 
verbs  in  the  next  verso,  having  precisely  the  same  form,  and 
standing  in     precisely    the  same   grammatical   connectinu 

(namely,  '^DtjJif,    T^t^plif,  etc.),  he  takes  in  the  past.     It 

seems  like  treating  the  Hebrew  tenses  as  though  they  could 
be  made  to  mean  anything  which  a  commentator  might  wish 
to  bring  out. 


Chapter  IV. 

1  Then  answered  Ellphaz,  the  Temanite,  and  said : 

2  A  word,  should  we  attempt,  wouldst  thou  be  grieved  ? 

Yet  who  from  speaking  can  refrain  ? 

3  Lo  many  hast  thou  taught, 

And  strengthened  oft  the  feeble  hands. 

4  The  faltering  steps  thy  speech  hath  rendered  firm, 

The  sinking  knees  made  strong, 

5  But  now  to  thee  it  comes,  and  thou  art  weary ; 
It  toucheth  thee,  and  thou  art  all  amazed. 

6  Is  not  thy  pious'  fear  thy  confidence  ? 

Is  not  thy  hope  the  pureness  of  thy  ways  ? 

7  Call  now  to  mind  ;  when  has  the  guiltless  perished?' 
And  where  were  just  men  hopelessly  destroyed? 

8  It  is  as  I  have  seen,  that  they  who  evil  plough — 
Who  mischief  sow,  they  ever  reap  the  same. 

9  By  the  breath  of  God  these  perish  utterly ; 

By  the  blast  of  his  fierce  wrath  are  they  consumed. 

(Hushed  is)  the  lion's  cry,  the  schachal's  roar ; 

The  strong  young  lion's  teeth  are  crushed. 

The  fierce  old  lion  perishes  from  want ; 

The  lion's  whelps  are  scattered  far  and  wide.' 


10 


11 


12      To  me,  at  times,*  there  steals  a  warning^  word  ; 
Mine  ear  its  whisper  seems  to  catch. 


1  Ver.  6.  Pions  fear.  The  epithet  is  used  in  order  to 
give  the  distinctive  meaning.  mH'  r\XT  is  'he  Hebrew 
phrase  for  religion,  and  becomes  used  elliptically. 

2  Ver.  7.  The  emphasis  here  is  on  the  verb,  "13X  and 
nnDJ<  both  strong  words.  The  first  might  be  rendered 
U>st,  nttrrJii  gone.  The  second  is  well  expressed,  in  the 
Knglish  version,  by  the  Jewish  phrase,  cut  off.  Instead  of  as 
yet  charging  Job  with  crimes,  or  even  insinuating  them, 
tliis  language  is  meant  to  be  encouraging.  "  The  just,  such 
as  thou  claimest  to  be,  and  as  we  believe  thee  to  be,  are 
never  utterly  Inst,  dextrnt/ed,  cut  off  from  God'a  people. 
Therefore,  hope  thou  for  healing  and  restoration." 

8  Vers.  10  and  n.  Merx  puts  these  verses  in  the  margin 
of  his  text,  in  smaller  letters,  and  regards  them  as  a  dis- 
placement. They  certainly  have  that  look,  unless  we  may 
regard  them  as  a  specimen  of  the  way  in  which  animated 
Arabian  speakers  run  out  their  comparisons,  as  Homer 
sometimes  does,  until  they  seem  to  lose  sight  of  the  primary 
idea.  What  seems,  too,  to  favor  this  view  of  Merx  is  the 
apparent  lack  of  any  verb,  or  verbs,  for  the  nouns  in  the 
first  clause,  unless  tliey  are  connected  with   ^^jlj,  which 

seeme  only  applicable  to  the  teeth.    The  translator  has  en- 


deavored to  supply  this  by  the  words  in  brackets.  Such 
ellipses  seem  allowal)le  when  it  is  easy  to  understand  a  verb 
agreeable  to  the  nature  of  the  nouns,  and  suiting  the 
context.  It  may,  however,  be  regarded  as  a  case  of 
zeugma. 

*  Ver.  12    Although  the  Hebrew  here  is  so  very  short  in 
expression  2iy  "^2"^  '"7X1,  only  three  words,  the  translator 

t".  :  TT  —  ••: 
would  defend  liis  version  as  neither  superfluous  nor  deficient. 
The  latter  charge  would  seem  to  be  against  the  omission  of 
the  conjunction:  but  1,  here,  is  only  a  transition  particle. 
It  connects  nothing,  and,  therefore,  as  any  full  English 
conjunction  would  only  encumber  the  thought,  the  1  is  best 
rendered  by  being  left  out  (see  note  on  the  omission  of  the 
conjunction  xiv.  2).    The  Pual  22^  is  rendered  deponently; 

t\  : 
the  passive  form  denoting  merely  ease  or  gentleness  of  mo- 
tion, as  though  from  no  agency  of  the  subject.     Literally 
WHS  stolen  ;  but  the  idea  is  evidently  the  same  as  we  some- 
times express  by  the  active  steal,  as  in  Milton's  lines  : 

A  soft  and  solemn  hreatkinij  sound 
Rose  like  the  scent  of  rich  distilled  perfumes, 
And  stole  upon  the  air. 


60 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


13  In  troubled  thoughts  from  spectres  of  the  night, 
When  falls  on  men  the  vision-seeing®  trance, — 

14  And  fear  has  come,  and  trembling  dread. 
And  made  my  every  bone  to  thrill  with  awe,^ — 

15  'Tis  then  before  me  stirs  a  breathing  form  f 
O'er  all  my  flesh  it  makes  the  hair  rise  up.® 

16  It  stands;^"  no  face"  distinct  can  I  discern; 
An  outline  is  before  mine  eyes  ; 

Deep  silence  V^  then  a  voice  I  hear : 

17  Is  mortal"  man  more  just  THAif  God  ? 

Is  boasting"  man  more  pure  than  He  who  made  him? 

18  In  His  own  servants,  lo,  He  trusteth  not. 
Even  on  His  angels  doth  He  charge'*  defect. 

19  Much  more  to  them  who  dwell  in  homes  of  clay, 
With  their  foundation  laid  in  dust, 

And  crumbled  like  the  moth. 


At  times.  This  is  justified,  and  even  demanded  in 
order  to  give  the  true  conception  of  the  future  form  in  33  J\ 

t\: 
It  is  the  frequentative,  future,  denoting  repeated  happening, 
a  coming  of  things,  one  after  another,  and  tlierefore  future 
to  each  other  as  a  picture,  though  all  past  as  a  narration. 
The  pictorial  Hebrew  language  uses  this  future  in  prose, 
sometimes,  as  well  as  in  poetry.  There  is  an  example  of  it, 
oh.  i.  5:    "Thus   did  Job  continually,"   ;DVi<  HtJ'i^''   TfDJ 

(thus  would  he  do,  Q'DTI  iD  "all  the  days"— ^tni«  after 
time).  We  may  render  it  by  a  past  tense  ;  but  there  is  a 
subjective  or  relative  futurity  in  it.  Tliere  is,  moreover, 
something  in  this  form,  as  here  used,  that  gives  an  anticipa- 
tory, a  lookiag-out  s^nse  to  the  whole  passage.  It  is  painted 
as  something  coming  on,  as  though  the  speaker  placed  him- 
self t'ra  wiedias  res,  or  rather  back  of  all,  and  regarded  the 
events  as  they  appeared  to  him  in  each  time  of  his  having 
this  clairvoyant  experience;  for  the  whole  style  of  the  lan- 
guage seems  to  convey  such  an  idea;  as  in  the  case  of  the 
SaiiJ.6vi.ov  of  Socrates  which  so  frequently  appeared  to  him, 
though  not  always,  perhaps,  in  the  same  way.  The  plural 
nouns  in  the  first  clause  of  ver.  13  confirm  this  view:  "in 
seasons  of  serious  thought — in  visioni  of  the  night;"  as 
though  it  had  oftea  happened. 

To  render  3JJ^  in  the  past,  without  any  wau  converstve, 
T\: 
or  .any  .affecting  particle,  or  any  thing  in  the  context  to  Jus- 
tify it,  s^ems  very  arbitrary,  besides  overlooking  the  whole 
spirit  of  trie  passage.  As  the  formal  future  i^' will  steal") 
would  not  suit  our  idiom,  or  our  Occidental  moiles  of  ex- 
pressing relative  timn,  the  best  thing  we  can  ^o  is  to  imitate 
the  pictorial  manner  by  putting  it  in  the  present,  with 
some  word  to  denote  its  repetitive  idea  as  an  experience,  and 
something  to  express  the  subjective  anticipatory  f-^eling. 
To  this  latter  servic«,  no  word  is  better  adapted  than  our 
word  seems,  as  used  in  vers.  12  and  15. 

Similar  remarks  are  applicable  to  the  futures  that  follow, 

uamely,   n/H',  a  peculiarly  visionary  word,  and    "IISOH, 

ver.  15,  and  ^0_J,'^  ver.  16.    The  praeterites  mingled  with 

them  CJXIp  and  THSil)  have  more  of  the  narrative  in 

•  -  T  I:  •    ; 

distinction  from  the  descriptive  style  ;  but  these,  too,  may 
be  regarded  as  subjective  retro-transitions,  or  shiftings  of 
scenic  event.  It  may  be  maintained,  also,  that  they  are  all 
affected  by  the  peculiar  subjective  character  given  to  the 
whole  passage  by  the  starting  future  JJJ',  ver.  12. 

T'-  : 
B  Ver.  12.  Warning  word.— H^l,  here,  has  its  sense 

T  T 

nracultim,  as  in  Num.  xxiii.  5,  16,  and  frequently  in  the 
Prophets. 

6  Ver.  13.  VIslon-seeins:.— On  the  propriety  of  this 
word,  see  remarks  Ixt.  Rhyth.  Ver.,  p.  51. 

1  Yqt.  14.  Tbrill  witb  awe.    TTliJil  is  an  intensive 

verb  of  fear,  but  does  not,  of  itself,  mean  to  shake,  as  E.  V. 
renders  it.  The  Hiphil  form  makes  it  here  peculiarly 
strong. 


8  Ver.  15.  A  breathing:  form.  Some  render  nil 
here  a  spirit  (a  spectre,  phantasm) ;  others,  simply  a  wind. 
The  rendering  above  given  combines  both  ideas — not  for  the 
sake  of  compromise,  but  because  it  is  supposed  to  be  most 
descriptive  of  the  fact  Intended :  a  stirring,  or  movement  in 
the  air,  produced  by  a  spiritual  presence,  thus,  as  it  were, 
taking  form  anl  position  for  the  sense,  or,  in  this  way,  an- 
nouncing itself.  Walter  Scott  may  not  have  thought  of  Job, 
but  he  has  something  of  the  same  conception  in  respect  to 
the  effect  produced  by  the  presence  of  spirits,  when  William 
of  Deloraiue  disturbed  the  grave  of  the  wizard.  Michael 
Scott  (_Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Cant.  ii.  16) : 

Strange  sounds  along  the  chancel  past, 
The  banners  waved  without  a  blast. 

We  have,  along  with  this,  that  most  peculiar  verb  H^n, 

generally  denoting  some  mysterious,  indescribable  change. 
The  simplest  word,  however,  answers  the  purpose  here.  It 
was  a  stirring  in  the  air,  just  making,  or  seeming  to  make, 
itself  perceptible  to  the  sense. 

9  Ver.  15.  Made  my  bair  rise  up:  TSDJ^.  There 

is  no  reason  why  this  Piel  verb  should  not  have  its  transi- 
tive sense,  though  most  commentators  render  it  intransi- 
tively, making  Itair  the  subject.  If  taken  transitively,  nil 
(wind  or  spirit)  is  the  subject :  or  the  feminine  may  denote 
a  general  or  indefinite  subject,  the  event  itself. 

1*  Ver.  16.  It  stands.  HO.J?''— takes  position  after  the 
breathing  motion,  and  before  the  announcement. 

11  No  face.    nX'lO,  aspeclus,  visage,   something  that 

has  features.    It  is  a  more  distinct  word  than  nj^On  in  the 

T       : 
next  clause,  and  makes  a  contrast  with  it  stronger  than  the 
wordsybrm.  and  image  as  used   by  E.  V.  and  Conant.     It  is 
the  mere  outline  without  any  look,  or  any   internal  linea- 
ments. 

13  Ver.  16.  Deep  silence  I  HDOT  might,  perhap", 
be  taken  interjectionally,  as  we  sometimes  use  the  noun 
silence  for  hush/  as  though  the  narrator,  in  his  vivid  appre- 
hension, is  carried  back,  and  loses  himself  in  the  scene: 
"  Hush !  'tis  a  voice  I  hear !"  or,  am  about  to  hear  (subjective 
future  ^^OWH). 

1'  Ver.  17.  The  annonncement  of  the  Spirit  is  put  in 
capitals  ;  but  it  is  not  certain  where  it  ends,  or  where  Eliphaz 
resumes  his  moralizing.     Ver.  19,  beginning  with  ciX,  looks 

as  though  it  might  be  the  application  that  the  speaker 
makes  of  the  Spirit's  message,  which  either  stops  here  or 
goes  through  the  chapter. 

1*  Ver.  17.     Boasting'  man.    The  epithet  is  used  to 

mark  the  contrast  intended  between  U/lJX,  weak  man,  mor- 
tal man,  and  "13  J.  strong  man,  hero,  avrip,  vir. 

16  Ver.  18.  Defect:  n/iin,  ignorance. 

16  Ver.  19.  'J£)7  ;  justly  regarded  by  Conant  and  others 
as  comparative. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


61 


20  From  morn  till  uight  they're  stricken  down^ 
Without  regard  they  perish  utterly. 

21  Their  cord"  of  life,  is  it  not  torn  away  ? 

They  die — still  lacking'®  wisdom. 


"  Ver.  21.   Their  cord  of  Ufe.    D3  DliT-    Thia 

T  T  : 

rendering  is  adopted  by  the  most  modern  commentators.    It 
gives  ua  the  same  image  as  tlie  mournful  language  of  Heze- 

kiah,  Isa.  xxxviii.  12,  "'jyif  D'  H^TD-    Life,  as  a  cord  or 

•••:-:        T  -  • 
thread,  is  n  common  figure  in  many  languages. 

18  Ver.  21.  Still  lacking  wisdom.    7103113  J071 

T  :  T  :  : 

literally,  but  not  in  wisdnm,  or  with  wisdom.    It   may   he 
taken  as  referring  to  the  deep  wisdom  of  God,  Job  xxviii.  13 


— "not  found  in  the  land  of  t?ie  living"  that  is,  among  mor- 
tal men  at  all.  Or  it  may  he  referred  to  the  highest  wisdom 
of  which  man  is  capable,  "</i«  fear  of  God,"  xxviii.  28,  but 
which  comparatively  few  men  possess. 

It  is  not  exactly  certain  where  the  metaphor  ends.  Critics 
of  tha  Lowthian  school  might  deem  tliis  a  fault.  In  the 
sacred  writings,  however,  metaphors  are  n"t  employed  for 
embellishm'-nt.  It  may  be  thought,  too,  that  in  this  case 
the  effei-t  is  strengthened  by  the  very  uncertainty.  We 
hardly  know  where  tlie  moth  ends  and  the  man  begins,  or 
where  the  one  fades  away  into  the  other. 


Chapter  V. 


1  Call  now.     Does  any  answer  thee  ? 

To  whom  among  the  Holy  dost  thou  turn  ? 

2  Grief  slays  the  foolish  man  ; 

It  is  the  simple  one  whom  anger  kills. 

3  I've  seen  myself  the  foolish^  taking  root ; 
But  soon  I  cursed  his  home. 

4  His  sons,  from  safety  far  removed, 

Are  trampled  in  the  gate — no  helper  near. 

5  His  harvest  doth  the  hungry  man  devour ; 
Even  from  the  thorns^  he  seizes  it ; 

Whilst  thirsty  robbers  swallow  up  his  wealth. 

6  Be  sure  that  evil  comes  not  from  the  dust, 
Nor  trouble  grows  as  herbage  from  the  ground. 

7  Ah  no!'  Man's  woe  is  from  his  birth. 
Thence  rises  it  as  rise  the  children  of  the  flame. 

8  To  God  then,  surely,  would  I  seek  ; 
To  God  would  I  commit  my  trust ; 

9  To  God  whose  works  are  vast,  his  ways  unsearchable, 
His  wonders  numberless ; 


1  Ver.  3.  Tbe  foolish.  SmX  here,  if  taken  in  the 
milder  yet  still  morally  culpable  sense  of  fnnlish,  may  be 
personally  applicable  to  Job  for  his  violent  outcry,  although 
Eliphaz  does  not  sufficiently  consider,  or  understand,  his 
extreme  bodily  anguish.  In  the  harsher  sense  of  great  cri- 
minalitj',  such  as  seems  to  he  deno'ed  in  the  description  fol- 
lowing, we  cannot  regard  them  as  imputing  great  crime  to 
Job,  or  holding  hi-n  out  as  a  fit  subject  for  such  a  retribu- 
tion. The  controversy  has  not  yet  come  to  that,  and  such  a 
sndden  and  unwarranted  imputation  upon  one  who  had  been 
known  as  "  sincere  and  upright,  one  who  feared  God  and 
eschewed  evil,"  even  as  God  Himself  describes  him,  would 
certainly  be  a  gross  dramatic  inconsistency,  to  say  the  least. 
Job's  outcry  astonishes  them.  Whether  rightly  or  not,  they 
understand  him  as  implying  that  God  is  unjust,  that  He  even 
favors  the  wicked,  or,  at  least,  that  He  has  no  regard,  in  His 
providential  dealings,  to  the  character  or  destiny  of  men. 
It  is  a  defence  of  God  against  such  a  supposed  charge  rather 
tliin  an  attack  upon  Job  personally.  In  this  idea  we  find 
a  key  to  much  that  is  aft-rwards  said,  though  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  as  the  dispute  grows  warm  there  comes  more 
and  more  of  personal  crimination. 


>  Ver.  5.  Even  from  the  thorns.  This  inrensive 
rendering  is  demanded  by  the  union  of  the  prepositions 
Sx  and  7^— to  dnd  from.  Tftey  glean  close,  even  the  stray 
heads  of  grain  that  grow  among  the  thorns.     D'lSY  is  best 

made  here  from  DT3V  with  the  sense  of  XiDi'  '<>  thirst 
(ZbcKLER,  Umbreit,  EwALt),  Mebx).  One  version  has  rnbher, 
with  little  or  no  authority,  unless  regarded  as  metaphorical 
from  the  idea  of  the  </iir.5<y,  with  which  we  have  combined 
it  in  the  version  above.  Dillmann,  Davipson,  Conant, 
render  it  the  snare,  as  in  xviii.  9,  though  it  seems  quite 
forced  here,  and  entirely  out  of  harmony  with  flXl^,  to  gape 

OT  pant  after.  The  VuLO.  has  armaria  for  robber.  The  Sy- 
riac  renders  it  thirst^/,  which  certainly  seems  to  make  the 
clearest  contrast  with  hungry  (3J?1),  and  therefore  to  be  pre- 
ferred notwithstanding  xviii.  9. 

8  Ver.  7.  Ah,  no!  '3  is  not  only  strongly  adversative 
here,  but  evidently  implies  a  negative  ;  ov  jutjv  aWa.  Chil- 
dren of  the  flame;  literal  rendering  of  ^\if'^  ''J3, 
whether  regarded  as  metaphorical  of  sparks,  or  of  raven- 
ous birds,  as  Gesenics  and  others  take  it. 


62 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


10  "Who  giveth  rain  upon  the  earth, 
And  sendeth  waters  o'er  the  fields. 

11  The  lowly  ones  he  sets  on  high  ; 

The  mournhig  souls  in  safety  are  exalted. 

12  He  foils  the  cunning  in  their  vain  device ; 
Their  hands  are  powerless  to  work  reality.* 

13  He  snares  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness  ; 
"Whilst  the  dissembler's  plot  is  hurried  on  to  ruin. 

14  These  are  the  men  who  meet  the  darkness  in  the  day; 
Who  grope  at  highest  noon  as  in  the  night. 

15  God  rescues  from  the  sword,  from  their  devouring  mouth. 
Yea,  from  the  very  hand,  so  strong.  He  saves  the  poor. 

16  And  thus  the  weak  has  hope  ; 

And  foul  injustice  shuts  her  greedy  mouth. 

17  O  blessed  is  the  man  whom  God  reproves  ; 

The  Almighty's  chastening,  therefore,  spurn  thou  not. 

18  'Tis  true  he  woundeth,  yet  he  bindeth  up. 
He  smiteth,  yet  'tis  his  own  hand  that  heals. 

19  In  troubles  six  will  he  deliver  thee  ; 

In  seven — still  no  harm  shall  touch  thy  soul. 

20  In  famine,  he  from  death*  will  thee  redeem, — 
In  war,  from  the  sword's  edge. 

21  From  the  tongue's  smiting  thou  art  hidden  safe; 
Nor  shalt  thou  fear  war's  wasting  when  it  comes. 

22  At  devastation  and  at  famine  shalt  thou  laugh ; 
Of  forest  beasts*  thou  shalt  not  be  afraid. 

23  For  with  the  very  stones  hast  thou  a  covenant ; 
All  creatures  of  the  field  hold  peace  with  thee. 

24  So  shalt  thou  know  thy  tabernacle  safe ; 

Thine  household  muster,  and  find  nothing  gone.* 

25  Then  shalt  thou  learn  how  numerous  thy  seed, — 
Thine  offspring  as  the  earth's  green  growing  herb. 

26  And  thou  thyself,  in  ripened  age,  unto  thy  grave  shalt  come, 
As  sheaf  that  in  its  season  to  the  garner  mounts. 

Lo  this  ;  we've  pondered  well ;  this  is  our  thought. 
O  hear  and  know  it ;  take  it  to  thyself. 


*  Ver.  12.  Reality.    n'tJ^iri.     See  Noto7,  vi.  13. 

*  Ver.  20.  I>catll  hore  is  ropreaented  as  a  tyrant  or  a 
conqueror,  and  therefore  there  is  used  the  word  mS  to  re- 
deem. 


«  Ver.  22.  Forest  Bensts :  y^HTI  D'H,  leasts  of  thg 
earth;  wild  bcista  in  distinction  from  mtyn  n^H,  6«<i«'» 
nfthejl'M,  or  domestic  .animals. 

7  Vor.  2t.  NCOnn  xV  B-  v.,  not  sin.  Primary  sense 
here:  not  mm. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


63 


Chapter  VI. 

1  Then  Job  replied 

2  O  could  my  grief  be  weighed, 

And  poised'  against  it,  in  the  scale,  my  woe  1 

3  For  now  it  would  be  heavier  than  the  sand ; 
And  thence  it  comes,  my  incoherent'^  speech. 

4  For  Shaddai's  arrows  are  within  my  flesh ; 
Their  poison  drinketh  up  my  soul ; 

God's  terrors  stand  arrayed  before  my  face. 

5  Brays  the  wild  ass  when  the  green  herb  is  nigh  ? 
Or  lows  the  ox  when  fodder  is  before  him? 

6  Unsalted,  tasteless — how  can  it  be  eaten  ? 
"What  relish  is  there  in  the  white  of  eggs?' 

7  [So  with  your  words].     My  soul  refuses  taste. 

'Tis  food*  I  loathe. 

8  O  that  my  prayer  were  heard  ; 

That  God  would  grant  the  thing  for  which  I  long. 

9  Let  him  consent  and  crush  me  down  ; 

Let  loose  his  hand  and  cut^  my  thread  of  life. 

10  For  here  would  be  my  comfort  still. 

That  I  could  yet  endure,®  though  he  spare  not — 
The  Holy  one,  whose  word  I've  not  denied. 

11  But  what  then  is  my  strength,  that  I  should  hope? 
And  what  mine  end  that  I  be  patient  still  ? 

12  My  strength !  is  it  the  strength  of  stones? 

Or  is  my  flesh  of  brass  ? 

13  Is  not  my  help  within  me  gone, 
And  driven  from  me  life's  reality?' 

14  Unto  the  faint,  love  still  is  due  from  friends,' 
Even  though  he  had  the  fear  of  God  forsaken. 


1  Ver.  2.  Poised.  1X1^,  implyins:  weight— h'ftinrj  up, 
80  as  to  hang  in  free  suspension,  nn'  here  may  refer  to 
the  grief  and  sufferins  laid  tngHher,  or  as  denoting  coin- 
cidence; atone — like  nn' ;  the  two  ends  of  the  beam  in 
one  horizontal  line ;  expressive  of  great  exactness.    HTI 

T  " 

for  n^n,  great  misfortune,— extreme  wretchedness— a,  sighing 

onomatope,  like  onr  word  wof.    See  Hupfeld's  very  full  ex- 
planation of  the  word  Ps.  v.  10. 

2  Ver.  3.  Incoherent.  Primary  sense  of  71^^  7  is  swal- 
lowing, as  onr  translation  gives  it.  The  secondary  sense  is 
confused  and  difficult  utterance,  as  though  the  words  were 
choked  or  swallowed. 

8  Ver.  fi.  The  white  of  eg^g^S.  This  comparison  that 
seems  so  little  poetical,  is  evidently  significant  of  the  unsa- 
voriness  and  ta'itplessneis  of  the  counsfl  just  given.  How 
vapid  is  all  your  moralizing  as  contrasted  with  the  pungency/ 
of  my  insupportable  anguish  !  ."'ee  the  remarks  of  A.  B. 
Davidson,  a  late  but  most  admirable  commentator,  who  is 
very  full  on  this  and  the  following  verse. 

*  Ver.  7.  ■'nnS  'n.  -tJ'.,  diseases  of  my  food,— 
tickness  of  my  food,  or  food  of  sickness — unsavory,  or  that 
makes  me  sick. 


5  Ver.  9.  Comp.  iv.  21,  and  Isaiah  xxxviii.l2. 

«  Ver.  10.  Endnre:  mSoXV  Most  modern  commen- 
tators follow  Schultens  in  his  deduction  of  this  once  occur- 
ring word  from  the  Arabic  l7i*,  t"  ;'«'"  <''«  ground  as  a 
horse,  thence  getting  the  sense  of  exultation.  It,  seems  ex- 
travagant,  and   out  of  harmony  with  the  other  lauguagei 

Better  take  it  from  theChaldaic  HID,  which  has  the  sense 
of  hurninrp.  nenco  also,  as  senses  in  use,  those  of  contract- 
ing drawing  ones-self  firmly  up.  See  the  example  given, 
BoxTOEF,  Chald.  Lex.  1481,  from  Bereschitii  Rabba,  W21S 

vSy  mSlO.  animaejuscontrahitur,retrorf.ditineo.  Our 
Eng.  Ver.  harden  myself  \»  not  far  from  this  idea.  Thon^fh 
He  spare  not,  or,  let  llim  not  spare.  The  3d  clause. 
Literally:  For  Ihave  not  denied  the  words  of  the  Ilnly  One. 

'  Ver.  13.  ri'tyin.  from  the  substantive  verb  t^'.  Any- 
thing substantial  and  real  in  distinction  from  the  failing  and 
the  evanescent. 

8  Ter.  14.  Such  is  Dr.  CoNANT's  clear  rendering  of  this  dif- 
ficult pas-age.  DO  ;  primary  sense,  me?/7'ni7.  U pt]i:<>  failing 
{liqur.acentem),  allegaria,  pereuntis.  See  Glass.  Philologia  Sa- 
cra, 1712. 


64 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


15  Not  so  my  friends — illusive  as  tlie  brook, 
As  bed  of  streams  whose  waters  pass  away ; 

16  Whose  turbid  floods  are  darkened  from  the  sleet, 
As  on  their  face  the  snowflakes  hide'  themselves. 

17  AVhat  time  they  shrink,'"  deserted  of  their  springs, 
As  quenched  in  heat  they  vanish  from  their  place, 

18  'Tis  then  their  wonted  ways  are  turned"  aside ; 
Their  streams  are  lost,  gone  up  in  emptiness. 

19  The  caravans  of  Tema  look  for  them. 
The  companies  of  Sheba  hope  in  vain. 

20  Confounded  are  they  where  they  once  did  trust ; 
They  reach  the'*  spot  and  stand  in  helpless"  maze. 

21  And  thus  are  ye — but  nought ; 

A  fearful  spectacle  ye  see,  and  gaze  in  terror. 

22  Have  I  said,  give  to  me  ? 

Or  from  your  wealth  be  liberal  for  my^*  sake  ? 

23  Or  save  me  from  the  hostile'^  hand. 

Or  from  the  invader's  power  redeem  my  life  ? 

24  Give  me  your  counsel,  and  I'll  hold  my  peace ; 
And  let  me  clearly  know  where  I  am  wrong. 

25  How  mighty  are  the  words  of  righteousness  ! 
But  your  reproving  !  how  does  it  convince? 

26  At  words  do  ye  your  censures  aim  ? 

At  wind — such  words  as  one  may  utter  in  despair? 

27  It  is  as'*  though  you  cast  lots  for  the  orphan's  wealth ; 
Or  traffic"  made  of  one  you  called  your  friend. 

28  And  now,  0  turn  to  me,  behold  my  face. 
I  will  not  speak  before  you  what  is  false. 

29  Return,  I  pray ;  let  not  the  wrong  prevail. 
Eeturn  again  ;  there's  justice  on'*  my  side. 

30  Is  there  perverseness  in  my  tongue  ? 
Cannot  my  conscience"  still  discern  iniquity  ? 


»  Ver.  16.  mde  themselTes.  It  does  not  represent 
a  frozen  stream,  but  a  dark  scene  of  winter,  or  of  the  rainy 
season,  when  the  wadys  are  full.  It  is  the  snow  falling  oa 
the  swollen  waters  and  immediately  disappearing;  the  same 
exquisite  image  that  Burns  so  happily  employs: 

Or  aa  the  snow  falls  in  the  river, 
A  moment  white,  then  gone  forever. 

«>  Ver.  17.  Deserted  Of  their  springs.  inOJfJ— 
cHtoff/rnm  Ihrir  fountains.  The  word  3'lf  occiirs  but  once. 
It  is  best  derived  from  the  Syriac  311  coarctavit.  The  sense 
drying  up  is  closely  allied  to  this,  and  also  to  that  of  heating, 
which  is  commonly  given  to  the  verb.  See  Dillmann  and 
Umbreit. 

"  Ver.  18.  Zoc.kler  here,  we  think,  is  right  in  referring 
nUTIX  to  the  streams  themselves,  instead  of  rendering  it 
caravans  like  many  others.  The  process  is  by  way  of  evapo- 
ration ;  "  they  go  vp  into  tohu,"  the  waste  atninsphero.  It  is 
not  ea-sy  to  apply  this  languase  to  the  caravans,  though  it  is 
admirably  descriptive  of  the  drying  up  of  the  streams.    The 

verb  in£3  7%  they  twist  to  me  side,  well  represents  an  aban- 
doned channel. 


12  Ver.  20.  They  reach  Ihe  spot;  n^jr.  Sight 
up  to  it — on  its  very  brink. 

*'  1"13n^,  literally,  6/msA  M)t<^  shame.  The  expression  is 
not  too  strong  when  we  think  of  the  sickening  disappoint- 
ment of  men  travelling  days  in  the  desert,  sustained  by  the 
hope  of  the  cooling  water,  and  finding  at  last  only  the  parched 
bed  of  the  wady. 

1*  Ver.  22.  For  my  sake,  nj?3.  A  wider  sense  than 

^7  :  For  me,  pro  me — propter  me,  as  though  by  way  of  ran- 
som or  deliverance  from  an  enemy.  See  note  953  to  Noldius' 
Concordance  of  Hebrew  Particles. 

16  Ver.  23.  Hostile  hand.  Job  seems  to  be  ever 
thinking  of  some  great  and  terrible  enemy,  who  is  not  Qod. 
Comp.  xvi.  9, 11. 

1*  Ver.  27.  As  thong'h.  The  language  is  evidently 
comparative. 

"  Ver.  27.  Or  traflic  made.  n"^D  with  the  sense 
emit,  like  the  corresponding  Arabic,  and  as  used  Deut.  ii.  6; 
HoH.  iil.  2.     So  ScHiOTTMANN    uud  verhandelt  euern  Freund. 

18  Ver.  29.  The  rendering  of  Delitzsch. 

1"  Ver.  30.  Conscience,    "nn    <''«  palate,  when  used 

metaphorically,  denotes  the  moral  rather  than  the  intellec- 
tual Judgment. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


65 


Chapter  VII. 


1  Is  not  man's  life  a  warfare  on  the  earth  ? 
His  day,  the  hireling's  day  ? 

2  As  gasps  the  servant  for  the  shadow's  turn, 
As  longs  the  toiler  for  his  labor's  end/ 

3  So  am  I  made  the  heir  to  months  of  wretchedness, 
And  nights  of  pain  they  number"  out  to  me. 

4  When  I  lie  down  I  say : 

How  long*  till  I  arise,  and  night  be  o'er  ?* 
Then  am  I  full  of  tossings  till  the  dawn. 

5  My  flesh  is  clothed  with  worms^  and  clods  of  earth, 
My  leprous  skin  heals  up'  and  runs  again. 

6  My  days  are  swifter  than  the  weaver's  dart, 
They  pass  away  without  a  gleam'  of  hope. 

7  Remember  that  my  life  is  breath  ; 

Mine  eye  shall  not  again  behold  the  good. 

8  The  eye  that  sees  me  now  shall  look  on  me  no  more ; 
Thine  eye  shall  seek  me,  but  I  shall  be  gone.* 

9  As  fades  the  cloud,  and  vanishes  away, 

So  one  goes  down  to  Sheol,  never  to  ascend. 

10  No  more  to  his  own  house  he  cometh  back. 
The  place  that  knew  him  knoweth  him  no  more. 

11  ['Tis  so  with  me].     I'll  not  withhold  my  words. 
In  anguish  of  my  spirit  let®  me  speak. 

And  moan^°  in  bitterness  of  soul. 

12  Am  I  a  sea,  a  monster  of  the  deep  ? 
That  thou  should'st  o'er  me  watch. 


1  Ver.  2.  liabors  end ;  Merces,  reward,  is  sometimes 

the  ellipsis  to  7^3,  work;  but  end  suits  better  here. 

*  Ver.  3.  ''7  ^30.    Sfamberoat;  the  active   used  for 

the  passive,  say  the  grammarians ;  but  that  explains  no- 
thing. There  must  be  a  reason  for  the  idiom.  Compare  Job 
iv.  19 ;  xviii.  18  ;  xix.  26 ;  xxxiv.  20  ;  Ps.  xlix.  15.  In  these 
and  similar  cases,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  real  or  supposed 
agent  is  something  fearful,  or  repulsive,  as  in  Job  xix.  26. 
There  is  a  kind  of  superstition  in  it ;  an  aversion  to  the  men- 
tion of  the  name,  as  the  Greeks  feared  to  speak  the  name  of 
the  Furies.  As  remarked  in  note  on  vi.  23,  Job  seems  to  be 
haunted  by  the  thought  of  invisible  tormentors,  as  he  had 
good  reason  to  think  from  what  is  said  in  the  introductory 
narrative,  and  as  appears  in  the  terrible  language  of  ch.  xvi. 
9,10.    This    fearful  allusion  appears,  Ps.  xlix.  15,  JNX3 

^nty     /IXty  7,  "  liike  sheep  they  put  or  thrust  them  (the 

wicked)  into  Sheol  " — stahulant  in  Oreo.  The  idiom  passes 
into  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament,  Luke  xii.  20  :  riiv  xf/v- 
XV*"  <^ov  anaiTov(Tiv  airb  (rou — "  they  demand  thy  soul  of 
thee."  Who  are  t.V.v  f  Fiends,  evil  beings,  said  the  old  in- 
terpreters; "  thpy  vrUl  come  after  thee."  No  good  reason 
can  be  given  why  it  is  not  the  true  interpretation.  In  some 
cases  this  reason  does  not  appear  so  evident.  It  may  be 
reverence  or  admiration  rather  than  shuddering  fear.  As 
in  Isaiah  Ix.  11,  the  glorious  description  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem :  "  Thy  gates  shall  stand  open  day  and  night  "—liter- 
ally :  "  they  shall  keep  them  open."  Instead  of  passive,  it  is 
the  piel,  most  intensely  active,  iinn£)V  Who  are  they  f  The 

holy  angels,  or  warders  of  the  New  Jerusalem.    If  not  this 


precisely,  something  very  glorious  and  mighty  was  in  the 
mind  of  the  prophet,  leading  him  to  use  the  expression.  It 
is  quite  evident,  however,  that  in  Job  xvii.  18  :  "  They  shall 
thrust  him  out  from  light  to  darkness,"  as  also  in  Job  xxxiv. 
20,  and  Ps.  xlix.  15,  the  evil  or  fearful  agents  are  in  the 
thoughts.    See  Glassius  Phil.  Sacra.,  817. 

8  Ver.  4.  How  IiOng.  When  shall  I  arise  expresses 
eagerness,  which  is  not  wanted  here.  How  long.  See  the 
passionate  places  where  it  occurs  in  the  Psalms. 

*  Ver.  4.  Be  o'er,  begone;  TIO  for  full  form  T1J3— 

-  •  T  :  • 

verbal  noun  from  "nj. 

*  Ver.  5.  Worms;  n?3T.    Many  commentators  would 

T     • 

render  it  rottenness;  but  there  is  no  need  of  departing  from 
the  usual  sense. 

«  Ver.  5.  Heals  up;  the  Arabic  sense  of  J?J"1  suits 
well  here,  to  retum,tieuce  to  be  restored.  DNO  =  ODD. 
See  Ps.  lviii.8.  This  is  the  interpretation  now  given  by 
most  commentators. 

^  Ver.  6.    Gleam  of  hope.    Di3X  (he  least  particle, 

the  very  extremity  ;  hence  nsed  as  a  negative  to  denote  total 
privation — all  gone. 

8  Ver.  8.  I  shall  be  g'One.  Compare  remarks  in  the 
Introductory  ^Vrgument,  p.  5  :  The  pious  soul's  despondent 
grief  at  the  thought  of  bidding  farewell  to  God.  Here  the 
converse  idea. 

9  Ver.  11.  liCt  me  speak  ;  m^lX-  Paragogic  fu- 
ture :  Language  of  entreaty. 

10  And  moan,  r\^\if,  to  make  a  low  murmuring  sound 
—talk  to  ones-self. 


66 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


13  I  said,  my  bed  shall  comfort  me; 

My  couch  shall  lighten  my  complaint." 

14  'Tis  then  thou  scarest  me  with  dreams, 
To  fill  me  with  alarm  from  visions  dire. 

15  So  that  my  soul  even  strangling  would  prefer, — 
Death,  rather  than  these  bones. ^* 

16  I  loathe  the  sight,  I  Avould  not  thus  live  on.'' 
O  let  me  then  alone ;  ray  days  are  vanity. 

17  For  what  is  man  that  thou  should'st  make  him  of  so  great  account? 
That  thou  should'st  set  thy  heart  upon  him  ? 

18  That  thou  should'st  visit  him  each  morning  as  it  comes, 
And  try  him  every  moment  ? 

19  How  long  wilt  thou  not  look  away  from  me  ? 
Nor  leave  me  till  I  draw  my  laboring"  breath. 

20  "Watcher  of  men,  if  I  have  sinned  what  can  I  do  to  thee  ? 
That  thou  should'st  set  me  for  thy  mark ; 

That  I  should  be  a  burden  unto  thee  ?'^ 

21  Why  not  lift  up  [the  burden  of]  my  sin, 
And  put  away  all  ray  iniquity  ? 

22  For  soon  shall  I  lie  down  in  dust 

And  thou  shalt  seek  me  but  I  shall  not  be. 


11  Ver.  13.  Taken  from  Dr.  Conant's  Version,  which  is  often 
rhythmical,  although  he  did  not  aim  at  making  it  such. 

18  Ver.  15.  These  bones.  So  Conant,  Davidson,  and 
most  modern  commentators. 

"  Ver.  16.  The  meaning  of  this  verse  has  been  much  dis- 
cussed. The  old  rendering  "  I  wouldnnt  live  always  "  seems 
too  gentiment<al  when  unqualified.  Schlottmann  and  others 
take  from  it  the  idea  of  suicide.  I  loathe  life  ;  I  will  nit 
live.  But  this  Is  repulsive.  The  version  given  exactly  suits 
the  condition  of  the  sufferer. 


1*  Ver.  19.  The  rendering  usually  given  is  the  literal  one; 
and  its  correctness  is  put  beyond  doubt  by  the  Arabic  usage 
(see  Hariri,  Seance  xv.,  pp.  164,  167,  De  Sacy's  Ed.)  It  de- 
notes impatience :  Let  me  have  time  to  swallow.  The  version 
here  adopted  is  merely  a  substitution  of  another  expression 
giving  the  same  idea.  It  is  one  of  the  very  few  cases  in 
which  the  translator  has  thus  attempted  to  modernize. 

15  Ver.  20.  Borden  nnto  thee.  We  follow  Delttzsch 
here,  who  adopts  the  Jewish  traditional  reading  of  "^7^. 


Chapter  VIII. 

1  Then  answered  Bildad  the  Shuhite  and  said 


How  long  wilt  thou  speak  thus  ? 

And  like  a  mighty  wind  pour  forth  thy  words  ? 

The  God  above — does  He  in  judgment  err? 

The  Almighty  One — does  He  pervert  the  right  ?' 

If  so  it  be  thy  sons  have  sinned, 

And  He  hath  given  them  up  to  their  own  wickedness. 

If  thou  thy.self  should'.st  early  seek  to  God, 

And  to  the  Almighty  make  thine  earnesf*  prayer — 

If  thou  thyself  wert  right  and  pure, 

Then  surely  would  He  wake  for  thee. 

And  make  secure  thy  home  of  righteousness. 


1  Ver.  3.  The  Ood  above ;  the  Almighty  one. 

The  emphasis  hero  is  on  the  divine  names,  Sx  and  ^'^^. 
Had  it  been  on  the  idea  of  perversion  (mj?')  the  verb  would 


have  been  changed,  ns  is  usual  in  the  second  mpmber  of  the 
parallel.     The  idea  most  earnestly  depreciated   is   that  of 
Omnipotence  pervertingjustice, — or  might  making  rir/W. 
2  Ver.  5.  Suppliant  prayer.  Intensive  form  TJnnn- 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION.  67 


7  However  small  might  be  thy  first  estate, 
Thy  latter  end  should  prosper  gloriously. 

8  Ask  now  the  generation  gone  before. 
Yes,  of  their  fathers  set  thyself  to  learn. 

9  [For  we  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  nothing  know ; 
So  like  a  shadow  are  our  days  on  earth]. 

10  Will  they  not  teach  thee,  speak  to  thee. 
In  parables'  of  deep  experience  ? 

11  Grows  high*  the  reed  except  in  marshy  soil? 
Or  swells  the  flag,  no  water  near  its  root  ? 

12  In  its  rank  greenness,  as  it  stands,  uncut, 
It  drieth  up  before  all  other  herbs. 

13  So  are  the  ways  of  all  who  God  forget. 
So  perishes  the  hope  of  the  impure. 

14  His  confidence  reveals  its  worthlessness  ;* 
His  trust, — it  is  a  spider's  web. 

15  He  leans  upon  his  house,  but  it  abideth  not; 
He  grasps  it,  but  it  will  not  stand.® 

16  Or  like  the  herb  so  green  before  the  sun, 
Whose  shoots  go  forth  o'er  all  its  garden  bed ; 

17  Hard  by  the  fountain^  do  its  roots  entwine  ; 
Among  its  stones  it  looketh  everywhere. 

18  If  one  uproot  him  from  his  place, 

It  strait  disowns  him  f  thee  I've  never  seen. 

19  Lo  this  the  joy  of  his  brief  way. 

('Tis  gone),  but  (like  it)  from  the  dust  shall  others  spring 

20  Lo,  God  the  upright  never  casts  away ; 

Nor  takes  He  by  the  hand  the  men  of  evil  deeds. 

21  (Wait  then)  until  He  fill  thy  mouth  with  joy, 
Thy  lips  with  jubilee. 

22  Thy  haters  shall  be  clothed  with  shame 
While  tents  of  evil  men  are  seen  no  more. 


8  Ver.  10.  In  parables.    DwTS  'S  more  poetical  than 
O^'IJJ'I.  and  more  sententious :  sayings,  adages,  apologues, 

parables,  (W/W'O)  comparisons;  suggesting  the  tropical 
language  of  the  reed,  the  Jlag,  and  the  spider,  that  immedi- 
ately follows.  OyiD',  from  their  heart:  denoting  here,  as 
is  most  common  in  Hebrew,  understanding,  exp'rience,  rather 
than/e»?iH/7.  The  literal  rendering  would  give  to  the  modern 
reader  a  false  idea.     Hence  the  paraphrase. 

*  Ter.  11.  Grows  big'h,  nXJ"' ;  proudhi,  gloriously. 

6  Ver.  14.  The  well  established  sense  of  £31  p  U  faslidire, 

to  loathe,  with  3  when  taken  transitively.  Intransitively, 
to  be  disgusting,  or,  when  used  of  a  thing,  to  disgust  ;  Ezek. 
xvi.  47;  Ps.  xcv.  10;  Niph.  Ezek.  xx.43;  xxxvi.  31;  JJiph. 
Ps.  cxix.  158 ;  cxxxix.  21 ;  see  Gesenius.    Thus   viewed,  it 

would  be  literally,  his  confidence  (iSdD)  disgusts,  like  the 

sense  Hieronymns  gets,  only  he  renders  703  venordia—nnn- 
placehil  ei  vfcordia  sua.  It  becomes,  or  shmvs  itxelf  ruorth- 
less  to  him.  This  is  the  idea  given  in  the  version  above.  The 
viewwhicli  regards  it  as  another  form   of  l*ip  =  y^^p  (to 

cut)  seems  arbitrary.  Besides  it  would  produce  an  incon- 
gruity of  metaphor.  ;The  figure  of  cutting,  if  it  had  not  been 


used  just  above,  would  be  consistent  with  nipH)  hope;  for 
the  primary  idea  there  is  extension,  drawing  out  (hope  as  a 
line  or  thread) ;  but  7DD  has  no  such  figure.  It  denotes 
confidence  as  derived  from  the  ideas  of  strength,  thickness,  re- 
sistance, support,  and  hence  it  is  used  (or  stuUitia  folly,  brute 
confidence,  stubhomn^ss.  What  is  meant  to  be  said  hero  is, 
that  this  confidence  fails  ;  it  is  seen  to  be  vile  and  worthless. 
Non  placehit,  as  Hieronymns  says.  It  di.tgusts  instead  of 
strengthening.  It  cannot  be  objected  that  it  is  applied  to  the 
plant,  for  the  person  figured  is  kept  in  view,  and  the  meta- 
phor is  mixed.  Such  failure  of  confidence  is  exactly  ex- 
pressed by  the  same  word  (in  Niphal)  Ezek.  xx.  43  ;  xxxvi. 
31:     "And  ye  shall  become  disgusted  in  your  own   sigJit" 

(D^'JiJ^   ti:^t2pl^)  because  of  your  evil,  =  (2)^''    DdSdD- 

6  Ver.  15.  Gra««ps  it.  The  figure  is  kept.  The  spider 
breaking  through  the  meshes  of  his  web. 

T  Ver.  17.  For  the  justification  of  this  rendering,  see  Cant, 
iv.  12,  and  notes  of  Zockler  and  Dr.  Green  on  that  passage. 

8  V<r.  IS.  See  vii.  10  ;  Ps.  ciii.  IG.  The  speaker  enters  so 
into  his  figure  that  he  personifies  the  plant.  Hence  the  per- 
sonal him  is  to  be  preferred  to  the  impersonal  it. 


68 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOE. 


Chapter  IX. 

1  Then  answered  Job  and  said : 


10 


Most  surely  do  I  know  that  so  it  is. 

For  how  shall  mortal  man  be  just  with  God? 

Be  it  His  will  to  call  him  to  account, — 

For  one  in  thousand  of  his  sins  no  answer  can  he  make. 

Most  wise  in  heart,  most  strong  in  might ! 

AVho  braves  him  with  impunity  ? 

'Tis  He  that  moves'  the  mountains  and  they  know  it  not ; 
Who  overturneth  them  in  His  fierce  wrath  ; 
Who  makes  the  earth  to  tremble  from  its  place, 

Its  strong  foundations  rock. 
'Tis  He  who  bids  the  sun,  and  it  withholds  its  rays ; 

"Who  sealeth  up  the  stars ; 
"Who  bent''  the  heavens  all  alone, 
And  walks  upon  the  mountain  waves  ; 
Who  made  the  Bear,  Orion,  and  the  Pleiades, — 
The  hidden^  constellations  of  the  South  ; 
Who  doeth  mighty  works — unsearchable, — 
And  wonders  infinite. 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


Lo !  He  goes  by  me,  but  I  see  him  not ; 
Sweeps*  past,  but  I  perceive  him  not; 
See  !  He  assails  ;  then  who  shall  turn  him  back  ? 
Or  who  shall  say  to  Him,  what  doest  thou  ? 
(Vain  check!)     Eloah  turns  not  back  His  wrath 
Until  the  boldest*  aids  go  down  beneath  His  hand. 

How,  then,  can  I  reply  ? 

And  choose  my  words  in  controversy  with  him  ? 

I  could  not  plead  it,  even  were  I  just; 

But  to  my  Judge®  must  supplication  make. 

If  I  had  called,  and  He  had  answered  me, 

I  could  not  trust  that  He  had  heard  my  voice, 


1  Ver.  5.  That  moves.  A  contrast  evidently  is  in- 
tended between  pTl^'O  and  the  stronger  word  "Sri-  The 
first  is  the  gentler  and  more  gradual  change,  imporceptiWe 
though  powerful  (they  know  it  not).  See  ch.  xiv.  18.  Hence 
Its  other  sense  of  growing  old,  which  it  has  in  Hebrew  as 
woU  as  in  Arabic.  The  other  word  denotes  something  sud- 
den and  violent. 

s  Ver.  8  Who  hcnt.  The  reference  is  to  the  work  of 
creation,  though  regarded  as  a  work  still  continuing.  It  is 
phenomenal  language^;  the  mighty  force  required  to  bend 
that  strong  arch,  and  keep  it  bent.  Er  neigt  den  Himmel 
pnz  alloiP':  Umbreit.  In  Ps.  xviii.  10.  the  figure  is  that  of 
bowing,  or  bonding  down  the  heavens  to  descend. 

lJ.7%^-    9**'***^-".*'®u"**«"»**«»«-     Hebrew,  ckam- 
ber$.    The  reference  is  to  the  southern  celestial  spaces,  where 


there  are  no  conspicnons  constellations  visible  to  our  hemig. 
phere. 
*  Ver.  11.  Sireeps  past.    Davidson's  rendc  ring  of  that 

mysterious  word  tllTT.  See  how  the  infinitive  is  used,  Isa. 
xxi.  1.  ' 

6  Ver.  13.  Boldest  aids.  3711  nijr.  Rahab  is  used 
here  and  elsewhere,  for  any  one,  or  anytliing,  proud  or  fero- 
cious. geoTsa.li.O;  Ps.lxxxvii.4;  Ixxxix.ll ;  lsa.xxx.7,  rfc. 
When  used  as  a  personification  it  is  thought  to  mean  Egypt. 
It  may  mean  here  Satan,  of  whom,  as  several  passages  show, 
aside  from  the  Introduction,  .Job  seems  to  have  had  some  idea 
as  his  groat  enemy — the  Devil  and  his  allies. 

«  Ver.  15.  My  Jadge.    'tDiSii'O,  an  unusual  Pool  form. 

So  TIsrBREiT,  CoNANT,  IiEiiTzscn,  et  al.  Qesenius :  Adversary, 
litigcUor,  Davidson :  Assailant. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


69 


17  He  who''  o'erwhelms  me  with  a  whirlwind  storm, 
And  without  cause  my  wounds  so  multiplies ; 

18  Who  doth  not  suffer  me  to  catch^  my  breath, 
But  fills  me  with  exceeding®  bitterness. 

19  Speak  I  of  strength  ?    A  strong  one !'"    Lo  !  how  strong ! 
Speak  I  of  right  ?  who  sets  for  me  a  time  ? 

20  If  I  claim  righteousness,  my  own  words  prove  me  wrong ; 
Should  I  say  I  am  pure,  He'd  show  me  still  perverse. 

21  I  pure  !^^  I  would  not  know  myself; 

I  should  reject  my  life. 

22  'Tis  all  the  same,  and  therefore  do  I  say  it ; 
The  pure,  the  wicked,  He  consumes  alike. 

23  Comes  there  the  pestilential  scourge  that  slays  so  suddenly  ! 
He  mocks  the  tria?^  of  the  innocent. 

24  Earth  is  abandoned  to  the  wicked's  hand ; 
The  faces  of  its  judges  doth  He  veil." 

If  not,  who  is  it  then,  (the  cause  and  source  of  all)  ? 

25  My  days  are  swifter  than  the  post ; 
They  flee  apace ;  they  see  no  good ; 

26  As  sweeps  the  light  papyrus  bark, 
Or  as  the  eagle  dashes  on  its  prey. 

27  When  I  resolve,  my  mourning  I'll  forget, — 
Cast  ofi"  my  look  of  sorrow,  smile^*  again, 

28  Then,  with  a  shudder,  I  recall  my  woe ; 

So  sure  am  I  Thou  wilt  not  hold  me  guiltless. 

29  Yes,  I  am  wicked ;  (be  it  so)  ; 
Why  labor  then  in  vain  ? 

30  Even  should  I  wash  myself  in  water  pure  as  snow, 

And  cleanse  my  hands  in  lye ; 

31  Then  would'st  thou  plunge  me  in  the  ditch ; 
So  that  my  very  garments  should  abhor  me. 

32  For  He  is  not  a  man  like  me,  that  I  should  answer  him. 
In  judgment,  then,  together  might  we  come. 


1  Ver.  17.  He  tfIiO.  ^JffH  here,  besides  its  meaning  as 
a  relative,  also  shows  a  reason,  like  the  Greek  6s,  and  tho 
Latin  qui  =  quia,  or  quoniam.  There  may  be  an  anthro- 
popathic  reference  to  the  tumult  of  the  storm  or  whirlwind. 
Not  hear  me,  since  he  is  the  very  one  who  overwhelms,  etc. 

8  Ver.  18.  Catcli — ^W"!^,  take  back,  recover. 

"    T 

9  Ver.  18.  Exceeding  bitterness.  D'*^"1Q:  in- 
tensive plural — bitternesses,  amaritudines,  like  ''T^H  beati- 

tudines. 

1"  Ver.  19.  A  strong  one  I  The  ascribing  the  latter 
part  of  each  of  these  clauses  to  God,  by  way  of  a  supposed 
Buddeu  answer,  as  is  done  by  Delitzsch,  Davidson,  Ewald, 
and  others,  is  exceedingly  arbitrary.  The  sense  is  better 
satisfied  by  the  simpler  construction,  though  a  very  pas- 
sionate and  broken  one.  After  the  closest  study  of  these  ab- 
rupt and  exclamatory  verses  (19-22),  it  is  difficult  to  find 
anything  better  than  what  is  substantially  given  in  our 
English  Version,  somewhat  improved  by  Couant.  It  is  a 
wild,  despairing  utterance.  There  are,  indeed,  inconsisten- 
cies in  it,  but  the  attempt  to  remove  them  only  takes  away 
from  the  pathos,  as  well  as  the  passionatoness  of  the  whole 


passage.  Job  has  no  false  humility.  He  Is  utterly  in  the 
dark,  and  almost  maddened  by  his  sharp  sufferings.  God 
seems  to  him  to  be  dealing  very  hardly  with  him:  and  he 
must  say  it  though  doing  his  best  to  preserve  reverence. 

"  Ver.  21.  I  pnrel  'JN  Df).  in  the  21st  verse,  differs 
neither  in  force,  uor  in  construction,  from  the  same  exi)ree- 
sion  in  the  20th ;  yet  a  number  of  commentators,  Ewald, 
ScHLOTMANjf,  Davidson.  Delitzsch,  et  al.,  make  the  second  a 
positive,  instead  of  a  conditional  declaration :  "  I  am  inno- 
cent," said  emphatically :  J'H  say  it  though  I  die  for  it.  This 
is  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  whole  passage,  which,  though 
one  of  deep  complaining,  exhibits  no  defiance. 

12  Ver.  23.  HDO,  trial  7r€ipa<T/u.d?.  The  rendering  wasting 
a?«ai/ (.as  though  from  DDO)  ailopted  by  Delitzsch,  Ewald, 
and  others,  is  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  sudden  slaying 
(DND3)  mentioned  in  the  first  clause.  Especially  is  this 
the  case  with  Umbreit's  rendering,  allmahliger  Verzehrung, 
gradual  consumption. 

18  Ver.  24.  Doth  he  veil.  That  they  may  not  see  the 
right.  . 

»  Ver.  27.  nr^DNI.  A  beautiful  word.  The  sudden 
lighting  up  of  the  face. 


70 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


33 


34 


85 


But  now  there  is  no  umpire  who  can  chide, 
And  lay  his  tempering  hand  upon  us  both. 
O,  would  He  take  His  rod  away  ; 
So  that  His  terror  might  not  awe  my  soul ; 
Then  fearless  would  I  plead  my  cause ; 
For  now  I'm  not^*  myself. 


16  Ver.  35.  I  am  not  myself.  nrD;;  OJX  p  N^  'D- 

A  number  of  the  best  modern  commentators  take  this  as  a 
denial  of  guilt :  "  For  I  am  not  conscious  to  myself  ofvyrong ;" 
CoNANT,  literally,  For  /  am  wo«  «o  in mysf//.  Now,  in  many- 
languages,  some  such  expression  as  this  is  used  to  denote  de- 
rangement—feeing  not  one's  self,  oifirm  (n)  in  one's  self— 


the  mind  wandering;  as  poor  Lear  says  of  himself: 
I  fear  I  am  not  in  my  perfect  mind. 

This  seems  to  be  Rosenmueller's  riew :  havd  quidem  mei 
sum  compos.  Uierontmus  :  Neque  enim,  possum  metuens  re- 
spondere.    See  Note  on    'nD>^  "jIT  xxiii.  10. 


Chapter  X. 


10 


I  am  weary  of  my  life, 
Unto  my  inward  plaint  I  yield  myself ; 
O  let  me  speak — my  soul  in  bitterness.* 
Unto  Eloah  will  I  say,  condemn  me  not ; 
O,  let  me  know  why  thou  dost  strive  with  me  ? 
Is  it  thy  pleasure  that  thou  should'st  oppress  ? 
That  thou  should'st  cast  away  thy  handy  work. 
And  shine  upon  the  counsel  of  the  wicked  ? 
Hast  thou  the  eyes  of  flesh  ? 
Dost  thou  behold  as  mortal  man  beholdeth? 
Are  thy  days  such  as  his, 
Or  even  like  the  mighty^  man,  thy  years  ? 
That  thou  should'st  seek  for  my  iniquity. 
And  hunt  up  all  my  sin. 

'Tis  to  thy  knowledge  I  appeal ;  I'm  not  (this)'  guilty  man 
But  none  can  save  me  from  thy  power. 
Still  thine  own  hands  have  wrought  me,  fashioned  me. 
In  every  part — all  round.     Dost  thou  destroy  ? 
Remember,  now,  that  thou  hast  made  me  as  the  clay ; 
And  wilt  thou  turn*  me  back  to  dust  ? 
Hast  thou  not  poured  me  out  as  milk  ? 
And  curdled  me  like'  cheese  ? 


1  Ver.  1.  My  sonl  In  bitterness.  *10  is  an  adjec- 
tive {amarus).  The  phrase  iy£3J  "10  is,  strictly,  biller  of 
totU;  bitter  in  my  soul.  The  rendering  given,  if  admissible, 
Baits  better  the  broken  and  passionate  context. 

«  Ver.  5.  The  mighty  man :  A  sub-contrast  seems 
intended  between  lifMH  and  "13^  aa  in  iii.  17.  13J,  vali- 
diis — miles,  Jud.  v.  30  ;  Jer.  xli.  16 ;  Ohald.  *13  J,  heros, 
mik,?,  Ezek.  ii.  20.    Comp.  I'iSJ  Isa.  ix.     ,  D'"i3J  Clen.  t1. 

4 — giants — /naKp6|8iot.  The  want  of  the  distinction  makes 
the  rendering  very  lame,  as  in  E.  V. :  "  Are  thy  days  as  the 
days  of  man  f    Are  thy  years  as  m.an's  days  ?" 

8  Ver.  7.  [This]  gnllty  man.  There  is  no  claim  of 
perfect  iimoceiice,  but  only  that  be  is  not  the  sinner  whom 


his  friends  hint,  or  his  own  inexplicable  circumstances 
wouW  imply. 

<  Ver.  9.  Turn  me  bacfe  to  dust.  The  argument 
here  goes  beyond  the  first  appearance;  for  Job  certainly 
knew  that  he  must  die,  even  if  he  had  not  heard  of  the  de- 
claration, Oon.  iii.  19.  It  is  the  remediless  remaining  in 
this  state  that  he  deprecates,  whether  or  not  distinctly  con- 
scious of  it  as  a  dogma,  or  an  idea.  In  such  an  abandonment 
there  seems  something  inconsistent  with  God's  care  foe  men, 
and  the  pains  ho  had  taken  in  their  construction,  whether 
we  call  it  creation  or  evolution. 

6  Ver.  10.  lilke  cheese.  The  use  of  this  kind  of  lan- 
guage in  the  Koran  (see  Surat  xxii.  5  ;  xcvi.  2,  and  other 
places)  points  back  to  ancient  Arabian  conceptions  and 
modes  of  speech.  See  also  the  same  process  more  fully  de- 
scribed in  the  Arabic  of  the  old  book  of  Apologues,  entitled 
Calila  Wa,  Dimna,  p.  71,  De  Sacy  Ed. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


71 


11  With  skin  aud  flesh,  hast  thou  not  clothed  me  round  ? 
With  bones  aud  sinews®  woven  firm  my  frame  ? 

12  With  life  and  goodness  hast  thou  favored  me, 
Whilst  o'er  my  breath  thy  providence  hath  watched. 

13  But  these  things  wast  thou  hiding  in  thy  heart. 
All  this,  I  know,  was  fixed  in  thy^  decree. 

14  When  e'er  I  sin,  thine  eye  is  noting  it ; 
And  thou  wilt  not  absolve  me  from  my  guilt. 

15  Yes,  woe  to  me  if  I  act  wickedly  ; 

If  righteous,  still  may  I  not  lift  ray  head ; 
So  full  of  shame  am  I ;  but  see*  my  misery ; 

16  For  it  swells'  high  ;  so  like  a  lion  dost  thou  still  pursue, 
And  still  repeat  thy  wondrous  dealing  with  me. 

17  Against  me  dost  thou  bring  new  witnesses. 
Thine  anger  with  me  dost  thou  still  increase, 
As  ever  changing  hosts  against  me  come. 

18  Why  didst  thou  bring  me  from  the  womb  ? 
I  should  have  died  with  no  eye  seeing  me  ; 

19  I  should  have  been  as  though  I'd  never  been, 
From  womb  to  grave  translated  speedily. 

20  How  few  my  days !     O  let  Him  then  forbear 
And  turn  from  me,  that  for  a  moment  I  may  smile, 

21  Before  I  go  whence  I  shall  not  return, 

To  the  land  of  darkness,  and  the  shades  of  death ; 

22  A  land  of  gloom  tenebrous,'"  dense  as  night. 
Land  of  the  death  shade,  where  no  order  reigns, 
Where  day  is  but  a  darkness  visible." 


*  Ver.  11.  Woven.  Compare  Ps.  cxxxix.  15, 16. 

7  Yer.  13.  '33;;.  With  tbee.    In  thy  most  secret  pur- 


pose. 
«  Ver.  15.  But  see    HX"!. 


is  imperative.    To  the  ob- 


jection that  in  so  taking  it  the  construction  is  broken  up, 
the  answer  is,  that  it  is  all  the  more  expressive.  It  was 
meant  to  he  broken.  The  language  is  passionate,  ejaculatory. 

*  Ver.  16.  nXJ^I-  KwALD,  Dillmann,  Umbreit,  Davidson, 
all  refer  this  to  tJ^X"!,  the  head,  in  the  preceding  verse. 
Merx  says,  characteristically,  that  it  is  sinnlos,  has  no  mean- 
ing, and  proceeds  to  change  the  text.  lyXT  seems  too  far 
off,  for  a  subject,  and  there  is  nothing  conditional  in  the 
language  :  Should  it  lift,  or  if  it  lift  up  itself,  thr.n,  etc. ;  Da- 
vrDsoN.  Conant  also  adopts  this  rendering.  The  E.  V.  refers 
it  to  ^'Jp  my  afflictimi  just  mentioned:  it  increaseth.  So 
Rosenmuller,  as  also  the  Jewish  Commentators,  Rashi  and 
Aben  Ezra.  To  the  objection  that  HNJ  is  not  congruous  to 
''^y  affliction,  the  latter  answers  well  that  it  is  personified 
as  elate  and  swelling  in  its  triumph  over  the  sufferer.  Hence 
the  rendering  above. 

10  Vor.  22.  Gloom  tenebrons.  The  true  impression 
of  this  remarkable  language  (vers.  21  and  22)  can  only  be  ob- 
tained by  a  close  study  of  the  words  PiriiDj;  and  yQ'ipt. 
They  are  of  a  class  which,  in  distinction  from  "ItyFIi  or  mere 
privative  darkness,  represent  its  positive  idea,  whether  real 


or  imaginary,  as  having  something  of  form,  and  thus  a  kind 

of  visibility, — a  dark,  shadowy,  waving,  flying,  floating  thing, 
— a  faintly  glimmering,  gleaming,  gloaming,  wavy  motion, 
shading  off  from  light  (gleam,  glimmer)  into  gloom,  or  dark- 
ness visible.  A  vibratory,  pulsatory,  flying,  fluttering,  or 
undulation  of  some  kind,  is  the  radical  image  in  this  whole 
family  of  words  (fl1;»,  ^3^^,   '\]^2}^,   hy  metathesis  J^-J'), 

and  hence,  along  with ./?!/(«0r,  the  apparently  contradictory 
images  of  it.ijrft*  and  darkness.  See  Lange  Gen.  Am.  Ed.,  p. 
179,  Note.  So  in  the  Greek  imagery,  darkness  has  wings. 
Night  is  called  (Aristcph.  Aves.  689)  /aeAaTOTrrepos,  hlack 
winged.    (Compare  Viro.  ^n.  11.360,  VI.  856).    There  is 

the  same  radical  image  in  the  expression  "IH^    'i3V3y 

III.  9,  XLI.  10,  palpebrse  auroraa,  eyelids  of  the  daivn, — the 
morning  twilight,  o/u,e'pas  ^Ae^apoi'  SoPH.  Antiq.  10-1.  Com- 
pare the  words  eilJ^D  and  Clj^^D,  Isa.  viii.  22,  23. 

11  Ver.  22.  Darbness  visible.  Some  commentators 
take  this  in  a  sort  of  conditional  way:  Its  very  light  (if  it 
had  any)  .''hiws  as  darlcne..^.^.oT  itH  day  (daytime)  is  as  mid- 
night darkness — "the  blackness  of  darkness."  So  we  have 
given  it,  though  the  verb  J73j"11  seems  to  have  something 

more  positive  than  this, — it  shines  as  darkness.  We  cannot 
help  thinking  tliat  Job  had  something  of  the  Miltonic  con- 
ception.   HtERONYMUS,  Sempitemus  Itorror  inhabitant. 


72 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Chapter  XL 

1  Then  answered  Zophar  the  Naamathite  and  said, 


10 


11 


12 


A  flood  of  words  ;  demands  it  no  reply  ? 

A  man  all  lips !  shall  he  be  justified  ? 

Thy  clamors,  shall  they  silence  men  ? 

That  thou  may'st  thus  rave  on  without  rebuke; 

And  say,  my  doctrine,  it  is  pure, 

I'm  guiltless  in  Thy  sight. 

O  were  it  so  that  God  would  really^  speak ; 

And  for  thy  silencing*  His  lips  unclose  ; 

And  show  thee  wisdom's  hidden  depths, — 

Truth's  twofold'  form. 

For  know  it  well ;  less  than  thy  debt  doth  God  exact*  of  thee. 

Eloah's  secret,*  canst  thou  find  it  out  ? 

Or  Shaddai's®  perfect  way  canst  thou  explore? 

Higher  than  Heaven's  height,  what  canst  thou  do  ? 

Deeper  than  Sheol's  depths,  what  canst  thou  know  ? 

Its  measurement  is  longer  than  the  earth, 

And  broader  than  the  sea. 

When  He  is  passing  by,  and  makes  arrest, 

And  calls  to  judgment,  who  can  answer  him  ? 

For  well  He  knows  the  men  of  vanity ; 

Their  evil  sees,  though  seeming  not  to  heed.'' 

Since  man,  vain  man,  has  madness  in  his  heart  f 

A  foal  of  the  wild  ass,  so  is  he  born. 


1  Ver.  5.  Or,  were  it  reall;/  so  :  The  force  of  dSiX  :  Would 
God  take  Job  at  his  word  and  appear  in  very  truth  ? 

2  Ver.  5.  1'^^,    in  controversy   with   thee,  as  elsewhere 

nsed.    For  thy  confounding ;  to  stop  thy  month. 

8  Ver.  6.  Delitzsch,  literally,  "that  she  (wisdom)  is  two- 
fold"—overlooking  n'tyiri-  Davidson  paraphrases:  Dou- 
ble, he  says,  is  equivalent  to  manifold,  and  rTCin  lie  ren- 
ders insight,  as  Ewald  does.  Most  commentators  give  the 
literal  sense,  doM6/(!.  Do  we  not  got  a  good  explanation  of 
this  from  ch.  xxviii.,  where  two  forms  of  wisdom  are  set 
forth,  namely,  the  Divine  wisdom,  or  the  mystery  of  God's 
providence,  and  the  wisdom  mentioned   at  the  end  of  that 


contemplated  under  two  aspects,  as  pertaining  to  God,  and  as 
pertaining  to  man.  See  SiRAOH  xxxiii.  15:  xlii.  24:  irdvTa 
iiijaa.,  €v  KarevavTi  ecd?,  k.  t.  A. 

*  Ver.  6.  EWAID  renders:  "  Overloolcs  much  of  thy  ijuilt," 
which  is  not  far  from  E.  V.  Umbreit,  Delitzsch,  Dillmann, 
Davimo;?,  with  the  Tarr/um,  give  it  the  sense  of  Ht^J  (Hiph. 
T\\y'r\),  to  forget,  OT  cause  to  forget,  gi\ins  O  in  TJI^O  the 
force  of  a  partitive :  from  or  of— a  portion  of  thy  sin.  "  God 
remembers  not  all  thy  sin.  The  Svriac  renders  it,  forgiveth. 
Vulgate  has  the  other  sense  of  Hl^J,  that  of  exacting  like  a 
creditor.  And  this  is  the  rendering  of  E.  V.,  which,  after 
all,  seems  the  best,  and  most  in  harmony  with  the  context. 
It  is  grammatical,  too,  since  O  in  1J1_^»3,  may  denote  the 
comparison  of  Uss.  as  well  as  that  of  more,  to  be  determined 
by  the  context.  The  partitive  rendering:  '■'■a portion  of  thy 
sin,"  seems  tame.  The  rendering  above  given  preserves  well 
the  association  of  ideas.  This  is  one  of  those  secrets  of  God's 
wisdom,— the  upper  wisdom,  or  the  side  of  the  duplicate 


seen  by  Him.  For  God  only  knows  what  human  sin  deserves, 
and  every  chastisement,  short  of  the  great  retribution,  has 
mercy  mingled  with  it.  And  then  this  admirably  leads  to 
the  train  of  thought  that  follows  in  the  exclamations  below, 
ver.  7.     pj;  is  rendered  debt  to  preserve  the  figure,  which  is 

sanctioned  in  the  New  Testament:  "  Forgiveus  our  debts ;  our 
sins." 

6  Ver.  7.  Tpri-  Mystery — unsearchableness. 

*  The  emphasis  is  on  the  divine  names  H  wX  and  'nty,  as 
in  viii.  3.  , 

7  Ver.  11.  n)2r\''  N7l-    The  meaning  is  that  it  does  not 

require  from  him  a  special  act  of  study  or  attention,  as  it 
does  from  men.  He  never  loses  sight  of  it.  He  sees  it 
though  he  does  not  seem  to  be  looking  at  it.  The  conjuga- 
tion Hitli.  has  this  sense  of  making  to  be,  or  assuming  to  be- 
what  the  verb  signifies, — to  m.ake  one' s-self  observant.  Rasohi 
explains  it  well  of  God's  "keeping  still,  and  long-suffering, 
as  though  he  did  not  take  note  of  it " — pUIT   N/ty   10^. 

8  Ver.  12.  3D7'.    The  word  does  not  denote  wisdom,  as 

••T  ■ 

many  commentators  take  it,  or  the  want  of  wisdom,  directly, 
or  in  the  sense  of  stupidity,  as  Gesenius  interprets  it,  but  to  be 
full  of  heart,  in  the  sense  of  courage  (cor,  Latin  cordatus  some- 
times), spirit,  eagerness,  mettlesomeness,  ferocity,  etc.  In  Cant. 

iv.  9  the  piel,  '  J/^DS  7  (of  which  this  may  be  regarded  as  the 

passive),  means,  thou  hast  excited,  roused,  rvarmed  my  heart. 
There  can  be  but  little  doubt  as  to  the  meaning,  since  the 
second  clause  gives  a  figurative  explanation  of  it.  It  sug- 
gests Ecclesiastes  ix.  3,  D^^b^  m77in)  " madness  in  thHr 
hearts" — whence  the  above  translation.  Some  accommoda- 
tion to  it  in  English  might  be  found  in  the  words  heady. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


73 


13  (But  as  for  thee),  If  thou  prepare  thy  heart, 

And  spread  thy  hands  (in  humble  prayer)  before  him, —  - 

14  Putting^  it  far  away,  if  sin  be  in  thy  hand, 
Nor  letting  wrong  abide  within  thy  tents, — 

15  Then  shalt  thou  lift  thy  face  without  a  stain ; 

Then  shalt  thou  stand  secure,^"  with  nought  to  dread. 

16  For  thy  sharp  pain  shalt  thou  forget. 

And  like  the  passing  waters,  think  of  it  no  more. 

17  Brighter  than  noon  shall  life"  again  arise ; 
And  what  is  darkness^'^  now  shall  be  like  morn. 

18  Then  shalt  thou  be  assured  that  there  is  hope ; 
Though  now  ashamed,^*  in  peace  shalt  thou  lie  down, 

19  And  take  thy  rest  with  none  to  make  afraid  ; 
Whilst  many  [who  have  scorned]  shall  seek  thy  face. 

20  But  as  for  wicked  men,  their  eyes  shall  fail ; 
Their  refuge  perishes ; 

Their  hope — 'tis  like  the  parting  breath. 


hzadstrvng ;  3 /,  ^eart,  in  Hebrew,  being  used  for  feeling  or 
passion,  as  well  as  for  iutelloct.  Umbreit,  Ewald  and  De- 
iiTzscH  take  it  as  a  proverb,  and  give  it  the  forced  rendering 
(in  the  words  of  the  latter) 

Before  an  empty  head  gaineth  understanding, 
An  ass's  foal  would  be  born  a  man. 

This  is  not  only  frigid,  in  itself,  and  forced,  and  at  war  with 
the  gravity  of  the  original,  but  cannot  be  brought  gramma- 
tically out  of  the  words.  Man,  vain  man.  The  repetition  is 
to  give  emphasis  to  that  expressive  word  30J- 

T 

»  Ver.  14.  This  verse  evidently  comes  in  parenthetically, 
and  therefore  the  participial  form  gives  the  best  mode  of 
rendering. 

10  Ver.  15.  p2fO-    Primary  sense  fusion,  thence  molten, 

thence  the  idea  of  a  metallic  column  figurative  of  firmness 


and  solidity.    It  may  be  that  the  meaning  here  is  derived 
from  the  cognate  J)f  (Ji*p)  stabilire. 

11  Ver.  17.   '^1X^.     hiui'v — time-passing — a  very  pathetic 

word.     Comp.  Ps.  xxxix.  6;  xvii.  14;  Ixxxix.  48. 
13  Ver.  17.  Darkness.    n3J.^1— a  word  of  the  same 

class  with  those  mentioned  in  note  on  x.  22. 

13  Ver.  18.  Asbained.  This  is  the  rendering  of  Gese- 
nius,  giving  to  13n  the  same  sense  it  has  in  vi.  20.  The 
other  sense  of  the  verb,  to  dig,  and  that  derived  from  it,  to 
search,  are  very  forced  here.  See  E.  V.,  Davidson,  Dzlitzsch, 
and  others.  Umbbeit  gets  from  SchulteN'S,  and  the  Arabic, 
the  sense  of  protecting,  which  better  suits  the  context,  but  is 
philologically  without  weight.  The  Vulgate  gives  the  sense 
of  digging.  The  LXX,  as  is  most  commonly  the  case  in  Job, 
is  worthless.    Merx  renders  very  beautifully,  though  freely — 

Und,  ob  beschiliut  zuvor,  uocb  sicher  ruhn. 


Chapter  XII. 

1  Then  answered  Job  and  said : 

2  Ye  are  the  people,  there's  no  doubt ; 
And  wisdom  dies  with  you. 

3  But  I  have  understanding  like  yourselves ; 
In  nothing  do  I  fall  below  your  mark. 
Who  knoweth  not  such  things  as  these? 

4  Sport  to  his  friend  !  yes,  such  am  I  become, 
Though  one  who  calls  on^  God,  and  whom  he  hears; 
A  sport,  (your)  sport !     A  man  upright  and  true ! 


1  Ver.  4.  Wlio  calls  on  God,    I  who  caJl  on  God.  I  lOtJ'  ''X'^pS.    His  offering  sacrifice,  i.  5,  shows  aomething 
Job  means  himself  here,   not  only  as  a  man   of  prayer,  '■      "  :  1  : 

of  the  priestly  character.  The  verse  is  a  vehement  torrent 
of  righteous  indignation,  and  the  best  translation  is  that 
which  keeps  nearest  to  the  Hebrew  with  all  its  abruptness. 
It  was  probably  called  out  by  Zoptiar's  comparing  him  to 
"  the  wild  ass,"  xi.  12. 


ni  7X7  Nip,  but  as  one  known  among  men  for  the  public 

or  oflBcial  performance  of  religious  worship.  So  Caryl  inti- 
mates, referring  to  Ps.  xcix.  6,  "  Moses  and  Aaron  among 
his  priests,  Samuel  among  those  who  call  upon  his  name," 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


10 


11 


12 


13 


As  wasted  lamp-  to  splendors  of  the  proud, 
So  is  the  man  who  stands  on  tottering  feet ; 
"Whilst  quiet  are  the  spoilers'  tents, — 
All  confident'  the  men  who  anger  God, 
Into  whose  hands*  Eloah  sends  (his  bounty). 

But  surely  ask  the  beasts  and  they  will  teach ; 

The  birds  of  heaven  will  make  it  known  to  thee ; 

Or  converse*  hold  with  earth,  and  it  will  speak; 

The  fishes  of  the  sea  will  tell  it  thee : 

Who  kuoweth  not,  by  every  one  of  these, 

Jehovah's  hand  it  is  that  doeth  this  ? 

In  whose  hand  lieth  every  breathing  life ; 

The  spirit  of  all  flesh — of  every  man. 

Doth  not  the  ear  try  words, 

As  tastes  the  palate  food  ? 

So  with  the  old  is  sagd  experience  f 

With  length  of  days  doth  understanding  dwell. 

With  God,  too,  there  is  wisdom,  strength  is  His, 
Counsel  to  plan  and  never-erring^  skill. 


«-Ver.  5.  A  wasted  lamp:  M3  TsS-    Literally  a 

lamp  of  contempt,  hnt  the  figure  demands  the  idea  of  that 
for  which  it  is  despised — worn  out,  exhausted,  either  in  its 
structure  or  its  oil,  and,  therefore,  thrown  away  as  useless. 
The  passage  has  lieen  regarded  as  very  difficult.  Ohscurita- 
tmn  summam  hujus  versus  omnes  interpreles  agnoscunt,  says 
Schultens.  ."The  words  of  this  text  are  dark,"  says  the 
learned  Puritan  Caryl  in  his  quaint  style,  "and  there  are 
not  a  few  who  make  the  lamp  the  darkest  word  in  it."  And 
then  he  goes  on  to  note  the  other  rendering  given  by  Aben 
Ezra,  and  which  has  since  been  adopted  by  the  principal 
modern  interpreters,  except  Umbrmt.    It  divides  the  word 

T"37  into  the  noun  Tii  destruction,  calamity  or  misfortune 

generally,  and  the  servile  7,  the  preposition,  with  the  sense 
of  for  or  in  place  of:  ''for  misfortune,  contempt.''  The 
translator  was  at  first  inclined  to  this  view.  It  is,  however, 
full  of  difficulties,  though  in  some  of  its  aspects  seeming 
quite  plausible.  The  rendering  which  Ewald,  Delitzsch  and 
others  give  to  the  words  immediately  following  seems  to 
suit  it,  especially  as  expressed  in  the  concise  and  haopy  wav 
ofM£Bi:  '  /  •' 

Dem  TJngluck  Hohn,  so  wahnen  Sichere : — 
For  suffering  scorn  ;  so  fancy  the  secure ; 
Scorn  ever  ready  for  the  tottering  man. 

So  the  translator  first  rendered  it,  relying  for  the  sense 
ofJIDJ  on  Ps.  xxxviii.  18,  p3J  I^'birS  'JN,  ready  to  halt. 

A  more  thorough  study,  however,  produced  the  conviction 
that  the  older  rendering  of  the  Vuloate,  the  Syriac,  the 
Taroum,  the  Jewish  commentators  Kimchi,  Raschi,  Buy 
Oerson  and  others,  Ju.vids  and  Teemellius,  Luther,  E.  V., 
Mercerus,  A'atabll-s,  Cocceius,  and  of  the  best  of  the 
authorities  cited  in  Poole's  Synopsis,  ia  the  correct  one. 
Z8CKLF.R  says :  "The  sense  of  iamp  makes  an  incongruous 
image  in  the  picture."  That  depends,  however,  on  what 
the  picture  is  supposed  to  be.  "A  consumed  or  expiring 
lamp,"  siiys  Conant,  "would  be  pertinent;  but  a  <orc/i  de- 
spised is  like  anything  else  that  is  despised,  and  the  epithet 
requires  some  ground  for  the  application."  All  this  ques- 
tion of  metaphorical  congruity,  however,  depends  upon 
another,  namely,  whether  the  right  rendering  is  given  to 
mniyj^.  The  primary  sense  of  ihe  verb  r<\ifV  Is  certainly 
to  shine.  See  Jerem.  v.  28.  Hence  the  noun,  if  rendered 
thojujhts,  must  ho  regarded  as  figuratively  (h^uoting  splendid, 
brilliant  lhnuf)hlf,  imaqininqs,  vain  imaginations, — not  sim- 
ply co<7i<(i  (ion.?.  So  nunty;^.  Pa.  rxtvi.  4:  In  that  day  his 
proud  imaginations  (his  splendid  hnpex)  all  perish.  This  is 
quite  different  from  his  thoughts,  his  thinking,  as  the  annihi- 
lationist  perverts  that  text.  In  Jonah  i.  6  the  Ilithpahel 
may  very  pertinently  be  rendered  shint  upon,  instead  of, 


"  thinJc  upon."  It  thus  makes  a  very  appropriate  prayer 
for  men  in  such  a  dark  tempest:  that  the  sky  would  clear 
up,  or  that  God  would  shine  upon  them  through  it.  So  in 
Cant.  V.  24,  Jlt^J?  means  something  shining,  polished.    So 

CoccEiDS  and  some  of  the  older  commentators,  Christian 
and  Jewish.  If  we  give  to  mntyj^  here  this  primary  sense 
of  shining,  splendor  (whether  of  the  thoughts  or  of  the  out- 
ward state),  then  the  antithesis  it  presents  to  T"37,  the 
cast  off,  used  up  torch,  is  no  longer  "  incongruous,"  but 
very  happy:  the  poor  wasted  thing,  which  Job  so  much 
resembled,  as  contrasted  with  the  splendors  of  wealth,  or 
the  high  imagininc/s  of  a  soul  at  ease.  It  is  the  very  image 
used  isai.  slii.  3,  ilie  sputtering  wick  or  lamp,  r\'n3  r\P\U2 

T"       T  :  • 
(the   "  smolcing  flax "),  and  cited    by  our  Saviour,  Matt. 
xii.20. 

3  Ver.  6.  All  confident.  Plural  noun  with  superla- 
tive sense. 

*  \eT.  6.  Into  whose  hands,  etc.     This  is  rendered 

by  some:  "wAo  take  God  in  their  hand;"  regarding  7  as 
repeated  here  from  the  line  above.  So  Davidson  and  De- 
litzsch. The  sense  they  get  is,  that  wicked  men  make  their 
hand  (their  own  power)  their  God.  For  this  there  is  cited 
Habak.  i.  11,  and  ViRQ.  ^cra.  x.  774:  27.  Dextra  mihi  Deus. 
Delitzsch  renders  it  very  strangely :  "  who  take  Eloah  in 
their  hand."  The  use  of  Eloah,  however,  seems  strongly 
against  this.  The  ellipsis  in  the  other  rendering  is  quite 
facile. 

6  Ver.  8.  ]>elltz8Ch  excellently  renders  XYVf  "look 
thoughtfully  to  the  ground."  The  reference  in  this  whole 
appeal  (vers.  7  and  8)  is  not,  as  Ewald  thinks,  to  the  des- 
tined purpose  or  divine  reason  in  suffering  and  in  pain. 
That  belongs  to  the  wisdom  which  "  the  eagle's  eye  hath  not 
8cen,.and  which  is  hid  from  all  the  fowls  of  the  air;"  xxviii. 
7.  21, — the  deep  wisdom  of  God.  The  allusion  is  rather  to 
Zophar's  expression  of  the  fact,  so  pretentiously  set  forth, 
as  it  seemed  to  Job,  when  all  nature,  animate  and  inani- 
mate, proclaims  the  existence  of  inexplicable  mystery  in 
the  divine  dealings.  It  is  not  the  reason  that  we  get  from 
nature,  bat  the  fact,  whether  we  understand  it  or  not,  that 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  doeth  all. 

8  Ver.  12.  nODn  must  be  rendered  experience  to  preserve 
the  figures  in  the  verse  above. 

^  Ver.  13.  njUH  here  is  discernment  or  wisdom  in  adapL 
ing  means  to  ends.  The  epithet  is  necessary  because  there 
is  an  evident  intention  to  set  in  contrast  the  divine  discern- 
ment, or  perfect  foresight,  and  the  best  human  experience, 
as  mentioned  above  ver.  12.  Delitzsch  defines  njUfl  as 
"that  which  can  penetrate  to  the  bottom  of  what  is  true  or 
false."    There  is  here  again  a  diMiity  in  wisdom  as  in  xi.  6 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


14  Lo !  He  casts  down ;  it  never  shall  be  built ; 
He  shutteth  up ;  there  is  no  opening. 

15  The  waters  He  withholds  ;  the  streams  are  dry; 
He  sends  them  forth,  and  they  lay  waste  the  earth. 

16  With  Him  is  power,  eternal  truth*  is  His  ; 

To  Him  alike  are  known  deceiver  and  deceived. 

17  'Tis  He  that  leadeth  counsellors  despoiled,' 
And  makes  the  judges  fools. 

18  'Tis  He  who  breaks  the  bonds  of  kings, 
And  binds  their  loins  with  cords. 

19  Priests  too  He  leadeth,  stripped'"  (of  sacred  robes). 
The  long  established^'  (thrones)  He  overthrows. 

20  The  trusted  He  deprives  of  speech. 
And  takes  away  the  judgment  of  the  old. 

21  On  nobles  doth  He  pour  contempt, 

And  renders  weak  the  girdle  of  the  strong. 

22  Deep  things  from  darkness  He  reveals ; 
Tzalmaveth''^,  world  of  shadows,  brings  He  forth  to  light. 

23  He  makes  the  nations  grow,  and  then  destroys; 
Extends  their  bounds,  then  lets  them  pass  away. 

21       Chiefs  of  the  earth,  of  reason  he  deprives, 

And  makes  them  wander  in  a  pathless  waste. 

25       They  grope  in  darkness,  where  no  light  appears ; 
He  makes  them  stagger  like  a  drunken  man. 


(D'7£33),  though  not  exactly  the  same  with  that  referred 

to  by  the  would-be  philosopher  Zophar  above,  or  by  Job 
himself,  xxviii.  23-25.  It  is  two-fold :  the  wisdom  of  God  ia 
the  processes  of  designing  or  adapting  (njl^r^,  skill,  dis- 
cernment), and  the  higher  wisdom  (nDDH  as  Dif  y)>  which 
is  in  the  design  of  the  designs. 

8  Ver.  16.  Power— eternal  truth.  There  is  no 
desire  to  find  too  scientific  or  too  philosophical  a  meaning 
in  Job;  but  these  are  the  best  renderings  we  can  give  to 
those  contrasted  words  JJ^  and  n'tyin.  The  latter  is  the 
reality  of  things,  that  which  makes  them  to  be  what  they 
ai-e,  their  ideas,  laws  or  principles  as  distinguished  here 
f  com  power  or  force,  to  use  the  word  now  such  a  great  one 


in  science— or  dynamical  energy.  See  Daniel  xi.  38,  D'Tj^'O 
r1 /X,  iA«  god  of  forces.  Delitzsch  renders  n'^in  exist- 
ence, and  defines  it  as  the  real  in  contrast  with  what  ap- 
■pears.  Better  to  have  rendered  it  being — that  wliich  truiy 
is — all  that  is,  as  God's  truth.  See  Note  to  xxvi.  3. 
9  Ver.  17.  7  7lty,  used  collectively.    Either  literal,  or  as 

T 

the  phrase  is  used  in  Latin,  captos  mente,  despoiled  of  reason. 

seePs.  ixxvi.:  nS  nox  i'7"7intyx. 

1"  Ver.  19.  So  Deutzsch  supplies  the  ellipsis. 

11  So  CONANT. 

12  Ver.  22.  This  word  T^almaveth,  together  with  Sheol  and 
Hades,  should  have  been  naturalized  in  our  Bngliah  version. 


Chapter  XIII. 

1  Behold  all  this  mine  eye  hath  seen  ; 
Mine  ear  hath  heard  and  understood  it  well, 

2  What  ye  know  I  do  also  know  ; 
In  nothing  do  I  fall  below  you. 

3  For  truly  'tis  to  Shaddai  I  would  speak. 
With  God  to  plead — this  is  my  strong  desire. 

4  But  ye  indeed  !'  forgers  of  lies  are  ye  ; 
Physicians  of  no  value  are  ye  all. 

5  O  that  you  would  be  altogether  still. 

For  that  would  surely  be  your  wisest  way. 

1  Ver.  4.  Bat  ye  indeed.    Force  of  dSiX- 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


10 


11 


12 


But  hear  my  pleading  now  ; 

O  listen  to  the  strivings  of  my  lips. 

For  God/  will  ye  speak  what  is  wrong  ? 

And  utter  specious  things'  in  His  behalf? 

Dare  ye  His  person  to  accept*  ? 

Is  it  for  God,*  indeed,  that  ye  contend? 

Say,  is  it  well,  that  He  should  search  you  out  ? 

Or  as  man  mocketh  man,  so  mock  ye  Him? 

Sure,  He  will  make  your  condemnation  clear  f 

If  thus,  in  secret,  partially  ye  deal. 

Shall  not  His  glory  fill  you  with  alarm  ? 

His  dread^  upon  you  fall  ? 

Pictures^  in  ashes  drawn,  your  maxims  grave  ; 

Your  strong  defences  are  but  mounds  of  clay. 


13  Be  still ;  let  me  alone  f  that  I  may  speak, — 

"Whatever  may  befall.  •" 

14  My  flesh,"  why  should  I  bear  it  in  my  teeth  ? 
My  very  life,  why  take  it  in  my  hand. 

15  Lo !     Let  Him  slay  me  ;  still  for  Him  I'll  wait  ;'^  ' 
And  still  defend  my  ways  before  His  face. 

16  Yes,  my  salvation  shall  He  be  ; 

For  in  His  presence  the  impure  shall  never  come. 

17  Hear  now,  O  hear  my  word  ; 

My  declaration,  hold  it  in  your  ears. 

18  Behold  me  now;  I  have  prepared  my  cause; 
I'm  sure  I  can  maintain  my  right. 

19  "Who  then  is  HE,^'  that  shall  against  me  plead? 
For  now  if  I  keep  silence  I  must  die. 

20  Only  two  things  do  not  thou  unto  me ; 

And  then  from  thine  appearing  I'll  not  hide. 


*  Ver.  7.  For  Ood.  The  Hebrew  order  is  carefully  ob- 
served since  the  surprise  is  that  such  a  thing  should  be  done 
for  God. 

3  Ver.  7.  Speclons  tbtn|^.  rfDI  can  hardly  be 
taken  here  in  the  sense  of  intended  deceit. 

*  Ver.  8.  The  English  phrase,  though  now  becoming  ob- 
solete, is  still  understood  from  its  Bible  use,  and  is  yery  ex- 
pressive. 

6  Ver.  8.  Here,  too,  the  Hebrew  order  is  preserved.  The 
contrast  denotes  surprise. 

6  Ver.  10.  Tho  intensive  double  form,  nOV  FUDin.  de- 
notes strong  and  open  conviction.  Thus  it  furnishes  the  an- 
tithesis to  Tr\D3  (in  secret)  in  the  second  clause.  Some- 
thing of  the  kind  seems  intended.  It  suggests,  too,  the  idea 
of  soDjething  almost  prophetical  of  tlie  conviction  of  Job's 
friends,  and  their  open  condemnation,  xlii.  7. 

"  Ver.  11.  His  dread.    IHD  stronger  than  HX"^'. 

8  Ver.  12.  ^£3X  ''7ty0.  The  rendering  pic<J<res  here,  may 
be  an  accommodation,  but  it  is  in  liarmony  with  the 
etymological  and  general  meaning  of  the  root.  Schlottm.\n»  : 
Eure  DenksprUche  sind  Aschenspriiche. 

9  Ver.  13.  Our  E.  V.  is  very  happy  here.  Be  still  from  me, 
which  18  the  literal  rendering,  is  opposed  to  our  idiom. 

1"  Ver.  13.  Literally:  come  upon  me  whatmnu. 

"  Ver.  14.  A  climax :  flesh  and  life.  The  literal  rendering 
of  the  verse  is  clear.  For  the  different  views  of  its  applica- 
tion see  Deutzsch. 

12  Ver.  15.  I'll  wait.    In  regard  to  this  disputed  verse, 


everything  depends  on  the  reading,  whether  ^7,  or  V7  as 
it  is  in  the  Keri.  The  Masoretic  authority  is  in  favor  of  the 
latter.  So  are  the  ancient  Versions,  Syriac  and  Vulgate.  See 
the  evidence  most  fully  and  fairly  summed  up  by  Delitzsch, 
who  adopts  the  rendering  that  has  prevailed  in  the  Church. 
In  regard  to  the  internal  evidence,  as  he  well  says,  nothing 
could  be  more  Joli-like.  See  xiv.  14, 15;  xix.  25.  Job's  low- 
est despondency  is  gf-nerally  the  season  when  his  strangely 
supported  spirit  mounts  up  to  the  strongest  expression  of 
his  never  to  be  extinguished  hope. 

13  Ver.  19.  IVllo  then  is  HE?  The  one  challenged 
here  would  seem  to  be  God,  although  commentators  gene- 
rally do  not  thus  regard  it.  If  so,  'O  would  properly  be 
exclamatory,  rather  than  interrogatory:  Wliat  Tcind  of  a 
onef  The  view  has  some  confirmation  in  what  follows,  fver. 
20),  unless  we  suppose  an  abrupt  change  of  person,  a  thing 
which  indeed  often  occurs  in  Hebrew,  but  would  not  be  ne- 
cessary here.  It  explains,  too,  the  language  of  the  second 
clause.  Some  render  this,  "  then  shall  I  be  silent  and  ex- 
pire." But  such  a  construction  as  J^IJXI  B'^'inX  suggests 
something  conditional,  as  it  is  well  rendered  in  E.  V. :  "  If  I 
hold  my  peace,  I  shall  give  up  the  ghost."  It  looks  as  though 
Job  shrunk  from  tlie  challenge,  but  felt  that  he  must  utter 
it  or  die.  The  VULO.  seems  to  have  had  this  view  in  its  in- 
terpolation, veniat !  Let  him  come — let  him  appear  :  Veniat; 
quare  tacens  consumorf  If  the  view  be  correct,  then,  there 
would  be  an  emphasis  on  XIDi  expressed,  it  may  be,  in  the 
tone,  or  SencTiicwt,  as  the  critics  say,  and  which  is  here  at- 
tempted to  be  represented  by  capitals. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


21  Far  off  withdraw  thy  hand  from  me, 
Nor  let  thy  terror  fill  me  with  alarm. 

22  Then  call  thou  ;  I  will  make  response  ; 
Or  I  will  speak,  and  do  thou  answer  me. 

23  How  many  are  my  sins — my  trespasses — 

My  errors — my  transgressions?     Let  me  know. 

24  Why  hidest  thou  thy  face  from  me?^* 
Why  hold  me  for  thy  foe  ? 

25  A  driven  leaf  would'st  thou  affright  ? 
The  withered  chaff  pursue  ? 

26  For  bitter  things  against  me  thou  dost  write  ;'* 
And  to  my  youthful  sins,  thou  makest  me  the'®  heir. 

27  My  feet  thou  puttest  in  the  stocks, 
And  guardest  all  my  ways, 

Making  thy  mark"  upon  my  very  soles  ; 

28  Whilst  he'*  (thus  watched)  in  rottenness  consumes ; 
Or  like  a  garment  which  the  moth  devours. 


1*  Ter.  24.  Delitzsch  well  says:  "The  bold  confidence  ex- 
pressed in  the  question  and  challenge  of  ver.  23  (and  he  might 
have  said  of  ver.  19)  is  here  changed  to  a  sort  of  mournful 
astonishment  at  God's  not  appearing,  and  his  seeming  to 
hold  him  as  an  enemy  without  an  investigation  of  his  case." 

15  Ver.  26.  Tbon  dost  write.  Delitzsch  renders 
thou  decreest.  The  literal  sense  is  better  as  preserving  the 
favorite  Scriptural  image  of  God's  recording  book. 

16  Ver.  26.  Literally,  make  me  inherit.  Others  render  it, 
possess;  but  that  loses  the  most  impressive  figure:  the  old 
man  heir  to  the  young  man's  follies. 

17  Ver.  27.  Making  thy  mark.  Here,  as  elsewhere 
sometimes,  the  most  literal  rendering  gives  the  best  clue  to 
the  meaning.  The  translator  must  express  his  surprise  at 
the  way  in  which  commentators  have  gone  round  and  round 
the  idea  without  exactly  hitting  it.  Most  of  them  take  it  as 
meaning  "to  set  a  bnunil  about  the  feet"  to  prevent  his  going 
beyond  it.  So  Heiliqstedt,  IIirzel.Dillmanx,  Schlottmaxn, 
CoNANT,  who  cites  them,  and  others.  Gesenics:  circa  ra- 
dices pedum  meorum  effodisti  fossam,  "dug  a  trench  around 
them."  EwALD,  citing  Aben  Ezra,  held  this  view  at  first,  but 
afterward  changed    it    for  another.     He  renders  npnnn 

dichversicherst,  makest  thyself  sure  of,  which  is  true  as  an 
inferential  conclusion,  but  can,  in  no  way,  be  taken  as  a 
sense  of  npHnri-    To  get  it,  he  goes  a  great  way,  and  most 

unnecessarily,  to  the  Arabic  chakJca,  v.  conjugation,  tachakkaka 
ala,  certits  factus — a  secondary  Arabic  eense,  derived  from  an 
older  secondary  Hebrew  sense  of  tlio  Poel,  decrevit,  legislavit ; 
and  then  he  compares  it  with  tachakkama  ala.  Besides,  tachak- 
kaka is  not  followed  by  ala,  but  by  min.  Everything  in  the 
context  goes  to  show  that  T\i>T\  here,  =  ppPl,  has  its^n- 

mary  sense  of  marking.  Tremellius  renders  it  quite  liter- 
ally: super  radices pedem  meorum  imprimeris,  a,nd  is  followed 
by  our  English  Version :  "thoitsettest  a  print  upon,  the  heels 


of  my  feet."  This  gives  the  exact  idea,  except  in  its  failure 
to  represent  the  reflex,  or  Hithpahel,  sense  of  npnOjl, 
which  Delitzsch  finds  a  difficulty,  although  he  renders  it, 
like  6o  many  others,  "  thou  makest  for  thyself  a  circle  around 
the  soles  of  my  feel."  It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  he  and  others 
get  from  the  words  the  sense  surrounding,  or  to  set  round. 
The  Hithpahel,  like  the  Greek  Middle,  may  be  often  rendered 
by  the  addition  of  the  personal  possessive  pronoun.  Thus, 
Kal,  Thou  markest;  Hithpahel,  thou  makest  thy  mark — thy 
mark  for  thyself.  This  at  once  suggests  the  idea  which  our 
E.  V.  and  Tremellius  come  very  near  expressing.  It  is,  in 
general,  the  owner  putting  his  mark  somewhere  tlpon  his 
beast,  that  he  may  know  it,  and,  in  this  case,  more  specially, 
putting  a  mark  upon  the  foot — as  on  the  camel's  hoof,  for 
example,  that  he  may  track  it  when  wandering  in  the  desert. 
The  Vuloate:  vestigia  pedum  meorum  considerasit,  seems 
suggested  by  this,  and  may  itself  have  suggested  Ewald's  in- 
terpretation. The  grievance  Job  complains  of,  in  this  case, 
would  be  like  putting  such  a  mark  upon  an  old  worn-out  ca- 
mel, which,  instead  of  straying,  was  unable  to  stand  up.  Thus 
Job  represents  the  dealing  with  himself,  so  watched,  so 
marked,  and  yet  so  helpless.  It  is  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  complaint  above,  "  Thou  guardest  all  my  ways,"  and  with 
what  is  said  about  "the  driven  leaf,''  and  "chasing  the  with- 
ered" chaff:  it  is  all  so  useless,  and  therefore  cruel.  In  this 
interpretation,  there  may,  perhaps,  be  found  a  clue  to  the 
sudden  change  of  person  in  the  next  verse. 

18  Ver.  28.  Wbilstbe.  Job  still  has  in  mind  the  ani- 
mal to  whom  his  figure  refers,  but,  at  the  same  time,  intend- 
ing himself,  as  one  thus  watched,  and  having  a  mark  put 
upon  his  feet  to  track  him  if  he  strays,  although  he  is  a  poor 
emaciated  creature,  without  strength  to  move  or  stand.  To 
a  Hebrew  reader  accustomed  to  it,  this  change  (though  the 
transition  from  the  Ist  person  to  the  3d  is  rare)  would  be  felt 
as  very  touching.  We  can  only  supply  it  by  an  ellipsis  as 
the  translator  baa  endeavored  to  do. 


Chapter  XIV. 
1 


— *  Man  of  woman  horn ; 

Few  are  his  days,  and  full  of  restlessness. 

He  comes  forth  like  a  flow'r,  and  is  mo^vn  down ; 

Flees'  like  a  passing  shadow — makes  no  stay. 


1  Ver.  1.  This  may  be  supposed  to  be  said  after  a  brief  pause. 

2  Ver.  2.  Flees.     Heh.  and  flees.     The  frequent  Hebr.-w 
conjunction  1  is  often  a  mere  breathing,  a  transition  particle, 


merely  indicating  a  going  on  of  the  thought.    In  such  cases,     pared  with  the  original 


we  come  nearer  to  the  spirit  of  the  original  by  leaving  the 
piissago  unheuml  (a.<rvyS(Tov),  than  by  clogging  it  with  our 
lieavy  connective  and.    See  the  rendering  of  xiiii  23  as  com- 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


10 


11 


12 


1o 
O 


On  such  a  being,'  openest  thou  thine  eye, 
To  bring  me  into  judgment  Avith  thyself? 
O  could*  there  come  one  pure  from  the  impure ! 

But  there  is  no  such  one. 
If  now  his  days  are  all  decreed, 
And  fixed  the  number  of  his  months  by  thee; 
If  thou  hast  set  a  bound  he  cannot  pass ; 
Then  turn  away  from  him  and  let  him  rest. 
Till  like  a  hireling  he  enjoy  his  day. 

For  a  tree  there  still  is  hope. 

Cut  down,  it  springs  again  ; 

Nor  do  its  suckers  fail. 

Though  in  the  earth  its  root  be  old, 

Its  stump  all  dead  and  ^(buried)  in  the  dust ; 

From  waters  inhalation  will  it  bud, 

And  send  forth  shoots  like  a  new  planted  stem. 

But  man — he  dies  and  fallen^  wastes  away ; 

Man  draws  his  parting  breath,  and  where  is  he? 

As  fail  the  waters  from  the  sea  ;^ 

As  wastes  the  flood  and  drieth  up, — 

So  man  lies  down  to  rise  no  more ; 

Until  the  Heavens  be  gone,  they  ne'er  awake, 

Nor  start  them  from  their  sleep. 

[A    BRIEF    PAUSE.] 

O  that  in  Sheol  thou  would'st  lay  me  up  ; 

That  thou  would'st  hide  me  till  thy  wrath  shall  turn,^ 

Set  me  a  time,  and  then  remember  me. 


[A    MUSINa    SILENCE.] 

14       Ah,  Is  it  so?^     When  man  dies,  does  he  live  again! 


3  Ver.  3.  n?  Ij?:  on  this;  SeixTtKus;  either  by  tone  or 
gesture  iiulicatino;  that  ho  means  himself;  as  is  shown  by 
the  sudden  cliaiige  of  person.  Merx  wholly  destroys  the 
pathos  of  this  by  arbitrarily  changing  'j"\ j<  into  IJ^j^. 

*  Ver.  4.  O  conld.  The  optative  rendering  here  is  not 
only  according  to  the  usual  use  of  Jf)''  'Di  hut  gives  more 

distinctly  the  idea  of  inherited  human  depravity,  and  conse- 
quent disease,  which  here  forces  itself  upon  the  mind  of  .lob. 
On  this  account,  it  may  be  thought  sin}.'ular  that  it  sliould 
be  generally  aHopted  by  the  more  rationalizing  commenta- 
tors. There  is  here,  says  Umbbkit,  the  Oriental  (!)  idea  of 
the  ErbsUnde;  but  then  he  immediately  qualifies  it  as  usual 
by  saying:  "Not.  however,  in  tha  sense  of  the  subtile  dog- 
matic definitions." 

5  Ver.  8.  The  supply  of  the  ellipsis  only  gives  the  full 
meaning. 

«  Ver.  10.  15?  •)X^  unites  both  these  senses :  faUen— wastes. 
It  puts  hira  in  contrast  with  the  fallen  tree.. 

'  Ver.  11.  □'  may  mean  any  largo  collection  of  water. 

8  Ver.  i:i.  315y  denotes  a  turning.  DelitzsOH,  very  hap- 
pily:  "  Till  thin',  anger  change." 

»  Ver.  14.  "Ah,  shall  he  live?"  nTITI-  This 
language  is  neither  that  of  denial,  nor  of  dogmatic  /iffirma- 
tion.  Hptween  tlipse  lie  two  states  of  sonl :  one  of  sinking 
doubt,  the  other  of  rising  hope.  It  depends  upon  the  tone 
and  manner  of  utteranre,  whilst  these,  again,  can  only  be 
recalled  to  us  by  something  in  the  structure  of  the  sentence. 


or  by  the  context.  The  particle  M  is  the  hinge  on  vchicli 
the  sentence  opens.  It  may  be  talveu  two  ways.  Its  force 
may  be  regarded  as  confined  to  its  own  clause  locally,  or, 
with  more  reason,  may  it  be  supposed  to  rule  the  whole  sen- 
tence; since  DN  is  merely  transitive,  and  here  implies  no 
doubt.  It  is  exclamatory,  as  well  as  interrogative.  If  a 
man  die,  nr  when  a  man  dies,  ah,  shall  he.  live,  again  I  That, 
in  English,  might  possibly  be  the  language  of  doubt,  though 
mucli  would  depend  upon  contextual  considcirations.  Or, 
take  the  other  style  of  utterance  (in  English,  we  mean):  Ah, 
is  it  so,  when  man  dies, does  he  live  again  T  This  would  cor- 
respond to  the  idea  of  the  interrogative  ri  intluencina;  the 
whole  verse;  CZ3X  being  entirely  subordinate.  It  is  not 
despairing,  nor  even  desponding,  but  flu  expression  of  won- 
der, ratlier,  at  the  greatness  of  an  idea  striking  the  mind  in 
pome  fresh  and  startling  aspect.  It  is  surprise,  rather  than 
doubt,  or  the  state  of  soui  which  Homer  so  naturally,  as  well 
as  vividly,  represents,  Iliad  xxiii.  103.  Achilles,  like  all  the 
other  Greeks,  believed  in  the  reality  of  a  spirit  world,  as 
distinctly  held  in  his  day ;  yet  when  tlio  dream,  or  (ho  ap- 
pp.iraiire  of  Patrocliis,  startles  him  with  an  unusually  near 
and  vivid  thought  of  it,  he  cries  out : 

*n  TTOTTOt  ^   pa  Tl's  CCTTl  Kol  cif  'Al'SaO  So/iOlCT'll' 

^u\rj  Kac  ei5a>Aoi' ; 

O  wonder !  Is  there  truly  in  that  unseen  world 
Both  soul  and  form? 

And  so  even  the  Christian  believer  might  speak  when  the 
momentous  thought  comes  suddenly  before  him  with  some 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION'. 


79 


Then  all  the  days  appointed  me  I'll  wait, 
Till  my  reviving'**  come. 

15  Then  thou  wilt  call,  and  I  will  answer  thee; 
For  thou  wilt  yearn"  towards  thy  handy  work. 

16  But  now  thou  nuraberest  my  steps  ; 
Thou  wilt  not  set  a  guard"*  upon  ray  sin  ; 

17  (For)  sealed,  as  in  a  bag,  is  ray  transgression  bound. 
And  mine  iniquity  thou  sewest"  up. 

[A    LONGER    INTERVAL    OF    SILENCE.] 

18  Yes" — even  the  mountain  falling  wastes  away  ; 
The  rock  slow  changes  from  its  ancient'^  place ; 

19  The  water  wears  the'^  stones  ; 

Its  overflowings  sweep  away  the  soil; 
So  makest  thou  to  perish  human  hope. 


new  impressivenes^.  There  is  still  another  shade  of  the 
idea,  near  akin  to  this  feolins  i)f  wonder:  When  a  man  dies, 
does  he  livef  That  is:  Is  death  really  the  way  to  life?  Do 
we  live  by  dying?  See  the  quotation  from  Euripides,  and 
the  remarks  in  the  Introduction  on  the  Theism,  page  8. 
In  regard  to  the  force  of  the  context,  there  can  be  but  little 
doubt.  There  is  certainly  a  rising  of  hope  which  his  some- 
how come  in  after  the  mournful  language  of  ver.  12.  This 
prompts  the  prayer  preceding,  in  ver.  13;  then  there  is  the 
exclamation ;  and  then,  as  though  from  some  inspiration  it 
had  given  him,  the  strong  declaration  that  he  would  wait 
for  this  change,  as  involving  something  most  desirable, 
though  wholly  unknown.  Immediately  follow  words  that 
seem  to  rise  to  full  assurance  (ver,  15):  "Thou  wilt  call, 
and  I  will  answer  thee ;  thou  wilt  have  regard  to  the  work 
of  thy  hands."  This  force  of  the  context  is  very  clearly  pre- 
sented by  Dblitzsoh.  The  mode  of  expression  implies  some- 
thing of  a  traditional  knowledge,  to  say  the  least:  Ah,  is  it 
sn.  as  we  have  heard,  to  9pvK\ovixevov — that  saying  rumored 
everywhere?  For  surely  Job  must  have  heard  it,  or  heard 
ofit.  The  Egyptians  had  it;  see  DiOD.  Sic.  i,  51.  According 
to  the  Rationalists  themselves,  the  Persians  and  other  trans- 
Euphratean  nations  must  have  had  it  long  before  the  time 
they  ascribe  to  the  hook  of  Job.  If  the  Ved  is  which  Merx 
quotes  (see  Int,  Theism,  page  16)  are  as  old  as  pretended, 
some  rumor  of  this  idea  must  have  crossed  the  Indus,  and 
reached  the  land  of  Uz.  The  Greeks,  we  know,  had  it  in 
the  ante-IIomeric  times.  There  is  good  evidence,  too,  of  its 
having  been  entertained  by  the  early  Arabian  tribes;  as  is 
shown  by  passages  in  the  Koran  where  the  Infidels  reply  to 
Mohammed,  saving:  "  When  we  are  dead  and  have  become 
dust  and  dry  bones,  how  can  we  be  revived?  Why,  this  is 
just  what  we  were  threatened  with,  we  and  our  fathers  of 
old;  away  with  it;  surely  this  is  nothing  more  than  fables 
of  the  ancient  men,"  See  Koran  6'«ra<,  xxiii,  84,  85;  xxvii. 
69.  70.  and  other  pla'-es,  , 

10  Ver.  14.  Reviving'.     (13^ /H  :  General  sense  change, 

vicissitude,  from  that  mysterious  root  f) /H-  It  's  used  in 
connection  with  K3V,  warfare,  time  of  military  or  other  ser- 
vice, X,  17,  Here  the  change,  naturally  suggested  by  the 
context,  is  release  from  Sheol,  as  from  a  warfare,  when  that 
set  time  comes.  There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt,  however,  that 
the  use  of  the  word  here  is  suggested  to  Job  by  the  verb 

n^ /TT,  which  he  had  taken,  ver.  7,  to  denote  the  regermi- 

nation  of  the  tree.  This,  of  itself,  would  seem  to  settle  it 
that  the  change  in  view  is  one  of  reviviscence,  and  the  idea 
derives  still  farther  aid  from  the  use  of  the  word,  Ps.  xc.  5, 
where  the  Kal  is  applied  to  the  flower  growinc:  np  in  the 
liiorning,  and  Ps,  cii,  27,  where  the  Hiphil  denotes  the  revi- 
viscence of  nature  in  the  new  He.avens  and  the  new  Earth. 
As  change,  it  is  never  change  from  life  to  death  ;  and  if  that 
were  the  meaning  intended  here,  a  more  unfit  word  could 
not  be  found. 

11  Ver.  15.  Wilt  yearn.  nODH:  a  word  of  great 
Ftrength  and  pathos,  well  rendered  yearn  by  Conant.  In 
Ps.  Ixxxiv.  .3,  the  Niphal  is  used  to  express  the  longing  of 
the  soul  for  God  and  the  services  of  his  house.  There  it  is 
'Oined  with  H/D  :  "pines,  yea.  faints  my  soul  for  the  courts 
of  the  Lord."  In  Gen.  xxxi.  30,  it  is  used  to  describe  .Jacob's 
intense  longing  for  home.  And  this  is  the  word  which,  by 
a  blessed  anthropopathism,  is  used  here  to  express  God's 


longing  for  the  handv  work  which  ho  had  once  so  curiously 
and  marvellously  made, 

1*  Ver,  16.  7y  gives  TlOtyn  here  an  intensive  sense.  The 

connection  only  occurs  elsewhere  in  Prov,  v,  22,  where  it  is 
taken  in  bonain  partem.  In  both  cases,  ic  has  the  sense  of 
guarding  for  the  sake  of  preserving  The  idea  is  that  there 
is  no  need  any  more  of  guarding  or  watching  m^er  Job's  sin, 
lest  it  should  be  lost,  for  it  is  sealed  up — tied  fast  in  God's 
fasciculus,  or  bundle  (compare  the  same  word,  "inVi  '^sr. 
17, as  used  1  Sam.  xxv.  29,  for  the  "bundle  of  life").  Such 
seems  to  be  the  train  of  thought,  and  it  makes  clear  a  pas- 
page  which  has  been  supposed  to  present  no  little  difficulty 
in  consequence  of  an  apparent  disagreement  between  its  two 
clauses.    The  interrogatory  rendering,  as  given  in  E,  V.,  and 

elsewhere,  is  a  forced  help.  The  A'ulgate  regards  TIOtyH  X  ' 
as  a  prayer:  Do  not  watch  over  my  sins — parce  peccatis 
meis ;  but  that  makes  an  unnecessary  variance  of  construc- 
tion between  the  two  cl.anses  and  the  two  verbs  IIDtJTl 
and  *M3Dn-    The  word  DHH  following  gives  a  clue  to  the 

\r 
explanation. 

18  Ver,  17.  Sewest  np.  Gesenius  gives  73  £3  a  secon- 
dary sense  suggested  by  the  Greek  phrase  &6Xov  pi-rrTeiv — 
"to  sew  falsehood  against  my  iniquiiy."    This  huits  Ps.  cxix. 

69;  but  there  it  is  '/V,  against  me,  against  the  person,  not 
against  the  sin,  which  would  be  an  absnrditj'.  It  would  be 
here,  moreover,  an  unnecessary  departure  from  the  other 
figures. 

1*  Ver,  18.  Yes,  even  the  monntain.  The  ex- 
pressive particle,  Q/IN,  OS  it  occurs  in  Job,  often  denotes  a 
kind  of  soliloquizing  pause.  It  makes  an  emotional  rather 
than  a  logical  transition,  suggestive  rather  than  adversative. 
It  may  be  supposed  to  refer  to  something  thought,  rather 
than  expressed.  What  is  the  point  of  the  comparisons  that 
here  start  up  in  the  mind  of  the  musing,  partly  controvert- 
ing, partly  soliloquizing  Job?  It  is  a  question  which  com- 
mentators have  had  difficulty  in  answering.  The  connective 
link  would  seem  to  bo  something  suggested  by  the  thought 
of  deliverance  from  Sheol,  ver,  15.  Kut  "  hotv  long.'  0  Lord, 
how  long!"  as  the  Psalmist  so  expressively  says.  The  mind 
of  Job,  beginning  to  fall  b.ack  into  its  despondency,  is  led  to 
a  mental  consideration  of  the  slow  changes  of  nature,  and 

his  brcaking'out  with  O7IX  i3  a  sort  of  answer  to  the 
thoDght  that  had  silently  intervened  :  Ah.  yes;  God's  times 
are  long;  tho  earth,  too,  and  the  heavens  (sie  vers.  11  and 
12)  are  passing  away.  "Yes,  even  the  mountain  falling 
crnmbles  to  decay."  The  effect  of  this  is  to  throw  a  shade 
over  his  hope,  until  at  the  end  of  the  chapter  he  seems  to 
have  got  almost  wholly  to  his  old  despairing  state. 

15  A'er.  18.  In  the  version  given  there  is  an  attempt  to 
combine  the  two  senses  of  pnj7  so  closely  suggestive  of  each 

other,  namely  age  and  removal.    See  Note  ix,  5. 

18  Ver.  19.  Wears  the  stones:  the  pebbles  on  tho 
beach  made  round  and  smooth  by  the  ablution  of  the  waters. 
It  is  a  phenomenon  suggestive,  even  to  tho  most  common 
mind,  of  long  duration.  One  might  almost  fancy  it  a  descrip- 
tion of  geological  changes. 


80 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


20 


21 


22 


Thou  overpow'rest"  man,  and  he  departs ; 
Changing  his  face,  thou  sendest  him  away. 
His  sons  are  honored,  but  he  knows  it  not. 
They  come  to  poverty — he  heeds  it  not. 
By  himself  alone,  his  flesh  endureth  pain ; 
By  himself"  alone,  his  soul  within  him^'  mourns. 


"  Ver. 20.  Tliou overpowerest.  Dewtzsch:  "Thou 
Beizest  him,"from  an  Arabic  iisage.  The  other  rendering, 
thmigh  the  verb  occurs  but  in  two  other  places,  xv.  24  and 
Ecclesiastes  iv.  12,  gives  a  clear  sense,  and  is  to  be  preferred 
for  its  harmony  with  the  figures  of  the  context. 
■  18  Ver.  22.  It  reminds  us  of  the  wailing  ghost  in  Homer. 
Job  could  hanlly  have  believed  it  as  a  fact,  and  yet  he  seems 
here  to  have  indulged  the  imagination  of  the  body  retaining 
feeling  in  the  grave,  and  the  soul,  or  life,  in  some  way,  sym- 
pathizing with  it.  It  may  be  regarded,  too,  .as  an  intensive 
expression  of  the  dead  man's  indifference  (see  Ecclesiastes 


ix.  5,  6)  to  all  things  in  the  world  above.  There  may,  per- 
haps, be  meant  the  supposed  state  in  Sheol,  according  to  the 
dark  view  taken  x.  22,  as  though  .Tob  had  fallen  back  to  that 
gloomy  conception,  unrelieved  by  the  hope  that  gleams  out 
in  some  of  the  verses  above. 
19  Ver.  22.  Within  blm.    Literally,  by  Mm,  upon  him, 

very  near  to  him.  The  second  V7j^,  though  a  repetition 
of  the  one  above,  may  be  regarded  as  including  both  ideas. 
It  is  that  thought  of  continued  being  referred  to,  Int.  Theism, 
pa.  3. 


Chapter  XV. 

1  Then  answered  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  and  said, 

2  A  wise  man,  shall  he  utter  windy  lore  ? 
And  with  a  rushing  tempest^  fill  his  souP, — 

3  Contending  still  with  speech  of  no  avail — 
With  words  that  do  no  good  ? 

4  Nay  more,  thou  makest  void  the  fear  of  God, 
Confession  to  Him  ever  holding  back. 

5  For  'tis  thy  sin  that  rules'  thy  mouth, 

And  thou  thyself  dost  choose  the  crafty  tongue. 

6  I  judge  thee  not ;  'tis  thine  own  mouth  condemns  ; 
Against  thee  thine  own  lips  do  testify. 

7  Art  thou  the  man  who  first  was  born? 
Before  the  hills  wast  thou  brought  forth  ? 

8  Eloah's  secret  counsel  hast  thou  heard  ? 
And  kept  (its)  wisdom*  to  thyself  alone? 

9  Tell  us — What  dost  thou  know  that  we  know  not  ? 
What  insight  hast  thou,  we  have  not  the  same  ? 

10  The  grey  haired' — yea,  the  very  old  are  ours — 
One  full  of  days,  beyond  thy  father's  years. 

11  God's  comfortings — are  they  too  small  for  thee  ? 
And  speech  that  flows  so  gently'  (to  thine  ear)  ? 


1  Ver.  2.  Tempest.     Dnp-    Literally  the  East  wind 

(Eurus),  but  used  for  any  violent  blast  (IIos.  xii.  2  ;  Isaiah 

xxvii.  8,  D^np  DTS  "  in  the  day  of  the  East  wind  ").    In 

the  first  clause,  as  TlEiLiasTErT  says,  there  is  the  idea  of  in- 
anity; in  the  second,  of  vehemence. 

2  Ver.  2.  His  BOUl.     ?t3!3-     Ewai.d  takes  this  literally, 

the  belhj,  or  stomach,  as  opposed  to  the  heart.  The  Hebrew, 
however,  as  well  as  the  Arabic  word,  ia  figurative  of  the  most 
Interior  department  of  the  soul;  as  in  the  phrase  ^02  "'"nn 

Prov.  xviil.  and  xxvi.  22.  Same  phraae  Prov.  xx.  27.  Comp. 
Heb.  iv.  12. 


s  Ver.  5.  Rules,  or  g^nards  thy  month.    So 

Raschi,  followed  by  Sohlottmann  and  Dillmann.  The  sub- 
ject being  general,  the  gender  makes  no  difference. 

*  Ver.  8.  (Its)'«vi<«dOin;  The  deep  wisdom  of  God,  as 
spoken  of  x.Tviii.  23-27,  which  man  cannot,  find. 

6  Ver.  10.  2i!f  means  the  hoary;    U/'E^',  one  still  older, 

T  •  T 

and  D'O'  *1'3D  ('il^e  the  Arabic),  one  still  older — as  old 
as  Job's  father  would  have  been. 

•  Ver.  11.  So  gently.    tOX?.    The  older  versions  and 

-T 

commentators  made  this  a  root,  and  gave  it  generally  a  bad 
sense,  Ruppoied  to  come  from  the  idea  of  involving,  coverinr) 
—like  the  Syriac.    Hence  our  E.  V.  renders  it  a  stcret  thing 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


81 


12  Why  does  thy  heai't'  so  carry  thee  away? 
What  means  this  quivering*  of  thine  eyes  ? 

13  That  thou  should'st  turn  again  thy  rage®  on  God, 
Whilst  pouring  from  thy  mouth  such  words^"  as  these  ? 

14  Say,  what  is  mortal  man  that  he  be  pure ! 

Or  one  of  woman  born"  that  he  be  righteous  ? 

15  For  lo,  His  Holy  Ones  He  trusteth  not ; 

The  very  Heavens  lack  pureness  in  His  sight, 

16  How  much  more  man,  the  abhorred,^'  the  all  defiled ! 
Yes,  man  who  drinketh  in,  like  water,  his  iniquity. 

17  I'll  show  thee  now  the  truth  ;  give  heed  to  me  ; 
And  that  which  I  have  seen  will  I  report ; — 

18  What  sages  clearly  have  made  known  to  us, 

And  kept  not  back — truths  from  their  fathers  learned  ; 

19  The  men  to  wdiom  alone  the  land  was  given ; 
With  whom  had  never  mingled  alien"  blood. 

[And  thus  they  sat.] 

20  "  The  bad  man  sorely  travails^*  all  his  days, — 
The  numbered'*  years  that  for  the  bandit  wait.^^ 

21  A  sound  of  terrors  ever  fills  his  ears ; 

And  then,  when  most  secure,  the  invadei-"  comes. 

22  He  has  no  hope  from  darkness  to  return, 
And  for  the  sword,  he  watches'®  evermore. 

23  For  bread  he  wanders,  saying  still — O,  where ! 

A  day  of  darkness,  well  he  knows,  is  ready  to  his  hand. 


(some  horror,  or  mystery).  Vulgate  :  verba  prava.  Modern 
commentators,  more  correctly,  make  it  from  C3X,  or  £3£0Xj 
denoting  something  gentle,  whether  of  sound  or  motion, — 

onomatopic,  at,  at,  light  moving.  The  preposition  7  added 
makes  it  an  adverbial  phrase.    See  Isaiah  viii.  6,  "  the  waters 

of  Shiloh,"'  £0X7  DO /tin.  thatflov)  so  gently.    In  this  se- 

~  :  •  :       T 

cond  clause  Eliphaz  may  have  meant  thus  to  characterize 
his  own  speech,  referring  probably  to  the  opening  words  iv. 
2,  3,  4.  It  is  certainly  not  descriptive  of  the  style  they  soon 
adopted. 

I  Ver.  12.  Thy  b^art.  The  feeling  it  must  mean  here, 
though  2l  more  usually  denotes  mind. 

8  Ver.  12.  Quivering'.  The  word  01*1,  or,  as  in 
Arabic  and  Syriac  JOT,  is  generally  rendered  towitik;  but 
here  seems  to  denote  that  rapid,  nervous,  moving  of  the  eye 
which  is  the  sign  of  irrepressible  agitation.  The  rendering, 
rolling  the  eye,  as  of  anger  or  defiance,  seems  too  harsh. 

9  Ver.  13.  Thy  rag'e;  "inil.  see  Jud.  viii.  3;  Isa.  xxv. 

4;  XXX.  28;  Zech.  vi.  8;  Prov.  xvi.  32;  xxix.  11.    Ewald, 
Wuth. 
w  Ver.  13.  HiERONTMns:  hujuscemodi  sermones. 

II  Ver.  14.  Of  ivoman  born.  Eliphaz  here,  as  Job 
xiv.  1  and  4,  seems  to  connect  the  being  horn  of  woman  with 
the  generic  impurity — the  erbsiinde,  or  hereditary  depravity. 

12  Ver.  16.  The  abhorred.  Exasperated  by  Job's  re- 
fusal to  make  the  demanded  confession,  Eliphaz  goes  much 
beyond  the  corresponding  language  used  by  him,  iv.  19. 
There  is  a  mingling  of  commiseration  fn  that  passage.  Here 
it  is  the  blackest  painting  lacking  the  tenderness  of  Paul. 

13  Ver.  19.  Allen  blood.  The  Arabian  claim  of  wis- 
dom for  purity  of  blood.  See  this  well  explained  by  Delitzsch. 
See  remarks  on  the  conjecture  of  Meex,  Int.  Theism,  pa.  11. 

1*  Ver.  20.  77innT3  from  7ini  a  very  strong  word — tor- 
mented. 

15  Ver.  20.  STnmbcred  years.    In  such  a  connection 
TSDD  denotes /eiuwess,  Numb.  ix.  10;  Dent,  xxiii.  6. 
6 


i«  Ver.  20.  Walt;  IJiJ^J,  are  hidden,  laid  up  (see  xiv. 
13),  reserved.  So  Ewald,  whom  the  translator  has  followed 
in  sense.  There  is,  however,  another  rendering  which  has 
some  claim,  and  which  makes  it  an  independent  clause:  the 
fewness  of  bis  years  are  hidden — unknown  to  the  bandit.  In 
the  other  13D0  i**  the  time  how  long. 

17  Ver.  21.  Invader.  iniC?,  literally  waster  or  de- 
stroyer, but  most  commonly  used  of  an  invading  host. 

18  Ver.  22.  Watches.  It  is  in  form  strictly  the  pas- 
sive participle  13V  for  'liJV,  but  it  makes  an  intensive  ex- 
pression in  whatever  way  we  take  it.  "  Watched  for  the 
sword " — preserved  for  it,  aufhewahrt,  Ewald.  Delitzsch 
and  ZocKLER,  ",?e2sc(erf,"  ansersehen.  E.  V.,  "waited  for  of 
the  sword."  Con  ant,  "  destined."  The  idea  among  them  all 
is  that  he  is  to  die  by  the  sword — kept  for  that  death  and  no 

other.    In  this  rendering  the  preposition  ^  7X  miikes  a  diflB- 

culty,  unless  it  be  meant  that  the  sword  is  watching /or  him, 
looking  towards  him.  The  same  idea,  however,  may  be  ob- 
tained, and  even  more  vividly,  by  taking  another  view  of 
the  word.    The  Vulgate   renders  it  circumspectans  undique 

gladium,  as  though  they  had  read  the  active  participle  HSV- 
It  may,  however,  be  defended,  without  any  textual  change, 
by  regarding  ''13}f  here  as  we  take  ^W,  Isaiah  liii.  3,  in 
the  phrase  "hVi  ^W,  literally,  hnovm  of  pain;  rendered, 

acquainted  with  grief,  l-notoing  pain— pain  Jmowing  him.  The 
construction  is  not  exactly  the  same,  but  so  near  that  one 
passage  strongly  suggests" the  other.  Umbreit  gives  it  this 
active  rendering :  imd  angstlich  schaut  er  nach  dem  iSchwerte, 

and  compares  it  with  Cant.  iii.  8,  ^^n  'TinX  CD/D,  liter- 
ally, all  held  of  the  sword, — that  is,  all  holding  the  sroord. 
Such  a  construction  of  a  passive  verb  or  participle  with  aa 
object^  direct  or  indlreci,  is  common  in  Greek. 


82 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


24  Anguish  and  trouble  fill  him  with  alarm  ; 
They  overpow'r  him  like  a  chieftain"  armed." 

25  For  that  against  the  Strong,'*'  his  hand  he  stretched, 
And  proudly  the  Omnipotent  defied  — 

26  Running  upon  him  with  the  stiffened  neck, 
And  with  the  thick  embossments  of  his  shield, — 

27  For  that  his  face  he  clothed  in  his  own  fat, 
And  built  the  muscle^^  thick  upon  his  loin, — 

28  So  dwells^^  he  in  the  ruined  holds, 
In  houses  uninhabited, 

Fast  hasten ing^^  to  become  mere  rubbish-*  heaps. 

29  Nor  wealth  he  gets,  nor  do  his  means  endure  ; 
Nor  shall  his  substance  in  the  land  extend. 

30  From  darkness  nevermore  shall  he  escape ; 

The  scorching-*  flame  shall  wither  up  his  shoots ; 
In  God's  hot  anger  doth  he  pass  away. 

31  Let  him  not  trust  in  evil ;  he's  deceived  ; 
For  evil  still  shall  be  his  recompense  ; 

32  Before  his'«  time  is  it  fulfilled. 

His  palm  no  longer  green  ; 

33  As  shaketh  oflfthe  vine  its  unripe  grapes, 
Or  as  the  olive  casts  away  its  flower. 

34  For  desolate  the  gathering  of  the  vile, 
And  fire  devours  the  tents  of  bribery ; 

35  Where  misery  is  conceived,^'  and  mischief  born  ; 
And  where  the  inmost  thought  deception^^  frames. 


"  Ver.  24.  Iilke  a  cbieftain  armetl.  Thia  rend- 
ering comes  easy,  if  we  regard  T'n'3,  occurring  only  here, 

as  simply  aBother  orthography  for  the  more  frequent  {HO 

a  .spear  (liquid  J  for  *1).    In  this  view  compare  it  with Prov. 

^'- 11>  p^  II^'X,  inan  of  shield. 

20  Ver.  25.  The  strongr.  There  is  not  only  an  em- 
phasis, but  a  climax  in  the  divine  names,  ^X  and  '''ity  Sx, 
as  used  here.  The  translator  has  attempted  to  preserve  this 
in  the  etymological  significance  of  SX-    Defied:  ^3JjT  su- 

perhivit,  contumax  est.  Ver.  26,  with  stiffened  ntck.  Com- 
pare Psalm  Ixxv.  6. 

21  Ver.  27.  Muscle  thick  npon  his  loin.    The 

word  muscle  as  here  used,  is  an  accommodatinn  to  the  sense. 
Suet  or  tallow  would  have  been  nearer  to  the  Uebrew  r^O'S, 

but  they  would  have  been  unpoetical  to  an  English  ear,  be- 
sides making  something  like  a  tautology.    HO'D  {pima),  is 

the  Greek  7ri/u.eA)),  the  covering  or  enveloping  folds  of  fat  ge- 
nerally, (TTeap  (y^)X^\  though  sometimes  the  meanings  seem 
reversed.  The  Greek  n-t^ieAJ)  evidently  means  the  enveloping 
fat,  Soph.  Antig.  Ittll.  See  President  Woolsey's  clear  note 
upon  the  passage.  Both  figures  here  represent  a  man  pros- 
pering, proud,  and  ?«are<ora— growing  fat  and  lusty. 

«  Ver.  28.  So  dwells  he.  The  translator  has  given 
|i3C''1  here  a  consequential  sense,  though  in  opposition  to 

Delitzsch,  Dillmann,  U.wTiREiT,  ZacKiKR,  and  others.  T>e 
Wette  agrees  with  it  in  substance,  in  his  rt-ndering  darum 
bewohnet.  It  is  consistent,  too,  with  Ewald's  rendering  of 
'3,  ver.  27,  as  making  a  protasis.  (Though  he  has  covered,  or 
if  he  has  covered  (Hab  er  sein  Gesicht  mit  Fett  bedecJd).  Ro- 
Benmiiller,  too,  makes  this  inhabiting  desolate  cities  a  pun- 
ishment, and,  therefore,  a  consequence.  The  great  difficulty 
in  the  other  view  is  the  making  this  dwelling  in  ruined 
cities,  fast  going  to  decay,  one  of  the  bad  man's  sins,  all  the 
more  out  of  congruity,  too,  by  coming  so  directly  after  that 


other  sin  of  so  different  a  character,  represented  in  language 
figurative  of  pride,  and  insolent  outward  prosperity.  De- 
litzsch and  others  make  all  of  vers.  25,  26,  27,  28,  the  prodo- 
sis,  and  commence  the  apodosis,  or  consequence,  with  X  ? 
T'tyj^'i  Jie  shall  not  be  rich,  in  the  29th  :  "  Because  he  s/rel!c7ie(J, 
etc., — and  rnn — and  covered — and  abode  in  demlate  cities — there- 
fore,- he  shall  not  be  rich.'"  The  latter  part,  at  least,  seems  very 
unconsequential.  The  objection  to  the  other  view  is  an- 
swered by  the  fact  that  the  conjunction  )  may  be  truly  con- 
rersire,  and  yet  retain  the  consequential  sense  which  it  so 
frequently  has, — connecting,  indeed,  but  as  a  logical,  instead 
of  a  mere  eventual  following.  Whether  this  is  so,  in  any 
case,  is  to  be  determined  by  the  context,  which  here  cer- 
tainly feems  gre.itly  to  favor  it.  As  cmirersire,  it  simply 
makes  the  tense  following  take  the  form  of  the  preceding, 
and  such  is  the  nature  of  conditional  clauses  in  all  languages 
that  the  question  of  abiolule  times  becomes  a  matter  of  indif- 
ference as  compared  with  the  fact  of  the  consequential  rela- 
tion. They  may  be  in  the  past,  or  in  the  present,  or  in  the 
aorist:  He  made,  etc. — therefore  he  dwelt:  Or,  he  coeers,  and 
therefore  direlU.  The  English  may  be  brought  very  near 
this  Hebrew  idiom  by  usinga  lighter  transition  particle  than 
therefore :  He  stretches  out — he  coders — so  ihfcHs  he,  etc. 

23  Ver.  28.  Fast  hasteninfir.  The  word  nnj^n' 
has  given  commentators  unnecessary  trouble.  Dkutzsch 
renders  it  appointed,  CoNANT,  destined,  which  is  better.  The 
primary  idea  of  the  word  is  near  futurity,  something  im- 
pending— protiiptiis,  paratns  (THJ^).  The  Hithpahel  is  not 
passive,  but  reflex  and  intransitive. 

24  Ver.  28.    Rabblsh  heaps,  D""7X   See  Isa.  xxxviii. 

26:  D'^J  D'/J.  orass-(iroicn  heaps.  . 

26  A'er.  30.  Scorching  Hame.  ri^H/t!',  an  intensive 

word;  see  Cant.  viiij6:  Ezek.  xxi.  3. 

28  Ver.  32.  \^'V  N73:  Its  day  not  ijet ;  or  prematurely. 

2T  Ver.  35:  Is  conceived.  The  verbs  are  In  the  infini- 
tive active,  to  conccii-e,  etc.,  but  thej'  are  best  rendered  pas- 
sively.    Literally,  at  the  conceivinr/,  etc.    Comp.  Ps.  vii.  15. 

28  Ver.  35.  Deception;  nb'^0;  not  self-deceit,  as  De- 
T    :  ■ 
LITZSCH  and  Zockler  tak°  it.    That  is  too  artificial. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


S'i 


Chapter  XVI. 

1  Then  answered  Job  and  said  : 

2  Of  things  like  these,  abundance  have  I  heard. 
Wretched  consolers,  surely,  are  ye  all. 

3  Is  there  an  end  at  last  of  windy  words  ? 
Or  what  emboldens^  thee  to  answer  still  ? 

4  Thus  could  I,  also,  speak  as  Avell  as  you  ; 
If  only  your  soul  were  in  my  soul's  stead, 
I  too  against  you  could  array^  my  words, 
Against  you  shake  my  head  in  scorn. 

5  Thus  with  my  mouth,'  I  too  could  strengthen  you, 
Whilst  my  lip  solace  held  you  (from  despair) 

6  Though  I  should  speak,  my  grief  is  not  assuaged ; 
If  I  forbear,  what  (pain)*  from  me  departs  ? 

7  Ah  surely*  now  He  hath  exhausted®  me. 
Yes,  thou  hast  made  my  household'  desolate, 

8  And  shriveled*  up  my  skin — a  sight®  to  see. 
My  leanness  (as  a  witness)  rises  up. 

And  answers  to  my  face. 

[A    PAITSE.] 

9  His  anger  rends,'"  so  fiercely  it  pursues. 
He  gnashes  at  me  with  his  teeth. 

It  is  my  enemy ; — on  me  he  whets  his  eye. 
10       (See  how)  they  gape  upon  me  with  their  mouths. 


1  Ver.  3.  Emboldens.  This  sense  of  "l^^'ID"'  is  deter- 
mined by  vi.  25,  1  Kings  ii.  8  {Mph.),  and  Mic.  ii.  10,  with- 
out going  to  the  Arabic. 

2  Ver.  4.  Array,  HT'SnX.  The  word  on  Hiphil  means 
more  than  simply  jnning.  It  denotes  association  in  bands 
(/(edusjimxit),  or  a  concert  of  speech  and  action  between 
his  assailants. 

3  Ver.  5.  Thns  ivitli  my  month.  E.  V.  inserts  the 
adversative  word  but,  giving  a  different  turn  to  the  sense  ; 
as  tliough  he  had  said:  0,  no;  instead  of,  tliat  I  would  have 
strengthened  you.  There  is,  however,  nothing  that  war- 
rants it.  The  style  is  direct,  seemingly  ironical,  but  full  of 
pathetic  reproach.  The  emphasis  of  the  first  clause  is  on 
mouth:  with  my  mouth  merely,  and  not  from  the  heart.  The 
same  idea  in  the  second  clause  in  T^DCy  TJ-  The  words  in 
brackets,  or  something  like  them,  are  but  the  complement 
of  the  idea.  Three  passages,  Prov.  xxiv.  11;  Ps.  Ixxviii.  50; 
Job  xxxiii.  18,  to  cite  no  others,  place  the  meaning  of  "Ijyri'' 

here  beyond  doubt.  In  the  first  it  is  a  holding  back  from 
slaughter  {rescuing);  in  the  second,  from  death;  and  in  tlie 
third,  from  corruption.  The  word  thus  gets,  even  when 
standing  alone,  the  general  sense  of  delivering  or  saving. 
CONANT  comes  nearest  to  this  by  rendering  uphold.  De- 
LiTZSCH,  to  soothe  (lindern),  is  without  authority. 

*  Ver.  6.  Wbat  (pain)  from  me  departs?  Lite- 
rally, what  goeth  from  met  but  the  reference  to  his  unless- 
ened  sorrow  is  evident. 

5  Ver.  7.    All,  surely  now.    The  pathetic  participle 

^«- 
«  Ver.  7.  Made  desolate.  'JX/H  demands  a  stronger 
•  T  :  V 
sense  here  than  roeary. 

'  Ver.  T.  Honsebold.  So  Conant  and  Delitzsch. 
It  may  be  my  dan  or  tribe,  but  here  it  is  used  of  his  house- 


hold, because  of  its  numbers:  my  domestic  congregation. 
The  sudden  change  of  person  increases  the  patlios. 
8  Ver.  8.  And  sbriveled  np  my  skin.     E.  V. 

gives  the  same  idea:  ^' hath  fitted  me.  with  wrinkles."  This 
rendering  of  £30 p  agrees  with  the  Vulqate,  and  Delitzsch 

returns  to  it  after  it  had  been  generally  abandoned  by  the 
commentators.  The  word  is  common  in  the  Syriac,  wiiere 
this  sense  of  wrinlding  is  constant.  See  how  it  is  invariably 
used  in  the  Peschito  Version  of  the  Old  Testament — Deut. 
xxxiv.  7  (Moses'  face  tvas  not  vjrinkled),  Ezek.  vi.  9;  xx.  53. 

8  Ver.  8.  A  aiqht  to  see.  'Litera.Wyitli.foraicihief's  or  a  sl(in— 
ecce  sigmtm.  The  accompanying  action  would  probably  be 
Job's  showing  them  his  emaciated  countenance. 

w  Ver.  9.  His  ang'er  rends.  By  most  commentators 
the  language  here  and  in  some  of  the  verses  below  is  used  in 
reference  to  God.  It  is,  however,  not  easy  to  believe  that 
this  is  wholly  so.  Raschi  says,  without  any  seeming  doubt 
on  the  matter,  "IVD  NIH  fCDtyri)  "  3"/"^  enemy  here  is  ikilan:" 

Mine  enemy  shnrjiens  hix  eye  at  me.  Job  must  have  had  some 
idea  of  a  great  persecutor  who  was  not  God,  and  who  is 
spoken  of  in  the  Prologue.  Or  the  two  ideas  may  perhaps 
he  mingled.  Beginning  to  complain  of  God,  as  usual,  tlie 
mind  turns  to  this  other  adversary.  Or  it  may  be  supposed 
that  the  imagination,  in  his  half-maddened  state  (see  Ke- 
marks  on  ix.  35),  brings  up  before  him  tlie  appearance  of  a 
furious  mocking  fiend,  and  then  the  picture  takes  the  plural 
form.  It  is  a  company  of  fiend!*:  They  yupe  iqmumevith  their 
mmitlm:  and  that  brings  out  the  language  of  ver.  11:  God 
hath  delivered  me  u>itu  the  evU  one ;  he  hath  atst  me  off  into  the 

hands  of  tlie  roicked,  or  the  malignant ;  the  word  v'l^J^  being 
used  very  much  as  the  New  Testament  uses  i  iroi'Tjpds.  Some 
of  this  language  may  have  reference  to  hi.s  human  accusers, 
such  as  the  second  and  third  clauses  of  ver.  10;  but  the 
other  view  is  more  in  accordance  with  his  frenzied  state, 
or  uU  these  thoughts  may  be  regarded  as  mingled    together. 


84 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


With  scorn  they  smite  me  on  the  cheek  ; 
As  one,  against  me  do  they  filP^  their  ranks. 

11  Unto  the  evil  one  hath  God  delivered  me ; 

Into  the  hands  of  the  malignant"  hath  he  cast"  me  forth. 

12  I  was  at  ease,  and  he  hath  shattered  me ; 

Seized  by  the  neck,  and  dashed"  me  to  the  ground; 
Then  raised  me  up,  and  set  me  for  his  mark. 

13  His  archers  compass  me  about ; 

He  cleaves  my  reins — he  spareth  not ; 
He  pours  my  gall  upon  the  earth. 

14  He  breaketh  me  with  breach  on  breach  ;'* 
He  runs  upon  me  like  a  man  of  war. 


15  I  have  sewed  sackcloth  on  my  skin  ; 
My  horn  have  I  defiled  with  dust ; 

16  My  face  with  weeping  is  inflamed  ; 

And  on  my  eyelids  rests  the  shade  of  death. 

17  For  no  wrong'*  I  had  done ; 
My  prayer,  too, — it  is  pure. 

1 8  Earth  cover"  not  my  blood  ; 

Nor  let  my  cry  find  place  (where  it  may  rest). 

[A    PAUSE.] 

19  Even  now,  behold  !     My  witness"  in  the  Heavens,- 
Yea,  my  Attestor  in  the  heights  above ! 

20  My  friends — 'tis  they  who  scorn  ; 

Whilst  unto  God  mine  eye  is  dropping  (tears), 

21  That  He'®  himself  would  plead  for  man  with  God, 


11  Ver.  10.  Fill  tbelr  ranks.    By  this  rendering  the 

nearly  related  Hebrew  and  Arabic  senses  of  X/D  are  com- 
bined. 

12  Ver.  11.  Malignant.  So  D'j;55?1  may  be  rendered, 
whatever  application  is  given  to  it. 

13  Ver.  11.  Cast  me  forth  ;  DT\  once  occurring,  but 
having  clearly  the  sense  of  the  Arabic  £011)  precipitem  dedil. 
LXX  eppiipe. 

K  Ver.  12.  Dasbed.     y£3^3,  dashed  in  pieces— a,  very 

strong  word.  The  context  shows  the  action  intended.  The 
view  we  may  have  of  this  awful  language,  as  spoken  of  God 
or  Satan,  does  not  affect  the  correctness  of  the  translation. 

15  Ver.  11.  Breach  on  breach.  It  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  the  reference  here  is  to  the  calamity  after 
calamity  that  Satan  brought  upon  Job  as  told  in  tlie  Pro- 
logue. It  is  certainly  uncritical  to  suppose  that  Job'.s  great 
enemy  is  wholly  lost  sight  of  in  the  subsequent  chapters. 
Nothing,  too,  could  be  more  undramatic. 

16  Ver.  17.  For  no  wrong- 1  bad  done.    Compare 

the  precisely  similar  construction  Isai.  liii.  9,  DOn  nS  Sj?, 
badly  rendered :  '■^hecrmseho  had  done  no  wrong" — rather: 
for  no  ii>ro)ig  lie  had  done. 

1"  Ver.  18.  Cover  not  my  blood.  There  seems  cer- 
tainly here  the  idea  of  the  murderar  and  the  pursuing 
avenger  of  blood.  Can  Job  mean  to  speak  of  God  in  this 
way?  or  does  he  not  rather  intend  the  Evil  One,  by  whose 
idea  ho  seems  haunted,  whatever  might  have  been  the  raea- 
Buro  of  his  knowledge  of  such  a  being.  In  the  Prologue, 
i^atan  appears  as  his  murderer— the  same  who  is  called 
avOpMiToKTovo^,  John  viii.  44 — a  homicide  from  the  beqinninij— 
the  old  murderer  who  slew  the  human  race.  There  seems 
to  be  something  of  the  same  cry  against  him,  xi.K.  25.  It  is 
implied  in  the  words:  Ihiowthnt  my  find  (my  avemjer'),  my 
Redeemer  liveth — my  nearest  of  Hit.  Tlie  language  immediately 
suggests  the  cry  of  Abel's  blood. 


18  Ver.  19.  My  frltness.  This  pathetic  and  solemn 
appeal  to  the  Witness  in  the  Heavens  furnishes  strong  evi- 
dence that  Job  could  not  have  had  God  in  view  in  any  of  the 
harsh  language  which  so  marks  this  chapter. 

19  Ver.  21.  That  He  himself.  There  can  be  no  other 
subject  for  PDVI  than  God,  however  strange  the  aspect  it 
seems  to  give  the  sentence.  Such  is  the  view  entertained 
by  tlie  best  commentators,  though  some  of  them,  like  I)e- 
LITZSCH,  give  the  verb  the  sense  of  deciding  (Conant:  do  Jus- 
tice to),  instead  of  the  truer  sense  of  arguing,  pkaJiiig  for. 
The  pure,  unmodified  idea  of  the  Hiphil  is  that  of  arguing, 
reasoning,  contending  in  words;  but  whether  for  or  against  is 
to  be  determined  by  the  context  and  the  subject  matter.  It 
may  mean  the  arguing  of  a  mediator,  an  arbiter,  or  an  advo- 
cate. The  places  in  Job  that  are  decisive  of  the  meaning 
here  are  ix.  3;j:  There  is  no  arbiter  between  vs;  xiii.  3:  where 
riDin  is  equivalent  to  "speaking  to,  or  pleading  with  the 

Almighty;"  xiii.  15:  '^  T  will  defend  my  mays  ( plead  my  cause) 
before  Him."  Again,  the  preposition  Qj,'  in  this  place  modi- 
fies it  to  the  same  sense  as  in  chap,  xxiii.  7.  It  is  true  that 
there  the  form  is  Niphal  13J?  TIDIJ,  but  that  only  gives  it  a 

middle  or  deponent  bearing,  witliout  affecting  the  general 
idea.  It  denotes,  in  the  Niphal,  mutual  pleading,  reasonino 
together  as  in  Isaiah  i.  18.  Tlic  present  passage,  and  Job 
xxJii.  7,  are  the  only  ones  where  we  find  the  verb  connected 
with  UV,  which  seems  consistent  only  with  the  sense  of  ar- 
guing or  ])leadhtg  for.  The  idea  of  argning  against  wotild  here 
be  certainly  much  out  of  place.  '^  Deriding  for"  (Dklitzsch), 
or  "  doing  justice  to  "  (Conant),  do  not  differ  much  from  the  idea 
of  arguing  for,  but  they  unnecessarily  mar  the  pathos  of  the 
passage,  whilst  Delitzsch's  rendering,  "against  God,"  instead 
of  with  God  CO j}),  seems  entirely  unwarranted.  It  may  pre- 
sent a  difficulty  to  the  Rationalist,  this  "j)leading  of  God 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


85 


As'"  one  of  Adam's  sons  cloth  for  his  brother  plead. 
22       For  a  few  years  will  come  and  go  f^ 

And  I  shall  go  whence  I  shall  not  return. 


with  God ;"  but  the  mystery,  the  strange  idea,  contained  in 
the  tearlul  prayer  which  his  extreme  and  helpless  misery 
forces  from  the  soul  of  Job  is  cleared  up  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Umiireit  also  gives  this  translation,  making  God  the 
subject  of  njVli  but  the  view  he  presents  of  it  is  certainly 

characteristic :  ''  Job,  in  a  melancholy,  but  ingenious  way. 
Bays  to  God,  that  he  must  stand  by  him  against  God  (Gott 
muss  mir  beistehea  gegen  Gott),  for  it  is  He  who  lets  him 


suffer,  and  He  is  the  only  one  who  knows  how  innocent  he 
is."  Midancholy,  indeed,  it  is  to  tliink  how  blind  the  other- 
wise acute  eye  of  the  Rationalist  to  the  deep  spirituality  of  a 
thought  so  tender,  and  at  the  same  time  so  8Uliliin(^! 

20  Ver.  lil.  As  one.  In  |21  the  )  is  comparative,  as  is 
often  the  case.  ' 

21  Ver.  22.  Come  and  go.  The  Hebrew  nHN  includes 
both  directions,  like  the  Greek  tpxa/xai.  It  demands  here 
its  full  meaning. 


Chapter  XVIL 


My  breath  is  short  ;^ 
My  days  are  quenched  ;^ 
The  graves  are  waiting  for  me. 
Were  it  not'  that  mockeries  beset  me  round, 
On  their  sharp  taunts  mine  eye  would  calmly*  rest. 
Lay  down*  now ;  be  my  surety*  with  thyself. 
Ah !  who''  is  He  that  gives  His  hand  for  mine ! 
(Not  they).     Their  heart  from*  insight  Thou  hast  closed  ; 
Therefore  Thou  wilt  not  raise  them  (over  me). 
"  When  one  for  booty®  friends  betrays, 
His  children's  eyes  shall  fail." 
So,  as.  a  byword  hath  He  set  me  forth, 
Till  I  become  the  vilest^"  of  the  vile. 

[A    PAUSE    OF    SILENCE.] 

Mine  eye  is  dim  from  grief ; 

My  moulded"  limbs  are  like  a  shadow,  all. 


>  Ver.  1.  My  breath  is  short.    It  seems  best  here 

to  follow  the  primary  sense  of  l^n  lo  bind  tight— fmiem  ad- 
strinxit,  coidiirxit.     It  is  stricture  and  nhortiiesx  in  the  breathing, 

2  Ver.  1.  <|iienche<l.  1jrt=lj;i.  Their  light  is  gone 
out.    See  Prov.  xiii.  9.  , 

3  Ver.  2.  "Were  it  not.  {<7  DX  makes  a  strong  affirm- 
ing when  there  is  sujiposed  to  bo  a  silent  apodosis.  It  is  a 
kind  of  imprecation,  as  though  one  should  say  coarsely,  or 
strongly,  "  Pll  be  cursed,  if  it  is  not  so,  or  so."  In  this  way  it 
comes  in  Hebrew,  and  is  very  frequent  in  Arabic.  There  are 
two  reasons  against  it  here,  though  adopted  by  so  many  com- 
mentators: 1st,  There  is  nothing  in  the  context  that  de- 
mands anything  so  strong;  2d,  the  idea  of  a  silent  apodosis 
is  not  to  be  resorted  to  where  there  is  an  open  one  so  clearly 
expressed.  The  conjecture  may  be  hazarded  that  by  mocke- 
ries, here,  D'vnn  {illutiioiies)  Job  had  in  view  the  mocking 

fiends,  whom  his  imagination,  or  something  more  real,  per- 
haps, had  brought  out, as  in  xvi.9,10 — the  "gaping  mouths," 
the  "gnashing  teeth,"  the  "glaring  eye."  They  may  be  sup- 
posed to  come  from  the  same  cause,  whether  it  be  his  bodily 
or  mental  state,  that  produced  the  "scaring  visions,"  vii. 
14.  It  was  these  mocking  illusions  that  drove  him  to  frenzy. 
Were  it  not  for  these,  he  could  more  calmly  bear  the  taunts 
of  his  friends,  one  of  which  may  have  been,  perhaps,  the  very 
language  which  Job  repeats  from  them,  ver.  5. 

*  Ver.  3.    Calmly  rest:    jSj^.    Litendhj,  lodges;    in 

Ka.].,pernoHnre,to  Indge  nfl night.  TiELiTZScn,  lingers ;  Conant, 
dwells.  An  affecting  picture  of  helpless  suffering — spoken 
of  them,  but  addressed  to  God — as  appears  in  next  verse. 

*  Ver.  3.  Tiay  down  now.    nO't?:  Imj  down  the  itl-edge. 
«  Ver.  3.  Be  my  surety,    ""jilj;;  the  same  word  used 


in  Hezekiah's  supplication,  Isaiah  xxxviii.  14.  Addressed  to 
God.    The  same  wondrous  thought  we  have  xvi.  21. 

7  Ver.  3.  Ah  who.  The  interrogative  ^0,  liere,  dofs  not 
BO  much  express  doubt  as  wonder  at  the  thought  of  Him,  the 
marveUous  Surety. 

8  Ver.  4.  From  insight,  that  is,  from  seeing  this  mys- 
tery of  God  pleading  with  God  for  man,  and  becoming  surety 
with  himself.  ,      , 

9  Ver.  5.  For  booty,  p/H/,  for  a  division  of  the  spoil. 

This  verso  looks  like  a  proverbial  saying  which  Job  quotes 
against  their  faithli'ssness.  In  the  direct  order,  as  he  givea 
it,  it  would  be  rendered  thus: 

For  booty  he  betrays  his  friends ; 

His  children's  eyes  shall  fail ; — 
the  second  clause  being  consequential ;  as  proverbs  of  this 
kind  sometimes  stand  in  Solomon's  ccdlection.  We  are  com- 
pelled to  supply  a  rcliilire,  or  a  partit:le.  Or  it  may  be  that  he 
is  repeating,  as  before  said,  one  of  their  own  taunts  or  by- 
words; and  thus  suggesting  the  language  of  the  next  verse. 

10  Ver.  6.  Vilest  of  the  vile.  flSn  is  literally  o  spii- 

ting,  or  something  to  he  fpit  upon;  one  on  whose  face  anyone 
may  spit;  (onomatopic  like  Greek  irruia).  In  such  a  case  as 
this,  translating  literally  is  translating  falsely,  if  it  gives  the 
ninderu  reader  the  idea  that  thc;e  is  meant  the  very  action 
lexically  expressed.  It  is  not  easy  to  believe  that  Job's  face 
was  actually  spit  upon ;  and  therefore  it  is  best  to  render  the 
phrase  by  what  it  represents,  and  of  which  the  aotion  itself, 
as  pictured,  may  be  called  the  laiignuge. 
»  Ver.  7.  My  monlded  limbs,   n^f-'l— from    IV' 

inform,  fashion.  The  contrast  between  his  limbs  in  their 
original  form  and  proportion,  and  their  shrunken  state. 


{TG 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


8  The  upright,  sure,  will  be  amazed  at  this, — 
The  iuuoceut  be  roused  against  the  vile  ; 

9  But  still  the  righteous  man  holds  on  his  way; 

The  clean  of  hand  still  goes  from  strength  to  strength. 

10  But  come  now,  all  of  you  ;  come  on  I  pray  ; — 
Among  you  all  no  wise  man  can  I  find. 

[Pause]. 

11  My  days  are  past, 

My  plans  asunder^''  rent, 

My  soul's  most  cherished  thoughts. 

12  For  day,  they  give''  me  night, 

To  the  face  of  darkness  light  is  drawing"  near. 

13  If  I  should  hope,  Lo,  Sheol  is"  my  home. 
Yes,  in  the  darkness  have  I  spread  my  couch. 

14  To  corruption  have  I  said — my  father  thou  ;  — 
My  mother  and  my  sister — to  the  worm. 

15  And  where,  then,  is  my  hope  ? 
My  hope,  alas  !^*  who  seeth  it  ? 

16  To  the  gates'^  of  Sheol  it  is  going  down, 
When  once  it  finds  a  resting  place  in'®  dust. 


12  Ver.  11.  Asnnder  rent,  IpHJ-    The  figure  of  the 
weaver's  loom ;  Umdreit.    Compare  Isaiah  xxxviii.  12. 

13  Ver.  12.  They  give — lij^ht  Is  drawing  near. 

TD't?'- — They  put.  But  who  axe  they  f  See  Note  Job  vii.  3. 
They  may  be  the  invisible  enemies  whom  Job  fears  to  name; 
or  if  he  refers  to  the  friends  it  may  be  with  a  like  aversion. 
The  first  is  the  more  probable.  The  common  grammatical 
explanation :  the  active  Jised  for  Ike  passive,  is  an  evasion.  Many 
commentators  almost  reverse  the  sense  above  given,  by  sup- 
posing Job  to  have  represented  the  sophistical  reasoning  of 
the  friends:  "  They  put  (as  they  suppose)  day  for  night."  De- 
LITZSCR,  "  They  e.rpjidn  night  as  day" — a  very  forced  render- 
ing. Umbreit:  "  They  would  chMtige  night  into  day" — that  is, 
encourage  and  flatter  Job.  They  had  never  done  this,  or,  in 
any  way,  tried  to  make  things  look  fair  to  him ;  since  the 
verses,  ch.  xi.  16-19,  are  only  conditional  predictions.    There 

seems,  moreover,  no  good  reason  why  7  in  DV  7  may  not 
have  the  sense  above  given  to  it  as  most  literally  translated : 
f'>r  day — in.'<te(id  of  day.  The  second  clause,  too,  has  been 
made  more  difficult  than  would  seem  necessary.    It  is  true 

that  in  Hebrew  the  preposition  following  ^Tp  is  usually  7 

or  7X;  but  in  such  a  case  as  this,  there  is  nothing  unnatu- 
ral in  regarding  it  as  denoting  a  short  distance  from,  so  aa  to 
'toake  f3  the  proper  preposition — just  like  the  Latin  prope 
ahest.  The  light  is  near  (that  is  but  a  short  distance  from) 
the  face  or  edge  of  the  darkness  (see  Job  x.xvi.  10),  like  tlie 
sun  in  an  eclipse  just  going  into  the  penuraljra,  or  into  the 
total  shadow.     And  this  agrees  admirably  with  the  context. 

Relationally,  7  and  D,  though  seeming  opposites,  are  so 
near  akin  that  they  are  sometimes  united  to  denote  both 
from  and  to  the  point  which  may  be  regarded  as  either  that 

of  contact,  or  of  separation :   As  Deut.  iv.  .32,   □VH    ?D7, 

2  Sam.  vii.  1 ;  Haggai  ii.  18,  and  other  places,  for  which  see 
NoLDlUS,  Concord.  Pnrtic,  pa.  441.  The  naturalness  of  this 
id  more  easily  acknowledged  when  it  is  considered  that  the 


Arabic  verbs  of  nearness  are  generally  followed  by  JO  in- 
stead of  '7X1  and  especially  is  this  the  case  with  this  very 
verb  Hip,  where  it  has  the  sense  of  being   near  (propiiiquus 

.frtit).  Near  from,  they  say,  instead  of  near  to.  This  seems 
to  be  Schlottmann's  rendering,  and  Conant's  expressive  ver- 
sion is  closely  allied  to  it:  "  light  is  just  before  darkness" — just 
going  out.  I)iLiMANN  and  others  take  O  as  comparative: 
n'dher  als  das  Angesicht  der  Finsterniss  ;  but  this  makes  no  clear 
sense. 

w  Ver.  15.  Alas!  The  interjection  is  justified  by  the 
pathos  of  the  repetition:  My  hope;  yes,myliope,  alas;  with 
the  emphasis  on  the  pronoun. 

16  Ver.  16.  Oates:  ''13.  Umbreit,  Rosenmuf.ller,  and 
others,  render  it  soft^WMfiJHes  {Oeden),  deriving  the  idea  from 

the  supposed  primary  sense  of  T3,  113  (13*7,  solus).  But 
the  better  view  com^s  in  another  way — fi-om  the  true  pri- 
mary sense  of  separation.    So  most  distinctly  the  Arabic  13. 

Hence  the  sense  of  vectes,  bar,  that  which  separates,  so  often 
used  in  Exodus,  etc.,  in  the  description  of  the  tabernacle. 
Hence  it  may  well  be  rendered  gates,  as  above,  giving  an  idea 
the  same  with  tlio  HID  'l^Sy  gates  of  death  (gates  of  Sheol) 
Job  xxxviii.  17 ;  Ps.  evil.  18.  It  is  the  idea  of  returuless- 
ness — 

The  undiscovered  country,  from  whose  bourn, 

No  traveller  returns. 
Homer  uses  this  same  figure  of  gates  or  bars.  See  Iliad  xxi. 
72,  TTiJAas  AiSao,  the  gales  of  Hades.  In  the  Odyss.  xi.  571, 
Hades  is  called  evpviTv\e<;  Sw,  "  the  house  of  the  vide  gates  to 
indicate  the  vast  population  it  encloses."  There  is  the  same 
idea  of  separation  in  a  strange  Arabic  word  Barzach,  mean- 
ing the  interstice,  or  separating  interval,  whether  of  space  or 
time,  between  the  present  and  the  coming  world.  Among 
other  places  in  the  Koran,  see  Sur.at.  xxiii.  102,  "  Behind 
them  stands  the  Barzach,  until  the  day  of  the  Resurrection." 

10  Ver.  16.  In  dnnt.  13^  7J?,  here,  must  have  the 
same  meaning  with  13J,w,  vii.  22. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


87 


Chapter  XVIII. 

1  Then  answered  Bildad  the  Shuhite  and  said, 

2  How  long  will  ye  thus  make  of  words  a  prey  ?' 
First  clearly  understand  ;  then  let  us  speak. 

3  Why  are  we  counted  as  the  beasts, 
And  held  as  worthless  in  thine  eyes  ? 

4  See — in  his  rage,  it  is  himself  he  rends. 
For  thee  shall  earth  be  desolate  ? 

The  rock  move  from  its  place  ? 

5  Yet  true  it  holds  ;'  the  sinner's  light  is  quenched  ; 
And  from  his  fire  no  kindling  spark  shall  shine. 

6  The  sunshine  darkens  in  his  tent ; 
The  lamp  above  him  goeth  out ; 

7  His  steps  are  straitened,^  once  so  firm  ; 

And  his  own  counsel  headlong*  casts  him  down. 

8  By  his  own  feet  he's  driven  to  the  net ; 

In  his  own  chosen^  way  there  lies  the  snare. 

9  The  gin  shall  seize  him  by  the  heel ; 
The  noose  shall  hold  him  fast. 

10  His  cord  lies  hidden  in  the  earth ; 

His  trap  in  ambush  by  the  wayside  path. 

11  All  round  about  do  terrors  frighten  him  ; 
[At  every  step]  they  start  him  to  his  feet. 

12  His  woe®  is  hungering  for  its  prey  ; 

A  dire  disease  stands  ready  at  his  side ; — 

13  To  eat'  the  very  partings  of  his  skin  ; 

Yea,  Death's  First  Born*  his  members  shall  devour. 

14  Torn  from  his  tent,  his  strong  security, 

Thus  to  the  King  of  Terrors'  doth  it  march  him  on. 


1  Ver.  1.  Of  words  a  prey.    D' 7?3   'VJp,  huntings 

or  catchings  of  words.  For  this  rendering  see  the  conclusive 
reasons  given  by  Ewald  and  Delitzsch.  How  longr 
will  ye:  It  is  addressed  to  all.  Bildad  makes  the  shortest 
speeches,  and  he  reproves  the  other  two,  as  well  as  Job,  for 
their  prolixity. 

2  Ver.  5.  Yet  trne  It  holds.  CD  J,  yea,rerihj,  so  it  is. 
Umbreit,  aUerdings.  It  is  the  view  so  often  presented  by 
him  und  the  otliers  in  opposition  to  an  opinion,  which  they 
suppose  Job  to  hold,  that  God  favors  the  wicked.  This  mis- 
understanding gives  the  key  to  much  of  their  language.  See 
Int.  Theism,  pa.  33.  Bildad  means  to  reaflBrm  it  in  spite  of 
all  Job  may  say. 

3  Ver.  7.  Straitened.    Comp.  Prov.  iv.  12. 

*  Ver.  7.  Casts  him  down.    Comp.  Job  v.  13. 
^  Ver.  8.  His  own  chosen  way.    The  Hithpahel, 
*]7nr\',    denotes  one's   way  of  life   whether  good  or  bad. 

(Comp.  Gen.  v.  22 ;  xvii.  1,  e/c.  Ps.  xxxix.  7,  edt^)  There  is 
also  in  the  Hithpahel  more  or  less  of  the  reflexive  sense — the 
way  of  his  choice — and  that  makes  a  parallelism  with  the 
verse  above — "hy  his  own  feel." 

.  6  Ver.  12.  His  woe.  The  rendering  strength  here  as 
though  it  were  fj?,  vires,  instead  of  the  coiiistmct  of  pX,  c«- 

Inmily,  trouble — makes  no  satisfactory  sense.  It  is  adopted  by 
CoNANi  from  E.  V.,  and  maintained  by  many  commentators, 


EwAiD,  DiLLMANN,  Merx,  Rosenmuellet!,  el  (il  HiRZEL  and 
Delitzsch  make  it  construct  of  pX>  though  the  rendering 

of  Delitzsch  much  obscures  the  idea.  The  Vulgate  renders 
it  strength:  attemietur  fame  robnr  ejus.  The  Syriac  (Peschito) 
the  best  of  the  old  versions,  especially  of  Job,  gives  the  ren- 
dering the  translator  has  adopted,  '^his  sorrow  shall  be  hun- 
gry:" It  hungers  after  him  like  a  ravenous  beast  ready  to 
devour."     See  the  iigures  ver.  13.        . 

'  Ver.  13.  To  eat.  The  Put.  form  v^DX',  in  its  connection 
here  with  the  preceding  verso,  has  the  force  of  the  infinitive. 

8  Ver.  13.  Death's  first-born.  It  is  an  awful  per- 
sonification. Diseases  are  Death's  sons,  but  the  strongest 
among  them,  the  mighty  first-born,  is  the  terrible  elephanti- 
asis. If  Bildad  really  meant  Job's  disens",  and  Job  himself, 
as  the  true  subject  of  such  a  fearful  picture  as  he  has  drawn, 
then  may  he  indeed  be  regarded  as  coarse  and  cruel.  Raschi 
has  a  strange  idea  here.  The  D'^^i  ver.  13,  are  Job's  sons 
and  daughters  ;  PCDDDi  ver.  14,  is  his  wife. 

9  Ver.  14.  Kins'  of  Terrors.     The  awful  King;  if  we 

may  thus  render  nin^S,  taking  it,  as  most  commentators 

do,  for  riwriD-  As  coming  from  T\)2,  it  would  mean 
strictly  Mng  of  imstiiigs,  or  of  emaciations,  which  would  make 
it  in  harmony  with  the  idea  of  Death  in  the  verse  above : 
The  Father  of  Diseases  is  the  mH/D  T/D,  or  as  Homer 
would  style  him  by  a  similar  figure  (see  Odys.  xi.  491): 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


15  Yv^ho  dwell  within  his  tent  are  none  of  his  ; 

And  o'er  his  pleasant^"  place  is  showered''  the  sulphur-rain. 

16  Beneath, — his  roots  dried^'^  up — 
Above, — his  branch  cut  off, — 

17  His  memory  perished  from  the  land, — 
No  name  now  left  in  all  the  plain, — 

18  From  light  to  darkness  do  they''  drive  hira  forth ; 
And  chase'*  him  from  the  world ; 

19  No  child,  no  seed,  among  his  people  left — 
In  all  his  habitations  none  escaped ; 

20  Men  of  the  West'*  stand  wondering  at  his  day ; 
Men  of  the  East  with  shuddering  fear  are  seized. 

21  Yes,  such  the  dwellings  of  unrighteous'^  men  ; 
And  such  the  place  of  him  who  knows  not  God. 


j3acrt\eu9  veKvecrcri  Karai^BiixivoKTiv — Tdng  of  (he  wasted  dead, 
— tho  imagery  being  drawn  from  the  last  stages  of  emaciating 
disease  in  this  life.    It  is  the  idea  in  the  word  jimX  Job 

xxvi.  6;  xxviii.  22,  the  Abaddon  of  Rev.  ix.  11,  or  the  one 
described,  Heb.  ii.  14,  as  rbf  to  (cparos  e^oi'Ta  tov  Bafarov. 
If  not  in  sound,  yet  in  idea,  would  it  be  a  more  fearful  epi- 
thet than  the  other,  as  calling  up  the  pallida  Mors  of  the 
classic  poet,  and,  above  all,  that  most  awful  image  of  waKtinrf, 
emacinling  disease,  the  x^wpos  tTrn-os,  the  ^'■pale  horse"  of  Kev. 
vi.  8,  with  "him  who  sal  thereon,  whose  name  was  Death,  and 
Hades  following  hard  after  him."  The  thought  of  terror 
merely,  falls  far  below  the  soul-awing,  yet  still  fascinating, 
power  of  such  a  representation. 

Ver.  14.  Doth  it  march  bim  on.  Delitzsch  says 
that  "  the  '  it '  here  is  a  secret  power,  as  elsewhere  the  femi- 
nine prefix  is  used  to  denote  the  dark  power  of  natural  and 
supernatural  events,  though  sometimes  the  masculine  is  thus 
employed."  This  would  make  it  a  liind  of  impersonal  fate, 
or  fahdily,  of  which,  it  is  true,  there  are  some  traces  to  be 
found  in  the  book  (see  Int.  Theism,  pa.  23).  But  there  is  no 
need  of  finding  the  subject  of  the  verb  im"J/2fr\  in  such 
an  abstract  conception.  It  may  be  regarded,  in  strict  gram- 
matical construction,  as  the  hungry  woe,  or  the  firxt-born  of 
Death,  although  the  gender  is  changed  to  the  feminine  to 


make  it  more  universal — the  feminine  in  Hebrew  thus  eup- 
plying  the  place  of  the  lacking  neuter. 

10  Ver.  15.  His  pleasant  place,  or  home,  n^J- 

11  Ver.  15.   Is  showered:   T^'^V,  lit.  is  scaUered;  but 

here  seems  to  denote  a  shower  like  that  which  fell  on  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah. 

13  Ver.  16.  His  roots  dried  np— his  branch  cut 
OlT,  etc.  It  makes  it  more  vivid  to  render  the  verbs  in  this 
verse  and  the  next,  as  participles  with  a  nominative  inde- 
pendent. 

13  Ver.  18.  Do  they  drive.    For  such  use  of  lliey,  see 

Note  ril.  3.    Comp.  Ps.  xlix.  15,   ^j^ty  Sli<t!/S.     They  put 

{or  drive)  them  into  Sheol.    Comp.  also  Job  xix.  26. 

i<  Ver.  18.  And  chase.  The  idea  of  Ps.  xlix.  15  is  also 
in  Prov.  xiv.  32,  though  there  it  is  expressed  passively, 
UK'T  nnT  inVT3,  "the  wicked  man  is  driven  away  in 

T  T        ".■  T  •        "t  T  : 
his  wickedness." 

15  Ver.  20.  Men  of  the  West.  For  the  reasons  of  this 
rendering,  see  TJmbreit,  Delitzsch,  and  others.  Conant, 
however,  adheres  to  tlie  old  rendering. 

16  Ver.  21.  Unrighteous  men;  f^:  Here  taken 
collectively.  "^^ 


Chapter  XIX. 

1  Then  Job  answered  and  said 

2  How  long  grieve  ye  my  soul  ? 
And  crush  me  with  your  words  . 

3  Ten  times  it  is  that  ye  have  stung  me  tnus ; 
Devoid  of  shame,  ye  act  as  strangers^  to  me. 

4  Be  it  so,  then,  that  I  have  erred ; 
My  error  lodges^  with  myself. 


1  Vor.  3.  Act  as  strangers.  The  translator  abides 
here  by  E.  V.  The  rendering  is  obtained  by  regarding 
nSnn  as  tlie  Hiphil  of  the  Hebrew  root  13J  (the  cha- 
racteristic n  preserved)  with  the  sense  of  the  piel.  ScHUt- 
TENS,  according  to  Gesenids,  thus  regards  it  as  for  ^T'^Dn 
with  which  he  compares  i|3*^T,  Jerem.  ix.  2.  See  also 
1p3T,   1  Sam.  xiv.  22;  xxxi.  2.    The  later  commentators 


generally  get  its  sense  from  tho  Arabic  "^^Hj  sind  render  it 
stun,  or  confomid.  But  that  is  straining  tho  Arabic  word, 
which  means  simply  to  ajfect  with  admiration,  besides  leaving 

wholly  unexplained  the  preposition  7  that  follows.  This  is 
quite  natural  to  the  Hebrew  verb,  and  also  to  the  really  cor- 


S   nDJn,  to  he 
2  Ver.  4.  liOdgeS.     V/H^ — pernoctut — tarries  all  night. 


responding  Arabic  13];  as  in  the  V.  Conj 
estranged,  to  act  like  a  stranger  to  any  one. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


89 


5  If  still  against  me  ye  exalt  yourselves, 
And  plead  against  me  ray  reproach, — 

6  Then  be  assured  that  God  hath  cast'  me  down  ; 
'Tis  He  that  overspreads  me  with  His  net. 

7  Behold  I  cry  of  wrong,  but  am  not  heard  ; 
I  cry  aloud,  but  there  is  no  redress. 

8  For  He  hath  fenced  my  road  ;  I  cannot  pass  ; 
And  darkness  doth  He  set  o'er  all  my  ways. 

9  My  glory  from  me  hath  He  stripped, 
And  from  my  head  the  crown  removed. 

10  On  all  sides  doth  He  crush  me  ;  I  am  gone  ;* 
And  like  a  tree  uproots  He  all  my  hope. 

11  Against  me  doth  He  make  His  anger  hot, 
And  counts  me  as  His  foe. 

12  Together  draw  His  troops  ; 
At  me  cast  up  their  way  ; 
Around  my  tent  they  camp. 

13  My  brethren  far  away  has  He  removed. 

And  mine  acquaintance  from  me  are  estranged. 

14  My  kinsmen  all  have  failed. 

And  my  familiar  friends  forgotten  me. 

15  Domestics,-^— maidens, — as  a  stranger  hold  me  now ; 
I  am  become  an  alien  in  their  eyes. 

16  Fnto  my  servant  do  I  call — he  answers  not ; 
I  have  to  supplicate  him  with  my  mouth. 

17  My  temper*  to  my  wife  is  strange, — 

My  yearning  for  the  children  that  she  bare. 

18  Yes — even  the  very  boys  despise  me  now  ; 


8  Vor.  6.  Cast  me  down.  There  is  no  need  of  going 
beyond,  here,  to  get  the  sense  of  injustice,  as  some  do.  Um- 
BEEIT  well  renders  it,  mich  beugt,  bent  down,  humbled  me.  ZoCK- 
LER  also  gives  it  clearly  by  gehnimmcl,  crooked,  or  aimed  me. 
There  is  indeed  complaint  in  the  next  Terse,  but  it  does  not 
amount  to  a  direct  charge  of  injustice.  It  may  be  said,  too, 
tliat  in  the  language  of  the  7tli  verse  Job  had  the  friends  in 
•view.    It  was  their  wrong  he  cried  out  against. 


4  Yer.  10.  I  am  gone — 


I..  ..T 


Compare  a  similar  pa- 
thetic use  of  oixofii"'  t>y  tl>e  Greek  Dramatic  poets.  See 
Soph.  Ajax,  896,  olx'^'^'i  oAwAa. 

B  Ver.  17.  My  ten»per— strange.  That  aversion  in 
some  sense  is  intended  here  cannot  be  doubted ;  but  in  what 
way  is  it  signified?  The  translator  had  much  doubt  in  re- 
spect to  T\')''\,  rendered  generally  breath,  but  which  he  has 
here  ventured  to  translate  temper,  as  the  word  is  used,  Prov. 
XXV.  28,  where  it  is  indeed  translated  spirit,  but  in  the  sense 
of  passion,  animus  aijitatiis  et  coinmolits.  This  agrees  with  the 
immediate  context,  as  well  as  with  what  is  said  of  the  wife 
in  the  Prologue.  His  spirit  was  alien  to  her.  She  did  not 
understand  him,  his  mind,  his  feeling,  his  state  of  soul. 
When  he  said,  "  the  Lord  gave,  the  Lord  hath  taken,  etc.," 
she  regarded  it  as  stoical  indifference.  She  knew  nothing 
of  the  deep  feeling  underlying  the  declaration,  his  yearning 
for  the  lost  as  measuring  the  depth  of  his  resignation,  before 
in8ufferal)Ie  bodily  agony  drove  him  to  the  outcry  of  chap. 
iii.  (see  Int.  Theism,  pa.  28).  She  said  to  him,  "  Curse  God 
and  die."  She  was  not  at  all  the  woman  to  appreciate  Job,  and 
under  a  sense  of  this  he  might  well  say,  that  she  had  come 
to  regard  him  with  aversion ;  and  perhaps  she  had  wholly 
abandoned  him.  Certainly  the  absence  of  all  such  allusion 
to  incidents  mentioned  in  the  prologue  would  be  more  strange 
th.an  their  presence.  It  would  furnish  an  almost  unanswer- 
able argument  to  those  who  maintained  the  later  authorship 


of  the  prose  portion.  With  this  rendering  would  well  agree 
what  follows  if  we  keep  the  common  familiar  sense  of  r\1iin, 
whether  regarded  as  an  infinitive  (like  r\1^^<  Ezek.  xxxvi. 

3)  or  as  a  plural  feminine  noun — my  yeaminrf,  or  yearnings, 
my  tender  feelings  for  the  dear  ones  lost,  for  my  desolate 
household  (see  xvi.  7  and  notn).  She  repels  me  from  her  (ho 
seems  to  say)  even  in  the  manifestation  of  my  deepest  grief. 
The  sense  of  nn    is  very  uniform  in  the  Hebrew — tender 

feeling — grafions  feeling — a  going  out  of  the  soul  towarda 
anything.  Hence,  in  Hithpahel,  a  tender  supplication  for 
grace  and  mercy,  coming  like  the  nouns  n^nr^  an<l  j^JPin 

from  the  frequent  Kal  imperative  ''Jiin,  '""'«  meraj  upon  me. 

■  '  ■  T 

Prayer  is  the  saying  over  of  this  tender  formula.  The  verb, 
it  is  true,  has  the  direct  accusative  for  its  object;  but  in  tho 
infinitive  it  would  require  tho  preposition  of  direction,  and 

none  more  appropriate  than  1  or  '^X.  This  is  the  prepo- 
sition following  it  in  Arabic;  and  here  it  may  be  remarked 
that  there  is  hardly  another  case  of  two  words  of  the  same 
form,  in  Hebrew  and  in  Arabip,  that  so  closely  agree  in  all 
their  applications  and  derivatives.  "  J/e  ii-as  or  became  affected 
villi  a  yearning,  lon'jing,  or  de.sire,  or  an  intense  etnotion  of  grief 
or  of  foil ;"  Such  is  the  definition  that  Lane  gives  from  an 
extended  study  of  the  most  copious  native  Arabic  Lexicons. 
This  is  the  very  spirit  of  the  Hebrew  root.  The  rendering 
^nT^  ™y  hrea'th  is  not  inconsistent  with  it.  Tho  breath 
mayije  taken  for  that  which  is  most  familiar  in  the  perso- 
naVity;  or  if  regarded  as  denoting  oflfensiveness,  it  may  be 
said  to  have  caused  the  unfeeling  woman  to  repel  everything 
in  him,  even  his  yearning  for,  or  any  mention  of,  his  lost 
children.  To  get  this  ideaof  offensivcness,  however,  we  must 
give  an  unusual  sense  to  riTI  (strange)  making  it  the  same 


90 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


19 


20 


They  flout  at  me  wheu  I  attempt*  to  rise. 
Men  of  my  couDseP  from  me  all  recoil ; 
And  those  I  loved  are  turned*  against  the  sight ; 
My  bone  fast  cleaving  to  my  skin  and  flesh ; — 
All  shrunk'  away  the  covering  of  my  teeth ! 


with  X'^T  fasiidium,  as  used  Numb.  xi.  20.    But  they  cannot 

TT 

be  the  same  word,  as  X  there  is  radical,  and  the  word  is  evi- 
dently allied  to  the  Arabic  X"ni  '"  repel.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  Hebrew  II  akin  to  nauxea,  and  the  peculiar  offensive- 
ness  in  Numb.  xi.  10,  arose  from  satiety,  excessive  famili- 
arity, which  is  an  idea  the  very  opposite  to  that  of  strange- 
ness. Carrying  out  the  idea  which  is  supposed  to  be  intended 
in  the  first  clause,  many  commentators  give  to  Dl  JH,  in  the 
second,  a  sense  derived  from  another  Arabic  root  channa  (in- 
stead of  hanna)  with  tlie  sense  of  fmlor.  The  arguments 
against  it  are,  1,  that  f  JHi  in  the  usual  sense,  is  a  very  com- 
mon Hebrew  word.  The  Hithpahel  conjugation  is  in  verse 
16,  immediately  preceding,  and  the  Kal  is  repeated  twice  in 
ver.  21,  in  almost  immediate  connection:  ''jjn,  "'Jjn,  pit'J 
ine,  oh  pity  me,  ye  my  friend.t.  The  Arabic  channa  differs  in 
the  diacritical  point,  but  to  the  reader's  eye  the  word  used 
is  the  same  root  in  all  these  places  of  the  same  chapter,  to 
say  nothing  of  its  very  frequent  occurrence  in  all  other 
parts  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  This  certainly  makes  it 
seem  very  improbable  that  the  writer  should  have  gone  so 
far  out  of  his  way  to  get  a  very  foreign  and  almost  opposite 
meaning  in  this  passage.  What  makes  it  stranger  still,  is 
that  the  Hebrew  is  well  supplied  with  words  to  express  this 
idea  of  foetor.  There  is  the  very  common  B'X^  with  its 
derivatives,  besides  PUT,  rCJIH,  which  occurs  more  than 
twenty  times,  and  another  form    jnV,   Joel  ii.  20.    2.  The 

primary  meaning  of  channa,  as  given  by  the  Lexicographers, 
and  especially  by  Lane,  the  most  exact  of  them  all  (and 
who  differs  from  them  in  his  copious  citation  of  illustrating 
passages)  is  "  the  emission  of  the  breath,  with  a  sound, 
through  the  nostrils."  This  shows  that  it  is  an  onomatopic, 
Tchanna,  a  nasal  sound,  or  utterance.  If  used  to  denote  a  dis- 
ease, it  would  be  something  like  the  catarrh,  or  a  cold  in  the 
head.  3.  In  getting  this  sense  of  factor,  they  take  the  remote 
Xth  conjugation  of  channa  Cas  given  by  Golius  and  Fieytag, 
without  any  references):  fuftoremenmit  putenis — a  sense  which 
Lane  relegates  to  the  most  unusual  ones,  and  which  is  most 
probably  dialectical,  or  coming  from  some  incidental  asso- 
ciation of  sound,  or  otherwise.  It  is  certainly  very  rare,  not 
to  be  found  in  the  Ancient  Arabic,  or  in  the  later  classical. 
It  is  not  in  the  Koran,  or  in  Hariri,  or  in  Ahmed's  Life  of 
Timur,  or  in  the  copious  Koranic  commentary  of  Alzamakh- 
ehari.  Besides  this,  it  seems  most  likely  to  be  derived  from 
sachnnJi,  meaning  to  be  warm  (especially  water).  The  Vlllth 
conj.  of  this  root  {Utachana)  would  differ  only  by  the  douljling 
of  the  final  consonant  from  the  Xth  of  the  other;  and  in  the 
Arabic  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  derivative  senses  thus 
get  mixed  together,  as  hlachana  and  Utnchnnna.  There  is  the 
same  argument  against  bringing  it  from  the  Syriac  N^JP. 
rancidiis.  It  is  found  only  in  Castell  without  any  citations. 
It  may  be  a  late  derivative  from  the  Arabic,  but  "more  likely 
a  merely  accidental  accommodation  from  the  old  sense  of 
pri;  hence  in  Syriac,  XJ'jn,  a  name  for  a  kind  of  oil  (from 

the  idea  of  smoothness)  afterwards  used  for  rancid  oil.  Any 
authority  that  this  might  seem  to  possess  is  invalidated  by 
the  fact  that  the  Peschito  Syriac  translators  would  have 
found  this  word  hanino  (had  it  been  old  Syriac)  the  very  one 
to  be  used  if firtor  were  the  real  meaning  intended.  Instead 
of  this,  they  have  used  the  old  Hebrew  and  Syriac  npl,  and 

given  precisely  the  rendering  of  our  E.  V.  THJIinnX))  "I 
entreated,  mpjiUcated  for  the  children  of  my  bowels." 

A  strong  argument  against  this  later  rendering  of  fcetor, 

offensiveness,  is  that,  in  consequence  of  demanding  for  7 
the  sense  of  to,  instead  of/or,  or  on  account  of,  it  makes  it  im- 
possible that  'J^on  'J3  (2d  clause)  should  mean  the  chil- 
dren of  Job,  for  they  were  all  dead.  Attempts  have  been 
made  to  refer  it  to  children  of  slaves,  etc.,  but  this  is  too  far- 
fetched to  deserve  notice.  TJmbreit  and  Delitzsch  regard 
^J£3D  as  referring  to  his  mother's  womb,  called  my  womb  (as 

In  iii.  10  'J03  Tl/T  "doorsof  my  womb").  Conant  states 
the  argument  very  well  and  concisely  for  this;  but  it  does 
not  satisfy.  Job  is  not  speaking  of  himself  here,  and  so  the 
argument  from  iii.  10,  does  not  apply.  In  Micah  vi.  7,  """liJ 
''}122  certainly  means  children,  and  to  get  away  from  it  by 
saying  that  in  that  case  there  is  meant  the  womb  of  his  wife 
is  taking  away  all  dffiniteness  from  the  phrase,  and  making 
it  mean  anything  an  exi'^eH^ia  loci  might  demaLd.    So  with 


the  phrase  "TJCa^  '"13  Deut.  vii.  13,  which  Delitzsch  cites 

I  £03  means  the  womb  only  in  a  secondary  application.    Its 

primary  sense  is  belly,  body  (Arabic  !C33  and  \'^2,  used  in 

the  same  way),  the  interior  part;  hence  used,  as  in  Job  xv. 
2. -35;  Prov.  xxii.  18 ;  xviii.  8;  xx.  27;  xxx.  20;  Hab.  iii.  16, 
for  the  interior  spirituality;  see  Note  Job  xv.  2.  In  this 
primary  sense  of  body  it  is  applicable  to  the  male  as  well  aa 
to  the  female.     And  so  it  is  rendered  in  E. -V.  children  of  my 

body.  It  is  like  'J»0  'J3  "  children  of  my  bowels,''^  'i'vH  'J3 
"cftiWren  of  my  loins."  The  reference  to  hia  children,  after 
the  mention  of  his  wife,  is  most  natural ;  and  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  only  four  verses  above,  the  brothers  of 
Job,  whether  uterine,  or  collateral  kinsmen  more  remote, 
are  mentioned  by  their  own  appropriate  name  ('HX)  as  es- 
tranged from  him,  and  far  removed.  They  had  abandoned 
him,  and  could  not  have  been  affected  by  anv  such  offensive- 
ness. The  friends  alone  seem  to  have  remained  in  close  con- 
tact with  him,  and  therein,  with  all  their  harshness,  they 
were  better  than  his  wife  and  his  brethren.  Besides,  that 
there  should  be  no  mention  of  children,  would,  indeed,  be 
very  strange.  The  difficulty  clears  up  when  we  abide  by  the 
old  rendering,  whilst  the  mention  of  his  dead  children,  and 
his  yearning /or  them,  in  connection  with  his  wife's  aver- 
sion, becomes  a  most  touching  instead  of  such  an  offensive 
picture,  as  the  other  rendering  would  make  it. 
«  Ver.  18.  When  I  attempt  to  rise.  HOIpX  :  pa- 

ragogic  H — subjective  or  optative  sense — when  I  would  rise, 
indicating  a  feeble  attempt,  as  he  sits  upon  the  ground,  or 
among  the  ashes,  ii.  8.  The  boys  mock  his  emaciated  form  and 
tottering  motions. 

'  Ver.  19.  Men  of  my  counsel,  ■'^1D  TID.  See 
Psalm  Iv.  15,  "  With  whom  I  look  sweet  coiitisel." 

8  Ver.  19.  Are  turned  against  tbe  si^ht.  The 
rendering  is  not  too  full  for  the  Heb.  133nj — ere  turned 
right  round,  or  right  away.  It  implies  a  revolting  sight, 
bronght  out  in  all  its  ghastly  features  in  the  next  verse. 

*  Ver.  20.  All  shrunk  away.  This  verse  has  given 
rise  to  much  and  varied  comment.  The  things  first  to  be  de- 
termined are  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  ^Jty  Tiy  {skin  of 
my  teeth)   and   the  meaning  and  construction  of  the  verb 

ntobonX-  The  idea  of  Delitzsch  that  the  first  means  the 
periosteum,  9,  fibrous  membrane  surrounding  the  bone,  is/ar- 
fetrhed,  and  could  not  have  been  thought  of  by  Job.  No 
meaning  can  be  given  to  the  phrase  unless  it  be  the  lips  or 
gums  surrendering  the  teeth, — thecovering  of  the  teeth.  There 
is  no  reason  here  to  go  beyond  the  primary  sense  of  the  verb 

D/D.  Both  in  the  Hebrew  and  in  the  Arabic,  as  well  as  in 
the  cognate  £37£3  it  is  that  of  smoothness  (lenis,  glaber  fuit, 
Ges.)  bareness,  slipperiness.  Hence  elapsns  est,  eraMt,  he  slipped 
away,  he  escaped.  There  is  the  same  primary  idea  in  the 
English  escape.  As  an  escape  from  danger,  however,  or  dif- 
ficulty, it  is  a  secondary  sense,  and  found  only  in  the  Niphal 
(the  Piel  and  Hiphil  being  causative  of  it).  The  Hithpahel 
occurs  nowhere  else  except  in  this  passage,  and  its  refle.\ 
form  and  sense,  as  will  appear,  favor  the  idea  above  given. 
The  next  thing  is  to  examine  the  Ancient  Versions.  The 
Peschito  Syriac  gives  the  sense  of  E.  V.  The  Vulgate,  or 
Hieronymus,  renders  it  derelicla  smit  lantunimodo  lnhUi  circa 
denies  meos,  only  the  lips  are  left  about  my  teeth — left  as 
something  abandoned  or  deserted.  The  LXX.  ocrra  (xou  in 
oSoOo-tf  £x*'''<">  which  has  little  or  no  sense.  In  the  Hcxa- 
plar  Syriac  Version  of  the  LXX.  we  find  in  the  margin  the 
rendering  of  the  other  early  Greek  versions.  Aquila  gives 
it  as  in  E.  V.  and  the  Peschito.  Stmmachus  :  "  I  am  hung," 
OT,  I  adhere  to  the  shin  of  my  teeth.  TheODOTION:  I  am  aban- 
doned  of  ( forsaken  by)  the  skin  of  my  teeth.  Tremellius  has  the 
same  rendering  as  K.  V.  Luther  :  und  kann  meiue  Z^hue 
mit  der  Haut  niclit  bedecken.  This,  with  the  version  of  the 
Vulgate  and  Theodotion,  is  the  general  idea  above  given, 
though  differently  expressed :  the  teeth  exposed  and  pro- 
truding. Stickel  and  IIahn  (as  cited  and  contested  by  De- 
litzsch) arrive  at  a  similar  idea,  but  in  a  wrong  way,  by 
making  "^1^  the  infinitive  of  llj?  with  the  sense  of  naked- 
ness. The  difficulty  appears  to  be  in  the  first  person  of  the 
verb.    The  sense  given  would  seem  to  demand  the  third  per. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


91 


21  Have  pity  ;  O  have  pity — ye  my  friends  ; 
For  'tis  Eloali's  hand  that  toucheth'"  me. 

22  But  why,  like  God,  shouhl  ye  pursue? 
And  not  be  satiated^'  from  my  flesh? 

[Pause.] 
2  J       O,  that  my  words  were  written  now  ; 

O,  that  they  were  upon  the  record  graved, 
24       "With  pen  of  iron,  and  of  lead, — 

Upon  the  rock  cut  deep — a  witness  evermore. 

[A  BRIEF  silence]. 

23  I  KNOW  TEAT  MY  ReDEEMER''  LIVES  ; 

And  o'er  my  dust,'*  Survivor,'^  shall  He  stand. 
2G      My  skin  all  gone,  this*®  [remnant]  they  may  rend  ; 

Yet  from  my  flesh  shall  I  Eloah  see  ; — 
27       Shall  see  Him  mine  ; — 

Mine  eyes  shall  see*'  Him — stranger**  now  no  more. 

(For  this)  with  longing  faints  my  inmost*®  soul. 


son  with  *11^  for  tho  subject :  the  skin  of  my  teeth  has  slipped 
ojp — or,  slipped  off  from  my  teeth.  It  will  be  seen,  however, 
that  the  other  is  the  more  touching  mode  of  expressing  it, 
and  that  this  arises  from  the  personal  reflex  sense  of  the 
Hithpahel,  whilst  it  also  accounts  lor  that  form  being  uped. 
"  /  am  smooth,  I  am  parted,  I  am  bare,  denuded,  or  slippied  off, 
as  to  (or  in)  the  skin  (or  corering)  of  my  teeth,"  seems  indeed 
a  very  awkward  kind  of  language,  and  yet  it  corresponds  to 
the  literal  English  of  a  very  common  Greek  idiom,  found 
more  or  less,  too,  in  other  languages,  and  having  a  natural 
philosophical  as  well  as  philological  basis.  It  is  the  ascribing 
to  the  whole  personality  a  particular  act,  state,  or  aft'ection, 
which  affects  primarily  only  a  part  of  the  body.  The  verbs 
whicli  take  such  a  construction  are  most  commonly  middle 
or  aeponcnt  corresponding  to  the  Hebrew  Hithpahel,  or  they 
are  intransitive  thougli  active  in  form.  Thus,  instead  of  say- 
ing mij  tooth  aches,  they  would  say,  I  ache  as  to  my  tooth,  I 
am  shorn,  my  head,  or  as  to  my  head — the  preposition  Kara. 
being  generally  implied,  though  sometimes  expressed,  as  3 
is  expressed  here  in  llj^'j,  yet  still  preserving  the  same 
idiom.  In  regard  to  verbs  denoting  pain,  it  seems  more  phi- 
sophical  than  our  method;  since  a  ])ain  in  any  part  is  a  pain 
to  the  whole.  But  the  Greeks  carry  it  much  further,  as  ex- 
pressive of  states  and  actions.  Thus  they  would  say,  without 
difficulty,  dTToTe/ii'o^iai  ttiv  x^^P''^t  or  as  one  says,  in  tlie 
Clouds  of  Aristophanes  24,  efexoTrrji/  rov  ixfiOaK/jiOV.  I  loas 
Icnocl-ed  out,  my  eye,  or  as  to  my  eye,  instead  of  saying  my  eye 
was  knocked  out.  See  also  Aristoph.  Aves.  334.  The  prejio- 
Bition  in  T1_J?3  does  not  affect  the  idiom.  With  or  without 
it,  it  is  equally  the  case  or  condition,  according  to  the  techni- 
cal name  which  the  native  Arabian  Grammarians  have  in- 
vented for  one  of  the  aspects  of  this  idiom,  which  is  as  fre- 
quent in  the  Arabic  as  in  tlie  Greek. 

The  other  rendering:  "7  am  escaped  trith  the  skin  of  my 
teeth,^''  seems  to  have  but  little  meaning,  though  so  strongly 
defended.  From  our  English  it  has  acquired  a  sort  of  pro- 
verbial sense — the  barest  escape  from  danger ;  but  this  is 
inajiplicable  to  Job.  Tho  Arabic  formula  so  commonly  cited 
in  its  defense :  "  he  escaped  with  his  head,"  differs  in  tlie 
most  important  item.  Head  is,  in  many  languages,  used  for 
life;  and  thus  it  becomes  an  expression  of  exultation,  or  at 
least  of  self-congratulation.  But  this  would  be  most  Incon- 
sistent in  the  case  of  Job.  He  does  not  speak  like  one  who 
has  escaped  (got  through  his  trouble),  even  with  difficulty. 
And  then  that  piteous  cry  which  immediately  follows : 
hani'ni,  Iumfni,  ok  my  friends,  for  it  is"  EloalCs  hand  that  loucheth 
me,  could  only  have  come  from  a  sense  of  his  forlorn,  hope- 
less condition — his  projecting  bones,  his  shrunken  skin,  his 
protruding  teeth,  denuded  of  their  once  comely  covering — 
all  presenting  a  woful  spectacle  of  misery  and  wild  despair. 

There  is  another  view  cited  by  Umbreit  from  Michaelis' 
Stipplem.,  p.  1512,  in  which  a  meaning  for  the  Hebrew  verb 
is  sought  from  a  secondary  sense  of  the  Arabic  coming  from 
the  common  primary  idea  of  smoothness  or  bareness.  It  is 
2Hlis  carnit,  or  nndnvit  pilis  in  Conj.  II.,  smoolhinrj  off  the  beard, 
like  Hebrew  £01O-  Hence  by  the  skin  of  the  teeth,  he  would 
understand  the  covering  beard,  which  lias  all  come  out  in 


consequence  of  the  disease.    But  this  is  an  interpretation  on 
which  there  is  no  need  of  dwelling. 

10  Ver.  21.  That  touctaetb  me,  ^2  HJ^JJ-  The  ap- 
parent lightness  of  the  act  enhances,  by  its  mighty  effect, 
the  greatness  of  the  power:  "He  looketh  at  the  earth,  and  it 
trembles ;  He  toucheth  tlio  mountains,  and  they  smoke  (the 
Volcanoes)."     Comp.  Ps.  cxliv.  5. 

11  Ter.  23.  Satiated.  The  idea  intended  is  that  of  re- 
morseless slander  compared  to  a  devouring  of  the  flesh.  In 
the  Syriac  it  becomes  a  fixed  idiomatic  expression  for  tliis 
idea.   Hence  a  Syriac  word,  X)f  T  P /3  X,  meaning  the  Devourer 

of  pieces,  becomes  a  name  for  Satan,  or  Atd^oAos,  the  Accuser. 
13  14  15  Ver.  25.  18  Ver.  26.  For  remarks  on  the  words  thus 
noted  see  Addenda  E.rcnrsvs,  No.  1,  p.  .  The  tliree  verses 
25,  26  and  27  are  printed  in  capitals  fo  corresjiond  to  the 
idea  of  the  monumental  inscription  (see  Excursus  I.,  p.  ) 
evidently  designed  in  verses  23  and  24.  The  conjunction  1, 
with  which  it  commences,  as  it  stands  in  the  book,  does  not 
interfere  with  this.  In  the  monumental  inscription  read  as 
standing  by  itself  cut  in  the  rock,  the  1  may  be  regarded  as 
dispensed  with,  just  as  we  leave  out  the  Greek  on  which 
stands  redundantly  before  a  quotation  in  the  New  Testament. 

17  Vers.  26  and  27.  Shall  see,  etc.  Most  worthy  of 
note  here  as  showing  the  earnestness  and  assurance  of  the 
speaker  is  the  three-fold  repetition  of  the  verb  to  see,  ex- 
pressing three  different  aspects  of  the  idea:  1.  I  shall  see 
Eloah;  2.  Shall  see  him  mine;  3.  Mine  eyes  shall  see  him. 
In  the  first  two  cases  it  is  HTn,  which  is  used  more  for  spi- 
ritual vision,  like  owTo/nat  in  Greek.  In  the  third  it  is  1N"^, 
connected  with  the  organ  as  though  denoting  an  actual 
visual  beholding — mine  eyes  shall  see  him — the  time  of  1XT 
depending  on  the  picture  i>receding.  Though  we  have  two 
principal  verbs  of  sight,  the  translator  has  used  but  one  (see 
instead  ofbchold),  in  order  to  present  more  strikingly  this  most 
significant  repetition.     Watt.s:  '•  irith  strong  immortal  eyes." 

18  Ver.  27.  Strang'er  now  no  more.  Deutzsch 
refers  "IJ  to  Job:  I  shall  see  Him  not  as  a  stranger  sees  Him,  or 

T 

"I  shall  see  him,  and  not  another,"  as  E.  V.  has  it.  So 
Conan't;  also  the  LXX.  and  Vulgate:  et  nnn  alias.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  Gesenius,  Umhreit  (dock  nirht  aU  Gegner), 
Vaihinger,  Stickel,  Hahn  and  Von  Hoffmann  refer  it  to 
God.  Delitzsch  lias  no  right  to  say  that  "^J  does  not  mean 
adversary.  When  applied  to  tlie  relation  between  man 
and  God,  it  does  mean  that  most  emphatically.  There  are 
two  strong  reasons  for  this  interpretation  which  the  trans- 
lator has  adopted :  1.  The  declaration:  " Mine  eyes  shall  see 
bim,"  so  strongly  made,  would  render  this  interpretation  of 
Delitzsch  a  tautology — a  saying  the  same  thing  (mj-self 
and  not  another),  only  in  a  more  feeble  way.  2.  The  other 
rendering  brings  into  emphatic  prominence  the  idea  for 
which  Job's  soul  was  panting — not  so  niucli  the  sight  of 
God  by  any  oV>jective  beholding,  as  tlie  idea  of  reconciliation 
with  him — love  and  peace  after  estrangement.  ?ee  this 
more  fully  dwelt  iipo-    in  the  excursus  above  referred  to. 

13  Ver.  27.  (For  is).  In  respect  to  Job's  rapturous 
emotion  here,  see  At     ada  Excursus  I.,  p. 


92 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


9S 


29 


[Pause.] 

Yes,  ye  sJiair'^  say,  why  persecute  we  him  ? 

And  seek^'  to  find  in  me  a  root^^  of  blame  ? 

Beware — Beware'-' — the  sword. 

For  there  is  wrath ;  yea  sins  (that  call)  the  sword  i"^* 

That  ye  may  surely  know  that  judgment'"  is. 


*)  Ver.  28.  Shall  say.  Thesupposingapaiisf  of  silence, 
however  brief,  before  ver.  28  greatly  facilitates  the  interpre- 
tation of  what  follows,  and  which  by  being  brout;ht  abruptly 
in,  has  given  rise  to  much  unnecessary  difficulty.  The  high 
feeling  of  the  rapturous  anticipation  has  somewhat  gone 
down ;  but  it  has  made  a  change  in  Job,  and  gives  him 
strength  to  use  a  language  to  the  friends  different  from  what 
he  had  before  employed.  There  is  no  recrimination,  but  he 
ventures  to  assume  to  them  something  of  a  warning,  and 
even  a  prophetic  style.  It  is,  however,  a  general  prediction, 
and  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  had  in  view  the  scenes 
narrated  in  the  close  of  the  book,  as  some  have  thought  in 
order  to  lower  the  character  of  his  ecstatic  vision  to  a  mere 
guess  at  returning  prosperity.  For  ye  shall  smj.  There  is  no 
need  of  departing  from  the  simple  future  sense  of  noXH- 
The  time  will  come  when  ye  will  take  a  diff'erent  view  of 
the  case.  The  ''J  is  slightly  illative,  being  used,  as  it  re- 
peatedly is,  in  the  Book  of  Job,  to  denote  a  kind  of  reply  to 
something  that  has  been  silently  passing  through  the  mind.  It 
is  like  the  commencement  of  Chap,  xxviii.  Thus  regarded,  the 
two  verbs  following  (HTIJ  and  J<3^DJ)  may  both  be  treated 

as  in  the  same  conjugation  and  tense,  future  in  form,  but  to 
be  rendered  as  present,  or  aorist,  depending  on  I'lOXJl;  in 
which  view  there  is  no  need  of  regarding  1  in  the  second 
clause  as  anything  more  than  simply  connective.  There  is 
no  inferential  sense  in  it  to  be  rendered  since  or  seeing  that; 
all  of  which  arises  from  a  wrong  view  of  the  connections  of 
the  passage. 

21  Seek  to  find.  In  kal  N^O  denotes  not  simply  a 
finding,  casually,  but  a  finding  what  is  sought.  Here  it 
may  be  taken  as  the  1st  Pers.  Plu.  Fnt.  Kal,  instead  of  the  Ni- 
phal  participle,  which  the  other  view  seems  to  necessitate. 
The  change  of  person,  although  it  makes  strange  sounding 
English,  the  translator  baa  preserved  because  it  ia  so  ex- 


pressive in  Hebrew,  this  sudden  turn  to  himself  as  the  ob- 
ject of  their  persecution.  Comp.  the  precisely  similar  case, 
xiv.  3,  which  Merx  has  marred  by  his  useless  emendation  of 
the  text. 

22  Ver.  28.  Root  of  blame.  When  this  phrase,  n^T 
ty^ty,  is  rendered  root  of  the  nuUler,  it  seems  to  have  little 
or  no  meaning,  besides  necessitating  a  diff'erent  and  forced 
construction  of  the  whole  passage.  It  is  in  E.  V.,  and 
maintained  by  Delitzsch,  Conant  and  other  very  able  com- 
mentators; but  an  examination  of  the  use  of  "^21  in  such 

passages  as  Exod.  xviii.  16-22;  xxii.  8  (J/lJ/3  "13^    /2  iV), 

xxiv.  14,  and  other  places,  can  leave  little  doubt  of  the 
meaning  as  above  given — a  ground  of  accusation  or  blame. 
It  may  have  been  tyity.  root  of  accusation,  as  denoting 
charges  inferred  without  evidence,  like  those  in  chap,  xxii., 
— dug  up — hunted  for— having  no  proof  upon  the  surface. 
Kosenmueller:  muleriam  Wis. 

23  Ver.  29.  Beware — Beware.  The  repetition  in  the 
translation  is  justilied  by  the  great  emphasis  expressed  in 

C3D7  and  'J£)Q ;  "Take  care  of  yourselves  before  the 
sword."  The  strengthening  that  Job  had  received  rouses 
him  to  give  them  this  warning,  though  not  at  all  in  their 
style  of  crimination. 

2*  Ver.  29.  (That  call)  the  sword.  Comp.  Romans 
xiii.  4.     Literally,  sim  of  the  sword. 

25  Ver.  29.  That  jlide^meilt  is— surely  is — really  is — 
or  what  it  really  is — said,  perhaps,  in  opposition  to  their  tu- 
perficial  views  about  the  judgments  ordealings  of  the  divine 
providence :  That  ye  may  have  an  idea  of  the  greater  and 
higher  judgment.     We  have  here   U?  for  "IK'X — the   only 

place  in  Job  where  it  occurs,  though  so  common  in  Eccle- 
Biaatea  and  the  later  Hebrew. 


Chapter  XX. 

1  Then  answered  Zophar,  the  Naamathite,  and  said ; 

2  To  this^  my  thoughts  compel-  me  to  respond  ; 
And  therefore  is  my  haste'  within  me  (roused). 

3  The  chastening  of  my  reproof  I  hear  ; 
'Tis  zeal,*  with  knowledge,  urges  my  reply. 


1  Ver.  2.  To  this.  pS.  There  is  no  need  to  follow 
Umdeeit  and  others  in  their  far-fetched  explanations  of  this 
particle,  J  3 — /•  Literally  to  so — for  so^or  this — there-for  or 
therefore.  So  p  7j7,  wherefore.  It  denotes  here  an  imme- 
diate reply.  Fired  by  Job's  saying  to  them  to  heware  of  the 
sinord  ofjuitlice,  Zophar  answers  indignantly  and  impetuously. 
He  could  be  very  calm  when,  free  from  pain,  he  discourses 
so  loftily  and  truly  about  God's  wisdom  and  "truth's  two- 
fold form  "  (chap.  xi.  6).  With  all  theoretical  coolness  could 
he  exhort  Job  to  repentance.  But  now  when  the  sufferer, 
strengthened  by  his  glorious  hope  (xix.  25-28),  turns  upon 
them,  as  it  were,  and  warns  them  that  they  too  have  need 
of  repentance,  Zophar  goes  off  in  great  haste,  as  the  next 
clause  shows.  This  heat  is  continued  through  the  chapter, 
producing  that  picture  of  the  wicked  man  and  his  doom, 
most  ju8t  in  itself,  and  most  graphically  as  well  as  eloquently 


presented,  but  very  intemperate  and  unjust  as  applied  to 
Job. 

*  Ver.  2.  Compel  me  to  respond.  D'ty'  alone 
might  mean  simply  to  answer,  but  the  suffix  and  the  context 
seem  to  demand  the  cauxal  sense.  It  might,  however,  be 
rendered  furnish  my  atiswei — give  me  an  answer, 

'  Ver.  2.  My  haste.  There  is  no  need  of  going  away 
from  the  pure  Hebrew  sense  of  t*?in.  haste.  It  is  just  what 
the  context  shows  to  be  wanted,  and  the  word  in  brackets 
is  simply  the  expression  of  what  is  implied  in  the  emphatic 
repetition,  ''3  "tj'in,  of  the  first  person  :  my  haste  in  me. 

*  Ver.  3.  Zeal.  111"^  is  here  used  for  anger,  temper,  zeal 
or  warmth  (ira),  as  it  is  Judg.  viii.  3;  Prov.xvi.  32;  Isaiah 
XXV.  4;  XXX.  28;  Zech.  vi.  8.  He  justifies  this  outburst  of 
spirit  by  the  following  word,  TIJOO,  from  my  understand- 
ing. It  is  not  irrational  anger,  he  would  say,  but  justified 
by  Job's  provocation. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


93 


Ha  ?  kuowest  thou  this — a  truth  of  oldoa  time, 

Since  Adam  first  was  placed  upon  the  earth  ? 

How  brief  the  triumph*  of  the  bad  I 

The  joy  of  the  imj)ure,  how  momentary! 

Yes,  though  his  i^ride  may  mount  to  heaven's  height, 

His  head  reach  to  the  cloud  ; 

As  is  his  splendor,''  so  his  hopeless^  ruin  ; 

"Who  gazed  uj^on  him  say — where  is  he  gone. 

As  a  dream®  he  flies,  and  is  no  longer  found ; 

Like  a  night  spectre'"  is  h6  scared  away. 

The  ej'-e  hath  glanced"  on  him — it  glanceth  not  again ; 

His  dwelling-place  beholdeth  him  no  more. 


10  His  children  must  appease"  the  poor ; 

And  his  own  hands  give  back  again  his  wealth. 

11  His  bones  are  filled  from  sins"  in  secret  done, 
And  with  him  in  the  dust  must  they  lie  down. 

12  Though  wickedness,  while  in  his  mouth,  be  sweet; 
So  that  beneath  his  tongue  he  keeps  it  hid, — 


»  "Vpr.  4.  Ha!  The  Hebrew  n  in  HXin  is  exclamatory 
as  well  as  interrogative.  It  is  often  so.  Here  it  strikingly 
shows  how  impetuously  Zophar  dashes  on  after  his  hasty 
exordium.  The  force  of  it  is  carried  all  through  the  high- 
wrought  picture  that  follows.  He  begins  as  tliough  he 
would  overwhelm  the  unrepentant  and  presumptuous  Job. 

6  Ver.  5.  The  triumph— the  joy.  These  expres- 
sions would  seem  to  refer  to  Job's  exultant  hope,  xix.  26,  27, 
ond  his  warning,  ver.  29. 

T  Ver.  7.  As  Is  his  splendor.  Ew. :  nach  seiner  Grosm. 
The  weight  of  authority  is  in  favor  of  this  rendering,  as  de- 
rived from  the  Arabic,  7N /J,  g^onj,  splendor.    The  Chaldaic 

77j  li'is  the  same  meaning.  It  avoids  the  seemingly  inde- 
corous comparison  of  the  E.  V.  rendering,  and  has,  more- 
over, in  its  favor  the  fact  that  the  Arabic  word,  thus  used,  is 
very  common.  It  may  be  said,  too,  that  the  contrast  thus 
given  more  strongly  expresses  the  main  idea,  which  is  liia 
great  downfall.  The  suffix,  too,  as  Conant  well  remarks,  is 
better  adapted  to  this  rendering. 

8  Ver.  7.  Hopeless   ruin.      Literally,   so   he  perishes 

utterly.    HVJ  /  does  not  mean /oreuer  in  the  time  sense,  but 

oply  implies  it  in  its  real  idea  of  completeness,  fixdity.    The 

vtrb  13X  suggests  strongly  that  awful  word  .IttiAtou  f  njX), 
the  state  of  the  lost.  ' 

9  10  Ver.  8.  As  a  dream As  a  night  spectre. 

The  rendering  is  demanded  in  order  to  give  the  true  distinc- 
tion of  the  words  D1 /H  and  IVTH-    The  first  is  simply  an 

ordinary  dreaminrj^  especially  in  a  light  sleep,  which  seems 
to  fly  away  on  opening  the  eyes  (i-olnrriqiu-  similUma  sowno), 
and  we  cannot  recall  it.  We  only  know  that  we  have  been 
drraming.  So  the  wicked  man,  after  lii3l>rief  liallucination, 
camuit  he  found.  Literally:  They  cannot  find  ]ii)n.  The  other 
clause  of  the  parallelism  is  much  stronger.     TVIH  denotes 

a  vision  as  something  different  from  such  a  mere  dreaming. 
Again,  it  denotes  the  object  of  the  vision,  as  well  as  the 
vision  itself;  like  the  Greek  oipi.^  (from  offTo/aat,  correspond- 
ing best  to  Heb.  HTn),  which  means  the  siijht  (spectocidnm), 
as  well  as  the  seeing.  This  is  generally  something  mysterious 
and  sublime,  as  in  Job  iv.  13,  or  something  frightful,  as  in 
Job  vii.  14:  "Th'>H  scnrest  me  with  visions" — plutntasnis,  spec- 
tres, frightfnl  siijhts.  The  vision  of  EliphHZ  (iv.  13-17),  what- 
ever degree  of  obiective  reality  we  may  ascribe  to  it,  is  cer- 
tainly evidence  of  a  belief  in  a  spectral  world,  from  which 
came  forth  things  to  warn  or  to  terrify  men.  The  rendering 
spectre  is  strongly  favored  by  the  word  following.  The  verb 
"IT  is  literally  driven,  chased  away,  as  E.  V.  and  Conant  ren- 
der "it,  but  scared  nwny  is  most  fitting  to  the  context ;  and  so 
the  German  commentators,  such  as  Umbreit,  Ewald,  Zock- 
LF.R,  etc.,  mainly  render  it  {verscheiicht,  fortijeschentht)  Kc^je- 
schencht.  Everything  about  the  passage  shows  that  it  was 
an  ancient  as  well  as  a  modern  superstition,  if  we  may  call 


it  so,  that  apparitions  from  this  spectral  world  departed  very 
suddenly  as  though  frightened,  either  by  the  crowing  of  the 
cock,  or  the  appearance  of  morning,  or  something  stern  and 
bold  in  the  human  attitude  towards  such  seeming  intruders. 
This  is  remarkably  exemplified  by  the  story  Plutarch  gives 
us,  in  his  life  of  Brutus  (sect,  xxxvi.),  of  the  apparition  (the 
nnchtgesicht)  that  presented  itself  to  him  when  reading  in 
his  tent  at  midnight  before  the  battle  of  Philippi.  "Whilst 
in  deep  study,  he  seemed  to  feel  the  presence  of  something 
entering.  Turning  his  eye,  he  sees  a  strange  and  fearful 
form  of  something  eK<^iiAou  (belonging  to  no  known  species), 
standing  in  silence  by  him.  Who  art  thou,  man  or  god? 
The  phantasm  replies,  in  a  hollow  tone,  1  am  thy  evil  genius, 
Brutus  ;  thou  shalt  see  me  at  Philippi.  I  will  see  thee  there, 
said  he."  This  bold  answer  of  Brutus,  as  though  making 
an  appointment,  and  the  fright  of  the  spectre,  is  most  admi- 
rably paraphrased  by  Cowley: 

I'll  see  thee  there,  saidst  thou. 

With  such  a  voice  and  such  a  brow. 
As  put  the  startled  ghost  to  sudden  flight; — 
It  was  as  though  it  heard  the  morning  crow, 
Or  saw  its  well-appointed  star 
Come  marching  up  the  eastern  hill  afar. 

So  flies  the  wicked  man,  scared  away,  driven  away,  by  the 
divine  judgments,  or  when  the  light  of  truth  is  let  into  his 
soul.  The  rendering,  chased  away,  also  reminds  us  of  Prov. 
xiv.  32:  "  The  wicked  wan  is  drive^i  away  in  his  wiclcedness.'' 
This  kind  of  language  has  a  number  of  examples  in  Job,  and 
it  may  be  taken  as  proof  that  the  phraseology  in  the  Pro- 
verbs is  derived  from  it. 

11  Ver.  9.  Hath  g^lanced.  f|*ty.  A  word  rare,  but 
clear.  Cant.  i.  6:  "The  sun  hath  looked  upon,  me" — to 
change  my  color.  Job  xxviii.  7:  "The  keen  falcon's  eye 
hatli  (jlanced  upon  it" — the  miner's  unexplored  path.  ZiicK- 
LER  gives  this  very  strikingly :  ein  Auge  hat  auf  ihn  geblickt, 
es  thut's  nicht  wieder.  Nothing  could  more  distinctly  ex- 
press the  idea  of  transitoriness :  one  glance,  and  he  is  never 
seen  again. 

12  Ver.  10.  9Inst  appease.  This  is  the  rendering  of 
E.  V.  (seek  to  please).  The  argument  for  it,  besides  the  gram- 
matical one,  is  the  harmony  it  makes  with  the  second  clause. 
The  other  rendering,  the  poor  slndl  oppress  his  children,  de- 
mauds  a  new  form  of  the  verb  n2^1=Vilf  "I- 

T    •  I     ••    • 

13  Ver.  11.  Sins  In  secret  done.  LiteraHy  secret 
thimjs;  but  a  comparison  of  Ps.  xc.  8  shows  at  once  the 
meaning.  Many  render  it  sins  of  yoidh.  There  is  authority 
for  U  from  the  use  of  Qvlp,  Ps.  Ixxxix.  46;  Job  xxxiii.  25, 
etc.,  but  the  general  sense  here  is  best,  especially  as  it  may 
also  include  the  other,  and  perhaps  point  to  them.  Secret 
sins,  or  sins  of  ynuth— the  efTects  of  thera  go  with  a  man  to  his 
grave.  They  lie  down;  DDKTI !  singular  feminine,  but  an- 
swers for  a  collective  nominative,  like  a  Greek  singular  verb 
with  a  plural  neuter  to  which  the  Htbrew  feminine,  in  such 
cabes,  corresponds. 


94 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


13  Sparing  it  long,  and  loth  to  let  it  go, 
Holding  it  back,  still  near  his  palate's  taste ; 

14  Yet  in  his  bowels  is  his  bread  all  changed ; 
Within  him,  'tis  the  very  gall  of  asps. 

15  The  wealth  he  swallows  shall  he  vomit  up  , 

Yes,  from  his  very  maw  shall  God's  hand  cast  it  forth. 

16  The  venom  of  the  viper  shall  he  suck  ; 
The  adder's  tongue  shall  slay  him. 

17  On  the  fair  rivers'*  shall  he  never  gaze, — 
The  flowing  streams  of  honey  and  of  milk. 

18  ToiP*  [wronged],  before  'tis  swallowed,  he  restores ; 
As  wealth  exchanged,  he  has  no  joy  of  it. 

19  Because'*  he  crushed,  and  helpless  left,  the  poor ; 


1*  Ver.  17.  On  the  fair  rivers.    fdii^S  here,  and 

Judges  V.  15, 16,  is  synonymous  with  0'j73,  and  mean? 

•  T  : 
primarily  artificial  water  courses,  bnt  the  word  is  used  of 

rivers  generally,  as  in  Ps.  Ixv.  10,  DTI  7X  J 7£3.  '^«  ''"'«'■  of 
God.  It  is  used  to  denote  a  beautiful,  fair-flowing  stream, 
as  inj  represents  a  fuller  and  deeper  one,  or  as  the  Latin 
amnis  in  distinction  from  flumen orfluviiis.  The  flowing^ 
streams;  literally,  Jlowings  of  streams;  the  first  noun 
qualifying  the  other — the  full  streams.  Is  anything  special 
meant  here,  or  is  it  only  a  glowing  picture  representing 
wealth  and  prosperity?  The  latter  view  seems  easy,  and  is 
the  one  generally  taken  by  commentators;  but  yet  it  has 
great  difficulties.  In  the  first  place,  the  whole  picture  is 
not  that  of  a  poor  man  wlio  never  attains  to  any  measure  of 
luxury,  but  of  one  who  has  possessed,  and  then  been  de- 
prived of  it.  In  the  second  place,  if  Z  'phar  has  Job  in  view, 
i.s  we  must  suppose  from  the  way  he  brings  in  the  picture, 
the  language,  thus  understood,  is  wholly  inapplicable.  With 
bis  "seven  thousand  sheep  and  goats,  and  three  thousand 
camels,  and  five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen,  and  five  hundred  she 
asses,  and  very  many  servants,"  he  must  be  said  to  have  seen 
"  the  brooks  of  honey  and  milk,"  that  is,  abundance  of  the 
luxuries  of  life,  or  of  the  good  things  of  this  world,  if  ever  a 
man  did.  The  conjecture  may  be  hazarded,  that  the  fervid 
and  imaginative  Zophar  has  in  mind  some  early  Arabian 
mythical  paradise,  something  unearthly,  or  belonging  to 
some  remote  region  of  the  world,  like  the  Greek  "  Isles  of 
the  Blessed."  Thus  viewed,  it  may  have  been  the  origin  of 
that  description  we  find  so  often  in  the  Koran,  and  which 
must  have  been  much  older  than  the  days  of  Mohammed. 
See  Sural,  ii.  2.3:  "For  them  are  the  gardens  where  flow  the 
rivers"  etc.,  and  many  other  places.  In  Snrat  xlvii.  16,  17, 
the  language  becomes  almost  identical,  in  some  respects, 
with  that  of  the  passaga  in  Job:  "  Like  the  garden  promised 
to  the  pious,  wherein  are  rivers  of  livimj  water  (water  that 
never  loses  its  purity),  and  rivers  of  milk  whose  taste  never 
changes,  anil  rivers  of  honmj  purified,  and  fruits  of  every  kind, 
and  forgiveness  from  their  Lord."  If  Zophar  had  any  such 
idea  derived  from  any  quarter,  it  may  have  resembled  the 
Vedaic  conception  that  Merx  thinks  of  so  nitich  importance. 
See  Int.  Theism,  p.  1.5,  16.  Why  may  not  such  a  myth  be 
regarded  as  having  crossed  the  Indus,  if  it  was  there  at  that 
early  period,  or  as  having  arisen  from  the  imagination  of 
the  dwellers  in  Zophar'i  native  land  of  Naama,  nO.J'J  (the 

lanii  of  delights),  wherever  that  may  have  been.  Such  a  fan- 
cied Paradise  of  sense  would  be  immeasurably  inferior  to  the 
e  -riptural  idea  of  the  f<i>^9  aluiviov,  farinferior,  we  might  say, 
to  Job's  vision  of  a  reconciled  God,  with  no  other  accompani- 
ments. Wholly  without  God,  as  they  are,  it  might  be  main- 
tained, that  such  mythical  representations,  with  all  their 
"sweetness  and  light,"  have  really  less  moral  value  than 
the  shadows  of  Sheol  which  Job  so  mournfully  depicts,  and 
the  bare  hope  of  hsaring,  at  some  time,  God's  voice  of  deli- 
verance from  it  (xiv.  in).  Whatever  may  be  thought  of 
'  Buch  a  conjecture,  the  resemblance  the  passage  bears  to  the 
Koranic  language  is  certainly  very  striking.  The  latter 
may  have  been  derived  from  it.  Such  is  the  opinion  of 
Good,  a  commentator  from  whom  much  may  be  learned, 
notwithstanding  his  work  is  so  marred  by  extravagant  con- 
ceits and  arbitrary  changes  of  the  Hebrew  text.  See  Excur- 
sus I.  of  the  Addenda. 

15  Ver.  18.  Toil  (wrongfed).    ^J\  like^U',  denotes 
primarily   labor,   and  then   the  fruit  of  labor,  whether  as 


coming  to  the  laborer  or  to  his  employer.  There  being  no 
personal  suffix,  it  must  be  taken  generally  as  the  toil,  the 
wages  of  the  wronged  toiler,  and  therefore  the  word  in 
brackets  is  simply  the  complement  of  the   intended  idea. 

The  second  clause  has  occasioned  some  difficulty.    Tn  is 

certainly  construct  (wealth  of  exchange),  and  therefore  the 
rendering  of  E.  V.  cannot  be  sustained,  or  that  of  Umbreit, 
who  would  arbitrarily  regard  it  as  absolute.  The  construc- 
tion, however,  maybe  explained  in  two  ways:  1.  By  regard- 
ing the  second  1  as  connecting  the  clause  with  S'tyO;  t'w 
first  1  making  a  subordinate  connection  reading  thus:  'He- 
stores  the  fruit  of  toil,  and  does  not  swallow  it  as  the  weidlh  of  his 
exchange,  and  does  not  enjoy  it.'  This  makes  the  two  clauses 
so  closely  inter-dependent  as  to  form  one  in  fact — a  con- 
struction which  is  not  according  to  the  usual  style  of  the 
parallels  in  Job.  2.  The  second  clause  may  be  taken  by 
itself,  and  thus  rendered :  It  is  as  wealth  of  A«  exchange,  and 
he  does  not  enjoy.  This  is,  indeed,  very  awkward  English ; 
but  it  gives  the  idea.  The  )  may  possibly  be  taken  as  con- 
necting by  way  of  comparison,  which  is  not  unfrequently 
the  case,  especially  in  Proverbs;  but  a  truer  view  is  to  re- 
gard it  as  connecting  directly  IjIIIOjI  and  Olp'',  a  verb 
and  a  verbal  noun.  Taking  both  as  verbs,  it  would  be: 
Wealth  that  he  e.vchanges  and  does  not  enjoy ;  or  taking  both  as 
nouns :  Wealth  of  exchange,  and  not  of  enjoyment.  "  Wealth 
of  restitution,"  Schlottman  well  renders  it.  Better  still 
would  be:  wealth  of  retribution ;  and  so  it  might  have  been 
given  m  our  Metrical  Version: 

As  wealth  of  retribution,  not  of  joy; 

but  it  was  thought  best  to  keep  the  word  exchange  as  not 
only  more  concise,  but  more  distinctly  preserving  the 
figure. 

1'  Ver.  19.  Because.  The  force  of  '^  here,  and  as  re- 
peated in  ver.  20,  seems  to  extend  to  the  strong  apodotic  ex- 
pression |3  7J^,  in  the  second  clause  of  ver.  21.    Such  a 

carrying  of  the  protasis  through  several  parallel  verses,  has 
other  examples  in  Job.  See  xv.  25-29,  where  commentators 
(EWALD,  DiLLMANN,  ZoCKLER,  et  al.)  continue  the  protasis, 
through  four  verses  (iveil — weil — well — deshalh).  '^  is  used 
there  in  the  same  way,  and  is  rendered  because  {because 
— because,   etc. — therefore)    although   the    connection    is   less 

clear,  and  there  is  no  apodotic  particle  like  ?2  71^  (see  note 

on  the  passage).  Here  translators  generally  lireak  it  up,  or 
find  subordinate  apodnses,  at  the  end,  or  in  the  middle  of  in- 
tervening clauses,  although  tlie  demand  for  continuance  is 
much  more  clear  than  in  the  other  passage,  and  the  strong 

?3  7  y  at  end  seems  not  to  be  satisfied  with  anything  less. 

Thus  the  'J3  in  ver.  19  covers  its  second  clause.  The  repe- 
tition of  It  in  the  20th  has  not  only  the  same  effect,  but  goes 
over  into  the  first  clause  of  ver.  21,  making  the  great  con- 
clusion with  |3  7J>  all  the  more  emphatic.  The  21st  verse, 
jlls  true,  begins  with  VJiJ,  which  Is  an  asserting^  particle, 

but  that  does  not  make  it  independent,  or  to  be  taken  alone 
as  the  protasis  to  the  following.  The  leaving  out  the  copu- 
lative particles,  and  the  omission  of  '3  at  the  beginning  of 
ver.  21  oidy  makes  it  more  forcible  as  the  language  of  pas- 
sion and  impetuosity  according  to  the  rule  of  Aristotle,  which 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


95 


20 


21 


99 


23 


24 


25 


Seized"  rutlilessly  a  house  he  would  not  build ; 

Because  content,  within,  he  never  knew, 

Nor  lets"  escape  him  aught  of  his  desire — 

(No,  not  a  shred  for  his  devouring  greed), — 

Therefore  it  is,  his  good''  cannot  endure. 

In  the  fullness  of  his  wealth,  his  straits  begin ; 

When  every  hand  of  toil^"  against  him  comes. 

Be^'  it  the  time  to  fill  his  greed  ; 

Tis  then  God  sends  on  him  His  burning  storm  of  wrath, 

Until  He  rains  it  on  him  in  his  food. 

Does  he  flee  from  the  iron  lance  ?^'^ 

The  bow  of  brass  shall  pierce  him  through  and  throuo-h. 

He^*  hath  drawn  [the  sword]  ;  forth  comes  it  from  his  flesh  ; 

The  gleaming  w^eapon  from  his  gall. 

He  is  gone.^*     Terrors  are  over  him. 


mnst  hold  trne  in  all  languages,  that  -when  the  sense  is  clear 
■without  them,  conjunctions  had  better  be  dispenspd  with. 
The  translator  has  endeavored  to  preserve  this  asyndetic 
style,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  carry  into  the  English  the 
conciseness  of  the  Uebrew. 

"  Ver.  19.  Seized  rnttalessly.  The  rendering  plun~ 
der  misleads.  It  conveys  the  idea  of  robbing  or  despoiling  a 
house  of  things  that  are  in  it.     The  more  common  as  well  as 

the  primary  sense  of  7|  J  is  here  demanded,  not  only  because 
it  alone  is  applicable  to  a  house,  but  because  it  gives  the  con- 
trast wanted  between  the  two  ideas  of  violently  taking  pos- 
session, and  of  building  for  one's-self.  The  future  (inj3"') 
expresses  not  only  that  which  objectively  follows  in  lime,  but 
also  what  is  subjectively  consecutive,  that  is,  in  the  order  of 
the  thought.  In  Greek  and  Latin  the  future  is  the  mother 
of  the  subjective  moods.  In  Hebrew,  which  is  so  destitute 
of  modal  forms,  it  is  used  for  them.  Had  built,  or  builded  not, 
as  E.  V.  renders  it  after  the  Vulgate,  will  not  do,  because  it 
makes  a  pluperfect  or  an  objectively  finished  past  prior  in 
the  order  of  tlio  thought. 

18  Ver.  20.  Kor  lets  escape.    £07D  may  be  regarded, 

like  many  other  examples  of  Piel  and  Hiphil  verbs,  as  per- 
missive or  preventive,  as  well  as  cditsal—Iet  escape— make  escape. 
Its  future  form  is  because  it  is  consecutive  in  idea  to  the 
previous  clause:  He  is  so  unquiet  or  unsatisfied  that  he  lets 
not,  or  tviU  not  let, — the  rendering  in  English  by  the  future,  or 
the  present,  coming  to  the  same  thing. 

19  Ver.  21.  His  g:oo<l.  Some  such  word  as  ^rospen/;/ for 
3m  might  seem  more  emphatic;  but  the  simpler  English 
word  includes  it  and  more.  There  is  intended  his  snmmnm 
boimm,  or  what  seems  such  to  the  bad  man.  Therefore  his 
GOOD  shall  not  endure.  It  sounds  like  a  sentence  of  judgment, 
after  the  arraignment  in  the  previous  items.  If  it  is  not  too 
cruel  a  supposition,  we  may  regard  the  angry  yet  eloquent 
Zophar  as  having  Job  in  view,  as  though,  at  every  item,  he 
pointed  to  him  as  he  sat  in  the  ashes,  intimating  that  he  is 
the  man:  It  must  be  that  he  had  done  some  most  wicked 
and  oppressive  act^, — crushed  the  poor — seized  a  house — grati- 
fied himself  in  everything;  and  therefore  it  is  that  his  pro- 
perty and  Ills  happiness  ara  all  gone. 

20  Ver.  22.  Every  hand  of  toil.  Delitzsch:  "The 
rich  uncompassionate  man  becomes  the  defenceless  prey  of 
the  proletaires." 

21  Ver.  23.  Be  it  the  time— taken  as  a  supposition. 
The  simplest  rendering  here  is  the  surest.  nix'7D,  above, 
suggests  the  X7f3  in  this  verse,  and  there  must  be  a  simi- 
larity of  statement  and  idea.  At  the  very  time  when  his 
greed  is  highest,  and  he  is  about  to  satisfy  it,  then  God  sends, 
etc.  This  mak»s  the  .3d  clause  unmistakable,  though  it  seems 
to  have  perplexed  commentators.  The  rain  of  wrath  min- 
gles with  the  food  he  is  eating,  just  as  in  other  places  tears 
mingle  with  the  bread  one  is  eating.  See  Ps.  Ixxx.  6;  xlii. 
4.  The  other  rendering  makes  the  filling  of  his  belly  in  the 
first  clause,  God's  filling  his  bellywith  wrath  (by  way  of 

irony  for  fond)  and  then  in  the  third  clause,  WWh  is  made 
the  object  of  the  verb:  Re  raim  his  food  iqwn  him, — to  the  ne- 
glect of  the  preposition  3,  or  disposing  of  it  in  the  facile 
way  of  calling  it  Beth  essentix.    Umbreit  renders  it  "for  his 


meat,"or  in  placeof  it.  So  Dillmanx.  That  is  a  sense  of 
3  in  some  cases,  but  the  more  usual  moaning  is  better  here. 
Deutzsch  renders  it:  rain  upon  him  into  his  flesh,  giving  two 
indirect  objects  to  '1£JD\  hut  no  direct  one.     He   takes  for 

Din?  a  sense  it  seems  to  have,  Zeph.  i.  17,  and  which  he 

derives  from  the  Arabic  DPlS  ;  quite  a  different  word  with 
veiy  diflferent  vowels.  Besides  this,  it  is  not  easy  to  give  3 
the  sense  of  into  after  a  verb  of  motion  with  the  idea  of  at- 
tack, especially  such  a  verb  as  "1t3r3\  The  rendering  flash. 
Bays  DlLLMAXN,  is  wholly  inadmissit)le. 

22  Ver.  24.  Iron  lance.     Dti'J,  armor,  generally,  but 

here  some  striking  or  piercing  weapon.  Throng'h  and 
throuffh :  The  rendering  is  not  too  strong  for  that  most 
peculiar  and  emphatic  word  IHS /H/l- 

23  Ver.  25.  He  hath  drawn.  The  translator  agrees 
with  Umbreit  in  regarding  God  as  the  subject  of  nSty.  The 
Divine  name  thus  left  out  makes  it  all  the  more  fearful  aa 
well  as  emphatic.  It  might  be  rendered  p.assively  ilisdraicn 
—unsheathedr—hnt  there  is  no  need  of  it.  Suddenness  is  the 
idea  the  words  vividly  impress.  It  is  no  sooner  out  of  its 
scabbard  than  it  is  through  his  body;  or,  between  its  being 
drawn  from  the  sheath  and  being  drawn  back  from  his  gall 
is  but  a  moment.  The  other  rendering:  he  (the  one  pierced) 
draws  it  out.  or  back,  loses  all  this,  besides  having  very  seri- 
ous philological  difficulties.  It  must,  in  that  case,  refer  to 
the  arrow  just  above,  but  the  verb  is  ever  used  of  the  sword 
in  the  numerous  places  of  its  occurrence,  except  in  Ruth  iv. 
7,  8,  where  it  means  slipping  the  foot  out  of  the  shoe  or  san- 
dal, and  Ps.  cxxix.  6,  where  it  is  the  slipping  of  the  flower  out 
of  its  calix,  or  of  the  fruit  from  its  glume  or  husk  (entschlof- 
fen  ;  see  Hdpfeld).  When  used  of  a  weapon  it  is  abrays  the 
sword,  and  its  drawing  is  from  its  sheath.  Jud.  iii.  22  is 
only  a  seeming  exception,  as  there  the  body  is  regarded  as 
the  sheath,  and  it  is  the  sword  still ;  no  other  weapon  being 

carried  in  a  sheath.    The  word   ClSiy    (S.  L.  P.)  is  ojiomo- 

tcrpic,  like  our  word  slip — not  that  the  one  is  derived  from  the 
other,  but  that  both  are  formed  on  the  same  principle  as 
signifying  an  easy  slipping  motion.  The  rendering  of  De- 
litzsch and  others,  makes,  mor«)ver,  a  feeble  tautology: 
"he  draws  it  out ;  and  it  comes  out."  Another  reason  given  by 
Umbreit  has  much  force:  p~\2  fulgur,  brightness,  is  generally 

used  of  the  sword  when  applied  to  a  weapon ;  Dent,  xxxii. 
41;  Ezek.  xxi.  1.').  20;  or  sometimes  of  the  spear,  he  might 
have  said.  The  barb  of  the  arrow,  moreover,  would  previ-nt 
its  being  easilij  drawn  back  by  the  victim,  and  tearing,  as  De- 
litzsch renders,  would  be  greatly  out  of  cougruity  with  the 
verb  nSty.  On  HIJ  see  Note  (7)  chap.  xxxv.  5. 
w  Ver.  25.  He  is  gpone.    The  accents  separate  "iSiT 

from  D'OX-  The  latter  word  cannot,  therefore,  he  the  sub- 
ject, even  if  the  number  permitted.  The  verb  stands  by 
itself.  There  is  an  appalling  suddenness  and  abruptness  in 
this  whole  description,  which  is  best  given  in  measures  some- 
what irregular.  For  examples  of  "iSh"'  taken  in  a  similar 
way,  see  xiv.  20;  xix.  10;  xxvii.  20.    The  rendering  which 


96 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


26  In  his  hid-^  treasures  lies  all  darkness  hid  ; 
A  self-enkindled''  fire  consumes  it  ever  more, 
Still  feeding^'  on  the  remnant  in  his  tent. 

27  His  sins  the  Heavens  reveal; 
Against  him  rises  up  the  earth. 

28  His  wealth  to  other  lands"'  departs, 
Like  flowing  waters,  in  His  day  of  wrath. 

29  This  is  the  bad  man's  portion  sent  from  God, — 
His  lot  appointed  from  the"®  Mighty  One. 


regards  the  word  as  separated,  is  sustained  hy  Rosenmuklier, 
ScHULTENS,  HiRZEL,   et  al.     The  old  versions  are  the  other 

way.    The  usage,  however,  of  "1771  in  the  places  mentioned, 

to  say  nothing  of  the  accents,  is  decidedly  against  the  trans- 
lation of  the  VuLOATB,  etc. 

»  Ver.  26.  Hid  treasures   VJ3V— potS.    The  two 

words  have  both  of  them  the  idea  of  hiding,  and  there  seems 
to  be  something  of  a  sententious  play  upon  them. 

^  Ter.  26.  Self-enkindled ;  not  bkmm  u^on. 


^  Ver.  26.  Still  feeding:.  Ewald,  ZcJck.,  Ro«enm., 
Umbreit,  make  j;'^^  from  _J^j;i:  Uebsl  geht  es dcm.  The  other 
sensf*  is  according  to  the  accents  and  the  metaphor  of  fire 
feeding  (ignis  depaecens)  which  is  in  so  many  languages. 

^  Ver.  28.  To  otber  lands  departs:  ^y—goea 
inlo  exile. 

»  Ver.  29.  The  Mlg^bty  One.  This  is  Conant's  ju- 
dicious rendering  of  the  divine  name  7i<  to  avoid  a  tau- 
tology. 


Chapter  XXI. 

1  Then  Job  answered  and  said : 


O  listen^  to  my  words ; 

And  let  that  be  in  place  of  your  consollngs. 

Bear  with  me,  let  me  speak  ; 

And  after  I  have  spoken,  then  mock  on. 

Ah  me !     Is  my  appeal  to  man  ? 

Impatient  then  might  be  my  soul ;  why  not  ? 

Turn  now,'^  behold  rae — stand  amazed. 

And  lay  your  hand  upon  your  mouth  : 

'Tis  when  I  think,  that  I  am  sore  dismayed ; 

And  trembling  taketh  hold  on  all  my  flesh. 

Why  do  the  wicked  live  at'  all  ? 

Why  grow  they  old,  yea  giant*  like  in  power? 

Before  them  — with  them — firmly  stands  their  seed ;' 

Their  spreading  ofispring  ever  in  their  sight. 

Why  are  their  houses  peace,  away  from  fear, — 

No  scourge  upon  them  from  Eloah's  hand  ? 


1  Ver.  2.  O  listen.  The  doubling  of  the  verb  here  de- 
notes not  BO  ranch  a  desire  for  attenfire  hearing,  as  to  be 
heard  at  all.  It  might  be  expressed  by  an  emphatic  aux- 
iliary do:  Do  listen,  etc. 

*  Ver.  5.  Tnrn  now.    ^]3  has  the  sense  of  turning 

and  looking  in  the  face.    On  leaving  out  the  mere  copulative 
in  such  cases,  see  Note  xiii.  23. 

3  Ver.  7.  LiiTe  at  all.  There  is  an  emphasis  on  Tl- 
The  astonishment  is  at  God's  sufforing  tbein  to  remain  on 
earth,  or  even  to  be  born.    He  goes  to  the  root  of  the  great 


problem  of  evil.    This  was  the  thought   that  so  dismayed 
him  whenever  he  called  it  to  mind. 

4  Ver.7.  ©lant-lifce.  [Something  ofthis  kind  demanded 
by  the  strong  word  13J  ;  Heroes.     See  Gen.  vi.  i. 

"s  Ver.  8.  Their  seed.  Instead  of  deHcription  intended 
to  be  universal  and  dogmatic,  it  is  clear  that  Job  is  simply 
touched  by  the  contra-st  between  his  own  state,  bereaved  of 
children,  stripped  of  property,  suffering  acutcat  pain,  with 
the  condition  of  many  a  bad  man  in  directly  opposite  cir- 
cumstances. The  points  he  makes  show'  this,  and  it  may  be 
in  ptirfect  harmony  with  what  follows  in  ver.  17,  where  his 
thoughts  tend  to  take  the  other  and  the  larger  view.  See 
Addenda,  p. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


10  The  issue  of  their  herds  is  sure;® 

Their  kiae  bring  forth  without  mischance. 

11  Their  little  ones,  like  flocks,  they  send  them  out; 
Their  sons  and  daugliters'  mingle  in  the  dance. 

12  To  harp  and  timbrel  do  they  raise  their  voice; 
In  melodies  of  flutes  they  take  delight. 

13  In  joy  unbroken*  do  they  spend  their  days  ; 
And  in  a  moment®  to  the  grave  go  down. 

14  To  God  they  say.  Depart  from  us ; 

No  knowledge  of  Thy  ways  do  we  desire. 

15  The  Almighty!  who  is  he  that  we  should  serve  him? 
And  if  we  pray  to  him,  what  do  we  gain  ? 


[Pause.] 

16       But  lo/" — their  good  is  not  in  their  own  hand. 
The  counsel  of  the  wicked,  be  it  far  from  me. 


17 


]8 


19 


21 


[A    LONGER   SILENCE.] 

[Yet,  truth"  ye  say]  ;  how  oft  goes  out  Ihe  lamp  of  evil  men ! 

And  comes  upon  them  their  calamity ! 

When  God,  in  wrath,  allots  them  deadly''^  pangs. 

Like  stubble  are  they  then  before  the  wind, — 

Like  chaff  the  whirling  tempest  bears  away. 

Eloah  treasures  up  his  evil  for  his  sons  ;'^ 

To  him  He  thus  repays  it — he  shall  know. 

His  own  destruction  shall  his  eyes  behold ; 

When  from  the  wrath  of  Shaddai  he  shall  drink. 

For  what  his  pleasure'*  in  posterity. 

When  sundered  thus  the  number  of  his  months? 


[Pause.] 


6  Ver.  10.  The  issne  of  theii*  herds.  In  this 
clear  passage,  euphemistic  language  may  be  allowed. 

''  Ver.  10.  Sons  and  daaghters.  Dil'lr  is  in  con- 
trast with  D''7'1J7  rendered  little  ones.  It  may  be  taken  for 
the  grown-up  children  of  both  sexes. 

8  Ver.  1.3.  In  Joy  nnbroken.  Heb.  31£33.  »»«  0°"^- 
But  this  is  to  be  taken  here  for  what  the  wicked  man  es- 
teems the  ijoody  his  siimmum  hmvum, — pleasure  or  enjoyment 
uninterrujjted  and  without  stint. 

"  Ver.  1.3.  In  a  moment.  A  quick  death  is  spoken  of 
as  the  good  fortune  of  the  wicked.  "  There  are  no  bands  in 
their  death,"   Ps.   Ixxiii.  4.    J^JT  an   instant  of  time;  J^J"1 

quiet;  there  would  seem  to  be  here  intended  something  of 

both  ideas.  ^IXt^  here  is  rendered  the  grave.  It  has  a 
further  sense,  the  sjririt  world,  or  the  under-world.  It  is, 
however,  best  rendered  here  according  to  the  bad  man's 
conception. 

1"  Ver.  16.  Bnt  lo.  For  a  discussion  in  respect  to  the 
remarkable  transition  here,  and  in  the  verse  following.    See 

ExccRsns,  Addenda,  pa.  175 

11  Ver.  17.  (Yet  truth  ye  say).  For  the  propriety  of 
the  words  in  brackets,  and  of  the  interpretation  generally, 
see  Addenda,  pa  17.5 

12  Ver.  17.  Deadly  pang^S.  D'' 73n>  tortures,  primary 
Bense,  to  hind. 

7 


13  Ver.  19.  Eloah  treasures.  There  is  no  warrant 
for  taking  this  as  a  question;  still  less  as  an  ironical  taunt 
on  the  part  of  Job,  as  though  making  it  the  language  of  the 
friends  and  then  deriding  it.     Equally  defenceless  is  it,  the 

making  DviJ'''  imprecatory  here,  and  thus  to  differ  from  all 

the  other  futures  before  and  after  it.  SeeExcuRS.  IT,  on  this 
chapter;  Addenda,  p.  1S2  .  The  retribution  on  his  sons  is,  in 
fact,  retribution  on  himself,  and,  in  some  way,  he  shall  know 
it  to  be  so.  It  may  be,  too,  that  ijlX  may  have,  in  this  verse, 
its  other  clear  and  frequent  sense  of  strength  and  wealth. 

l<  Ver.  21.  For  what  his  pleasure.  What  con- 
cern, others  render  it.  A  turn  may  be  given  to  this  which 
may  make  it  seem  to  favor  the  other  or  imprecatory  render- 
ing of  the  previous  verse  {"for  what  cares  he  for  his  house  after 
him'''');  but  the  other  changes  which  this  is  made  to  suit  are 
so  forced  as  to  invalidate  the  opposite  reasoning,  however 
plausible,  in  respect  to  this  verse.  A  connection  of  thought 
between  vers.  20  and  21  is  easily  seen  without  it.  A  sudden 
destruction  is  predicted,  ver.  20,  when  his  wealth  goes  to 
others,  and  what  pleasure  will  he  have  of  it?  This  sudden- 
ness is  intimated  in  Vi'TI  which  means  sharp  cutting,  cut- 

tin/j  off  in  the  very  midst  of  his  enjoyments, — not  a  calm  old 
age,  and  easy  death  closing  all  cares,  which  is  demanded  by 
tiie  other  view.    The  thought  of  judicial  severity  is  insepa- 


rable from  Vi'n  thus  used. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


22  [Ah,  how  is  this  ?]'5     Shall  any  mau  teach'"  God  ? 
Teach  Him  who  judgeth  things  on  high  ! 

23  (For  see) ;  one  dieth  in  his  perfect  strength, 
All  quiet"  and  at  ease. 

24  His  breasts'*  are  full  of  milk ; 
And  moist  the  marrow  of  his  bones. 

25  Another  dies  in  bitterness  of  soul, 
And  never  tastes  of  good. 

26  Alike  in  dust  do  both  lie  down  ; 

Alike  o'er  both  the  worm  its  covering  sj^reads. 
[Pause.] 

27  Behold  I  know  your  thoughts, — 
Thoughts"  to  my  hurt,  ye  wrongfully^"  maintain. 

28  For  where's  the  dwelling  of  the  Prince,  say  ye,-' — 
And  where  the  tent  of  evil  men's  abode  ? 

29  Have  ye  not  asked  the  passers  by  the  way  ? 
And  know  ye  not  their^  signs  ? 

30  That  to  the  day  of  doom  the  wicked  mau  is''  kept ; 
To  the  day  of  mighty-'*  wrath  are  they  brought  forth. 

31  Yet  who  before  his  face  declares^^  his  way? 

And  who  requites  him  (here)  what  he  hath  done  ? 

32  Still  to  the  grave  (like  others)  is  he  brought ; 
And  for  him,  o'er  his  tomb,  one  keepeth^®  watch. 

33  On  him,  too,  lightly"'  press  the  valley  clods ; 


16  Ver.  22.  Ah,  how  is  this  ?  A  pause  here,  with  an 
Intervening  thought,  leading  to  what  follows,  may  be  ra- 
tionally supposed.  See  Addenda,  pa.  176.  The  words  in 
brackets  denote  the  transition.  It  is  a  very  impassioned 
speech.  Job's  mind  is  revolnng  like  that  of  Koht'leth,  when 
ho  so  often  says  '•  I  turned  " — ''  I  turned  again  to  see  " — I 
took  another  and  another  view  of  things,  etc.  The  chief  dif- 
ference is  that  Koheleth  is  in  a  more  calm  and  contempla- 
tive state,  and  gives  outward  notice  of  these  mental  changes, 
whilst  Job  silently  broods  over  them,  and  then  bursts  forth. 
His  state  of  soul,  instead  of  being  a  meditative  rest,  is  tumul- 
tuous, volcanic  we  might  almost  style  it,  as  it  sometimes 
shows  itself.  To  expect  of  him  closely  connected  and  logical 
sequences,  is  itself  most  Illogical.  The  statemijuts  in  previ- 
ous verses,  apparently  varying,  but,  in  fact,  only  two  parts 
of  one  picture  viewed  from  different  stand-points,  naturally 
bring  up  the  thought  of  the  great  diversity  in  the  lives  and 
deaths  of  men, — a  fact  inexplicable  on  any  human  theory. 
This  again  calls  up  the  thought  of  some  higher  wisdom  of 
God  yet  unknown  to  men.  It  is  fully  set  forth  in  ch.  xxviii., 
but  Job  is  only  approaching  it  here.  It  produces  the  silence 
of  a  moment,  when  he  resumes :  shall  one  teach  God  ?  and  then 
goes  on  with  the  picture  of  diversity  in  human  condition 
that  had  led  to  it. 

16  Ver.  22.  Teaeh  Ood — see  note  below  on  ver.  30,  and 
the  pages  in  the  Addenda  there  referred  to. 

"  Ver.  23.  All  quiet.  Heb.  nxSK?.  Gesenius  re- 
gards this  strange  form  as  a  compound  of  H/U'  'in<l  pXy- 

Ben  Ganach,  in  his  Hebrew  Grammar  entitled  Sepher  Ha 
BiKMA,  page  18,  malntafns  that  it  is  only  ps<iy  with  an 
euphonic  7  giving  it  a  more  intensive  sense. 

18  Ver.  21.  Mis  breasts     VOV  occurs  but  once.  Some 

give  it  the  sense  of  station  for.  ipatering  flocks  fas  derived  from 
the  Arabic)  and  then  transferred  to  the  flocks  themselves. 
The  parallelism,  however,  demands  a  word  denoting  some 
pait  of  the  body  to  correspond  to  bones  in  the  second  clause. 
There  seems  to  he  nothing  better,  after  all,  than  the  render- 
ing breasts  which  E.  V.  got  from  the  Targum,  and  which,  as 
an  expression  of  health,  may  bo  applicable  to  either  pox. 

19  Ver.  27.  Ttaong'hts  to  my  bnrt.  niDtJTlO 
means  thoughts  generally,   rn*3Tr3,   especially   with  ^h^, 


means  evil  thoughts.  From  the  rendering  of  E.  V.,  and  tVat 
of  most  of  the  commentators,  there  would  be  derived  the  ide « 
of  plots  or  machinations  (stratagems  Delitzsch  renders  it)  or 
of  something  to  be  done  to,  or  against.  Job.  But  the  words  do 
not  really  demand  this.  mOTD  ™ay  refer  simply  to  the 
false  and  unfavorable  views  they  have  indulged  ol  Job's  case 
and  character. 

2"  Ver.  27.  W^ronjS^f  ally.  DDTI  has  generally  the  as- 
sociated thought  of  violence,  but  the  essential  idea  isthat  of 
injustice.  It  seems  to  combine  the  two  senses  very  much  as 
the  Greek  ii/Spis — vppi^ia. 

21  Ver.  28.  Say  ye.  Equivalent  to  think  ye,  as  (jyriixl  in 
Greek  sometimes. 

r  22  Ver.  29.  Their  signs  ;  like  mottoes  borne  on  their 
standards — enigmatical  devices, — or,  taken  generally,  any 
modes  by  which  their  sententious  or  traditional  language  is 
made  known. 

23  Ver.  30.  To  the  day  of  doom  the  wicked 
mail  Is  hept.  On  the  general  interpretation  of  this 
verse,  see  ExcuKsus  III.  of  the  Addenda,  pa.  182. 

21  Ver.  30.  Mig^hty  wrath.  Literally  to  the  day  of 
wraihs,  dies  irarum.    The  word  r\113j^  is  tbe  intensive  plural. 

25  Ver.  30.  Declares  his  way.  Who  dares  tell  him 
of  the  fearful  TX  to  which  his  way  leads,  or  of  the  day  of 
wrath  to  which  ho  is  tn  be  brought  _forth.  Nothing  could  be 
more  appropriate  to  the  view  taken  of  ver.  30  in  E.  V.,  and 
insisted  on  in  Excursus  III.  If  ver.  30  refers  to  some  great 
eschatological  doom,  however  dimly  conceived  as  belonging 
to  gome  unknown  i)eriod,  then  the  word  here,  as  placed  in 
brackets,  is  imjilied  in  the  emphasis  of  the  passage. 

so  Ver.  32.  One  keepeth  watch.  Various  views 
are  taken  of  this;  but  no  one  seems  more  simple  and  natural 
than  the  idea  of  a  friend  or  relative  keeping  watch  by  the 
grave,  whether  as  guardian  or  as  mourner.  The  wicked 
man,  too,  has  those  who  loved  him  in  spite  of  his  wicked- 
ness.   The  picture  is  a  very  touching  one. 

87  Ver.  33.  liig'htly  press.  The  Hebrew  IpflO  lite- 
rally means  are  mreet,  but  may  be  applied  to  anything  agree- 
able, or  represented  as  such,  whether  in  fancy  or  reality. 
Compare  xxiv.  20:  The  inonnfeetU  sweetly  on  him,  or,  huisiceet- 
«ew  !<  the  ironti.  The  idea,  in  either  case,  is  that  of  insensi- 
bility to  sulTering,  but  strangely  conceived  of  as  having 
something  of  enjoyment.    We  do  not  wholly  divest  ourselvee 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


99 


34 


And  after  him  come  all  in  lengthened"'  train, 
As  countless  numbers  thus  have  gone  before.^' 

•       [Conclusion.] 

How  then  console  ye  me?     'Tis  empty  breath,'" 
Since  in  your  answers  still  remains  offence.'^ 


of  Burh  feelings  when  we  talk  of  the  grave  as  a  place  of  rest. 
The  clods  of  the  valley  resting  upon  him  give  no  pain,  and 
are,  therefore,  conceived  of  as  pleasant.  The  expression 
here  suggests  the  classical,  leva  sit  terra.  See  Euripides  Al- 
cestis,  470: 

^— —  Kovi^a  (TOi 
Xflui'  ivavia  rreaeie — yucai. 
Light  fall  the  earth  upon  thee — lady. 

*3  Ver.  33.  I^engthened  train.  An  idea  clearly 
contained  in  the  Hebrew  "TIK'O'.    See  Jud.  iv.  6,  7,  where  it 

denotes  the  drawing  out  of  the  military  line;  Ps.  xxviii.  3: 
"Draw  me  not  out  (or  Ul  me  not  draw  out)  with  the  wicked." 

*9  Ver.  33.  Have  gone  before.  Life  a  procession ; 
one  part  coming,  another  passing,  another  gone.  It  reminds 
ua  of  the  monumental  lines  from  the  Greek  Anthology: 


-T>)i'  avTqv  oSdi' 


Tfv  TTavTas  eXfleii'  ear'  avayKaiias  f\ov, 
irpoeKT)\vda(riv—- 

On  the  road  that  all  must  travel  have  they  gone, 
A  little  way  before. 

All  alike ;  even  God's  Elect  present  the  same  appearance 
of  an  ever-passing  and  disappearing  procession : 

Part  of  the  host  have  crossed  the  flood, 
And  part  are  crossing  now. 

The  picture  presented  by  Job  is  as  touching  as  it  is  true 
and  universal.  The  great  distinguishing  day  of  doom  kept 
out  of  sight,  the  same  sad  destiny  seems  to  await  all  man- 
kind. All  are  marching  to  the  tomb,  and  seem  to  lie  down 
in  it  as  their  common  place  of  rest.  On  this  verse  Umbreit 
makes  some  of  his  characteristic  remarks:  Ein  bitterer 
Ausspruch!  He  calls  it:  '" a  bitter  or  rancorous  judgment.  Is 
the  wicked  man  extirpated  from  the  earth  by  death,  so  fol- 
low him  others  without  number,"  etc.  (pa.  171).  He  would 
represent  Job,  in  saying  this,  as  governed  by  a  spirit  of  mo- 
rose misanthropy.  On  the  contrary,  the  language  of  this 
and  the  preceding  verse  may  be  cited  as  evidence  of  what 
the  translator  has  elsewhere  insisted  on  (see  Addenda,  pa. 
17n\  namely,  the  striking  difference  between  the  speeches 
of  Job  and  those  of  the  others.  Impassioned,  as  his  language 
is,  in  view  of  his  own  severe  sufferings,  there  is,  after  all,  the 
manifestation  of  a  softer  feeling  when  his  revolving  thoughts 
lead  him  to  consider  the  common  lot  of  humanity.  In  his 
second  picture  of  the  wicked  man's  wretchedness,  or  his 
afterthought,  as  we  may  call  it,  he  alludes  to  their  doom  in 


some  great  judgment,  all  unknown  and  nndctermined  though 
it  bo ;  and  that  seems  immediately  to  call  up  a  tenderer 
language  whioli  looks  very  much  like  commiseration  for  the 
wicked  man  himself  He,  too,  lies  down  in  the  dust,  like 
all  other  men.  He,  too,  has  some  one  who  loves  him,  and 
who  will  watch  mournfully  by  his  grave.  On  him,  too,  will 
"  lightly  press  the  clods  of  the  valley,"  as  upon  the  most 
lovely  and  innocent  among  "  the  dwellers  in  dust."  How 
different  are  these  tender  images  from  the  fierce  speech  of 
Zophar,  especially  as  it  appears  in  the  terrible  pictures  with 
which  he  concludes,  xx.  23-27:  "The  gleaming  weapon 
piercing  through  his  gall,"  and  his  very  food  mingled  with 
"theAlmighty'srainof  burning  wrath."  That  is  the  language 
of  one  who  seems  to  love  such  picturing,  and  actually  to  ex- 
ult in  the  sinner's  doom.  He  assumes  towards  Job  the  at- 
tribute of  moral  superiority;  and,  good  man  as  he  is.  he 
cannot  conceal  the  self-righteous  feeling  with  which  he  so 
formally  passes  sentence  at  the  close : 

This  is  the  bad  man's  portion  sent  from  God — 
His  lot  appointed  from  the  Mighty  One. 

There  is  more  severity  in  Job's  picture,  xxvii.  13-23;  but 
here  there  certainly  seems  to  be  an  effusion  of  tenderness 
not  to  be  found  in  the  speeches  of  the  others.  They  are 
cool,  philosophical  moralists,  except  when  roused  to  indig- 
nation by  Job's  refusal  to  confess.  He  is  the  true  hero,  the 
mighty  wrestler  with  sin  and  suffering.  His  moral  sense 
goes  deeper  than  theirs.  He  is  more  conscious  of  his  own 
sin,  of  the  common  depravity,  and,  therefore,  the  more 
likely  to  lose  sight  of  outward  moral  differences  in  the  con- 
temiilation  of  the  universal  suffering.  Job  comes  nearer 
than  they  to  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  to  the  spirit  of  His  lan- 
guage when  He  says:  "Think  ye  *hat  they  were  sinners 
above  all  the  Galileans?  I  tell  you  nay;  but  unless  ye  re- 
pent, ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 

30  Ver.  34.  Empty  breath.    E.  V.  in  vain.    There  is 

but  the  Hebrew  word  73ri5  or  7371,  vapor,  lenis  aura,  drjxos 

V  T 

— BO  often  used  by  Koheleth,  though  with  a  slightly  differ- 
ing form,  D^  7-n   /^n,  "vanity  of  vanities."    Here  it  denotes 

worthlessneMt ;  but  the  primary  sense  of  words  should  be  pre- 
served in  a  translation,  if  possible,  and  especially  if  they  are 
very  significant.  . 

31  Ver.  34.  Offence.      7y0 ;   perverse  action  or  thought 

against  any  one.  Hence  wrongful  treatment  consisting  in 
Continually  taking  a  false  view  of  Job's  case,  rather  than 
actual  falsehood  in  speech,  or  in  abstract  opinion. 


Chapter  XXII. 

1  Then  answered  Eliphaz  the  Temanlte  and  said:' 

2  The  strong^  man — can  he  profit  God, 
That  thereby^  he  may  wisely  serve  himself  ? 

3  Is  Shaddai,  then,  concerned  that  thou  art  just, 

Or  is  it  gain  to  Him  that  thou  make  pure  thy  way  ? 


»  Ver.  2.  Tlie  strong^  man.    13J  as  used  in  Job  is 

f?»nerally  emphatic— the  strong,  powerful,  or  rich  man  as 
distinguished  from  the  common  man,  or  man  in  general. 
Here  Eliphaz  would  apply  it  peculiarly  to  .Job  as  one  who 
may  have  tli(iiif;ht  he  was  doing  God  "service  when  he  was 
serving  himsolf,  as  Satan  also  charged,  i.  9. 

2  Ver.  2.  That  thereby.  Some  take  this  parentheti- 
cally; as  Dklitzsch:  "No  indeed!  the  intelligent  man  is 
profitable  to  himself."  So  Kenan  :  Non ;  c'est  a  lui  seul  que 
le  sage  est  utile.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  what  warrant  there 
is  for  it  grammatically,  or  what  demand  of  the  sense  makes 


it  necpsf^ary.  The  picture  suggested  is  that  of  a  man  who 
thinks  he  is  serving  God,  profiting  God,  when  his  aim  is 
thereby  to  profit  himself,  and  who  makes  a  great  outcry  when 
stripped,  as  he  fancies,  of  these  his  gains.  The  connection 
and  dependence  of  the  '3  gives  the  ea.sy  and  appropriate 
sense  in  harmony  with  all   that  Eliphaz  sajs  afterwards. 

7''3'kJ'*D,  <*«  prudent  man.    There  seems  to  be  just  a  touch  of 

irony  here :  Pnident  man  as  he  is  in  such  a  calculation  of 
the  accruing  advantages  of  outward  piety.  It  may  be  well 
rendered  adverbially;  wisely  serve  himself. 


100 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


4  For  thy  religion's'  sake,  will  He  reprove, 
Or  go  with  thee  to  judgment's  reckoning? 

5  May  it  not  be,*  thy  evil,  too,  is  great? 
Thy  sins  beyond  thy  numbering  ? 

6  May  it  not  be^  that  thou  for  nought  hast  held  thy  brother's  pledge  ? 
Or  from  the  naked  stripped  their  covering  ? 

7  Or  failed  to  give  the  weary  drink. 

Or  from  the  hungry  hast  withheld  thy  bread  ? 

8  [Hast  said]®  the  land  is  for  the  strong ; 
The  honorable  man,  he  dwells  therein  ; 

9  Yea  widows  empty  hast  thou  sent  away, — 
The  arm  hast  broken  of  the  fatherless. 

10  AVherefore,  it  may  be,^  snares  are  round  thee  spread ; 
And  sudden  fear  alarms  ; 

11  Or  darkness,  that  thou  can'st  not^  see. 

Or  water  floods  that  overwhelm  thy®  soul. 

12  Lo!'"  where  Eloah  dwells  !  the  heaven  sublime!" 
Behold  !  the  crown'"  of  stars  !  how  high  they  are  ! 

13  "  How  doth  God  know  ?"     'Tis  that  thy  thought  is''  saying : 


3  Ver.  4.  For  thy  religrion's  sake.  E.  V.  fw  fear 
of  thee.  So  Umbreit,  "aus  Furcht  vor  dir;"  Rosenjiueller, 
el  ah.  out  of  respect,  reverence,  aiis  Ehrfdrcht,  which  Umbreit 
condemns.   Delitzsch  rightly  takes  HXI''  here  subjectively 

T  :  • 
— thy  fear  of  God — thy  professed  religion,  as  in  iv.  6 ;  xv.  4. 

*  Ver.  5.  May  it  not  be?  See  Excursus  IV.,  Ad- 
denda, pa.  185. 

6  Ver.  6.  May  it  not  be?    See  Exc.  IV.,  pa.  18.5. 

6  Ver.  8.  (Hast  said).  On  these  words  in  brackets,and 
their  propriety  as  an  essential  part  of  a  clear  translation,  see 
Exc.  IV.  p.  1S5;  also  remaiks  of  Rabbi  Tanchum  there  cited, 
on  a  similar  case,  Lam.  iii.  36. 

1  A'er.  10.  Wherefore,  it  may  be.  See  Excursus 
IV.,  Addenda,  p.  185.  The  passage  treated  as  conjectural, 
or  hypothetical,  from  ver.  5  to  ver.  10. 

8  Ver.  10.  Canst  not  see.  This  refers  probably  to 
Job's  supposed  mental  state,  as  one  incapable,  according  to 
Eliphaz,  of  discovering  his  true  moral  condition. 

9  Ver.  11.  Thy  sonl;  The  translation  full  here,  but  in 
the  very  spirit  of  the  Hebrew  which  uses  "|iy£3J,  thy  soul,  for 

the  personal  pronoun. 

w  Ver.  12.  Ijo!  iiiTl,  here  has  evidently  the  force  of  an 
interjection  calling  attention,  and  is  equivalent  to  njil-  It 
is  one  of  the  clearest  of  the  many  cases  eprcified  by  NoLDins 
where  it  has  the  sense  of  ecce.  See  Gen.  xiii.  9;  Deut.  xi.30: 
1  Kings  XV.  23,  and  scores  of  other  places.  It  is  in  such 
cases  rendered  XH  by  the  Syriac  (Lo  /  behold!)  as  it  gives  it 
in  this  very  place.  The  LXX.  in  such  cases  have  iSoii,  and 
the  Vulgate  ecce.  In  the  Hebrew  itself,  in  p.assages  precisely 
parallel  in  Kings  and  Chronicles  (see  examples  in  NOLDius) 

X7n  and  run  are  interchanged.'  So  al"o  in  the  Targum 
renderings.  Its  interjectional  force  appears  here  by  its  being 
put  in  parallelism   with  PIXI  hehold  (iSoO)  in  tlie  second 

clause.    It  is,  moreover,  the  language  of  emotion  here  (of 
admiration)  and  therefore  e.xclamatory  and  broken;  liter- 
ally :  Lo  Eloah  t  height  of  Heaven  /  as  in  xi.  8,    D'OK^    TIJl 
heights  of  Heaven  t  or  0,  immenmrnhh  heitjhl ! 
"  Ver.  12.    Heaven  sublime.    ri:3MOaboah)is 

in  Hebrew  the  emotional  word  for  height  in  distinction  from 
the  more  prosaic  terms,  and  therefore  the  rendering  sublime 
is  chosen,  not  only  to  avoid  a  tautology  in  English,  but  as 
most  expressive  of  the  emotional.  This  appears  from  its 
other  sense  of  ohn/.  It  is  hrirfht  with  wonder  (iji/zos).  It  is 
etrictly  a  construct  noun  without  any  words  of  assertion,  or 
of  place:  Erre,  Eloah!  Sublimitas  Ccelonim!  We  must  supply 
connective  words. 

12  Ver.  12.  Behold  the  erown  of  stars.  Literally 
the  head  of  the  stars  (ly  XI)-    Rendered  in  various  ways : 


Delitzsch,  head;  so  Umbreit  and  others;  Co\iNT,  stimmit; 
Rbn AN, /e/ro(i<  des  etoiles.  The  crown  seemed  preferable,  as 
denoting  some  biilliant  star  or  constellations,  nearly  over- 
head, as  those  three  brilliant  constellations,  the  Swan,  the 
Eagle  and  the  Harp,  with  each  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude, 
appear  almost  directly  overhead  in  the  early  part  of  the  au- 
tumnal nights.  It  was  first  thought  of  rendering  CJ/NT,  f'le 
zenith,  or  the  pole,  but  the  first  would  be  too  astronomical, 
and  the  latter  would  be  incorrect,  for  the  pole  star  or  stars 
are  not  overhead,  and  would  not  be  selected  for  their  alti- 
tude. It  is  a  night  scene, — a  real  scene.  Tliey  are  looking 
up  to  the  very  vertex  of  the  heavens,  at  the  constellations 
shining  down  iijion  them  from  the  immeasurable  spaces 
above.  Nothing  gives  such  a  conception  of  altitude,  when  it 
is  regarded  as  something  emotional  in  distinction  from  the 
mere  frigid  mathematical  estimate  of  abstract  number.  How 
very  high  they  are!  It  is  as  when  we  read  the  old  account 
of  the  Flood;  not  simply  tliat  the  waters  rose  fifteen  cubits, 
or  more,  over  certain  measurements.  That  may  have  come 
from  tradition,  or  in  some  other  way.  There  is  little  or  no 
emotion  in  it.  But  when  the  writer  says  the  waters  rose, 
?(/) — up, — nXO  —  nXrD — higher — higher — we  feel  that  it  is  a 
spectator  who  is  describing  the  scene,  or  that  it  is  all  a  de- 
signed and  artful  deception.  So  here ;  this  emotional  lan- 
guage: Lo !  Eloah!  sublimity  of  heaven!  See!  the  crown 
of  stars!  how  very  high  they  are!  ocrov  ii^poi !  The  rapt 
simplicity  of  the  language,  its  broken,  wondering  utterances 
all  show  that  if  it  is  a  iiainting,  it  is  a  painting  from  the  lite, 
the  vivid  representation  of  a  real  scene  in  which  the  emo- 
tion overpowers  and  checks  the  language.  It  is  a  silent, 
heartfelt,  admiration,  like  that  of  the  Shepherd  in  Homer's 
exquisite  night  scene,  Iliad  viii.  559 — 

■navTOL  Se  t'  eiSerai  a<Trpa'  yeyriBe  Se  re  ^peva.  iroifii^v— 
"When  all  the  stars  appear,  and  the  Shepherd  rejoices 
in  his  soiU." 

13  Ter.  13.  ''Tis  that  thy  thonerht  is  sayinsr. 
But. when  had  Job  said  this,  or  anything  like  it?  It  would 
not  be  easy  to  point  it  out,  unless  in  some  way,  the  language, 
ix.  8,  could  be  tortured  into  some  fashion  of  such  a  meaning 
namely,  that  God  could  not  see  because  He  was  so  high,  and 
could  not  look  throuirh  the  cloud.  Eliphaz,  however,  seems 
to  pride  himself  upon  the  greatness  of  the  other  view  which 
he  assumes  to  take,  namelj',  tliat  the  higher  God  is,  the  more 
keenly  does  lie  see  every  thing  below  Him.  Compare  P«. 
cxiii.  5,  6,  where  <lod  is  said  to  be  so  high  that  "He  stoops 
down  to  see  the  things  even  in  the  heavens," — the  lower 
heavens — as  well  as  things  on  earth.  Dehtzscii  renders 
IT^ON  "">»  lhiuke.it,  or  Ihonijhlest  for  which  there  is  the  au- 
thority of  Greek  verbs  of  sjieHkinir,  and  in  the  same  way  for 
thinking  or  speaMnri  lo  one's  self.  But  Job  no  more  thomjht  this 
than  said  it.  He  could  form  as  high  notions  of  God's  space 
altitude,  as  Eliphaz,  and  he  never  bad  the  crude  notion  that 
God  could  not  see  from  behind  the  cloud ;  but  space  altitude, 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


101 


"  Behind  the  dark  araphel'*  can  He  judge  ? 

14  Clouds  are  a  covering,  that  He  cannot  see  ; 

All  by  Himself*  ou  heaven's  high  dome  He  walks. 

15  Ah  !  wilt  thou  call  to  mind^^  that  way  of  old, 
Which  evil  men  once  trod  ; 

16  They  who  were  withered"  up  before  their  time, — 
Their  strong  foundations  melted^^  like  a  flood, — • 

17  The  men  who  said  to  God,  "  depart  from  us, 
For  what  can  Shaddai  do  to  them'^  ?" 

18  "When  He  it  was  who  filled  their  house  with  good, 
That  way  of  evil  men,  O  be  it  far'"  from  me. 

19  The  righteous  see  it  and  rejoice  ; 

The  guiltless  make  a  byword^^  of  their  doom  : 

20  "  Now  is  our  enemy  destroyed  "  (they  say)  ; 

"  And  their  abundance  hath  the  fire  devoured." 


21  0  now  make  friends^^  with  Him,  and  be  at  peace ; 
For,  in  so  doing,  good"'  shall  come  to  thee. 

22  Keceive  instruction'"*  from  His  mouth  ; 

And  treasure  up  His  words  within  thy  heart. 

23  To  Shaddai  turn  ;'*  then  shalt  thou  be  restored, 
When  from  thy  tent  thou  hast  put  far  the  wrong. 

24  Then  shalt  thou  lay-®  up  gold  as  dust, — 
Yea  Ophir  gold  like  pebbles  of  the  stream. 


or  space  cUstance,'yia.s  but  little  to  him  compared  with  that 
other  idea  of  the  Divine  nearness  to  his  soul,  wliicli  he  had 
somehow  lost,  and  for  which  he  so  intensely  mourned.  We 
see  this  in  the  next  chapter,  and  some  of  his  language  there 
about  "not  finding  God  on  the  right  or  on  the  left,"  may 
have  been  suggested  by  these  very  words  by  which  Eliphaz 
sought  to  overwhelm  him.  It  mattered  little  to  him  bow 
high  He  might  be  above  the  stars.  It  was  a  present  God 
for  whom  he  longed,  when  he  said,  "  0  that  I  knew  where 
I  might  find  Him."  Without  the  feeling  of  Ilis  near  grace, 
the  theistic  idea,  with  its  highest  space  conceptions,  had  as 
little  moral  v.aluo  as  the  modern  scientific  deity,  so  far  off  in 
time,  and  who  has  done  nothing  since  the  first  projection  of 
"the  nebular  fluid  "  in  empty  space. 

1*  Ver.  13.  The  darU  araphel.  It  was  thought  best 
to  keep  in  the  translation  this  grand  sounding,  and  most 
eiynificant  Hebrew  word.  It  donotes  the  nimbus,  the  black 
thunder  cloud — cnU<jo  mihinin. 

i»  Ver.  14.  All  by  hiin<!ielf  he  walks.  Delitzsch: 

ITe  xmXketh  at  His  pleasure  "JinHV     The  Hithpahel  keeps  the 

personal  or  reflex  sense,  denoting  a  course  of  action.  Com- 
pare it  as  applied  to  man,  Ps.  xxxix.  7.  Eliphaz  seems  to 
ascrilje  to  Job  the  idea  which  Lucretius  gives  us  of  the  gods 
as  living  by  themselves,  extra  mundum,  and  taking  no  part  in 
human  affairs.     See  Luc.  I.  57. 

16  Ver.  15.  Call  to  mind.  "IIOBTl.  rendered  observe, 
keep,  etc.  So  Conant  and  Deutzsch.  The  other  sense,  to 
watch,  to  lal-e  note  of,  Ps.  xvii.  4,  seems  better  adapted  to  the 
warning  style  of  Eliphaz. 

17  Ver.  16.  Withered  up.    See  note  eh.  xvi.  18. 

18  Ver.  16.  Melted.  p'H''  is  used  of  metals  melted,  dis- 
solved, and  thus  poured  forth,  not  of  water  generallv.  The 
rendering  above  given  is  not  only  truer,  but  more  expressive. 
The  reference  would  seem  to  bo  not  to  the  flood,  but  to  the 
destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  fused  or  melted  by  the 
volcanic  lightning.  This  is  confirmed,  ver.  20,  in  the  mock- 
ery or  by-word  of  the  righteous:  "  Tfteir abundance  hath  the 
fire  consumed."  The  overthrow  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah 
became  a  by-word  in  the  Hebrew,  as  in  the  phrase,  "the 
overturning  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,"  so  often  repeated  by  the 
Prophets.  Th«  same  language  passed  into  the  Koran,  See 
Note  Genesis  (Lange),  pp.  442,  443. 


"  19  Ver.  17.  To  them.  One  of  the  sndden  changes  of 
person  so  common  in  the  Poetical  Hebrew. 

20  Ver.  18.  That  Tifay  of  evil  men.  The  second 
clause  is  a  repetition  of  Job's  language,  xxi.  IG.  Eliphaz 
perhaps  means  to  show  that  he  can  say  this  with  more  sin- 
cerity than  Job.  . 

21  Ver.  19.  By-word.  J^^7  here  can  hardly  have  the 
meaning  of  sport  or  derision,  though  that  is  its  usual  sense. 
We  must  not,  indeed,  judge  it  by  our  modern  more  Chris- 
tianized feeling;  but  such  a  rendering  would  be  incongru- 
ous to  an  event  represented  as  long  past,  such  as  this  ever- 
memorable  catastrophe  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  The  way 
of  speaking  of  it  assumed  the  warning,  but  not  the  taunting 
or  mocking  form.     See  Note  18  and  the  reference  there. 

23  Ver.  21.    Make  friends.    KJ  \?.pl}-    ^he  Hiphil 

form  here,  we  may  suppose,  is  suggested  by,  and  still  pre- 
serves some  of  the  sense  of,  the  Kal.,  ver.  1.  M((ke  thyself 
truly  profitable— serve  Him  truly,  and  not  with  a  view  to  thy 
own  profit,  as  is  intimated,  according  to  our  rendering,  in 
the  second  clause  of  ver.  1.  Umbreit  well  gives  it:  Zeig 
dich  als  treuen  Diener  ihm. 

23  Ver.  21.  Oood  shall  come  to  thee.  The  term 
good — the  divine  blessing,  as  some  render.  When  a  man 
serves  God  without  thinking  of  bis  own  profit  in  so  doing, 
then  will  he  be  truly  profited.  It  confirms  the  view  the 
translator  has  taken  of  the  second  clause  of  ver.  1. 

24  Ver.  22.  Instruction.  nilP-  The  absence  of  tho 
article  and  the  general  style  of  the  exhortation  show  that  it 
is  jjrecept  or  instruction  generally,  and  not  the  Mosaic  law,  or 
any  fixed  code,  that  is  intended. 

28  Ver.  23.  To  Shaddai  turn.  The  exhortation  here 
is  also  in  the  words  of  Zophar,  xi.  14,  "  let  ^wt  lorong  abide," 
etc. 

26  A'er.  24.  liay  up  gold.  The  translator  is  satisfied 
that  our  E.  V.  is  right  here,  though  so  many  commentators 
vary  from  it,  even  so  far  as  almost  to  reverse  the  thought. 
As  CoNANT,  whoso  version  is  clearest  and  best  expresses  the 
sense  of  them  all: 

Cast  to  the  dust  the  precious  ore, 

And  the  gold  of  Ophir  to  the  stones  of  the  brooks. 

That  is,  reject  it;  count  it  as  dross — of  no  value.  There 
are  some  very  strong  objections  to  this:  1.  Such  a  contempt 


102 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


25  Theu,  too,  shall  Shaddai  be  thy  precious^^  ore, 
Thy  silver  from  the'-*  mine. 

26  Then  in  th'  Omnipotent  shall  be  thy  joy  ; 
Yes,  to  Eloah  shalt  thou  lift  thy  face. 

27  Then  shalt  thou  pray  to  Him,  and  He  will  hear. 
And  ofTerings  thou  hast  vowed  thou  shalt  perform. 

28  The  thing  decreed  by  thee  shall  firmly  stand  ; 
And  over  all  thy  ways  the  light  shall  shine. 

29  When  men  look  down,  then  shalt  thou  say — "  aloft  !^* 
[Look  up],  the  meek-eyed  will  He  raise." 

80      Yes,  even  the^"  guilty  He  shall  save  ; 

By  the  pureness  of  thy  hands  shall  they  escape. 


of  wealth  is  not  after  the  Old  Testament  style  of  speaking. 
Abr.aham  is  commended  for  his  wealth  ;  his  great  possessions 
are  reckoned  up  as  being  a  part  of  his  own  value.  So  is  it 
■with  Jol)  at  the  commencement  and  at  the  end.  Sheep  and 
camels  are  as  much  dross  as  the  gold  with  which  they  are 
bought.  2.  The  translation  objected  to  makes  a  jar  in  the 
general  movement  of  the  passage.  There  is  nothing  in  its 
structure  demanding  a  parenthesis,  and  the  other  view, 
which  regards  the  gold  and  the  silver  as  a  blessing,  is  but 
an  enlarged  specification  of  the  promise,  good  aluill  come  lo 
thee,  ver.  21.  It  is,  too,  a  part  of  the  restoration  or  building 
tip  promised  ver.  23,  and  so  remarkably  verified  in  the  end 
of  the  book.  3.  Job  had,  at  that  time,  no  gold  of  Ophir,  or 
wealth  of  any  kind,  to  cast  away,  and  such  advice  to  him  in 
Eliphaz  would  seem  to  be  a  mockery,  whilst  making  it  the 
love  of  gold  would  be  far-fetched  here,  even  if  it  had  any 
seeming  warrant  from  the  words.    4.  P\'^^  never  means  to 

east  away,  projicere,  a  senile  which  Ge'-enius  gives  to  accom- 
modate it  to  this  one  plnce.  It  is  a  very  uniform  word, 
meaning  to  pvl,  place,  etc.,  and  when  used  in  such  a  connec- 
tion as  this  has  almost  the  contrary  meaning  of  deposiliiig. 
laying  vp,  treasuring  vp,  etc.  Gesemus'  reference  to  Jluth  iii. 
15  has  no  applicability.  The  easy  rendering  there  is:  "He 
measuied  the  barley,  and  put  it  upon  her,"  as  a  load.  F>.  In 
opposition  to  the  iilea  of  rejecting  as  worthless  stands  the 
evident  fact,  that  the  point  of  the  comparison  in  "  dml  and 
pebbles"  is  nntworthlessnessof  value  orqualitu,  but  greatness 
of  qvaniUij.  Tbe  other  view  (that  of  E  V.)  is  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  the  context  before  and  after.  Eliphaz  assures 
Job  that  if  he  repents  (the  common  Arabic  sense  of  311^= 
3ir\)-  he  shall  be  abundantly  prospered,  and  gold  may  be  a 
part  of  such  prosperity  as  well  as  any  other  kind  of  property. 
r\'Ii/  here  may  be  takeo  as  an  imperative  with  a  predictive 

sense ;  but  it  is  better  to  regard  it  as  an  infinitive  connected 
with  nj3n  ver.  23:  "Yes,  so  built  upas  to  put  gold,  or  lay 

np  gold,  as  dust."  For  a  passage  exactly  parallel  to  the 
second  clause,  see  2  Chron.  i.  15:  ix.  27;  "Solomon  made 
silver  in  Jerusalem  as  plentiful,  D''J3X3>  as  the  stones." 
,  •  t-:t 

7y,  in  the  first  clause,  is  comparative  from  the  idea  of  one 
thing  placed  bij  or  right  over  another,  or  rather  with  the  sense 
of  over  or  beyond,  like  D  comparative,  or  the  Greek  irapi 
sometimes.  In  the  second  clause,  instead  of  112^3,  Kenni- 
COTT  found  "ll^fj  in  the  more  ancient  editions.  But  it  may 
make  the  same  sense  taken  either  way,  as  Jona  Ben  Gan- 
NAcn  (Abovl  W(diU),  in  his  Grammar,  pa.  34,  gives  a  good 
many  examples  of  what  he  styles  TT^IOn  H''^,  the  beth  of 
exchange,  that  is,  of  giibslitution  or  comparison— onu  thing  in 
Oie  place  of  another,  and  bo  performing  tho  office  of  J.    See 


the  late  Frankfort  edition  (Hebrew)  of  the  Scpher  Ha  liihna, 
pa.  34.  What  follows,  ver.  25:  The  Almighty  shall  be  thy 
treasure,  is  in  harmony  with  this,  and  even  made  more  em- 
phatic by  it:  "Gold  thou  shalt  have,  tlie  richest  earthly 
treasures,  but  above  all,  and  crowning  all,  the  blessing  of 
God."  The  view  here  taken  was  held  by  the  best  of 'the  old 
commentators  cited  in  Poole's  Synopsis;  it  is  clearly  main- 
tained by  RogENMUELLER,  and  partially  by  TJmdreit.  It  is 
confirmed  by  the  old  Versions,  especially  the  Syriac,  which 
is  remarkably  clear:  "Thou  shalt  gather  (tJ^JDJl,  lay  np, 
treasure  up)  silver  like  dust,  and  gold  of  Ophir  like  the  sands 
of  the  sea." 

27  Ver.  25.  Thy  precions  ore.  A  superlative  word 
is  wanted  for  the  Hebrew  intensive  plural,  T'l^f^- 

28  Ver.  25.  Silver  from  tlie  mine.  Literally,  silver 
of  tailings — obtained  by  hard  labor,  either  from  the  depths 
of  the  earth  (see  xxviii.  3,  9),  or  from  the  high  mountains 

(comp.  Psalm  xcv.  4,  D^"in  niBJ^irii  rendered  "strength  of 

the  hills,"  or  labors  of  the  hills).  It  is  the  radical  idea  of 
fjj^'',  to  be  weary — that  which  is  obtained  with  great  pains. 

»  Ver.  29.  Aloft^mj=niNil,  elevation,  or  elation  in 
T"  T— : ~ 
general.  It  is  best  taken  here  inteijectionally,  like  our 
phrases,  upward!  onward.  So  Zockler  very  happily:  Wenn 
sie  abw&rts  gehen,  so  sagst  du,  "empor!"  The  exhortation 
herj  is  something  like  that  which  Eliphaz  gave,  iv.  3,  4, 
when  he  speaks  of  Job's  having  "strengthened  the  feeble 
and  lifted  up  the  sinking."  So  here,  Job  should  use  his  ex- 
perience for  the  raising  up  of  the  depressed. 

80  Ver.  30.  The  gpnllty,  ^pJ-''J<,  literally,  the  not  inno- 
cent, a  milder  expression  than  the  guilty.  ''X  is  a  negative, 
an  apocopated  form  of  yn,  only  occurring  elsewhere  1  Sam. 
iv.  21,  in  the  proper  name  Ichabod  (1133~'N),  improperly 

T 

rendered,  sometimes,  where  is  the  glory  f  It  is  literally  no 
glory,  or  the  glory  gone.  This  particle  'X,  as  a  negative,  be- 
comes quite  common  in  tho  later  Eabbinical  Hebrew,  as  in 

the  frequent  phrases,  "IC'iJX  ^{<,  impossible,  rT^Dn  'N,  non 

necessariinn.  See,  on  this  passage,  the  notes  of  Conant  and 
1)ELIT2SCH.  The  latter  regards  Eliphaz  as  predicting  what 
was  actu.ally  fulfilled  in  himself  and  his  companions,  oh.  xlii. 
8,  when  they  are  delivered  from  comlemnation  and  punish- 
ment on  account  of  Job's  superior  purity. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


103 


Chapter  XXIII. 


Then  answered  Job  and  said : 
Again,  to  day,  my  plaint — rebellious*  still ; 
The  hand^  upon  me  heavier  than  my  moans. 
O  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  Him' — knew 
How  I  might  come,  even  to  His  judgment  seat. 
There  would  I  set  my  cause  before  His  face ; 
There  would  I  fill  my  mouth  with  arguments  ; 
Would  know  the  words  that  He  would  answer  me, 
And  mark  what  He  would  say. 

'Gainst  me  would  He  set  forth  His  mighty*  strength  ? 
Ah,  no — not  that — but  He  would  look  on  me. 
A  righteous  one  there  pleads*  with  Him  ; 
And  from  my  Judge  shall  I  be  ever  free. 


General  Note.  Chap,  xxiii.  seems  to  mark  an  interval,  or 
a  new  scene,  or  simply  a  new  day,  in  the  dramatic  move- 
ment. EwALD  thinlts  tlie  discussion  extended  over  several 
days.  This  is  very  probable.  When  the  iriends  first  came, 
they  sat  in  silence  with  the  sufferer,  "seven  days  and  seven 
niarhts," — a  mode  of  expression  deooting;  a  number  of  days 
at  least.  What  is  there  improbable  in  the  supposition  that 
days,  with  interveninjj  nights,  were  occupied  with  the  dis- 
cussion itself.  Still  less  improbable  is  the  thought  that 
tliere  were  intervals  of  silence.  It  would  be  in  harmony 
with  the  ways  of  the  Arabian  Consessus,  marked  by  patience, 
and  a  deliberate  waiting  of  one  party  for  another,  to  give 
time  for  reply  or  silent  thought.  And  how  appropriate 
would  this  be  in  the  case  of  the  suffering,  exhausted  Job. 
The  pauses  of  silence  in  the  midst  of  his  speeches  are  else- 
where alluded  to,  but  more  or  less  of  an  interval  may  come 
between  some,  or  all  of  them,  taken  as  wholes.  This  chap, 
xxiii.  with  its  peculiar  commencement,  certainly  does  not 
look  like  an  immediate  reply  to  the  preceding  speech  of  Eli- 
phaz.  Iq  the  very  first  words.  Job  seems  absorbed  in  himself, 
in  his  own  sad  cas",  and  although,  in  the  course  of  it,  there 
are  some  things  which  seem  to  have  been  suggested  by  the 
previous  speaker,  yet,  in  the  main,  it  has  very  much  the 
character  of  an  outburst  of  feeling,  betraying  little  con- 
sciousness of  any  antecedent  or  present  outward  surround- 
iugs.  Again — they  must  have  had  some  time  to  sleep — the 
friends,  at  least,  though  Job  could  not  sleep  for  pain  (see  vii. 
4) — and  the  preceding  speech  of  Eliphaz  seems  evideutly  to 
have  been  in  the  evening,  or  in  the  night  somewhat  advanced, 
when  "  the  crown  "  of  brilliant  stars,  right  over  head,  pre- 
sented such  an  appearance  of  extraordinary  altitude.  As 
shown  in  the  notes  to  xxii.  12,  the  language  in  which  that 
vivid  night  scene  is  painted  reveals  emotion,  such  as  must 
have  been  felt  by  actual  spectators.  Such  words  were  never 
used  by  any  one  speaking  in  the  daytime.  Then,  again, 
there  is  in  the  close  of  the  speech  of  Eliphaz  a  falling  off,  as 
it  were,  from  the  former  harshness,  esjjecially  as  shown  in  ver. 
l>  and  onwards.  A  more  soothing  tone  is  adopted,  as  though, 
soothed  himself  by  the  contemplation  of  the  silent  heavens, 
he  meant  to  calm  the  mind  of  Job,  by  a  picture  of  returning 
prosperity  and  new  gifts  of  grace,— thus  leaving  him  to  get 
what  rest  he  could.  How  the  others  pass  the  night  we  are 
not  told,  although  they  must  have  been  very  near  him. 
Thus  viewed,  the  commencing  wnrds  of  ch.  xxiii.  may  be 
taken  in  their  most  literal  sense  of  hodie,  to-day,  and  not  as  a 
mere  intensive  expression  for  the  present  moment:  "Even 
now,"  as  Delitzsch  takes  it.  or  "after  all  our  efforts."  That 
Makes  a  fair  sense,  though  the  one  here  given  is  not  only  the 
more  literal,  but  the  more  impressive.  Job  has  been  moan- 
ing all  the  night  upon  his  couch  of  ashes  (see  vii.  4),  and 
when  morning  breaks,  the  first  thing  heard  from  him  is  that 
mournful  refrain,  that  wailing  complaint  of  God's  estrange- 
ment, which  makes  all  their  labored  advice  indifferent  to 
him.  It  may  be  noted,  too,  that  the  stricter  sense  of  hodie  is 
expressed  by  QJ  denoting  addition,  again,  still  more,  aiwther 

da)/ of  Borrow  and  reproach.    So  Ren  AN: 

Encore,  una  fois  ma  plainte. 


And  thus  he  sends  up  that  cry  of  the  first  verse  which  he 
had  been  laboring  though  unable  to  repress. 

1  Ver.  1.  Rebellioas  still.  The  weight  of  authority 
is  in  favor  of  giving  "'"10  the  sense  which  would  naturally 
come  from  mO  instead  of  110,  although  the  two  forms 
are  allied.  In  the  present  passage,  too,  they  would  come 
to  very  much  the  same  thing.  Deutzsch  renders  it,  hiddeth 
defiance.  ZiicKLER,  in  a  similar  way,  as  also  Ewald  and  Um- 
BREIT.  Een\n,  appcled  revolte.  Still  it  does  not  necessarily 
mean  rebellion  against  God,  but  rather  rebellion  against  all 
his  own  efforts  to  suppress  his  impassioned  grief.  It  bursts 
forth  in  spite  of  all  he  can  do.  And  this  is  in  harmony  with 
the  second  clause:  heavier  than  my  groaning. 

2  Ver.  1.  The  band  upon  me.  It  is  only  a  true 
translation  of  ^T,  and  of  its  possessive  suffix  of  the  1st 
person,  if  we  take  ^',  hand,  for  Xha  plagtie  sent  upon  him, — 
as  the  weight  of  authority,  old  and  new,  seems  to  require. 
Severe  afiHiction  is  so  frequently  denoted  in  Hebrew  by  the 
words  miT'  T,  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  that  the  ellipsis  "natu- 
rally arises,  and  the  word  hand  alone  is  used  for  the  whole 
phrase.    See  Ps.  xxxix.  11,  where  J^JJ,  fciou;  or  jj^ogue,  in  the 

1st  clause,  is  equivalent  to  ?JT  JT^Jji,  the  attack  of  thy  hand, 

In  the  second.  It  may  seem  harsli  to  us,  but  to  the  UehrewB 
it  would  be  more  easy  and  natural  than  to  use  hand  liter- 
ally, as  Delitzsch  does,  for  the  organ  as  the  instrument  for 
the  outward  suppression  of  inward  feeling:  "my  hand  lieih 
heavily  on  my  groaning." 
s  Ver.  3.  O,  that  I  knew  irhere  I  might  find 

him  I    The  Psalmist  would  have  said,  find  my  God,    '7X 

or  '71 7X.    The  absence  of  such  personal  expressions  in  Job's 

speeches  is  a  peculiar  feature  of  the  book.  It  is  an  evidence 
all  through,  of  tbe  great  want  which  made  Job's  chief  afflic- 
tion— that  hiding  of  God's  countenance  he  so  mourns  for 
here.  There  is  something,  too,  very  significant  in  his  appa- 
rent avoidance,  sometimes,  of  the  Divine  name :  might  find 
Him.  It  has  occasionally,  something  of  an  angry  lo  jk,  as 
in  iii.  20:  "Why  does  He  give  light  to  the  wretched?"  Here, 
however,  there  is  a  deep  pathos  in  it:  "  0  that  I  might  find 
Him" — Him,  my  estranged  God,  whom  my  soul  seeketh,  but 
whom  I  hardly  dare  to  name. 

*  Ver.  6.  His  migrhty  strength.  The  reference 
does  not  seem  to  be  to  the  idea  sometimes  expressed,  th  tt  a 
man  could  not  live  if  God  appeared  to  him  in  His  majesty. 
There  is  meant  rather  the  strength  of  argument  (J3'1'). 
Would  He  "  be  strict  to  mark  iniquity?"  Would  He  se*  out 
the  tremendous  claims  of  His  law  and  justice?     Something 

inspires  Job  to  say.  Ah  no ;  He  would  ju.it  loohatme  (J;  D'ly 
ptd  Hi's  heart  uponme,  as  the  ellipsis  is  usually  filled  up),  have 
regard  to  me, — see  my  misery;  He  would  "remember  that  I 
am  but  dust." 

6  Ver.  7.  There  pleads  with  him.  This  is  the 
simplest  and  most  literal  rendering  of  the  four  Hebrew 
words  of  the  t^xt.  There  is  no  need  of  putting  in  any  po- 
tential or  subjunctive  signs,  such  as  may,  might,  could,  woidd, 


101 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


8  Lo,  to  the  East  I  go  ;  He  is  not  there  ; 
Toward  the  AVest,  but  I  iDerceive  Hiiu  not. 

9  To  His  wondrous  working  on  tlie  North,^  I  look,  but  look  in  vain ; 
In  the  void  Soutli'  He  hides  Himself,  where  nought  can  I  behold. 

10  But  my  most  secret*  way,  Pie  knows  it  well ; 
He's  trying  me  ;  I  shall  come  forth  as'  gold. 

11  My  foot  hath  held  His  steps. 

His  way  have  I  observed,  nor  turned  aside. 

12  The  precepts  of  His  lips  I  have  not  shunned  ; 

More  than  my  own  behest.  His  counsels  have  I  prized. 

1 3  But  He  is  ever  One ;'"  who  turneth  Him  ? 
And  what  His  soul  desires,  'tis  that  He  does. 

14  The  law  ordained  for  me  He  now  performs ; 
And  many  a  like  decree  remains  with  Him. 

15  Therefore  it  is  I  tremble  so  before  Him ; 
I  think  of  Him,  and  I  am  sore  afraid. 


wi'irde,  etc.  They  may  be  inferred,  if  the  reader  chooses,  since, 
iu  English,  ^iteifk  (indicative  in  form)  may  be  equivalent  to 
may  or  would  plead,  if  the  context  demands  it;  as  though  it 
were  said,  that  is  the  place  where  a  righteous  one  pleads, 
(may  plead)  with  Him.  It  may  also  be  remarked  that  Tjy^ 
i^  also  used  impersonally  {oTJristke,  integrUij,  as  in  Psalm  cxi. 
8,  where  it  is  joined  with  tnUh  ;  so  that  it  might  be  rendered  : 
there  justice  pleads,  or  is  pleading  with  Him.  But  such  a 
ptrsonification  is  hardly  to  be  expected  in  Job.  It  may  be 
held  that  the  sense  usually  given  is  the  nearer  one,  and  the 
Rationalist  may,  therefore,  be  content  with  it;  but  that  does 
not  prevent  one  from  taking  a  higher  and  wider  idea,  if  the 
language  fairly  suggests  it;  since  Holy  Scripture,  regarded 
as  given  by  God  whatever  may  be  the  method  of  inspiration, 
may  be  rationally  treated  as  having  a  vast  fulness  of  mean- 
ing,— not  double  seiises  strictly,  or  enigmatical,  but  ascending 
ideas,  or  stories  of  thought,  the  lower  the  basis  of  the  higher, 
according  to  the  spiritual-mindedness  of  the  biblical  student. 
When  the  clause  is  rendered  in  its  simplest  form:  "  a  rirjht- 
eoHs  One  there  pleads  with  Sim,"  it  suggests  the  thought  of  the 
Great  Intercessor.  It  is,  too.  not  altogether  foreign  to  the 
book.  It  brings  up  again  that  mysterious  idea  which  some- 
how came  into  the  mind  of  Job,  xvi.  21,  born  in  him,  and 
forced  out  of  him,  ;i8  it  would  seem,  by  his  extreme  anguish 
or  a  sense  of  his  spiritual  desolatiou: 

Whilst  unto  God  mine  eye  is  dropping  te.ars. 
That  lie  Himself  would  plead  for  man  ivilh  God, 
As  one  of  Adam's  race  doth  for  his  brother  plead. 

There  may  be  here,  also,  something  of  that  same  "  melan- 
choly conceit "  (iis  Umbreit  styles  it)  which  Job  gets  into 
hu  crazy  head,  of  "  liod's  standing  by  him  against  God." 
(see  Note  xvi.  21).  This  righteous  One  personates,  or  is  per- 
Bonated  by,  every  other  one  who  thus  'pleads  for  man  on 
earth.  The  more  near  sense  suits  here,  and  may  be  taken, 
therefore,  as  the  true  exegetical  interpretation  on  which  all 
else  must  be  grounded;  but  what  right  has  this  "higher 
criticism,"  as  it  calls  itself,  to  shut  out  that  greater  idea  to 
■which  the  lower  mounts,  and  which  so  tonohingly  appears 
in  the  other  passage  :  God  only  can  help  tis  with  God.  Ou  the 
Tendering ijlead,  see  Note  xvi.  21.   DU'  may  refer  to  circum- 

T 

stance  or  condition  as  'well  as  place.  See  Pss.  cxxxii.  17; 
cxxxiii.  3. 

6  Ver.  9.  On  the  North.  The  North  is  the  region  of 
the  most  brilliant  celestial  phenomena.  It  is  probably  sug- 
gested to  Job  by  what  Eliphaz  had  said,  the  night  before, 
about  "  the  crown  of  stars."  It  is  not,  however,  a  view  of 
the  vnstnoss  of  God  in  space  which  Job  so  much  desires,  as 
fi«arne«s,  or  a  sense  of  His  spiritual  presence.  See  Note  xii. 
1--  intyj^D  here  {in  his  working)  must  refer  to  some  special 
manifestations  of  the  Diviae  creative  and  supporting  power 
in  the  constellations  that  surround  the  pole;  and,  therefore, 
the  epithet  in  the  translation  is  necessary  to  bring  out  what 
in  the  original  speakinR  had  sufflcient  emi)hasis  without  it. 

7  Ver.  9.  In  the  voUl  South.  Here,  too,  the  epithet 
IB  used  as  really  belonging  to  the  significance  of  the  lan- 
guage, and  as  justified  by  the  figure  contained  in  tl£OJ^'-    It 

is  the  same  as  that  given  by  the  phrase  JOH   ^"nn,  the  «e- 


cret  chambers  of  the  South,  ix.  9.  Job  points  to  the  Southern 
region  of  the  heavens  whiih  seems  to  be  over  Teman.  It  is 
because  few  constellations  appear  there  as  seen  from  the 
Northern  Hemisphere.  It  is  more  like  void  space  as  com- 
pared with  the  brilliant  North.  Or  there  may  be  some  idea 
of  the  hidden  underworld  toward  which  that  region  is  ima- 
gined to  be  the  way.     See  Virg.  Georg.  I.,  242. 

Ilic  vertex  nobis  semper  snblimui ;  at  ilium 
Sub  pedibus  Styx  atra  videt,  Manesque  profundi. 

It  is  to  be  lamented  that  this  sublime  passase  should  be 
marred  by  two  of  our  best  commentators.  This  is  done  by 
Umbueit,  who  most  unnecessarily  goes  to  an  Arabic  word, 
which  is  really  not  cognate,  to  get  the  sense  of  covering  for 
nty^i  common  Hebrew  verb  as  it  is,  and  by  Delitzsch,  who 
whilst  refuting  Umbreit  commits  a  similar  fault  in  respect 
to  the  nDj^'  of  the  second  clause, — giving  it  the  Arabic 

sense  of  tnming  aside,  instead  of  the  Hebrew  sense  of  entering, 
wrapping  (Pss.  Ixv.  14;  civ.  2).  Between  them  they  have  ef- 
faced two  plain  Hebrew  words,  and  blotted  out  a  most  glori- 
ous contrast  so  conspicuously  set  forth  in  the  celestial  ap- 
pearances themselves. 

8  Ver.  10.  Bat  my  most  secret  way :  HD^  "[IT 

The  word  'T^J7  denotes   something  nearer,  more  familiar 

than  Dj^  would  have  done.  See  Ps.  xxiii.  4,  'HOJ^  HnX  'D. 

"for  thou  art  with  me."  Mij  way  that  is  nearest  to  m«,  most  fa- 
tuiliar  to  me,  and  yet  better  known  to  him  than  it  is  to  my- 
self. The  phrase  'nOJ^  1^"^'  **  "^'"^  here,  may  help  us  to 
the  meaning  of  that  controverted  place,  ix.  35,  'HDJ!  \D  X/. 

not  so  with  me,  which  would  seem  to  give  us  the  opposite  idea- 
of  de-rangement,  or  being  tiot  one^s-self — om  of  himself — as  there 
rendered.  It  is  there  the  wild,  confused,  rtelirious  state,  in- 
stead of  the  well-known  familiar  way  of  the  soul's  move- 
ments. Hence  the  same  metaphor  of  de-rangement,  in  so 
man^  languages.  See  Note  on  ix.  3.').  But  he  knoiFS. 
This  is  another  example  of  a  sudden  rising  of  hope  and  con- 
fidence following  immediately  after  the  expression  of  great 
darkness  or  bewilderment.  The  thought  of  being  kncncn  to 
God, — of  God  "looking  at  him  "(ver.  6)  though  he  cannot  f^ee 
his  beholder, — this  immediately  revives  his  sinking  spirits 
by  assuring  liim  of  the  Divine  providence,  as  well  as  his  own 
seeing  God  would  have  done.  It  was  the  skeptical  feeling, 
the  dark  sliadow  of  a  theism,  or  fatality,  coming  over  his 
soul  that  so  distressed  him.     Deprofundis  clamavU. 

'  Ver.  10.  As  ^old.  JHT.  aurum  ptirissimum,  the  shining 
gold,  by  way  of  contrast,  and  in  reference,  probably,  to  wh  it 
Eliphaz  says  of  "li*3  xxii.  24.     The  true  gold  is  Job  himself 

— the  true  "silver  from  the  mine"  (xxii.  25)  that  God  is  so 
mysteriously  working. 

10  Ver.  13.  Ever  one.     nnX3:    Literally,  in  one.     In 
T  '.•  : 
one  way,  it  may  be;  but  the  best  commentators  regard  it  as 
beth  eaientite. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


103 


16 


17 


For  thus  it  is  that  God  makes  weak  my  heart; 
It  is  the  Omnipotent  amazes  me. 
Not  from"  the  darkness  am  I  thus  cast  down, 
Nor  yet  because  thick  darkness  veils  my  face. 


"  Ver.  17.  Not  from  the  darkness.  The  render- 
ing given  of  this  verse  in  E.  V.,  and  which  corre3pond.s  to 
tliiit  of  Umbreit  and  other  commentators  of  repute,  makes 
no  intelliailjle  sense.  It  would  represent  Job  as  having  this 
awful  dread  upon  his  soul  becmtseQod  had  not  "  cut  him  off 
before  the  darkness  "  came,  and  then,  with  a  feeble  tautology, 
besides,  hecaiixe  He,  God,  "  covered  the  darkness  from  his 
face."    It  all  turns  upon  the  rendering  of  ^2  {or  rather  the 

idea  for  which  '2  gives  the  reason),  and  on  preserving  the 
analogy  between   the  VJ3D  a^ad  the  •lifSO  of  ver.  15,  and 

T  T  •  V   • 

the  ^J30  and  '^3*3  of  ver.  17.  The  '3  gives  a  protest  ra- 
ther than  a  reason.  It  was  not  the  darkness  that  lie  dreaded 
so  much,  as  a  thing  personal  to  himself,  or  the  difficulty  of 
understandinghis  own  case,  as  that  awful  feeling  which  came 
over  him  when  thinking  of  the  confusion,  blind  disorder,ap- 
parently,  which  seems  to  prevail  in  all  the  affairs  of  the 
world,  especially  human  affairs.  This  protest  seems  to  bo 
in  reply  to  what  Eliphaz  had  said,  xxii.  11,  about  the  dark- 
ness which  covered  Job,  and  which,  he  intimates,  had  been 
brought  upon  him  by  his  sins: 

Or  darkness  that  thou  canst  not  see, 

Or  water  floods  that  overwhelm  thy  soul. 

See  the  conclusive  reasons  for  the  rendering  here  adopted,  as 
given  by  Delitzsck,  Ewald,  Dillman,  and  ZBoklkh.  The 
other  rendering :  "  Became  I  was  not  cut  off  before  the  dark- 
ness, neither  hath  He  covered  the  darkness  from  my  face," 


would  require  a  sudden  change  in  the  use  of  'J30,  'JS'S, 
ver.  17,  as  compared  with  VJ3D  and  !)J?30  of  ver.  15,  or 

T  T  •  ',*    • 

from  the  causal  sense,  "  on  ncconnt  of"  to  the  avertive  sense 
of  "  before"  besides  the  wrong  rendering  of  'HOVJ-   In  tho 

second  clause  of  ver.  17,  the  0  in  'J30  may  have  its  force 

-  T    • 

on  'J£)  immediately  following,  aa  Co.vant  well  remarks,  or 
on  the  whole  clause :  not  for  myself,  whose  face  darhtcx.i  luia 

covered — or:  not  on  account  of  the  fact  that  darkness  03 j^ 

black  midnight  daikness)  hath  covered  my  face.  This  givea 
a  sense  most  grand  aa  well  aa  significant.  Job  had  lost  the 
spiritual  vision  of  God.  He  could  not  find  Him, — could  not 
trace  Him  in  his  works  or  in  his  providences, — all  was  dark 
in  respect  to  himself.  But  there  was  still  support  in  the  be- 
lief that  God  Icnew  him,  looked  upon  him,  ver.  6,  Icneto  Ids  lowj 
perfectly,  ver.  10.  Whilst  this  hope  remained,  he  was  not 
altogether  lost.  But  tho  other  thought  of  f-red  law  which  is 
nothing  else  than  arbitrary  decree  (vers.  13,  14),  in  other 
words,  a  blind  fatality,  whether  called  God  or  nature,  which 
had  no  regard  to  human  affairs  at  all,  no  moral  concern  fi>r 
man,  this  was  anguish  unallcviated.  It  was  this  that  weak- 
ened, IJ'^rii  iu  modern  phrase,   broke  his  heart  (ver.  16;.     It 

was  when  he  thought  of  this,  that  "  trembling  seized  all  his 
flesh."  xxi.  6.    ''^0X3,  ver.  17.    Not  cut  o/,  but  reduced  to 

silence,  awed,  confounded. 


Chapter  XXIV. 

1  How  is  it/ 


times  from  God  are  not  concealed — 
That  they  who  know  Him  do  not  see  His  days  ? 


1  Ver.  1.  How  is  it?  Ewald,  Umbreit,  Heuigstedt, 
ScHLOTTMANN,  Delitzsch,  Zookler — a  formidable  array  of 
authorities — take  this  as  a  direct  question :  "  Why  are  not 
times  reserved  (laid  up,  appointed)  by  the  Almighty?"  In 
the  same  way,  most  of  the  older  commentators  cited  in 
Poole's  Synopsis.  The  English  Version,  Cartwrioht,  Lud. 
De  DiEU,  and  others,  give  it  a  different  turn:  Quare  quuiii 
Deo  non  sint  occulta,  tempora,  nihilominus  tamen,  etc. :  "  ^Vliy, 
seeing  times,"  etc.,  or  "why  if,"  etc.  The  Vulgate  makes  it  a 
direct  declaration:  o6  Omnipoteiite  non  sunt  abscondita  tempora. 
The  Syriac  has  it :  Why  are  not  the  wicked  hid  from  Godf  as 
though  there  had  been  read  D''J7tJ'Ti  instead  of  D^nV-  The 
ao-e^et;  avSp^i  of  the  LXX.  looks  the  same  way.  The  au- 
thorities just  cited  generally  take  1J3i'J  in  its  secondary 
sense  of  laid  up,  hence  reserred,  appointed;  though  some  of 
them  give  it  the  primary  meaning;  Why  are  times  not  hidden 
from  the  Ahnifjhty  f  As  though  Job  meant  to  intimate,  que- 
rulously, that  it  were  better  to  think  He  knew  nothing 
about  human  affairs  than  that  lie  let  things  go  on  in  surh 
darkness  and  disorder.  Conant  adheres  here,  substantially, 
to  our  E.  v.:  "  Wlvj,  if  times  are  not  hidden,  etc."  The  trans- 
lator is  inclined  to  go  with  him.  Job  is  speaking  according 
to  the  hypothesis  of  his  friends.  The  question,  taken  directly 
according  to  the  usual  force  of  J^-ITO  (which  means  more 

than  why — rather  for  what  reason,  Gr.  rt  ixaSiav),  would  lie  a 
strong  affirmation  of  the  certainty  of  the  fact,  that  times  are 
not  reserved  by  the  Almighty — a  position  which  Job  would 
hardly  dare  to  take  directly,  and  which,  certainly,  he  would 
nit  address  to  the  others  as  an  adniitled  truth,  or  one  they 
would  not  controvert.  There  is  no  difficulty  about  Wr\V 
and  VOV  All  understand  them,  the  first,  as  denoting  ei'ents, 
according  to  a  frequent  Biblical  us:ige,  and  the  second,  days 
of  retribution  or  ot  divine  manifestations.  The  hypothetical 
idea  is  certainly  very  natural  to  the  context,  but  what 
gramma' ical  ground,  it  may  be  said,  is  there  for  it?  An 
answer  to  this  is  found  in  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  jiarticle 
Jt^-IT^.  liefore  adverted  to.     Another  reason  arises  from  tho 

fact,  that  this  particle  certainly  has  an  influence  upon  the 


second  clause,  even  if  we  take  1,  in  Vl'TI,  as  a  mere  copu- 
lative. "Why  are  times  not  reserved,  and  why  do  those 
who  know  Him  not  see?"  This  would  make  it  a  negation 
of  both  propositions,  whereas  from  the  context,  or  rather 
from  the  whole  chapter,  the  thing  denied  or  doubted  would 
rather  seem  to  be  the  connection  between  them,  or  some 
truth  admitted  in  relation  to  God  which  is  regarded  as  in- 
consistent with  another  having  relation  to  man.  There  is, 
however,  no  absolute  need  of  supplying  any  such  particles 
as  if  or  seeing  that.  The  broken  style  of  Job's  utterance  be- 
comes clear  when  literally  and  closely  followed.  It  is  sim- 
ply taking  tho  words  as  they  stand,  only  throwing  the  force 
of  J/'nO  on  the  second  clause,  and  thus  giving  tho  inter- 
vening part  a  parenthetical  character.  In  this  way,  1  be- 
comes inferential,  that  is,  it  connects  by  way  of  inference,  or 
thoughts  rather  than  words.  It  may  then  bo  thus  fairly 
paraphrased:  "  How  is  it? — times  are  not  hidden  from  God, 
you  say — and  yet  (1  connecting  illatively,  or  one  fact  with 
another)  those  who  know  Him,  or  claim  to  know  Him,  as 
you  claim  to  know  Him,  and  to  speak  for  Him,  do  not  see 
His  days  of  retribution?"  j;nfD,  ''O'"  "  thisf  ^'\'y  PIO, 
Ti  iiaQuiv,  as  Gesenius  gives  its  etymology.  "  Times  (events) 
not  hidden  from  the  Almighty :"  that  this  idea  is  intended 
by  Job  in  this  first  verso,  appears  from  tho  fact  of  its  per- 
vading his  argument  and  all  the  pictures  he  draws  of  bad 
men  and  Btheir  incomprehensible  impunity.  This  is  tho 
burtlien  of  his  complaint:  God  sees  it  all,  knows  it  all,  yet 
seems  to  jiav  no  attention  to  it  (see  ver.  12) — does  not  heed 
the  enormity,  lets  it  go  on — "lets  the  wicked  feel  confidence" 
in  their  impunity  (ver.  '23),  though  all  the  time  "His  eyes 
are  upon  them,"  and  upon  their  doings.  It  should,  how- 
ever, never  be  forgotten  that  all  these  strong  pictures  of  Job 
are  by  way  of  protest  against  the  representations  of  the 
others.  He  himself  has  some  dream  of  a  great  dies  retrilm- 
tionis,  according  to  the  best  interpretation  of  xxi.  30,  but 
hero  he  confines  himself  to  their  views  of  the  jn-esent  state 
of  things,  maintaining  that  to  all  appearance,  whether  the 
wicked  prosper,  or  whether  they  meet  with  misfortunes 
(there  being  uo  real  inconsistency,  or  such  as  troubles  many 


106 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


10 


11 


12 


Yes,'^ — land  marks  they  remove  ; 

They  seize  on  flocks  they  pasture  as  their  own. 

The  orphan's  ass  they  drive  away  ; 

They  take  the  widow's  ox  in  pledge. 

They  turn  the  needy  from  their  right  f 

[At  sight  of  them]  the  wretched  hide  themselves. 

Behold  them  !     Like  the  desert-roaming  ass, 

So  go  they  early  to  their  work — their  prey  ; 

The  barren  wild  their  bread/  their  children's  food. 

These  reap  Jiid^  fodder  in  the  field — 

The  evil  man's — his  vintage  do  they  glean. 

Naked  they®  lodge — no  rag  to  hide  their  shame ; 

They  have  no  covering  in  the  cold. 

Wet  from  the  mountain  storm, 

All  shelterless  they  make  the  rock  their'  bed. 

The  others^  tear  the  orphan  from  the  breast ; 

Even  from  the  suffering  poor  they  take  the  pawn. 

Stript  of  their  garments®  go  they  forth, 

And  in  their  hunger  do  they  bear  the  sheaf. 

The  oil  within  tlieir^"  walls  they  press, 

And  tread  their  flowing  wine  vats  thirsting"  still. 

From  the  city''^  filled  with  dead,  the  groans  ascend; 


commpntatora,  in  his  presenting  both  sides),  God  seems  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it,  does  not  interfere  with  it,  leaves 
things  to  take  tbeir  own  course,  though  seeing  it  all  the  lohile. 
Job  is  in  a  strange  state  of  mind,  bordering  on  a  kind  of 
fatalism;  but  his  extreme  positions  are  not  ^o  much  his  own 
better  feeling  as  they  are  the  ground  to  which  he  is  driven 
in  showinfr  u])  the  ftiUacies  and  one-sideJness  of  their  views. 
This  thought,  kept  in  mind,  will  furnish  a  key  to  much  that 
Las  seemed  dark  and  contradictory  iu  the  chapter. 

2  Ver.  2.  Yes,  landmarks.  Here  Job  enters  ab- 
ruptly upon  specifications  of  events  showing  the  disorders 
God  permits  in  the  world.  The  whole  chapter  is  a  vivid 
picture  of  this,  although  the  items  are  strangely  mixed  to- 
gether, as  though  the  passionateness  of  the  speaker  carried 
him  out  of  all  method.  We  have  here  the  wretched  vagabond 
wicked,  the  rich  and  powerful  wicked,  the  suffering  poor, 
the  bold  and  daHtard  criminals,  the  murderer,  the  adulterer, 
the  thief,  char-acters  of  every  grade,  their  prosperity  and 
their  misfortunes,  the  flight  of  the  bad  man  (ver.  18),  whe- 
ther it  be  the  thief  pursued  by  the  popular  curse,  or  the 
fallen  tyrant  fleeing  from  the  hootings  of  the  proletaires,  his 
rising  again  to  power  (ver.  22),  his  dying  like  all  other  men, 
the  common  grave,  the  worm,  the  oblivion,  all  set  before  us 
in  a  few  touches  that  no  effort  of  Dickens  or  Victor  Hugo 
could  rival.  In  the  midst  of  it  comes  the  briefigketched 
scene  of  the  stormed  city  (ver.  12),  the  dying  groans,  the 
■wailing  of  the  departing  spirits  of  the  slain,  and  what  runs 
through  all,  and  affects  us  more  than  all,  the  thought  of 
God  above,  who  sees,  yi't  seemingly  ''cares  for  none  of  these 
things."  This  is  the  polemic  aim  of  the  picture  as  against 
the  friends.  Job's  darkness  has  a  background  of  truth,  and 
wfi  need  not  therefore  fear  to  say,  that  it  is  better  than  their 
false  light. 

s  Ver.  4.  Tbeir  rlg'ht.  Heb.  nm,  (heir  way,  their 
home.    That  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed.  Del. 

<  Tor.  5.  The  barren  wild  their  bread.  De- 
scription of  a  wild  gypsy  life. 

6  Ver.  6.  Reap  his  fodder.  The  general  sense  clear, 
the  particular  applications  uncertain.  Belitzsoh  seems  to 
give  the  best  interpretation:  "The  bad  rich  man  has  these 
vagabond  proletaires  to  cut  his  forlrUr.  but  does  not  entrust 
to  them  the  reaping  of  the  better  kinds  of  grain.  So  also  he 
prudently  hesitates  to  employ  them  as  vintagers,  but  makes 
use  of  their  labor  (o  gather  the  straggling,  late  ripening 
grapes.  In  this  and  the  following  verses,  the  transitions 
jrom  the  one  class  to  the  other  are  very  rapid.  The  most 
concise  way  to  express  it  in  a  translation  was  to  italicise 
cue  of  the  classes. 


8  Ver.  7.  IVaked  they  lodge.  The  vagabonds  again. 
The  transition  very  abrupt,  but  all  the  more  vivid. 

7  Ver.  8.  The  rocli  their  bed.  Literally,  they  em- 
brace the  rock. 

8  Ver.  9.  Others  tear;  the  widow's  child,  as  men- 
tioned just  above.  These  are  the  wicked  rich  as  distin- 
guished from  the  proletaires,  or  reckless  poor. 

9  Ver.  10.  Their  {garments.  The  pawned  garment 
taken  from  the  poor. 

10  Ver.  11.  Their:  the  rich.    They:  the  poor. 

11  Ver.  11.  Thirsting  still.  Not  allowed  to  drink  of 
it;  even  as  the  hungry  laborer  not  allowed  to  taste  the  grain 
he  is  carrying.  Their  thirst  aggravated  by  the  sight  of  the 
wine  flowing  from  the  presses  which  they  turn. 

12  Ver.  12.  The  City  filled  with  dead.  Literally, 
the  city  of  the  dead.  Here  comes  suddenly  a  new  picture  of 
a  city  taken  by  storm.  The  accents  connect  DTIO  closely 
with  T'J^,  and  if  they  are  to  be  regarded,  the  former  cannot 
be  the  subject  of  IpXy,  as  Kwald  and  others  render  it, 
whatever  may  jbe'  the  meaning  of  the  noun.  The  vowel 
pointing,  in  most  copies,  is  Q'JTD,  generally  rendered  men, 

which  would  give  the  rendering  in  the  one  case,  men  groan, 
and,  in  the  other,  men  from  the  cilij — a  very  feeble  sense  in 
both  cases.  Delitzsch  tries  to  remedy  this  by  rendering  it 
vien  of  war,  with  a  reference  to  Deuteronomy  ii.  31;  iii.  6; 
Judg.  XX.  48.  Butmeii  in  those  passages  are  simply  so  named 
in  distinction  from  women.  In  the  t^anslati^u8  of  Ewald, 
Umbreit,  Dillmann,  Zockler,  it  is  rendered  Sterbende,  tho 
dijinrj,  whioli  CoNANT  also  adopts.  In  this  they  follow  the 
Syi'iac,  which  derived  it  from  the  reading  DT^O  instead  of 

D'ilO-  The  English  reader  will  see  how  slight  the  differ- 
ence in  the  vowel  pointing,  ("  )  insteadof  (: ),  and  how  easily 
the  change  might  be  made.  The  Syriac,  from  an  unpointed 
text,  took  the  reading  that  seemed  most  natural.  It  also 
appears  in  some  Hebrew  codices,  and  is  well  defended  by  Db 

Rossi  as  presenting  the  best  parallelism  to  D''77n.  the 
«/(iin  or  wounded.  Those  who  have  adopted  the  reading 
D'nOi  which  they  render  the  dying,  connect  it  with    IpXJ'', 

the  dtjing  groan,  thereby  disregarding  the  accents.  These, 
however,  may  be  observed  if  we  give  to  DTID  its  true  ren- 
dering, which  is  not  the  dying,  but  the  dead,  past  participle: 
From  the  city  of  the  dead,  so  called  because  of  the  vast  num- 
bers of  the  dead  lying  within  it — from  the  city  filled  with  dead. 
Then  there  may  be  given  to  IpNJ^  a  general   subject,  they 

groan,  or  it  may  be  taken  impersonally,  as  in  the  translation 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


107 


And  shriek  aloud  the"  spirits  of  the  slain  ; 
But  God  heeds  not  the  dire'*  enormity. 

13  They/*  too, — those  enemies  of  light, 
Who  take  no  knowledge  of  its  ways, 
Who  stay  not  in  its  trodden'®  paths ; 

14  The  murderer — at  the  dawn''  he  rises  up. 
To  slay  the  poor — the  destitute  ; 

By  night  he  plays  the  thief, 

15  The  adulterer's  eye  waits  for  the  twilight  shade. 
No  one,  says  he,  shall  see  the  way  I  take  ; 

A  masking  veil'*  he  puts  upon  his  face. 

16  Through  houses  in  the  dark  the  burglar  digs. 
In  covert"  do  they  keep  by  day, — 

All  stransrers  to  the  lig-ht. 


given  above.  The  form  pXJ  as  distinguished  from  the  more 
usual  pJNi  find  as  having  more  of  an  onomatopic  resem- 
blance to  the  thing  signified,  is  used  especially  of  the  groans 
of  the  slain,  as  in  Ezek.  xxx.  24.  "I  will  break  the  arras  of 
Pharaoh  and  he  shall  ijroan  the.  firoaninris  of  the  slain."  This 
greatly  favors,  too,  the  reading  of  D'HO-    Here,  as  iu  other 

parts  of  the  Heorew  Scriptures,  the  authors  of  the  accents, 
if  they  belong  not  rather,  in  some  way,  to  the  Divine  origi- 
nals, have  shown  their  spiritual  acuteness.  By  the  connec- 
tion they  have  made,  IpXy  stands  by  itself,  as  it  were;  the 

subject  is  left  to  the  imagination  of  the  hearer,  as  something 
well  known,  and  whose  suppression,  therefore,  is  more  pa- 
thetic than  its  mention:  "the;/  groan."  In  this  position,  too, 
it  becomes  more  strictly  the  imperfect  of  description,  instead 
of  mere  narration :  "  theii  are  groaning — groans  are  cnntbmaVij 
ascending."  All  this  makes  it  the  more  emotional.  The  force 
of  it  may  have  been  given  by  a  look  or  a  gesture,  but  the 
strongest  expression  of  it  in  a  translation  demands  some  in- 
terjectional  word  or  phrase :  hark!  hmu  theij  groan  !  as  though 
the  narrator  brought  the  scene  right  before  him. 
13  Ver.  12.  The  spirits  of  tbe  slain.    ty3J  may 

be  rendered  spm7  (or,  collectively,  spirit^  as  denoting  the  go- 
ing out  of  the  breath  or  life,  or  the  soul,  as  Delitzsch  renders 
it.  So  Umbreit  :  ruft  laut  die  Seele  der  zum  Tod  Verwunde- 
t^n;  ZocKLER  the  same  way.  It  need  not  be  relied  upon  as 
proof  of  any  peculiar  notions  about  the  separate  existence 
of  the  soul,  and  yet  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  other  ancient 
descriptions  to  the  same  effect.  How  often  does  Homer  re- 
present the  spirits  (i/(uxil)  of  those  slain  in  battle  as  going 
out  wailing,  shrieking,  rpi'^outrai,  and  often  predicting  the 
doom  of  their  slayers,  according  to  that  very  old  belief  in 
the  vaticinating  power  of  the  departing  spirit.  So  Hector's 
ghost  takes  its  mourning  departure  to  the  Unseen  World, 
Iliad  xxii.  302. 

tpyxv  5'  6<  pf9fO)V  nTaixtirq  'Al'Sb<r5e  jSejSij/cet. 
bv  TToT/iov  rOOOSA — 
Bewailing  his  sad  doom. 

"  Ver.  12.  Dire  enormity.    The  iirst  feeling  in  the 

study  of  this  passage  is,  that  the  reading  DvSri,  prayer, 

T  •  ; 
which  the  Syriac  followed  is  the  risht  one.  It  has  led  Um- 
breit and  CoNANT,  with  other  excellent  oommeutators,  so  to 
render  it :  "  God  heeds  not  the  prayer."  Tliere  comes  to  mind, 
however,  that  rule  of  criticism,  sound  in  the  main,  that  the 
more  rare  form  is  to  bo  preferrel,  on  the  rational  ground 
that  a  change  to  it  from  the  apparently  easier  is  less  likely 
than  the  contrary  course.  Tne  view  is  strengthened,  too, 
when  we  look  carefully  at  the  idea  conveyed  by  the  other 

form  n  7i}n,  though  at  first  it  seems  strange.    It  is  an  un- 

T  :    ■ 
usual  word,  and  its  etymological  sense,  withont  salt,  ineplnm, 
(see  this  form  Job  i.  22  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  13;  and  another  from  the 

same  root  73r\  Joh  vi.  6;  Lam.  ii.  14)  strikes  us  as  poor, 

"  T 

and  unsuitable  to  so  vivid  and  impressive  a  context.  From 
this  primary  sense,  however,  of  inxnUilas,  nnsaltcrlne^a,  inxipi- 
dUy,  comes  that  of  absurdity,  motislrosUy,  whence  it  is  applied 


to  anything  odions  and  ahominahle,  that  which  can  be  re- 
duced to  no  rule  of  consistency — abnormal,  abhorrent — a.n  ano- 
maly, as  Df.i.itzsch  renders  it.  Heme  the  term  chosen  by 
the  translator  from  a  similar  etymology,  though  having 
more  force  than  the  word  of  Dklitzsch — an  enormity  (e  norma) 
out  of  all  rule,  utterly  irrational.  The  more  it  is  examined, 
the  more  it  will  be  seen  to  give,  not  only  the  truer  sense 
lexically,  but  the  more  impressive, — the  epithet  only  calling 
attention  to  it,  without  adding  to  its  meaning.  It  is  a  mon- 
strous enormity,  so  considered,  a  hideous  blot  on  the  face  of 
creation;  and  yet,  according  to  .Tob's  picture,  God  pays  no 
attention  to  it.  Horrible  enough  when  we  think  of  some 
sacked  town,  or  castle,  in  remote  Idumea;  but  how  is  the 
feeling  of  such  an  enormity  increased  when  we  bring  to  re- 
membrance other  scenes  of  slaughter  far  surpassing  it  in 
modern  warfare, — of  Borodino,  for  example,  or  Sedan;  or 
when  we  call  up  other  bloody  pictures  frcfm  Ancient  His- 
tory, such  as  Thucydides'  account  of  the  terrible  defeat  of 
the  Athenians  in  the  land  and  sea  fight  at  Syracuse  (close  of 
Book  vii.  70,  71).  Some  of  the  language  is  very  much  like 
that  of  this  verse  of  .lob,  the  mingled  wailing  and  shouting 
of  the  combatants,  "  the  cry  of  the  slayers  and  the  slain," 
bWvPTMi'  re  Kal  oAAu/u.eVwi',  in  describing  which  the  liry  his- 
torian is  carried  up  to  the  Homeric  grandeur  of  language 

and  conception.  Another  reason  for  preferring  p 7£3j^  is 
that  J,'f3ty  would  have  been  the  most  natural  verb  to  fol- 
low rivBil  (prayer),  though  D'ty'j  with  the  usual  ellipsis, 

T  •   : 
would  suit  either  reading.    The  Vuioate  renders,  Et  Dous 
iimltum  aliire  non  patitur;   LXX.  Auto?  6t-  Siari  toutio^  eiri- 
(TKOTT-qv  oil  TrtTToiTjTai,  wliich  may  suit  either  reading. 

15  Ver.  13.  They  too.     n^H  emphatic.    A  new  class 

T    •• 

mentioned,  but  spoken  of  as  well  known — Wjo.se  notoriotts  cha- 
racters. 

16  Ver.  13.  Trodden  paths,  veil  knotm,  n'O'tOJ,  ia 

distinction  from  the  more  general  word  "I'n — like  Or. drpa- 

Trd?.  Compare  also  the  same  word,  Job.  xxxviii.  20:  "paths 
to  its  house,"  that  is,  the  light. 

17  Ver.  1-1.  At  the  dawn.  Literally  at  the  light,  the 
first  beginning  of  day-break.  There  is  no  contradiction 
here,  as  Merx  maintains,  of  the  previous  description.  They 
are  called  enemies  of  light  as  much  in  a  moral  as  in  a  jdiy- 
sical  aspect.  But  even  in  the  latter  it  is  all  consistent.  The 
murderer  starts  at  the  break  of  day  to  surprise  and  slay  the 
poor  as  he  goes  forth  to  his  labor.  Or  the  emphasis,  as  is 
most  likely,  is  on  Dip')  denoting  not  his  rising  from  his 

bed,  but  his  sudden  rising  up  from  his  ambush  where  he  has 
been  lying  all  night,  waiting  for  his  victim,  whom  he  sur- 
prises at  break  of  day. 

18  Ver.  l.'i.  A  masking:  veil.  IHD  has  more  pro- 
perly the  alistract  sense  of  concealment,  here  put  for  the  in- 
strument of  concealment,  whether  a  veil  or  a  mask. 

19  \er.  16.  In  covert  do  they  keep.  Literally, 
tJtey  fieal  themselves  up.  1D7,  ^U  themselves,  or  giving,  as 
7  sometimes  does,  a  reflex  or  hithpahel  sense  to  the  verb, 
though   in  such  cases  some  call  it  pleonastic — as  ?]7  ';j7 


108 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


17 


18 


Yes,  morning-"  is  as  death  shade  to  them  all ; 

For  (in  it)  they  discern,  each  one,  the  terrors  of  the  dark. 

Light  as^^  the  bubble  on  the  water's  face, 

He  flees, — accursed  his  portion  on  the  earth ; — 

Nor  turns  he  ever  to  the  vineyard^^  way. 


19 


20 


As  drought  and  heat  bear  off  the  melting-^  snows, 

So  Sheol  those"  wlio  sin. 

The  womb'^  (the  mother's  heart)  forgets  him  there ; 

Whilst  on  him  sweetly  feeds'®  the  worm. 

He  comes  in  memory  no  more  ; 

And  broken  like  a  tree  Injustice^'  lies. 


21 


22 


Again  ;  the  man  who  wrongs  the  barren,^*  childless  one, 
And  to  the  widow  no  compassion"'  shows. 
The  strong,  too,  by  his  might,  he  bears^"  away  ; 
He  riseth  up ;  no  one  is  sure  of  life. 


)l  "irfn,  Gen.  xii.  1,  Tn  ni3,  Amos  vii.  12.    This  view  is 

now  generally  adopted,  but  the  old  rendering  of  E.  V.,  Tre- 
MELLins  and  others :  "  trhirh  theij  have  marked  (  Vi'LOAte,  ar/reed 
o»)  for  themselves  hi/  dai/,''^  has  some  claims  to  consideration. 
The  absence  of  1  gives  it  very  much  the  appearance  of  a  re- 
lative clause,  and  the  verb  to  sealmny  easily  denote  anything 
put  upon  the  house  for  recognition.  Raschi  tells  us  that 
Bome  of  their  Rabbins  explain  it  of  the  thieves  putting  bal- 
sam T10D"^i3X  upon  the  treasure  houses  discovered  during 

the  day,  that  they  might  know  them  by  the  smell  in  the 
night. 

20  Yer.  17.  Mornlns:.  Delitzsch  would  make  morninc/ 
the  predicate:  "  The  depth  of  the  night  is  as  the  dawn  of  the 
moniino ;"  but  his  reasons,  drawn  from  the  position  of  the  ac- 
cents, are  not  satisfactory.  The  other  idea  is  the  more  con- 
sistent one:  the  morning  is  to  them  the  time  of  fear.  They 
recognize  in  it  the  terrors  of  the  night,  or  what  to  other  men 
are  such.  A  change  of  number  again,  T'J' ;  but  to  be  taken 
distributively :  each  one  of  them,  whether  murderer,  adult- 
erer, or  thief. 

«  Ver.  18.  lilg^ht  as  the  bubble.  See  the  same 
comparison  Hosea  x.  7,  "as  the  foam  upon  the  waters,"  swiftly 
gliding  away.  It  is  the  thief  making  his  escape  M'hen  the 
morning  terrors  come,  as  shown  by  its  connection  with  the 
previous  verse.  The  simplest  and  most  literal  view  is  the 
best  and  clearest.  It  removes  immediately  the  difficulties 
which  some  find,  as  though  Job  here  was  contradicting  him- 
self in  pointing  out  something  unfavorable  to  the  wicked 
man.  For  this  reason  it  has  been  turned  into  a  prayer,  a 
wish:  ''  li(jht  maij  he  be,  etc.,"  but  without  a  single  mark  in  tbe 
language  to  countenance  any  such  idea.  It  is  a  part  of  his 
picture,  even  if  taken  as  describing  generally  the  transito- 
riness  of  the  evil  life,  and  it  is  at  once  explained  by  keeping 
ever  in  view  the  two  leading  ideas  contained  in  the  first 
verse,  namely,  events  (limes)  known  to  God,  but  no  visible 
eigns  of  retribution  coming  from  His  hand.  The  wicked 
man's  misfortunes  are  freely  mentioned,  the  popular  curse 
pursuing  him,  his  death,  and  being  carried  off  to  Sheol,  his 
fleeing  and  keeping  out  of  the  way  of  the  vinej'ards ;  but 
these  come  from  social  and  natural  causes,  not  from  any 
eeen  hand  of  God.  It  is  just  as  the  drought  and  heat  carry 
off  the  snow  waters.  No  more  appearance  of  retribution  in 
the  one  case  than  in  the  other.  Both  classes  of  events  alike 
confirm  his  ar^'ument. 

22  Ver.  IS.  The  way  of  the  Tlneyards  is  the 
open,  known,  cultivated  country,  in  contrast  with  the  fores's, 
or  tlie  desert.  See  the  similar  expression :  the  imy  to  the  citii. 
Eccles.  X.  15.   ■  J  J 

23  Ver.  19.  Melting'  snows.  This  is  the  best  expres- 
sion the  translator  could  find  for  jSt!?  'D'D,  u'atersofsnmo; 
the  imfenj  imotF ;  unless  it  refers  to  the  streams  that  have  be- 
come swollen  from  the  snows;  but  the  acnse  o{  quick  carrying 

off  which  is  in  SlJ  would  not  so  well  suit  the  drving  up  of 
full  streams.  Compare,  however.  Job  vi.  17,  Fur  the  appli- 
cation of  this,  see  remarks  ia  note  above. 


2*  Ver.  19.  Those  who.  The  second  clause  is  an  ex. 
ample  of  the  extreme  Hebrew  conciseness;  and  yet  the 
English  nearly  admits  of  it  without  sacrificins  clearness: 
So  Sheol,  who  have  situied — a  construction  barely  tolerable,  if 
we  regard  who  as  containing  the  object  in  the  subject  (like 
the  relative  what),  just  as  in  the  Hebrew  of  the  above  the 
relative  or  object  is  contained  in  the  personal  pronoun  ex- 
isting in  the  form  of  the  verb. 

25  Ver.  20.  The  woinb.     Compare  Isaiah  xlix.  15. 

20  Ver.  20.  Feeds  the  worm.  A  most  striking,  yet 
mournful  picture:  Dead  and  gone;  forgotten  by  the  mater- 
nal heart;  but  the  worm  loves  him — feeds  sweetly  on  him. 
Comp.  xxi.  33.  There  is  no  need  of  the  sense  siicls  here, 
although  it  may  be  primary  in  pr\T2  (compare  V^fD),  unless 

it  carry  the  idea  of  sucking  with  relish ;  since  the  thought 
of  pleasure  or  sweetness  must  not  be  lost  from  the  compari- 
son. 
2"  Ver.  20.  Injastice.     The  simple  rendering  of  H^IJ^ 

t:  ~ 
will  do  here,  without  taking  it  for  the  nnjust  man.  It 
would  only  make  a  repetition  ;  whilst  the  idea  of  his  injus- 
tice, too.  lying  prostrate  like  a  broken  uprooted  tree  wliich 
can  no  longer  yield  him  any  fruit,  makes  quite  an  addition 
to  the  picture.  If  anything  is  to  be  supplied,  it  might  per- 
haps be  rendered  his  unjust  gain,  the  cause  put  for  the  effect. 
The  tree  broken  off,  and  no  longer  yielding,  would  represent 
this  very  well.  If  it  is  a  personification,  it  might  be  taken 
as  in  the  Bunyan  style,  the  name  given  from  the  leading 
characteristic :  Injustice,  there  he  lies,  uprooted  like  a  tree. 

28  Ver.  21.  The  barren  childless.  This  was 
esteemed  a  more  desolate  state  than  that  of  the  widow,  even 
the  bereaved  or  childless  widow. 

29  Ver.  21.  Wo  compasslou.    Negative  phrases,  like 

3'£3'^  vi;  (for  3'D')i  are  sometimes  the  most  positive  and 

severe  in  their  significance:  "Does  no  good  to  the  widow."  as 
UMBREtT  and  Delitzsch  render  it,  is  very  tame.  Koi  to  do 
good  here  is  to  be  inhuman  and  unmerciful.     It  is   not  a 

mere  selfish  neglect.  So  7J7' 73  (heliaT)  is  not  unprofitable- 
ness (its  etymological  significance),  but  utter  vileness,  and 
7,i'' /3  ''J3  (<">»«  of  Belial),  the  worst  of  men.    So  in  Greek 

and  Latin.  Compare  the  axpe'os  S0CX05,  the  nnprofitahle  ser- 
vant of  the  gospel.  In  like  inaiiner,  in-imicus  is  n^it  merely 
tint  a  friend  (nnn  aniirns').  but  a  positive  enemy;  iHi-miVis,  not 
simply  not  mild,  but  most  Jierce  and  cruel. 

30  Ver,  22.  Bears  away.    ^t^O  here  may  have  the 

Arabic  sense,  very  near  akin  to  the  Hebrew  of  seir.ing,  hold- 
ing fast;  Comp.  Ps.  xxviii.  3,  although  the  common  sense  of 
drawing,  dragging  awaij,  would  suit  very  well.  Whether  this 
is  a  new  cliaracter  that  here  enters  into  the  picture,  or  an 
old  one  brought  up  again,  cannot  be  certainly  decided.  It 
looks  some  as  though  the  one  described,  ver.  18,  as  pursued 
by  the  popular  curse,  whether  robber  or  tyr.ant,  had  reco- 
vered power  to  the  dismay  of  liis  enemies  and  of  all  others. 
"  He  rises  up  again,"  and  they  have  to  escape  for  their  lives. 


23 


24 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


109 


God  lets  them  rest"  in  their  security  ; 

But  still  His  eyes  are  ever  on  their  ways. 

They  tower  a  little  while,  and  straight  are  gone  ; 

Brought  low  like  all/'^  like  all  they're  gathered  in  ; 

Even  as  the  topmost  ears  are  severed  like  the  rest. 


25       Is  it  not  so  ?    Who  then  shall  prove  me  false  ? 
Or  bring  to  nought  my  words  ? 


DELlTZSCn  makes  God  the  subject  of  "^^ifO  :  "He  (God)  pre- 
senelk  the  mi'jMij."  But  there  is  not  the  least  warrant  fur 
this  on  tlie  face  of  tlic  text,  nor  does  he  ^ive  any  autliority 
for  the  sense  oi preserving  tlius  taken  for  the  verb.  Nowhere 
hasltyO  any  such  meaning.    Otliers,  like  Umbreit,  make 

D'^^'^N  tlie  subject:  Die  Starken  halten  fest  aa  ihrer  Kraft. 

The  singular  verb  itself  ia  not  an  insuperable  objection 
to  this,  although  it  is  not  easy,  and  no  such  indica- 
tions appear  as  justify  tlie  collective  use  of  the  plural  here, 
or  the  distributive  use  of  the  singular  in  some  other  verses. 
The  context,  too,  i^  all  against  it.  No  intimation  is  given 
that  the  true  subject  of  the  verb  here  is  not  tlie  same  man, 
■whoever  he  may  be,  that  wronged  "the  childless  barren," 
and  ".showed  no  compassion  to  the  widow."  lie  it  is  who, 
after  his  injustice  to  the  weak,  drags  down  his  powerful 
foes.  The  conjunction  1  would  be  gufflcient  to  warrant  such 
an  inference,  besides  the  structure  of  both  verses  pointing 
to  a  contrast  as  intended  between  these  two  varying  classes 
of  his  victims,  and  thus  milking  a  completed  picture.  The 
verb  Dip'-  toOi  seems  to  carry  the  idea  of  one  who  liad  once 
been  overcome,  but  now  rises  up  to  a  greater  vengeance. 

31  Ter.  23.  God  lets  them  res*.  Literally:  "He 
grants  to  them  that  they  may  be  stayed  in  confidence." 
God  is  doubtless  the  subject  here  of  jjT,  but  the  verse  is  not 

to  be  taken  as  indicating  either  favor  or  disfavor.  De- 
litzsoh's  version  is  so  made  as  to  give  the  first  idea:  "God 
giveth  him  rest,  and  he  is  sustained,  and  His  eyes  are  over 
all  their  ways,"  that  is,  to  preserve  and  prosper  them.  In 
this  the  e  is  to  be  seen  the  influence  of  that  idea  which  has 
so  perverted  the  interpretation  of  this  whole  chapter.  It  is, 
that  Job  is  solely  intent  on  describing  the  prosperity  of  the 
wicked.  But  the  contrary  picture  so  comes  out,  in  a  num- 
ber of  verses,  that  no  forcing  can  keep   it  out   of  sight. 


Hence  the  strangely  conflicting  efforts  at  explanation;  one 
class  of  commentators  charging  the  others  with  holding  un- 
tenable'positions,  until  extreme  men,  like  Meux,  settle  the 
whole  thing,  to  their  own  satislaction,  by  the  most  arbitrary 
changes  in  the  text.  Generally  Job  is  not  very  logical ;  but 
in  this  cliapter,  he  seems  never  to  lose  sight  of  the  two 
leading  ideas,  before  mentioned,  with  which  he  sets  out  in 
its  beginning :  Erciity  are  not  }ddden  from  God,  and  yet  Ihtxe 
ivho  prof  ess  to  know  Jlini  do  not  see  his  visible  days  of  retribution. 
Both  are  maintained  here.  God  lets  the  wickf-d  go  on  in 
their  security ;  but  He  is  not  favoring  them  in  so  doing. 
Tlie  second  clause  does  not  mean  looking  upon  them  for 
preservation,  but  simply  what  it  says:  "His  eyes  are  on 
their  ways;"  or  as  it  is  said  Prov.  xv.  3:  "beholding  the 
evil  and  the  good."  The  language  here  reminds  us  of  that 
which  Paul  uses  Acts  xvii.  30;  when  ho  speaks  of  God  as 
orerlooking  the  times  (tous  /h€»'  xpoi/ou?  vnepiSuv,  Job's  word 

rr r\V.  ver.  l),  not  in  the  sense  of  not  seeing,  or  winking  at 
as  our  translation  gives  it,  but  of  looking  over,  or  beyond, 
to  the  great  day  when  all  shall  be  right;  just  as  the  German 
verb  nbersehen  and  our  oreWooA-may  have  both  senses  accord- 
ing to  the  context,  or  to  the  division  of  its  parts.  In  inter- 
preting this  chapter,  the  memorable  passage  xxi.  30,  though 
controverted,  is  not  to  be  lost  sight  of.  Neither  are  we  to 
regard  Job  as  denying  a  thing  so  undeniable,  whether  re- 
garded in  the  light  of  history  or  of  revelation,  as  the  fact  of 
there  being  sometimes  visible  divine  retributions  upon  earth, 
striking,  though  rare.  But  it  was  this  view  of  their  non- 
risihility,  or  of  their  comparative  rarity,  that  was  here  to  be 
urged  against  extremely  one-sided  opponents,  and  every 
pious  interruption  of  that  argument  would  have  been  out 
of  place. 

82  Ver.  24.  liike  all.    The  force  of  bi)3,  "  ''^"e  «H,"  goes 

through  the  clause. 


Chapter  XXV. 

1  Then  answered  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  said 

2  To  Him^  belongs  dominion— yea/  and  fear. 
'Tis  He  who  makes  the  harmony^  on  high. 


1  Ver.  2.  To  Him.  Bildad  would  overwhelm  the  im- 
penitent Job  with  a  display  of  God's  power  and  mighty 
works.  He  does  this  in  a  very  grand  style.  As  abstract 
truth,  or  regarded  as  something  said  about  God  (see  remarks 

on  the  interpretation  of  ''^X,  -^l"-  7,  Int.  Theism,  pa.  8.5), 

it  is  better  than  Job's  passionate  expostulation;  but  tlie 
latter,  it  may  be  said,  is  nearer  to  the  great  mystery  which 
the  untried  BiMad  has  little  feeling  of,  much  as  he  thinks 
lie  understands  it  in  theory.  Renan  says  here;  "Bildad, 
d6sesp6rant  de  vaincre  I'impi^te  obstin6e  de  Job,  et  pour 
montrer  combien  sa  pretention  d'arriver  jusqu  au  trflne  de 
Dieu  est  inseusiie,  cesse  de  le  prendre  k  partie  et  se  borne  h, 
exalter  d'une  mauifere  gendrale  la  puissance  divine." 

2  Ver.  2.  Yea,  and  fear.  The  conjunction  1  seems  to 
have  the  force  of  the  double  el  in  Latin— 6o(ft  fear  and  domi- 
,jjo„ — or,  dominion  and  fear,  too,  as  though  he  meant  to  ter- 
rify the  daring  Job  who  talks  (xxiii.  3)  of  coming  even  to 


God's  throne.     Such  a  view  Is  suggested  by  ^113,  a  stronger 

word  than  HXT,  religious  fear.  This  denotes  dread,  terror; 
and,  as  thus  making  a  climax,  seems  like  .something  added 
to  the  idea.  "  With  lUm  is  dominion,"  etc.  It  reminds  us  of 
the  doxology  to  the  Lord's  Prayer:  ''Thine  w  the  kingdom, 
the  glory." 
3  Ver.  2.  The  harmony.      Heb.   Dwty,  peace,  pax, 

T 

pnctnm,  as  though  referring  to  personal  beings.  Here,  how- 
ever, as  siioken  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  Goil's  hosts  or  armies, 
it  must  mean  a  physical  harmony— something  like  "the 
music  of  the  spheres,"  or  rather  the  higher  thonght  of  beauty 
and  order  out  of  which  that  Pythagorean  conception  arose. 
See  Ps.  xix.  5:  "Their  line  (their  vibrating  musical  string) 
hath  gone  out  to  the  ends  of  the  world."  Vuloate:  Concor' 
diam  in  mbliiiiibus  s)tis.  It  is  that  idea  of  law  as  holding  to- 
gether the  universe  which  all  devout  minds  had  long  before 
Newton,  although  it  was  unknown  in  its    mathematical 


110 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


The  number  of  His  armies,  who  can  count  ? 
Or  say  o'er*  whom  His  light  doth  not  arise  ? 
How  then  can  man  be  just  with  God? 
Or  how  can  he  be  clean,  of  woman  born  ? 
Look  to^  the  moon ;  behold  1  she  pales  her ; 
The  stars,  to  His  beholding,  are  not  pure. 
Much  less  a  mortal' man — corruption's®  child- 
The  son'  of  man — the  worm  ! 


terms.  It  is  admirably  expressed  by  Socrates  in  the  Gor- 
gias,  508  A,  though  treated  there  as  an  old  idea  of  tlie  wise : 
"For  they  say,  the  sages,  that  community  {icoivuiviav),  har- 
mony, peace,  holds  together  heaven  and  earth,  and  therefore 
do  they  call  it  Kosmos." 

,  *  Ver.  3.  O'er  Wbom — arise.  Some  would  render 
7^*    Dip'  surpass:  God's  light  surpasses  that  of  the  moon 

and  stars.  This  is  undoubtedly  the  idea,  as  appears  in  the 
verses  following,  but  the  more  simple  and  literal  rendering 
clearly  expresses  it.  There  is  suggested,  moreover,  the  idea 
of  these  lesser  lights  being  but  reflections  from  Ilim,  "the 
Fathei  of  Lights,"  James  i.  17.  With  the  first  clause  of  the 
verse  compare  Isaiah  xl.  26. 
6  Ver.  5.  IiOOk  to  tbe  moon  ;  even  to  the  moon.    "^^ 

here  expresses  degree:  vfqne  ad,  TXD  HJ? — even  to  the  moon 
80  high.    It  goes  with  TH  in  calling  attention. 

6  Ver.  6.  Corraption's  cbild.    Not  merely  to  avoid 


an  nnpleasant  tautology  in  Engrlish  may  this  rendering  be 
used,  but  as  really  giving  that  fuller  etymological  signifi- 
cance of  the  word  which  must  have  been  felt  in  the  original , 
since  (13 "^i  the  generic  term  for  worm,  is  so  called  as  the 

T    ' 

supposed  product  of  putrefaction ;  see  Exod.  xvi.  24.  ty'lJX, 
man  indmdualtt/,  poor  and  wretched,  mortaJh,  Pporo^. 

1  Ver.  6.  Tbe  SOU  Of  man.  C31N  p,  man  generi- 
cally — the  human  race,  humanity.     See  xvii.  14 : 

To  corruption  have  I  said — my  father  thou; 
My  mother  and  my  sister — to  the  worm. 

How  the  Bible  expresses  the  physical  lowliness  and  the 
spiritual  greatness  of  man — especially  redeemed  man  united 
by  faith  to  the  Eternal — may  be  seen  from  Isaiah  xlii.  14, 
10:  "Fear  not  thou  toorm,  Jacob;  fear  thou  not;  for  I  am 
wilh  thee,  I  strengthen  thee;  I  help  thee;  I  uphold  thee  by 
the  right  hand  of  my  righteousness.    Thou  art  mine.'''' 


Chapter  XXVI. 

1  Then  answered  Job  and  said: 

2  How  hast  thou  helped  the  powerless? 
Or  saved  the  feeble^  arm  ? 

3  How  hast  thou  counseled  the  unlearned  ? 
Or  truth,^  in  its  immensity,  made  known  ? 

4  Of  Whom'  hast  thou  declaimed?* 
Whose  inspiration  is  it  comes  from  thee? 


1  Ver.  2.  Feeble  arm.    Man  of  the  feeble  arm. 

2  Ver.  3.  Truth  in  its  immensity.  The  expres- 
sion 3^7  almost  always  denotes  a  vastness  beyond  count 

T 

or  measure;  as  Dcut.  i.  10;  x.  22,  etc.,  stam  for  multitude: 
Josh.  xi.  4;  2  Samuel  xiii.  5,  etc.,  sand  on  the  sea  shore,  etc.; 
Judg.  vi.  5;  vii.  12,  the  innmiterahle  locHst.i;  1  Kings  ix.  27, 
the  countless  willows  of  the  valley,  and  so  on  in  many  other 
places,  ri'tyin  here  suggests  the  same  idea  as  in  xii.  16, 
where  see  note ;  as  also  ExonRsns  V,  pa.  188. 

8  Ver.  4.  Of  whom.  'O  HX-  This  is  rendered  by 
some,  uHth  mliom,  tliat  is,  by  the  aid  of  whom.  It  agrees  with 
a  sense  that  is  given  to  j~\X  when  regarded  as  a  preposition, 
and  harmonizes  quite  well  with  the  question  in  the  second 
clause.  Umbreit  renders  it  to  irhom.  So  Dkutzsch  and 
others,  lehom  had  thou  taught,  making  it  the  subject  of  mjri) 

T  :  -  • 
as  in  xxxl.  37.    The  latter  view  may  be  modified  by  reg.ird- 

ing  ^0  as  the  object  of  the  verbal  sense  in  {' 7D)  rather  than 

of  the  verb  expressed;  and  that  probably  gives  the  reason 
of  its  being  accompanied  by  PX,  the  sign  of  the  object,  used 
when  there  is  somethins;  emphiitic  about  it,  or  requiring  to 
be  peculiarly  noticed.  Or  if  taken  directly  with  jIljlTI,  it 
may  be  because  the  verb,  in  that  case,  has  a  double  object 


(whom  dost  thon  speaJc  words  about f)  like  the  Greek  A^yeiv 
TLvd  Tc.  In  many  cases  where  the  sense  of  with  is  given  to 
PtH,  it  simply  denotes  government,  as  in  the  frequent  phrase, 

l3~nX  Ton  T^iL^Vt  did  good  with  (or  to)  any  one.    This  may 

T    T 

be  better  rendered  do  one  good  (show  him  mercy),  exactly  like 
the  other  Greek  phrase,  Spav  nva  ri. 

*  Ver.  4.  Hast  thon  declaimed.    This  seemingly 

free  rendering  is  given  to  T^D  mjn  because  the  words, 

taken  together,  convey  here  just  that  idea.     V/D  is  thus 

used  for  the  more  formal  speeches  (sermones)  or  speech- 
making,  soileutious  and  showy.  The  verb  in  its  more  primary 
sense  of  holding  forth  (setting  before),  making  a  show,  contains 
tlie  same  idea.  This  is  increased  by  the  emphasis  on  '3, 
taken  with  /IX  :  ^"ho  is  it,  who  is  the  Being  you  are  making 
speeches  about  f  The  reference  is  to  Bildad's  display  in  re- 
spect to  the  heavenly  bodies,  as  Eliphaz,  too,  had  done  xxii, 
12.  These  are  patent  glories;  but  the  mind  of  Job  is  on  tbe 
dark  mysterious  side  of  tilings,  and,  therefore,  instead  of 
looking  up,  he  looks  down,  and  calls  attention,  in  the  oppo- 
site direction,  to  the  depths  below,  left  only  to  the  trembling 
imagination  of  man,  but  a^  visible  to  God  as  any  of  the  upper 
splendor  that  strikes  our  eye. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


Ill 


10 


11 


12 


13 


Where^  groan  the  giant'  shades, 

Beneath  the  waters  and  their  habitants, — 

All  bare  before  Him  lies  the  Underworld, 

And  deep  Abaddon'  hath  no  covering. 

High  o'er  the  Void,  He  stretcheth  out  the*  North  ; 

And  over®  nothing  hangs  the  world'"  in  space. 

He  binds  the  waters  in  his  cloud ; 

Nor  is  it  rent  beneath  their  weight. 

He  closes"  firm  the  presence  of  His  throne, 

And  o'er  it  spreads  His  cloud. 

A  circle''^  marks  He  on  the  water's  face, 

Unto  the  bound  w'here  light  with  darkness  blends. 

Heaven's  pillars  rock ;" 

They  stand  aghast  at  His'^  rebuke. 

So  by  His  strength  He  quells'^  the  [raging]  sea. 

And  by  His  wisdom  smites  its  threatening  down. 

By  His  spirit  hath  He  made  the  heavens  fair  ;'* 

The  serpent  swift  (on  high)  His  hand  hath  formed. 


5  Ver.  5.  Where  This  word  of  place  is  necessary  ns 
connected  with  the  declaration  ver.  6.  See  Excursus  VI., 
pa.  189. 

6  Ver.  5.  Giant  shades.     See  Exc.  VI.,  pa.  189 

'  Ver.  6.  Deep  Aba^Ulon.     See  E.xc.  VI.,  pa.  189. 

8  Ver.  1.  Stretehetb  out  the  north.  See  Exo. 
VI.,  pa.  189. 

9  10  Ver.  7.  Over  nothing— world  in  space. 
See  Exc.  VI.,  pa.  189. 

11  Ver.  9.  He  closes  firm.  TPIXO,  makethfast.  Shut- 
ting is  on]y  a  secondary  sense  as  used  in  Kal.  Neh.  vii.  3; 
but  there  it  more  properly  means  holding  tight  the  gate  after 
it  is  shnt ;  the  shvitting  being;  expressed  by  another  word. 
The  best  places  to  determine  its  meaning  here  are  1  Kings 
vi.  6,  where  it  is  used  of  the  building  of  Solomon's  house, 
nnd  2  Chron.  ix.  18,  where,  as  here,  it  is  connect<-d  with  the 
building  of  a  throne.  The  Piel  here  is  simply  intensive  of 
Kal.  It  never  loses  its  primary  sense,  and  therefore  firmly 
closing,  as  by  a  reiling  or  a  b(ir,  would  be  better  than  De- 
litzsch's  '^enshrouding"  which  m^kes,  moreover,  a  mere 
tautology  of  the  second  clause.  It  may  be  a  question  whe- 
ther strengthening  or  Jh-nily  maintaining  is  not  the  sense  here, 
rather  than  shiilling.  Thus  regarded,  the  verso  would  be 
nearly  parallel  to  I's.  xcvii.  2:  "Clouds  .and  darkness  are 
round  about  Him;  but  Justice  and  Truth  are  the  establish- 
ment of  his  thioue."     n03  ^ 2Q,  the  face  of  the  throne,  would 

be  the  D /^N,  the  vestibule  or  porch  of  the  throne  regarded 
as  a  large  structure  (vJDTI  'Ji3  7j^)  as  described  1  Kings 

vi.  3. 

12  Ver.  10.  A  circle.  This  is  simply  phenomenal,  or 
optical,  rather.  It  sets  forth  the  visible  horizon,  though  it 
maj'  be  taken  to  represent  the  earth's  remotest  limit.  De- 
LITZSCH  makes  too  much  of  it.  It  has  nothing  to  do  with 
'•  the  conception  of  the  ancients  that  the  earth  is  surrounded 
by  the  ocean,  on  the  other  side  of  which  the  region  of  dark- 
ness begins."  That  was  an  idea  of  the  Mediterranean  Greeks 
and  Phoenicians,  rather  than  of  the  desert-roving  or  inland 
Arabians. 

13  Ver.  11.  Heaven's  pillars  rock.  The  word 
n31"l.  1*061  of  fin,  occurs  only  here,  but  it  almost  ex- 
plains itself:  ytrophaphu.  It  expresses  a  rapid,  vibratory, 
oscillating  motion,— a  quivering,  like  the  Greek  pin-i)  toO 
b(j>0a\fiov,  phonetically  similar,  but  having  a  dilT  rent  ety- 
mology. The  "pillars  of  heaven  "  are  the  high  mouutaiiis 
that  present  the  optical  appearance  of  holding  up  trie  hea- 
vens, as  Atlas  to  thfse  who  sail  on  the  African  Atlantic ; 
whence  the  Greek  fable. 

i*  Ver.  11.  At  His  rebuke.  His  thunder-voice.  Um- 
BEEIT  s.ays  admirably:  "  We  think  on  the  heavy  sounding 
thunder  rolling  on  from  mountain  to  mountain  (den  dumiif 
von  Berg  zu  Berg  fort  roUendon  Donner)."  So  Sinai  shook, 
Ps.  Ixviii.  9;  Juil.  v.  4.  Comp.  also  Ps.  civ.  12:  "  He  touch- 
eth  the  mountains  and  they  smoke."  As  expressive  of  this 
astonishment  of  nature  at  the  presence  of  her  Lord,  see, 


moreover,  Ps.  cxiv.  5-7:  "  What  ailed  thee,  0  thou  sea,  that 
thou  fleddest?  thou  Jordan  that  thou  wast  driven  back? 
Ye  mountains  that  ye  skipped  like  rams,  ye  little  bills,  like 

lambs.  Tremble  thou  earth  (^  7in)  at  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  at  the  presence  of  the  God  of  Jacob." 

16  Ver.  12.  He  quells.  EwaLd,  Deutzsch,  and  ZbCK- 
LER,  give  J7jn  tl"©  opposite  sense  of  rouses  tip,  but  the  other 
is  certainly  more  in  accordance  with  the  Hebrew  utsage  (see 
Isaiah  li.  l.'j),  as  well  as  with  the  corresponding  Ar.abic  verl> 
(to  return).  So  in  the  second  clause,  they  tian.-ilate  It'nhab 
(3ni)  as  a  proper  name,  and  refer  it  to  some  supposed 
monster  of  the  deep.  The  sense  of  pride,  threatening,  rage,  or 
strength  (Ps.  xc.  10)  which  the  word  undoubtedly  iias,  suits 
well  the  application  to  the  sea,  although,  there  is  no  pro- 
noun:  Smites  down  the  threatening  storm  (VPO  smites  it 

at  one  blow).  This  is  the  rendering  of  Gesevius,  Umbreit, 
and  CONANT.  It  is,  too,  in  the  more  perfect  harmony  with 
the  parallelism,  even  if  we  regard  Rahab  as  the  sea  monster, 
to  render  J^JT  is  Gesenics  does.  It  would  carry  the  ilea 
of  this  mighty  creature  sporting  in  the  storm,  and  struck 
down  by  the  power  that  quells  it.     Comp.  Ps.  cvi.  9. 

18  Ver.  13.  The  heavens  fair.  By  this  rendering, 
which  is  that  of  Umbreit  and  Conant,  the  parallelism  is  bet- 
ter maintained  than  by  any  other.  The  transition  is  now 
from  the  stormy  sea  to  the  serene  heavens.  It  is^irs^  to  the 
heavens  generallv,  or  the  brilliant  niglitly  sky  with  its  glo- 
rious array  of  constellations,  and  secondlij  to  one  particular 
constellation  (Serpens,  or  Draco),  of  excelling  interest  and 
beauty.  This  constellation,  from  its  striking  and  graceful 
appearance,  is  represented  as  the  special  wmk  of  God's  hand, 
as  the  whole  is  of  His  creating,  order-producing  spirit  (see 
Gen.  i.  2).  It  is  called  the  swift  serpent  (fleeing,  fugitire)  from 
its  appearance  of  (;?ii7tH(/  among  the  stars  and  tirining,  as  it 
were,  around  the  North  pole  of  the  heavens.  To  one  who 
looks  at  this  very  ancient  figure,  as  it  now  shines  in  our 
northern  nightly  heavens,  a  very  little  imagination  will 
call  up  the  appearance  that  suggested  this  epithet  to  Job. 

7*7171,  as  the  Poel  of  lin,  has  the  generative  or  partnrl- 
tive  sense  from  the  primary  idea  of  pain,  trarnil,  or  stntggle, 
and  thence  transferred  to  production  generally.  When  ap- 
plied to  God's  creative  efforts,  if  we  may  use  the  term,  it 
seems  to  carry  the  idea  of  some  mighty  struggle  with  op- 
posing forces;  not  literally,  of  course,  but  as  indicative  of 
the  comparative  greatness  of  the  work  (see  Ps.  xc.  2;  Deut. 
xxxii.  18).    The  other  rendering:  icoiouk,  j)ierces  the  Serpent 

(from  77n),  makes  an  incongruoiis  image,  and  drives  to 
some  far-fetched  supposition  like  that  which  Delitzsch 
gives,  namely,  God's  piercing  the  Dragon  who  swallows  up 
the  sun  in  an  eclipse  (see  also  his  comment  on  ch.  iii.  5).  The 
supj)osed  parallelism,  in  that  case,  between  the  first  and  se- 
cond clauses,  would  consist  in  the  first  mentioned  serenity  of 
tlio  heavens,  and  the  restoration  of  their  light  on  the  slaying 
of  the  sun-devouring  dragon.  With  all  respect,  however,  for 
SO  excellent  a  commentator  as  Celitzsch,  the  opiuiou  must 


712 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


14       Lo,  these,  the  endings"  of  His  ways ; 

'Tis  but  a  whisper'*  word  we  hear  of  Him ; 
His  thunder-power,  then,  who  can  comprehend  ? 


be  pxpressed  that  this  is  extremely  forced,  besides  being  de- 
BtriKtive  of  tlie  exquisite  liarmuny  nt'  tlio  paKsMge.  It  may 
be  said,  moreover,  tliat  this  fable  of  the  swallowing  dragon, 
however  it  might  suit  the  monster-loving  Chinese,  or  Hindu 
imagination,  is  alien  to  the  clear  Shemitic  mind.  There  is 
no  proof  of  its  having  ever  conceived  any  such  thing.  There 
is  a  difficulty  in  nTSti')  first  clause.    It  cannot  be  the  Piel 

T    :    * 

(mal:i>  fair),  it  is  said,  for  the  want  of  the  Dagesh;  but  that 
objection  is,  by  no  means,  insuperable.  Tlie  gender  also 
seems  in  the  way.  unless,  as  some  think,  X^  is  paragogtc. 
This,  however,  may  be  resolved  l>y  the  idea  of  an  attraction 
between  the  verb  and  nn.  in  iflll^.  which  is  in  fact  the 
more  immediate  agent;  or  it  may  be  said  to  be  demanded  to 

make  a  more  perfect   parallelism  with  IT  H  7  .H  in  the 

T  T  : 
second  clause;  if  we  may  not  rather  reganl  T  itself  as  the 
subject  of  mStVi  anticipated,  as  it  were.  By  taking  it, 
however,  as  a  noun  {the  heavens  are  beauty),  we  get  the  same 
general  idea,  and,  as  some  might  think,  more  vividly  ex- 
pressed. There  is  some  plausiliility  in  the  rendering  "  by 
his  breath  {his  iciml)  he  makes  the  heavens  serene,"  as  by  a 
clearing  up  after  a  storm.  This  lias  in  its  favor  its  agree- 
ment with  the  previous  verse,  but  it  would  impair  the  con- 
nection with  the  second  clause.  Another  idea  may  be  en- 
tertained, that  by  the  serpent  here  is  meant  the  ordinary 
serpent  descrilied  by  his  ever  (jlidiiig  away,  and  tlion  the  pa- 
rallelism might  be  said  to  consist  of  a  contrast  between  the 
heavens,  the  great  works  of  God,  and  one  of  the  lowest 
things  on  earth.  The  astronomical  idea,  however,  suits  best 
with  the  spirit  of  ihe  wliole  chapter. 

"  Ver.  11.  The  ending^s  of  His  ways.  The  refe- 
rence is  to  the  works  of  nature,  or  rather  to  those  of  the 
preate^t  beauty  and  magnitude,  such  as  are  represented  in 
the  latter  verses  of  this  chapter.    These  phenomena,  splendid 


as  they  are,  are  but  "  the  ends  of  his  ways,"— the  lower  ends. 
The  great  power  stands  back  of  them,  or  above  them.  It 
calls  to  mind  a  most  impressive  formula  employed  by  the 
Arabian  Schoolmen.  Our  present  knowledge,  or  the  know- 
ledge    of   sense,    they    called    malcateu    ^lamure     (y£3XpO 

'*11'3N7{<\  the  ends  or  of-ciittiiiffs  of  things— sectiones  rerum, 
(something,  perhaps,  like  wluit  Paul'  meant,  1  Cor.  xiii.  9, 12, 
hy  " knowitig  in j>ait,'"  ex  fi.epov;).  They  compared  it  to  the 
threads  which  stick  out  from  tlie  lower  or  wrong  side  of  tho 
tapestry  which  th('  great  Artiiic-r  is  weaving  above — exitiis 
finales,  rerum  (nii'p)  comparati  cum  telis  qu;e  super  jugo 

textorio  divinw  voluntfitis  texnntur  (see  Willmet  Arab.  Lex. 
611).  Even  the  brilliant  heavens  present  to  us  the  lower 
side,  the  wrong  side  of  the  carpet,  as  it  were,  in  which  the 
figures  (the  ideas)  are  dim  and  confused.  How  gloriously, 
then,  must  they  stand  out  above,  or  to  the  mind  that  sees 
them  from  the  higher  plane! 

18  Ver.  14.  A   whisper  word.     Nature's  "still  small 

voice,"  npl  nO"D1  Sip,  1  Kings  xix.  12.    The  thnn- 

It-       t  t  :  I 

der  power,  or  literally  the  thunder  of  His  power,  Djn 

"iniQJ  is  that  displayed  in  the  great  creations,  or  creative 

T  ; 
days  (referred  to  in  the  theophanic  Address,  xxxviii.  4-12), 
when  the  Word  went  forth  like  "the  seven  thunders  in  the 
Apocalypse,"  or  the  great  days  of  renovatimi  referred  to  in 
Ps.  cii.  27,  and  Isaiah  Ixv.  17:  "Behold  I  create  new  Hea- 
vens, and  a  new  earth."  Or  it  may  refer  generally  to  the 
miraculous  in  the  history  of  this  world,  or  God's  special  deal- 
ings with  it,  in  distinction  from  the  orderly  movements  in 
the  common  course  of  things.  See  Excursus  on  Ecclesiastea 
xi,  6,  Lange  Com,  vol.  x.  p.  160. 


Chapter  XXVII. 

1  Then  Job  again  took  up  his  chant  and  said  . 

2  As  liveth  God  who  turns'  away  my  j^lea, — 

The  Almighty  One  who  hath  distressed  my  soul,- 
8       So  long*  as  breath  remains  to  me, 

And  in  my  nostrils  dwells  Eloah's'  life, — 
4       These  lips  of  mine  shall  never  say  the  wrong, 

My  tongue  shall  never  murmur*  what  is  false. 


1  Ver.  2.  Tarns  away.  E.  V.  and  others,  "tal-es 
nway  my  right,"  conveying  the  idea  of  an  unjust  decision. 
But  .Job  ciinnot  mean  this.  In  the  first  place,  tho  words 
will  not  bear  it.  They  cannot  here  be  carried  beyond  the 
Idea  of  turning  aside,  or  putting  off.  In  the  second  place, 
tho  charge  of  an  unjust  decision  would  be  inconsistent  with 
the  act  of  swearing  by  God,  which  implies  that  He  is  the 
sure  support  of  right,  as  well  as  of  Iriilh — the  ground  of  con- 
fidence. Qod's  people  are  represented  as  those  wlio  swear 
by  his  name.  Dent.  vi.  13,  },*2VJr\  101^31,  Isai.  Ixv.  16, 
"shall  swear  by  the  God  of  truth  and  justice,"  ?«3N  Ti^JO, 

I  ■*  T        *■ 

Isai.  xlviii.  1:  Ps.  Ixiii.  12:  "Let  every  one  rejoice  that 
Bweareth  by  Him."  Tliere  is,  therefore,  weight  in  the  re- 
ni-irk  that  Raschi  quotes  from  Kabbi  Joshua,  that  ".lob 
must  have  served  God  I'rom  love,  because  no  one  swears  by 

the  life  of  the  king  (iSoH  "HJ)  unless  he  loves  the  king." 

2  Ver.  3.  So  long  as.  Dklitzsch  and  Zocki.er,  with 
others,  take  the  3d  and  4th  verses  as  a  pjirenthesis,  and 
bring  the  force  of  the  oatli  on  the  5th.  The  reasons  th»y 
give  will  not  hold.    Sculoiimann  goes  with  the  old  exposi- 


tors, and  gives  substantially  the  rendering  here  adopted, 
which  is  that  of  E.  V.,  Luther  and  Conant.  For  ^J  after 
verbs  of  swearing,  see  1  Sam.  xxi.  16;  2  Chron.  xviii.  13. 

8  Ver.  3.  Eloah's  life.    nO  hero  evidently  denotes 

something  more  than  n*Dt!'J  in  the  first  clause:   The  breath 

T  T  : 
of  life,  in  distinction  from  the  mere  respiration.   Eloah's  life, 

the  life  that  Eloah  has  given.    Comp.  Gen.  vi.  3,  TUT)  "my 

spirit,"  the  spirit  or  life  that  I  have  given  man.    Comp, 

Ecclesiastea  xii.  7. 

4  Ver.  4.  Mnrmnr.  The  Hebrew  rUH  is  frequently 
rendered  to  meditate;  but  this  is  only  a  secondary  sense. 
The  primary  idea  is  that  of  a  low  muttering,  or  mnrmnring 
voice,  as  when  one  is  reading  to  himself.  A  contrast  of 
diminution  is  evidentl.v  intended  liere,  and  our  word  mnr- 
mnring,  in  its  primary  sense  of  a  low  sound  (not  that  of  com- 
plaining), is  the  be«t  our  language  affords  for  its  expression: 
sh.all  not  speakxt — shall  not  even  breathe  or  murmur  such  a 
thing. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


113 


Away*  the  thought ;  I'll  not  confess®  to  you  ; 

Nor  mine  integrity,  until  my  latest  breath/  renounce. 

My  right  I  hold  f  I  will  not  let  it  go  ; 

My  heart  shall  not  reproach  me'  while  I  live. 

Mine  enemy  ;  be  he  the  wicked  one  ; 

And  mine  accuser,'" — he  the  unjust. 

For  what  the  false'^  man's  hope  that  he  should''^  gain, 

"When  once  Eloah  redemands'^  his  soul  ? 

Will  God  regard  his  cry 

When  trouble  comes  ? 


6  Ver.  5.   Away  the  thongbt.    ^7  D /'' bn :  Pro- 

T      •   T 

fmutm.    As  used  thus,  it  is  a  kind  of  interjection  expressine 
tlie  utmost  abliorrence:  0 profane!     0 abomination! — proeul 
absit. 
6  Ver.  5.  I'll  not  confess.    DDJ^X  p'^VK,  -^dmU 

yon  tn  he  in  (he  ri^ihl. 

'  Ver.  5.  Ijatest  breatll.  Literally,  mUil  I  gasp, 
i'UN  n^\  odh  eyhwah,  an  onomatopic  word. 

8  Ver.  6.  On  the  omiHsion  of  conjunctions,  see  Note  xiv.  2. 

9  Ver.  6.  My  heart  shall  not  reproach  me. 

Renan:  Mon  coenr  ne  me  reproche  pas  uu  seul  demes  jours. 
So  Delitzsch:  M;/  heart  reproaolieth  not  any  one  of  my 
days.    This  may  do  if  we  take  0  in  'D'O  in  its  partitive 

TT  • 

sense:  any  one  of  my  days.  Bnt  the  other  view  which  regards 
the  expression  as  denoting  the  time  how  long  is  easier  and 
eaves  a  difficulty.  The  reader  sympathizes  with  Job's  gene- 
ral vindication  of  himself;  but  the  assertion  that  nothing  to 
cause  self-rejiroach  had  ever  occurred  ia  any  single  day  of 
his  life  is  extravagant  and  repelling. 

10  Ver.  7.  Mine  accuser.  Literally,  one  icfeo  risert  up 
against  me — his  arlviTsary  in  the  litigation.  This  idea  is  in 
the  Hithpoel   DOIpnO.   'ike  the  Greek  Middle  participle 

6  KaraSiKa^oixd'O';.  It  is  not  an  imprecation,  nor  even  a 
harsh  wish,  personally,  except  so  far  as  it  affords  a  vehement 
way  of  repelling  the  charge  from  himself.  It  simply  means : 
If  he  cannot  make  it  out,  then  he  is  the  wicked  man,  he  the 
unjust. 

11  Ver.  8.  The  false  man.  Such  a  one  as  they  would 
make  Job  to  be,  and  such  a  one  as  he  would  truly  be,  should 
he  make  a  false  confession.    Gesenics  gives  to  f|jn   the 

general  sense  of  profane,  impious,  impure,  which  is  almost 
the  direct  contrary  of  the  Arabic  H'jn.    Most  of  the  later 

commentators  follow  this.  The  old  rendering  hypocrite, 
however,  is  almost  everywhere  used  by  E.  V.,  and  the  idea 
of  falseness  of  some  kind,  which  the  context  generally  con- 
nects with  the  word,  gives  it  countenance,  especially  in  such 
a  place  as  this.  It  furnishes,  too,  a  better  ground  of  agree- 
ment with  the  Arabic  sense  of  devotee,  which  might  easily 
come  from  it,  or  give  rise  to  it,  hy  that  reverse  association 
which  has  gr^at  influence  in  language. 

18  Ver.  S.  That  he  should  gain.  This  corresponds 
to  the  old  versions,  to  the  Syriac  especially,  and,  in  general, 
to  the  views  of  the  older  commentators.  The  rendering, 
when  He  ciitteth  ojf,  given  to  the  Kal  V'^2''  (Delitzsch,  Z8ck- 

T       • 

VEK,  Umbreit  and  others),  is  presented  with  great  confidence ; 
but  there  are  to  it  very  serious  objections.  1.  It  makes,  in 
fact,  an  intervening  clause,  to  which,  however  short,  the 
accents  ought  to  have  conformed.  2.  It  gives  one  subject 
(God)  to  two  verbs,  in  two  separate  clauses,  each  beginning, 
nnnecessarily,  witli  the  particle  '3 — *  thing  certainly  very 
unusual,  if  not  unexampled  in  Hebrew.  The  rarity  of  such 
a  construction  seems  admitted  in  the  fact  that  Delitzsch 
can  only  cite  two  cases:  Job  x.x.  19;  Neh.  iii.  20.  But  a 
careful  examination  of  those  places  shows  very  essential 
differences,  rendering  them  quite  inapplicable  here.  In 
both,  the  verbs  are  preterites,  and  follow  each  other  imme- 
diately in  the  same  clause.  What  is  still  more  important, 
in  each  example  the  first  verb  is  evidently  used  as  adverb- 
ially qualificative  of  the  other.    Thus   xx.  19,  31^'  l*2f  "1, 

"  he  hath  cnmhed,  he  hath  forsaTcen  the  poor :"  he  hath  cruelly 
forsaken  after  crushing,  or  in  crushing.  The  two  make  one 
complex  act,  the  first  heightening  the  effect  of  the  other. 
The  example,  Neh.  iii.  20,  is  still  more  clear.  It  Is  a  graphic 
picture  of  the  builders  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  each  one 
earnestly  engaged  in  his  separate  work:  "After  him  Bazuk, 
the  son  of  Zabbai,  p'?nn  iTinri,  he  was  zealous,  he  strength' 

8 


ened;"  that  is,  he  zenhnsly  strengthened;  as  in  Pthor  cnseg 
where  one  verb  is  qualificative  of  another.  Z.  It  would 
make  a  feeble  repetition,  besides  changing  the  figure:  "«/< 
off — draw  out  his  soul."  i.  It  destroys  the  parallelism,  as  it 
breaks  the  clauses.  The  other  view  is  very  easy  and  natu- 
ral, besides  most  perfectly  jireserving  the  parallelism  and 
the  harmony  of  contrasted  ideas.  It  is  certain  that^'V^  in 
Kal  has  this  sense  of  gaining,  gathering  wealth,  though  coming 
from  the  sense  of  seizing,  plundering,  in  a  woid.  of  rapine 
(rapnit);  that,  too,  derived  from  the  still  more  primary  sense 
of  cutting.  The  pure  primary  sense,  however,  is  quite  rare, 
and  is  mainly  confined  to  the  Piel,  though  even  there  the 
sense  of  rapine  is  predominant.  The  idea  of  gaining  wealth 
by  violent  means  is  the  most  common,  especially  in  Kal, 
and  as  it  appears  in  the  noun  ^7^3;  which  comes  to  mean 

gain  acquired  in  any  way.  In  Job  vi.  9,  we  have  the  Piel 
with  the  tense  of  carrying  or  taking  away.  Had  it  been 
Piel  here,  it  would  have  been  more  favorable  to  the  view  of 
Dklitzsch;  and  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why,  if  such  had  been 
the  intended  meaning,  there  should  have  been  used  another 
form  more  commonly  associated  with  the  other  idea. 
Easchi  gives  the  same  idea  as  we  have  in  E.  V.    He  renders 

it  by  7JJ  to  plunder  (when  he  hath  plundered).    This,  too, 

has  the  primary  senpe  of  e.rcinion,  and  gives  the  same  play 
of  words,  or  rather  of  ideas,  which  is  one  of  the  elements  of 
the  parallelism:  the  rapine  of  the  wicked  man  (his  evil  gain) 
and  his  own  rapttts  or  carrying  off,  when  death  makes  a  jjrey 
of  him.  Dr.  Conant  aims  at  preserving  this  in  his  transla- 
tion, whilst  preserving  also  the  old  idea.  The  rendering 
above  given  calls  up  the  picture  drawn  by  our  Saviour, 
Luke  xii.  20,  of  the  rich  man  congratulating  himself  upon 
his  gairn  at  the  very  time  when  his  soul  is  required  of  him, 
or  literally  when  they  demand  back  his  soul  (aTratToCo-t); 
"then  whose  shall  those  things  be,"  etc.  The  rendering 
which  this  demands  for  the  first  O  '8  certainly  its  most 
usual  and  natural  one  before  a  future:  VV3'  O  mp/l, 

■"hope  that  he  shall  gain,"  or  may  gain.  In  the  next  clause, 
where  this  connection  ceases,  it  has  the  other  and  verj'  fre- 
quent rendering  of  «'7(eH,  which  is  both  temporal  and  causal. 
There  is  no  difficulty  about  this.  ^2  connects  as  motive,  as 
reason,  or  as  occasion  :  that— for  or  because — when.  All  these 
uses  come  from  its  original  pronominal  sense,  and  are  ana- 
logous to  the  two  senses  of  on  in  Greek  (that  and  bcratise), 
and  to  the  closely  allied  ore  (irhen),  all  of  which  flow  out  of 
the  pronoun  like  the  double  sense  of  (ptod  in  Latin  (that  and 
because,  also  quum  when,  neuter  of  old  form  quus  for  JiiiJ,  and 
the  similar  double  use  of  that  in  English. 

IS  Ver.  8.  Re-demand.  Great  difficulty  is  found 
with  7tl?"',  which  cannot  be  made,  grammatically,  from 
7ty3,  nor  fro™    //tl'i  whilst  the  attempt  to  derive  it  from 

H/iI^  fails  to  give  any  suitable  sense,  unless  we  borrow  it 
from  a  similar  Arabic  verb,  as  Gesenics  and  others  do  for 
this  occasion.  They  would  thus  render  it  draws  out  his  soul, 
as  from  the  body  its  sheath — a  conception  having  little  war- 
rant in  the  Hebrew  psychology,  and  only  a  seeming  one — as 
connected  with  a  totally  different  word — in  the  Chaldaic  of 
Daniel  vli.  15.  If,  however,  the  Arabic  is  to  be  resorted  to, 
then  is  there  a  very  strong  warrant  for  Schncrrer's  view, 
which  Gesknius  says  "is  not  to  be  contemned."  Regarding 
it  as  pure  Hebrew  in  sense  and  etymology,  he  would  treat  it 
as  taking  a  form  prevailing  in  the  corresponding  Arabic 

word.    Thus  it  would  be  from  vXty,  to  asTi,  demand,  or  ^I^"" 

abbreviated  for  7Ktj/'  with  a  falling  out  of  the  weak  X,  and 

the  vowel  of  the  preformative  lengMiened  bv  the  usual  law 
of  compensation.    In  Arabic  the  abbreviation  comes  from 


114 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


10       Is  he  the  man  who  in  the  Almighty'^  joys  ? 
Or  who  at  all  times  ou  Eloah  calls  ? 


11 


12 


I'll  teach  you  now  by  God's  own  hand ; 
His  dealings^*  I  will  not  keep  back  from  you. 
Behold,  ye  all  have  seen  the'®  sight ; 
Why  then  speak  ye  such  utter  vanity  ? 


13  This  is  the  bad  man's  dole  assigned"  by  God, 
The  robber's  heritage  from  Shaddai's  hand : 

14  'Tis  for  the  sword  his  children  multiply; 
His  offspring  are  not  satisfied  with  bread. 

15  Those  that  remain  are  buried^^  all  in  death ; 
His  widows^"  do  not  weep. 

16  Though  silver  like  the  dust  he  heaps, 

And  raiment  common  as  the  clay'"  provides ; 

17  He  may  prepare,  the  just  shall  put  it  on ; 
His  treasures  shall  the  innocent  divide. 

18  His  house  he  buildeth  like"'  the  moth. 

Or  like  the  vineyard  booth  the  watcher  makes. 

19  Rich'^^  lies  he  down,  never  to  sleep'"^  again; 


the  trite  use  of  the  word.  The  same  reason  would  have 
force  in  the  Hebrew,  and  is,  moreover,  strengtliened  l>y  the 
fact  of  cases  where  this  weak  X  is  actually  lost  in  the  de- 
rivative noun,  as  in  nl'ty  for  H/XH'i  1  Sam.  i,  17.    Such  a 

T ■■  T"  : 

rendering,  demands  or  re-demands  (airaiTei),  would  mike  per- 
tfact  the  parallelism  which  is  felt  to  exist  between  tins  and 
•Luke  xii.  20,  before  cited:  r-qv  \l/vx^v  aov  airaiTovai  "they 
-■will  demand  thy  soul  of  thee;"  although  there,  instead  of 
God,  the  subject  is  plural — the  evil  agents  whom  He  permits 
to  carry  away  the  avaricious  man's  soul.  Merx  is  often 
very  extravagant  in  his  treatment  of  the  text;  but  here  he 
,  keeps  the  usual  reading,  and  is  very  happy  in  his  rendering, 
'  'eepecie.lly  of  this  second  clause: 

Waa  hat  der  LSLstrer  denu  zu  hoffen,  wenn  er  raubt, 
riUnd  wean  sein  Leben  durch  den  Fluch  gefordert  wird? 

:  i«  Ver.  10.  Is  he  the  man  ?  The  rendering  in  the 
future  (E.  V^),  "will  he  delight  himself?"  instead  of  the  inde- 
finite present,  mars  the  force  of  the  passage  as  descriptive 
of  character.  Job  contrasts  such  a  man  and  his  probable 
doings  with  his  own  well  known  religious  life.  It  is  not  to 
hoast  of  it,  but  to  repel  the  idea  of  his  being  such  an  evil- 
doer as  their  charges  would  make  him.  They  had  no  proof 
of  them,  and,  therefore,  they  were  bound  to  take  his  charac- 
ter for  piety,  sc  well  known  throughout  the  East,  as  evi- 
dence that  he  could  not  be  guilty  of  such  sins.  His  life  of 
prayer  was  opposed  to  it,  especially  what  is  recorded,  i.  5, 
of  his  continual  supplications,  and  his  offering  of  sacrifice 
for  his  children  when  exposed  to  temptation  in  their  hours 
-of  feasting.  "How  does  this  suit  the  man  you  have  repeat- 
edly described?  Will  he  take  delight  in  the  Almighty? 
Will  he  be  earnest  and  constant  in  prayer?" 

.15  Ver.  U.  His -dealing's.  Literally,  "the  things  thnt 
are  with  the  Almighty."  His  peculiar  dealings.  The  pre- 
position OJ^  has  been  several  times  used  to  denote  some 

•special  atttribnte  or  way.  Comp.  xii.  16:  "With  IJim  is 
strength  and  wisdom;"  xv.  9;  xxiii.  14:  "Many  such  things 
are  xcith  Him."  Jcfb  talies  high  ground  here.  He  n  t  only 
repels  their  chargog,  but  assumes  the  position  of  their  in- 
structor. He  has  a  wirier  experience  than  they  possess,  both 
of  the  ways  of  God  and  the  ways  of  men.  On  the  consistency 
of  what  follows  as  compared  with  former  speeches  of  Job, 
see  ExcDRsns  III.  of  tlie  Addenda,  pa.  183. 

16  Ver.  12.  Te  all  have  seen  the  sl^ht.  This 
language,  as  Delitzsch  well  observes,  is  of  the  highest  im- 
portance in  the  interpr.etatioB  of  the  rest  of  the  chapter. 
Tou  have  seen  the  man,  he  says,  as  you  have  described  him, 
and  as  I  am  about  to  describ*!  him.  You  profess  to  be  fami- 
liar with  the  case.    Am  I  like  him?     Does  my  life,  known 


to  you,  known  to  the  world,  carry  those  marks  of  the  Vtl'*1 

T     T 

that  you  are  fond  of  setting  forth?  If  not;  if  ye  have  no 
proot  of  any  such  thing,  what  utter  falseness  and  absurdity 
in  the  application  ye  so  repeatedly  make  of  it  to  my  case! 

"  Ver.  13.  Literally  with  God,  7X  D^' :  in  tte  course  of 
His  dealings.    See  Note  15,  ver.  11. 

18  Ver.  1.5.  Burled  in  death.  Unnecessary  trouble 
has  been  given  by  this  phrase,  as  here  occurring.  Bottcher, 
quoted  by  Deutzsch,  regards  mo  here  as  denoting  pesti- 

VT 

lence,  as  it  seems  to  do,  Jer.  xv.  2;  xviii.  21;  and  so  De- 
LiTzscH  himself  takes  it,  whom  Zookler  follows.  Olshausiv 
and  De  Wette  would  draw  back  the  negative  from  the 
second  clause,  or  supply  it  here  by  way  of  correction :  not 
buried,  that  i.s,  left  mihuried  in  death.  May  it  not  bo  simply 
a  kind  of  summing  up;  They  are  slain  by  the  mcord,  by 
famine,  etc.,  and  these  miserable  remnants  that  escape  such 
violent  ends  are  all  somehow  buried  in  death,  whatever  may 
be  the  manner  of  it. 
1*  Ver.  15.  His  wldonrs,  etc   The  same  Ps.  Ixxviii.  64. 

20  Ver.  16.  I^ike  the  dust— lihe  the  clay— com- 
parisons, not  of  qiutlUy,  but  of  quantity  merely. 

21  Ver.  18.  I^lhe  the  moth.  Not  as  the  moth  builds, 
but  frail  as  the  moth — same  comparison  iv.  19.  The 
watchers'  booth.  A  transient,  temporary  hut  for  the 
watchman  of  the  vineyard.    See  Isai.  i.  8. 

22  Ver.  19.  Rich  lies  he  down.  Not  the  rich  man; 
for  that  would  seem  to  denote  another  charactt'r  introduced. 

I^K'J.'  is  not  a  new  subject,  but  a  descriptive  epithet. 

23  Ver.  19.  Never  to  sleep  again.  In  order  to  get 
the  rendering  there  must  be  a  different  pointing  ^DN', 

making  it  PIDS'  (=  'I'DV)  instead  of  flDX',  out  of  which 

it  in  diffi''nU  to  get  any  moaning.  Literally,  then,  it  w.^uld 
be:  he  lies  down,  and  adds  not,"  that  is,  never  does  it  again. 
This  is  adopted  now  by  the  best  comment.ators,  and  the  chief 
authority  for  it  is  the  LXX.  version:  ov  npo<T0rj(Tei,  which, 
in  such  a  case,  is  good  testimony  for  the  sup))osed  ancient 
vowel  reading  to  which  it  corresponds,  however  little  its 
authority,  in  general  as  a  translation.  The  far  more  accu- 
rate Syriac  translation  here  has  also  DpJ3  7  flQIJ  Nvl,'""'^ 

ghfill  not  aaain  arise,  being  suflRciently  variant  from  the  LXX. 
to  show  that  it  was  independent  of  it.  Like  the  images  in 
the  next  clause,  and  in  the  next  verse,  the  whole  language 
denotes  his  sudden  taking  off. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


115 


Once  opens'*  he  the  eye,  and  is  no  more. 

20  Terrors  o'ertake^*  him  like  a  flood  ; 

A  tempest  steals  him  in  the  night  away. 

21  The  east  wind  lifts  him  up,  and  he  is  gone. 
Tornado  like,''®  it  hurls  him  from  his  place. 

22  God  sends  (his  bolt)"  upon  him — spares  him  not; 
Though  gladly  from  His  hand  would  he  escape. 

23  Men  clap  their  hands  at  him  ; 

At  sight  of  his  abode'^®  they  hiss  in  scorn. 


2*  Ter.  19.  Once  opens  he  the  eye.  One  glance, 
one  look,  and  he  is  gone.    Or  as  Benan  gives  it: 

II  s'est  endormi  opulent;  mais  c'est  pour  la  derniere-fois ! 
11  ouvre  lea  yeux,  il  n'est  plus. 

25  Ver.  20.  Terrors  o'ertake  htm.  The  image  of 
a  pnisuit  and  capture;  "  terrors  cirfcft  him."  It  is  like  the 
Greek  idea  of  the  chase  of  the  Furies.  JiSCH.  Eumenides,  130, 
140,— 

— Aa^e,  Xo^e,  Xa|8e,  AajSe — 
'Eyeip',  eyeipe  ical  ai)  ttjvS',  ey<o  6e  <ri. 

Steals  him  In  the  nl|cht  away.    Comp.  xxxvi.  20. 

26  Ver.  21.  Tornado  like.  The  Hebrew  word  is  a 
very  strong  one,  and  the  Piel  form  adds  greatly  to  its  in- 
tensity.   It  gets  its  verbal  sense  here  from  the  noun  rT^J^iy. 

TT  : 
Literally,  it  storms,  or  hurricanes  him.    Comp.  Dan.  xi.  40,  and 
the  cognate  '\V0>  Hab.  iii.  14. 

27  Yer.  22.  (His  bolt).    Ood  is  doubtless  the  subject  of 

the  verb  T/CI.    The  near  or  direct  object  is  unexpressed, 

because,  so  easily  implied  in  such  a  connection,  like  /Se'Ao?  in 
Greek.  It  is  the  thunderbolt  which  Greeks  and  Latins,  as 
well  as  the  Hebrews,  regarded  as  the  peculiar  weapon  of  the 
supreme  Deity.  Comp.  xxxvi.  32,  33:  "  Bis  thunder  tells  of 
Him." 

28  Yer.  23.  Atslg^ht  Of  his  abode.    Literally,  from 


his  place.  But  the  translation  of  E.  V.,  which  is  nearly  that 
of  EwALD,  Delitzsch,  and  ZBckler,  may  give  a  wrong  idea: 
Uisshim  out  of  his  place,  as  though  that  were  a  means  of 
driving  him  ajca/^/rom /(j.s7)?ace.  But  this  had  been  already 
done  by  the  tempest,  and  by  God's  bolt.  lO^prSO  can,  there- 
fore, only  denote  the  position  of  the  hisser.  When  mfn 
come  to  the  place  where  he  once  lived,  they  hiss  in  scorn.  It 
might  be  given  in  English  by  changing  the  order:  from  his 
phwe  they  hiss.  This,  however,  being  liable  to  ambiguity,  the 
translator  has  adopted  the  fuller  rendering  of  the  Vl'LOATe: 
et  sibiUibil  super  ilium  intuens  locum  ejus.  The  Hebrew  is  se- 
cure from  ambiguity  by  reason  of  the  preposition  in  10' 7j^ 

(hiss  at  him),  which  translators  seem  strangely  to  have  ne- 
gkcted.  It  is  not  likely  that  Job  meant  this  as  a  general 
description  of  the  wicked  man's  doom,  any  more  than  ho  in- 
tended some,  or  any,  of  his  seemingly  opposite  pictures,  for 
universal  application.  It  has  the  look  of  being  a  marked 
case  of  sudden  and  overwhelming  downfall,  which  he  had 
himself  known  of,  and  whi,ch  was  probably  notorious  to  tbe 
friends,  as  we  may  gather  from  his  language,  v.  12 : 

Behold  ye  all  have  seen  the  sight. 

It  had  made  a  great  impression  upon  all  minds  as  a  striking 
example  of  both  Divine  and  popular  vengeance.  Job  shows 
by  it  that  his  experience,  in  such  matters,  was  not  limited, 
and  that,  after  all,  there  was  a  substantial  agreement  in  thei  r 
views,  although  he  denounces  their  applications  to  himself 
as  utter  vanity,  ver.  12, 


Chapter  XXVIII. 
1 


Yes^ — truly — for  the  silver  there's  a  vein, 
A  place  for  gold  which  they  refine. 
The  iron  from  the  dust  is  brought, 
And  copper  from  the^  molten  ore. 
To  (nature's)  darkness  man^  is  setting*  bounds  ; 
Unto  the  end^  he  searcheth®  every  thing, — 
The  stones  of  darkness  and  the  shade  of  death. 


r  1  Yer.  1.  Yes.  truly.  A  musing  pause  is  to  he  sup- 
posed between  this  and  the  abrupt  end  of  the  previous  chap- 
ter. The  probable  cause  of  such  unexpressed  thinking,  very 
rapid  it  may  be,  is  attempted  to  be  traced  in  Excursus  V., 
pa.  186,  which  see.  The  particle  ''2  is  the  connecting  con- 
firmation of  the  passing  thought  or  emotion  (taking  form) 
which  makes  the  transition,  and  with  which  the  speaker 
breaks  silence,  as  one  who  had  been  thinking  aloud,  as  it 
were,  or  as  though  it  were  something  known  to  those  with 
whom  he  speaks,  or  which  they  would  immediately  appre- 
hend. 

2  Ver.  2.  The  molten  ore.  More  literally,  tlte  ore 
molten  becomes  copper. 

3  Ver.  3.  Man.  In  the  Hebrew  the  verb  has  only  the 
pronominal  subject:  He  puts  nn  end.  Most  commentators, 
however,  regard  man  as  the  subject,  and  the  context  forces 
to  it 


♦  Yer.  3.  Setting  bounds.  Literally,  puts  an  end, 
that  is,  he  throws  the  dark  border  farther  and  farther  back, 
extends  the  horizon  of  knowledge.  The  imagery  suggests 
that  of  xxvi.  10.  , 

6  Yer.  3.  Unto  the  end.     r\'7Dr>  taken  adverbially. 

The  rendering  is  that  of  Dr.  Conant. 
«  Yer.  3,  Searcheth,     ("lpin)i  or,  is  the  explorer,  taken 

as  a  noun.  This  shows  that  man  is  the  subject  above,  as  it 
would  not  be  in  harmony  with  the  idea  of  God.  The  parti- 
ciple is  to  be  carried  all  through  the  verses  following,  and 
should  be  expressed  where  there  is  no  specifying  verb.  It  is 
not  adding  to  the  translation,  but  a  filling  up;  whether  the 
singular  or  the  plural  number  be  required. 

T  Yer.  3.  Stones  of  darkness,  etc.:  j3X,  taken  col- 
lectively.   The  ores  hidden  in  the  earth,  and  conceived  as 


116 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Breaks  from  the  settler's*  view  the  deep  ravine ; 

And  there,  forgotten'  of  the  foot-worn  path, 

They  let  them  down'", — from  men  they  roam  afar. 

Earth's  surface  (they  explore)  whence  comes  forth  bread, — 

Its  lowest  depths,  where  it  seems"  turned  to  fire ; 

Its  stones  the  place''^  of  sapphire  gems, 

Where  lie  the  glebes  of  gold. 

A  path"  the  bird  of  prey  hath  never  known, 

Nor  on  it  glanced  the  vulture's  piercing  sight, 

Where  the  wild  beast  hath  never  trod. 

Nor  roaring  schachaP*  ever  passed  it  by. 

Against  the  granite'^  sends  he  forth  his  hand  ; 

He  overturns'*  the  mountains  from  their  base. 

He  cutteth  channels  in  the  rocks  ; 

His  eye  beholdeth  every  precious  thing. 

From  weeping  bindeth  he  the  streams,'^ 

The  deeply  hidden  brings  he  forth  to  light. 


10 


11 


12 


But  Wisdom, — where  shall  it  be  found? 
And  where  the  place  of  clear  intelligence  ?'^ 


lying  near  Tzalmaveth  or  the  confines  of  the  underworld 
(the  terra  umhnirum). 

6  Ver.  4.  Settler's.  The  word  is  a  modern  one,  and  yet 
seems  to  give  the  idea  here.    "1  j  is  rendered  inhabitant,  but 

T 

it  means  rather  a  reside^U,  a  dweller  merely,  as  distinguished 
from  a  bont  »t(i(iiie.     IJ  is  rendered  s<ran^erj)i?</rii7j,  one  away 

from  home ;  but  in  fact  the  two  words  are  nearly  the  same. 
One  of  tliem  is  used  to  define  the  other,  as  in  Leviticus  xvii. 
1-i  DDDinS  T-in  l^iH)  "  "'«  stranger  thai  aojcnirneth  in  Vie 

midst  of  you."  The  idea  here,  as  colored  by  the  context, 
Beems  to  be  that  of  one  dwelling  in  a  remote  region,  the  last 
inhabitant,  in  fact,  on  the  very  frontier  of  this  wild  mining 
district.  If  so  our  word  pioneer,  or  settler  would  convey  just 
that  idea  of  remoteness  required,  and  the  double  preposition, 
Dl'O)  would  intensify  the  meaning  (from  with,  from  his  so- 
ciety, to  the  desert  wild).  From  this  last  border  of  civiliza- 
tion they  go,  letting  theimelnes  down  the  precipices,  hst  to  the 
beaten  road,  and  far  away  in  the  trackless  solitude.  The  de- 
scription, tliough  very  abrupt  and  concise,  suggests  almost 
literally  tlie  simiUr  language  with  which  .^sohylus  de- 
scribes the  wild  Caucasian  region. 

'XBovo^  ixkv  ei?  TYiXovpov  rixofiev  TreSov, 
^KvOrjv  is  olfiov  a^arov  ei?  eprjixiav. 

— TTp'o';  Trerpais 

Vi/lVjAOKp^/liCOl? — 

TiZS'  anavOpuiirio  rraya). 

"  A  frontier  land — an  untrodden  desert — high  beetling  rocks 
— a  craggy  region  far  from  liuman  haunts."     On  the  words 

yi3  and  7713,  and  the  differing  Interpretations  given  to 
them,  see  ExcuRSua  VIII.,  pa.  l'J9. 
»  Ver.  4.  Forgotten  of  the  foot.     7J1    denotes 

here  a  well  trodden,  well-known  Way.  To  this  they  are  lost, 
if  we  may  take  the  Niphal  participle  deponently ;  but  the 
literal  passive  is  far  more  poetical.  Instead  of  their  having 
lost  their  way.  or  wandered  from  it,  the  way  itself  is  per- 
sonified as  having  forgotten  them.  It  is  in  accordance  with 
such  expressions  as  we  have.  Job  vii.  10;  Ps.  ciii.  16;  "the 
place  thereof  knoweth  it  no  more." 
1"  Ver.  4.  Tliey  let  them  down  {themxelves  down), 

by  ropes,  or  other  means  from  the  precipices:  17'1=V7'1. 

On  this  see  Excursus  VIII.,  pa.  109. 

"  Ver.  5.  Seems  turned  to  fire.  See  Excursus 
VIII.,  pa.  199. 

12  Ver.  6.  Place  of  sappliires  ;  near  this  region 
of  fire  or  affected  by  it.  There  may  bo  here,  perhaps,  some 
idea  of  sapphires  and  other  precious  stones  being  the  pro- 


\i\ctoffire,—}yyritic,pyroge»oiis;  or.  In  some  way,  of  afierj 
formation.     See  Exc.  Vll'l.,  pa.  201. 

13  Ver.  7.  A  path.  The  place  where  or  whither,  for  a'l 
these  researches  preceding  it ;  or  it  may  be  confined  to 
what  follows,  to  the  I'ith  verse.  Or  it  may  denote,  g  m- 
rally,  the  scene  of  every  thing  narrated  or  described  from 

the  bnji  the  entering  valley,  wady,  or  ravine,  ver.  4.  Such 
a  view  would  be  conclusive  against  the  idea  of  its  meaning 
the  narrow  shaft  of  a  mine.  The  eagle's  glance,  the  vulture's 
eye,  the  wild  beast's  tread,  suggest  something  more  than 
this.  They  give  the  thought  of  deep  and  dark  places  on  the 
earth,  difficult  of  access,  indeed,  but  foreign  to  the  idea  of 
channels  sunk  under  the  earth.    3'nj.   a  word  of  pla<'e, 

used  as  7nj  is  used,  ver.  4,  DIDO  ^er.  0,  and  |'TX,  ver. 

5,  "above." 

1*  Ver.  8.  Roaring  SChachal.  There  are  so  many 
different  names  for  lion  in  Hebrew,  and  especially  in  the 
book  of  Job,  that  it  was  thouglit  best  to  transfer  this,  as  has 
been  done  also  iv.  10.  The  sense  of  roarjnj,  which  Gesf.N'IUj 
gives,  is  adopted,  although  founded  on  slender  authority, 
from  the  Aiabic.     Still   less  satisfactory,   however,  is  the 

other  view,  which  would  regard  7nt!'  a^  equal   to   "inty. 

with  a  change  of  *1  into  7,  thus  making  it  to  mean  black 
limt.  , 

16  Ver.  9.  Granite.    H/'JOvn   rendered  flint,  Ps.  cxiv. 

■     T    ~ 

8. — The  hardest  kind  of  rock;  see  Dent.  viii.  15;  xxxii.  13. 

16  Ver.  9.  Overtnrns.    On  "Ifln  as  here  used  and  as 
I  -  T 
compared  with  Niphal,  ver.  5,  see  Exc.  VIII.,  pa.  201. 

1'  Ver.  11.  The  streams.    The  word  H^inj  is  ever 

T  : 
used  of  the  larger  kind  of  streams,  and  often  of  the  mighti- 
est rivers.  It  never  denotes  a  mere  vein,  or  trickling  flow 
in  the  rocks,  unless  the  sense  be  manufactured  for  it  just  to 
suit  the  supposed  exigency  of  this  place,  as  Gesenius  seems 
to  do.  The  word  alone  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  opera- 
tions here  described,  from  ver.  4  to  12,  cannot  be  confined  to 
so  narrow  a  place  as  the  artificial  shaft  of  a  mine.  Though 
mining  e.xplorations  do  certainly  form  a  chief  part,  yet  the 
language  gives  rather  the  idea  of  extended  wilds,  precipices, 
inaicessible  places,  where  they  are  carried  on.  What  is  said 
about  the  birds  and  the  wild  beasts  shows  this.  The  refe- 
rence here,  tht-n,  would  rather  be  to  the  damming  of  large 
streams,  so  as  to  leave  their  channel  dry  for  "  prospecting  " 
to  use  an  Americanism.  The  poetical  expression  weeping, 
would  have  all  its  force  when  applied  to  the  percolations 
from  dams,  .as  wi^ll  as  to  the  oozings  from  the  rocky  veins. 

18  Ver.  12.  Clear  intellig'ence.  Our  word  under- 
standing is  hardly  the  right  one  here.  It  is  too  vague,  and 
taken  in  too  muiiy  different  senses.  The  German  Einsichl 
carries  with  it  too  much  of  the  idea  of  mere  sagacity,  skill,  as 


RHYTHMICxVL  VERSIO^f. 


117 


13  A  mortal  knoweth  not  its  price; 
Among  the  living'*  is  it  never  found. 

14  The  Deep'-"  saith— "  not  in  me ;" 

The  Sea,—"  it  dwelleth'^  not  with  me." 

15  For  it  the  treasured"  gold  shall  not  be  given, 
Nor  massive^'  silver  for  its  price  be  weighed. 

16  With  Ophir  bars  it  never  can  be  bought ; 
Nor  with  the  onyx,  nor  the  sapphire  gem. 

17  The  glass  with  gold  adorned  gives  not  its  price, 
Nor  its  exchange,  the  rarest  jewelry. 

18  Corals  and  crystals,  name  them  not; 

The  wealth  of  Wisdom  far  excelleth  pearls. 


bolonging  mainly  to  natural  knowledge,  or  the  discernment 
of  natural  causalities.    Tlie  true  sense  of  TTiS.  here,  must 

correspond  to  that  of  nO^H.    Whatever  that  may  be,  as 

T  :  T 
absolute   truth,   HJ'S    is  the  power  of  discerning  it,  the 

T    " 

higher  vision  of  the  higher  truth.  Zockler  makes  the  dis- 
tinction to  be  between  "wisdom  in  its  practical  aspect 
nODH,  and  its  theoretical,"  rU'^;  l>nt  that  tells  us  no- 

T    :    T  T    • 

thing.    If  the  riiDDn  here  set  forth  is  above  us,  so  is  the 

T  :   T 
T\y2 ;  though  something  is  gained  when  we  understand 

that  they  differ  as  truth,  and  the  facttlty  or  power  of  dis- 
crning  that  truth.  It  is  something  wlncti  man  has  not  in 
this  life,  as  is  most  clearly  expressed  in  the  next  verse.  It 
is,  however,  an  intelligence  clear,  unmistakable,  not  admit- 
ting the  least  doubt.  The  pronoun  HI  here,  is  simply  em- 
phatic ;  to  render  it  by  our  demonstrative  would  overload 
tlie  sense. 

19  Ver.  13.  Among  the  llvinjsr.  Lit.:  in  the  land  of 
the  living.  This  wisdom  is  unknown  to  men  in  this  life.  No 
declaration  can  be  clearer,  and  it  is  one  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance in  the  interpretation  of  this  wonderful  chapter.  It 
i^  confirmed  in  ver.  21,  hidden  from  the  eijes  of  all  liviwj, — of 
all  living  in  the  present  state.  In  the  other  world,  or  in 
Death  and  x\baddon,  as  distinguished  from  "  the  land  of  the 
living,"  there  first  begins  to  be  heard  a  rumor,  a  whisper  of 
it.  Whatever  may  be  that  state  of  being,  it  is  then  that  the 
great  secret  of  God,  the  great  end  for  which  He  made  the 
world  and  man,  begins  to  disclose  itself  Something  is 
learned  about  it  after  death,  which  no  amount  of  natural 
knowledge,  or  of  human  science,  can  give  us  here ;  whether 
it  be  the  science  of  Bildad,  or  of  Ptolemy,  or  of  Laplace,  or 
of  a  thousand  years  hence.  Such  merely  natural  knowledge 
never  has,  it  never  will,  shed  one  single  ray  of  light  on  the 
great  question  of  questions.  The  utmost  knowledge  of  the 
physical  world  can  only  give  us  the  how;  and  even  there,  in 
i*8  own  natural  department,  the  darkness  and  the  mystery 
grow  fastertban  any  light  it  sheds.  Nature  itself  is  growing 
darker  the  more  we  study  it.  It  presents  more  unsolved  and 
unsolvable  problems  now  than  in  the  days  of  Pythagoras. 
Its  study  can  never  give  us  the  5ta  ti,  the  «'7((/,  the  reason  ot 
nature  itself  So  Natural  Theology  may  discover  adapta- 
tions, designs  term'nating  in  natnre,  and  that  without  end, 
but  never  the  design  of  those  designs.  And  that,  perhaps, 
is  the  reason  \v\\y  what  we  call  by  that  name  has  so  little 
place  in  the  Bible.  For  we  are  still  in  nature.  It  cannot 
take  us  out  of  it  to  the  wisdom  above,  or  to  the  world  beyond, 
or  to  that  remoter  end  to  which  the  physical  is  only  a  means, 
and  without  which,  or  in  the  ignoring  of  which,  it  has  nei- 
ther a  rational  nor  a  moral  value.  Nature  is  but  subordinate 
to  a  higher  supernatural  world.  Science  without  this  idea 
is  leading  us  to  atheism.  It  is  darkening  all  minds  except 
those  who  have,  in  some  way,  been  taught,  as  from  a  higher 
plane,  the  solemn  lesson  conveyed  in  the  close  of  this  chap- 
ter, that  the  fear  of  God,  faith  in  Him,  and  in  His  goodness, 
whether  we  can  see  it  in  nature  or  not,  is,  fur  man,  his  high- 
est, and,  in  a  comparative  sense,  his  only  wisdom. 

20  Ver.  14.  The  deep  saith.  The  Deep  and  the  sea 
represent  the  physical  world.  They  are  put  for  its  more  un- 
explored recesses.  It  is  a  confirmation  of  the  thought  dwelt 
upon  above.  There  could  not  be  a  more  express  way  of  say- 
ing: this  great  wisdom  of  God  is  not  revealed  in  the  physical 
world.  The  broad  face  of  nature,  its  immensity,  even  its 
unsearchablenees,  proclaim  His  glory.  His  greatness,  the  ex- 
istence of  something  immensely  above  man,  and  all  con- 
ceivable being  (see  Ps.  xix.  1 ;  Eom.  i.  20),  but  it  reveals  not 


the  great  secret  of  moral  destinies;  it  answers  not  the  ques- 
tion :  "  where  shall  wisdom  bo  found  ?" 

*"  Ver.  14.  It  dwelleth  not.  The  second  clause  goes 
beyond  the  first.    It  has  the  asserting  negative  particle  VX, 

giving  a  stronger  emphasis  to  the  declaration,  and  also  the 
more  intimate  preposition  ''^^^»— it  is  not  with  me — no- 
where with  me. 

22  Ver.  15.  Treasured  §;old :  so  rendered  from  tbo 
etymological  sense  of  I'lJD,  something  shut  up,  kept  secure 

as  very  precious.  The  chief  difficulty  in  rendering  this 
splendid  passage,  arises  from  the  number  of  names  for  gold. 
In  respect  to  the  other  precious  things,  absolute  correctness 
is  not  required  to  give  the  impression  of  great  and  incom- 
parable value.  Unless,  however,  we  can  get  reliable  diversi- 
ties for  these  different  names  for  gold,  it  is  difficult  to  avoid 
tautologies,  with  their  weakening  effect,  such  as  we  know 
could  not  have  been  in  the  original.  Gold  is  mentioned,  in 
some  way,  four  times.  In  our  E.  V.  it  is  first  simply  go]<i, 
(ver.  15  njD).    Next,  ver.  16,  we  have  what  is  rendered 

"  gold  of  Ophir,"  or  annim  pretiosum,  as  Gesenius  very 
vaguely  gives  it.  Etymologically  it  would  be  stavip  of  Ophir 
(T'iJIX  Dn3,  from  a  verb  =  JflD,  and   meaning  to  mark, 

cut,  etc.).  Hence  the  translator  has  rendered  itbarsof  Ophir, 
or  Ophir  bars,  as  denoting  gold  uncoined,  too  precious  tor 
numismatical  purposes, — bars  with  their  value  mnri-erf  upon 
them.    In  ver.  17  there  is  a  compound   expression,    jpif 

T  T 

nOOT^  rendered  by  E.  V.  gold  and  crystals,  but  by  most 

commentators,  and  more  correctly,  perhaps,  gold  and  glass. 
The  difficulty  with  this,  however,  is  two-fold:  We  have  gold 
again  unqualified,  which  looks  like  a  coming  down,  and 
joined  with  it  a  substance,  which,  however  rare  and  pre- 
cious it  may  have  been  in  early  times,  is  now  very  common. 
If  it  be  gold  and  glass,  it  must  be  some  combination  of  the 
two,  such  as  aurated  glass,  or  crystalline  (glacial)  gold,  express- 
ing something  once  esteemed  very  rare  and  precious,  but 
now  unknown.  The  translator  has  here  followed  Pareau, 
who  renders  it  vitnim  auratiim,  or  vitrum  aitro  ornatiiiii.  and 
makes  a  very  good  argument  for  the  existence  and  procious- 
ness  of  such  an  article.  Transparent  gold  was  thought  of; 
but  the  other  rendering  appeared  less  hazardous.  In  verse 
19,  we  have  again  the  word  DP3  (mark,  stanqj)  as  a  name 

for  gold,   but  joined   with   "^iniiD   the  jmre,  the   unmi.vul. 

T 

Hence  it  was  taken  as  a  miperlative  expression,  denoting  the 
very  highest  degree  of  purity — gold  in  its  Di'^JV  or  essence 

—gold  without  a  particle  of  alloy  of  any  kind,  like  the  XP'"' 
(tCov  TreTTupu/oieVov  of  Rev.  iii.  18, — the  purest  and  most  I're- 
cious  metallic  substance,  as  a  type  of  the  spiritual  wealth. 
For  the  most  elaborate  and  satisfactory  dissertation  on  the 
precious  thines  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  there  is  recom- 
mended to  the  reader  the  work  of  Parkau,  De  IvimorlaUtutis 
ac  Vitee  Piiturit  Notitiis  ab  Antiquiinimo  Join  Si-rijitore  adhibiti.i. 
The  latter  half  of  the  volume  (pa.  229-367)  is  occupied  with 
an  exhaustive  analysis  of  this  remarkable  chapter.  Accord- 
ing to  tbe  view  taken,  the  fourth  mention  of  gold,  at  the 
close  of  the  long  comparison,  ver.  19th,  is  simply  a  confession 
that  no  conceivable  earthly  Talue  makes  even  an  approach 
to  the  worth  of  wisdom. 

28  Ver.  15.  Passive  silver.  Silver  being  more  com- 
mon than  gold,  quantity  enters  the  more  into  the  estimate 
of  its  value.     The  epithet  masKire,  therefore,  only  gives  tbo 

emphasis  implied  in  hpW''  the  verb  of  weighing. 


118 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


19  AVith  it  the  topaz  gem  of  Cush  holds  no  compare 
No  stamp  of  purest  gold  cau  give  its  estimate. 

20  But  Wisdom, — whence,  then,  doth  it  come  ? 
And  where  this  place  of  clear  intelligence  ? 

21  So  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  all  that  live  ; 

Veiled  even  to  birds'^*  (that  gaze)  from  heaven's  height? 

22  Death'^*  and  Abaddon  say : 

"  A  rumor  of  it  hath  but  reached  our  ears." 

23  God  understands  its  way ; 
He  knows  its  place. 

24  For  He  to  earth's  remotest  ends  looks  forth, 
And  under  all  the  heavens,  all  beholds. 

25  'Twas  when  He  gave  the  wind'*  its  weight, 
And  fixed  the  waters  in  their  measurement ; 

26  When  for  the  rain  He  made  a^^  law, 

A  way'*  appointed  for  the  thunder  flash  ; 


2*  Ver.  21.  Birds  (that  gaze).  They  are  taken  as  the 
symbol  of  the  keenest  intelligence,  as  they  actually  exhibit 
the  highest  perfuction  of  mere  sense  vision,  aided  by  the  vast 
height  to  which  some  of  them,  especially  birds  of  prey,  as 
before  mentioned  ver.  7,  rise  in  the  air.  The  words  in  brack- 
ets only  give  the  clearly  implied  idea.  Umbreit  here,  nnder 
a  show  of  learning,  utters  a  great  deal  of  absurdity:  "In  the 
East,"  he  says,  "a  deep  knowledge  and  an  extraordinary 
power  of  divination  was  ascribed  to  birds.  They  were  re- 
garded as  intrusted  with  the  interpretation  of  the  Divine 
will.  We  are  only  to  call  to  mind  the  personification  of  the 
good  spirits  of  Ormuzd  through  the  birds,  as  we  find  it  in 
th»  Persian  religion,  or  think  of  Simurg,  the  primeval  king 
of  the  birds,  who  represented  the  highest  wi'Jdom,  and  who 
dwelt  on  the  mountain  Kaf,  or  of  the  bird  language  as  set 
forth  by  Feridedd  in  Attar,  the  great  mystical  poet  of  the 
Persians,  etc.,  etc."  This  is  all  rationalistic  nonsense,  or 
'■  the  higher  criticism  "  run  mad.  Such  an  idea  of  the  birds' 
intimacy  with  the  gods,  in  consequence  of  their  apparent 
nearness  to  heaven,  (towards  which  they  seem  to  soar),  very 
probably  entered  into  all  old  systems  of  bird  divination, 
whether  in  the  East  or  in  the  West ;  but  there  is  not  the 
least  trace  of  it  in  the  Bible,  and  it  has  left  no  mark  on  the 
Shemitic  languages,  like  oiui/d;  (bird  omen)  in  Greek,  or 
anspicinm  (nres  specio)  in  Latin.  Especially  preposterous  is 
this  idea  of  Umbeeit  when  viewed  in  relation  to  a  theism  so 
reverentially  pure,  as  to  make  a  pious  man  like  .Job  actually 
jealous  of  the  effect  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  "the  sun  in  its 
brightness,  the  moon  walking  in  glory"  (xxxi.  26),  lest  it 
might  detract  from  what  is  due  to  "  Him  who  setteth  His 
glory  above  the  heavens."  There  is  no  doubt,  too,  that  im 
Morgenlnnile,  or  in  gome  parts  of  it,  there  was  a  superstitious 
regard  to  precious  stones.  Certain  gems  were  regarded  as 
h.aving  magical  or  divining  properties;  and  Umbreit  might 
just  as  well  have  made  the  same  remark  (Man  denhe  imr  an) 
in  respect  to  Job's  use  of  these  in  his  comparisons  of  the  value 
of  Wisdom.  The  meaning,  too,  of  the  bird  comparison  is  so 
obvious.  The  keenest  sense  vision.  Job  means  to  affirm, 
cannot  discover  it.  What  is  this  liut  saying  that  its  percep- 
tion does  not  belong  to  the  sense  world  at  all,  even  though 
sought  by  the  keenest  and  most  microscopic  science,  but  to 
the  sphere  of  things  "  uns'.en  and  eternal" — that  world  of  su- 
persensual  being  which  "  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
(unless  it  be  an  ear  that  hath  passed  beyond  tiie  bounds  of 
mortality,  see  ver.  22)  nor  hath  it  ever  ascended  in  the  heart 
of  man  "  to  conceive. 

25  Ver.  22.  Death  and  Abaddon.  Compare  this 
with  the  2d  clause  of  ver.  13,  and  also  with  remarks  on  that 
verse  in  no^e  19.  The  language  implies  a  bare  whisper  in 
respect  to  this  ineffable  wisdom, — a  rumor,  something  said 
about  it,  and  which  first  reaches  the  soul  in  that  land  beyond 
death,  whether  it  be  the  region  of  the  rest  secure  in  Hades, 
or  of  the  irrecoverably  lost  in  Abaddon,  "  the  bottomless  pit," 
Kt'v.  ix.  2. 

2«  Ver.  25.  The  wind  its  weight:   The  air  (as  nn 

might  he  rendered)  il.s  qramty.  The  sublimity  of  Job  is  only 
lessened  by  studied  attempts  to  find  in  it  any  of  our  modern 
scientific  conceptions;  t)Ut  this  is  evidently  selected  from 
other  parts  of  creation,  as  furnishing  a  wondeF.    The  light- 


est of  these  known  substances,  or  rather  one  which,  to  the 
common  mind,  was  altogether  imponderable,  has  a  true 
weight  assigned  to  it  by  GoJ.  Our  Saviour  speaks  of  this 
popular  mysteriousness  of  the  wnid,  John  iii.  8,  but  He  was 
comparing  it  with  the  higher  mystery  of  the  Spirit  named 
after  it  in  the  necessary  analogies  of  language.  As  a  physi- 
cal fact,  however,  the  gravity  of  the  wind,  or  air,  needed  no 
formal  scientific  teaching  to  bring  it  under  the  notice  of  that 
contemplative  mind  which  regarded  the  earth  (xxvi.  7)  as 
Testing  in  space,  supported  only  "  by  the  everlasting  arms." 
«  Ver.  26.  A  law  (ph)  for  the  rain.  Comp.  xxxviii. 

33;  the  larvs  of  the  heavens,  Jerem.  xxxiii.  2.5;  the  laws  of  the 
heavens  and  the  earth ;  Jerem.  xxxi,  35,  the  laws  of  the  moon 

and  stars    D'JD'ISI    tl")'    Hpn.    The  "  law  of  the.  rain " 

here,  according  to  Zockler,  is  simply  the  determining  "when 
and  how  often  it  shall  rain,  and  vhen  it  shall  cease."  We  can- 
not help  regarding  this  as  an  inadequate  view  of  tlie  lan- 
guage. Why  should  not  the  term  be  taken  in  a  sense  as  high 
and  as  profound  as  any  we  attach  to  the  modern  term  law  of 
nature,  as  used  by  scientific  men,  or  any  others?  The  idea 
of  I'lw  in  nature  is  a  different  thing  from  a  knowledge  of  the 
details  of  that  law  as  they  may  be  expressed  in  numbers,  or 
in  mathematical  formulas.  Law  in  nature,  as  an  idea,  may 
be  defined  to  be  regulated  sequence  with  a  uniform,  and  uni- 
formly expected,  recurrence,  and  this  connected  with  the 
thought  of  a  real  nexus  of  causality  distinct  from  the  bare 
fact-conception  of  antecedence  and  consequence.  The  ancient 
mind  had  this.  The  Greek  mind  had  it  clear  and  distinct. 
Never  has  it  been  better  defined  than  by  Socrates  when  ho 
speaks  of  it  as  "the  harmony,  the  law,  that  holds  together 
heaven  and  earth,  and  makes  the  universe  a  Koff/xos  instead 
of  aKoo-jai'a  (see  PLAT.  Gorg.  508,  A.)  The  Hebrew  mind  had 
it,  as  represented  by  David  when  he  said  (Ps.  cxix.  80,  91): 
"All  things  stand  according  to  Thine  ordinance,"  "Thy  word 
forever  fixed  in  Heaven."  The  most  important  part  of  the 
idea,  in  fact,  namely,  that  of  a  necessary  inherent  causality  in 
distinction  from  the  mere  factof  sequence,  some  of  our  modern 
savans,  and  philosophers,  have  wholly  discarded.  They  pride 
themselves  in  knowing  a  few  more  of  the  steps  of  causal  fact, 
though  but  an  infinitesimal  part  of  the  immeasurable  road, 
but  this,  in  fact,  has  a  less  intimate  connection  with  the  es- 
sential idea  than  the  part  which  they  have  rejected  as  un- 
knowable and  therefore  unreal.  On  the  "  Bible  Idea  of  Law 
in  Nature,"  see  remarks.  Special  Introduction  to  the  First 
chapter  o/Gese.mus,  Lanoe  series.  Vol.  I,  page  143.  In  this 
passage,  there  is  no  reason  for  doubting  that,  to  a  mind  so 
contemplative  as  that  of  Job,  to  say  nothing  of  any  guiding 
inspiration,  the  thought,  though  formally  undefined,  was 
present  in  all  its  inherent  power.  It  was  not  arbitrary;  it 
was  not  mere  sequence;  he  knew  that  there  was  "a  law  for 
the  rain"  extending  to  every  link  in  its  physical  production. 
As  respects  the  knowledge  of  the  number  of  those  links,  hi 
was  a  few  inches  behind  a  modern  savan,  but  to  the  inherent 
causation  the  latter  is  no  nearer, — he  may,  in  fact,  be  farther 
iT'Tn  it, — than  Job  himself. 

*  A'er.  26.    A   way.     Here,  too.   Z3ckler's  conception 
seema  inaaequate.    He  rende  s    "["I"!,   a  way,  a  path,  ein 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


119 


27       'Twas  then  He  saw-', — declared  it  [good], 

And  built  it  firm/"  and  made  its''  testings  sure. 


Balin,  whu'h  would  do  very  well,  were  it  not  for  his  com- 
moat,  namlich  durch  die  Wolken,  throwjh  the  clouds.  Poeti- 
cally this  is  expressive,  aud  is  favored  by  the  context 
xxxviii.  25,  where  the  whole  language  is  intended  to  be  in 
the  highest  degree  phenomenal.  But  here  the  train  of  cou- 
teniplation  which  is  produced  by  tliis  description  of  the  in- 
effable Wisdom  seems  to  demand  something  more  than  the 

mere  conception  of  a  passage  through  the  clouds.    As  pH 

decree  (primarihj,  mark,  line,  termintui)  may  be  taken  for  the 
inward  law  or  idea,  so  ^TT  suggests,  not  so  much  the  space 

way,  or  direction,  as  the  phenomenal  order  of  causalities.  In 
this  sense  it  is  yet  a  loay  to  science.  More  and  more  facts, 
or  links,  are  constantly  making  themselves  known,  but  they 
are  only  additional  steps  in  the  way  of  which  Job  speaks. 
This  is  not  ascribing  to  Job  any  measure  of  what  would  be 
called  science,  or  philosophy.  It  is  a  distinction  belonging 
to  the  common  thinking,  to  every  contemplative  miiid  in  all 
nges.  There  is  another  scriptural  terra  for  law  in  nature 
which  goes  deeper  than  all.    It  is  the  word  XT' "13  {covenant) 

as  applied  to  nature;  as  in  Jerein.  xxxiii.  20,  "My covenant 
of  the  day  and  my  covenant  of  the  night,"  the  established 
order  of  time,  of  the  seasons,  of  nature's  courses.  It  is  God's 
covenant  with  His  rational  beings,  that  they  may  trust  na- 
ture, with  its  order  of  sequences  established  by  Ilim  for  their 
moral  benefit,  or  for  ends  higher  than  nature  itself.  It  is 
appealed  to  as  a  kind  of  oath,  confirming  the  constancy  of 
His  moral  and  spiritual  purposes  by  the  constancy  He  has 
established  in  the  physical  world:  "If  ye  can  annul  My  co- 
venant of  the  day  and  of  the  night  (see  Gen.  i.  14,  15;  viii. 
22 ;  ix.  12-17)  then  may  ye  annul  my  covenant  with  David" : 
The  great  promise  of  the  Messiah  and  of  His  eternal  king- 
dom, confirmed,  as  it  is,  by  au  oath,  having  for  its  pledge  the 
constancy  of  nature.  Here  is  a  higher  constancy.  Here  is 
an  order  of  things  in  respect  to  which  the  dictum  of  the 
naturalist,  asserting  invariability,  holds  true.  The  moral 
and  spiritual  system  can  admit  of  no  breaks,  no  suspensions 
ordeviationsinitseternallaws.  Foritalllowerlawwas  made. 

29  Ver.  27.  He  saw,  HXI-    There  is  a  Masoretic  note 

T  T 

indicating  another  reading  with  Mappik    HXI,  he  taw  it, 

T  T 

which  ZocKLER  adopts.  It  would  seem  a  plausible  emenda- 
tion, until  we  think  of  the  resemblance  here  suggested  to  the 
i.  of  Genesis,  the  repeated  declaration  as  made  with  this  same 

verb  without  a  pronoun,  D^iH /X   N'^'l,  and  God  saw,  Gen. 

i.,  vers.  3,  10,  12,  etc.,  aud  especially  the  closing  one  ver.  31, 
"  And  God  saw  all  that  He  had  ma<le,  and  lo  it  was  good, 
very  good."     The  word   HIDD'I    here:  and  He  declared  it, 

T  :  -:- 
suggests  the  same  great  announcement,  and,  therefore,  the 
translator  has  ventured  to  add  the  word  in  brackets.  It 
might,  however,  be  regarded  as  actually  contained  in  the 
verb  itself,  which  has  the  sense  of  praising,  celebrating,  as  in 
Ps.  xix.  1,  where  the  response  to  Gen.  i.  31  seems  sent  back: 
"the  heavens  are  telling  (D'"13D0)  the  glory  of  God" — the 
greatness  and  goodness  of  Him  who  pronounced  them  good. 
His  glorious  handiwork.    The  pronoun  iu   n"^3D'1  must 

T  :  -  :- 
refer  grammatically  to  nODH,  the  ineffable  Wisdom,  bnt 
the  more  immediate  reference  must  be  taken  as  being  made 
to  these  worka  of  Wtsdoia,  or  the  creation  as  its  outward  phe- 
nomenal representative.  But  the  whole  chapter  is  involved 
in  a  contradiction,  unless  a  distinction  is  made  between  such 
manifestation  of  its  effects,  and  the  eternal  Wisdom  itself. 
Of  this  it  cannot  be  said,  ?/(hY  »ie  i-«H(i,  as  Zookler  and  Um- 
BREIT  translate,  or  erz'dhlle  sie,  as  others  render  it.  The  phe- 
nomenal representation  (and  so  in  some  sense  the  thing 
itself  as  an  ineffable  fact)  is  marZe  known,  narrated,  reported, 
but  not  so  can  it  be  said  of  the  Wisdom  itself,  whose  place  is 
here  so  earnestly  inquired  after  as  something  ftiWfJen/rom  all 
the  living,  and  of  which  the  afterworld  and  underworld  hare 
barely  heard  a  rumored  whisper.  Neither  can  Wisdom  here 
be  the  Divine  architectural  skill  in  the  construction  of  the 
world.  It  is  not  the  wisdom  shown  in  the  adaptation  of  na- 
tural means  to  natural  endt,  such  as  that  which  forms  the 
subject  of  natural  science,  and  even  of  natural  theology.  It 
is  not  nature,  or  Gods  great  skill  in  nature  itself,  or  in  utili- 
tarian happiness-producing  final  causes,  as  th-^y  are  called, 
but  the  great  ineffable  reason  why  nature,  why  man,  why 
the  world  at  all,  was  ever  made.  If  it  were  natural  know- 
ledge, then  it  might  be  said  that  men  like  Newton,  Laplace, 
and  Faraday,  made  some  advance  in  it,  though  infinitely 
small  in  comparison  with  the  vast  unknown.  If  it  were 
any  speculation  about  ideas,  and  an  ideal  world,  then  Py- 
thagoras, and  Plato,  and  Cudworth,  might  claim  some  stand- 


ins;  there.  But  every  thing  of  this  kind  is  shut  out  in  the 
most  express  terms.  It  is  not  a  priori  knowledge,  or  any  ru- 
diments of  such  knowledge,  through  which  we  may  laudably 
inquire,  though  to  a  very  feeble  extent,  ftoic  God  made  the 
worlds?  It  is  not  in  nature  at  all,  whether  viewed  a  priori 
or  inductively,  aud,  therefore,  through  nature  can  it  never 
be  revealed. 

The  deep  saith — not  in  me ; 

The  sea — it  dwelleth  not  with  me. 

These  are  evidently  put  for  nature's  most  unexplored  and 
inaccessible  departments.  Although,  therefore,  we  cannot 
affirm  what  it  is,  or  go  beyond  the  fact  of  a  mysterv,  ineffa- 
ble, yet  having  a  most  intimate  practidil  relation  to  the  hu- 
man moral  destiny,  yet  this  may  be  said,  and  every  one  who 
believes  God's  Word  should  fearlessly  assert  it,  that  the 
humblest  Christian,  the  most  ignorant  man.  who  has  in  his 
soul  a  true  reverence  for  God,  and  a  true  hatred  of  sin,  is 
nearer  to  this  great  secret  of  the  Universe,  even  in  the  pre- 
sent life,  than  the  proudest  philosopher,  the  proudest  man 
of  science,  who  neither  knows  nor  prizes  such  a  state  of 
soul, 
so  Ver.  27   And  bnUt_it  firm,  nrDH-    Here,  too, 

T  •  v: 
the  objective  pronoun  must  be  taken  as  referring  to  the  phe- 
nomenal creation,  though  grammatically  related  to  the  Wis- 
dom which  it  represent^,  or  rather,  for  which  it  was  made, 
(t4  iTavTa  81  avTou,  Kal  ets  avrhv  eKTitrrai — /cat  t4  ndvTa  ev 
avTw  truvi<TTrj<e,  Coloss.  i.  16,  17).  ZbcKLER  interprets 
nj''3n,  and  especially  nT£3D\  above,  a»  an  "  evolution  of 

T    •    V 

the  everlasting  Wisdom,  or  an  unfolding  of  its  contents  be- 
fore men  and  other  rational  beings,  the  whole  creation  being 
nothing  else  than  surh  an  Eutfaltung  and  display  of  its 
adaptedness "  (Vergeschichtlichung).  But  this  certainly 
makes  it,  after  all,  only  a  knowledge  of  God  in  nature,  or  of 
His  ways  in  nature,  and  seems  to  contradict  the  idea  so  ex- 
pressly set  forth  in  other  verses  of  its  being  utterly  unknown 
to  men  in  the  present  life.  It  moreover  buries  all  in  na- 
ture, and  leaves  no  moral  end  or  moral  world  wholly  above 
it, — the  great  heresy,  and  the  source  of  all  the  irreligious 
positions  of  our  modern  science.  There  is  found  in  a  few 
manuscripts  the  reading  nyjili  he  understood  it.    It  seems 

T  •  v: 
strange  that  it  should  have  be^n  adop'ed  by  Ewald,  as  it 
makes  a  barren  repetition  of  what  is  said  in  ver.  23,  besides 
being  out  of  place  in  its  relation  to  what  follows.  There  is, 
moreover,  lost  by  such  a  reading,  another  striking  sugges- 
tion of  the  creative  account.  The  supposition  that  this  was 
known  to  Job  traditionally  or  otherwise,  and  that  there  was 
some  degree  of  familiarity  even  with  its  language,  derives 
strong  support  from  the  Divine  address  xxxviii.  4,  13,  where 
the  resemblances  are  unmistakable.  Here  rU'^n  calls  to 
mind  the  assertion  J3~^n'1  repeated  after  every  going  forth 

of  the  Word.  Each  originates  a  new  movement  in  the  ascend- 
ing scale  of  things,  and  then  this  formula  is  used  (imper- 
fectly rendered  and  it  was  so),  as  though  merely  giving  the 
narrator's  assurance  that  it  actually  took  place  jiven  if  we 
render  ?3  as  an  adverb,  so,  it  does  not  lose   its  participle 

sense  of  firmnesn,  establisltment,  fixedness, — it  was  so,  and  it 
continued  so, — became  JJ),  fij:ed,  established, — in  other  words, 

became  a  nature  to  remain  such  until  suspended  as  God  might 
Bee  fit,  or  finally  revoked  when  the  great  end  for  which  na- 
ture was  constituted,  or  the  great  Wisdom  of  God  might, 
perhaps,  dispense  with  nature  altogether.  So  here  the  same 
root  is  used:  nj'Dn,  He  fijred  it — built  it  firm.  The  lan- 
guage loses  none  of  its  strength  or  sublimity  by  being  thus 
anthropopathically  rendered.  He  made  it  to  stand  till  its 
end  was  answered. 

81  Ver.  27.  Its  testings.    We  certainlj'  cannot  render 
Tpn  here,  as  we  would  when  used  of  man,  as  in  ver.  3,  or 

as  E.  V.  has  given  it,  and  many  others:  He  searched  it  out.  It 
would  not  be  applicable  either  to  the  creation,  as  the  work, 
nor  to  the  Wisdom  as  the  pattern,  unless  taken  anthropopa- 
thically, not  in  the  sense  of  discovering  the  unknown,  but 
of  testing  the  work,  or  the  model,  when  made.  There  is 
something  of  this  kind  of  representation  in  the  creation  ac- 
count itself.  It  is  an  emphatic  mode  of  conveying  to  the 
finite  mind  a  sense  of  its  excellence  and  perfection.  God  ap- 
points the  heavenly  bodies  as  denoters,  among  other  things, 
of  times  and  seasons.  He  is  represented  as  trying  them,  put- 
ting them  in  the  Heavens  for  that  purpose.  What  right- 
feeling  and  right-thinking  mind  would  lose  the  sublimity  of 
all  this  for  any  assurance  of  scientific  accuracy,  which,  after 
all,  is  no  accuracy,  for  science  is  never  finished.  Again,  God 
looks  at  the  whole,  as  the  maker  would  8ur>'ey  bis  machine 


120 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


28       But''  unto  man  He  saith : 

["  Thy]  wisdom  ;  Lo,  it  is  to  fear  the  Lord ; 
To  fly  from  evil,  (thine)  intelligence." 


after  he  has  set  it  in  motion,  and  pronounces  it  admirable, 

nXO  3Wi  kolKh  ^iav,  valde  bona — good — vert  oood.    We 

would  not  think  of  charging  Tlato  with  anthropopathism, 
■when  in  a  similar  way  he  represents  (Timasus  37,  c)  the  great 
^ojof,  witli  its  animal  life,  or  plastic  nature,  »8  the  subject 
of  admiration  to  the  "Generating  Father,"  Har^p  6  yeyvrj. 
eras,  when  ho  sees  it  move  on  iu  all  its  harmony  and  perfec- 
tion. So  God  is  said  here  to  test,  or  try,  the  world  He  had 
made,  to  see  if  it  answered  that  great  supra-mundane  end 
which  is  here   called  Wisdom,  trauscending   all   Plato's 


ideas   as  mnch  as    it   transcends    onr   limited   inductive 
science. 
^  Ver.  28.  Unto  .man.    Some  would  render  mx  7  of 

T  T  T 

man :  So  Pareau,  de  homine,  concerning  man.  The  direct 
address,  however,  is  the  more  common  for  the  preposition 
7-  The  other  may  be  regarded  as  implied,  and  either  view 
would  justify  the  possessive  pronoun  placed  in  brackets.  It 
is  a  special  Wisdom  for  man,  leading,  at  some  time,  to  some 
glimpse  of  the  great  Wisdom.  The  distinction  is  demanded 
by  the  whole  spirit  of  the  chapter 


Chapter  XXIX. 

1  Then  again'  Job  lifted  up  his  chant  and  said  : 

2  O  that  it  were  with  me  as  in  the  moons  of  old  ; 
As  in  the  days  Avhen  o'er  me  still  Eloah  watched  ; 

3  When  shone  His^  lamp  above  my  head, 

And  when  through  darkness  by  His  light  I  walked  ; 

4  As  in  my  autumn  days  ; 

When  God's  near  presence'  in  my  tent  abode  ; 
ft       Whilst  still  the  Almighty  was  my*  stay ; 

Around  me  still  my  children*  in  their  youth  , 
6       When  with  the  flowing*  milk  my  feet  I  bathed ; 

And  streams  of  oil  the  rock  poured  forth  for  me. 


1  Ver.  1.  Tben  ag'ain,  nD"'1-    It  certainly  seems  to 

indicate  a  pause  of  some  kind ;  being  said,  not  after  the 
words  of  another,  but  in  the  course  of  Job's  own  speaking. 
It  may  have  been  a  waiting  for  the  tricndg  to  resume  their 
argument.  There  is,  however,  no  contradiction  between  the 
close  of  the  xxviii.,  and  the  opening  of  the  xxix.  The  un- 
der-current of  thought  can  be  easily  traced,  and  yet  the  dif- 
ference in  style  between  this  and  the  resumption  demands 
the  idea  of  some  intervening  silence,  aside  from  this  expres- 
sion in  the  caption.  In  the  xxviii.  Job's  thought  of  God's 
ineffable  wisdom  came  from  the  contemplation  of  his  own 
mysterious  sufferings,  bringing  him  to  the  grand  conclusion 
that  it  is  man's  wisdom  to  believe  and  adore  where  he  cannot 
understand.  This  high  train  of  thought  carries  him,  for  a 
season,  out  of  and  above  himself  Such  a  pitch,  however, 
cannot  be  sustained,  and  so  he  comes  down  again  to  his  own 
sorrows,  his  ever  smarting  pains,  and  that  leads  to  the  con- 
templation of  former  hajipiuess  whicli  that  same  unsearch- 
able wisdom  had  so  bountifully  conferred  upon  him.  This 
is  far  from  being  an  unnatural  transition,  although  it  is 
emotional  rather  than  logical.  It  may  be  said,  too,  that  the 
("escent,  if  we  may  call  it  such,  is  all  the  more  path<tic  as 
thus  succeeding  a  meditation  so  glorious  and  profound. 

2  Ver.  3.  When  shone  his  lamp.  Lit. :  Iniu  shining 
of  his  lamp.  The  first  suffix  pronoun  does  not  refer  to  God, 
as  though  the  verb  ha<l  a  Hiphil  sense:  in  His  making  to 
shine.  Neither  is  it  to  betaken  as  Delitzsch  renders  it: 
'•  ushen  He,  when  Hii  lamp  shone,  etc."  It  is  the  pleonastic  use 
of  the  pronoun  so  common  in  Syriac,  and  if  it  were  of  much 
importance  this  might  be  called  one  of  the  Aramaisms  of 
the  book. 

8  Ver.  4.  Near  presence.  ^1D.  comessm,  familiar  in- 
tercourse. SeePs.  Iv.  15;  Job  xix.  19.  nirC  HID,  Ood's  fa- 
vor. The  rendering  of  our  translators,  thesecret  of  God  is  very 
tappy,  giving  the  idea  of  a  heart  intercourse  unknown  to 
others. 

*  Ver.  5.  My  stay.  Lit.:  With  vie.  But  T3^  always 
seems  to  have  something  more  than  its  preposition  aenae. 


It  denotes  not  only  a  very  intimate  commnnion,  or  a  con- 
nection nearer  and  stronger  than  DJ,%  but  also  the  idea  of 

const/incy  (see  its  use  ver.  20  and  Note)  firmness,  mpport,  as  the 
context  generally  shows.    So  Pa.  xxiii.  4,  ''TrsW  Hj^X  '3, 

-r  •  T- 

"  for  Thou  art  with  me.  Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff  they  sustain 
me.''  It  suggests  the  idea  of  the  verb  T:3J,«  to  stand,  as 
though  'lOJ?  meant  my  stand  by.  This  is  not  without 
ground  etymologically,  although  lexicographers  regard  it 
as  only  a  strengthening  of  Dy  by  insertion  of  "}  euphonic, 

a  thing,  however,  which  has  no  other  example  in  Hebrew. 

*  Ver.  5.  My  children  in  their  youth.     I^'J 

means  simply  a  youth,  either  a  boy  or  a  young  man,  as  in  ver. 
8.  Some  would  render  it  here,  my  servants,  beiause  it  is  some- 
times so  used  like  ^jKer,  or  Tracs,  but  that  would  destroy  all 
the  pathos.  Still,  if  rendered  my  children,  it  needs  the  quali- 
fying words.  Job's  children  seem  to  have  come  to  manhood 
at  the  time  of  his  great  bereavement,  but  he  remembers 
them  best  in  their  tender  age,  when  their  presence  was  puro 
joy,  or  less  mingled  with  anxiety,  such  as  increased  with 
their  approach  to  adult  manhood.  The  anticipated  trouble 
to  which  he  seems  to  allude,  iii.  25,  26,  had  probably  somo 
connection  with  the  fears  that  grew  out  of  their  older  stste, 
ami  which  led  to  those  touching  acts  of  prayer  and  sacrifice 
mentioned,  i.  5. 

•  Ver.  6.  The  flowing:  milk.  The  epithet  is  needed 
here  to  give  the  proper  enipliasia,  and,  thereby,  bring  out 
the  fair  meaning  which  might,  otherwise,  be  mistaken.  This 
emphasis  is  on  the  words  milk  and  oil,  as  botli,  from  their 
smooth-flowing  nature,  suggestive  of  exuberance.  It  is  not 
a  mere  effeminate  luxury  that  Job  has  in  mind.  It  is  true 
that  in  the  case  of  a  rich  man  of  old,  possessed  of  vast  flocks 
and  herds,  such  a  luxury  as  actually  bathing  the  feet  in  milk 
would  be  neither  incredible  nor  improbable.  In  the  case 
of  Job,  however,  we  must  take  it  as  a  hyperbolical  expres- 
sion figurative  of  great  abundance,  and  not  only  that,  but  as 
something  peculiar  to  him  Leyoud  others.    This  latter  em- 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


121 


7  When  up  the  city's  way,  forth'  from  my  gate,  I  went, 
Aud  in  the  place  of  concourse  fixed  my  scat ; 

8  The  young  men  saw  me,  and  retired  j 
The  elders  rose — stood  up. 

9  The  leaders  checked  their  words ; 

And  laid  their  hands  u^wn  their  mouths. 

10  The  men  of  note,  their  voice  was^  hushed ; 
Their  tongue  suspended  to  the  palate  clave. 

11  Then,  too,  there  was  an  ear  that  heard'  and  blessed, 
An  eye  that  saw  and  testified, 

12  That'"  I  had  saved  the  poor  man  when  he  cried, 
The  fatherless,  the  one  who  had  no  friend. 

13  Thus  on  me  came"  the  blessing  of  the  lost; 
The  widow's  heart  I  made  to  sing  for  joy. 


14  I  put''^  on  justice, — it  became  my  robe  — 
As  mantle^'  and  as  diadem,  my  right. 

15  Eyes  to  the  blind  was  I — 
Feet  to  the  lame. 


phasis  is  given  by  the  strong  preposition  ir3_y,  which  de- 
notes something  more  than  mere  adjacency,  as  some  take  it, 
the  rock,  ^^nearjub,^'  or  "in  his  neigliborhood."  It  has  a 
close  personal  seuse :  with  rue  in  distinction  from  others, — in 
my  case,  as  something  peculiar,  or  beyond  the  case  of  men 
generally.  And  this  puts  a  still  stronger  emphasis  on  the 
substances  mentioned.  It  was  milk,  in  distinction  fnjm 
other  fluids,  in  which  the  feet  might  be  laved;  or  as  though 
he  intended  to  say,  it  was  oil  instead  of  water,  the  usual  pro- 
duct of  the  rocky  fountain,  that  the  rock  poured  forth.  Na- 
ture gave  to  Job  lier  richest  abundance.  So  Umbreit  seems 
to  take  it:  Statt  Wasser  stromto  der  Fels  Oel.    See  the  same 

hyperbole  Deut.  xxxii.  13.    T7n  occurs  only  in  this  place. 

It  is  rendered  steps  by  some,  feet  by  others.  Umbreit  admits 
that  the  feet  are  here  intended,  even  though  the  rendering 
be  steps  or  goiiujs.  And  indeed  the  other  makes  a  most  ex- 
travagant idea — a  walking  or  wading  in  milk.  It  is  rather 
strange  that  this  whole  verse  is  omitted  in  the  Syriac. 

7  Ver.  7.  Forth  from  my  gate.    Does  ^j;iy  here 

mean  the  gate  of  Job's  dwelling  or  the  gate  of  the  city?  It 
■would  seem  that  such  places  as  Gen.  xxxiv.  24,  and  Job  xxxi. 
34,  ought  to  settle  it.  They  can  only  mean  the  gate  or  door 
to  the  place  of  departure,  or  of  one's  abode.  Delitzsch,  how- 
ever, rejects  it  on  the  ground  that  "  the  place  where  Job 
dwelt  in  the  country  is  to  be  thought  of  as  without  a  gate." 
But  private  dwellings  in  the  country  may  have  had  gates  to 
protect  them  against  marauding  banditti,  and  this  would  be 
especially  necessary  in  the  case  of  a  man  of  great  wealth, 

like  Job.  The  preposition  '7J7  may  be  rendered  simply  lo, 
but  its  etymology  suggests  the  idea  of  ascent,  up  to.  It  may 
tae».n position  merely,  hy  the  city;  but  that  requires  the  sup- 
position that  1j,'ty  is  the  city  gate.  The  other  is  the  more 
natural  from  the  fact  that  a  city,  with  its  acropolis,  was  an- 
ciently built  on  the  higher  ground,  as  making,  in  that  way, 
a  better  place  of  defence  for  its  inhabitants,  as  well  as  for 
persons  coming  into  it  from  without,  and  who,  in  time  of 
peace,  dwelt  in  the  plain  below. 

8  Ver.  10.  Was  liusliecl.  Heb.  hidden,  that  is,  sup- 
pressed. For  the  plural  form  see  ZbcKLER.  Vers.  8,  9  and  10 
present  a  very  concise  yet  most  graphic  picture  of  the  effect 
produced  by  the  sudden  entrance  into  an  assembly  of  one 
held  in  great  and  universal  respect.  Its  simplicity,  its  air 
of  truthfulness,  and  the  pathos  of  its  connection  with  his 
then  state  of  extreme  suffering,  divest  it  of  every  appearance 
of  vanity  and  boasting.  The  language  gives  the  idea  of  one 
not  in  office,  but  living  a  most  honorable  private  life.  Job 
would  have  been  called  by  the  Greeks  one  of  the  KaXoxdya- 
floi,  the  good  men  and  fair,  the  yood  men  and  true,  who  held 
no  public  station,  but  still,  on  that  very  account,  posaesaed 
more  true  influence  than  the  professional  politician. 


'  Ver.  11.  And  blessed.  Umbreit  nihmte  mich,  made 
good  report  of  me.  This  is  very  touching.  In  such  assem- 
blies there  was  not  only  the  honor  paid  to  liim  by  the  ora- 
tors, and  the  leading  men,  but  here  and  there  some  poor 
man's  ear  arrested  by  his  voice,  some  eye  that  testified  to 
acts  of  beneficence  of  which  public  fame  made  no  report. 

10  Ver.  12.  That  I  had  saved.  To  render  O  /or  or 
because,  in  this  place,  as  most  commentators  do,  seems  greatly 
to  mar  the  effect  of  tiie  passage.  It  makes  it  a  reason,  and  a 
somewhat  boasting  one,  asserted  by  Job,  instead  of  a  testi- 
mony to  the  fact:  That  I  had  saved,  etc.  The  latter  view  is 
not  only  in  harmony  with  the  more  usual  sense  of  '3  ft^  * 
connective  (quod,  on  =  that  instead  of  fcecaiise,  see  Note  12, 
ver.  8,  ch.  xxvii.,  pa.113),  but  seems  also  demanded  by  the 
future  following  and  denoting  a  subjective  succession  of  event, 
or  idea,  dependent  on  a  preceding  governing:  word,  such  as 
^JT'J?n  in  this  case.  Thus  Jerome  in  the  Vulg.\te  renders 
it  eo  quod,  as  dependent  on  testimonium  reddehat.  If  ^3  de- 
notes a  reason  independently,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why  it 
should  not  have   been  followed  by  the  prteterite,  or  why 

DvDNi  as  it  stands,  should  not  be  rendered  in  the  future. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  exigentialoci  demands  the  other  sense, 
but  if  the  view  taken  of  O  be  correct,  then  the  suviixj  is  a 
dependent  idea,  and  the  word  takes  properly  the  Futun',  that 
is,  the  Subjunctive  form.     If  it  is  an  independent  assertion,  it 

is  impossible  to  distinguish  it  from  Ti^jl,  ^cr.  14,  below. 
^3  has  no  conversive  power  except  as  it  connects,  not  as  a 
reason,  but  as  an  assertion  of  dependence  on  a  preceding 
verb  whose  sense  is  incomplete  without  it. 

11  Ver.  13.  On  me  came.  The  Future  form  of  the  verb 
X3P,  is  because  of  the  train  of  thought  being  still  under 

T 

the  influence  of  the  recital,  ver.  11.  Though  it  may  be  re- 
garded as  grammatically  independent  of  the  '3,  itstill keeps 
the  direction  thereby  given  to  it.  So  is  it  in  respect  to  Iho 
2d  clause  (|  J'^N).    ^t  is  all  a  part  of  that  which  made  "  the 

ear  to  bless  and  the  eye  to  testify." 

14  Ver.  14.  I  ]>nt  on.  Here  begins  an  entirely  inde- 
pendent clause,  and  the  assertion  having  no  connection, 
either  logical  or  grammatical,  with  what  precedes,  takes  tho 

preterite  form    ^ntyS/-     There   is  no  tautology   in    the 

clause.    The  latter  verb  '3l!/3  7'1  simply  explains  the  figu- 
...  .,.  . .  _ 

rative  sense  by  the  literal:  yes,  it  did  really  clothe  me — it  be- 
came my  habit — as  the  figure  has  become  naturalized  in  En- 
glish— habitual  to  me. 

18  Ver.  14.  9Iantle  and  diadem.  These  are  not 
mentioned  as  ornaments,  but  as  expressint;  the  completeness 
of  the  clothing:  From  head  to  foot  attired  in  righteousness. 


122 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


16  A  father  to  the  poor ; 

The  cause  I  knew'*  not,  I  would  search^*  it  out. 

17  So  would  I  break  the  fangs  of  eviP*  men, 

And  from  their  very  teeth  would  dash  the  prey. 

18  Then  said  I,  "  in  my  nest  shall  I  expire, 
And  like  the  palm  tree"  multiply  my  days  ; 

19  My  root  laid  open  to  the  water's  breath, 
And  all  night  long  the  dew  upon  my  branch ; 

20  My  glory  constant^^  with  me — still  renewed, 
And  in  my  hand  my  bow  forever^'  green." 

21  To  me  men  listened — waited  eagerly  ; 
Were  silent  at  my  counseling. 

22  After  my  word,  they  answered'^"  not  again  ; 
For  on  them  would  my  speech  be  dropping  still. 

23  Yes,  they  would  wait  as  men  do  wait  for^'  rain. 
And  open  wide  their  mouths,  as  for  the  latter  rain, 

24  That  I  should  mock*^  them  they  would  not  believe, 
Nor  make  to  fall  the  brightness  of  my  face. 


1*  Ver.  16.  Canse  I  knew  not.  Some  would  render 
it,  "  the  cause  of  one  I  knew  not."     It  requires  too  great  an 

ellipsis,  a  double  ellipsis  in  fact,  [1]  'y^^T  i^^  (K^'N)  S'l 

The  rendering  given  implies  the  same  and  more.  In  the  one 
case  it  would  simply  denote  impartiality;  the  other  and  more 
literal  rendering  gives,  in  addition,  tliat  of  carefulness  to  ob- 
tain a  full  knowledge  of  the  case  in  order  to  be  impartial. 
IS  Ver.  16.  I  would  search  it  out.    impnN  ia 

the  subjective  Future  denoting  disposition,  and,  in  that  way, 
habitual  or  repeated  action,  such  as  we  denote  by  our  auxil- 
iary would  (from  will)  which  never  loses  its  subjectively  fu- 
ture idea:  "  I  woiild  do  so  and  so;"  it  was  my  way.  This  is 
carried  into  the  next  verb  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  verse, 

n'lSK'XI;  its  1,  whether  we  call  it  con  versive  or  not,  giving 

T  :  — :t 
it  the  exact  time  force  of  impHN  immediately  preceding. 

The  paragogic  ending,  however,  gives  it  an  optative  as  well 
aa  a  subjunctive  sense  :  ■'!  would  denire  to  break:"  "I  took 
pleasure  in  breaking  the  faugs  of  evil  men." 

!•  Ver.  17.  Evil  men.     7l^»,  taken  collectively. 

17  Ver.  18.  liike  the  palm  tree.    On  the  three  in* 

terpretations  of  7111)  in  fiis  verse,  see  ExcuRsna  IX. 
pa.  2fir,. 

18  Ver.  20.  With  me.  n^J!-  This  seems  to  be  a  favo- 
rite preposition  in  Job's  speeches.    It  is  stronger  than  '3J! 

would  have  been:  Mi/ glory,  in  distinction  from  that  of 
others.    It  gives  also  the  idea  of  permanence. 

1»  Ver.  20.  Ever  §rreen.     Hwnn,  regerminales.    It  is 

the  same  word  that  is  used  of  the  tree,  xiv.  7.  See  Ps.  cii. 
27 ;  Isai.  ix.  9 ;  xl.  31 ;  in  Kal  Ps.  xc.  5,  6.  The  bow  the  em- 
blem of  vigor,  strength,  power.     See  Gen.  xlix.  24. 

20  Ver.  22.  They  answ^ered  not  ag^ain.  The  rea- 
son is  given  in  the  2d  clause,  commonly  rendered,  and  my 
tpeech  dropped  upon  them.  To  regard  ),  however,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  this  second  clause,  as  merely  copulative,  and  thus 
denoting  a  subsequent  speaking,  would  be  an  absurdity.  By 
taking  it  as  illative,  that  is,  as  connecting  by  way  of  giving 
a  reason,  we  understand  why  they  answered  not.  It  was  on 
account  of  the  gentle  and  persuasive  manner  of  his  speech 
disinclining  them  to  niiike  reply.  And  this  suggests  another 
idea  closely  akin  to  it,  and  well  deserving  of  notice  as  fa- 
vored by  the  peculiar  sense  of  tl£3J,"dis''Wi'»on,  gentle  and  re- 
peated dropping,  as  of  dew  or  rain."  It  may  be  taken  as  de- 
scribing what  may  be  called  the  musical  effect  of  his  works, 
the  charm  they  possessed,  as  though  still  sounding  on,  or 
distUUng  in  the  souls  of  the  hearers.     Umbreit  gives  a  simi- 


lar idea  when  he  represents  it  as  a  spiritual  influence :  Meine 
Rede  in  ilirer  Einwirkung  auf  die  llerzen  der  ZuhiJrer  war 
zu  vergleichen  mit  dem  auf  den  Erdboden  tiiufeluden  Ke- 

gen.    This  is  in  harmony  too  with  the  tense  form  of  fl£3ri. 

the  subjective  future,  expressive  of  repeated  inHiience,  regarded 
as  in  tlie  mind.  The  voice  tliat  charmed  them  seems  still  to 
prolong  its  tones,  producing  music  in  the  soul,  and  tliere  is 
a  reluctance  to  destroy  this  effect  by  speaking  again  after  ita 
outward  utterance  had  ceased.  In  this  respect  it  suggests 
the  striking  passage  Phjedo  84,  B.  When  Sjcrates  closes 
his  great  argument  on  the  Immortality  of  the  soul  as  drawn 
from  Ideas,  the  charm  of  his  words  still  fills  the  ear,  keeping 
them  trom  speaking  for  some  time,  whilst  each  of  the  audi- 
tors is  reluctant  to  break  the  silence.  A  similar  effect  is 
niOot  poetically  described  in  the  Odyssey  XI.  333,  where 
Ulysses  ends  the  long  narrative  of  his  wanderings,  termi- 
nating with  what  he  saw  in  Hades  : 

cos  e(f>a9'  oi  5'  apa  ira>'T6s  aicrjr  eyeVoi'TO  triionrj, 
K-q\yjOfxw  6'  eo";(Oi'TO  Kara  fxeyapa  CKioeyra. 
He  ceased  to  speak,  and  all,  in  Bilence  hubhed, 
Were  held  as  by  a  r.apture  sounding  on 
Amid  the  shadowy  halls. 

KrjArjfljuid?,  a  soothing  strain  prolonged,  still  vibrating,  un- 
dulating, throbbing.  So  F|lOJ  carries  a  similar  idea  of  rfroj)- 
ping,  distilling.  ' 

21  Ver.  23.  For  rain.   An  instance  of  subtile  emotional 
transition.    This  mention  of  the  rain  is  suggested  by  flOD 

in  the  preceding  verse,  or  rather,  the  spiritual  metaphor 
contained  in  it. 

22  Ver.  24.  That  I  should  mock  them.    See  how 

the  word  pHti'  is  used  xii.  4,  in  the  sense  of  mocking  or 

scorning.  There  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  so  trans- 
lated here.  The  rendering  »»(!7<',  in  the  sense  of  favor,  pity, 
as  Delitzscb  and  some  others  would  give  it,  has  no  example 

in  the  Scripture.  pHty  is  used  with  7X  or  '7i  and  with 
'71^.  The  two  first  denote  laughing  at,  in  the  sense  of  sport 
or  mockery,  the  third  carries  the  stronger  idea  of  laughing 
against,  that  is,  of  scorn,  or  derision.  There  are  only  twi 
places  where  it  even  seemingly  varies  from  this.  In  Job  v. 
22,  it  might  seem  capable  of  tiie  rendering  smile,  but  it  is  the 
smile  of  contempt  ("  at  deatiuction  and  at  famine  shalt  thou 
laugh  "  or  smile)  not  of  favor  or  pity.  So  Pmv.  xxxi.  25, 
"she  rejoices"  (E.  V.)  "  she  laughs  (Conant)  at  the  time  to 
come."  If  rendered  miile  there,  it  is  the  smile  of  fearlessness. 
The  stronger  word  laugh  is  according  to  the  usage  of  the  an- 
cient world  generally.  They  expressed  all  emotions  of  the 
kind,  whether  of  grief  or  joy,  by  words  and  actions  of  a  more 
violent  nature  than  we  exhibit.    The  sense  oi  smiling  for  fa- 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


123 


25       'Twas  thus  their  way  I  chose/'  and  sat  their  head. 
As  king  amidst  the  multitude"*  I  dwelt, — 
Among  the  mourners  as  a  comforter. 


vor,  howeyer,  having  no  example  whatever  in  Scripture, 
tuere  is  no  need  of  dwelling  on  the  rendering  some  give  to 

IJ'OX'  N7.  in  order  to  accommodate  it  to  such  a  view.  It 
in  a  mode  of  exegesis  consisting  simply  in  that  easy  resort 
of  turning  a  clause  from  the  apodosis  to  the  protasis  of  a  sen- 
tence, by  supposing  an  ellipsis  of  the  relative,  which  will 
only  do  when  the  context  most  clearly  demands  it.  Ac- 
cording to  this  Delitzsch  and  ZdCKLER  would  give  the  gene- 
ral idea  to  be :  He  smiles  upon  (favors,  pities)  the  despairintj — 
or  "  He  smiles  upon  them  in  their  hopelessness;"  as  though 

it  were  an  ellipsis  for  IJ'OX'  N7  "^tyX-  This,  however, 
even  if  it  could  be  tolerated  by  itself,  only  makes  the  next 
clause  all  the  more  difficult  and  unmeaning.  See  the  efforts 
of  Dbutzsch  and  others  to  make  any  sense  out  of  it.  The 
substance  of  it  as  given  by  Ewald,  ZSckler,  and  Delitzsch 
is,  that  they  did  not  make  him  cease  to  smile  by  their  hope- 
lessness. One  can  hardly  look  at  the  structure  of  the  verse, 
however,  without  seeing  that  a  strong  contrast  is  intended 
which  this  treatment  fails  to  give.  The  virtue  which  Job 
here  claims  for  himself  is  that  of  gravity  or  dignity.  Equally 
opposed  to  this,  as  they  are  to  each  other,  is  levity,  whether 
in  the  form  of  frivolity,  mockery,  or  derision,  on  the  one 
Bide,  or  of  petulance,  moroseness,  or  anger,  on  the  other. 
The  meaning  of  the  expression  in  the  second  clause  would 
seem  to  be  determined  by  Gen.  iv.  5:  in  Kal,  to  be  angry,  as 

Cain  was  (rj3    1 73'1>  f^d  his  countenance  fell);  conse- 

T  T  ;  ■- 

qnently,  in  Hiphil,  to  make  angry,  or  to  act  angrily,  as  in  J^- 
rem.  iii.  12,  or  to  make  sad,  gloomy,  morose.  Men  would 
not  believe  that  Job  could  indulge  in  mockery  or  vain  laugh- 
ter; neither  could  they  ever  make  him  angry,  or  disturb  the 
gravity  of  his  countenance; — ever  the  same  even,  cheerful, 
dignified,  God-fearing  man. 

23  Ver.  25.  Their  \Fay  I  cbose.  guided,  directed,  them 
in  their  way  of  life.  Sat  as  lieatl :  as  judge  or  arbiter 
among  them ;  as  in  ver.  16. 

84  Yer.  25.  Amidst   tbe   multitude,    or   crowd. 


^nJ  is  used  oftenest  of  warlike  bands,  but  to  give  it  a  mili- 
tary sense  here,  so  as  to  make  Job  captain  of  a  troop,  or  to 
render  it  as  Kenan  does, — 

Je  tronais  comme  un  roi  entoure  de  sa  garde — 
is  not  only  preposterous  in  itself,  but  destroys  one  of  the 
most  touching  contrasts  in  the  chapter.    Tliough  T^J  is 

mostly  used  in  a  bad  sense  for  a  troop  of  banditti,  or  marau- 
ders (IIos.  vii.  1;  1  Kings  xi.  24;  Gen.  xlix.  11),  yet  there  is 
nothing  in  the  way  of  its  meaning  any  large  crowd  or  body 
of  men,  especially  of  a  turbulent  character.  (Umbreit,  in 
dem  Haufoii).  It  would  be  the  best  Hebrew  word  to  be 
found  to  designate  a  mob,  whom  the  presence  of  such  a  man 
as  Job  would  overawe  by  his  very  force  of  chaiacter.    The 

expression  at  a  king  ("l  7D3)i  or,  as  though  a  king,  is  conclu- 
sive against  the  idea  some  have  entertained  that  Job  was  in 
reality  some  kind  of  monarch  or  duke.  He  was  that  far 
higher  thing,  a  holy.  God-fearing  man,  known  to  be  most 
just,  whose  very  ajipearance  struck  with  reverence  and  re- 
spect even  a  godliiss  multitude,  and  made  him,  for  a  season, 
like  a  king  among  them.  It  is  a  picture  that  reminds  us 
of  one  of  Virgil's  best  comparisons:  Mn.  I.  148. 

Ac  veluti  magno  in  populo  cum  smpe  coorta  est 
Seditio,  fsevitque  animis  ignobile  vulgus; 
Tum,  piet.ate  gravem  ac  meritis  si  forte  vinim  quem 
Conspexere,  silent,  arrectisque  auribus  astant. 
Hie  REGIT  dictis  animos. 

That  is  he  sits  as  Rex.  A  strong  contrast  is  evidently  in- 
tended between  what  is  expressed  by  inj  (the  turbulent 

assembly)  and  the  hushed  mourning  circle,  where  Job  ap- 
pears in  so  different  a  capacity.  The  idea  of  Ewald  and 
DiLLMANN  that  in  this  language  Job  meant  to  give  the  three 
friends  a  kind  of  back-stroke  for  their  failure  to  comfort 
him  is  unworthy  of  such  excellent  commentators,  as  it 
would  be  wholly  at  war  with  the  impassioned  earuestneES 
of  this  most  pathetic  chapter. 


Chapter  XXX.       [Scene:    The  Border  of  the  Desert.      See  Exc.  X.] 

1  And  now  they  mock  me ;  younger  men  than  I, 
"Whose  fathers  I  disdained, 

To  set  them  with  the  dogs  that  watched  my  flock. 

2  For  what  to  me  their  strength  of  hand, 

In  whom  (the  hope)  of  ripened  manhood^  fails  ? 

3  Through  want  and  hunger  like  the  arid^  rock, 


1  Ver.  2.  Ripened  manhood,    n  73   occurs  only, 

hero  and  in  ver.  26;  but  there  the  comparison  seisms  to  fix 
its  meaning:  the  ripened  age,  the  ripened  corn.  It  is  not  ne- 
cessarily oJd  (I'je,  though  that  well  fits  the  first  passage,  but 
ripeness  in  general:  so  that  it  may  be  rendered  here,  man- 
hiiod,  mature  age  and  strength,  which  these  poor  wrecks  of 
humanity  fail  to  reach.  It  has  perished  (l^N)  in  their 
youth,  and  hence  they  are  unfit  for  any  industrial  service. 

2  Ver.  3.  Arid  rock.    nioS  1    See  Job  iii.  7 ;  xv.  34 ; 

Isai.  xlix.  21  (where  it  has  Patach  in  the  first  syllable,  here 
only  Segol).  The  primary  idea  is  harduesn  (hen^  e  barrennei^K, 
Isai.  xlix.  21).  The  Arabic  word  means  hard  rock,  or  earth- 
pan.  It  may  be  taken  here  as  a  collective  noun-epithet : 
Want  aud  hunger  have  made  them  rock — or  like  the  rock, 
dry  and  hard;  the  particle  of  comparison  in  the  concise  lan- 
guage of  poetry  left  out. 

3  Ver.  3.  Vagrants.    p*1_JT,   as  a  verb,  occurs  only 

here.  It  is  quite  common  in  the  Syriac  in  the  sense  of  fee- 
ing.   This  it  always  has  in  the  Peschito  ;  as  in  Matth.  ii.  13 : 


"Flee  into  Egypt,"  iii.  7,  "  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  c^rae," 
Jas.  iv.  7,  "  Resist  Satan  and  he  will  flee."  So  also  Mark  xiv. 
52;  Acts  vii.  29,  and  a  largo  number  of  other  places.  So  in 
the  Old  Testament  Peschito  (Zeeh.  xi.  16,  the  only  seeming 
exception,  being  a  wrong  reading  for  1pT£)).     The  sense  of 

gnawing  is  found  in  the  Arabic,  though  there,  too,  it  has 
the  other  meaning:  to  roam  through  the  land;  the  gnau-ing 
sense  being  secontUiry,  in  some  way  of  derivation,  or  most 
likely  onomatopical,  like  the  Hebrew  j3^n  to  grind  the 
teeth,  hhrk.    In  verse  17,  the   noun,  or  participle,  ^pij?, 

may  be  rendered  my  gnatfert,  and  suits  very  well  thecontext 
[gnaicing pains) ;  but  there  again  we  are  met  by  the  fact  that 
the  corresponding  Arabic  has  the  sense  of  reins,  arteries,  nr 
sineim,  such  as  our  translators  have  given  it.  How  it  gets 
this  wfi  may  not  clearly  know;  although  the  conjecture  may 
be  hazarded  that  it  has  some  connection  with  the  idea  of 
feeing  or  darting  pains,  as  they  are  called.  See  Note  on  that 
verse.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  in  this  place,  the  sense  of 
"  gnawing  the  desert,"  the  "  hard  ground  of  the  stpppe,"  is 
very  harsh  aud  hyperbolical.    In  the  sense  of  fleeing,  as  so 


124 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


These  vagrants'  from  the  land  of*  drought — 

Of  old  time^  waste  and  Avild, — 

Who  in  the  jungles  pluck  the  acrid'  herb  ; 

The  roots  of  juniper'  their  food. 

From  human  concourse*  are  they  driven  forth ; 

Men  shout  against  them  as  against  a  thief; 

Within  the  gloomy  gorge^  their  dwelling-place  ; 

In  holes  of  earth,'"  amid  the  hollow  rocks. 

Between  the  desert  shrubs  they  bray  ;^' 

Under  the  brambles  do  they  herd'-  like  beasts. 


10 


Children  of  folly,  sons''  of  nameless  sires, 

With  scourgings'*  are  they  driven  from  the  land. 

And  now  their  song  have  I  become, 

Their  ribald  word'*  of  scorn. 

They  view  me  with  abhorrence — stand  aloof — 

Yet  from  my  face  their  spittle'®  hold  not  back. 


common  in  the  Syriac,  the  Chaldaic,  and  the  later  Rabbinic, 
it  has  the  usual  prepositions  to  and  from.  As  joined  here 
with  n'!f J  the  latter  meaning  {fleeing  from)  is  the  easiest ; 

T  • 

since,  in  other  languages,  a  verb  of  flight  (when  meaning 
from)  often  lias  the  accusative  directly  without  any  prepo- 
sition (as  to  flee  the  land),  whilst  the  other  ellipsis,  when 
fleeing  lo  is  meant,  is  unexampled.  It  does  not,  therefore, 
mean,  as  our  translators  give  it:  "fleeing  into  the  desert;" 
and  that  is  a  suflicient  answer  to  Deutzsch,  who  says  "  that 
the  meaning /H</ere  is  tame,  since  the  desert  is  the  proper  hai- 
bitation  of  these  people."  There  is  nothing,  however,  op- 
posed to  the  idea  of  their  being  driven  mfrom  the  desert,  on 
account  of  want,  or  of  their  roaming  back  and  forth  from 
their  wild  haunts  to  the  borders  of  civilization,  and  to  that 
the  word  vagrants  is  exactly  adapted. 
*  Ver.  3.  L,aud  of  droag^bt.     PfV,  simply  means 

T  T 

aridiiy,  drouglU;  as  in  Job  xxiv.  19,  from  the  root  7171^.    In 

T  T 

Pss.  Ixx.  2;  cvii.  35,  V'lX  is  joined  with  it.    Here  it  stands 

for  the  place — the  desert. 

B  Ver.  3.  Of  old  time.    Iff'Oii.    Some  render  this  word 

darlmefs,  forcing  its  derivation  for  that  purpose.  It  never 
has  that  sense,  however,  in  any  other  place,  but  always  the 
clear  idea  of  yesterday  or  yesternight  (Gen.  xix.  34;  xxxi.  29; 
1  Kings  xii.  26).  But  how  could  a  word  meaning  yesterday 
be  used  for  remote  or  indefinite  past  time?     That  objection 

is  met  by  observing  that  7l0r^>  with  the  same  meaning  of 

yesterday,  is  used  Ps.  xc,  14 :  a  thousand  years  as  yenterday. 
Time  past  and  gone,  is  all  gone;  yesterday  is  "with  the 
years  l)eyond  the  flood."  And  so  all  past  time  is  called  yes- 
terday, even  in  the  non-poetical  language  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment (Ileb.  xiii.  8,  x^^^  "'"  cw^po''  *al  eis  tout  aiioua^, 
"  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  the  ages  ")  It  may  be  said,  too, 
that  this  indefiniteness  of  time  associates  well  with  that  in- 
definiteness  of  space,  and  is  poetically  suggested  by  it. 

8  Ver.  4.  Tlie  Acrid  herb,  p-lbo-    E.  V.,  mallows. 

CosANT,  the  salt  plant.  Etymologically,  any  salt,  ill-tasting 
herb. 

'>  Ver.  4.  Rootfi  of  Jnniper.    Conan't,  broom  roots, 
(EwAi-D,  genUten-wurzel).     ZoCKLER,  ginster-WKrr.el. 
8  Ver.  5.  Lit.,  from  the  body— that  is,  of  society.    U 

does  not  mean  specially  the  hark.  It  does  not  suit  this  place, 
and  it  gives  a  false  notion  (HU)  Job  xx.  25.    The  Syriac  U 

always  has  the  sense  of  within,  and  becomes  a  preposition,  as 
1j  |0  from  within. 

«  Ver.  6.  Gloomy  gorge.    So  D'ShJ  VII^T  Is  well 
rendered  by  Conant. 
10  Ver.  6.  Holes  of  eartb.    13  n  would  suggest  the 

T     T 

idea  of  artificial  rather  than  natural  caverns.    Rocks : 


D'l33;    etymologically   hollow  rocks  —  caverns — thongh   tho 

word  in  Syriac  means  roelc  or  stone  generally. 

11  Ver.  7.  Tbey  bray.  Descriptive  future:  They  are 
ever  braying.    In  vi.  5  pnj  is  used  for  the  ass  braying  lor 

food.  The  braying  here  is  not  necessarily  for  the  same 
cause.  Their  famished  state  had  already  been  expressed.  It 
may  denote  their  barbarous  language,  which  sounded  like 
braying,  or  some  mere  animal  noise  they  made,  whether  of 
pain,  or  of  wild  exhilaration.  DTTti'  the  desert  shrubs.  Tho 

plural  is  here  used  to  denote  a  more  special  locality,  as  de- 
manded by  the  preposition  pj.  So  in  Gen.  xxi.  15:  the  de- 
sert shrubs  under  which  Hagar  cast  the  child  Ishmael  in  tho 
wilderness  of  Beersheba.  Elsewhere  it  is  fT'tJ')  the  singular 
taken  collectively. 

12  Ver.  7.  Herd  like  beasts.  Michaelis  and  ErcH- 
HORN  seem  to  give  the  truest  exposition  here,  leferring  it  to 
a  beastly  conduct  demanding  an  euphemism  for  its  expres- 
sion. Such  is  the  Hebrew  word  itself,  nSDi  primary  sense 
effundere,  the  same  in  the  Arabic,  and  easily  giviug  rise  to 
the  rarer  secondary  meaning  of  addition,  flowing  together,  in- 
crease, association.  But  this  latter  sense  seems  very  poor 
here,  and  Delitzsch's  renderiug,  ''under  the  nettles  are  they 
poured  forth"  gives  hardly  any  consistent  idea.  Huddle  to- 
gether wonlii  be  better  as  suggesting  smaller  numbers.  Tho 
general  Arabic  sense  is  that  of  ijotiring,  like  the  Hebrew,  but 
its  third  conjugation  has  the  sense  scortari,  coming  very  na- 
turally from  the  primary.  It  is  a  deponent,  and  in  this  cor- 
responds to  the  Hebrew  Pual,  as  the  Arabic  Illd,  generally 
does.  The  best  argument,  however,  is  from  the  parallelism; 
the  beastly  sfunds  in  the  first  member  suggesting  some  kind 
of  beastly  action  in  the  second.  It  is  thus  that  Herodotus, 
I.  203,  describes  the  ways  of  the  old  Caucasians  of  whoso 
stock  we  boast  ourselves  to  be.  It  is  rather  worse,  because 
more  open  and  shameful :  /aifir  re  rovTiuv  tCiv  avOpomoiv 
eli'ai  €fjL<j>avea  KaTairep  tol<ti  Trpo/SaTonri. 

13  Ver.  8.  Sons  of  nameless  sires.  Not  sons  of  in- 
famy, bb  some  render  it.  The  first  'J^  is  simply  descrip- 
tive, like  '^sniis  of  lieliid,"  "'  daughters  of  song,'"  as  the  word  is 
often  used  in  Hetirew.  A  son  of  folly  is,  simply,  a  fool.  The 
context,  however,  demands  that  the  second  '  J3  be  taken  as 
strictly  genealogical:  so)w  of  the  nameless, — thus  intensifying 
their  own  namelessness. 

1*  Ver.  8.  Il'ltb  SCOnrgingS.     1N2J,  they  are  beaten, 

T  • 

can  only  indirectly  mean  that  they  are  driven.  They  are 
whipped  out  of  the  land. 

15  Ver.  9.  Word  of  scorn.  n?0,  a  by-word.  Some- 
thing often  repeated.  LXX.  9pv\\rifia.  Job's  appearance 
on  their  borders  in  his  strange  plight  (see  ExccRsns,  Add., 
p.208),  was  the  constant  theme  of  their  brutal  jest.  They 
could  not  understand  his  calamity. 

i»  Ver.  10.  Tbeir  spittle,  or  their  spitting.  The  ren- 
dering, "  they  forbear  not  to  spit  before  my  face,"  would  be 
merely  charging  them  with  a  want  of  politeness.  It  has 
probably   come  from  a  supposed  difficulty   in   IpFT^,   as 

though  it  meant  a  distance  too  great  for  spitting  in  the  face; 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


123 


11  aincQ  He  hath  loosed'^  my  girdle — humbled  me — 
They,  too,  agalust  me  come  with  unchecked'*  rein. 

12  At  my  right  hand  they  rise,  this  beastly  brood ; 
My  feet  they  thrust  aside  ; 

Against  me  cast  they  up  their  deadly''  ways. 

13  They  mar  my'»  path  ; 

As  though  'twere  gain  to  them,^'  they  seek  ray  hurt, 
"With  none  to  help'^  (the  mischief  all  their  own). 

14  Like  a  wide  fracture  in  a^^  wall  they  come ; 
Beneath  the  desolation  roll  they  on. 

[Pause.] 

15  All  turned"*  against  me — terrors  everywhere ; 
My  dignity  it  scatters  like  the  wind ; 

Gone  as  a  cloud  is  my  prosperity. 


but  thl^  supposition  is  not  demanded.  They  stand  some  dis- 
tance off,  and  spit  at  him,  from  some  strange  dread  his  ap- 
pearance occasions.  It  is  thus  a  most  graphic  picture  of  tur- 
pitude and  ignorant  malignity.  Or  the  order  of  event  may 
be  different  from  that  of  expression :  they  spit  at  him,  and 
then  start  back. 

1'  Ver.  11.  liOOSed  my  Klrtlle.  The  metaphors  in 
the  two  members  are  different,  but  they  suggest  one  an- 
otlier.  The  ageut  in  the  first  clause  is  God,  unnamed,  as  is 
frequently  the  case  in  Job,  and  for  reasons  similar  to  those 
given  in  note  to  iii.  20,  and  other  places.  The  other  verbs 
■which  have  these  Troglodytes  for  their  subject  are  all  plu- 
ral (vers.  7,  8,  9,  10),  and  therefore  it  would  be  strange  that 
there  should  be  a  singular,  or  a  distributive,  here.  The  verb 
npi3)  literally  to  operi,  may  be  rendered  to  loose,  when  by 

the  loosing  something  is  made  bare,  and,  therefore,  in  such 
a  connection  as  this  it  cannot  be  used  of  the  bow  string,  as 
some  take  it;  nor  as  applied  to  God  can  it  denote  the  meta- 
phor of  the  loosened  rem,  as  in  the  second  clause.  It  must 
therefore  be  taken  figuratively  of  the  girdle  (ot  the  loins)  as 
the  symbol  of  strength.  It  may  be  said,  too,  that  'JJ^'I 
would  not  suit  as  used  of  the  wild  horde.  Their  other  acts 
are  most  specifically  set  forth,  and  it  would  be  strange  that 
such  a  general  term  (hath  humbled  or  afflicted  me)  sliould 
occur  among  them.  For  thesp  reasons,  too,  theKeri  ('T/l') 
my  cord,  is  to  be  preferred  to  the  Ketib  nn'. 

18  Ver.  11.  Uncheclced  rein.  The  clause  reads  liter- 
ally :  They  send  {or  cast  qff)  the  rein   (or  bridle)   before  me. 

^rivty  ID'^.    It  ia  exactly  the  Latin  phrase  habenas  immil- 

lere,orremit(ere.  ^o remiffere friena — darefrienn — German:  den 
Zugel  schiessen  lassen — English  :    Give   him  the  rein :  Greek : 

f((>elvat.  Tfts  rjvias.    invU/i  the  Piel;  they  send,  or  throw 

them,  violently,  or  suddenly, — cast  them  on  the  horse's  neck, 
as  Euripides,  n-ulAot?  e/i^aAovre?  r/i'ias.  The  metaphor  is  a 
very  natural  one,  and  it  does  not  require  us  to  suppose  that 
these  creatures  actually  rode  horses.  It  simply  denotes  the 
suddenness  and  violence  of  their  attack. 

1^  Ver.  12.  Their  deadly  ways.  Lit. :  The  imys 
oj  their  destruction.  The  suffix  in  QTX  belongs  to  the  whole 

T     •• 

compound  expression.  The  whole  figure  denotes  an  "in- 
vading and  besieging  host.  The  language  is  military  and 
hyperbolical. 

'so  Ver.  13.  They  mar  my  path.  To  be  taken  figura- 
tively, says  Delitzsch:  They  make  escnpe  impossible ;  others: 
they  take  away  all  my  resources.  This  answers  very  well  in 
general;  but  there  are  grounds  for  taking  much  of  this  de- 
scription in  its  most  literal  sense.  These  creatures  wantonly 
destroy  the  poor  accommodations  Job  had  in  bis  lonely  leper 
house  (iTtyiJnn  jTS,  '-  Chron.  xxvi.  20;  Pa.  Ixxxviii.  6), 

and  annoy  him  every  way  in  his  helplessness. 
21  Ver.  13.  As  thong'h  it  were  g'aln  to  them. 

Most  commentators  simply  render  this  clause:  "  Tfeej/ aid 
my  fall,  or  my  ruin;"  B.  V.,  they  set  forward  my  calamity; 

giving  0'_J."  the  sense  of  TIj;.    The  references  made  by 

ZocKLER  and  others  are  to  Zech.  i.  15.  and  Isai.  xlvii.l2,  nei- 
ther of  which  resemble  this  case  in  the  essential  point.    The 


context  sometimes  allows  this  rendering  to  the  verb  (tohelp, 
to  aid,  etc.),  but  it  never  loses  the  radical  idea  of  projit,  real  or 
supposed.  This  makes  the  contrast  here,  which  tlie  clause 
presents,  although  so  very  short.  It  might  be  rendered  al- 
most word  for  word  according  to  a  common  English  idiom : 
they  profit  to  my  hurt.  But  the  future  is  subjective,  not  sig- 
nifying an  actual  but  a  seeming  fact:  they  would  profit;  or, 
1/  is  as  thouijh  they  would  profit.  It  is  indeed  pure  wantonness, 
the  mischief  they  do,  but  they  labor  as  though  they  were 
really  to  get  some  gain  from  it.  Then  there  is  the  implied 
personal  contrast:  whether  it  be  gain,  or  wantonness,  or 
sport  to  them,  it  is  trouble  and  ruin  to  Job.  In  this  view 
there  is  no  need  of  bracketing  any  words  in  the  full  transla- 
tion given.  There  is  no  more  than  Is  needed  to  express  the 
contrast  so  concisely  presented  in  the  Hebrew. 

22  Ver.  13.  "With  none  to  help.  Ltl. :  no  helper  to 
them.  EWALD  renders  this  :  niemand  hilft  vor  ihnen.  This  is 
also  Dr.  Conant's:  There  is  no  helper  against  them.  It  seems 
to  fit  the  passage  admirably,  but  there  cannot  be  found  au 

example  of  7  being  thus  used  with  this  verb  in  the  sense  of 
against.  The  words  put  in  brackets  may  be  regarded  as  the 
briefest  exegesis:  They  are  too  vile  to  have  an  ally.  The 
mischief  they  do,  and  the  malice  they  show  against  a  man  in 
Job's  wretched  condition  is  «u  generis :  "  None  but  themselves 
can  be  tbeir  parallel." 

S3  Ver.  14.  Fracture  in  a  wall.  Compare  Isaiah 
XXX.  13,  where  we  have  the  exact  image.  It  is  the  rendering 
of  the  Vcloate:  qtuisi  fracto  muro.  Here  too  there  is  some- 
thing which  has  the  appearance  of  being  intended  literally. 
It  looks  like  a  real  assault  upon  Job's  wretched  temporary 
habitation  (his  r\''J!'2nn  JT*!!.  free  or  separate  house,  see 

note  20  above)  whether  upon  the  mezbele  or  place  of  offal 
far  from  the  city  of  which  Delitzsch  speaks  (LXX.,  eiri  t^s 
KOTrpia?  efu>  T^j  iroAeo)?)  or  on  the  border  of  the  Desert  ac- 
cording to  the  view  taken  Exo.  X.,  p  207.  They  break  it  all 
down  through  pure  recklessness,  rushing  in  upon  him  and 
filling  him  with  terror.  The  wholly  figurative  view  would 
regard  the  language  as  denoting  simply  great  change  of  con- 
dition, or  great  reverse  of  fortune;  but  there  is  too  much 
particularity  in  the  painting  for  that  alone.  If  literal,  it 
must  refer  to  events  which  occurred  to  Job's  annoyance  be- 
fore the  coming  of  his  three  friends. 

2*  Ver.  15.  All  tnrned  ag'ainst  me :  A  total  re- 
verse of  fortune,  an  oyertftrow,  a  cata«<rc>pAe.     Ijijnri  is  taken 

impersonally:  It  is  all  upturned,  or,  there  is  an  upturning,  an 
overthrow  (a  nDSHO  see  the  word  as  often  used  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah)  most  graphically  presented  in  the  imperso- 
nal rendering  of  the  verb  reganied  as  having  for  its  subject 
its  own  idea:  subrersum  est,  like  the  Latin  concurrilur,  jmg)ia- 
tur,  or,  pugnatum  est,  it  Li  fought,  there  is  a  b.attle.  Umbreit 
assumes  God  (unnamed)  as  the  subject :  Er  hat  sich  gegen 
niich  gcwandt,  "  He  is  turned  against  me."  But  this  does 
not  suit  the  extremely  passive  Hophal  conjugation  as  used 
here,  although  it  might,  perhaps,  have  been  consistent  with 
the  use  of  the  Niphal  (see  Note  to  xxviii.  .1,  and  EXCUR803 
VIII.,  pa.  201).  The  Kal  having  two  related  senses,  namely, 
that  of /niH«/iin(m((o>i  (one  thing  turning  into  another),  and 
that  of  si/6Der«iV>n  (turning  upside  dovrn,  ot  reversal),  the  Ni- 
phal is  the  passive  of  the  first  as  the  Concordance  uniformly 
shows,  the  Uophal  (comparatively  unfrequent)  of  the  latter. 


126 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


16 


17 


And  now  my  veiy'^  life  is  poured  out ; 
The  days  of  my  affliction  hold'^'  me  fast. 
By  night  my  every  bone  is  pierced"  above ; 
My  throbbing  nerves'^'  (within  me)  never  sleep. 


Its  subject  must  he  the  state  or  thing  overthrown,  and  there- 
fore cuunot  be  God.    The   more  com.iion   way   ia   to   take 

ninbS  for  the  subject,  as  Delitzsch  and  Kwald  do,  but 

T  ~ 

there  is  the  same  incongruity  (terrors  cannot  be  overturned, 
and  even  when  it  is  rendered  'turned"  it  makes  but  a  vague 
and  feeble  sense)  whilst  there  is  ttie  other  difficulty  arising 
from  the  disagreement  both  in  gender  and  number.  It  is 
indeed  the  case  that  in  Hebrew,  where  the  verb  precedes, 
there  may  be,  sometimes,  a  subject,  or  seeming  subject,  dif- 
fering in  number;  but  this  is  not  a  mere  arbitrary  rule  of 
the  grammarians.  There  is  a  reason  for  it.  In  such  cases 
the  predominant  subject  is  the  very  idea  of  the  verb  itself, 
which  on  that  account  comes  first,  whilst  the  subject  after- 
wards expressed   represents  only  an   aspect  of  that  more 

important    idea.    As  for  example  Jer.   li.  48,    H?    NU' 

.       .  T  T 

Cmtyn,  "  'hall  come  (there  shall  be  a  coming)  upon  her, 

— the  spoilers."  The  coming  upon  her,  or  that  there  shonld 
be  an  invasion,  an  inviision  of  the  strong  Babylon,  was  the 
strange  thought,  the  important  idea,  and  therefore  the  verb 
is  placed  tirst,  and  left  uncontrolled  by  the  number  of  the 
noun,  in  order  to  give  it  prominence  or  emphasis.  In  the 
preceding  part  of  the  same  verse,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
noun  subject  contains  the  predominant  idea,  and  the  verb, 

notwithstanding  it  is  placed  first,  conforms  to  it:  j^  ^JilTI 

D'Oty  7D3.  "  the  Heaveiis  shall  cry  out  against  Babylon." 

*  -  T  V  T 

Tn  this  case,  moreover,  the  accents  make  a  separation  be- 
tween ^Dnn  and  pirivS,  although  the  latter  belongs  to 

the  same  clause,  and,  therefore,  there  shoiild  be  given  to  it 
sometliing  of  an  independent,  or  partially  separata  render- 
ing, as  the  tran.slator  has  endeavored  to  do,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent the  enfeebling  which  would  come  from  making  it  the 
sole  subject  of  this  abrupt  and  exclamatory  verb:  terrors 
everi/where,  as  the  result  of  the  oi-ertiirning.  whether  taken 
literally  or  figuratively.  So  Rf.nan,  Lps  terrenrs  m'assit'gent 
de  ioM  parts.    The  expression  here  might  seem  to  resemble 

the  one  we  have,  1  Sam.  iv.  19,  rC'lY  D'Sy  03nj,  ren- 

T  V  :  T  V  T  :  '.•  ■.• 
dered:  herpnins  were  turned  upon  her,  but  there  it  is  Niphal, 
and,  as  we  have  elsewhere  seen  (Excursus  VIII.,  pa202). 
denotes  transformation,  a  sudden  "  turn,"  as  we  say,  from 
quiet  to  extreme  anguish.  Besides  in  that  case  all  is  regu- 
lar, whereas  the  peculiar  feature  of  this  pass.age  is  its  pas- 
sionate abruptness  as  shown  in  the  brokenness  and  irregu- 
larity of  its  language.  No  commentator  has  taken  a  better 
view  of  this  than  the  quaint  and  greatly  unappreciated  Ca- 
ryl. He  makes  his  exegesis  and  his  pious  practical  com- 
mentary illustrate  each  other:  "For  as  terrors  discompose 
the  mind  and  put  it  out  of  all  due  frame  and  order,  so  the 
construction  of  this  text,  wherein  Job  complains  of  them,  is 
out  of  all  grammatical  frame  and  order.  There  is  here  a 
diuible  anomnlie.  or  breach  of  ordinary  grammar.  The  word 
terrors,  being  of  the  plural  number,  is  joined  in  construction 
with  a  verb  in  the  singular;  there  is,  also,  alike  irregularity 
in  the  geniers  of  these  two  words.  It  is  as  if  the  Spirit  of 
God  would  hint  to  us  by  these  disturbed  expressions,  how 
much  distnrtjance  and  irregularity  such  terms  work  and  im- 
press upon  the  affections,"  Caryl  on  Job,  Vol.11.  710.  This 
learned  old  non-conformist  is  right.  The  Spirit  of  God  makes 
its  revelation  to  us  through  the  souh  of  men,  through  the  me- 
dinm  oftheir  emotions  and  conceptions;  the  language,  there- 
fore, that  comes  ont  to  us  from  such  a  process  is  His  lan- 
guage, even  when  most  intensely  human.  The  impassioned 
state  of  soul  stamps  ifsplf  upon  such  broken  utterances;  and 
to  overlook  them  in  an  exegesis  is  to  act  the  part  of  unfaith- 
ful interpreters.  In  these  chapters,  xxix.  and  xxx.,  we  have 
pictures  from  the  life.  It  is  no  invented  thing.  A  true  ex- 
perience lies  before  us.  The  view  taken  of  "lijriri  is  con- 
firmed by  the  2d  and  3d  clauses  of  this  same  verse.  They  are 
but  illustrations  of  the  great  change  of  fortune  so  abruptly 
expressed  in  the  first,  whether  we  regard  that  as  referring  to 
the  general  d-scription  given  in  the  xxix.  (of  which  this  may 
be  taken  as  the  reverse  picture)  or  whether  we  suppose  Job 
to  have  in  mind  the  literal  ov(frthrow  as  before  referred  to, 
or  to  mingle  both  tojjether  in  the  images  of  the  wind  and  the 
clouds  that  immediately  follow.    Umbreit  seems  to  enter 

into  tbe  spirit  of  the  passage  >vhen  he  says  of  "'^^  TiJiin, 


^hr. 


als  Ausruf  zu  nehmen.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  exclamation,  an 
otUcry,  caused  by  the  terror  of  the  assault  he  seems  to  be  de- 
scribing, or  by  a  sudden  vivid  recollection  of  the  terrible 
overthrow  or  reversal  of  his  condition,  as  though  liehiidsHid: 
"dire  catastrophe  I— how  great  the  change! — everything 
against  nie — all  terror  and  conlusion  1"    JticunoR.N  renders 

^'i?  "ISnn,  "  es  ist  mit  mir  ganz  anders  wordon,"  taking 

it  impersonally,  and  fllH  7D  by  it'elf  as  an  addition  to  the 
general  exclamation.    Tnere  is  no  difficulty  in  making  the 

subject  of  fjTm  in   the  second  clause  refer  to  DinS^ 

taken  col'ectively  ;  but  a  better  way  is  to  regard  the  femi- 
nine as  denoting  generally  the  event,  or  the  whole  course  of 
events,  for  whii-h  the  feminine  pronoun  would  stand  in  He- 
brew as  the  neuter  does  in  Greek. 

25  Ver.  16.  My  very  life.  Literally:  My  soul  is  poured 
out  upon  me,  or  my  soul  upon  me.  It  seems  to  be  merely  an 
intensive  expresjion.  Or,  upon  me  may  mean,  while  yet 
alive. 

»  Ver.  16.  Hold  me  fast.  'jnnX',  the  stubborn- 
ness and  tenacity  of  his  disease :  will  not  let  him  go ;  no  re- 
mission. 

27  Ver.  17.   Above.     Or  more  strictly  from  above  me, 

O,    Hence  Tremeluus  renders  it  perfodiuntur  (a  stra- 

gula)  im.posita  miAi,  supplying  coi'fr?**  or  blanket  as  something 
that  chafed  his  bones, — a  rendering  not  at  all  unnatural, 
since  the  idea  of  a  chafing  or  fretting  of  his  garment,  or  bed- 
clothes, is  so  easily  suggested.  Again,  '7J^0  may  mean 
not  much  more  than  ^7_y  above,  my  bones  upon  me,wUhme, 
in  me,  as  our  translation  has  it  (see  the  places  in  Noldius 
where  this  preposition,  like  '7J7,  seems  to  have  the  mean- 
ings, in,  apitd,jtixtn).  Thus  taken  it,  too,  may  be  merely  in- 
tensive: my  very  bones,  each  one  of  them,  as  is  denoted  by  the 
distributive  plural  with  a  singular  verb.  But  there  seems 
intended  something  of  a  contrast  between  the  two  members 
of  the  verse.  The  bones  may  be  regarded  as  above,  without, 
or  over,  in  respect  to  the  nerves,  or  reins  supposed  to  belong 
more  especially  to  the  interiora  of  the  body.  We  do,  indeed, 
commonly  think  of  the  bones  as  within,  but  beside  the  gene- 
ral aemand  of  such  a  comparison,  there  was  something  pe- 
culiar in  Job's  extreme  emaciation,  that  would  make  the 
contrast  very  striking.  His  bones  protruded;  they  had  be- 
come visible;  so  that  his  body  seemed  like  a  skeleton,  all 
bones.  So  he  speaks  of  himself  vii.  15 :  Death  rather  than  these 
bones.  So  Elihu  says  xxxiif.  21,  evidently  meaning  Job  :  His 
bones  before  unseen  stick  out.  Compare  also  Ps.  xxii.  18  :  "I 
can  count  all  my  bones,  they  look  and  stare  at  me."    Thus 

viewed  ''jV'O  in  its  common  literal  sense  of  above,  or  from 

t't  •• 
above,  becomes  not  only  allowable,  but  most  appropriate.  In 
his  contemplation  of  h:mself  in  this  condition,  the  bones  be- 
come the  outsideof  him,  as  it  were.  The  rendering,  pierced 
from  me,  as  some  translate,  gives  a  strange  sense,  or  if  para- 
phrased as  a  construclio  priegnaus  (ZoCKLer:  Die  Narlitdurch- 
bohrt  meine  Gebeine,  sie  von  mir  ablH<end,  as  also,  in  sub- 
stance Kwald,  DELiTascH,  Umhreit,  and  Renan)  seems  forced 
and  unwarranted.  The  rendering  of  Tremellius,  "cut  or 
fretted  by  the  blanket  above"  is  to  be  preferred,  if  the  view 
here  taken  cannot  be  sustained.  There  is,  moreover,  the 
view  of  RaSCHI,  presenting  less  difficulty  than  the  barsh  con- 
struclio  prxgnana  to  which  Umbreit  and  Zockler  are  com- 
pelled to  resort.  He  takes  ''7J,'0  ''DV^  as  equivalent  to 
^D2fJ^  7^0.  and  interprets  it  as  meaning  "the  worms  who 
strip  oflT  the  flesh  from  above  my  bones." 
28  Ver.  17.  My  throbbing;  nerves,  '•pij,'.  In  Note 

3  ver.  3  there  have  been  already  given  some  of  the  reasons 
for  adhering  to  the  old  translation  of  the  word  in  this  place, 
as  supported  by  the  Taroum,  by  Maimo.vides,  with  the  learn- 
ed Jewish  Rabbis,  and  by  the  older  commentators,  such  as 
Mercerus.  Piscator,  and  others  mentioned  in  Poole's  ,S.vnop- 
«i8.    Aden  Kzra  renders  it  by  CTJ  rierri  (LXX.  vevpa  ii.ov) 

a  sense  which  he  says  it  has  "in  the  Ishmaelific  language" 
So  Kimchi  in  his  book  of  roots:     fT'jri    INIp''    'JI^^J 

pTl_J'7X,    "in  Arabic   they  call   the    nerves  (or  sinews) 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


127 


18  By  great  exertion  ia  my  garment"  changed ; 
Close  as  my  tunic's  mouth  it  girts  me  round. 

19  Into  the  mire,  His  hand  hath  cast  me'"  down ; 
To  dust  and  ashes  is  my  semblance''  turned. 

20  I  call  to  Thee — Thou  answerest  not ; 
Before  Thee  do  I  stand — Thine  eye  beholds ; 

21  But  Thou  art  turned  relentless  (to  my  prayer)  ; 
Thou  art  against  me  with  Thy  mighty  hand. 

22  Thou  liftest  me  upon  the  wind  to  ride ; 
As  in  my  very  being''^  Thou  dissolvest  me. 

p11j;75<,"  using  the  Arabic  article.    It  is  thus  used  indis-  |  ferent  way,  VJ'^    Ip   *13X3,  fHh  asJies  upon  his  eye),  09 


criminately  of  all  the  finer  or  more  interior  parts  of  the 
body,  as  of  sinews,  arteries,  or  veins;  and  the  latter  especially 
were  so  called  from  the  idea  of  continual  motion  in  them 
increased  by  pain  or  heat.  They  were  conceived  of  as  con- 
tinually/«einy,  throbbing,  pulsating,  etc.  (see  Note  on  D'pl^ 

ver.  8).  It  is  this  which  justifies  the  epithet  added  in  the 
translation,  and  it  would  seem  to  have  been  some  idea  of  this 
kind,  as  attaching  to  the  word  which  suggested  that  other 

graphic  expression  f^Jty'    J<  7,  they  never  lie  down,  they 

'      T  :  • 
are  never  still.    This  was  the  thought,  too,  which  suggested 
to  Raschi  his  interpretation  of  the  word  in   this  place : 

nniJD  on?  rX  'TJ,  to  which  he  adds:  in  the  Arabic 

TJ  is  called  pllj^.    So  Babdi  Levi  Ben  Gerson  renders  it 

D'p3"ini  "my  nerves  that  pulse  and  never  rest,  on  account 

of  the  strange  and  distempered  heat  that  is  in  me."  Mai- 
MONiDES,  too,  iu  his  comment  on  this  place  has  a  similar 
thought  about  the  motiou  caused  by  the  incre-ased  heat  of 
the  body,  and  this  leads  him  to  a  remark  so  curious  that  the 
translator  hopes  to  be  pardoned  fo'  inserting  it.  This  most 
philosophical  commentator  has  his  thoughts  so  carried 
away  by  the  idea  suggested  that  he  cannot  stop  short  of  the 
Primus  Motor :  "  When  a  thing  is  moved  we  may  say,  it  is 
the  staff  that  move?  the  stone,  but  the  hand  moves  the  staff, 
the  chords  (D^'^r^'Dil)  move  the  hand,  the  muscles 
(D'3Jf  Vn)  niove  the  chords,  the  nerves  (D'p"1^n)  move 

the  muscles,  the  natural  heat  ('J^^DH  DinH)  moves  the 
nerves,  the  form  (nilVH,  the  idea,  law,  nature,  formal  aj. 
rangeinent  of  the  matter)  moves  the  natural  heat,  the  Prime 
Mover  God  (JHyXTH)  moves,  originates  and  sets  in  action, 

the  idea."  On  thii  frequent  Rabbinical  word,  see  Buxtorf 
Lex.  Chald.,  and  the  Worterbuch  Chaldaisches,  lately  pub- 
lished, of  Bade.  Dr.  J.  Levy.  It  is  an  argument  for  this 
sense  of  'p^J?  that  it  seems  demanded  by  the  parallelism. 

The  mention  of  bone  in  the  first  clause,  requires  that  some 
other  part  of  the  body  should  be  the  subject  of  the  second. 
The  Syriac  i<pl^,  wherever  it  occurs  in  the  Peschito  ver- 
sion of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  always  means  some 
kind  of  ligament  (lorum)  string  or  cord,  being  equivalent  to 
D^TJ  by  which  the  Babbins  render  the  Hebrew  p"iy.    See 

Gen.  xiv.  13  (corrida,  strings  or  ties  for  the  shoe)  Isai.  v.  27; 
Job  i.  27;  Kzek.  xxiii.  15;  Mark  i.  7;  Lube  iii.  16;  Actsxiii. 
25.  The  participial  form  is  one  common  to  a  great  many 
Hebrew  nouns  like  TTlD  pTti^i  ^^ 

29  Ver.  18.   My   garment   chaiig:ed.     The   word 
tySnnn  occurs  in  this  Hithpahel  form  in  four  places,  1 

Fam.  xxviii.  8,  which  is  the  key  passage,  1  Kings  xxii.  30;  2 
Chron.xviii.  29,  andl  Kings  xx.  38.  The  first  gives  us  the 
pense  of  the  word  as  clear  as  any  Lexicon  could  have  done. 
It  shows  that  tlie  sense  of  disguise  is  not,  by  itself,  the  pre- 
dominant one.  The  word  simply  expresses  the  mode  by 
which  it  is  effected,  as  the  words  immediately  following  show: 

he  disguised  himself,  that  is,  put  on  other  garments,  1^3  7'1, 

D"''inX  D'1J3  which  may  be  regarded  as  epexegetical  of 

it.  The  2d  and  3d  examples  in  the  same  way  give  the  expla- 
nation: The  kings  in  the  battle  exchanged  garments.  In  1 
Kings  XX.  38,  the  disguise  seems  to  have  been  made  in  a  dif- 


commonly  rendered,  but  as  rendered  by  the  LXX.  with  a 
strip  or  belt  (TtAa^ioi'i)  upon  his  eyes, — the  word  being 
*1£3X  instead  of  IflXj  the  Usual   one  for  ashes.    Gesenius 

regards  it  as  a  different  word,  if  the  true  reading  of  the  text 
before  them  was  not,  rather,  HjiX  (unpointed),  an  ephod  or 
linen  Veil.  Reading  it,  however,  as  ashes  it  may  fairly  bo 
taken  ai  something  additional  to  the  action  expressed  by  the 
verb  tysnri'  just  before  it;  or  it  may  well  be  that  the 
phrase,  originally  meaning  change  of  raiment,  had  come  to 
repre.sent  the  idea  of  disguise  in  whatever  way  effected.  If 
this  is  regarded  as  inherent  in  the  Hithpahel  form  it  may, 
perhaps,  be  supposed  to  come  from  the  Kal  sense  to  seek,  in- 
vestigate, etc.,  with  the  reflexive  idea  added  :  one  who  caui-es 
himself  to  be  sought,  inquired  after.  This,  however,  is  not 
easy,  and  a  more  direct  way,  if  allowable,  would  be  to  regard 
the  sense  of  change  of  raiment  as  predominant,  and  connect 
it  with  the  cognate  E/£3n,  to  be  free  from,  liber,  soluius,  as  ia 

~    T 

the  word  ^E'DH.  Job  iii.  9,  aud  many  other  places.    Hence 

the  idea  of  having  the  garment  stripped  off,  or  of  being  free 
from  it,  to  be  replaced  by  another.  So  Parkhurst  would 
seem  to  view  it,  though,  from  his  disregard  of  the  Hebrew 
punctuation  the  two  verbs  are  regarded  by  him,  not  simply 
as  cognate,  but  as  one  and  the  game  root.  It  should  bo 
noted,  too,  that  in  any  view  we  may  take  of  the  word,  the 
idea  of  disguise  is  not  in  the  garment,  but  in  the  person- 
Here,  however,  to  give  it  any  application  at  all  in  that  sense, 
it  is  the  garment  itself  that  is  disguised.  That  could  in  no 
way  be  truly  said,  though  it  were  ever  so  much  fouled  by 
the  disease.  If  the  view  taken  can  be  bustained,  it  certainly 
gives  a  clear  and  suitable  sense.  Job  undoubtj'dly  would 
desire  to  change  his  garments.  There  are  a  number  of  pas- 
sages (see  especially  iv.  31)  which  show  that  he  was  very 
sensitive  in  this  matter,  aud  that  his  neatness  was  greatly 
offended  by  the  foulness  of  condition  produced  by  his  dis- 
ease. This  would  make  the  change  very  desiruMe,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  very  difficult  in  consequence  of  the  adhesion. 
The  necessity  for  it,  and  the  p.ain  occasioned,  would  be  no 
small  part  of  his  wretchedness,  and  even  hyperbolical  lan- 
guage would  seem  most  natural  in  describing  the  effort  for 
that  purpose.  The  chief  difficulty  of  the  other  view  is  in 
the  words  T\3  2"^-    To  render  this  "drnwe"  or  "almighty 

-  T 

force,"  as  Delitzrch  and  Umbreit  do,  seems  utterly  extra- 
vagant, and  to  take  it  of  the  violence  of  the  disease,  as  E.  V. 
and  others  do,  is  not  warranted  by  any  other  usage  of  liD' 

The  second  clause  gives  the  reason  why  so  much  force  was 
required,  and  which  would  seem  all  the  greater  from  the 
pain  it  occasicmed. 

to  Ver.  19.  Cast  me  doini.     jiH-    I>ejecU. 

81  Ver.  19.  My  semblance  turned.  Lit. :  I  have 
likened  viyself.  But  the  Hithpahel  is  intensive  rather  than 
simply  reflex:  I  am  become  the /)ic<Hre,  the  perfect  copy  or 
resemblance.  The  reference  is  doubtless  to  the  earthy,  ashen, 
cadavarous  appearance  that  the  leprosy  occasioned;  though 
there  probably  mingles  with  it  something  of  th.at  idea  of 
weakness  and  mortality  connected  with  the  word  ashes  in 
other  parts  of  the  Bible. 

32  Ver.  22.  As  in  my  very  being;.  This  is  given  as 
the  best  rendering  of  that  difficult  word  n'lJ'^n  in  its  ac- 

T  • 

commodation  to  the  demands  of  this  place  (st-e  Exc.  V.p.l89 
and  also  Notes  npon  it,  xii.  16;  xxvi.  3,  and  other  places'). 
Its  general  etymological  sense  of  reality, solidify,  substantiality, 
true  being,  or  ovcria,  may  be  referred  either  to  Icnnwledge  or 
truth.  It  is  the  deepest  essence,  and  may  be  taken  here  ad- 
verbially, as  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  with  qualifying 


128 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


23 


24 


I  know  that  Thou  wilt  turn  me  back"  to  death, 
The  assembly  house**  ordained  for  all  that  live. 
Ah !  prayer  is  nought,"  when  He  sends  forth  the  hand ; 
In  each'*  man's  doom,  of  what  avail  their  cry  ? 


25       Have  I  not  wept"  for  him  whose  life  is  hard  ? 
Has  not  my  very  soul  grieved''  for  the  poor  ? 


Hebrew  nonns,  essentialUer,  ttibstantialiter,  ov(Ti<a&tat.  It  may 
have,  moreover,  something  of  a  superlative  sense,  liRe  the 

Bimilar   words    p^J    excellency,  truth,  splendor,    ni*37 
- . .  -  V  T 

C<nnpletel!i,  triumphantly,  or  fl'' 7jDn  perfection,  perfectly.  Tre- 

MELLHTS  :  Efflcis  ut  diffluam  sH6s<(7H(ia;  CooCEius,  among  the 
older  commentators:  «t  maceras  rae  reapse  (re  ipsa),  in  very 
tniWi,  using  it  as  a  term  of  intensity.  Vuloate  Di(?ide.  Bux- 
TOBF,  Lex.  Chald.,  in  essentia,  id  est.  tU  tola  essentia  i>ereat,  tota- 
liter,  et  omnino ;  though  he  seems  to  regard  it  as  equivalent 

to  a  Twgumic   word    NjTK'il,    meaning  foundation.    De 

T :  :  ■•. 
Wette,  7.erriittGst  Sinn  und  Geist.  Others  translate  it  happi- 
ness, safety,  though  still  retaining  the  old  reading.  Our  trans- 
lators, by  "  subsl.inre,"  may  have  meant  wealth,  as  the  Greeks 
use  the  word  oi'crta,  80  very  similar  etymologically.  In  the 
margin,  however,  they  have  given  the  word  wisdom.  This 
old  rendering,  hviiig,  essence,  re((lity,  etc.,  is  entitled  to  the 
more  regard  in  view  of  the  great  difficulty  later  commenta- 
tors (EwALD,DiLLMANN,  DF-LiTz.scft,  ZSckler)  hav6  in  giving 
anything  more  satisfactory.  They  render  it,  "  the  crash, 
noise,  roaring  of  the  storm  ;"  Zockler:  und  lissest  mich  zer- 
gehen  in  Sturmesbransen.  But  to  get  this  they  havetot.'ike 
another  and  quite  different  reading,  HXItyn,  as  found  in 
xxxvi.  29,  and  xxxix.  7.  Umbreit  and  Gesenius  turn  it  into 
a  verb,  nityili  and  give  it  the  sense  of  a  Chaldaic   word 

found  only  in  another  conjugation :  "  Thou  frirjhtenest  m?." 
But  there  is  no  suffix  pronoun,  as  there  ought  to  be  in  such 
a  case.  The  greatest  objection,  however,  besides  the  change 
required  in  the  reading,  is  the  wretched  anticlimax  it  makes : 
"  Thou  catchest  me  up  to  the  wind;  thou  makest  me  to  ride 
upon  it;  thou  dissolvest  me;  thou  friijhteueet  me."  It  is  sup- 
posed by  some  that  the  first  clause  is  meant  to  r^  present 
Job's  prosperity,  the  second  his  downfall.  But  there  are  no 
words  giving  the  least  'indication  of  such  a  contrast,  and 
there  is  little  in  the  calm,  God-fraring,  domestic  happiness 
of  Job,  that  8Ug2;e8t3  such  a  picture  of  .sudden  elation.  It  is 
rather  that  of  ruin  expressed  in  a  weird  and  passionate  style 
which  almost  resembles  the  language  of  delirium.  Such  an 
idea  is  favored  by  that  most  sober  Jewish  commentator  Aben 
Ezra,  who  ascribes  this  strange  language  to  the  "  wild  ima- 
ginations caused  by  fever;  Job  dreams  of  riding  on  the 
wind."  It  may,  in  fact,  have  been  one  of  those  "  scaring  vi- 
sions" of  which  be  speaks  vii.  14;  xx.  8,  and  which  formed 
no  small  part  of  his  misery.  There  is  nothing,  as  Caryl  sup- 
poses, unworthy  of  the  Scriptures  in  such  an  idea.  Were 
not  the  first  clause  so  clear,  so  incapable  of  being  taken  in 
any  other  way,  we  might  almost  suspect  the  translation  as 
too  Shakesperian,  or  Dantean,  for  .Tob,  though  he  shows 
much  more  imagination  than  the  other  speakers.  But  every- 
thing except  the  n'll'n  is  so  perspicuous,  the  "  being  lifted 

T  •    ■• 

np  to  the  wind,"  the  "riding  upon  it,"  the  being  "din- 
solved,"  or  melting  way,  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the 
rendering:  It  reminds  one  of  Virgil's  description  of  the  ex- 
piating processes  endured  by  spirits,  iEn.  VI.,  740. 


-Alire  panduntur  inanes 


Suspensje  ad  veutos. 

Job's  language  resembles  some  of  the  mad  ntterances  of 
Lear,  giving  the  impression  that  called  out  the  comment  of 
Aben  Ezra.    It  is  almost  in  the  very  words  of  Othello: 

"  Blow  me  about  in  winds," 

presenting  also  something  of  a  parallel  to  Homer's  language, 
employed  Odyss.  IV.  7-7,  and  elsewhere,  to  denote  utter  and 
remediless  destruction: 

ai<rTOP  avrjpGL\pai'TO  OveWai, 

a  "carrying  away  by  the  gales,"  a  "disappearing"  in  their 
unknown  viewless  regions.  Stress  has  been  laid  on  the  fdct 
that  the  word  ii  abbreviated  in  its  vowels,  wht-reas  in  other 
plewies  it  is  written  full  (j">  for  1j^);  but  this  is  evidence  ra- 
ther of  some  difficulty  which  old  transcribers  or  editors  may 
have  had  about  the  mcauing  of  the  word,  and  heuce  of  a  de- 


sire to  exchange  it  for  another.  Had  there  bgen  8-^me  other 
word  in  the  original  it  is  almost  incrtdible  that  this  difficult 
n'C'^n  should  have  been  put  in  place   of  it.    Merx,  as 

T    • 

usual,  solves  the  difBculty  by  his  arbitrary  reading  ^J'lt^n. 
83  Ver.  23.  Tnrn  me  back.    Comp.   ^'lU,  Gen.  iii. 

19;  DIX  "'J3  'i2W,  "  Oo  back  ye  sons  of  Adam,"  Va.  ^c.  5. 
TT     ••  : 

3*  Ver.  23.  The  assembly  bonse.    1_J'10  n"3,  the 

house  of  rendezvous,  of  g'o/^rt'»(7.  It  suggests  the  frequent 
phrase  gathered  to  the  fathers,  gathered  to  his  people.  All 
such  language  must  have  come  from  some  idea  of  death  or 
Sheol  being  a  place  of  waiting  for  something  to  come  after 
it.    See  Lange  Gen.,  Note  585. 

86  Ver.  24.  Prayer  is  nong'bt.  The  translation  given 
of  the  whole  verse  is  nearly  that  of  Renan  : 

Vaines  priferesl— il  etend  sa  main; 
A  quoi  bon  protester  contre  ses  coups  ? 

^^3~N  7  1|X.  The  negative  X7,  here,  seems  to  be  a  quali- 
fying rather  than  an  impliedly  asserting  particle.  It  is 
joined  with  '_^'3,  prayer,  like  our  inseparable  negative  syl- 
lables in,  im,  mu  ;  as  in  ^^D^  N7  impitis  Ps.  xliii.  1;  X/ 
J^»,  t»i/5nnMS  Prov.  XXX.  25 ;  ^'X  X7,  without  men,  uninha- 
bited, andvOpioiro^;  "H^T  X/t  without  a  way,  inrius,  aTropos, 

o/3aTos,  wayless,  trackless.  It  is  a  case  that  is  prayerJess,  he 
would  say,  that  is,  where  prayer  is  of  no  avail ;  the  substan- 
tive verb  understood:  It  is  a  prayer  that  is  no  prayer,  like 
the  Greek  jrdpo?  oTropos.  For  the  other  view  which  resolves 
the  word  into  parts,  3  and  ''y,  see  Deliizsch. 

M  Ver.  24.  In  eacta  man's  doom  . . .  their  cry. 

It  is  a  case  where  a  distributive  singular  in  one  part  corres- 
ponds to  a  plural  pronoun  in  the  other.  Our  own  tongue  ad- 
mits it.  But  what  authority  lor  giving  it  this  turn,  or  in- 
serting the  words  "  of  what  avail,"  or,  a  quoi  bon,  as  ReNAN 
does?  It  is  because  of  the  QX,  leaving  the  question  unan- 
swered, or  making  what  is  called  an  aposiopesis, — a  silence 
that  leaves  the  answer  to  the  thought  as  the  most  expressive 
way  of  asserting  its  unavailablenees:  "what  if  they  do  cry  f 
It  occurs  in  all  passionate  or  animated  language,  but  espe- 
cially in  the  ancient.  "  If  it  bear  fruit,"  Luke  xiii.  9.  There 
is  uothing  more  there  in  the  Greek ;  but  the  silent  answer 
is  all  the  more  expressive  on  that  account.  "  lie  that  planted 
the  ear  (Ps.  xciv.  9),  shall  he  not  hear?  He  that  fashioned 
the  eye,  shall  he  not  see?  He  that  teacheth  man  know- 
ledge"— There  it  closes  in  the  Hebrew,  b\it  the  answer  is 
admirably  given  in  E.  V.  in  italics:  "Shallhenot  knowV 
Shall  the  source  of  knowledge  be  unintelligent?  For  a 
striking  example,  see  Iliad  1. 26.  So  here:  •'■  If  they  cry, 
each  of  them    (IT'33    in  his  own  special  doom),— what 

then?"  There  is,  however,  nothing  here  like  an  arraign- 
ment of  God  for  injustice  or  cruelty.  It  is  simply  stating 
the  inevitableness  of  death  as  the  common  doom.  It  is  in 
this  way  uo  harsher  than  Qin.  iii.  19,  and  Ps.  xc.  3.    The 

fern.  ]n  7  may  be  a  mere  matter  of  euphony  to  avoid  the 

harshness  of  final  CD  before  ly  in  ^}T^  (see  the  Sepher  Ha 

liil-ma  or  Hebrew  Grammar  of  JONA  Ben  Gannach,  Sec.  VT., 
changes  of  0  and  \,  pa.  37,  where  he  gives  a  number  of 

analogous  examples).  We  have  examples  of  \7\1  for  DH  7 
Kuth  i.  13,  and  of  rUH  for  nOH,  2  Sam.  iv.  6. 

37  Ver.  25.  Have  I  not?     X7    DX  is  equivalent  to  a 

strong  assertion ;  but  the  interrogative  form  is  the  more  pa- 
thetic. 

38  Ver.  25.  Grieved,  713  JJ?-  This  verb  occurs  but 
once.  The  context,  however,  leaves  little  doubt  about  it, 
though  we  get  no  help  either  from  the  Syriac  or  the  Arabic. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


129 


26  But  when  I  looked  for  good,  then  evil  came  f 
When  I  expected  light,  then  darkness  came. 

27  My  very  bowels  boil,*"  they're  never  still ; 
The  days  of  pain  have  overtaken  me. 

28  Mourning  I  go,*'  no  sunlight  (on  my  way). 
In  the  assembly  do  I  rise ;  I  cry  aloud. 

29  Brother  am  I  to  howling  desert*^  dogs, 
Companion  to  the  owls. 

80       My  skin  is  black  above  i*' 

My  bones  are  dried  with  heat. 
31       My  harp,**  to  mourning  is  it  turned ; 

My  organ  like  the  tones  of  those  who  weep. 


»  Ver.  26.  CtII  came . . .  darkness  came.    The 

repetition  of  the  same  word,  both  iu  the  Hebrew  and  in  the 
English,  increases  the  force  and  pathos. 

*>  Ver.  27.  Bowels  boil.  This  may  mean  mental  af- 
fliction (bowels  put  for  the  feelings),  but  it  is  easier  taken 
literally. 

*1  Ver.  28.  Monrning;  I  go;  or,  with  darkened  face  I 
go.  The  key  to  this  obscure  verse  is  to  be  found,  we  think, 
in  Jer.  iy.  28,  where  a  day  of  trouble  is  thus   described  by 

the  same  verb,  71^(30  D'OU'il  ^ITp,  tlie  heaveiis  are  dark- 

<-y  ■       •  -T  -         :  It 
ened  above.    The  sense  of  moMrninj  in  TTp  comes  from  that 

of  obscuration.  The  sunlight  denotes  joy  and  happiness,  as 
in  Eccles.  xi.  7,  "  sweet  is  the  light,  and  pleasant  to  the  eyes 
to  behold  the  sun."    The  sense  of  the  words  put  in  brackets 

are  really  included  in  the  idea  of  'HD?!!-  The  second 
clause  seems  abrupt  and  disconnected,  but  this  is  what  is  to 
be  expected  in  such  a  passionate  strain. 

*2  Ver.  29.  Howling^  desert  dogs.  It  is  some  hi- 
deous animal  that  makes  a  wailing  melancholy  sound,  and 
that  is  all  that  can  be  determined  from  Bochart's  long  dis- 
cussion. The  word  in  the  second  clause  may  be  rendered 
ostriches,  but  the  idea  of  desolation  intended  is  far  better 
given  by  owU,  as  in  E.  V. ;  at  least  to  our  modern  concep- 
tious. 


«  Ver.  30.  My  skin  Is  black  above.  See  remarks 
on  7J7D  in  Note  10,  ver.  17.  The  contrast  there  was  be- 
tween bones  and  the  more  interior  parts,  nerves  or  sinews. 
Here  it  is  between  the  skin  above,  and  the  bones  as  the  in- 
terior.   It  may  be  rendered  viy  skin  upon  me. 

**  Ver.  31.  My  barp,  etc.  The  exact  nature  of  the  musi- 
cal instruments  here  mentioned,  it  is  now  very  difficult  to 
determine.    An  objection  is  made  to  rendering  21^V,  here 

and  Ps.  cl.  4,  by  the  word  organ.  It  is  however  a  wind  in- 
strument, and  may,  therefore,  be  a  combination  of  pipes;  or 
organ  may  bo  taken  for  any  compound  instrument,  complex 
or  simple.  The  single  pipe  was  a  shepherd's  instrument, 
and  hardly  corresponds  to  our  idea  of  the  dignity  of  Job. 
It  may  be  said,  however,  that  a  seeming  exactness  may 
sometimes  fail  as  a  translation  by  destroying  the  very  im- 
pression intended  to  be  made.  Kenan,  we  think,  exempli- 
fies this. 

Ma  guUare  s'est  changee  en  instrument  de  deuil ; 
Mon  hautbois  ne  rend  que  des  sons  de  pleurs. 

Something  antique  is  needed,  yet  still  enough  understood  to 
give  the  effect  intended,  witliout  marring  by  a  lowering 
familiarity.  In  general,  however,  no  translator  excels  Re- 
KAH  in  purity  and  taste. 


Chapter  XXXI. 

1  Yes,^  I  did  make  a  covenant  for''  mine  eyes ; 
How'  then  could  I  upon  a  virgin  gaze  ? 

2  What  portion  of  Eloah  from  above, 

What  heritage  [could  I  expect*]  from  Shaddai  in  the  heights  ? 

3  Does  not  a  woe  await  the  evil  man  ? 

A  vengeance  strange,^  to  malefactors  due  ? 


1  Ver.  1.  Xes.  We  cannot  suppose  that  the  commencing 
words  of  this  chapter  come  directly  after  the  closing  words 
of  the  XXX.  There  is  no  inconsistency,  but  certainly  a  change 
of  style,  indicating  a  silent  meditation  for  a  few  moments, 
and  then  a  sudden  resuming  with  the  thought  to  which  it 
had  led  him.  Thus  regarded,  the  starting  j/e«,  or  something 
equivalent,  is  nothing  more  than  the  expression  of  such  a 
resuming.  The  need  of  it  in  the  Hebrew  was  compensated, 
virtually,  by  the  feeling  of  the  context,  and,  perhaps,  by 
look,  tone,  or  gesture. 

2  Ver.  1.  For  mine  eyes.  Not  as  a  party  iBith  whom 
the  covenant  is  made,  for  that  would  require  DJ7>  but  rather 

as  the  evil  or  enemy  against  whom  Job  had  made  a  solemn 
compact  with  God.  Hence  the  language  that  follows— ^ioiv 
could  I,  etc. 

»  Ver.  1.  How  then  T  It  is  the  strongest  denial.  Why, 
as  commonly  rendered,  is  too  tame,  aa  though  simply  asking 
uhal  reason  could  I  have  f 

9 


*  Ver  2.  Conld  I  expect.    These  words  In  brackets 
are  but  the  filling  up  of  what  is  clearly  implied. 
6  Ver.  3.    A  vengeance  strange,    133 .    See  the 

same  spgolate,  only  with  the  0  vowel,  Obad.  12.  The  pri- 
mary idea  of  rfr.(»<yc)it'ss  adlieres  in  the  word,  but  giving  it  a 
liad  sensn  as  suggestive  of  the  ainfiU,  the  sudden  in  calamity. 
There  is  the  same  word  in  Arabic,  with  the  O  vowel,  and 
used  precisely  as  this  is  here  and  in  Obadiah  12.  For  clear 
examples  see  Hariri,  Seance  xiii.,  p.  153  {De  Suci/,  Ed.)  xvi., 
p.  188,  xxiv.  288.  It  occurs  in  the  same  sense  in  the  Koran; 
as  in  Surat  Ixv.  8,  xviii.  86,  where  it  is  joined  with  the  most 
severe  word  for  punishment:  "He  shall  visit  him  with  a 
strange  (nukran)  or  awful  penalty."  In  Surat  xviii.  73  it  is, 
in  thosameway,associated  with  the  crimeof  murder:  "Hast 
thou  slain  an  innocent  person,  then  hast  thou  done  a  thing 
(nukran),  awful,  strange."  Compare  the  very  similar  lan- 
guage in  the  Anima  Mundi  of  Tim^ecs  the  Locrian,  104  E: 
Ti/jLoipiai.  ferat,  "strange  vengeances,"  the  fearful  n  iture  of 
which  is  shown  in  the  context.  Compare  it  with  tivov,  1 
Pet.  iv.  12. 


130 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


10 


11 


12 


Does  He  not  see  my  course  of  life, 

And  number  all  my  steps  ? 

If  I  have  walked  in  ways®  of  vanity, 

Or  if  my  foot  hath  hasted  to  deceit, — 

So  weigh^  me  God  in  scales  of  righteousness 

And  know  Eloah  mine  integrity. 

If  from  the  path  my  step  hath  turned  aside, 
Or  soul  hath  strayed^  submissive  to  mine  eyes. 
Or  aught  of  blemish  to  my  hand  hath  cleaved, 
Then  let  me  sow,  and  let  another  reap, 
And  let  my  plantings  all  be  rooted  up. 
By'  woman,  if  my  heart  hath  been  seduced. 
Or  at  my  neighbor's  door,  if  I  have  watched, 
Then  let  my  wife  for  others  grind  ;'° 
Let  others  humble"  her. 
For  that  were  deed  of  foul  intent^ ^ — 
A  sin  demanding  sentence  from  the  Judge. 
A  fire"  consuming  to  the  lowest"  hell. 
And  killing"  all  my  increase  at  the  root. 


6  Ver.  5.  Ways  of.  This  is  implied  in  the  metaphor : 
vanity.    The   Hebrew   XI 11?  denotes   generally  what  is 

:  T 
most  false  and  vile,  the  good  for  nothing  as  opposed  to  the 
sound  or  the  true.     We  have  become  accustomed  to  our  word 
vanity  in  its  usugl  Scriptural  rendering,  and  as  thus  under- 
stood nothing  could  be  better  adapted  here. 

7  Ver.  6.  So  weigh  me  God.  It  is  the  language  of 
adjurative  appeal,  like  the  words  "so  help  me  God,"  "  God  do 
no  to  me,"  etc.  The  most  concise  rendering,  therefore,  is  the 
clearest  as  well  as  the  most  forcible.  The  reader  need  hardly 
bo  reminded  that  weigh&nd  know  are  both  to  be  taken  as  the 
3d  pers.  Imperative. 

8  Ver.  7.  Or  soul  bath  strayed.     Lit.:   Or  my  heart 

has  gone  after  mine  eyes.  37  here,  as  in  many  other  places, 
denotes  the  will  or  active  reason,  rather  than  the  mere  feeling. 
It  is  what  Socrates  calls  the  rei'ersal,  or  turning  upside  down, 
or  wrong  end  foremost,  of  human  nature,  indicating  a  dire 
catastrophe :  the  reason  following  the  sense,  and  submitting  to 
the  sense  instead  of  controlling  it.  . 

»  Ver.  9.  By  woman;  or,  on  accoimtof,  as  7J?  may  be 

rendered. 

10  Ver.  10.  Grind.  The  commentators  generally  make 
an  unnecessary  display  of  learning  here. 

H  Ver.  10.    Humble  her.     The  rendering  hero  best 

corresponding  to  a  Scriptural  expression  nU'X  T}2V,  Dent. 

T  •  T  ■ 
xxii.  24,  29;  Jud.  xix.  24;  xx.  5;  Gen.  xxxiv.  2.  The  servile 
idea,  however,  is  the  main  thing.  '  The  other  is  indicated  as 
a  mere  incident  to  it.  and  there  was  less  indelicacy  in  the  lan- 
guage than  would  now  be  felt.  But  would  not  this  be  a  great 
sin  in  Job,  to  think  or  utter  such  a  wish?  No  commentator 
treats  such  questions  more  purely  and  judiciously  than  the 
Puritan  Caryl.  After  admitting  that  there  was  wrong  and 
rashness  in  such  language,  he  goes  on  to  speak  of  it  as  the 
"strongest  expression  of  the  retributive  or  retaliatory  idea 
(the  lex  tiilionis:  as  he  hath  done  to  others,  so  be  it  done  to 
liim)  which,  in  itself,  or  as  brought  about  in  the  causative 
or  permissive  providence  of  God  (2  Sam.  xii.  10;  Hos.  iv.  12, 
13,  14)  is  the  very  essence  of  justice."  "But  holy  Job,"  he 
farther  says,  "did  not  strictly  wish  his  wile's  adultery.  He 
speaks  thus  to  show  that  by  the  law  of  couiiterpassion  ho 
deserved  to  have  suftered  in  such  a  way  had  he  himself  been 
guilty.  An  .adulterous  and  unfaithful  wife  is  a  fit  affliction 
for  an  adulterous  and  unfaithful  husband.  Breach  of  the 
marriage  covenant  is  a  due  reward  for  marriage  covenant 
breakers." 
12  Ver.  11.    Of  foul  intent.    n?3T  primarily  means 

T* 

jpurpose,  intent,  but  is  mostly  taken  tn  malam  partem,  like  the 
haXin  f acinus,  which  is,  etymologically,  a  rfee*/  or  doing,  hut 
in  usage  denotes  a  bad  deed,  an  enormittj.  SothoGreek  epyov 
unqualified,  or  when  joined  with  ixdya,  is  taken  in  a  l)ad 
sense,  fie'ya  epyoc  being  equivalent  to  KaKOv  epyoy; — a  most 


severe  satire  which  language,  in  its  unconscious  formation 
thus  casts  upon  human  nature.  It  is  nothing  less  than  an 
implication  that  the  majority  of  human  acts,  especially  the 
great  and  notorious,  are  so  surely  evil  that  the  word  becomes 
a  synonym  for  the  idea  of  crime.  The  same  linguistic  law 
affects  this  Hebrew  word.  It  is  equivalent  here  to  an  act 
done  feloniously,  or  with  mxtlitia, — malice  prepense — as  our 
law  calls  it ;  not  so  much,  however,  in  such  a  case  as  this, 
with  the  idea  of  passion,  or  hatred,  as  with  that  of  evil  de- 
sign, or  depravity,  of  any  kind. 

13  Ver.  12.  A  fire  consuming.  It  is  quite  common 
in  the  Scriptures  to  compare  this  sin  to  afire.  See  Prov.  vi. 
27,  28,  29.  The  language  there  is,  most  likely,  derived  from 
this  older  Scripture.  For  the  richest  illustrations  of  the 
way  in  which  it  consumes  everything,  body,  estate,  honor, 
dignity,  conscience,  and,  finally,  the  very  soul  itself,  see  C.K- 
RTL,  Practical  Remarks  on  the  passage. 

1*  Ver.  12.  The  lowest  hell.  There  is  more  of  lite- 
rality  in  it  than  commentators  express.  See  remarks  on 
the  word  JITDX  Note  5,  ver.  6,  chap,  xxvi.,  and  Excursus 

VI.,  p.  20.  It  may  be  taken  here  as  strong  hyperbolical  lan- 
guage, like  that  in  Dent,  xxxii.  2,  I'lK^   nVj^nPi  in- 

Btead  of  confining  it  to  the  mere  etymological  sense  of  loss 
or  destruction.  It  is  entire  destruction,  body  and  soul,  ia 
the  world  of  ilestruction.  The  words  reach  there,  whatever 
meiisuro  offeree  or  of  idea  Job  put  upon  them. 
IS  Ver.  12.  Killing.  ]^'^'^r\  here  can  hardly  be  con- 
"T  : 
fined  to  the  sense  of  iiproofing,  tearing  up  the  roots,  eradicans. 
It  would  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  figure  of  the  consuming 

fire  which  is  the  subject  of  \y'\'dr\  as  well  as  of  7DXi^.    It 

••  T    : 
is  rather  the  fire  of  lust,  killing  the  root  jis  well  as  the 
branches.    So  Merx  very  happily  renders  it : 

Das  alle  Frucht  mir  in  der  Wurzel  todtet ; 

whilst  most  of  the  later  Geiman  Commentators,  like  Um- 

BREIT,  Scni-OTTMANN,  EWALD,  DeLITZSCH,  DILL^r.\.VN,  Z'dCKLER, 

destroy  the  metaphor  by  giving  the  sense  of  nprooting,  or 
rootinymil.     It  might  have  been  seen  that  the  preposition  J3 

in  hD2  was  in  the  way  of  this.    It  must  either  be  regarded 

T  . 

as  redundant,  or  it  denotes  some  deadly  influence  in  or  upon 
the  increase— not  uprooting,  but  killing  it  in  its  root,  bring- 
ing death  into  the  very  root  of  all  prosperity,  whether  be- 
longing to  the  outward  or  the  inward  estate,  all  of  which 
may  be  deuoted  by  the  word   nXOj^i  revenue,   income.     In 

T       : 
such  a  wide  way  is  it  used,  Prov.  xviii.  20,  "  the  income  or 

fruit  of  the  lips,'    VriSty  riXOj^.  or  wliat  a  man  gains  or 

T  T  :        ~        : 
loses  by  his  talk.    Here,  as  Caetl  well  says,  it  denotes  every 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


131 


13       My  serf,'^  or  handmaid,  if  I  spurned"  their  right, 
When  their  complaint  before'*  me  they  have  laid, 

1-4       What  could  I  do  when  God  to  judgment"  rises? 

When  He  makes  search,  what  could  I  answer  him  ? 

15  Who  in  the  womb  made  me,  made  He  not  him  ? 
And  from  one''*'  common  mother  formed  us  both  ? 

16  From  poor  men's  want,^'  if  I  have  kept'-'  aloof^ 
Or  caused  the  widows'  eyes  to  faiP^, — 

17  If  I  have  eaten  by  myself  alone, 

And  from  my  crust  the  orphan  had  no  share, 

18  [No — like  a  father,  from  my  youth,  he  made"*  me  his  support, 
And  from  my  earliest  dawn''*  of  life  was  I  to  her  a  guide], 

19  If  e'er  I  saw^*  the  perishing,  with  nought  to  cover  him, 
Or  any  lack  of  raiment  to  the  poor, 

20  His  very  loins,  if  they  have  blessed  me  not, 

When''^  from  my  lambs'  fleece  he  hath  felt  the  warmth, 


thing  which  may  be  called  worth  or  value  in  a  man,  not  only 
outward  estate,  but  honor,  fair  repute,  spiritual  dignity.  Of 
all  this  the  very  roots  are  killed,  burnt  out  by  this  fire  of 
hell.  It  " leaves  neither  root  nor  branch."  Comp.  Malachi 
iii.  23. 

10  Ver.  13.  Serf.  ^  Jj^  here  is  not  a  slave  or  bondsman 
bought  with  money.  Neither,  on  the  other  hand,  is  he,  pro- 
bably, a  perfectly  free  hired  laborer.  The  context  seems  to 
intimate  a  vassal,  or  client,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  su- 
perior lord. 

"  Ver.  13.  I  spnrned.  It  can  hardly  be  rendered  in 
any  other  way ;  and  yet  it  is  a  question  worth  noticing  why 
the  future  form  is  used  here  instead  of  the  preterite  as  in 

'HD  ^n  DX  ver.  5  above.  The  only  answer  is  that  the  verb 
for  desinsing  is  more  inward  or  suljective,  and  that  there  is 
denoted  here  disposition,  state  of  soul,  ititeHlion  (looking  to  fu- 
turity) rather  than  a  single  outward  act  as  is  expressed  by 
the  other  word,  though  apparently  in  the  same  grammatical 
connection.  It  is  also  more  conditional  or  hypothetical :  if 
I  should  ever  have  been  so  di'^posed.  The  keeping  this  idea  in 
mind  will  explain  changes  in  the  Hebrew  tenses  which  other- 
wise would  seem  wholly  arbitrary. 
18  Ver.  13.  Befo**e  me.    ''I'S^,  in  the  second  clause, 

confirms  the  opinion  expressed  above  that  this  is  the  relation 
of  lord  and  vassal,  in  which  the  former  could  not  be  sued  by 
the  latter  as  an  equal  party  in  an  outward  court.  In  such  a 
case  it  would  have  been  '^J^  instead  of ''"13J?,  as  Dbuizsch 

well  observes  on  the  authority  of  the  Talmud.  The  prepo- 
sition D^T  would  denote  litigation  with  ;  n;3_J^  may  be  ren- 
dered apud,  penes,  at  my  own  tribunal,  in  tlie  lord's  manor 
court  where  ho  sits  as  judge,  not  as  party.  The  claim  that 
Job  makes  here  is  stronger  on  this  account:  He  rendered 
justice,  he  listened  to  the  complaints  of  his  vassal,  even 
against  himself,  though  no  outward  law  compelled  him  to 
do  them  justice.     D3T3  may  express  either  kind  of  inter- 

T  •  : 
pleading. 

i»  Ver.  14.  To  Judgment.  Implied  in  ^X  Dip'.  See 
Ps.  vii.  7;  ix.  20;  ill.  8;  xril.  13;  Ixviii.  2. 

20  Ver.  15.  One  common  mother — one  common 
source  or  origin.  Make  IflX  the  subject,  and  refer  to  Ma- 
lachi ii.  10.  See  Delitzscii.  The  LXX.  and  Symmaclms 
take  it  as  agreeing  with  DHI.  There  is  no  need  of  the  ar- 
ticle. This  Deutjsch  admits,  and  also  that  it  may  express 
unity  of  kind  rather  than  a  numerical  oneness.     ]U2  can 

only  mean  the  womb  as  place;    Dn^  as  a  derivative  from 

the  sense  of  loving,  cherishing,  fovens,  denotes  maternity  in 
general. 

21  Ver.  16.  Poor  men's  want.    Varii  desire,  purpose. 

It  might  be  rendered  here,  pranjsr, 

22  Ver.  16.  Kept  aloof.  The  subjective  future  |»3:DX, 
indicating  disposition,  or  rather  aversion.  See  Note  16, 
ver.  13. 

»  Ver.  16.  To  fail;  with  looking  for  relief  and  disap- 


pointment.    See  Lam.  iv.  17.     Otir  eyes  fail  for  our  he!p,  tha.t 
is,  with  looking  for  it. 
2*  Ver.  18.  Made  me  his  support.    ^J71J1.    This 

is  variously  rendered :  Umbrett,  Ewald,  Delitzsch,  ZBckler, 
DiLLMANN,  xmichs  er  mir,  he  grew  up  to  me,  as  if  we  should  say 
concisely  in  English,  he  grew  meup.  Schlottmann,  er::og  ich 
sie,  for  what  he  takes  as  the  literal,  sie  wuchs  mir  auf.  This 
is  very  similar  to  the  rendering,  he  grew  up  with  me,  which 

some  give ;  as  Umbreit,  who  thinks  it  may  stand  for  7^J 
'13 J?.  That  would  resemble  2  Chron.  x.  8,  where  it  is  said 
of  Rehoboam's  young  companions,  iriX  17^J  m'7(o  grew  up 
with  him.  But  there  the  preposition  makes  a  marked  differ- 
ence. Had  it  been  iriX  \1'M  the  cases  would  have  been 
similar.    The  Piel  reading  has  been  proposed,   'J  7^^   (Ols- 

hauSEN)  er  ehrte  mich,  he  mngnifled,  honored  me.  That  how- 
ever gives  too  strong,  and  at  the  same  time,  too  limited  a 
souse.  Growing  up  with  me,  or  to  me,  would  denote  the  rela- 
tion of  foster  brothers  rather  than  that  of  patron  and  ward. 
Although  it  would  be  rare,  there  would  be  nothing  in  the 
way  of  keeping  the  Kal  form,  and  giving  it  the  sense  of  es- 
teeming  great.  In  this  it  will  agree  with  the  Latin  magni- 
Jieo,  and  the  Greek  /lieyaAiifto,  which  are  both  used  in  this 
way  sometimes.  The  nearest  resemblance  to  it,  however, 
would  be  found  in  the  Greek  aufw,  auf oicu),  which  is  intran- 
sitive primarily,  like  7lJ  or  j^i,  but  becomes   transitive 

-T  "T 

with  an  object  of  the  person,  and  the  sense  of  esteeming  great ; 
hence  of  honoring ;  celebrating,  as  a  nurse,  or  patron.  See 
Oed.  Tyr.  1091: 

(re  Kc.i  Tpo<j>ov  Kal  /u,i)T6'p'  oufetv. 

Allied  to  this  is  the  version  above  given,  to  esteem  great,  that 
ifl,  reig  upon  as  his  snj^port.  There  is  an  impassioned  eloquence 
in  this  irregular  burst  from  the  hypothetical  to  tlie  direct 
asseveration,  as  though  the  thought  of  what  ho  had  truly 
done  to  the  orphan  and  the  widow  would  not  allow  him  to 
pass  on  without  this  vehement  parenthetical  statement. 

25  Ver.  18.  Earliest  dawn  of  life.  The  literal  He- 
brew :  from  my  mother's  loomb,  is  evidently  hyperbolical.  As 
far  back  as  I  cm  remember  was  I  a  guide  to  the  widow  and 
a  friend  to  the  orphan. 

26  Ver.  19.  If  e'er  I  saiv.  Another  subjective  future 
in  nX"lX.    See  Note  is,  ver.  13,  and  ^,  ver.  16.    If  I  could 

bear  In  see  it — have  the  heart  to  look  nnon  it. 

2?  Ver.  20.  When.  Tliis  is  generally  taken  as  a  separate 
hypothetical  a«8t:vera/iO)i  with  QX  understood:  "If from  my 

lamb's  fleece,  etc."  There  is,  however,  not  only  no  need  of 
such  an  ellipsis,  but  it  actually  destroys  the  pathos  as  well 
as  the  grammatical  simplicity  of  the  passage.  It  needlessly 
makes  two  asseverations  out  of  one  act,  the  second  clause 
being  sim])ly  a  touching  illustration  of  the  effect  of  the  be- 
neficence mentioned  in  the  first  clause  and  the  versa  before. 
It  is  the  feeling  of  tli(!  soft,  warm,  comforting  lamb's  fleece, 
that  makes  the  shivering  loiua  pour  out  their  blessing  on 


13: 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


21  If  o'er  the  orphan  I  have  stretched  my  hand, 
When  at  the  gate^*  I  saw  my  helper  near, — 

22  Then  fall  my  shoulder  from  its  blade, 
And  let  my  arm  be  broken  from  the  bone. 

23  For  God's  destruction  would  have  been  my  fear ; 
Before  His  majesty  I  could  not  stand. 

24  If  I  have  made  the  gold  my  confidence, 

Or  to  the  coined"'  gold  said,  thou  art  my  trust ; 

25  If  I  rejoiced^"  because  my  wealth  was  great, 
Or  that  my'^  hand  had  gotten  mighty  store ; 

26  If  e'er  I  saw^'  the  sunlight  when  it  shone. 
The  moon  in  glory  as  it  walked  above, 

27  And  then  my  soul  was  silently  enticed. 

And  hand  (in  adoration)'^  touched  my  mouth  ; 

28  Even  that*^  would  be  a  sin  for  vengeance  calling. 
For  then  had  I  been  false  to  God  above.'^ 

29  If  in  my  foe's  calamity  I  joyed. 

Or  lifted  up  myself  when  ill  befell  him, 

30  (No,  no'® — I  suffered  not  my  mouth  to  sin. 
To  ask  a  malediction  on  his  life)  ; 

31  If  men  of  mine  own  household  have  not  said, 
"  0  tell  us  one  not  sated  from  his  meat, 

32  (The''  stranger  never  lodged  without ; 
My  doors  I  opened  to  the  traveller  ")  ; 


the  giver.  Tho  conjunction  )  may  indieato  almost  any 
kind  of  connection,  <i?ne,  reosfm,  inference,  comparison;  or  it 
may  be  merely  copulative.  The  spirit  of  the  context  here 
demands  the  first.  Mlten  he  felt  the  lambs'  wool  it  warmed 
him  into  gratitude  that  could  not  refrain  from  pouring .  it- 
8tlf  out  in  benedictions.  This  mode  of  taking  it  also  agrees 
best  with  the  Hithpahel  DOnn^- 
T  ~  ;  ■ 

28  Ver.  21.  The  grate.  The  place  of  Judicial  proceeding. 
The  helper  is  some  corrupt  ally  among  the  judges. 

25  Ver.  24.  Coined  gold ;  rendered  generally,  the  pure 
gold,  or  fine  gold.    See  Note  on  Dr\2.  chap,  xxviii.,  ver.  16. 

3«  Ver.  25.  Rejoiced.    Suhj.fi'u'.    See  Note  26. 

81  Ver.  '25.  My  hand.  This  is  not  a  tautology.  The 
first  joy  relates  to  the  abundance,  the  second  to  the  self-ac- 
quisition. 

S2  Ver.  26.  If  e'er  I  saw.    nX*1K  SrOij.  Fut.  See  Note 

2C.  CoNANT  calls  it  here  the  Future,  or  Imperfect  of  re- 
peated action.  But  it  comes  to  the  same  thing.  Repeated 
action  expresses  diKposition,  lendencij,  what  one  is  wont  to  do, 
and  so  demands  the  tense  of  continuous  or  unfinished  ac- 
tion. 

83  Ver.  27.  In  adoration.  This  is  certainly  implied, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  mode.  But  it  is  clear  enough. 
The  barely  touching  the  hand  to  the  mouth  is  just  the  gen- 
tle, silent  act  which  would  be  pronspted  by  a  rising  thought 
of  adoration.  Tlie  idea  of  throwing  a  kiss  is  a  triiling  mo- 
dernism. It  implies  submission — silence,  rather — laying  the 
hand  upon  the  mouth.  If  any  kind  of  worship,  except  to 
God,  could  be  thought  blameless,  it  would  be  Sabeeism  in 
such  a  gentle  form.  Job's  selecting  this,  therefore,  shows 
how  far  he  was  from  the  first  thought  of  idolatry. 

8«  Ver.  28.  Even  that,  or  that  too,  J<^n  DJ,  I'glit  as  It 

might  seem,  would  have  been  a  sin,  and  one  to  be  ranked  in 
enormity  with   adultery,  ver.   11,  and   called  like   it    p^, 

D' 7'73i  or  '7'73.  It  would  have  been  not  simply  im- 
piety, but  falseness — express  or  implied  viohilion  of  coi-eiiniit 
by  which  a  rational  being  is  bound  to  God  (iTIS  or  reliyio) 

like  that  of  the  marriage  vow.  There  i^  suggested  the  same 
idea  here  that  ajipears  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament,  and 
especially  in  the  Trophets,  of  the  affinity  between  the  sins 
of  adultery  and  idolatry. 


36  Ver.  2S.  To  God  abOTe,  S^'30.  However  en- 
ticing the  conception,  that  would  be  the  enormity  of  it, 
namely,  falseness  to  Him  who  is  above  tho  heavens,  and 
"putteth  His  glory  upon  or  above  the  heavens,"  Ps.  viii.  2 ; 

'  Who  looketh  down  (stoopeth   down    riiXiS    w''Styonj, 

to  see  even  the  things  in  the  heavens,"  Ps.  cxiii.  6.  De- 
litzsch's  rendering  gelteuchelt,  plays  the  hijpocrite,  fails  to  mei.t 
the  idea. 

36  Ver.  39.  Jfo,  no  (ovuevovv).  Another  of  those  impas- 
sioned outbreaks,  driving  the  speaker  from  the  more  even 
hypothetical  style  of  denial.  See  Note  24,  ver.  18.  He  will 
not  even  allow  it  as  a  supposition  that  he  could  have  done 
so.  In  such  a  case,  not  only  acts,  but  words  and  thoughfs 
of  evil  were  kept  under  strictest  guard.  The  same  breach 
comes  again,  ver.  32.  The  irregularity  increases  with  the 
passion.  Sentences  are  commenced  and  left  unfinished ;  a 
vehement  protasis  has  noapodosis;  strong  parenthetical  ap- 
peals every  where  break  in,  and  when  the  general  vindica- 
tion is  resumed,  it  is  in  another  strain,  and  apparently  lack- 
ing any  direct  connection  with  what  preceded  the  broken 
utterance.  It  has  led  some  commentators  to  talk  of  inter- 
polations and  displacements;  and,  what  seems  most  strange, 
this  is  often  done  by  those  who  are  fondest  of  characterizing 
the  book  as  "  a  work  of  art,"  and  who  have  most  to  s.ay,  in  a 
patronizing  style,  of  "  the  genius  of  the  old  Dichter."  The 
exceeding  eloquence  of  the  chapter  is  in  these  very  irregu- 
larities. They  are  evidence  of  the  highest  art,  or  rather  of 
that  renlitij  of  which  wo  have  spoken  as  transcending  all  art. 
An  evidence  of  this  is  the  difficulty  of  putting  it  into  En- 
glish, and  especially  of  giving  it  a  right  grammatical  punc- 
tuation,— there  are  so  many  sentences  apparently  unfinished, 
and  from  which  the  speaker  seems  driven  by  the  strong  and 
wayward  current  of  his  conflicting  emotions.  The  two  most 
impassioned  dramas  in  the  world's  literature  are  the  Lear 
of  Shakespeare,  and  thu  (Edipus  Coloneus  of  Sophocles.  In 
neither  of  them  do  we  find  anything  that,  for  emotional  elo- 
quence, can  be  compared  to  this  vindicatory  protest  of  Job. 

87  Ver.  32.  The  stranger.  This  first  clause  of  ver. 
32  may  be  taken  as  a  continuation  of  what  was  said  by  the 
'■■men  of  his  household,"  to  whose  testimony  he  appeals  in 
the  preceding  verse.  The  2d  clause  also  (m;/  dnon^,  etc.)  might 
be  regarded  as  the  same,  in  snirit,  as  though  it  bad  been, 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


103 


33  If  I,  like  Adam,  mine  offences  hid, 
My  sin  concealing  in  my  secret  breast, 

34  Because  I  feared  the  rabble  multitude. 
Or  scorn  of  families^'  affrighted  me, 

So  that  I  kept  my  place  and  went  not  forth — 

35  (O  had  I  one  to  hear  me  now ; 

Behold  my  sign^ — let  Shaddai  answer  me  ; 
Mine  adversary — let  him  write*"  his  charge. 

36  "Would  I  not  on  my  shoulder"  take  it  up, 
And  bind  it  to  me  as  my  crown  ? 

37  The  number  of  ray  steps*^  would  I  declare, 
Yes,  as  a  prince,  would  I  draw  nigh  to  him.) 

38  Against  me,  if  my  land  hath  cried,*^ 
And  all  its  furrows  wept, — 

39  If  I  have  eaten  of  its  strength  for  nought. 
Or  made  its  toilers  pant"  away  their  life ; — 

40  Instead  of  wheat  let  there  come  forth  the  thorn, 
And  noxious  weeds  in  place  of  barley  grow ; 
Job's  words  are  ended,**  [he  protests  no  more]. 


"  his  doom  he  opened"  etc. ;  but  Job's  vehemence  confounds 
the  persons. 
88  Ver.  34.  Scorn  Of  families.    ninDi:/0,  familieg, 

T  :   ' 
is  used  for  men  of  families, — men  of  rank,  of  birth,  in  dis- 
tinction from  the  common  multitude,  or  ri3"1  t^^i^-  Some 

T-     I        T 

take  ^3  as  the  apodosis :  Then  let  me  dread,  etc. ;  but  there 
is  very  little  ground  for  this  in  the  particle,  and  what  fol- 
lows, if  taken  as  apodosis,  would  be  beneath  the  gravity  of 
impressive  adjurations:  "If  1  have  committed  these  crimes, 
tlieu  let  me  fear  the  great  multitude,  and  the  contempt  of 
lamilicB,  and  keep  to  myself"  Conant  and  others  render 
n3")    jion  the  great  assembly,  as  though   it  meant  some 

great  judicial  proceeding,  but  the  words  do  not  favor  this. 
We  expect  something  different,  if  there  is  to  be  an  apodosis 
at  all.  Had  none  been  expressed,  it  would  still  have  been 
most  impressive,  as  in  other  scriptures,  where  it  is  left  in 
silence  to  the  moral  judgment.  There  is,  however,  an  ex- 
press apodosis,  although  it  does  not  come  in  until  several 
verses  after.  In  his  wrought-up  state,  the  speaker  breaks 
off  again,  as  he  had  done  twice  before,  with  an  impassioned 
cry  that  could  not  wait :  0  why  continue  such  appeals,  why 
vlndi'-ate  myself  instead  of  calling  on  my  accusers  for  their 
proofs, — and  this  leads  immediately  to  what  follows,  ver.  35, 
"  0  had  I  one  to  bear  me  now." 

39  Ver.  35.  Behold  my  sig'n.  My  si<jnalure,  or  my 
writing ;  the  letter  in  being  put  for  the  alphabet,  not  for 

the  sign  of  the  cross  as  made  by  one  who  could  not  read  nor 
write, — a  custom  which  was  long  afterwards.     Our  transla- 
tors  regarded  it  as  equivalent  to  'IXn  my  desire,  but  this 
makes  a  feeble  sense,  and  is  generally  rejected. 
*>  Ver.  35.  LiCt  liim  write.  "  The  preterite   2T\2  is 

~  T 

really  connected  with    tH'    above:    0  thai  he  had  written — 

would  that,  etc.,  equivalent  to  imperative,  3d  pers. 

«  Ver.  36.  On  my  sbotilder.  Not,  as  some  think, 
because  of  its  supposed  weight,  whether  actual  or  moral; 
but  rather  to  give  it  a  conspicuous  position;  or  it  may  have 
been  some  ancient  form  of  challenge. 

*3  Ver.  37.  The  number  of  my  steps,  or  of  my 
steppings,  indicating  a  firm  and  steady  walk.  No  irresolu- 
tion :  every  step  visible  and  capable  of  being  counted.  No 
shrinking  and  hiding  away  like  Adam  (see  ver.  33).  Very 
bold  in  .Tdb,  but  very  sublime.  What  there  was  in  it  that 
was  wrong  he  sees  afterwards,  and  most  penitently  con- 
fesses. 

«  Ver.  38.  Against  me  cries :  either  on  account  of 
injustice  in  obtaining  it,  or  on  account  of  oppression  to  those 
who  have  cultivated  its  soil.  The  second  idea  is  most  evi- 
dent in  the  second  clause.  Note  again  the  Fut.  Subjective, 
pj?iri  and  ^^32'',  repeated,  constant  action.    The   weeping 

is  that  of  the  unrequited  serfs,  or  hired  laborers  who  have 


ploughed  its  furrows  and  watered  them  with  their  tears. 
This  ia  strengthened  by  the  word  '^^^\  altogether,  every- 
where alike,  o'er  all  its  furrows.  Compare  Jas.  v.  4,  "  Be- 
hold the  hire  of  the  laborers  that  have  reaped  your  fields,  it 
crieth  out."  There  is  taken  another  view,  not  so  probable, 
yet  still  having  much  force,  that  the  reference  is  directly  to 
the  harassed  land  itself,  to  which  a  greedy  and  ill  judging 
avarice  would  not  allow  its  demanded  rest.  So  Caryl  (among 
other  interpretations)  with  reference  to  Lev.  xx.  4,  5,  on  the 
land  enjoying  its  Sabbath.  It  is,  too,  an  old  idea,  and  Job 
may  have  hoard  of  it,  which  makes  the  earth  the  representa- 
tive of  justice,  on  account  of  its  paying  back  most  faithfully 
what  is  given  to  it,  and  the  labors  bestowed  upon  it.  Hence 
the  explanation  of  the  two  nam^s  0e>i.s  and  Tola,  which 
uEscHYLUS  treats  as  a  mystery.  Prom.  Vinct.  209, 

OVK  ajraf  fj^ovov  ©c'/nts 
Kai  Fata,  TroAAuii/  hvofxartiiv  tJ.op(ft\]  fiCa. 
Justice  and  Earth,  one  form  of  many  names. 

This  idea  of  earth's  justice  and  impartiality  is  finely  brought 
out  by  Virgil,  Georgic,  II.,  400: 

Fundit  humo  facilem  victum  JUSTISSIMA  TELLUS. 

It  is  very  poetical,  this  representing  the  juM  Earth  as  weep- 
ing for  the  injustice  done  to  her.  It  is,  however,  no  less  so 
if  we  regard  the  passage  as  referring  to  the  laborers.  The 
two  ideas  are  closely  connected. 

*i  Ver.  39.  Or  made  its  toilers  pant.  This  may 
not  sound  well  to  those  accustomed  to  a  different  mode  of 
translating.  Delitzsch  and  others  render  it:  "I  have  caused 
the  soul  of  its  possessors  to  expire."  (So  E.  V.)  The  verb 
n'ijn  is  also  used  to  denote  scornful  treatment,  as  in  Ps.  x. 
5, -'all  his  enemies  he  puffeth  at  them,"  0713    IT'S';    tliQ 

V  T  -  •  T 
preposition  there  making  but  very  little  difference  in  the  ge- 
neral idea.  It  might  perhaps  bo  rendered  here,  "  I  have 
blown  awuy,  puffed  at,  treated  as  wind,  or  worthless,  the 
breath  (that  is,  the  laboring,  panting  breath)  of  the  labo- 
rers." These  may  properly  be  called  n' 7l'3  from  the  idea 

T   VTr  : 

of  some  right  in  the  soil  derived  from  having  mingled  with 
it  their  sweat  and  tears. 

^  Ver.  40.  Thus  end.  These  words  have  been  gene- 
rally regarded  as  merely  a  note  made  by  the  author,  or  some 
very  early  transcriber.  There  is  cited,  as  a  similar  case,  the 
words  Ps.  Ixxii.  10:  "  The  prayers  of  David  the  son  of  Jesse, 
are  ended."  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  was  an  early  prac- 
tice of  translators  and  transcribers.  A  formula  just  like  it 
is  attached  to  the  books  of  the  Peschito  Syriac  Version,  Old 
Testament  and  New;  very  much  as  Jinis  used  to  be  put  to 
the  end  of  Knglish  books.  There  is,  however,  an  impressive 
[iropriety  iu  this  last  clause  regarded  as  the  closing  words 
of  Job  himself,  and  his  using  his  own  name  this  once  adds 
to  its  force.    As  though  he  had  said:  "This  is  my  vinJica- 


134 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


tion;  I  have  done;  you  will  hear  from  Job  no  more."  It  is 
true,  he  speaks  afterwards,  but  it  is  under  remarkable  cir- 
cumstances, xl.  3  ;  xlii.  1-0,  and  even  then  he  seems  to  have 
reference  to  some  former  close  he  had  made  ('jT^ST  DHX) 

and  repeats  again:  "I  will  add  no  more." 

If,  however,  it  be  decided  that  these  words  are  put  to  the 
end  of  the  chapter  by  a  third  person,  either  author  or  early 
transcriber,  it  would  seem  ahnost  concluiivo  against  the  idea 
that  in  that  ancient  time  there  immediately  followed  the  ad- 
dress of  Jehovah,  chap,  xxxviii.    Such  aa  immediate  answer 


from  the  thundercloud  (though  no  such  cloud  or  storm  had 
been  mentioned;  would  have  rendered  them  impertinent  and 
superfluous  as  a  note  to  the  reader.  They  bear  the  intima- 
tion that  Job's  part  in  the  drama  is,  for  the  present,  closed, 
but  only  as  suggestive  of  other  human  speakers  (whether 
the  old  or  some  new  one)  who  are  to  follow.  Thus  it  fur- 
nishes a  preparation  for  the  speech  of  Elihu.  If  in  our  pre- 
sent copies,  chap,  xx.xviii.,  followed  directlv  after  ch.  xxxi., 
we  could  not  help  feeling  the  incongruity  of  such  a  note,  so 
made  by  author  or  transcriber,  and  it  would  long  ago  have 
been  rejected  as  most  decidedly  out  of  place. 


Chapter  XXXII. 

1  So  these  three  men  ceased  from  answering  Job  because  he  was  wise  in  his  own 

2  eyes.     Then  was  aroused  the  zeal  of  Elihu/  son  of  Barachel  the  Buzite,  of  the 
family  of  Ram,*     Against  Job  was  his  zeal  aroused  because  he  accounted  him- 

3  self  more' just  than  God,     And  against  his  three  friends  was  his  zeal  kindled, 

4  because  they  had  found  no  answer,  and  yet  had  condemned  Job.     Now  Elihu 

5  had  waited  till  Job  had  spoken,  because  they  were  older  than  he.     And  Elihu 
saw  that  there  was  no  answer  in  the  mouth  of  the  three  men,  and  his  zeal  was 

6  kindled.     Then  answered  Elihu,  the  son  of  Barachel  the  Buzite,  and  said  : 

I  am  but  young  in  years, 

And  ye  are  very  old. 

It  was  for  this  I  shrunk*  away, 

And  feared  to  show  you  what  I  thought. 

7  For  days  should  speak,  I  said. 

And  multitude  of  years  should  wisdom  teach. 

8  But  surely  there's  a'  spirit  dwells  in  man, 
'Tis  Shaddai's  breath  that  gives  intelligence. 

9  Not  always  wise,  the  men  of  many*  years ; 
Elders  there  are  who  fail  to  know  the  right. 

10       For  this  I  said  :  "  O  listen  now  to  me. 

Let  me,  too,  show  ray  knowledge,  even  me."'' 


1  Ver.  2.  Elilin.  On  the  genuineness  of  this  Elihu  por- 
tion, see  Introd.  Theism  of  thk  Book,  pa.  89,  and  especially 
the  marginal  note,  pp.  26,  27. 

s  Ver.  2.  Family  of  Ram.  The  genealogy  of  Elihu 
is  here  given,'  but  not  a  word  is  said  about  the  way  and  time 
of  his  introduction  into  the  Drama.  It  is  left  to  the  read- 
er's imagination,  along  with  other  things,  such  as  the  pro- 
bable place  of  the  dialogue,  the  number  of  days  and  nights 
that  may  have  been  occupied  with  the  discu-sion.  How 
many  persons  may  have  come  and  gone  during  this  time,  or 
been  present  throughout,  cannot  be  told.  There  is  some- 
thing in  the  xix.  i:i-15-19  that  seems  to  intimate  an  occa- 
sional presence  and  departure  of  kinsmen  and  others.  It 
seems,  however,  almost  certain  that  if  some  later  hand  had 
wholly  interpolated  this  episode,  he  would  have  explained, 
in  some  way,  the  connection,  had  it  been  only  to  make  it 
eeem  n.atural  and  consistent.  The  original  writer  would 
have  felt  no  such  responsibility,  as  he  would  have  feared  no 
Buch  charge  of  inconsistency.  He  would  have  felt  that  the 
story  was  his  own,  fo  give  in  his  own  way,  or  as  he  received 
it,  withotit  an  obligation  to  fill  up  any  blanks  or  omissions 
as  others  might  conceive  them. 

8  Ver.  2.  More  jnst  than  Ood.  TJmbreit  renders: 
Weil  er  sich  fur  gerecht  hielt  vor  Qott.  Job,  he  says,  had 
never  claimed  to  be  more  just  than  God.  Still  his  language 
suggested  such  an  inference,  and  such  a  charge  against  him 
on  the  part  of  Elihu,  even  though  a  mistaken  one.  Dklitzsch 
renders  it,  auf  Kosten  Gottes— "at  the  exi)pnse  of  God." 
.  ♦  Ver.  6.  I  jiihriinli  away.  Th«  primary  idea  of 
'jnT  is  that  of  an  animal  that  creeps,  or  winda  like  a  ser- 


pent, into  his  hole,  and  is  reluctant  to  come  out  again.    The 

cognate  Sm  becomes  the  common  Syriac  verb  to  fear  in- 
stead of  $<"»'• 

'  A'er.  8.  A  spirit.  The  lowest  and  most  naturalizing 
exegesis  is  compelled  to  give  PIT  here  a  high  spiritual 
seoee.  If  not  the  Divine  Spirit,  it  is  that  in  man  which  is 
most  akin  to  it — the  rational  principle,  or  the  l{easoii,  in  the 
highest  sense  that  can  be  given  to  the  word.     See  Gen.  ii.  7. 

«  Ver.  9.  Many  years.  3'!  is  taken  by  most  com- 
mentators with  reference   to  age.     The  □''jlT  are  not  the 

great  in  rank  or  magnitude,  but  the  -rroXyxpovioi — still,  how- 
ever, carrying  the  idea  of  superiority,  as  Coxant  says. 

T  Ver.  10.  Even  me.  Nothing  can  be  more  unjust,  ard, 
at  the  same  time,  more  iincritical  than  the  charge  some 
German  commentators  delight  to  make  against  Elihu  as  an 
incoherent,  as  well  as  forward  and  impertinent  babbler.  He 
does,  indeed,  seem  to  repeat  himself,  but  it  is  this  very  sin- 
cere diffidence  that  causes  it.  They  are  neither  affected  nor 
cringing  apivlogies  he  makes.  It  is  the  hesitating  feeling 
of  a  thoujihtful  yet  modest  young  man,  deeply  interested  in 
the  discussions  to  which  he  has  been  intently  listening,  con- 
scious of  having  something  to  say  which  is  worth  their  hear- 
ing, and  yet  with  a  true  reverence  for  persons  not  only 
older,  but  esteemed  wiser,  than  himself.  The  introduction 
and  the  speech  that  follows  are  certainly  most  character- 
istic; and  if  this  be  proof  of  artistic  merit,  it  may  bo  said 
that,  in  this  respect,  there  is  nothing  surpassing  it  in  the 
drama. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


135 


11  Lo  !  I  have  waited  while  .ye  spake; 

To  all  your  reasonings  have  I  given^  heed, 
Whilst*  ye  were  trying  words. 

12  Yes,  unto  you  with  earnest  thought  I  look. 
And  lo,  there's  no  one  that  convinces  Job, — 
No  one  of  you  who  truly  answers  him. 

13  Beware  '"  of  saying,  we  have  wisdom"  found  ; 
(Know  ye)  'tis  God  that  crushes  him,  not  man. 

14  \t  me  he  hath  not  marshalled^'^  words, 
Nor  with  your  speeches  will  I  answer  him. 

15  All  broken  down,  they  fail  to  make  reply ; 
(Some  jDower)  hath  taken''  all  their  words  away. 

16  And  still  I  waited,  though'*  they  did  not  speak, 
But  silent  stood,'*  and  offered  no  reply. 

17  I  too'*  would  answer,  I  would  bear  my  part ; 
Let  me,  too,  show  my  thought. 

IS       For  I  am  filled  with  words ; 

The  spirit  in  my  breast"  constraineth  me. 

19  My  heart'*  is  full,  as  with  unvented  wine  ; 
Like  vessels  new  that  are  about  to  burst. 

20  Yes,  I  would  speak'*  that  I  may  find  relief — 
Open  my  lips,  and  give  it  utterance. 

21  0  let  me  not  regard  the  face  of  man ; 
To  no  one  let  me  flattering  titles""  give. 


8  Ver.  11.  Given  heed.    Clearly  intimating  that  he 
had  been  present  during  the  whole  discussion. 
8  Ver.  11.  Whilst.    nj7,  like  i'los  in  Greek,  may  mean 

until,  as  Jong  as,  or  whilst.  The  latter  seems  preferable  here 
as  more  suited  to  the  context. 

1"  Ver.  13.  Beware,  f3  implying  caution  with  an  el- 
lipsis of  some  verb — lest  ye  do  it — that  is,  taJce  care,  look  out 
lest  ye  do  it.    Just  so  the  Greeks  ii-e  /xtj  and  sometimes 

oTTius,  Latin  ne.  See  another  example  Gen.  iii.  22,  n/iJ'''  \3'- 

"  lest  he  send  forth  his  hand,"  etc. 

11  Ver.  13.  We  have  wisdom  fonnd ;  that  is,  dis- 
covered the  truth  in  Job's  case.  Elihu's  language  ia  the 
second  clause  is  a  denial  of  this  :  You  have  not  found  out  the 
secret;  it  is  one  of  God's  mysteries.  He  crushes  him,  not 
man,  or  in  the  way  of,  or  after  the  notions  of  men. 

12  Ver.  14.  Marshalled  iivords.  Bitter,  hostile,  con- 
troversial words,  set  in  battle  array,  as  it  were.  Such  is  the 
force  of  Tl^.  "'  There  is  nothing  in  the  way  of  my  answer- 
ing Job  carefully  and  candidly." 

13  Ver.  15.  (Some  pow^er)  hath  taken.  Here  is 
another  example  of  what  grammarians  unmeaningly  call  the 
use  of  the  active  for  the  passive.    See  note  on  ^jo  vii.  3, 

■with  reference  to  Ps.  xlix.  15  ;  Lnke  xil.  20,  and  other  simi- 
lar places.  The  same  general  explanation  answers  here. 
Most  comm  nly,  as  we  have  seen,  there  is,  in  such  cases, 
something  terrible  or  revolting  in  the  subject,  or  agent, 
•which  suppresses  mention.  Again,  it  is  something  perplex- 
ing, astounding,  inexplicable,  suggesting  the  idea  of  strange, 
mysterious  influences.  It  would  be  just  the  place  here  for 
Buch  an  idiom:  "Something  seems  to  havetiken  away  their 
power  of  speech  ;"  referring  to  their  strange  and  prolonged 
silence.  The  words  in  brackets  are  an  attempt  to  give  the 
idea  implied  in  this  particular  idiom.  Schlottmann  would 
explain  it  by  Gen.  xii.  8;  xxvi.  22,  where   pnj;'1    gets  the 

sense  of  moi'iHjf  on,  from  the  action  of  putting  up  the  pegs 
that  fastened  down  the  tent.  Hence  he  renders  it,  not  pas- 
sively, but  intransitively:  das  Wort  war  ihnen  entwichen, 
"  the  world  toas  gone  from  them ;  it  moved  aicaii."  This, 
however,  seems  like  putting  a  gre.at  strain  upon  the  meta- 
phor It  may  apply  to  a  tent;  but  it  would  be  very  strange 
as  used  of  words. 


1*  Ver.  16.  Thong'h  they  did  not  speak.    '3  as 

causal,  or  as  giving  a  reason,  may  be  taken  in  two  ways,  ac- 
cording as  the  context  demands.  It  may  give  a  reason  for, 
and  then  it  is  rendered  for  or  because.  Or  it  may  be  a  reason 
against,  and  then  it  must  be  rendered  though,  or  notwithstand- 
ing.   See  the  numerous  examples  of  the  latter  given  by 

NOLDIUS. 

1*  Ver.  16.  But  silent  stood.  The  particle  '3  is  re- 
peated here,  but  the  asyndetic  rendering  is  more  forcible  in 
English,  and  therefore  more  true  to  the  spirit  of  the  passage. 
This  picture  of  Elihu  is  most  faithful  to  the  life,  and  could 
hardly  have  come  from  anything  else  than  an  actual  life 
scene.  The  young  man  has  been  intently  listening.  His 
breast  is  alternately  swelled  with  indignation  at  the  treat- 
ment Job  experiences  from  his  professed  friends,  and  with 
wondering  awe  at  some  of  the  bold  language  of  the  sufferer. 
Yet  still  he  constrains  himself  Even  after  they  had  ceased 
speaking,  the  reverential  feeling  felt  to  be  due  to  his  elders 
holds  him  silent,  although  his  thoughts  and  emotions  are 
becoming  irrepressible.  It  is  a  very  frigid  criticism  that 
overlooks  the  exquisite  nafiualness  of  this  scone,  takes  no 
heed  of  the  speaker's  unaffected  embarrusmietU,  and  treats 
him  as  a  mere  stammerer,  repeating  over  and  over  again,  his 
platitudes  and  tautologies. 

16  Ver.  17.  I,   too,    ''JX    HN-     It  recurs  twice  in  the 

two  clauses,  not  as  the  language  of  egotism,  but  of  sincere 
modesty,  hesitating,  embarrassed,  repeating,  but  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  having  truth  that  had  been  overlooked,  and  an 
irrepressible  desire  to  utter  it. 

17  Ver.  18—18  Ver.  19.  Breast— heart.  The  most 
faithful  rendering  of  f£03  i"  these  places  is  that  which  mo- 
dernizes them,  that  is,  translates  by  transferring  the  idiom 
as  well  as  the  words.  The  Hebrews  and  the  Arabians  both 
use  this  word  (commonly  rendered  the  belly)  lor  the  most 
interior  seat  of  thought  and  feeling,  like  the  bowels  and  the 
reitis.  See  Note  2,  ver.  2,  ch.  xv.,  and  the  references  there 
made  to  Prov.  xxii.  27  ;  Heb.  iv.  12. 

19  Ver.  20.  Yes  I  would  speak.  Paragogic  or  opta- 
tive future. 

»  Ver.  21.  Flatterlnp:  titles  give.  The  Hebrew 
DJJ  is  almost  identical  with  the  Arabic  verb  of  the  same 
consonant^,  which  is  very  common  in  the  sense  of  naming, 
especially  used  of  surnames,  cognomina,  or  titles;  hence  de- 
noting metonymy,  or  the  expressing  a  thing  by  some  other 


136 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


22       I  know  not  how  to  flatter ;  were  it  so, 

Then  would  my  Maker  take  me  soon  away. 

name  than  its  own,  or  the  usual  one.    In  tliia  way  the  noun  i  also  among  the  Rabbinical  Grammarians   '^jj  la  the  word 
becomes  in  Arabic  a  grammatical  and  rhetorical  technic.  So     for  eijilhet,  peri^hraee,  pronoun. 


Chapter  XXXIII. 


And  now/  O  Job,  but  listen  to  my  speech. — 

Thine  ear  attentive  to  my  every  word. 

Behold  I  have  unbarred'  my  mouth ; 

My  tongue  gives  utterance'  distinct. 

]My  words — they  are  my  soul's  sincerity  ;* 

The  truth  I  know,  my  lips  do  purely^  speak. 

God's  spirit  made  me  man  f 

'Twas  Shaddai's  breath  that  gave  me  life. 

If  thou  canst  do  it,  answer  me ; 

Array''  thy  words  against  me,  take  thy  stand. 

To  God*  belongs  my  being,  like^  thine  own ; 


1  Ver.  1.  And  now,  O  Job.  Still  the  excusing,  defe- 
rential tone  80  becoming  in  the  young  man.   D7lX  a  strong 

T 

adversative  particle, — ow  ii.i]v  5e  iAAa,  LXX. — notwithstand- 
ing   my  youth.    Delitzsch,   Jedoch   aber.    My    every 

'word  ""131  73:  "As  though  he  had  said,  I  hope  I  shall 

-  T  :       T 
not  speak  one  needless  word, — not  a  word  beside  the  busi- 
ness;" Caryl. 

2  Ver.  2.  Unbarred  my  month.  Justice  to  this 
wise  and  godly  young  man,  whom  some  critics  treat  so  in- 
juriously, demands  an  interpretation  of  his  words  that  will 
not  make  them  a  flat  tautology,  such  as  he  never  could  have 
intended.    As  shown  by  the  context,  'pnnD  li^re  means 

•  :  -  T 
more  than  simply  opening.  It  is  an  unclosing  of  what  had 
been  shut  or  barred.  Caryl  gives  the  kry  to  it :  "  the  phrase 
opening  the  mouth,  here  importeth  that  he  had  been  long 
silent."  See  Note  l^  ver.  16,  xxxii.  Uuable  to  repress  (see 
chap,  xxxii.  18, 19)  lie  opens  it  at  last.  The  emphasis  we 
have  given  to  the  word  is  justified  by  the  particle  f\^T\  call- 
ing attention  to  the  fact  of  his  venturing  to  speak  at  all  in 
tlie  presence  of  his  elders. 

8  Ver.  2.  Gives  utterance  distinct.  The  second 
clause,  rendered  as  is  done  by  E.  V.  and  others :  "  my  lomjue 
hiUh  fpoien  in  my  tnouth"  or  my  pnJate,  would  make  a  like 
tautology,  or  ratlier  empty  platitude.  "  How  should  a  man 
epeak  but  with  his  mouth,"  asks  Caryl  in  view  of  such  a 
rendering.  Umbreit  remarks  most  characteristically:  Es 
ist  bier  zu  deut'ich  dass  der  Verfasser  unseres  Bucbes  den 
Elihu  absichtlich  als  einen  eingebildeton  Schw'itzer  sich  ge- 
berden  hisst.  He  does  not  go  with  those  who  reject  the 
Elihu  portion,  as  Ewald  does,  but  thiuks  that  the  author 
meant  to  represent  the  speaker  as  talking  like  a  conceited 
fool.  Our  old  Puritan  commentator  shows  a  keener  insight 
into  such  shades  of  difference  a  id  matters  of  emphasis  tlian 
many  modern  critics  who  underrate  or  wholly  ignore  him. 
He  regards  '■  speaking  in  or  by  the  palate  "  as  a  phrase  for 
well  considered  utterance,  or  the  use  of  carefully  chosen 
words.  The  idea  is  well  supported  from  the  fact  that  the 
palate  is  the  organ  of  taste  as  well  as  of  utterance,  and  that 
so  univcrsilly  in  language  is  there  this  transfer  of  idea  from 
the  sense  taste  to  the  mental  diicernmeiit  (Lnf.  mpio,  snpieiiK, 
Ileb.  DJ/'tO):  "So  saith  Elihu,  my  mouth  hath  spoken  in  my 
palate,  I  taaled  my  words  before  I  spake  them."  The  word 
tongue,  however,  siiggests  another  idea.  The  palate,  in  con- 
nection with  the  tongue  and  its  motions,  is  an  organ  of  ar- 
ticulate speecn  in  distinction  from  t>ie  confused  and  the 
stammering.  So  Cocceiis:  disertis  verhii,  diitiiicte  et  euiicledfe. 
Notwithstanding  his  difiidcnce  and  heeitatiou,  he  gets  con- 


fidence at  last  to  speak  distinctly,  and  with  what  wisdom, 
this  chapter  and  the  following  clearly  show,  notwithstand- 
ing the  disparagomcnt  of  Umbrfit  and  Ewald.  The  attempts 
to  give  force  to  the  language,  aside  from  the  two  ideas  men- 
tioned, avail  but  little  to  save  the  tautology.  Says  Delitzsch  : 
•■  He  has  already  opened  his  mouth,  his  tongue  is  already  in 
motion, — they  are  circumstantial  statements  that  solemnly 
inaugurate  what  follows."  Schlottmann's  comment  is  to 
a  similar  effect.  Dillma\n,  "die  Zunge  in  Gaumen  denotes 
that  he  is  just  ready  to  speak,"  like  the  bow  to  spring,  etc. 

*  Ver.  3.  My  sonI*s  sincerity.  Elihu  is  like  Job  in 
the  consciousness  of  his  sincerity,  but  his  diflidence  greatly 
adds  f  I  the  interest  of  the  picture. 

6  Ver.  3.  Purely.    1113  taken  adverbially  may  carry 

an  intellectual  or  a  moral  sense, — speaking  clear  and  dis- 
tinct, or  sincere  and  true.  The  last  suits  the  passage  best, 
though  both  may  be  included. 

«  Ver.  4.  Made  me  man.  Elihu  undoubtedly  takes 
the  words  according  to  the  obvious  idea  of  Gen.  ii.  7.  It  is 
not  mere  breath,  or  breathing.  It  is  the  manner  of  making 
him  specifically  man,  as  something  distinct  from  the  forma- 
tion of  what  may  be  called  the  human  physical,  whether  by 
processes  of  typical  growth,  or  by  evolution,  or  by  direct 
mechanical  creation.  "And  God  breathed  into  him  and  man 
became,"  or,  ho  "  became  man,  a  living  soul."  Other  ani- 
mals are  called  n'P  HflJ  breath  of  life,  but  they  become 
animated  from  the  general  life  of  nature,  or  the  nil  "that 
brooded  upon  the  face  of  the  waters."  But  it  was  in  a  more 
divine  or  special  way,  or  by  a  peculiar  fiat,  that  man  became 
DTI  K'QJ-  The  emphasis  is  on  the  manner  of  becoming. 
Thus  he  became  man.  This  higher  life  directly  from  God  is 
his  specific  distinction,  that  which  makes  the  species    QIX, 

TT 

homo,  in  distinction  from  other  animal  tribes   who  are  no- 
thing but  animals.     See  Lange,  Gen.  Am.  Ed.,  pp.  174,  211, 
Marginal  Notes. 
'  Ver.  5.   Array  thy  words.    See  xxxii.  14,   ^It; 

8  Ver.  6.  To  God  my  being:,    hvh.    Eenan,  Devant 

"  T 

Vieuje  »uU  ion  e(i'd.  But  this  can  hardly  be  what  Elihu 
means  to  assert,  and  it  would  have  little  association  with 
the  second  clause.  Literally,  Godward,  if  we  would  imitate 
the  conciseness  of  the  Hebrew;  a«  regards  God,  or  in  respect 
to  the  Divine  fide  of  our  common  being. 
»  Ver.  6.  liike  thine  own.    n'33-    The  rendering 

of  E.  v.:  according  to  thy  msh .  or  thy  month,  etc.,  comes  from 
regariiing  '£3,  3  as  separate  and  taking  it  literally.  It  is, 
however,  only  an  intense  form  of  the  comparative  particle 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


137 


And  I,  too,  was  divided'"  from  the  clay. 

7  Behold,  my  terror  shall  not  frighten  thee, 
Nor  heavy  shall  my  hand"  upon  thee  press. 

8  But  surely  thou  hast  spoken  in  mine  ears  ; 
The  sound  of  words  I  hear  [they  seem  to  say]  : 

9  "A  man  without  transgression — pure  am  I  ; 

Yes,  I  am  clean" — I  have  no  sin. 

10  Against  me,  Lo  He  seeketh  grounds''  of  strife  ; 
He  counts  me  as  his  foe ; 

11  My  feet  He  putteth  in  the  stocks, 
And  watcheth  all  my  ways." 

12  Behold,  in  this,  I  answer  thee,  thou  art  not  just ; 
For  know,  Eloah  is  too'*  great  for  man. 

13  O  why  against  Him  dost  thou  make  complaint, 
That  by  no  word  of  His'^  he  answereth  ? 

14  For  God  does  speak — He  speaketh  once'® — 
Again,  again — though  man  regard  it  not ; 

15  In  dreams,  in  visions  of  the  night, 
In  slumberings  on  the  bed  ; 

TV  hen  falls  on  men  the  overwhelming'^  sleep. 


occurring  in  a  number  of  places  in  the  old,  and  becoming 
quite  common  in  the  later  Hebrew.  3  and  ^£33  are  to  each 
otlier  lilse  (is  and  uxnrep  in  Greek  (as,  and  just  as).  Our 
translators  were  led   to   this  to  justify  their  rendering  of 

7N7)  "i»  GocVa  stead,"  or  as  one  representing  him.    But  this 

is  without  authority  in  the  usage  of  the  preposition  7.  De- 
LiTZSCH,  ZScKLF.R,  CoxANT  and  Others  render:  "I  am  of  Qod 
as  thou  art,"  which  is  in  substance  the  idea  conveyed  by  the 
words  employed:  We  stand  to  God  in  the  same  way  and  in 
both  respects — soul  from  His  spirit — body  from  the  clay,  or 
as  a  "lump  taken  from  the  clay."  Gesenius,  Sicut  lu  a  Deo 
(creatus  sum). 

w  Ver.  6.  Divided.    The  Hebrew  V^p  is  used  of  the 

bi'h'iijof  the  lips,  ProT.  xvi.  30,  of  the  winking  of  the  eyes, 
Prov.  vi.  13;  x.  10;  Ps.  xxxv.  19.  Hence  Lexicojrapliers 
deduce  as  a  primary  sense  that  of  culling,  wliich  connects  it 
witli  verbs  of  forming  or  crealimj.  So  Gesenius  regards  it, 
De  Into  decerptua  sum  et  ego,  imagine  a  flgulo  repetita  qui  vas- 
culum  formaturus  luti  partem  de  massa  decerpet.  Hence 
from  it  a  noun  in  Syriac  denoting  a  crumb, /?-Hs(«m,  or  piece 
of  anything.  This  will  be  more  easily  accepted  when  we 
bear  in  mind  how  much  this  idea  of  dicision,  separating  one 
thing,  or  one  element,  from  another,  enters  into  the  language 
of  Genesis  i.  Each  step  is  a  parting  of  something  from  that 
with  which  it  before  was  blended — a  rising  above,  or  an  eio- 
hdion  from.  We  need  not  bo  in  the  least  afraid  of  this  kind 
of  language,  of  which  some  scientists  are  now  so  fond,  as 
long  as  we  hold  to  the  idea  of  a  commencing  fiat,  or  of  au 
outgoing  word.  Whether  through  longer  or  shorter  stages, 
man's  pliysical,  man's  animal  or  earthly,  is  a  culling,  out  of 
nature;  a  Divine  elevation,  not  a,suUus  or  Uap. 

11  Ver.  7.  My  hand.    CIDN    occurs  only  here,   but  its 

etymological  affinity  to  £13,  and  the  parallelism  presented 

to  xiii.  21,  where  the  second  clause  is  precisely  like  the  first 
here,  and  ^3  standa  in  it  just  as    fl3X   stands  here,  would 

seem  to  put  the  matter  beyond  doubt.  Of  the  ancient  au- 
thorities the  Targum  and  the  Syriac  give  it  the  sense  of  hur- 
den,  connecting  it  probably  with  ^33  to  bend,  or  bow  down. 

The  LXX.  render  it  hand,  and  with  that  agrees  the  great 
Jewish  authority  Kimcui.     Raschi  renders  it    ''r\'''i33,  and 

explains  It  by  Prov.  x^i.  26,  ^n'3  V /J^  ^DX. 

12  Ver.  9.  Clean,     nn  has  the  sense  of  smoothness,  from 

the  primary  idea  of  friction  in  the  verb    f\3n.    Hence  fjin, 

the  shore  of  the  sea,  the  beach  worn  clean  by  the  washing  of 
the  waters. 


13  Ver.  10.   Grounds  of  strife,    n'lN^jri.    See  the 

word  and  its  root,  Numb.  xiv.  34;  xxxii.  7.  Elihu  is  now 
pressing  Job  with  allusions  to  some  of  his  rash  speeches. 
Says  Caryl:  "  Having  ended  his  sweet,  ingenious,  insinua- 
ting preface,  he  falls  roundly  to  the  business,  and  begins  a 
very  sharp  charge." 

K  Ver.  12.  Too  g-reat  for  man.  This  rendering  an- 
swers well  to  the  comparative  Q,  and  yet  is  not  the  same  as 
the  proposition:  God  is  greater  than  man."  As  a  naked  fact, 
or  truism,  that  could  hardly  be  what  Elihu  meant  to  assert; 
but  rather  that  God's  acknowledged  greatness  made  such 
language  as  Job  had  used,  very  unseemly.  He  is  too  gre<(t  a 
being,  to  say  nothing  of  his  holiness  and  other  attributes,  to 
be  addressed  in  that  manner.  So  Dehtzsch:  Denn  zu  er- 
haben  ist  Eloah  dem  Sterblichen. 

15  Ver.  13.  By  no  word  of  his.  More  literally,  that 
not  a  word  of  his  he  answereth,  making  V'lOT  the  direct  ob- 
ject of  njy%  as  1  Kings  xviii.  21,  IJI  1Jl»  X^l,  andtheij 

T  T        T  : 

anfiuered  not  n  word  (the  same  Tsii.  xxxvi.  21 ;  Jerem.  xlii.4; 
xliv.  2UJ.    This  is  the  rendering  of  Schloitmann; 

Warum  hast  mit  ihm  du  gehadert, 
dass  kein  einzig  Wort  er  erwiedre — 

making  a  nniversal  negative  according  to  the  Hebrew  idiom. 
E.  V.  and  the  older  commentators  generally,  render  '3  (24 
clause ) /or  or  fcecnitse;  "Why  strive,  since  he  giveth  no  ac- 
count," etc.  The  view  adopted  by  Delitzsch,  8CHL0TTMA?i?f, 
ZbcKLER,  e<rt?.,  making  '3  denote  the  ground  of  Job's  cbargo 
(why  complain  that  he  does  not)  harmonizes  better  with  th» 
verse  following.  Along  with  tins  view  of  "'3,  however,  Dk- 
LITZSCH  and  RosENMUELlER  take  V13T  a''  denoting,  gene- 
rally, deerh,  dealings.  But  here,  too,  the  rendering  of  ScilLOTT- 
MANN  is  to  be  preferred  for  the  same  reason/  or  as  agreeing 
better  with  the  peculiar  diction  of  ver.  14.  Job  cotrplained 
that  God  did  not  answer  him, — did  not  speak — xix.  7  ;  xxx. 
20.  Elihu  says  God  does  speak  to  man.  There  is  also  soma 
discussion  respecting  the  pronoun  in  V'^JH-  Hirzel  would 
refer  it  to  K/UN,  man  generally.  Some  would  understand 
it  of  Job,  as  though  Elibu,  in  his  earnestness,  suddenly 
changed  to  the  3d  person  (his  for  thine),  forgetting  himself 
and  speaking  of  ^nh  instead  of  to  him.  The  rendering  given 
has  the  least  difficulty.  It  makes  Job's  charge  and  Elihu's 
answer,  each  more  clear  and  direct. 

18  Ver.  14.  Speaketti  once,  nnX3.  Delitzsch  ren- 
ders, "itt  one  way;"  but  it  comes  to  the  same  thing.  As  op- 
posed  to   this    D'i^tyJS    means  luore  Oian  once— repeatedly. 

Comp.  xl.  5. 

1"  Ver.  15.  OTerwhelmlng'  sleep.  Gesenius  makes 
DTI  an  onomatope,  from  the  snoring  (slertor)  of  heavy  sleep 
—comparing  it  in  this  respect  with  the  Latiu  dormio,  and  the 


138 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


16  Then  opens  He  their  ear, 
And  seals  the  warning  given ; 

17  To  raake^*  man  put  away  his  deed, 
To  hide  from  man'*  the  way  of  pride. 

18  That  from  the  pit  He  may  keej)  back  his  soul, 
His  life  from  passing  on  the  spear. 

19  "With  anguish  is  he  chastened  on  his  bed — 
His  every'"  bone — a  never-ceasing  pain  ; 

20  So  that  his  very  life^^  abhorreth  bread. 
His  appetite"  rejects  the  once^Moved  food. 

21  His  flesh,  from  sight,  it  wastes  away  ; 

His  bones  laid  bare,  before  concealed^*  from  view. 

22  Unto  perdition^*  draweth  nigh  his  soul ; 
His  life  awaits  the  messengers  of  ^*  death. 

23  And  is  there  then  an  angeP''  on  his  side, — 
The  interceding  one, — of  thousands  chief, — 
To  make  it  known  to  man,"*  His  righteousness ; 

24  So  does  He  show  him  grace,  and  say  : 

"  Deliver  him  from  going  down  to  death  ; 
A  ransom^^  I  have  found." 

25  Moist  as  in  childhood""  grows  his  flesh  again, 
And  to  his  youthful  day  does  he  return. 


Greek  Sopflovu.  Sleep,  however,  thus  regarded,  is  not  favo- 
rable to  the  clear  undisturbed  dreaming  or  vision  here  de- 
manded. Better  take  as  primary  the  sense  which  the  Niphal 
has,  Dan.  vili.  18;  x.  9;  Psalm  Ixxvi.  7,  of  aioe,  astonislimenl 
(A'CLG.  coniflernatnx)  denoting  a  trance-like  state.  See  the 
note  on  this  word  iv.  13,  and  the  reference  there  to  the  In- 
troduction. Here  it  may  be  less  clairvoyant,  but  it  clearly 
denotes  something  different  from  ordinary  slumber,  and  that 
ordinary  dreaming  which  comes  from  a  semi-consciousness 
of  something  affecting  us  from  the  outer  world  around  us.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  dreams  hero  spoken  of  are  supposed  to 
come  from  within  the  soul  itself,  as  from  its  deeper  being,  or 
as  the  voice  of  God  in  it,  or  from  some  plane  above,  when  the 
sleep  is  of  such  a  nature  that  the  outer  world  is  wholly  ex- 
cluded. 

18  Ter.  17.  To  make  man  put  aiFay.  The  syn- 
tactical harmony  of  this  verse  is  preserved,  without  any 
change  of  subject,  by  giving  to  the  niphil  TDH  a  double, 
or  an  intensive  causal  force,  such  as  it  will  bear,  and  which 
the  context  seems  to  demand.  It  may  thus  be  regarded  as 
having  a  double  object,  QTX  and  nj^J^O- 

w  A'er.18.  To  hi«le  frojn  man.  The  hero  or  mighty 
man  (T3J  in  distinction  from  DTX)-  Some  ellipsis  seems 
demanded  with  DU,  such  as  look,  way,  or  deed  of  pride.    It 

eeems  to  resemble  the  Greek  li/Spi?,  denoting  hnnijlity,  reck- 
less action,  rather  than  mere  feeling.  So  riB'J^O  in  the  1st 
clause  would  denote  a  had  deed.  See  Note  '^",  ver.  11,  chap, 
xxxi.,  on  Heb.    n^I>    Lat.  /aciiiua,  Greek  epyoi'.     Schloit- 

MAXN  gives  sche^den,  to  divide,  separate,  as  the  rendering  of 
riDD'i  but  that  seems   to  destroy  the  metaphor — coverimj, 

hidiii'j,  veiling,  putting  It  away  from  his  sight,  or  giving  it  a 
differ«nt  appearance. 

20  Ver.  19.  His  every  bone.  The  Holem  vowel  in 
3n  shows  the  true  rendering,  making  it  exactly  like  iv.  14. 
The  other  (3'1;  demands  a  rendering  (strife)  too  metapho- 
rical for  the  simplicity  of  Elihu's  language.  It  is,  too,  of  an 
artificial  sentimental  kind,  supported  by  uo  use  of  y\,  if 

that  be  the  true  reading,  in  any  other  place  in  the  Hebrew 
Bible.  It  ahv.ays  means  a  judicial  strife,  which  would  make 
a  very  far-fetched  metaphor  here,  is  applied  to  a  pain  in  the 
hones.  The  other  reading,  moreover,  is  made  very  clear  by 
comparison  with  iv.  14 — the  miillitwle  of  his  hones  :  an  expres- 
sive mode  of  saying,  every  bone  of  the  many  bones  in  his 
body,  great  and  small.    Anatomy  reveals  how  numerous  they 


are,  and,  before  precise  anatomical  knowledge,  the  number 
seemed,  perhaps,  still  greater.  It  should  bo  remembered, 
too,  how  abrupt  the  style  is.  Elihu  seems  moved  by  his  own 
description,  aud  his  language  becomes  passionate,  leaving 
out  the  verbal  cojjula:  His  every  bone — pain  ttnccasimj. 

21  Ver.  20.  His  very  life.  This  use  of  nTl,  '(^«  for 
soul,  is  unusual,  but  the  parallelism  with  iy£)J  makes  it 
clear.  It  is  meant  to  be  intensive:  the  very  life  which  the 
food  would  sustain  rejects  it. 

22  Ver.  20.  Appetite.  So  1^3  J  is  used  Prov.  vi.  30 ;  x. 
3,  27 ;  xxvii.  7 ;  Isai.'lv.  2. 

23  Ver.  20.  Once-loved  food.  Literally,  food  of  de- 
sire,— choice,  favorite  food. 

24  Ver.  21.  Before  concealed  from  sig'bt.    So 

the  Vdlq.  renders  ^X1   kS   aa  a  relative  or  descriptive 

clause  (ivhich  are  not  seeti).  In  like  manner  Junius  and  Tee- 
MELLius,  and  most  of  the  old  commentators.  Delitzsch, 
SCHLOTTMANN,  EwALD,  take  ^X'^  directly:  they  are  not  seeiu 

They  either  connect  it  with  13iy,  making  two  distinct  as- 
sertions: his  bones  are  bare,  they  are  not  seen;  which  seems  a 
contradiction,  unless  by  hare  is  meant  wasted  away,  and  so 
disappearing,  which  is  not  an  easy  view ;  or  they  take  the 
Ketib  here,  ''£)ti^,  as  the  noun  subject:  seine  verstorten  glie- 
der,  Delitzsch;  seine  diirres  Gebein,  Schlottman.\ ;  ses  os 
denudes  s'6vanouissent,  Renan.  The  old  way  of  taking  it  aa 
a  rolativo  clause  is  much  easier  than  in  some  other  places 
where  that  method  of  interpretation  is  freely  adopted,  but 
the  strong  argument  for  it  is  the  harmony  it  makes  in  the 
parallelism :  His  flesh  once  seen,  so  plump  and  fair,  now 
wiisted  out  of  view;  his  bones  once  closely  covered  by  the 
flfsh,  now  prqjectin<j,  thrusting  themselves  out  to  view,  as  it 
worn,  "looking  and  staring  at  him,"  as  in  Ps.  xxii.  18  Um- 
BREiT  very  concisely  and  clearly:  und  kahl  wird  sein  Gebein 
das  man  vorher  uicht  sehen  konnte.  For  ^2U  see,  in  Ni- 
phal, Isai.  xiii.  2— used  of  a  mountain  bare  an'd  projecting. 
The  corresponding  Syriac  and  Aiabic  words  have  the  same 
meaning. 

25  Ver.  22.  Perdition.  T\'r\\if  means  more  than  the 
grave  here,  or  corruplion.  The  idea  is  not  distinct,  but  it  is 
that  of  some  great  loss, — something  terrible  connected  with 
the  thought  of  the  going  out  of  th»y  life. 

20_  27,  28,  2«    Vers.  22,  23,  24;  see  KxcuBSDS  XI.  in  the  Ad- 
denda, pp.  208,  209. 
80  Ver.  25.  In  childhood.    D  liere  in  l^^^p  is  not 

comparative  but  causal.  Delitzsch. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


130 


26       He  prays  to  God  aud  God  accepts  his  prayer, 
To  let  him  see  His  face  with  joy, 
And  thus  give  hack  to  man  his  righteousness.^' 


27 


28 


It  is  his  song^^  to  men,  and  thus  it  says  : 

"  I  sinned,  I  made  my  way  perverse/' 

And  it  was  not  requited'*  me  ; 

My  soul  hath  He  redeemed  from  passing  to  the  grave, 

My  life  that  it  may  yet  behold  the  light." 


29  Behold !  in  all  these  ways,  so  dealeth  God, 
Time  after  time,'^*  and  times  again,  with  man  ; 

30  His  soul  to  rescue  from  the  grave, 

That  it  may  joy^®  in  light, — the  light  of  those  who  live. 

31  Attend,  O  Job,  give  ear  to  me ; 
Be  stilP'  that  I  may  speak. 

32  If  thou  hast  words,  then  answer  me  ; 
Speak  out ;  my  wish  is  thy  defence. 

33  If  not,  then  give  to  me  thine  ear  ; 
Be  still,  if  I  may  wisely  counsel  thee. 


81  Ter.  26.  His  rig'bteonsness.  Man's  righteousness 
objectiTely ;  but  the  righteousness  of  God,  to  whom  the  pro- 
noun may  be  referred  in  the  sense  of  God's  dealings  with 
man  in  return  (3K''1)  for  man's  dealings  towards  him, — or 

*.•  T- 

righteousnesa  and  mercy  for  unrighteousness.    See  remarks 
on  'nc?'  Ver.  23,  in  Excursus  XI.,  p.  210. 
32  Yen  27.  It  is  bis  songr.    "it^r'  from  -^'^  =  IW ; 

T 

he  chants  or  sin(ia.  It  U  now  the  commonly  admitted  view  of 
tlie  word.  This  deliverance  becomes  his  gong  of  holy  re- 
joicing. Thereby  as  the  Psalmist  does,  he  tells  men.  '•  what 
the  Lord  hath  done  for  his  soul,"  at  the  same  time  most 
humbly  confessing  his  sin.  Compare  also  xxxv.  10;  Songs  in 
the  night — or  season  of  sorrow. 


83  Ver.  27.  Make  my  way  perverse* 

vert,  or  make  crooked  the  straight. 


Lit.,  per- 


81  Ver.  27.  Requited.    T))V  '•  malce  like  or  e^ual,  hence 

T  T 

the  sense  of  retribution. 

36  Ver.  29.  Time  after  time.    The  dual   D'D^'S. 

Lit.,  tioo  strokes,  blow  after  blow,  thus  coming  to  be  used  for 
changes,  turns  (vices)  vicissitudes — t^/^    D^JDJ^l)    two  times, 

— three  times — repeatedly. 

88  Ver.  30.  Tbat  it  may  Joy  in  lig^bt.  Delitzsch  : 
Und  mein  Leben  labt  sich  am  Lichte.  Compare  the  expres- 
sions Ecclesiastes  and  elsewhere,  in  which  seeing  the  light 
is  equivalent  to  life.    See  Int.  Theism.,  p.  5.       ,    11X7  for 

llf^nb,  Inf.  "Siphdl— he  made  light. 

37  Ver.  31.  Be  still.  The  language  would  seem  to  in- 
timate some  impatience, — a  look  or  gesture  of  dissent  or  ap- 
peal. There  is  much  in  this  speecn  of  Elihu  that  suggests 
the  idea  of  a  real  life  Bceue.    See  Int.  Theism,  pa.  39. 


Chapter  XXXIV. 

1  And  Elihu  continued  his  reply  and  said : 

2  Hear,  0  ye  wise,  my  words  ; 

Ye  knowing  ones  give  me  your  ear. 

3  It  is  the  ear  that  trieth  speech, 
As  tastes  the  palate^  food. 

4  Let  us  then  make  the  right  our  choice,'^ 
And  aim  to  know  between  us  what  is  good. 

5  For  Job  saith,  "  I  am  innocent ; 
'Tis  God  who  puts  away  my  cause. 


1  Ver.  3.  Food.  Lit.,  to  eat.  73X7  what  Is  good  to  eat 
-not,  by  tasting,  as  Delitzsch  takes  it. 


2  Ver.  4.  Onr  cboice.  in3,  '"  examine,  hut  in  order 
In  choose.  So  the  Greek  SoKifxa^fv  <cai  to  KafCov  Karex^^":  1 
Thess.  V.  20.  The  paragogic  futures,  in  both  clauses,  express 
aim,  desire. 


140 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


6  Against  my  right  shall  I  speak  what  is  false  ? 
Sore  is  my  wound,  but  from  no  crime  of  mine." 

7  "Where  is  the  mighty^  man  like  Job  ? 

Who  like  the  water  drinketh  scorning  down ; 

8  Who*  joins  the  malefactor's  band, 
And  walks  the  way  of  wicked  men. 

9  For  he  has  said  :  "  It  does  no  good  to  man, 
That  he  should  take  delight  in  God." 

10  To  this,^  ye  wise  of  heart,  my  answer  hear  : 

Away  the  thought ;®  O  far  be  God  from  wickedness ; 
O  far  be  evil  from  the  Almighty  One. 

11  For  sure,  the  work  of  man,  to  him  will  He  requite, 
And  make  him  find  according  to  his  way. 

12  Yea,  verily,^  God  will  not  do  the  wrong ; 
The  Almighty  One  cannot  pervert  the  right. 

13  Who  gave^  to  Him  the  charge  of  earth, 
And  on  it  built  the  world  ? 

14  Should  He  think  only  of  Himself,^— 

His  breath  and  spirit  (from  the  world)  withdraw, — 

15  All  flesh  together  would  expire,^" 
And  man  go  back  to  dust. 

16  O  could'st  thou  see  it !"  list  to  this. 
Give  ear  unto  ray  words. 

17  A  hater  of  the  right;  does  he  (the  world)  restrain?'^ 
The  Just,  the  Mighty — Him  shalt  thou  condemn  ?" 

18  Even  to  a  king  shall  one  say  Belial  ?'* 


s  ver.  7.  Mighty  man.  "UJ.  Elihu  seems  to  have 
Bonie  admiration  of  Job's  bold,  hrroic  bearing,  though  cen- 
suring him.    JJ,»7  may  refer  to  Lis  haughty  repelling  of  the 

chirges  made  against  him,  or  to  his  mode  of  speaking  of 
Ood. 

.  •<  Ver.  8.  Who  Joins,  etc.  Elihu  does  not  charge  this 
literally,  but  only  as  the  tendency  of  Job's  language. 

B  Ver.  10.  To  this.    pS  is  more  special  thaa    p    7J^. 

It  is  a  reply  to  something  just  said,  and  prompting  an  an- 
pwer  that  cannot  be  suppressed.  See  the  example,  chap.  xx. 
2,  where  it  denotes  Zophar's   haste  to   reply   to  Job's  bold 

speech  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter:  O/,  for  so — to 

mch  a  upeech  ns  that,  T  make  haste  to  answer.  This  is  im- 
plied in  1j;0B'  :  ''C'"'  "■'"''  I  have  to  r.hj  to  thU—propler-ea. 

6  Ver.  10.  Away  the  thought.    This  is  the  answer 

he  is  impatient  to  give.  H /"Sn,  0  profanum;  a  vehement 
protest.  The  best  tr.mslation  is  that  which  gives  it  most 
strongly  and  clearly  without  attempting  to  imitate  the  al- 
nnst  untranslatable  Hebrew  construction.  The  thought  of 
a  God  of  wickedness  is  not  to  be  tolerated  for  a  moment.  The 
idea  of  Omnipotence  connected  with  that  ot  injustice  is  still 
more  horrible.  It  is  to  be  protested  against,  not  argued 
about. 

7  Ver.  11.    Tea  verily.    DJON    IX.    The  strongest 

.  ,       -  T  :  T       I  - 

particle  of  asseveration  =  N.  T.,  a/nT)!/  ay^rfv. 

8  Ver.  13.  Who  gfave.  "A  mere  viceroy  might  do 
wrong,  but  the  Supreme  Ruler  is  in  a  different  position."  So 
Deutzsch  and  others.  The  argument,  however,  seems  to  be 
a  higher  one.  It  is  simply  the  a  priori  idea  of  the  moral  sense. 
We  cannot  reason  about  it.     f  o  Abraham,  Gen.  xviii.  25 : 

StiaU  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  rijht  f    n^    nSSn,    far 

he  it  from  Thee,  Lord. 

9  Ver.  14  Of  himself.  E.  V.  and  others  regarded  vSx 

as  referring  to  man.    2^    U'lif,  put  his  mind  upon  him, 


(■n-poa-ex^iv  vovv  TivC),  that  is  in  the  way  of  judgment.  The 
interpretation  given  above  is  that  of  Grotius,  and  has  since 
beea  generally  followed.  See  Schlottmanx,  Delitzsch,  el  al. 
The  statement  is  in  proof  of  the  Divine  benevolence.  His 
continuation  of  the  universe  is  an  evidence  of  it. 

10  Ver.  15.  W^ould  expire.     See  Ps.  civ.  29:    "When 
thou  takest  away  their  breath  (principle  of  life)  they  exjiire, 
1^  gasp)  and  return  to  their  dust."    The  source  of  life 


W.l 


must  be  the  fountain  of  all  goodness. 

11  Ver.  16.  O  conlil'st  thon  see  it  I  Deutzsch  re- 
eards  T\y2  as  the  Imperative  verb  instead  of  a  noun;  but 
thinks  the  joining  with  it  of  the  DX.  makes  it  equivalent  to 
yZPi    DX-    E.  v.,  and  others,  took  it  as  a  noun;  but  thus 

viewed  it  comes  to  about  the  same  thing  either  way.  It  does 
not  imply  a  reflection  on  Job  as  the  E.  V.  rendering  seems 
to  do,  but  only  an  earnest  wish  that  he  could  see  things 
rightly.  Elihu  is  very  zealous  and,  at  the  same  time,  tender. 
This  gives  interest  to  his  seeming  repetitions,  as  it  divests 
them  of  that  tautological,  prattling  character,  which  some 
are  fond  of  ascribing  to  him.  It  is  a  suiBcient  answer  to  all 
this  jaunty  criticism,  that  nowhere  in  the  book,  except  in 
the  address  of  the  Almiglity,  are  there  to  be  found  grander 
ethical  and  theological  ideas:  God  ckhho^  do  wi'ong;  It  can- 
not be  a  despiser  of  right  that  binds  the  world  in  harmony  ; 
His  very  continuance  of  man  and  the  world  show  this;  O 
that  Job's  sufferings  would  allow  him  to  see  it.  Nothing  in 
the  speeches  of  Eliphaz  and  Zophar  comes  up  to  this. 

12  Ver.  17.  Restrain.  Ji^Zin  is  not  the  usual  word  for 
governitii],  but  such  a  sense  hero  would  be  analogous  to  the 
use  of  tiie  similar  word,  "IVJ/  to  restrain,  1  Sam.  x.  17,  and 
"IDX,  to  hind,  Ps.  cv.  22.  In  the  usual  sense  of  binding, 
which  it  has  both  in  Hebrew  and  in  Arabic,  it  would  be  very 
appropriate  here.  Elihu  hiW  reference  to  God's  government 
in  the  most  general  sense,  as  the  binding  power  of  the  uni- 
verse. Injustice  here  would  be  anarchy  and  dissolution  in 
the  moral,  as  it  would  ultimately  be  in  the  physical  world. 

13  Ver.  17.  Condemn.     J^'tyiri,  pronounce  wicked. 

"  Ver.  18.  Belial.  ^^'""73.  The  idea  is  best  expressed 
by  keeping  the  well  understood  epithet — worthlessness. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


141 


To  (earthly)  powers,  0  wickedness  ? 

19  There's  One  who  favors  not  the  face  of  kings, 
Who  knoweth  not  the  rich  before  the  poor; 
For  His  own  hands  did  make  them  all  alike. 

20  So  suddenly  they  die  (these  mighty  ones)  ; 

At  midnight  rage  the  people — rush'*  thoy  on — 
And  take  away  the  strong ;  'tis  by  no  (human)  hand. 

21  For  sure  His  eyes  are  on  the  ways  of  men  ; 
He  seeth  all  their  steps. 

22  No  darkness'®  is  there,  yea,  no  shade  of  death, 
Where  men  of  evil  deeds  can  hide  themselves. 

23  He  needeth"  not  repeated  scrutiny. 
When  man  to  God  in  judgment  comes. 

24  He  breaks  the  strong,  in  ways  we  cannot  trace  ;'* 
And  setteth  others  in  their  stead. 

25  To  this  end  knoweth  He  their  works  ; 

He  overturns  them  in  the^'  night — they're  crushed. 

26  [Again], — He  smites  the  wicked  as  they''"  stand, 
In  open  place,  where  all  behold  the  sight. 

27  It  is  for  this,  because  they  turned  aside, 
And  disregarded  all  His  ways  ; 

28  To  bring  before  His"'  face  the  poor  man's  cry. 
That  He  should  hear  the  plaint  of  the  oppressed. 


29      When  He  gives  quiet,  who  can  then"  disturb? 


15  Ver.  20.     Rnsli    they    on.     T13^'V  and  pass  on; 

the  rapid  motion  of  a  transported  mob.  It  has  also  the 
sense  oi  allctck,  as  Nah.  iii.  19;  Pa.  cxxiv.  i;  Job  xiii.  13,  etc., 

in  which  cases,  however,  it  is  generally  followed  by  j^  here 
unnecessary  because  the  object  is  so  clearly  implied  in  the 
other  verbs.  Some  take  ITD^  passively  with  T^N  for  its 
passive  subject.  The  other  way  is  the  easier,  as  well  as  the 
more  vivid.  The  sudden  and  stormy  risinsT  of  the  people, 
(Ityi^J'i  Vuloate:  in  media  node  turbahuntiir  popiiU,  et  per- 
Iransibunt.  et  auferent  violentem)  is  the  cause  of  the  tyrant's  de- 
thronement. And  yet,  although  it  is  the  popular  commotion 
which  makes  the  visible  and  immediate  cause,  it  is  truly  the 
hand  of  God  which  we  may  regard  as  the  remote  and  unseen 
agency.    Gump.  Ps.  xvii.  14,  1  j  :  ?1T    Q^Pi^^,  from  tueii,  thy 

hand,  HS^H    ^*t!''^*3,  from  the  wicked  thy  sword.    The  truth 

has  often  liad  its  illustration  in  modern  as  well  as  in  ancient 
times.  That  Elihu  means  to  represent  it  as  God's  doing,  not- 
withstanding His  seeming  neglect,  or  His  forbearance,  ap- 
pears from  the  words  T3   X  7,  which  can  hardly  have  any 

T : 
other  meaning,  and  is  confirmed  by  the  language  of  the  verse 
following. 

16  Ver.  22.  No  darkness.  (Compare  Sophocles'  CEdip. 
Col.  280: 


firjnto  yevecrOa 


<f>vyr)v  Se  toO 
(j>uiTOi  afoiriov  Pporiav. 


17  Ter.  23.  He  needeth  not,  etc.  This  is  the  sub- 
stantial meaning  of  the  verse  as  given  by  Ewald,  and  as  it  is 
well  explained  by  Renax: 

I>ien  n'a  pas  besoin  de  regarder  I'homme  deux  fois, 
Pour  prononcer  sur  lui  son  jugement. 

18  Ver.  24.  Cannot  trace.     Lit.,  no  searching  (peracno- 

tatio),  *1pn  is?)  adverbial  negative  phrase,  inscrutably.   The 

fact  is  seen,  as  in  the  midnight  popular  commotion,  hut  the 
real  hand  that  does  it  is  invisihla.  Ctnip.  Amos  iii.  6,  "  Shall 
there  be  evil  in  a  city  and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  it?" 


19  Ter.  25.  In  the  ntfirht.  The  same  imagery  as  In 
ver.  20,  suddenness  and  darkness;  the  hand  unseen. 

20  Ver  26.  As  they  Stand  Lit.:  Beneath  the  inched 
He  smites  them,  or  if  we  take  p3D  as  a  noun — beneath  the 

ITT 

wicked  their  blow.    This  expression  WVtif^    r\nr\,  has  been 

•  T  :  — 
very  variously  rendered.  nHH  has  been  taken  to  mean, 
"  08  WiOH(//(  they  were  wicked,"'  or  as  wicked,  or  in  place  of 
wicked,  or  after  the  manner  (Delitzsch),  nach  Missethater 
Art,  or  mit  den  Ruchlosen  (Schlottmann);  or  D'l't?"!  is 
made  the  plural  of  yi^T,  on  account  of,  or  as  the  price  of 

their  transgressions.  These  are  all  secondary  senses  of  nPH 
coming  from  its  primary  sense  of  tinder,  very  much  as  vno 
is  used  in  Greek.  But  may  not  the  dilTicuIty  here  have 
arisen,  as  in  other  places,  from  overlooking  the  simple  idea 
that  comes  from  the  exact  literality?  It  is  a  second  exam- 
ple, as  8  sought  to  be  expressed  by  the  word  in  brackets. 
The  first  was  an  unseen  blow ;  this  is  an  open  one.  Beneath 
the  u'icied  smiles  he  them — right  where  they  stand — the  Very 
ground  beneath  their  feet.  Or  riPn  may  mean  their  sup- 
port, that  which  is  under  them — thus  meaning  their  very 
limbs.  This  latter  idea  is  strengthent-d  by  a  comparison  of 
Habakkuk    iii,   16,    TJ1X  T^nm,  I  trembled  beneath  me,  In 

my  nndemealMna,  my  limbs  or  supports.  Just  so  Homer 
uses  vw6 ;  in  Iliad  VII.  6  iinb  yvla  XeKvvrai — 7iis  li)iihs  re- 
Z«.re<i  6e;itii<fe— not  beneath  his  limbs;  iin'o  used   adverbially. 

Thus  regarded  as  two  varying  examples,  H  7  W  in  verse  25, 
and  the  words  Q'Xl  D1p03  in  the  26th,  are  In  direct  con- 
trast. Such  a  sudden  and  open  blow  at  the  very  foundations, 
suggests  the    riDSiTD    or  upturning  of   Sodom  and  Qo- 

T  ••  :  ~ 
morrah,  which  is  Raschi's  idea. 

21  Ver.  28.  Before  his  face.  The  pronoun  in  V'^j; 
may  perhaps  refer  to  the  sinner.  In  that  case  it  should  be 
rfudi'Teii  to  britifi  upon  him,  the  cry,  the  fjajvifia,  vengeance  or 
ri'trihution,  of  the  poor.  See  Homer,  Iliad  XXII.  358 ;  Odyss. 
XI.  73:  jiijj  Toi  Ti  9e<ov  ti.iljyifA,a  ydvu)ti.ai. 

"  Ver.  29.  Disturb.  Primary  sense  of  J.'tyT,  whence 
that  of  wickedness.  It  is  in  evident  contrast  here  with 
D'Pty\ 


142 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Or  who  can  trace  Him,  when  He  hides  his  face, 
Whether  towards  a  nation  or  a  man  ? 

30  ,  Whether  against'''  the  ruling  of  the  vile, 

Or  those  who  of  the  people  make"*  a  prey  ? 

31  For  O  had  he  but  said"*  to  God  : 
"  I  bear  it. — I  will  not  offend  ; 

32  Beyond  what  I  behold,  O  teach  thou  me ; 
Have  I  done  evil,  I  will  do  no  more." 

33  On  thine  own  terms,^®  shall  He  requite  [and  say], 

"  As  thou  dost  spurn  or  choose  [so  be  it],  not  as"  I?" 

34  Let  men  of  understanding  say, — 

Or  any  strong  and  wise"^  who  hears  me  now. 

35  Job  speaks  in  ignorance, 

And  without  understanding  are  his  words. 

36  O  would  that  Job  were  proved  to  the  extreme, 
For  his  replies  like  those  of  evil  men. 

37  For  sure  he  adds  rebellion  to  his  sin  ; 
Among  us  in  defiance  claps  his  hands, 
And  still  at  God  doth  multiply  his  words. 


23  Ver.  30.  Against.    Negative  sense  of   m- 

s*  Ver.   30.    Make  a  prey.     Lit.,  S^'^y«<'  enans  of  the 

25  Ver.  31.  For,  had  he  said.  An  elliptical  expres- 
sion of  a  wish,  or  of  what  Job  ought  to  have  done:  Ah,  had 
he  said.  The  adversative  sense  of  the  "'3  denotes  that  he 
should  have  so  said.  It  is,  however,  very  difficult  to  pre- 
8(>rve  both  in  English,  namely  the  chiding  and  the  reason  in 
the  '3>  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  regret  and  surprise  ex- 
pressed in  the  particle  n  which  is  exclamatory  as  well  as 
interrogative.  TOXH  is  not  the  infinitive  Niphal,  as  some 
take  it,  but  the  Kal  preterite  and  the  exclamatory  interro- 
gative with  Segol  before  a  guttural  with  Quamets. 

a*!  Ver.  33.  On  thine  own  terms.  Lit.,  that  which 
is  from  Ihee. 

27  Ver.  33.  Not  as  I.    This  can  only  refer  to  God,  not  to 


Elihu;  but  it  makes  a  sudden  change  of  person,  which, 
though  allowable  in  Hebrew,  is  too  abrupt  for  a  close  En- 
glish translation,  without  a  preparation  such  as  is  supplied 
by  the  bracketed  words,  and  say,  in  the  first  clause,  or  some- 
thing equivalent. 

28  Ver.  34.  Or  any  strong  and  wise.    Lit.,  stronfj, 
wise  man.    "^21  is  not  used  superfluously  here,  or  tautologi- 

cally.    33  7  ^lJ?JX  may  be  taken  as  referring  to  those  pre- 

T  ••  •■  :  - 
Bent  who  claimed  the  reputation  of  wisdom  from  age,  posi- 
tion, or  otherwise,  such  as  the  friends  who  had  beun  con- 
tending with  Job.  Elihu  appeals  to  sucli,  or  to  any  other 
one  in  the  audience  who  might  be  a  man  of  note,  or  strength, 
(13  J),  though  not  professedly  a  D3n  or  Sage,    He  appeals 

T  T 

to  all  men  of  character  and  intelligence. 


Chapter  XXXV. 

1  And  Elihu^  answered  and  said : 

2  Dost  thou  hold  this  for  right  ? 

Thou  said'st,  I  am  more  just  than  God. 

3  Yes — thou^  dost  say  it :  "  what  the  gain  to  thee  ?" 
What  profit  have  I,  more  than  from  my  sin  ?" 

4  I  answer  thee  ; 

And  thy  companions*  who  take  part  with  thee : 

5  Look  to  the  heavens  and  see  ; 

Behold  the  skies  so  high  above  thy  head. 


^  Ver.  1.  And  Elihn  answered.  This  chapter  fol- 
lows on  so  closely  and  directly  in  the  spirit  of  the  preceding, 
and  especially  of  its  concluding  verses,  that  It  may  well  raise 
a  question  as  to  the  genuineness,  or  antiquity,  of  this  inter- 
vening statement. 

«  Ver.  3.  Tea— thon  dost  say  It.    '3  is  here  the 


particle  of  proof,  as  though  Job  had  intimated  some  dissent 
by  look  or  gesture.  Such  is  the  fair  import  of  thy  words ;  it 
cannot  be  denied. 

8  Ver.  4.  Thy  companions.    This  cannot  mean  the 
three  friends.    As  unlikely  is  the  opinion  of  DIUT28CH  that 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


143 


6  If  thou  hast  sinned,  what  doest*  thou  to  Him  ? 
If  many  are  thy  sins,  what  doest  thou  to  Him  ? 

7  If  thou  art  just,  what  givest  thou  to  Him  ? 
What  profit  from  thy  hand  does  He  receive  ? 

8  To  one  just  like  thyself  pertains  thy  wrong ; 
Unto  the  son  of  man*  thy  righteousness. 

9  "  From  hosts  of  men  oppressed*  the  cries  resound ;" 

[So  sayest  thou'']  ;  "  they  groan  beneath  the  tyrant's  arm. 

10  But  no  one  saith,^  "  where  is  my  maker  God ; 
"Who  in  the  night'  time  giveth  songs'"  of  praise  ? 

1 1  Who  teacheth  us  beyond^^  the  beasts  of  earth, 
And  makes  us  wiser  .than  the  birds  of  heaven." 

12  Thus^^  is  it  that  He  hears  not  when  they  cry 
By  reason  of  the  pride  of  evil  men, 

13  For  God  will  not  hear  vanity  ; 

Nor  will  the  Almighty  hold  it  in  regard. 

14  Yes,  even"  when  thou  sayest,  thou  seest  Him  not, 
There  is  judgment  still  before  Him — therefore  wait. 

15  But  now,  because  His  anger  visits^*  not, 


Elihu  means  the  jlX   'tJ'JX  of  xxxiy.  36,  and   the  'Sj?£3 

pX  of  xxxiv.  8,  with  whom  Job  is  represented  as  joining 

himself.  It  is  more  probably  a  general  challenge  to  all  who 
might  take  his  side  in  justifying  such  complaints. 

*  Ver.  6.  What  dost  thou  to  him  ?  The  expres- 
sions in  the  two  Hebrew  clauses  are  so  alike  that  it  would 
seem  idle  to  seek  diTersity  of  translation.  There  is  more- 
over a  real  impressiveness  in  the  repetition:  In  either  case, 
whether  it  be  a  single  sin,  as  might  seem  implied  in  the  pre- 
terite or  aorist,  nj<£3n    DX,  or  many  transgressions,   or  a 

T        T    T 

life  of  transgression,  i('fea<  does<  ttou  to  Him  t  Such  a  con- 
trast seems  intended.    The  variance  in  the  Terbs,  13  iVSH 

— V)  ntyj/'n,  would  seem  to  be  rather  for  the  sake  of  pa- 
rallelistic  rhythm  than  as  intending  any  difference  in  the 
appeal.    Delitzsch:  Wirk'st  duaufihn — thu'st  du  ihm. 

5  Ver.  8.  Son  of  man.  It  is  in  vain  here  to  seek  nice 
distinctions  between  tyx  and  DHX- 

6  Ver.  9.  Oppressed.  WpWp  here  cannot  be  ren- 
dered oppressions.  Amos  lii.  9  gives  it  no  countenance,  and 
Ecclesiastes  iv.  1  is  against  it,  since,  in  the  same  verse,  the 
word  is  used  in  its  only  proper  sense  of  oppremed  men.  The 
noun  however  may  be  regarded  as  implied.  The  subject  of 
thi  verb  may  in  like  manner  be  included.  They  do  not  cry 
out  singly  and  apart,  but  from  a  great  multitude  of  the  op- 
pressed. They  cry  out — men  everywhere  cry  out,  but  not  to 
Uod. 

'  Ver.  9.  (So  sayest  thon).  The  words  in  brackets 
simply  express  what  is  certainly  intended  by  Elihu,  namely 
to  cite  one  of  Job's  speeches  for  comment,  whether  rightly 
understood  or  not.  This  reference  is  to  what  Job  says  gene- 
rally, ch.  xxiv.,  and  especially  in  ver.  12,  where  almost  the 
very  words  occur. 

8  Ver.  10.  But  no  one  saith.  It  gives  the  reason 
why  God  does  not  hear:  The  oppressed  no  more  acknow- 
ledge Him  than  do  the  oppressors.  A  godless  humaniturian- 
ism  cannot  expect  his  favor.  Both  parties  being  alike  de- 
ficient here,  He  lets  things  work  their  own  cure  in  such  ways 
as  are  so  graphically  described,  xxxiv.  20.  It  is,  however, 
the  strongest  mode  of  saying  that  He  does  hear  those  who 
fly  to  Him  for  relief  and  consolation  in  the  night  of  suffering. 
Elihu  was  a  sound  poUtical  philosopher,  as  well  as  a  devout 
theologian. 

9  Ver.  10.  The  nl^ht  time.  Metaphorically,  the  time 
of  sorrow  and  oppression. 

»o  Ver.  10.  Songs  of  praise.  Such  is  the  special 
meaning  of  Jill OT.    "Songs  in  the  nvjht."    Comp.  Pa.  xlii. 

8;  Ixxvii.  6;  cxix.  15 ;  cxxxiv.  1;  xvi.  7;  Cant.  iii.  1.  For 
a  specimen  of  rich  and  glorious  practical  exposition  read  the 
old  Puritan  Caryl  on  these  Songs  in  the  Night. 


"  Ver.  11.  Beyond  :  more  thnn.  Some  render  0  from, 
instead  of  taking  it  as  comparative:  from,  tlio  beasts,  etc.  On 
the  metaphorical  wisdom  of  the  bird's,  see  notes  to  xxviii.  7 
and  21. 

12  Ver.  12.  Thus  Is  It.  DtJ^  {there)  may  denote  condi- 
tion as  well  as  place  and  time:  inmich  a  case,  or  in  stich  cir- 
ciimstntwes,  or  relations;  as  Ps.  cx.\xiii.  3:  Qty  'J  for  there 
(in  such  a  state  of  things,  that  is,  in  theexercisoof  brotherly- 
love)  We  Lorrf  c()7nmoHdpfZ  the  blemng.  The  reference  is  not 
to  the  mountains  there  mentioned.  See  also  Hos.  vi.  7.  The 
Hebrew  order  of  the  first  clause  of  this  ver^e  is  somewhat 
unusual.  If  strictly  followed  it  would  require  this  rendering : 

Thus  is  it  that  they  cry — and  He  hears  not— 
By  reason  of  the  pride  of  evil  men. 

But  in  that  way  the  English  reader  might  miss  the  sense  ; 
since  'J3D,    in  the  second  clause,  must  clearly  be  connected 

with  )pj;'^''  they  cry.    To  connect  it  with  PIJ^'    xS  as  the 

ground  of  God's  not  hearing,  would  be  meaningless  and  ab- 
surd. 

13  Ver.  14.  Yes,  even  when  thou  sayest.  '3  ^X 

is  often  rendered  mnrh  less,  qnrtnio  mimts,  biit  here  the  sense 
is  better  reached  by  tlie  rendering  adopted.  See  Delitzsch, 
who  renders  it  altliomjh.  Notwithstanding  what  Elihu  says 
about  God's  not  visiting,  or  strictly  marking  human  wrong, 
he  does  not  mean  to  teach  the  Divine   indifference  either  to 

man's  evil,  or  to  his  suffering.    VJ3  7    J'T ;  t^ie  cause  is  still 

TT  :    I    • 
before  Him;  judgment  is  with   Him;  In  its  own   way  and 
time  it  will   appear.    The  reference   is   to   what  Job  says, 
xxiii.  8. 
1*  Ver.  16.  Tlslts  not.    t"X  has  strictly  a  verbal  sense, 

and  is  not  a  mere  qualifying  negative  particle  like  X/.  It 
simply  denotes,  it  is  not  so,  being  the  negation  of  the  other 
verbal  ^^,  it  i».  Here,  however,  it  is  a  more  emphatic  way 
of  expressing  the  negation  of  Tp3  :  It  is  not  the  c<ue  that  His 

anger  visits,  expressing  the  general  truth  rather  than  a  par- 
ticular  fact,  or  a  particular  denial.    Its   being  followed  by 

J<7  shows  that  TX  is  not  taken  here  by  Itself,  for  the  pro- 

dosis  to  which  13  X    lp3  is  the  apodosis,  as  E.  V.  regards 

it:  "becanse  It  is  not  so,  therefore  hath  He  visited  in  His 
anger."  Such  a  view  breaks  up  the  whole  argument  of 
Elihu;  as  is  also  done  by  those  who  refer  this,  ver.  15,  to 
God's  visitation  of  Job.  ScnLOTTMANjf  leaves  it  indefinite, 
and  Dklitzsch  regards  it  as  doubtful,  Benan  refers  it  to 
God's  wider  dealiugd : 


144 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Nor  strictly'*  marks  -wide-spread'*  iniquity, 
16       Job  fills  his  mouth  with  vanity, 

And  without  knowledge  multiplieth  words. 


Mais,  parce  que  ea  colore  ne  s'cxerce  pas  encore, 
Parce  qu'il  fait  seiublaut  d'iguurer  nos  fautes. 

Elihu  18  plain  with  Job,  bvit  at  the  sfirae  time  tender,  and 
caunot  mean  that  God  had  not  visited  him  as  he  deserved. 

«  Yer.  15.  Strictly  marks.    '\H'0  qualifies  J^T"  to 

:  -T 

know  (here  ic  the  sense  of  noHce,  similar  to  *lp3  vitit),  to 

know  particularly.     It  cannot  qualify    2?3.    Compare   Ps. 

exxx.  11 :  If  thou  Lord  ahmild'st  be  strict  to  mark  iniquities. 

16  Ver.  15.  Wide-spread  iniquity.  The  Hebrew 
iy^3  and  its  derivatives  with  the  predominant  sense  of  ex- 
uberance, extravagance,  multiplication,  taken  in  malam 
partem  (licentiousness),  gives  the  sense  required  here  with- 
out going  to  the  Arabic.  See  how  it  is  used,  Hab.  i.  8;  Mai. 
iii.  20;  Jer.  1.  11;  Nah.  iii.  18  (HK'B,  Lev.  xiii.  17,  and  a 

TT 


number  of  other  places,  of  thft  spreading  leprosy).  So  the 
Targum  and  Jewish  commentators  generally.  The  LXX. 
and  Vulgate  give  it  the  sense  of  ytyj),  and  there  is  good 
reason  for  regarding  them  as  cognate  words.  ^]S^  trans- 
gression is  passing  over,  going  beyond  bounds — license,  licen- 
tiousness. The  idea  is:  God  is  not  always  exhibiting  His  spe- 
cial vengeance  in  the  mullipUcili/  of  human  sins.  "  He  is  not 
strict  to  mark  iniquity;"  or  He  would  be  always  striking. 
Besides  His  lung-sufferiug,  so  often  spoken  of  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, there  is  the  great  V'^,  or  judgment,  ver.  14,  always 

before  Him.  No  cause  is  really  forgotten.  But  Job  com- 
plains of  Him  because  He  lets  "the  wicked  live;"  see  xxi.  7. 
There  is  a  greatness  in  Elihu's  views  unsurpassed  by  any- 
thing in  the  book  outside  of  the  Divine  address,  and  that  is 
a  sutiicient  answer  to  those  who  would  argue  the  spurious- 
ness  of  this  portion,  because  there  is  uo  mention  of  his  being 
answered  with  the  rest. 


Chapter  XXXVI. 

1  Then  Elihu  continued  and  said  :    . 

2  A  moment  wait'  that  I  may  show  thee  still, 
That  there  are  words  for^  God. 

3  Unto  the  Far'  will  I  lift  up  my  thought ; 
'Tis  to  my  Maker*  I  ascribe  the  right. 

4  Indeed,  there  is  no  dissembling  in  my  word ; 

It  is  the  all-knowing  One*  that  deals  with  thee. 


1  Ver.  2.  Wait.  Some  appearance  perhaps  of  impatience 
on  the  part  of  Job  leading  to  a  slight  interruption,  aud  then 
a  resumption,  as  indicated  by  the  scholium  of  continuance 
6 1  the  head  of  the  chapter.  "^JU,  TJ^?,  and  Hin  have 
been  pronounced  Aramaisms,  but  they  are  all  pure  Hebrew 
as  well  as  Syriac. 

2  Ver.  2.  For  God.  In  justification  of  the  Divine  pro- 
ceedings. There  is  nothing  arrogant  in  this  declaration  of 
Elihu  as  some  maintain. 

3  Ver.  3.  Uuto  the  far.    The  double  preposition  Q 

and  7,  gives  a  twofold  sense,  to  and  from,  including  here 
both  ideas,  elevating  the  thought  to  God  (the  Afar)  and  de- 
riving thought /rom  Him.  The  words  easily  bear  this,  since 
Nb'X  may  have  the  two  senses  of  taking,  or  raising,  accord- 

T  V 

ing  to  the  context  and  the  preposition  used.  A  very  little 
change  here  gives  that  appearance  of  boasting  and  vanity 
which  Umbreit  and  some  others  are  so  fond  of  ascribing  to 
Elihu.  It  is,  however,  perfectly  consistent  with  the  un- 
feigned modesty  of  his  opening.    The  word   VI    or  PiyT 

(n^n)  is  not  necessarily  knowledge  as  science,  exact  or  in- 
exact, but  often  means  opinion,  view,  sincere  conviction.  It 
may  be  coijuitio,  natitia,  rather  than  sriealia  or  ini.<TTrjixri. 
This  is  the  way  in  which  the  Rabbinical  writers  everywhere 
use  r\^n.  Elihu  says  that  the  view  he  takes  shall  not  be  a 
narrow,  or  personal,  or  party  one.  He  will  aim  to  bring  all 
his  reasonings  from  that  far-reaching,  yet  most  near  and 
plain  truth,  the  unchangeable  righteousness  of  God.  This 
gives  him  confidence,  and  when  this  is  understood  all  ap- 
pearance of  conceit  disappears. 

<  Ver.  3.  To  my  Maker  I  ascribe  the  rig'ht. 
In  ascribing  to  God  the  right,  he  can,  without  arrogance, 
speak  in  his  name,  and  all  the  more  confidently  whilst  using 
Buch  tenderness  towards  Job.  This  helps  to  explain  what 
follows. 

^  Ver.  4.  It  is  the  all-kiiowinta:  one  that  deals 
fvith  thee.    A  comparison  of  this  with  what  the  same 


speaker  gays  in  the  very  same  words,  xsxvii.  16,  puts  it  be- 
yond doubt  that  God  is  meant.  Even  if  regarded  as  a  claim 
to  inspiration,  it  would  not  be  inconsistent  with  a  true  hu- 
mility. If  Elihu  felt  that  he  was  speaking  to  Job  the  very 
truth  of  God,  however  learned,  it  would  be  false  modesty  in 
him  to  disclaim  it.    Therefore  does  he  so  affirm  his  sincerity 

in  the  next  verse:  IpB'  N7,  there  is  truth  in  what  I  say: 
Through  it,  "  the  Perfect  in  knowledge  speaks  with  thee;"  if 
we  may  so  render  ^?3^.  This  is  quite  different  from  the  im- 
pression that  RkN'am's  version  would  give,  applying  the 
words  to  Elihu  himself.  C'est  une  homme  d'une  science  ac- 
complie  qui  te  parle.  Schlottmann  and  Rosknmueller  re- 
gard it  as  spoken  by  Elihu  of  himself,  yet  without  boasting, 
and  as  only  claiming  what  was  duo  to  the  strength  and  depth 
of  his  convictions.  They  thus  take  D'Ofl  in  its  more  pri- 
mitive sense  of  integer,  pjtrtis,  etc.,  rather  than  as  denoting 
perfection  in  the  degree  or  height  of  knowledge.  The  old 
commentator  Metjcerus  gives  this  admirably:  De  se  dicit 
Elihu  quod  Job  habeat  horainem  secum  agentem  integrum  seji- 
tiiiHis,  et  2»ire,  sincere,  ac  nt  par  est,  sentientein,  qui  nihil  sit 
adulteraturus,  aut  depravaturus  in  aliennm  sensum.  The 
passage  has  been  marred  by  the  rendering  is  before  thee, 
which  cannot  bo  obtained  from  1|D^.  It  gives  a  wrong  im- 
pression as  to  the  one  of  whom  it  is  said,  and  of  the  spirit 
with  which  the  declaration  is  made.  Regarded  as  denoting 
speech  (speaks  irith  thee)  it  would  be  an  inward  rather  than  an 
outward  communing ;  but  as  we  have  seen  in  several  places, 
Ij'Sj;  standing  alone  (or  without  any  verb)   denotes  rather 

dealing  with,  and  in  either  view  would  favor  the  Idea  of  God 
being  the  subject  intended  rather  than  Elihu  himself  It 
may  be  said,  however,  to  come  to  nearly  the  same  thing 
whether  Elihu  intends  to  represent  God  by  the  words  D'OH 
ri1J,'l>  or  himself  as  speaking  to  Job  in  His  name.  In  either 
case  it  is  Divine  knowledge  he  professes  to  give,  or  "know- 
ledge brought  from  afar  "  (ver,  3). 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


145 


10 


11 


12 


Lo — God  is  great,®  but  nought  does  He^  despise ; 

Great  in  the  power  of  His  intelligence. 

He  will  not  "  let  the  wicked^  live  ;" 

And  justice  will  He  render  to  the  poor. 

His  eye  He  takes  not^  from  the  righteous  man  ; 

With  kings  upon  the  throne, 

He  makes  them  sit  in  glory  ;'"  they  are  raised  on  high. 

Again,  when  bound  in  iron  chains," 

And  held  in  sorrow's  bands. 

Then  showeth  He  to  them  what  they  have  done, 

Their  oversteppings,^"  how  they've  walked  in  pride. 

Thus  openeth  He  their  ear  to  discipline. 

And  warns  them  that  from  evil  they  turn"  back. 

If  they  will  listen  and  obey. 

Then  shall  they  spend  their  days  in  good. 

Their  years  in  joyfulness. 

If  they  hear  not,  they  perish  by  the  sword, 

And  without  knowledge^*  shall  they  yield  their  breath. 


13  But  those  impure'^  in  heart,  they  treasure  wrath  ; 
Such  cry  not'®  when  He  bindeth  them. 

14  Their  very  soul  dies"  in  them  in  their  youth  ; 
Their  life,  it  is  a  living  with  the'*  vile. 

15  Yet  in  his  suffering"  saveth  He  the  poor; 
In  straitening  openeth  He  their  ear. 


*  Ver.  5.  Great.    ^^33  kabbir.    It  reminds  us  of  the 

frequent  Arabian  doxology  from  the  same  root:  Allah AJchnr. 

I  Ver.  5.  Wespise,  DNO^i  reject,  oveilook.  Elihu  pre- 
sents the  sublime  contrast,  or  that  general  equilibrium  in 
the  Divine  attributes  which  our  science  so  much  ignores: 
God's  attention  to  the  most  minute  as  well  as  to  the  largest 
things  of  His  creation.  "lie  numbereth  the  very  hairs  of 
our  heads."     This  is   "  the  pmver  of  His  intelligence,"    (PD 

3  7\  force  de  son  inlelUfjence,  as  Renan  renders  it.  It  is  a 
higher  thing  than  His  dynamical /orce. 

8  Ver.  6.  L.et  tlie  wioRed  live.  This  is  the  literal 
rendering  of  n'TT  ;  that  is,  live  on  in  their  wickedness.    It 

is  not  inconsistent  with  what  Elihu  says,  xxxv.  9,  10,  15, 
about  ftod's  forbearance.  This  rendering  is  chosen  because 
it  would  seem  as  tliough  the  word  riTI'  had  been  used  with 

direct  reference  to  Job's  complaint,  xxi.  7 :  "  Wherefore  do 
the  wicked  live,  grow  old,  etc.f 

9  Ver.  7.  Talces  not  from.  Lit.,  (foes  not  diminish; 
consinnt,  steadij  vision,  never  relaxing.  What  follows  about  the 
righteous  man,  and  liis  vicissitudes,  has,  undoubtedly,  refe- 
rence to  .Tob,  but  not  in  the  narrow  way  taken  by  the  friends. 
Elihu  does  not  charge  him  with  gross  outward  crimes,  such 
as  "  wronging  the  widow,"  and  "  breaking  tlie  orphan's 
arms  "  (xxii.  9),  but  he  sees  the  possibility  that  even  one 
who  has  borne  the  cliaracter  of  the  jitst  (6  SiVaio?,  6  icaAo- 
K6.yad6<s)  if  placed  in  liigli  station,  "sitting  with  kings,"  and 
greatly  tempted  to  pride,  may  become  self-confident,  and  so 
fall  as  to  need  the  chastisements  of  God,  "  whose  eye  in  never 
withdrawn  from  him."  This  "sitting  on  the  throne  with 
kings,"  as  an  honored  and  consulted  assessor  or  vizier,  may 
have  been  suggested  by  what  Job  says  himself  very  elo- 
quently, but  somewliat  proudly  (xxix.  9),  of  the  honors  paid 
to  him  by  people  and  princes. 

10  Ver.  7.  Sit  in  glory.  nVj7  is  improperly  ren- 
dered/orerer,  like  D7lJ^7-  It  is  not  a  word  of  time  but  of 
degree,  completeness, — a  general  superlative  of  excellence, 
or  superiority. 

II  Ver.  8.  Bonnd  in  iron  chains;  either  from  the 
capricious  tyranny  of  their  royal  or  popular  patrons,  or  from 
their  own  too  strongly  tempted  pride.    It  is  a  supposed  case, 

10 


but  one  rfeadily  presenting  itself  to  the  speaker's  mind  from 
what  Job  says,  xxix.  9,  of  the  favor  he  had  once  enjoyed 
with  the  people  and  the  great. 

12  Ver.  9.  Their  oversteppings :  The  most  literal 
etymological  sense  of  DrTJ/jy^-    Renan: 

Par  leur  p6ch6s,  par  leur  orgueil. 

13  Ver.  10.  From  evil  they  tnrn  back.  The  word 
JIDIty  implies  barely  a  beginning  in  the  evil  way.  What- 
ever suspicion  of  Job  Elihu  here  may  intimate,  it  is  very 
different  from  the  gross  and  wholly  unwarranted  crimina- 
tions of  the  three  older  friends,  besides  being  stated  as  a 
mere  hypothesis.  But  the  striking  distinction  is  the  free- 
dom from  all  exasperation,  such  as  they  show,  especially 
Zopharand  Bildad  (see  viii.  2  ;  xi.  2,  3;  xx.  2).  Elihu  rep- 
resents God's  dealings  thus  far  as  all  proceeding  from  love, 
from  that  merciful  "  eye  upon  the  righteous  man,"  which  is 
never  withdrawn,  though  sometimes  leaving  him  to  himself 
for  a  season,  that  he  may  be  tried  and  gain  self-knowledge. 
It  reminds  one  of  a  touching  passage  in  the  Koranic  Com- 
mentary of  Al-Zamakhshari  on  Surat  xviii.  75:  Mohammed 
had  committed  a  fault  for  which  he  had  been  severely  vi- 
sited. Says  the  commentator:  "We  have  it  from  the  Pro- 
phet, Allah  bless  him,  that  when  this  was  revealed  (Sur. 
xviii.  75)  he  prayed,  0  Allah  1  never  again  leave  me  to  my- 
self for  the  wink  of  an  eye."    Al.  Zam.,  p.  7S(). 

i*  Ver.  12.  "Withont  knowledg-e.    Comp.  iv.  21. 

16  Ver.  1.3.  But  those  impure  in  heart.  The 
3/  'iJjn  in  distinction  from  the  p''^i^  or  reputed  right- 
eous man  tempted  and  disciplined,  as  described  above. 

iij  Ver.  13.  Such  cry  not.  Another  difference  :  They 
are  not  led  to  prayer  and  repentance.    See  xxxv.  10. 

"  Ver.  14.  Their  very  soul.  Soul  is  here  in  con- 
trast with  life  in  the  2d  clause.  Passages  like  it  in  the  Pro- 
verbs would  support  the  idea  of  spiritual  death.  Their  life  : 
their  course  of  life. 

18  Ver.  14.  The  vile.  Q"'K?lp,  the  mwlean,  the  ob- 
scene rather.  Lit.,  those  devoted  to  the  obscene  worship  of 
Astarte,  and  other  heathenisms.  See  the  word  Deut.  xxiii. 
18;  1  Kings  xiv.  24;  xv.  12;  xxii.  47.  Comp.  also  Gen. 
xxxviii.  21,  22. 

19  Ver.  15.     In  his  sufleriiisr.      Schlottmann  ren- 


146 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


16  Thus  thee,  too,  would  He  draw''"  from  trouble's  mouth, 
To  a  broad  place,"  no  straitening  underneath, 

With  richest  food'^^  the  spreading"'  of  thy  board. 

17  But  hast  thou^*  filled  the  judgment  of  the  bad  ; 
Judgment  and  Justice  will  lay  hold  on  thee. 

18  For  there  is  wrath  f^  see  lest  it  stir  thee  up  against  the  blow  f^ 
Then  a  great  ransom  may  not  turn  thy'^'  scale. 

19  Thy  wealth^^  its  price !  no  treasure  here  avails 


ders:  in  His  compnmon,  referring  the  pronoun  to  God.  This 
is  a  sense  which  "'JJ^  will  bear,  but  it  would  not   harmonize 

here  with  VP  7  in  the  2d  clause. 

20  Ver.  16.  Wonid  He  draw.  ri'Dn  means  liter- 
ally to  incite — cither  to  or  from — by  nharp  or  by  genUe  means. 
The  former  is  the  more  common,  but  the  latter  is  to  betaken 
here.  Schlottmann:  loot  er  aus — allures,  entices.  The  gene- 
ral word,  dratos,  allntcls,  seems  better. 

21  Ter.  16.  Broad  place  :  The  favorite  Hebrew  figure 
for  prosperili/,  as  slraitness,  or  narrowness  for  the  reverse. 

22  Ver.  16.    Witb  rlcbe^st  food.    This  is  what  is 

meant  by  the  Hebrew    WT    N/O   /mM  of  fat,  a  figure  not 
I  . .  ^        ..^ 

poetical  in  modern  lanfru.iges. 

23  Ver.  16.  Kpreadinia^  of  thy  board.  More  liter- 
ally, setting — that  which  is  set   down  to  rest   upon  it.     r\TM 

from  nij  '0  '■**'•     Hiph.  demisil,  deposuit. 

2*  Ver.  17.  Bnt  hast  tbou  filled:  if  thou  hast  filled. 
So  ScHLOTTMAN'N  takes  it,  conditionally.  Elihu  does  not  re- 
gard Job  as  one  of  these  impure  of  heart,  or  '•  hypocrites  in 

heart,"  as  E.  V.,  renders  it,  or  the  37  ^3jn  of  ver.  13.  He 
however  makes  tlie  supposition  of  what  would  have  been 
had  Job  gone  to  that  extent,  and  makes  it  the  ground  of 
warning  in  ver.  18.    The  word  TT  here,  just  like  our  word 

judgment,  may  denote  Job's  judgment  in  the  case,  as  some 
take  it,  or  God's  verdict  or  sentence  upon  the  wicked.  In 
this  latter  view,  which  is  preferred  here,  it  may  bo  trans- 
ferred to  tlie  wickedness  that  causes  judgment.  Hast  thou 
filled  up  tlie  wickedness  of  the  wicked  (the  measure  of  his 
judgment)  then  expect  no  mercy.  "Judgment  and  jus- 
tice," instead  of  threatening,  "  will  take  hold  on  thee," 
UOiT,  whicli  Delitzsch  strangely  renders,  "will  take  hold 
on  one  another."  lie  seems  to  have  regarded  it  as  an  ab- 
breviated Hithpahel :  OOiT  for  OOhn^-  The  pronoun 
is  not  needed,  it  is  so  easily  supplied.  It  can  hardly  be  that 
TT  is  used  of  Job's  judgment  in  the  one  clause,  and  of  God's 

judgment  in  the  other 
26  Yer.  18.  For  there  is  \rrath. 

non  with  the  same  words,  used  in  a  very  similar  manner, 

xix.  29,  it  will  be  seen  that  this  is  a  warning  formula.  Cau- 
tionary words  accompany  it  in  both  cases;  there  immedi- 
ately preceding,  here  immediately  following.  ?3  is  an  el- 
liptical particle  of  warning,  or  of  calling  attention,  like  the 
Latin  ne,  or  the  Greek  fi^  with  opa  (see  to  it),  or  SeiSu>,  or 
some  similar  word  understood;  comp.  Plat.  Phiedon,  69  A., 
'O  HaKCLpie  Stfxui'a,  fir)  ovx  ovnj  rj  17  opSij  k.  t.  A. ;  Iliad 
I.  26,  fij)  <re  napO.  i/rjucri  KLxeiia,  Odyss.  V.  467  (SfiSoi  under- 
stood; compare  line  300)  and  other  places.    "in'Drt  with  its 

usual  sense  o(  inciting  to  or  from  (here  to  or  against,  because 
followed  by  2)  must  have  an  indefinite  or  impersonal  sub- 
ject. Delitzscu  and  Schlottmann  render  it  allure,  as  in  ver. 
16,   but    this   would  require  riDH  for  the   subject   which 

T  •• 
would  be  harsh  (lornth  alluring)  even  if  the  grammar  would 
allow.     It  would,  however,  be  giving  a  tcminine  subject  to 
a  masculine  verb   following,  which  is  hardly  defensible  from 
the  case  Prov.  xii.  25.     PIOH  may,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as 

T  *■ 
implying  the  subject  of  ri'DH,  l>y  reason  of  its  representing 
the  whole  case.     If  the  impersonal  view  does  not  satisfy,  the 
subject  may  be  regarded  as  impliedly  in  p£)ty,  or  that  to 

which  the  warning  refers:  "Let  it  not  stir  thee  up  (the 
blow)  against  it  (the  blow  itself).  This  would  make  the  3 
in  p2\if  Very  easy,  and  perfectly  grammatical. 

26  Ver.  18.  The  blow.  The  places  to  guide  us  in  de- 
termining the  meaning  of  p3ty  =  p3D.  are  cb.  xxxiv.  26, 

37.  The  idea  of  »Hrf<fen8<n)tin3  is  in  both.  In  the  second, 
however,  hand  is  understood  (cla^i  the  hand),  or  some  other 


By  comparing  ^3 


part  of  the  body,  aa  in  Numb.  xxiv.  20;  lam.  ii.  15;  Job 
xxvii.  33,  and  that  gives  it  the  secondary  sense  of  scorning  or 
defiance.  Blow,  however,  is  the  primary  literal  sense  (evi- 
dently onomatopical,  S  P.  K.)  and  that  seems  here  most  fit- 
ting, besides  being  better  adapted  to  3~n''D^> — against  the 
blow,  or  the  chastisement  a,B  Conant  renders  it.  Schlottmann 
wouI<l  give  it  the  sense  of  mockery  (zum  Sjtotl),  Delitzsch 
of  scorning  (zum  Hiihnen,  with  reference  to  xxxiv.  37.     These, 

however,  would  require  that  H'D'  be  followed  by  7  instead 
of  2,  as  DiLLMAXx  remarks  (see  concordance  of  places;.  De- 
litzsch regards  riDH    as  denoting  the  anger  of  Job,  but 

T     " 

the  comparison  with  xix.  29,  where  it  is  used  in  precisely  the 
same  way,  shows  that  God's  wrath  is  meant,  and  that  '3 
non  is  to  be  taken  independently.  The  drift  of  Elihu's 
language  is  that  Job  has  got  to  that  point  where  he  needs  a 
caution,  such  as  he  himself  gave  to  his  monitors,  xix.  29. 
Beware  of  further  defiance.  He  has  reason  to  pray :  "Keep 
back  thy  servant  from  presumptuous  sins  "  (D^^TO,    Ps.  xix. 

14),  from  the  defiant,  unforgivable  sin,  31  VU2D,  "from 
the  great  transgression." 

9  Ver.  1 8.  Tnrn  thy  scale.    The  word  ransom  here 
(133)  is  suggested  to  Elihu  by  his  own  language  respecting 

the  penitent  sufferer,  xxxiii.  24:  "T  hive  found  a  ransom." 
The  word  PIDJi  Hipb.  ntSHj  to  incline  (transitively)  or  to 

T     * 

deflect,  is  repeatedly  used,  elliptically  and  figuratively,  in  the 
sense  of  deflecting  the  scale  in  judgment.  See  Prov.  xviii. 
5;  Isai.  x.  2;  xxix.  21  ;  Amos  v.  12.  The  last  case  is  most 
like  this  since  we  find  them  in  close  connection  with  this 
same  word  133-  The  verb  thus  used,  might  just  as  well, 
as  far  as  grammar  is  concerned,  have  for  its  object  the  per- 
son favored,  although  the  cases  cited  relate  to  the  unjustly 
condemned.  The  context  alone  must  determine  whether  it 
is  a  turning  the  scale  in  favor  of  or  against;  and,  in  fact,  the 
on'-  implies  the  other.    Delitzsch  gives  ?|£3''  the  sense  ver- 

leiten,  mislead,  seduce,  and  makes  the  ransom  refer  to  the  hope 
of  restoration,  It  must,  however,  have  the  same  application 
hero  as  in  xxxiii.  24.  It  is  something  which  God  provides, 
not  the  sufferer.  Job  had  been  stripped  of  all,  so  that,  aa 
Delitzsch  says,  "any  reference  to  his  own  richer,"  as  some- 
thing that  he  could  offer,  "is  out  of  the  question."  In  re- 
gard to  the  negative  7X,  it  is  used  in  the  same  way  as  the 

Greek  p-rj  for  ov  where  the  declaration  is  a  subjective  one. 
It  is  not  simidy  a  denial  of  the  happening  of  the  event,  but 
of  its  possibility,  and  so  the  particle  is  really  dependent :  It 
cannolbe  that,  etc.  There  i.",  moreover,  to  be  taken  into  the 
account  the  influence  of  ?3  above  in  making  the  clause  sub- 
jective :  as  though  repeated :  take  care  lest  a  great  raruom 
should  not  turn  the  scale  in  thy  favor.  The  version  of  E.  V. 
would  demand  "tT3'  ii  the  clause  above. 

28  Ver.  19.  Thy  wealth  its  price  I    The  word  ^yj 

here  used,  may  mean  either  wealth  or  a  or»/,  as  clearly  appears 
by  the  respective  contexts  in  which  they  are  found.     For  the 

first  see  xxxiv.  19  (y\]y),   Isai.   xxxii.  18,  and  this  place, 

where  it  seems  determined  by  its  connection  with  1^3.  fT 
which  see  Job  xxii.  24,  26.  The  other  usage  is  more  fre- 
quent. The  connection  between  the  two  meanings  is  not 
easily  traced,  y)^,  to  cry,  impilore,  and  its  noun  derivatives, 
seem  like  onomatupes :  shuagh—sugh — sigh.  Comp.  the  Sy- 
riac  pID  used  for  the  crying,  bleating  of  the  flocks,  Jud.  v. 

16.  As  Job  was  utterly  destitute,  the  reference  must  have 
been  to  his  former  vast  possessions.  All  his  camels  and  oxen, 
etc.,  could  not  avail  as  the  price  of  this  ransom.  It  is  its 
spiritual  value  vainly  estimated  by  the  richest  outward 
things.    TIJ^i  with  the   price  for  its  subject,  is  used  tere 

precisely  as  in  xxviii.  17,  in  the  attempted  prizing  of  Wis- 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


147 


Nor  all  the  powers^  of  might. 

20  O  long  not  for  the'"  night,— 

The  going  up  of  nations  in  their  place. 

21  Take  heed — turn  not  thy  face'^  to  sin, 

For  this  thou  choosest'^  more  than  sufferin£r. 


22  Lo  God  exalteth  by  His  power. 
Who  is  a  teacher  like  to  Him  ? 

23  Who  is  it  that  assigns^^  to  Him  His  way  ? 
Or  who  can  say  to  Him,  Thou  doest  wrong  ? 

24  Remember  that  thou  magnify  His  work, 
Which  men  so  celebrate. 

25  With  wonder  gaze  they^*  on  it,  Adam's  race, 
And  every  mau^^  beholds  it  from  afar. 

26  Lo  God  is  great, '^  we  know  Him  not ; 
Unsearchable  the  number  of  His  years. 

27  For  He  it  is  who  draws'^  the  water  drops  ; 
Whence  they  distil  to  rain  in  place  of  ^  mist ; 


dom :  "  Gold  and  crystals  cannot  prize  it,  give  its  estimate," 

rUD"!^'  N?-    The  price  of  redemption  is  far  above  rubies. 

29  VtT.  19.  Powers  of  inijS^hf .  Liferalhi,  the  mighty 
of  strength.  HD  does  not  mean  opes  here,  or  wealth,  but  has 
its  literal  sense — >iO  wealth — no  strength. 

30  Ver.  20.  Tlie  night.    nS'bn,  with  the  article,  is 

T :  T  ~ 
the  night  of  death  emphatically,  as  onr  Saviour  styles  it, 
John  ix.  4,  "  the  night  wherein  no  man  can  work;"  see  Ec- 
clesiastes  ix.  5.  Elihu  alludes  to  Job's  having  prayed  for 
death,  as  appears  in  several  places.  The  whole  passage  fur- 
nishes another  of  those  cases  where  the  closest  adherence  to 
the  most  literal  rendering  gives  the  best  guide  to  the  idea. 

The  verb  TvT^i  to  90  "f,  becomes  used  of  dying  (departing 
going  off)  from  the  old  idea  of  the  spirit,  or  breath,  going  up 
to  God,  its  source,  and  the  body  going  down  to  dust.  There 
is  no  reference  here  to  the  underworld,  and  the  difBculty 
arises  from  a  feeling  of  incongruity  connected  with  the  figure 
of  going  up,  especially  where  the  language  is  used  of  evil 
men.  But  there  is  in  it  no  idea  of  going  to  Heaven  accord- 
ing to  the  modern  notion.  It  is  simply  a  mysterious  going 
off.    Another  seeming  incongruity  is  made  by    HnH,    the 

opposite  to  nSj^,  apparently.  This  is  especially  felt  in  the 
translation  of  Con  ant,  which  otherwise  would  seem  to  have 
much  in  its  favor: 

Long  not  for  that  night, 

When  the  nations  are  gathered  to  the  world  below. 

Even  where  a  word  like  THp  has  lost  its  figure,  as  em- 
ployed in  some  special  applications,  poetical  feeling  would 
be  against  its  use  in  connection  with  a  real  opposite.  But 
Dnnn  here  moans  Biin-p\y  in  their  place,  right  where  they 
stand,  their  very  foundation,  as  in  the  examples  cited,  note 

to  xxxiv.  26.  The  proof  passages  for  this  sense  of  nSv 
(dying,  as  going  up,  or  off)  are  Ecclesiastes  xxi.  7,  where  we 
have  the  idea  without  the  word,  and  Job  v.  26,  and  Ps.  cii. 
25,  where  the  very  word  occurs  just  as  it  does  here;  the  Hi- 
phil  in  Pi4.  cii.  16,  making  no  difference.  In  the  first  pas- 
sage (Job  V.  26)  the  incongruity  alluded  to  is  not  felt  as  jar- 
ring with  our  modern  conception,  because  it  is  said  of  a 
supposed  good  man,  and  it  is  in  beautiful  harmony  with  the 
figure  of  the  sheaf  going  up  to  the  garner,  which  overcomes 
the  other  imag«,  in  the  same  passage  of  going  down  to  the 

grave.  In  Ps.  cii.  25,  'jS^'n  Sx  (take  me  not  up  (not  off ) 
,-n  the  midst  of  my  days),  the  going  np  (or  being  taken  up)  means 
no  more  than  the  ni7^  in  this  place,  though  said  here  of 
many  going  tip,  or  going  off,  in  the  night  of  death.  The  plu- 
ral D'DJ^i  peoples  or  nations,  is  used  here  to  make  it  the 


more  impressive,  and  to  give  Job  the  idea  of  its  being  a  ge- 
neral or  common  doom  which  he  should  not  desire  to  antici- 
pate. They  are  going  off  fust  enough,  this  vast  procession  of 
the  dead,  disappearing  in  that  night  to  which  all  human  ex- 
istence seems  to  lead.  D'OJ?  the  multitudes.  It  calls  to 
mind  Homer's  /cAutA  e9vea  veKpiav,  the  far-famed  nations  of 
the  dead  (Odyss.  X.  326,  and  other  places; ;  more  numerous 

than  the  nations  of  the  living.    In  the  word    HlSyS,    the 

7  of  the  infinitive  may  be  taken  as  specificati\e:  to  wit,  the 
going  up,  etc.;  and  so  the  second  clause  may  be  regarded  as 

epexegetical  of  the  first,  or  as  in  apposition  with  PlS'S: 
the  night,  I  mean,  in  which  the  nations  go  up,  etc.  De- 
LiTZSCH  renders  it :  "  Long  not  for  the  night  to  come  which 
shall  remove  people  from  their  place,"  and  seems  to  refer  it 
to  some  great  and  special  judgments,  not  to  the  general 
night  of  death.  He  has  no  authority  for  rendering  Di^Hn 
from  their  place.  Schlottmann  more  correctly,  an  Hirer 
SlUtte,  in  or  on  their  place,  right  where  they  stand,  or  just  as 
they  are.    Comp.  Ecclesiastes  xi.  3. 

31  Ver.  2L  Turn    not,     J3n      JX-    Look  not;  do  not 

even  set  your  face  in  that  direction,  give  no  coutitenance 
(nj3,    D'J3)  to  iniquity. 

32  Ver.  21.  TIlou  choosest.  That  is,  thou  art  choosing 
to  turn  in  the  wrong  direction — towards  sin,  and  away  from 
God.  It  is  a  tendency  charged  upon  him,  but  not  actual  sin. 
Elihu  is  very  plain  with  Job,  but  at  the  same  time  judicious 
and  tender.     He  desires  his  justification,  xxxiii.  .iJ. 

33  Ver.  23.  Wbo  is  it  that  assiarns?  Comp.  laai. 
xl.  13, 14. 

3<  Ver.  25.  With  wonder  g:aze.  Among  the  He- 
brew verbs  of  sight,  nin  may  be  regarded  as  more  emo- 
tional, and  more  spiritual  than  HNI-  It  denotes  sight  with 
feeling,  or  an  interest  of  wonder  in  the  object,  like  thi' Greek 
fleaojiioi,  or  the  Latin  specto,  in  distinction  from  opaio  the 
merely  visual,  or  dewpeia  which  i.s  more  perceptive,  that  is, 
of  facts  and  truths  rather  than  of  objects. 

85  Ver.  25.  Every  man— from  afar.  The  most 
common  man,  tylJX,  cannot  help  seeing  it  in  its  remotest 
aspects.     Comp.  Ps.  xix.  1,  and  Rom.  i.  20. 

36  Ver.  26.  I^o  Ood  is  g:reat.  This  declaration  seems 
more  frequent  in  Job  than  in  any  other  book  in  the  Bible, 
and  strongly  calls  to  mind  the  similar  Arabian  and  Moham- 
medan doxologies. 

37  Ver.  27.  flTio  draweth'np.  Draining  is  the  more 
usual  sense  of  the  verb  J»TJ,  that  of  diminlsfiing,  seeming  to 
come  from  its  sense  detraxit,  but  the  rendering  of  E.  V., 
maketh  small,  suits  very  well  some  parts  of  the  process  in- 
tended to  be  described.  If  we  render  it  draweth,  then  the 
water  drops  must  denote  the  substance  drawn  up,  whatever 
It  may  be,  and  which  becomes  water  drops  afterwards. 

S3  Ver.  27.  In  place  of  mist.    Gen.  ii.  6  puts  beyond 


148 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


28       Even  that  with  which  the  heavens^®  flow  dowu, 
And  drop  on  man  abundantly. 


29 


30 


Is  there*"  who  understands  the  floatings*^  of  the  cloud, 

The  thunderinga"  of  His  canopy  ? 

Behold,  upon  it*^  spreadeth  He  the  light, 

AYhilst  darkening**  the  sea's  profoundest  depths. 

(Yet,  'tis  by  these  that  He  the  nations  rules, 

And  giveth  food  in  rich  supply). 

O'er  either*^  hand  the  lightning  doth  He*®  wrap, 


doubt  the  meaning  of  HX  as  vapor  or  misf,  in  distinction  from 

rain  itself  which  comes  from  it.  But  the  7  has  given  trou- 
ble. "According  to  the  vapor  thereof,"  E.  V.;  "with  its 
mist,"  DelitzsCH  ;  zu  Regon  lilutert  sich's  im  Nebel.  Schlott- 
Mann;  wenn  er  in  Nebel  sich  gehiillt,  UMnREiT;  Qui  se  fon- 
dent  en  pluio  et  forment  ses  vapeurs,  Renan.  But  the  vapor 
is  the  preceding  state.     Vice,  in  loco,  in  place  of,  is  a  meaning 

of  7,  of  which  NoLDius  in  his  Concordance  of  particles  gives 
a  good  number  of  examples.     The  one  nearest  to  this  is  Gen. 

Xi.  3,  bUunien  for  mortar,  ^rDhS  InnH,  or  nxS  71^3^71, 

T"  -  Iv  T  :       T  •• :  - 

Iricl- foT  stone.  Bitumen  for  mortar,  or  in  place  of  mortar; 
the  imperfect  substance /or,  that  is,  as  a  preparation  for  the 
more  finished  ;  or  mortar  in  place  of  bitumen,  according  to 

the  reverse  conception.  Grammatically,  the  preposition  7 
would  denote  either  of  these  accordingto  the  context.  Here 
it  would  demand  the  latter — rain  now  in  place  of  what  was 

»rji«?  before  the  distillation.  The  pronoun  in  ITX/  shows 
this — its  mist — the  rain's  mist,  or  that  from  which  the  rain 

I5  formed.    The  subject  of   Ipf',    taken  intransitively,  is 

water  drops.  Thay  distill  into  rain,  that  is,  the  water  or  va- 
por that  was  raised  up  called  by  the  name  of  what  it  be- 
comes.    The  primary  sense  of  ppj  is  binding  (whence  D'pl 

chains,  ver.  8),  compression,  hence  straining  or  condensation. 
They  condense  into  rain,  would  be  a  good  rendering  if  it 
would  not  seem  to  make  Elihu  talk  too  scientifically;  and 
yet  some  such  idea  must  have  been  in  his  mind.     lOb  may 

T    T 

be  taken,  grammatically,  as  either  the  direct  or  the  remote 
object  of  the  intransitive  verb:  They  distill,  or  condense, 
rain,  or  they  disiill  into  rain.  There  is  really  no  great  dif- 
ficulty in  the  clause  unless  made,  as  is  often  done,  by  over- 
looking the  directuess  and  simplicity  of  the  language.  The 
general  fact  of  the  transformation  is  known  to  all,  but  our 
best  science  yet  finds  a  mystery  in  attempting  to  trace  the 
exact  rationale  of  the  process.  "The  law  of  the  rain  "  (pfl 
"It^'D;,  xxviii.  26)  is  yet,  in  some  points,  one  of  the  secrets 

T    T  " 

of  the  Divine  mDH,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Job. 
T  :  T 

39  Ver.  28.  The  beavens.    □'pHB'    is  the  poetical 

word  for  the  skies,  the  high,  attenuated  expanse,  from  pH^ 

I     -  T 
attrivil,  comminuit,  made  smooth  or  thin,  as  y'pT  from  ypl, 

to  beat  ont  likff  gold  leaf,  to  spread  out.  See  xxxvil.  18,  and 
Ps.  Ixxxix.  7. 

*>  Ver.  29.  Is  there  ?  This  may  be  treated  as  a  section 
by  itself.  After  the  general  account  of  the  rain  comes  a 
special  description  of  tlie  thunder-storm. 

«  Ver.  29.   The    floatinj;-s,    2}?     "'tl''130-     Comp. 


2V 


"U'Sao 


xxxviii.  16,  gnspemion.s  of  the  cloud.    It  is,  in 


both  cases,  the  mystery  of  the  clond  hanging  in  the  air, 
seemingly  without  support.  We  talk  of  gravity  and  think 
we  have  explained  it.  Gesemhs  gives  to  tyT£JO  here  the 
sense  of  expansion  merely,  as  in  Ezek.  xxvii.  It  would 
then  refer  (o  it  as  stationary,  or  iu  a  tranquil  state,  remind- 
ing us  of  Graham's  description : 

Calmness  sits  throned  on  yon  nr moving  cloud. 

This  sets  the  two  phenomena  in  contrast  and   gives   more 

force  to  the  allusion  to  the  gathering  storm  in  the  2d  clause. 

.^  Ver.  20.      Thuiideriiigr»i    of     IHs    canopy. 

-mXCP;  see  xxxix.  7  ;  Isai.  xxii.  2.    God  is  said  to  dwell 


in  the  nimbus,  or  thunder-cloud,  as  in  a  tent,  or  canopy. 
The  word  r\3D   strictly  means  a  temporary  booth,  as  a  re- 

T   \ 

treat  or  hiding-place.  Comp.  Ps.  Ixxxi.  8,  Qj;"!  IHOS,  in 
the  secret  place  of  the  thunder,  and  especially  Ps.  x  viil.  12,  where 
we  have  this  same  figure  of  the  booth  or  canopy:    riJD'H 

«  Ver.  30.  Tpon'tt;    vSy,  upon  the  cloud,  (31?  Si'), 

t't  t       ■*• 

the  nimbns.  The  pronoun  is  by  many  referred  to  God :  He 
spreadeth  the  light  upon  himself;  but  there  is  no  need  of 
this.  It  mars  the  parallelism,  and  makes  very  difficult  the 
rendering  of  the  second  clause,  which  then  must  be  taken 
in  the  same  way. 

«  Ver.  30.  'Whilst  darlcening;  Taken  participially 
to  denote  the  close  conjunction  of  the  two  acts.  Lit.,  and  He 
covers,  that  is,  with  darkness,  as  the  context  demands.  The 
object  covered  (not  that  with  which  he  covers)  is  the  roots 
or  depths  of  the  sea.  Tlie  other  rendering  is.  He  covereth 
himself  with  the  roots  of  the  sea.  This  is  grammatically 
harsh,  and  makes  the  English  or  German  more  dilBcult  to 
understand  th.an  the  simple  Hebrew.  Such  a  rendering,  in 
both  clauses,  seems  prompted  by  Ps.  civ.  2,  "  He  covereth 
himself  with  light,  although  there  is  no  personal  or  reflex 
pronoun  there.  But  in  that  case  the  verb  is  nUl',  which, 
more  strictly  than  PIDS,  follows,  in  its  government,  the 

T   ' 

analogy  of  verbs  of  clothing,  arming,  etc.  It  is  there,  more- 
over, a  description  of  creation,  and  there  is  no  other  object 
of  the  verb.  Here  the  design  of  Elihu  is  simply  to  present 
phenomena,  and  the  language,  therefore,  is  demonstrative 
and  optical  instead  of  reflective.  Some  take  the  sense  of  the 
light  (the  lightning)  covering  the  roots  of  the  sea,  so  vividly 
that  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  is  illuminated.  No  one,  how- 
ever, ever  saw  that,  and  it  would  have  been  wholly  imagina- 
tive in  Elihu,  instead  of  an  appeal  to  things  visible,  and  Cua- 
ceivable  by  all.  Again,  the  routs  of  the  sea,  say  some,  is  the 
water  drawn  up,  though  once  lying  in  the  deiiths  (ver.  27), 
and  God  has  a  robe  of  double  texture  woven  of  light  and  the 
waters,  or  the  darkness  of  the  waters.  We  may  doubt  whe- 
ther the  mind  of  Elihu  in  this  grand  optical  description  was 
in  the  mood  for  such  a  flne-si)un  conceit.  Everj-thing,  too, 
both  here  and  in  the  next  chapter,  goes  to  show  that  he 
spoke  under  the  vivid  emotion  of  an  actual  sform  then 
making  its  approach  in  the  distance.  There  is  a  contrast  un- 
doubtedly between  the  two  clauses  of  ver.  30,  liut  it  is  one 
which  every  black  thunder-storm  presents,  especially  to  those 
who  view  it,  or  conceive  it,  in  connection  w-ith  the  vicinity 
of  waters.  It  is  the  bright  blazing  in  the  heavens,  and  the 
dark  hon-or,  as  the  poet  calls  it,  which  it  makes  upon  the 
face  of  the  sea.  See  how  Virgil  pictures  the  the  two  things 
together,  Mn.  I.,  90—89, 

Mical  ignibus  sether, — 

ponto  Nox  iucubat  atra. 


Again  ^n.  III.,  109—194: 


-Ingeminant  abruptis  nubibus  ignes,- 
-Et  inhorruit  unda  ienebris. 


So  Homer's  Odyss.  V.,  291: 


-opwpet  6'  ovpavoOev  vv^,— 


And  night  rushed  down  the  sky. 
«  Ver.  32.  O'er  either  hand.    The  Dual,  D"33- 
*«  Ver.  32.  Doth  he  wrap.     nD3   has  hero  both  its 

T  • 

direct  and  remote  object,  and  the  sense  is  unmistakable.  The 
light  here  Is  the  lightniug.    It  is  the  figure  of  the  slinger 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


IVJ 


And  giveth  it  commandment  where"  to  strike. 
33       Of  this  the^  crashing  roar^'  makes  quick  report, 

While  frightened  herds  announce  the  ascending^"  flame. 


gathering  up  the  cord  around  his  hands,  and  taking  a  firm 
hold  that  ho  may  hurl  the  weapon  the  more  forcibly,  as  well 
as  more  Burely.  For  that  purpose  he  takes  it  with  both 
hands.     If  it  is  plain,  it  is  exceedingly  sublime. 

«  Ver.  32.  Wbere  to  strike.  j;''JDO,  Hiphil  parti- 
ciple here,  admirably  expresses  the  opposing  object,  that 
which  comes  in  the  way  or  cauxes  a  meeting.  It  seems 
strange  tliat  Delitzsch  should  say  that  the  Hiphil  sense  is 
lost  in  such  rendering.  He  himself  makes  it,  not  the  object, 
but  the  aimer,  by  virtue  of  the  all-explaining  beth  esseutix. 
The  participle  thus  used  as  object  becomes  synonymous  with 
J'j30  vii.  20,  only  it  is  better  here  as  more  easily  admitting 

the  personiflcative  idea,  as  though  the  thing  hit  were  re- 
garded, for  the  moment,  as  the  adversary  against  whom  the 
bolt  is  hurled.    The  verb  in  this  Hiphil  form  appears  most 

expressively  Isai.  liii.  12,  J^'ja'    D'J^C'iJJI,  "and  He  (the 

Kedeemer)  interjjosed  for  the  transgressors  " — came  between 
them  and  the  bolt  of  justice,  so  that  it  might  fall  on  Him. 
From  the  very  nature  of  the  verb  VlDt  it^  Kal  and  Hiphil 
must  be  very  much  alike  in  their  general  significance;  the 
latter  being  only  the  more  intensive.  It  is,  in  this  respect, 
like  the  kindred  verb  K'JB.  *"  meet,  in  which  Kal,  Piel,  and 
even  Niphal  present  nearlv.the  same  idea. 
18  Ver.  33.  Of  tbis.     V^}?  ]  that  is,  the  mark,  the  thiti^ 

TT 

Ai7,  or  the  fact  of  hitting.  Those  who  refer  the  pronoun  to 
God,  as  in  the  other  cases  above,  get  into  great  confusion.  It 
turns  away  the  thought  from  the  optical,  or  the  direct  pic- 
ture, on  which  the  speaker  seems  intent,  to  a  kind  of  mora- 
lizing out  of  place  and  interrupting  the  effect. 

^  Ver.  33.  The  craf^hing;  roar.  An  error  in  respect 
to  Vj^  leads   to  a  false  view  of  J^l,  or  to  the  rendering 

friend,  or  thmight,  as  some  take  it,  whilst  it  so  obviously 
means  the  sharp  sound  of  the  thnnder  when  the  lightning 
strikes  near.  See  the  use  of  it,  Exod.  xxiii.  17  for  the  wild 
cheering  or  ivproar  of  the  camp,  and  especially  Micah  iv.  9. 
The  latter  place  leaves  no  doubt  of  its  meaning,  or  of  its  de- 
rivation, yT  ^y'TH  ITS 7,  lamma  lha-ringni  reangh,  if  we 
_..         •     •  T  T  T 

give  to  the  y  sometliing  of  that  nasal  tone  with  which  the 
modern  Jews  pronounce  it:  "  Wliy  ringesl  thou  oiU,  hreakest 
thou  out,  with  Ihiit  roaring  cry,  quare  vociferaris  vociferando  f 
j;"l  is  onomatopically  like  njTj  only  its  guttural,  especially 

if  there  is  something  nasal  in  it,  makes  it  better  adapted  to 
represent  a  rough,  hoarse,  roaring,  crashing  sound,  in  wiiich 
everything  seems  breaking  to  pieces.  When  in  a  thunder- 
storm there  is  heard  that  peculiar  crash  simultaneous  with 
the  vivid  lightning  blaze,  wo  say  immediately,  that  has  struck 
somewhere,  and  very  near.  It  immediately  unnotinces  the  ef- 
fect, such  as  is  not  expected  when  the  thunder  is  distant, 
though  it  may  be  very  heavy,  and  the  lightning  very  vivid. 
Hence  we  call  it  a  report.  T'JH  well  expresses  this — tells — 
declares — puts  it  before  us  OJJ)  in  a  way  we  cannot  doubt. 

60  Ver.  33.  The  asceiKlitig-  flame.  Here  is  another 
example  where  the  most  literal  following  of  the  words  in 
their  most  literal  sense,  but  with  a  sharp  look  to  the  con- 
text, furnishes  the  best  guide  in  the  interpretation.     njpD 

p^lfy  7J^  c\ii,  the  herds,  even  of  the  ascending :  TJuchangei 
the  words  give  that  and  nothing  else.  7J^  is  to  be  taken  as 
just  before  in  Vl]^-  There  it  is,  "  make  report  of  it,"  that 
is,  the  striking.  Here  it  is  a  making  report  (for  T*  J''  belongs 
to  both  clauses)  of  something  else  described  as    TinV    (a»- 

cenden-i),  de  surgente,  or  de  ascendente.  But  what  is  it  that 
(joeth  vp  ?  This  is  to  bejdeterujini'd  by  the  context,  and  the 
use  of  the  participle  H 7i>'  in  other  passages  of  Scripture, 

or  of  the  verb  from  which  it  comes.  Connecting  it  with  the 
lightning  stroke  in  the  first  clause  we  can  hardly  help  think- 
ing of  Gen.  xix.  28,  where  "  the  smoke  of  Sodom"  is  pic- 
tured as  "  going  up,  (H  7j7)i  I'l^e  the  smoke  of  a  furnace,"  or 
of  Joshua  viii.   20,    T'^H    Jl^Jf    rhv    H^ni,    "and    lo, 

•  T        I .  T    T  T     ■  : 

there  ?oen<?(p  the  smoke  of  the  city."  For  similar  imagery 
see  Judg.  XX.  40 ;  Jerem.  xlviii.  15,  and  other  places.    The 

name,  too,  given  to  the  burnt  offering,   H/ii^j   with  only  a 

T 

change  of  vowel  to  make  it  a  participial  noun,  presents  the 


same  imas;e.  It  is  so  called  because  of  the  smoke  ascending 
high  in  the  air  from  the  altar  of  incense  and  sacrifice.  Coiiip. 
Gen.  viii.  20,  the  ascent  of  Noah's  offering;  also  such  pas- 
sages as  Lev.  vi.  2,  mpiD  Sj;  rh''\vr\  nSiyn,  Ezek. 

I    .  .       tI:  -  V         T  T         T 

viii.  11,  H/IJ^    mCDpn    pj^)    '■  the  cloud  of  iuceuse  j'oinj 

up."  These  passages  are  cited  to  show  how  easy  and  natural 
the  image,  and  how  difficult  it  is,  in  such  a  context  to  ass-o- 
ciato  it  with  any  other.  Other  views  require  changes  in  the 
text;  for  example,  instead  of  ri  J  piO)  some  would  read  njp!?, 

and  then  demand  that  it  be  regarded  as  equivalent  to 
N''JpO    governing    r|X    (as  a  noun)  and  making  it  mean, 

arousing  jealous  wrath.    This  to  make  any  sense  requires 

n7iy  (fem.  of  7iy)  wickedness,  and  also  that  vL'  should 

t:   -  V  T  ■*- 

have  the  sense  against;  thus  taking  it  out  of  the  obvious  pa- 
rallelism with  V  7j^  in  the  first  clause.    They  say,  too,   flX 

is  in  the  wrong  place  for  it  as  a  particle, — it  should  have 
come  at  the  beginning  of  the  clause.  But  the  briefest  con- 
sultation of  NoLDius'  Concord.  Parlic.  would  show  that  this 
is  futile.  See  2  Sam.  XX.  14  ;  Cant.  i.  16;  1  Sam.  ii.  7;  Isai. 
xxvi.  9;  Ps.  Ixx.  15,  eto.     It  is  frequently,  as   we  here  find 

it,  when  emphasizing  a  word  as  it  emphasizes  Tyi^V  71', 
"  even  of  that  which  goeth  up."  Others  take  the  text  as  it 
stands,  but  refer  n7lj?  to  God.  But  this  is  very  difl[icult. 
God  does  not  go  up  in  the  storm.  Still  less  fitting  is  the 
rendering  im  Auzug,  on  his  approach  (Delitzsch;  or  im  Zuge 

(Ewald),  on  the  march.  H  7lJ?  is  never  used  in  such  a  way. 
Some  of  the  Jewish  commentators  regard  it  as  equivalent  to 
7J7,  a  supposed  name  of  God,  Hos.  xii.  27,  or  to  jV7^t,— the 

Most  High,  so  frequently  used  in  Genesis ;  but  that  denotes 
position,  height  as  rank,  not  ascenxion  in  any  way.  Some,  fol- 
lowing Aben'  Ezra,  refer  it  to  the  »-j«iK(/ storm,  and  the  cattle 
foreboding  its  approach;  but  that  disorders  the  time,  and 
takes  us  away  from  the  scene  so  vividly  painted  as  present 
to  the  imagination  at  least,  if  not  to  the  actual  sense  of  the 
persons  addressed.  It  is  something  startling,  as  is  shown  by 
the  close  connection  with  the  1st  verse  of  ch.  xxxvii.,  and 
which  any  such  retrospective  reflections  of  the  speaker 
would  interrupt  and  impair.    Others  render    ttT    friend: 

SCHLOTTMAifN,  Er  zeigt  ihm  seinen  Freund — Zorneseifer  liber 
die  Frevler;  but  that  besides  requiring  two  changes  in  the 
text  of  the  second  clause,  seems  a  sort  of  reflective  moralizing 
which  would  hardly  come  between  such  vivid  description 
preceding  and  immediately  following.  It  seems  too  forced 
to  be  capable  of  defence  even  by  the  reasoning  of  so  excel- 
lent a  commentator  as  Schlottmajin.    Umbeeii  renders  _J'l 

in  the  same  way ;  but  in  the  second  clause  goes  very  far  off 

in  rendering   H  7lJ^   das  gewachs,  the  plant,  for   which  the 

places  he  cites  Gen.  xl.  10;  xli.  22,  furnish  no  warrant.  Erea 
if  ever  used  in  the  Bible  for  a  plant,  it  would  bo  unmeaning 
here,  and  the  construction  he  gives  altogether  uugrammaii- 
cal.  The  epithet  frightened,  in  the  translation,  gives  only 
what  is  clearly  implied,  if  the  view  taken  of  the  passage  be 
coreect,  and  so  is  it  used  by  Renan,  though  referring  it  to 
the  cattle's  foreboding  of  an  apijroaching  storm  ; 

L'effroi  des  tropeaux  revele  son  approche. 

others  content  themselves  with  rendering  simply  and  safely 
de  surgente,  or  de  ascendente,,  without  any  attemjjt  at  expla- 
nation. But  what  is  that  which  goeth  up  after  the  crash 
and  the  striking  of  the  lightning?  Not  unfrequently  do  we 
witness  what  ought  to  give  us  the  idea.  It  is  when  the 
lightning  strikes  anything  that  is  highly  combustible,  a 
barn  with  grain,  a  stack  of  dry  sheaves  in  the  field,  or,  as  it 
often  docs,  the  dry  trees  of  the  forest.  It  could  not  have 
been  uncommon  on  the  plains  of  Dz.  In  such  a  case  the 
smoke  and  flame  rise  up  almost  immediately  from  the  fierce 
combustion.  A  sight  of  this  kind  strongly  associates  Itself 
in  the  mind  of  the  translator,  with  the  study  of  this  passage. 
During  a  storm  of  terrific  blackness  a  most  blinding  fla.sh 
of  zigzag  chain  lightning  came  down  over  a  near  hill.  The 
terrible  crash  was  simultaneous  with  it,  and  hardly  had  the 
reverberation  ceased  when  up  rose  from  a  barn  behind  the 


150 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


hill  a  lurid  column  of  pitchy  smoke  and  flame  ascending  per- 
pendicularly towards  the  heavens,  like  that  which  went  up 
from  the  blasted  plain  of  Sodom.  It  was,  indeed,  an  awful 
Bight,  and  had  the  fleeing  cattle  formed  part  of  the  scene,  it 
Would  have  been  in  closest  conformity  with  the  picture  so 
vividly  presented  to  us  in  these  few  Hebrew  words.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  this  portion  of  Elihu's  speech  (vers.  27-3.3)  sug- 
gests most  of  the  ideas  which  are  prominent  in  VlEOlL'a  de- 
scription of  the  thunder-storm,  Georg.  I.  328: 

Ipse  Pater,  media  nimborum  in  node,  corusca 


Fulmina  molitur  dextra.- 


furjere  ferx,  et  mortalia  corda 
Per  gentes  humilis  stravit  pavor;  iWe  flagranti 
Aut  Atho,  aut  Rhodopen,  aut  alta  Cerauuia,  telo 
Dejicit ;  ingemiuant  Austri  et  densiasimus  imber. 


With  the  4th  and  5th  lines  of  the  above,  compare  Ps.  civ.  32; 
Ik  touches  the  mountains  and  they  smoke.  The  difficulty  of 
the  passage  givea  the  apology  for  so  long  dwelling  upon 


Chapter  XXXVII. 


1  At  such  a  sight/  with  shuddering  fear  my  heart 
Leaps  wildly^  from  its  place, 

2  Hear  ye,  O  hear  the  roaring*  of  His  voice, 
The  deep  reverberation*  from  His  mouth  ; 

3  As  under  all  the  heavens  He  sends^  it  forth, — 
His  lightning  to  the  edges®  of  the  earth. 

4  Then  after  it  resounds  a  voice. 

The  glorious  voice'  with  which  He  thundereth. 
One  cannot  trace^  them  when  their  sound  is  heard. 

5  Yes,  with  His  voice®  God  thunders  marvellously ; 
Great  things  does  He ;  we  understand  Him  not. 

6  For  to  the  snow  He  saith,  be  thou'"  upon  the  earth  ; 


1  Ver.  1.  At  such  a  sigpbt.    Piiitl    HN,  yea  at  this. 

There  is  intimated  the  closest  connection  with  what  pre- 
cedes. 

2  Ver.  1.  Iieaps  wildly,  "^nj,  trejndavit,  palpilavil. 
In  Piel  it  denotes  the  sudden  leap  of  the  locust. 

8  Ver.  2.  Roaring.     Ij'l'    The  first  loud,  rough  crash. 

*  Ver.  2.  Reverberation.  The  succeeding  sound, 
loud,  yet  lower  in  tone,  literally  mnttering,  rumbling,  etc.,  deep 
barytone,  like  a  low  murmuring  voice. 

6  Ver.  3.  Sends  it  forth.  Not  from  "ItJ?"'  to  direct,  but 
from  nils'  to  set  free,  let  loose. 

6  Ver.  3.  Edg'es.     Literally,  imngs,  erlremities. 

1  Ver.  4.  Cvlorions  voice.  Lit.,  voice  of  his  glory.  To 
avoid  the  tautology,  in  the  3d  clause  it  is  rendered  sound. 

8  Ver.  4.  Cannot  trace  tbem,    DDp^"'-    Gesenius 

gives  it  the  sense  retardavit,  citing  the  Arabic  (Conj.  II.) 
which  does  not  support  him,  since  it  simply  means  coming 
behind  (pressit  vestigia).  Delitzsch,  following  Gesenids, 
renders,  und  spart  die  Blitze  nicht;  Schlottmann,  nicht  zo- 
gern  die  Blitze;  Umbreit,  und  er  halt's  nicht  zuriick.  On 
the  other  hand  Ewald  gives  it  the  sense  of  finding,  tracing, 
investigating,  though  he  seems  to  regard  as  its  object  the  men 
to  be  punished,  for  which  there  is  no  authority.  This,  too, 
is  the  rendering  of  the  Vulgate  (non  inrestigatur,  taken  im- 
personally), of  Symmachus,  and  of  the  Peschito,  which  uses 
the  very  word,  and  with  the  sense  of  inveslignting,  tracing, 
tracking,  which  it  always  has  in  Syriac.  See  the  numerous 
€xam]]les  in  N.  T.,  and  especially  Acts  xvii.  27,  seeking  after 
God  and  tracing  Ilim    (fOpJ^O    used  for   the  Greek  ifirj^a- 

ifi-qa-eiav,  feel  after).  So  among  the  older  commentators. 
2py  is  a  denominative  or  noun   verb,  and  all   its  uses  are 

easily  traceable  from  the  primary  sense  of   3pJ^    the  heel; 

such  as  to  go  behind  one  (at  hit  heels),  to  supplant,  or  trip  the 
heel ;  hence  to  retard  fimpedire)  should  the  context  demand 
it.  The  most  natural  idea,  however,  belonging  to  the  Piel, 
(as  to  the  Syriac  Pael)  is  that  of  tracking,  investigating  (from 
vcMigium,  a  foolslr-p).  The  same  metaphor  appears  in  the 
nouns  ;  as  in  ill^p^.  Cant.  j.  8  ;  Ps.  Ixxxix.  52,  and  espe- 
cially, as  strongly  suggested  by  this,  Ps.  Ixxvii.  20:  "Thy 
wayis  in  the  many  waters,  and  thy  footsteps  (or  thy  tracings 
'I'rn^pl')   vestigia  tua)   are  unknown,"   untraceable.      Here, 

however,  it  must  be  taken  indefinitely  as  in  the  Vulqate  : 


One  cannot  trace  them,  that  is,  the  thunder  voices.  In  giving 
the  verb  the  sense  of  holding  back,  Delitzsch  and  Umbreit 
make  lightnings  the  object.  But  thunders,  mentioned  just 
before,  is  more  properly  the  grammatical  object,  especially 
in  the  sense  above  given.  The  reference  is  to  the  rolling  or 
reverberating  thunder,  "  under  the  whole  heavens,"  or  all 
round  the  sky;  unlike  the  sharp  crash  of  the  striking  bolt 
which  immediately  announces  itself  (xxxvi.  33).  It  seems 
to  be  every  where.    We  hear  but  cannot  trace  it. 

»  Ver.  5.  TVith  liis  voice.  The  repetitions  of  the 
word  71  p  are  somewhat  remarkable,  although  the  Hebrew 

seems  to  allow  such  a  thing  better  than  the  English.  It 
may  be  regarded  as  coming  from  the  anxiety  of  Elihu  to  im- 
press the  idea  that  the  thunder  in  the  storm  now  raging 
around  them,  is  really,  and  not  metaphorically  merely,  the 
voice  of  God  impressing  itself  in  the  undulations  of  the  air. 
This  idea  of  an  actual  thunder-storm  coming  up,  subsiding 
or  passing  off,  gathering  again  (as  seems  to  be  represented 
in  the  two  chapters)  and  finally  terminating  in  the  tornado 
from  which  breaks  forth  the  unmistakable  voice  of  God,  fur- 
nishes a  clue  to  much  that  is  peculiar  in  the  style  of  this 
portion  of  Elihu's  speech.  Especially  in  ch.  xxxvii.  does  he 
talk  like  a  man  amazed  and  awed  by  the  approach  of  terri- 
ble phenomena.  In  the  intervals  of  subsidence,  he  moralizes 
as  men  are  wont  to  do  at  such  seasons.  Every  few  momenta 
his  attention  seems  called  to  some  new  appearance,  inter- 
rupting and  confusing  his  language:  "See  there" — "hear 
that,"  etc.  A  darkness  comes  up,  and  he  "  cannot  speak  by 
reason  of  it  "  (ver.  19) ;  it  passes  away  and  his  eyes  are  drawn 
to  a  strange  electric  light  approaching  from  the  North.  For 
this  effect  of  the  storm  on  Elihu's  speech,  see  Int.  Theism, 
pp.  25,  26,  27,  and  note. 

10  Ver.  6.  Be  thon  npon  the  earth.  Delitzsch, 
falle  erdw'irte.  In  thus  rendering  XIH.  be  goes  to  the  Ara- 
bic 'in.  dcridit,  delapmi)  fnit.  QeSemus,  rw«  in  terram;  biitas 
CoNANT  well  says,  "this  very  poorly  expresses  the  gentle 
falling  of  the  snow."  Its  quiet  descent  has  ever  given,  in 
fact,  its  most  poetical  image.  Homer  uses  it  II.  III.  222,  to 
represent  the  steady  persuasion  of  true  eloquence ; 

Kai  enea  vi4>aSs(T<Tiv  eoixora  xetjiepi'jjo'H', 
which  Bryant  so  exactly  as  well  as  beautifully  renders : 
"  And  words  came  like  the  flakes  of  winter  snow." 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


151 


10 


11 


Thus  also  to  the  pouring"  rain, 

His  mighty'^  flooding  rain. 

The  hand  of  every  man  He  sealeth"  up  ; 

That  all  may  know — all  men  whom  He  has"  made. 

Then  go  the  beasts,"  each  to  his  hiding  place ; 

And  in  their  dens  abide. 

From  the  dark^®  South  proceeds  the^^  sweeping  storm, 

From  the  Mezarim^^  comes  the  chilling  blast. 

From  God's  own  breath  the  hoar  frost'^  is  congealed ; 

By  it  the  water's  breadth  is  firmly^"  bound. 

Through  drenching^^  rain  the  dense  cloud  He  exhausts, 

The  thin  light-breaking^^  cloud  He  scattereth. 


See  Lucian's  allusion  to  this,  Eulogy  of  Demosthenes,  sec. 
15.  A  modern  h.ymnist  uses  it  for  its  soothing  or  seda- 
tive effect.  ScHLOTTMANN  regards  XI H  as  simply  the  impe- 
rative of  the  Hebrew  substantive  verb  in  its  older  form :  Sei 
auf  erden,  LXX.,  yivov  ini  yrj^. 
u  Ver.  6.  Pouring  raiu.    DK'J  (gethem)  as   its  very 

Bound  seems  to  indicate  (r/ush,  giessen)  denotes  the  heavy  rain 
when  it  seems  to  descend  in  floods,  or  almost  in  a  body  (Ara- 
bic Dtyj  ji*"0  as  it  were,  or  like  a  mass  or  weight  (Arabic 

DC'J  josham). 

12  Vor.  6.  Flooding  rain.  lAt  pcniring  of  ramt  of  his 
strength.  In  a  compound  expression  of  this  kind,  the  Hebrew 
puts  the  pronominal  sufBx,  generally,  to  the  last  noun,  and 
uses  it  like  an  adjective. 

13  Ver.  7.  Scaletll  np.  Confines  them  to  their  homes 
during  the  storms,  that,  under  shelter,  they  may  think  of 
God's  works,  and  give  Him  glory.  Comp.  Ps.  xxix.,  where 
there  is  a  like  description  of  a  thunder-storm  as  witnessed 
from  the  sheltering  temple:  "  He  maketh  bare  the  forests," 
whilst,  at  ever}'  thunder  peal,  "  every  one  who  sits  in  his 
temple    "i^^D    TDJ^i  is  crying,  glory."    The  scenic  state 

T 

here  is  not  easily  determined,  but  thoy  were  all  probably  in 
the  shelter  of  a  tent. 

14  Ver.  7.  ■Whom  He  has  made.  Lit.  men  of  hU 
work.  Some  would  make  a  change  in  the  text,  D''CyjX  for 
'tyj}<,  BO  as  to  make  it  like  xxxiii.  17,  that  every  man  may 
hiow  His  work.  But  all  that  is  expressed  there  is  implied 
here,  without  a  change,  whilst  there  is  the  additional  idea 
that  men  too  are  His  work. 

15  Ver.  8.  The  beasts.    riTli  here,  is  taken  both  col- 

T- 

lectively  and  diatribntively. 

16  Ver.  9.  The  dark  Sonth.     "nnrj,  the  chamber,  is 

an  elliptical  expression  for  the   South.    See  its  full   form, 
tD'Jl    '''y^T^,  chambers  of  the  tioulh,  i:i..  \0.     EwaLD:    The  se- 
cret chamber.     See  Note  7  to  xxiii.   9.     It  was   the  region  in 
which  thunder-storms  arose. 
1'  Ver.  ,9.    fSiveeping    storm.    n31Di    0>^  sweeping 

T 

storm,  as  distinguished  from  iTl  WD  tbe  tornado. 
T  T  ; 

13  Ver.  9.  Mezarlm.  The  word  is  left  untranslated. 
It  evidently  means  the  North,  though  on  what  grounds  is 
not  easily  seen.  Lit.,  the  scatterers,  and  Lf.litzsch  refers  it 
to  the  boreal  winds  that  disperse  the  clouds  and  bring  clear 
cold  weather.    It  is  not  the  Mazzaroth  of  xxxviii.  22. 

19  Ver.  10.  The  hoar  frost  is  eong'ealed.  Lit. 
U  gives;  but  the  Hebrew  JjT',  is  used  as  a  substantive  verb, 

like  the  German  es  ffibi,  for  any  mode  by  which  the  event  is 
brought  about,    n'^p    is   generally   rendered  ice,  but  that 

does  not  suit  well  the  figure  of  breath.  Hoarfrost  gives  just 
the  image :  frozen  vapor  or  moisture,  such  as  that  of  descend- 
ing dew,  or  of  the  breath  congealing  on  a  cold  day  as  it  is 
exhaled  from  the  mouth.  Ice,  however,  as  the  product  of 
breath  is  not  any  easy  conception.  Congealed  moisture  may 
be  taken  as  the  general  idea,  whatever  may  be  the  degnie  or 
form  of  congelation  as  determined  by  the  context.  For  this 
reason,  in  Job  vi.  16,  we  have  rendered  it  sleet  (frozen  rain) 
as  agreeing  best  with  the  darkened  floods  and  the  snow- 
flakes  disappearing  as  they  fall  into  them.  The  rendering 
tcryslal,  Ezek.  i.  32,  is  not  primary,  but  comes  from  the  sense 
lof  ice,  which  this  word  unquestionably  has  where  the  con- 
text demands  it,  as  in  xxxviii.  29,  with  its  general  woids  of 


production  or  generation.    Frost,  there,  comes  in  the  second 

clause    {"^22  the  hoar  frost,  from  the  idea  of  covering,  or 

overspreading,  as  the  manna  (Exod.  xvi.  14).  In  Gen,  xxxi. 
40,  and  Jer.  xxxv.  31),  FITp    's  used  generally  for  cold,  as  is 

shown  by  its  being,  in  both  places,  the  antithesis   of   3lh, 

heat.    So  nip,  Prov.  XXV.  30:  Hip  D10,  indie  frigoris. 

20  Ver.  20.  Firmly    bonnd.      pVIO    from    py    to 

pmir,  to  become  fused.  Hence  th"  idea  of  somethin/j  metallic 
that  becomes  solid  from  a  molten  statu  :  It  comes  more  di- 
rectly, however,  if  we  can  regard    py^    as  deriving  one  of 

its  senses  from  the  cognate  JV,  stabilivU,  or  suppose    y^n 

=  p)l^r:i  or  jsf 0.    Compare  pVO,  xi.  15,    pVIO    xxxviii. 

It  t\  I    t\  It 

38.    Akin  to  these  are  the  derivatives  from  p!|]f,    as    p^JfD 

columna,  1  Sam.  ii.  8  VIX    'pVD,  and  especially  1  Sam.  xiv. 

15,  where  it  seems  to  denote  a  basaltic  pillar  of  rock,  so 
named  from  the  appearance  of  fusion  such  rocks  obviously 
present.     pV103  here  is  a  clear  case  of  the  beth  essentise. 

I     T 

21  Ver.  11.  Drenching  rain.  Copious  effusion.  This 
verse  has  occasioned  much  difBculty.    '13  has  been  derived 

from  p13  taken  as  equivalent  to  113,  and  rendered  pj/nV//, 
clearness,  serenity.  Then  it  has  been  taken  as  the  subject  of 
ri'lCO''  in  its  Arabic   sense   projecU,  etc. :     The   serenity,  or 

brightness  (the  clearing  up),  drives  away,  or  precipitates  the 
thick  thunder-cloud.  But  this  makes  the  two  clauses  ex- 
press the  same  or  a  very  similar  idea.  Others  (like  E.  V.), 
take  3  as  a  preposition,  and  ''T  as  an  abbreviation  of  '11, 

like  ''3  (burning)  for  '13.    Such  an  abbreviation  would  be 

still  more  Ukely  with  the  preposition:  ''"13    for  '1*13.    The 

Arabic  word  '1  copio.m  irritjatio  is  just  like  it,  and  comes  in 
just  the  same  way  from  'IT.  This  makes  a  clear  and  sui- 
table sense  which  is  supported  by  E.  V.,  and  the  majority, 
perhaps,  of  authorities.  Some  who  take  this  sense  of  'i, 
however,  altogether  change  the  idea  by  giving  H'TtS'  the 
sense  of  loading  or  putting  a  load  upon  (with  copious  7-itin  He 
loads  the  clmid)  resorting  to  the  Arabic  word  from  which  no 
such  idea  can  be  fairly  abstracted.  The  sense,  however, 
which  the  context  demands,  comes  very  easily  from  the  He- 
brew idea  of  H^D)  namely,  weariness  as  in  Dent.  i.  12,  and 

Isai.  I.  14,  the  only  places  whore  it  occurs,  btit  abundantly 
suflicient  to  fix  its  meaning.  The  idea  of  load  is  only  pas- 
sive or  subjective,  esp(»cially  as  it  nppears  in  the  latter  pas- 
sage. The  primary  idea  is  »/o?(  «//<!,  defati/jatio,  and  hence, 
exhaustu/n;  by  the  copious  flooding.  He  exhausts  the  3y  or 
the  dense  heavy  cloud.  There  would  be  an  incongruity  in 
the  idea  of  loading  (chanjinij)  the  cloud  by  irrigation.  That 
of  exhaustion  gives  just,  the  sense  that  best  fits  the  whole 
verse,  and  this  K.  V.  has  well  expressed  Ijy  "  He  wearieth.^^ 

22  Ver.  n.  lii^fht-breakine  ciomd.  The  clouds 
through  which  the  light  is  breaking.  Heb.  literally,  chmd 
ofhisliglU.     n^»  being  in  the   construct  state  it  cannot  be 

rendered.  His  light  disperses  the  clomi,  though  that  would  be  a 
good  sense,  and  in  harmony  with  the  gf  nenil  idea  of  the 
whole  verse.  There  is,  moreover,  an  evident  contrast  be- 
tween 3J?,  the  dark  dense  storm  cloud,  and  TJl',  the  ordi- 
nary cloud,  the  cloud  as  it  usually  floats  in  the  atmosphere, 


152 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


12  In  circling"  changes  is  it  thus  transformed/^ 
By  His  wise  laws,^^  that  they  may  execute 

All  His  commands  o'er  all  the  sphere  oP^  earth  ; 

13  Whether  as  punishment,  or  for  His  land, 
Or  in  His  mercy  He  appoiuteth'-'  it. 

14  0  Job !  give  ear  to  this  ; 

Be  still  and  contemplate  God's  wondrous  works. 

15  Knowest  thou  how  over  these  Eloah  laid  His  laws, 
Or  from  the  cloudy  darkness^®  streams  the  light  ? 

16  Knowest  thou  the  poisings'"'  of  the  cloud, 

The  wondrous  works  of  Him  whose  knowledge  has  no  bound  ? 

17  (Or  how  it  is)  what  time  thy  robes  are  warm  ; 

"When  from  the  South  the  land  in  sultry^  stillness  rests  ? 

18  Dost  thou  with  Him  spread  out  the  skies 

So  strong — so  like^^  a  molten  mirror  smooth  ? 

19  O  teach  us  what  to  say ! 

We  cannot  speak  aright^'^, — so  dark  it  grows. ^^ 


"  the  morning  cloud,"  Hos.  vi.,  or  "the  passing  cloud,"  Job 
vii.  9.  Tho  contrast  is  list  in  many  rendftrings.  Its  preser- 
vation, and  tho  clear  calling  to  mind  of  the  phenomena  that 
attend  the  breaking  up  of  a  lieavy  thunder-storm,  lead  us 
out  of  all  difficulty.  The  symptom  that  the  shower  is  nearly 
over  is  gener«illy  a  sudden  and  unusual  outpouring  as  though 
the  3^  or  nimbus  was  emptying  itself  of  all  its  contents. 
Very  soon  the  clouds  assume  a  lighter  appearance.  We  say 
it  is  beginning  to  clear  up,  and  iu  a  short  time  we  see  them 
in  motion  witTi  the  light  breaking  out  of  them,  and  through 
them  in  all  directions.  "^IX  is  indeed  used  for  the  lightning 
in  a  number  of  places,  but  here  it  would  seem  to  be  taken 
in  its  ordinary  sense.  Even  should  we  render  it  His  Ughtnimj 
chilli,  as  Dr.  Coxant  does,  it  would  make  no  great  difference 
in  the  general  view :  the  cloud  or  clouds  out  of  which  His 
lightning  had  been  playing.  It  is,  however,  more  literal  and 
more  easy  to  render  it  as  it  stands,  the  cloud  of  His  light — His 
illumined  cloud,  his  light  or  lightsome  cloud  now  almost 
transparent  instead  of  dark  and  dense.  TJiie  distinction  is 
■well  given  in  the  Article  on  Clouds,  Am.  Encyclopedia:  "The 
nimbus  (the  ^J^  here)  having  discharged  its  moisture,  the 
lighter  forms  of  clouds  appear  (the  cirrus  in  some  of  its  mo- 
difications), whilst  the  fragments  of  the  nimbus  are  borne 
along  by  the  winds."  There  is  a  resemblance  to  this  picture 
in  the  interpretation  of  the  old  commentators  Mkrcerus  and 
DRnsiUS.  Hanc  appellat  nubetn  lucis  Dei,  nubem  qua  dispulsa, 
lux  et  serenitas  inducitur. 
23  Ver.  12.  In  circling  changes.    3D0,  acircuU,  a 

revolving.  It  is,  however,  in  causality,  rather  than  in  space 
movement.  The  latter  idea  of  a  turning  round,  or  over,  of 
the  cloud,  gives  uo  clear  meaning  here.    In  the  kindred 

■word  nSD,    as  used  1  Kings  xii.  15  (2  Chron.  x.  15,   HSD  J 
T  ■  T  • : 

representing  the  same  thing),  it  denotes  a  political  revolu- 
tion, a  fccuif/iHr/ofcojit  of  events  by  a  combination  of  physical 
and  moral  means,  yet  still,  as  here,  ascribed  to  God's  agency, 
as  though  the  Scriptures  made  little  of  our  distinction  be- 
tween natural  and  supernatural  causation.  It  is  here  tho 
series  of  changes  through  which  these  phenomena  occur, 
taking  in  the  whole  process,  from  His  "drawing  up  of  tho 
water  drops,"  xxxvi.  27,  the  distilliug  from  vapor  to  rain, 
ver.  28,  to  the  discharge  and  clearing  up  of  the  storm  as  de- 
scribed in  the  verse  above. 
21  Ver.  12.  Transformed.    'JJDnrirD  may  refer  to  the 

cloud  thus  formed,  or  to  the  event  as  it  comes  out  of  this 
circuitous  causation  bringing  things  back  to  their  former 
state.    See  note  on  the  Niphal  Tlijnj,  xxviii.   ."i,  and  the 

Hophal    "^SrVrt    XXX.  15.    The   Hithpahel    ItSnriJp    may 

sometimes  pre-ent  the  idea  of  changes  in  space  and  motion, 
ai  in  Gen.  iii.  2-i,  but  in  this  place,  and  .xxxviii.  14,  the  gene- 
ral idea  of  trunsfornialinn,  metamorphosis,  or  the  causal  turn- 
ing of  one  thing,  or  one  phenomenon,  into  another  is  to  be 
preferred. 
25  Ver.  12.  Wise  laws.  VniSonn.  The  uses  of  this 
T  :   - 

word  in  such  places  as  Prov.  i.  5;  xi.  11;  xx.  18,  where  it  is 


parallel  with  JlUCnOi  thoughts,  designs,  and    n^t'i    cotisi- 

r   :  -  T  •• 

Hum  (see  also  Prov.  xxiv.  6),  make  it  very  clear.  In  regard 
to  physical  things  it  means  just  what  we  call  laws  {God's 
tlionghts)  though  with  a  less  pious  meaning.  The  etymolo- 
gical image  is  in  harmony  with  this  as  derived  from  the  pri- 
mary sense  of  the  verb     /DPI    to  bind  (noun    73n    *  rope 

or  string).     r\l7l3nn>  things  or  events  tied  together.    God's 

counsels  in  the  ligatures,  Unkings,  or  concatenations  of  nature. 

26  Ver.  12.  Sphere  of  earth.      Lit.,  the  world-earth: 

The  earth  and  the  skies   belonging  to  it,  above  and  around 

it.    For  this   U8eof'7Jj1    see  1   Sam.  ii.  8;  Ps.  xviii.  16; 

xciii.  1;  Ps.  xc.  2,  S.3m    V1X,  and  Prov.    viii.  31,  ^^H 

il^TX.    "  The  habitable  earth,"  Dr.  Con.\nt   renders  it.    It 

has  this  sense  sometimes,  and  it  may  be  more  proper  here; 
but  the  prominent  presence  of  aerial  phenouiena  seems  to 
justi''y  tho  wider  rendering:  the  terrcstriid  world. 

"">  Ver.  13.  He  appointeth  it.  Dflitzsch  renders 
IDN^O')  "He  caused  it  to  discharge  itself,"   that  is  the 

cloud.  It  is  an  unnecessary  loading  of  the  sense  beyond  the 
requirements  of  J<]fO,  which,  in  Hiphil,  is  sometimes  used 
in  the  manner  of  a  substantive  verb — to  make  a  thing  pre- 
sent, that  is  to  make,  to  be,  as  in  Job  xxxiv.  11.  From  this 
comes  the  frequent  Rabbinical  usage  of  XiTD  as  a  verb  of 
existence. 

2»  Ver.  15.  Clondy  darkness.  This  rendering  ia 
given  to  JJJ/,  not  only  as  suiting  the  etymological  idea,  co- 
vering, overspreading,  but  also  as  best  siiegestiug  the  wonder, 
or  seeming  miracle  intended:  the  brilliant  light  radiating 
from  so  dark  a  source,  like  the  sparks  from  the  flint. 

29  Ver.  IG.  Knowest  thou  the  poisings.  Comp. 
xxviii.  25,  26,  and  notes :  tho  law  for  tho  rain.  Here,  as  ia 
xxxvi.  29,  the  wonder  presented  is  that  of  the  cloud  remain- 
ing balanced  in  the  air  with  its  heavy  watery  load. 

30  Ver.  17.  In  sultry  stillness  rests:  Compare 
Isaiah  xviii.  4  :  "  I  am  still  (n£OpCN)i  and  look  out   iu  my 

place,  as  when  tho  dry  heat  is  in  the  air,  or  like  the  cloud 
of  dew  in  the  heat  of  harvest."  Tho  South,  the  region  of 
lieiit  and  thunder-storms. 

81  Ver.  IS.  .So  like  a  molten  mirror  smooth. 
Tho  true  point  of  the  comparison  is  lost  when  wo  connect  3 
with  D'pin.  It  rather  refers  to  ^'^plHi  and  the  resem- 
blance is,  not  in  the  strength,  but  in  the  expansion  or  ap- 
parent smoothness. 

32  Ver.  19.  Cannot  speak  aright.  Lit.,  cannot  ar- 
range (word-i)  by  reason  of  (or  before)  tho  darkness.  If  there 
were  nothing  else,  this  would  naturally  be  interpreted  of 
mental  darkness.  So  Kenan,  who,  however,  gives  a  very 
fine  rendering: 

Mais  plut3t,  taisons-nous,  ignorants  que  nous  sommea. 

But  the  thought  again  suggests  itself  that  this  ia  a  real 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSIO^T. 


153 


20       Ah,  is  it  told^*  to  Him  that  I  am  speaking ! 

Has  one  so  said  ?^'^  take  care  lest  he  be  swallowed  up. 


21       And  now  the  lightning^®  they  no  longer  see, — 
That  splendor^'  in  the  clouds  f^ 
The  wind  has  passed  and  made  them  clear. 


scene.  It  is  a  real  darkness  perturbing  his  thoughts  and 
disturbing  his  utterance.  It  may  be  a  coming  back  of  the 
nimbus  as  is  the  case  sometimes  in  thunder-storms,  or  some 
strange  darkening  of  the  air  from  some  unknown  cause,  and, 
tliereforo,  more  awing  than  though  it  came  from  clouds. 
Something  still  more  fearful  is  anticipated.  There  are 
symptoms  of  the  TT^yD)  or  whirlwind.    And  so  he   turns 

T  T : 
again  from  the  reflective  to  the  phenomenal  style,  like  that 
of  a  man  calling  attention  to  some  new  and  strange  appear- 
ances in  the  heavens,  after  the  storm  has  partially  passed  by. 
^  Ver.  19.  So  dark  it  {frows.  Hebrew,  literally, 
before  the  durhiess,  or  bi/  reason  of  the  darhiess. 

34  Ver.  20.  Ah,  is  it  toI<l  to  Him.  An  overawing 
sense  of  an  actually  approaching  divine  presence,  making 
even  the  reverent  Elihu  fear  lest  he  may  have  said  something 
rash,  as  he  charges  Job  to  have  done.  From  this  his  own 
confession,  therefore,  we  may  expect  perturbation,  confu- 
sion, and  consequent  obscurity  in  what  immediately  follows. 
He  "cannot  order  his  speech  "  or  marshall  Cl^^')  his  words. 

He  hardly  knows  what  he  says,  as  was  the  case  with  the  dis- 
ciples (Blark  ix.  6)  when  they  came  down  from  the  mount 
of  transfiguration ;  ov  yap  pSet  ti  KaXriaifj'  fi<rai'  yUp  ex- 
<j>opoi.. 

35  Ver.  20.  Has  owe  so  said  7  It  is  not  easy  to  get 
a  clear  meaning  to  this  verse,  unless  we  take  ^3  elliptically 

with  some  word  of  caution,  such  as  is  sometimes  to  be  snp- 
plied  before  the  Greek  ort,  or  /xri  on,  fir)  ottws,  take  care  lest ; 
or  as  the  Latin  nt  is  used  as  a  caution,  with  some  such  word 
understood  as  fieri  potest,  or  the  like:  it  may  be  that  he  will 
be  swallowed  up.   Among  other  places  a  good  example  of  this 


elliptical  ^^  may  be  found,  Deut.  vii.  17 : 


inxn  "'3 


ialce  care  lest  thou  say  in  thy  heart.  It  is  an  idiom  which  would 
be  especially  likely  to  occur  in  impassioned  language,  such  as 
Elihu  uses  in  his  confessed  perturbation.  Kexan  renders  it 
very  freely,  and  supposes  that  the  reference  is  to  Job's  rash 
language  in  demanding  that  God  would  appear  and  speak 
to  him. 

De  grtlce,  que  mos  discours  ne  lui  soient  point  rapportest 

Jamais  homme  a-t-il  desir6  sa  parte  1 

S6  Ver.  21.  The  li^htning^.  The  quention  on  which 
turns  the  whole  interpretation  of  this  and  the  following 
verse,  is  whether  "IIX  here  means  the  sun,  or  the  lightning. 
Most  commentators  say  the  former.  There  are,  however, 
strong  objections  to  it  regarded  in  itself,  and  they  become 
still  stronger  in  the  attempt  to  make  any  application  of  such 
a  meaning.  It  certainly  seems  against  it  that  whilst  *nx 
is  used  for  the  sun  in  but  one  clear  place  in  the  Bible,  Job 
XXX.  26  (two  other  places  cited,  Hab.  iii.  4;  Isai.  xviii.  4,  be- 
ing better  rendered  by  the  general  term  light)  there  are  no 
less  than  five  passages  in  this  very  description  (xxxvi.  27 — 
xxxvii.  24),  and  in  close  connection,  where  it  is  used  for  the 
lightning.  They  are  xxxvi.  32;  xxxvii.  3,11,  15,  about  which 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  and  xxxvi.  30,  where  it  makes  the 
clearest  sense.  It  is  certainly  the  predominant  meaning  of 
11X  in  these  two  chapters.    The  word  PIPJ^i  too,  seem"  to 

be  taken  in  its  temporal  sense :  ai  the  present  time,  no?/',  in  dis- 
tinction from  something  past ;  as  is  also  denoted  by  the  de- 
monstrative Xin  in  the  second  clause,  the  splendor  that  ivas 
in  the  sides,  or  chads.  Such  a  definition  would  not  have  been 
appended  had  the  sun  been  meant,  or  light  generally.  It 
conyeys  the  impression  of  something  peculiar  that  had  been 
very  lately  seen.  The  same  effect  is  produced  on  the  mind 
by  the  third  clause :  "  the  irind  has  jiassed  and  cleared  them  ;" 
the  storm  is  just  over;  an  assertion  which  seems  to  have  no 
meaning  in  connection  with  the  mere  general  reflection  sup- 
posed to  be  expressed  by  this  verse.  The  strongest  argu- 
ment, however,  is  that  the  rendering  controverted  stands 
wholly  isolated.  It  seems  to  refer  to  nothing  that  precedes, 
and  has  no  application  to  any  thing  following,  except  what 
is  wholly  inferential,  or  is  to  be  supplied  by  each  interpre- 
ter's own  critical  imagination.  The  analogy  is  certainly  not 
expressed  or  even  hinted  at.  .The  very  modes  of  applying 
the  fact  supposed  to  bo  stated  only  render  such  interpreta- 
tions all  the  more  unsatisfactory.  The  principal  one  is  that 
cited  by  Schlottmann,  from  Rabbi  Simeon  bex  Zemach,  and 
which  is  adopted  by  most  of  the  Jewish  interpreters ;    "  As 


men  cannot  look  upon  the  sun  in  the  heavens  withont  being 
blinded,  so  they  cannot  judge  of  the  works  of  God."  This 
dcman<i8  a  potential  sen-e  for  IXTi  without  any  authority. 
The  idea  is  indeed  a  good  one,  hut  wholly  supplied  from  the 
commentator's  own  mind.  Others,  like  Delitzsch,  refer  it 
to  the  passing  away  of  the  storm  as  denoted  in  the  :id  clause, 
and  make  the  hidden  doctrine  to  be  that  "  as  a  breath  of 
wind  is  enough  to  bring  the  sun  to  view,  so  God,  hidden  for 
a  time,  can  suddenly  unveil  Himself  to  our  surprise  and  con- 
fusion." This  may  be  a  true  and  striking  thought,  but  it  is 
wholly  supplied.  It  has,  moreover,  no  connection  with  ver. 
22,  where  ^HTi  whatever  it  means,  cannot  lie  the  sun  coming 
from  the  North.  Added  to  all  this  is  the  general  olijection 
that  such  a  view  represents  Elihu  as  suddenly  turning  from 
the  demonstrative  optical,  or  phenomenal  style,  which  ha 
has  used  almost  throughout,  to  a  refined  moniW^iiHj in  which, 
after  all,  he  leaves  the  point  of  his  preceptive  comparison,  to 
say  the  least,  very  obscure.  By  referring,  on  the  other 
hand,  ^1X  to  the  lightning,  as  it  has  been  five  times  used 
in  these  phenomenal  picturings,  we  get  a  clear  sense,  in 
closest  harmony  with  what  follows  in  ver.  22,  and  giving  a 
consistent  meaning  to  the  3d  clause  of  ver.  21  which  occa- 
sions so  much  difiiculty  in  adapting  it  to  the  other  interpre- 
tations ;  for  if  it  means  the  sun  appearing  after  a  storm,  then 
men  do  see  it,  and  hail  its  appearance,  and  this  is  wholly  at 
war  with  the  api>lication  of  Rabbi  Simeon  which  Sciilott- 
MANN  cites.  The  key  to  the  irregular  language  of  both 
these  chapters  is  found  when  we  regard  Elihu  not  as  mo- 
ralizing, or  drawing  on  his  imagination,  but  as  describing 
real  appearances  in  the  heavens,  the  skies,  the  clouds  (for 
D'pniy  may  liave  all  these  meanings)  just  as  they  occur. 

EwALT),  ScHLOTTMANN,  Deittzsch,  all  admit  that  the  storm 
or  nSID)  terminating  in  the  n'S_j;0  or  whirlwind,  out  of 
which  the  Divine  voice  proceeds,  is  actually  occurring  during 
Elihu's  speech.  The  latter  draws  this  conclusion  from 
xxxvii.  1,  dass  die  Gewitter-schilderung  Elihu's  von  einem 
den  Ilimmel  iiberziehenden  Gewitter  begleitet  ist,  from 
which  he  justly  infers  that  DHJ^.  ver.  21,  must  be  under- 
stood in  its  temporal,  instead  of  its  mere  conclusive  sense : 
"Now,  at  this  present  titae,  they  do  not  see  the  light,  etc.  So 
ScHLOTTMANN,  remarking  on  the  article  in  n^J/'Oi  xxxviii. 
1,  puts  it  on  the  ground,  dass  das  bestimmte  Wetter  gemeint 
ist  dessen  Heraufziehen  schon  Elihu  geschildert  hatte.  He 
means  the  painting  which  commences  xxxvi.  27,  and  was 
most  probably  suggested  by  the  symptoms  of  the  thunder  at 
that  time  beginning  to  show  themselves.  This  makes  it  all 
the  more  strange  that  these  commentators  should  have  made 
so  little  use,  or  rather  no  use  at  all,  of  this  important  cir- 
cumstance in  their  interpretation  of  vers.  21  and  22.  If  ver. 
21  presents  an  actual  scene  then  present  to  the  beholders, 
instead  of  a  mere  moralizing  imagination,  then  every  thing 
becomes  easy,  and  a  most  obvious  preparation  is  furnished 
for  ver.  22.  The  HSID  or  thunder-storm  has  passed  by; 
they  see  no  longer  the  lightning  in  the  clouds;  they  are 
broken  up  (xxxvii.  11);  "the  wind  has  passed  and  made 
them  clear.  But  see!  Something  else  is  coming  (D/IX' 
ver.  22,  future  of  approach)  from  the  opposite  direction,  and 
all  eyes  are  intently  fixed  upon  it.  What  this  is  we  are  told 
in  the  next  verse. 
3V  Ver.  21.  That  splendor,  Kin    TTia-  The  Arabic 

•  T 

1713  l^'is  the  primary  sense  of  splendor,  but  it  is  almost  lost 
in  its  numerous  secondary  applications.  AVe  pet  a  better 
idea  of  the  root  from  the  Hebrew  noun  JTin3,  which  comes 

so  frequently  in  the  minute  description  of  the  leprosy.  Lev. 
xiii.  and  xiv.  It  is  the  "inflamed"  pustule  of  a  "  reddiiih 
color,"  which  the  LXX.  constantly  renders  by  words  denoting 
brilliancy  and  burning,  irvppi^ovcra — KaTaxavixa  jrupbs — 
avya^ov  and  similar  words — Vcloate  comhnslio — all  leaving 
no  doubt  as  to  its  appearance:  a  fiery  red  (Heb.    nOTDHX) 

or  infamed  spot.     In  analogy  with  this,  the  adjective    "i'n3 
would  moan  a  blazing,  angry,  radiating  splendor,  suggestive 
of  the  red  lightning  glow,  though  it  might  be  applied  to  the 
sun  if  the  context  demanded. 
38  Ver.  21.  In  the  clouds.    This  word    D'prHy  may 

be  used  either  for  the  clouds  or  the  skies.  If  the  sun  were  in- 
tended it  would  be  more  properly  D^OK'^i  as  the  sun  ia 
never  elsewhere  said  to  be  D'pniii'J- 


154 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


22  From  the  North^'  it  comes,  a  golden**  sheen  ; 
O,  with  Eloah  there  is  awful  majesty ! 

23  The  Almighty  One  !  we  cannot  find  Him  out ; 
(So  vast  His  power ! 

So  full  of  truth  and  right ;  He'll  not*^  oppress. 

24  For  this  do  men  hold  Him  in  reverence ; 
For  He  regardeth  not  the  wise  of  heart.*^ 


39  Ver.  22.  From  the  Worth.    The  opposite  direction 
to  that  from  which  comes  the  niJID- 

«  Ver.  22.  A  goltlen  sheen.    2TM-    Lit.,  gold.  From 

TT 

the  context  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  by  this  word  Elihu 
means  an  appeanmce  of  a  peculiar  kind  in  the  heavens,  and 
approaching  them  from  the  North.  It  is  something  that 
combines  the  6eo«<j/Mi,  as  we  may  judge  from  the  name  he 
gives  it,  with  the  terrible.  Tliat  there  was  something  of  this 
fearful  fascination  about  it  is  evident  from  tlie  sudden  cry 
■which  it  calls  out:  with  God  is  dreadful  majesty;  or  aa  Benan 
most  expressively  renders  it: 

0  admirable  splendeur  de  Dieu ! 

It  wonld  have  been  out  of  place  had  he  been  calmly  mora- 
lizing, and  drawing  refined  analogies,  as  the  other  interpre- 
tations represent  him.  He  saw  something.  It  was  tliis  which 
made  him  cry  out.  Nothing  but  some  wonderful  glory  be- 
fore his  eyes,  something  that  filled  him  at  the  same  time 
■with  admiration  and  alarm,  could  have  called  out  such  an 
exclamation.  311'  here  cannot  represent  the  sun,  (though 
anretis  or  golden  would  be  a  good  descriptive  epithet  of  it) 
Bince  it  comes  from  the  North.  The  Future  nflX',  too, 
would  be  out  of  place,  from  its  so  evidently  denoting  ap- 
proach. There  is  no  ground  for  rendering  it /air  weather,  as 
E.  V.  and  others  have  done.  Why  should  Elihu  make  a  ge- 
neral reflection  here  about  the  weather,  and  what  was  there 
in  such  an  idea  to  bring  out  that  sudden  cry  of  wonder  and 
alarm  ?  The  literal  rendering  gold  is  the  most  preposterous 
of  all.  That  he  should  stop  in  the  midst  of  such  a  splendid 
storm  painting  (Qewitterschilderung)  to  express  an  opinion 
in  metallurgy  is  more  incredible  than  his  supposed  meteoro- 
logical ideas  about  tlie  weather  ;  or  that  under  such  circum- 
stances he  should  interrupt  his  speech  in  order  to  tell  his 
hearers  that  gold  comes  from  the  North.  All  the  learning 
about  the  "Arlmaspian  mountains"  with  their  fabled  trea- 
sures, and  Indian  stories  of  guarding  griiBns,  a  kind  of  lore 
that  Umbreit  and  Mekx  are  so  fond  of  displaying,  cannot  re- 
deem it  from  absurdity.  Such  a  mode  of  interpretation  is 
specially  unsatisfactory  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  find  a 
contrast,  or  a  comparison,  in  the  two  members  of  ver.  22 : 
The  gold  buried  in  the  North  and  God's  unsearchahleness ; 
or,  as  Delitzsch  says,  "man  lays  bare  the  hidden  treasures 
of  the  earth,  but  the  wisdom  of  God  still  transcends  him." 
How  it  ignores,  too,  the  pictorial  style  so  evident  in  the 
nnN'  of  the  first  clause,  and  the  strong  emotional  aspect 
of  the  second!  The  reference  to  chap,  xxviii.  is  wholly  out 
of  place;  since  there  the  contrast  between  the  Divine  and 
human  wisdom  is  evident  throughout  to  every  reader;  but 
here  all  is  optical,  with  no  intimation  of  any  such  reflexive 
ideiis  iia  are  drawn  from  it.  Every  thing  goes  to  show  that 
3n?  liere  must  be  used  to  denote  a  peculiar  celestial  pheno- 
menon, which  no  other  word  could  so  well  describe  ;  a  steady, 
untwinkling  brilliancy,  having  a  fascinating  yet  fearful 
beauty,  not  dazzling  like  the  sun,  or  irritating  like  the  jn- 


flamed  splendor  denoted  by  Tn3-  The  Hebrew  use,  in 
this  way,  of  3ni  for  color,  is  not  frequent,  though  there  is 
a  very  good  example  of  it,  Zech.  xiv.  12,  where  ^HI  denotes 
the  clear  shining  oil,  but  the  classical  usage  is  most  abun- 
dant. It  shows  how  easy  and  natural  is  the  analogy  in  such 
applications  of  the  words  ;(pi/(76s,  aurum,  with  their  deriva- 
tive adjectives,  such  as  XP""'""')''!?,  gold  gleaming  (see  PiND. 
Olymp.  I.  T,  \pv<Tb';  aiSd/uei-oi-  wOp).  Compare  too  the  epi- 
thets most  usually  applied  to  gold  by  the  Greek  poets,  such 
as  KaOap'oi,  aiyArjeis,  ^aeiv'o^,  Si.avyr)i,  aTikftiav  as  Luciau 
styles  it.  So  in  the  Latin,  aurora  the  morning  light,  from 
aurum  (not  from  aupios  uipr)  as  some  absurdly  make  it),  the 
clear  calm  light,  in  distinction  from  the  blinding  lightof  the 
meridian  sun.  Hence  our  word  for  the  aurora  borealis.  So 
the  Latins  used  aureolus  (aureole)  to  denote  the  halo  round 
the  heads  of  gods  or  saints.  For  this  idea  of  gold  as  repre- 
senting the  calm  and  beautiful  in  distinction  from  the  fierce 
and  inflamed  light,  see  Rev.  xxi.  18:  "  And  thecity  was  pure 
gold,  xp^o'io''  KaOap'ov,  like  to  pure  jasper."  The  rendering 
of  the  LXX.  uetftr]  ;(pucrau'yoi)i'Ta,  gold-gleaming  clouds,  has 
been  contemned;  but  it  gives  an  idea  most  suitable  to  the 
context,  as  it  immediately  calls  lo  mind  the  remarkable  ap- 
pearance described  Ezek.  i.  4,  which  of  all  others,  is  most 
suggestive  of  this.  It  is  a  wonder  that  the  resemblance 
should  have  been  so  little  noticed  by  commentators.  That, 
too,  comes  from  the  North :  "  And  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  whirl- 
wind (n"1J^D  ni  i),  came  from  the  North,  and  a  great 
cloud  of  inter-circling  flame  (nnp^DD  not  diffusing  itself 

but  making  a  globe  of  light),  and  a  brightness  (or  halo) 
round  about  it,  and  in  the  midst  of  it,  like  the  color  of  am- 
ber {quasi  species  ELECTRI)  from  the  midst  of  the  cloud."  It 
was  God's  cherubic  chariot,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  11.  Some  such 
strange  appearance,  represented  in  the  distance  mainly  by 
its  golden  color,  appears  to  Elihu  as  coming  from  the  same 
direction.  Ezekiel  calls  it  (i.  28)  "  tlie  likeness  of  the  glory 
of  God,"  and  "foils  upon  his  face."  Elihu  cries  out,  "O  aw- 
ful g'ory  of  Eloah  ;"  and  this  is  followed  by  no  mere  senten- 
tious wisdom,  but  by  one  of  those  doxologies  which  appear 
to  have  been  common  to  the  ancient  as  well  as  to  the  later 
Arabians:  Allah  akbar,  God  is  very  great,  incomprehensible, 
vast  in  strength  and  rigUteousness;  He  will  not  oppress.  It 
is  an  emotional  cry  called  out  by  a  sense  of  approaching 
Deity. 

«  Ver.  23.  He'll  not  oppress.    In  the  Int.  Theism, 
page  27  (note),  the  translator  was  disposed  to  regard  njJ7' 

in  Kal  as  the  better  reading.  A  more  careful  study,  how- 
ever, confirms  the  common  text. 

«  Ver.  24.  RejEfardetli  not  the  wise  of  heart. 

That,  is,  those  who  are  "  wise  in  their  own  eyes,"  or  vain 
of  their  own  wisdom.  "  No  flesh  shall  glory  in  His  pre- 
sence." It  is  a  fitting  conclusion  to  such  a  scene,  as  it  was 
a  most  fitting  prelude  to  the  voice  which  Koon  breaks  from 
the  electric  splendor  of  this  whirling,  inter-circling,  cloud 
of  gold. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


155 


Chapter  XXXVIII. 

1  Then  Jehovah  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind  ;^  and  He  said 

2  AVho  is  it  thus,  by  words  makes  eounseP  dark  ? 
Not  knowing'  what  he  says  ? 

3  Now  like  a  strong*  man  gird  thee  up  thy  loins  ; 
'Tis  I  who  ask  thee  ;  show  me  what  thou  knowcst. 

4  Say,  where  wast  thou  when  earth's  deep  base  I  laid? 
Declare  it  if  thy  science^  goes  so  far. 

5  Who  fixed  its  measurements,  that  thou^  should'st  know ; 
Or  on  it  stretched  the  line  ? 

6  On  what  were  its  foundations  sunk  ? 
Who  laid  its  corner-stone  ? 

7  When  morning  stars  in  chorus^  sang  ; 
And  cried  aloud  for  joy,  the  sons  of  God. 

8  Or  who  shut  up  the  sea  with  doors, 

When  it  gushed  forth — when  from  the  womb  it  came  ? 

9  What  time  I  made  its  raiment  of  the  cloud, 
The  dark  arapheP  for  its  swaddling  band  ? 

10  When  I  broke^  over  it  my  law, 
And  set  its  bars  and  doors  ? 

11  And  said,  thus  far,  no  farther,  shalt  thou  come ; 
And  here  it  stops^° — the  swelling  of  thy  waves  ? 


1  Ter.  1.  The  whirlwind.  See  Addenda,  Exc.  XIL, 
p.  213. 

2  Ver.  2.  Makes  counsel  dark.  On  the  question : 
to  whom  is  this  addressed,  or  of  whom  sjioken.  See  Exc. 
XII.,  p.  213. 

3  Ver.  2.  Not  kno'wing^  wbat  ke  says.  The  ac- 
cents separate  C^fD  from  flJ^T  ''73.  The  general  sense^ 
however,  is  the  same.     See  Exc.  XII.,  p.  213. 

*  Ver.  3.  Now  like  a  strong'  man.  A  turning 
from  Elihu  to  Job.  For  reasons  for  this  view,  see  Exc. 
XII.,  p.  213. 

6  Vei-.  4.  If  thy  science  goes  so  far.  This  may 
seem  a  free  rendering,  l)ut  it  comes  nearer  to  the  meaning 
of  the  intensive  form  T\y2  nj^T*)  than  the  rendering  of 
E.  v.:  "if  thou  hast  understanding."  Delitzsch's  Urtheils- 
fihigkeit  seems  to  give  a  very  tame  sense.  Literally  it  is 
kiiow  miderstanding,  that  is,  with  understanding,  or  wider- 
standinrjhj,  with  discernment,  or  as  we  would  say,  scientifi- 
cally— the  reason  as  well  as  the  fact.  Ewald:  Verstehst 
du  klug  zu  sein,  which  seems  to  have  hardly  aay  meaning 
at  all. 

6  Ver.  5.  That  thon  should'st  know.  Some  re- 
gard this  as  irony.    So  Keivan  : 

Qui  a  r6gl6  lea  mesures  de  la  terre  (tu  le  sais  sans  doute). 

There  is  irony  in  the  Bible,  but  the  idea  here  is  revolting. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  theological  aspect,  it  is  inconsistent 
■with  the  frank  and  encouraging  spirit  in  which  Job  is  in- 
vited to  the  conference  (ver.  3d,  2d  clause).  The  rendering 
dbove  is  the  most  literal,  and  gives  a  very  satisfactory  idea: 
Who  fixed  them  so  that  they  should  fall  within  the  measure 
of  thy  science?  It  is  simply  a  mode  of  saying,  without  irony 
or  contempt,  that  they  are  far  beyond  his  knowledge.  The 
measures  of  the  earth  are  not  known  yet.  The  North  pole 
is  not  yet  reached,  and  even  should  that  be  accomplished, 
there  is  still  "  the  Great  Deep,"  the  vast  interior  all  unex- 
plored and  likely  to  remain  so  for  ages  we  cannot  estimate. 
'  Ver.  7.  In  chorus.    "^TV,  all  togetJier — in  unison. 


8  Ver.  9.  The  dark  araphel.  This  word  expresses 
a  peculiar  conception*  generally  translated  "  ihick  darkness." 

It  is  something  denser  than  the  ^j;,  and  darker  than  73X- 
There  is  in  it  the  idea  of  dropping  or  distillation  from  ^1^^', 

as  though  it  were  a  kind  of  flotving  or  floating  darkness, 
having  some  degree  of  black  visibility.  See  Exod.  xx.  18; 
Deut.  iv.  11;  2  Kings  viii.  2.  Ps.  xviii.  10:  And  the  araphel 
was  under  His  feel.  As  the  word  is  well  understood  to  mean 
intensive  dnrkne58,  and  is  itself  quite  euphonic,  it  was  thought 
best  to  leave  it  untranslated. 

9  Ver.  10.  Broke  over  it  my  law.  The  most  literal 
rendering  is  the  best.  Much  is  lost  when  we  attempt  to  sub- 
stitute for  it  a  more  general  expression.  In  this  word 
IDiyNi  there  is  the  idea  of  something  very  powerful  Which 
the  law  had  to  deal  with, — something  very  ungovernable,  as 
though  it  really  taxed  the  Almighty's  strength  to  keep  this 
new-born  sea  within  bounds.  We  must  not  look  for  any 
geological  science  in  Job,  but  this  kind  of  language  very 
readily  suggests  the  idea  of  immense  forces  at  work  in  the 
early  nature.  The  breaking  of  the  law  itpon  it  represents  bet- 
ter than  any  other  linguistic  painting  could  do,  its  wild  stub- 
bornness. It  is  really  the  sea  breaking  itself  against  law ; 
but  there  is  great  vividness,  and  even  sublimity  in  the  con- 
vf  rse  of  the  figure.  We  are  reminded  bj'  it  of  Plato's  lan- 
guage (Myth  in  the  Politinis)  representing  God  as  contending 
with,  andputting  forth  His  strength  against,  the  inherent 
ungovernableness,  and  chaotic  tendencies  of  matter.  Um- 
BREIT  shows  great  insensibility  to  the  grandeur  of  this  pas- 
sage in  rejecting  the  common  Hebrew  sense  of  "l^iy.  and 
going  to  the  Arabic  for  the  sense  of  weasunHf/,  which  is  only 
a  denominative  meaning,  and,  in  the  real  application,  very 
unsuitable  here.  Rosenmueller  is  still  more  out  of  the  way 
in  his  effort  to  make  13ty  equivalent  to  "1JJ  decree,  a  sense 
which  this  frequent  word  no  where  else  has  in  the  Hebrew 
Bible. 

10  Ver.  11.  Stops.  Some  take  IVlif  passively,  or  im- 
personally. Its  active  transitive  sense,  however,  may  be 
preserved  by  regarding  pn  (ver.  10),  the  imposed  law,  as  ita 


156 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


12  Since  thou  wast  born,  hast  thou  the  morn  commanded, 
Or  made  the  day  spring  know  its  place  ? 

13  To  reach  the  utmost  limits"  of  the  earth, 
"When  from  its  face  the  wicked  flee^^  dismayed  ? 

14  Transformed"  like  clay  beneath^*  the  seal. 

All  things  stand  forth  a  fair^*  embroidered  robe  ; 

15  Whilst  from  the  wicked  is  their  light^®  withheld, 
And  broken  the  uplifted*^  arm. 

16  To  the  fountains  of  the  sea  hast  thou  gone  down  ? 
Or  walked  the  abysmaP®  depths? 

17  The  gates  of  death,  have  they  been  shown^®  to  thee? 
The  realm  of"  shades,  its  entrance  hast  thou  seen  ? 

18  Or  even-^  the  breadth  of  earth  hast  thou  surveyed  ? 
Say,  if  thou  knowest  it^^  all. 

19  The  way, — where  is  it,  to  light's  dwelling'^  place? 
And  darkness,^  where  the  place  of  its  abode  ? 


subject.    The  preposition  2  in  \Mil2  may,  in  that  case,  be 

regarded  as  making  it  the  indirect  object  of  fl'ti'' :  P"l^  « 
stop  to. 

11  Ver.  13.  liimits  of  the  eartli.  See  Note  xxxvii.  3. 

12  Ver.  13.  Flee  dismayed.    Oj?5M    is  passiye,  and 

•would  be  rendered,  literally,  are  shaken.  But  Hi'SO  (refer- 
ring to  the  efJrth)  can  hardly  mean  onf  of  it.  From  it  is  more 
literal,  that  is,  from  its  face,  or  from  open  appearance  in  it. 
The  renderin?  given  corresponds  well  with  the  usual  pri- 
mary sense  of  1J»J  agitation.  Scared  out  of  it,  that  is  driven 
away  to  their  lurking  places  when  the  light  comes  winging 
its  way  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

13  Ver.  14.   Transforined.    See  notes  on    "IQnnD, 

xxxvii.  12,  and  the  references  thereto.  Notes  on  13nj 
xxviii.  5,  and  on  "TDnn  xxx.  15.  ' 

,  M  Ver.  14.  Beneath  the  seal.  "  Its  dark  and  appa- 
rently formless  surfice  ia  changed  to  a  world  of  varied  beauty 
and  magnificence;  just  as  the  shapeless  clay  takes  the  beau- 
tiful device  from  the  seal ;  Conant.  See  Herder's  idea  that, 
in  some  sense,  "  every  morning  is  a  new  creation." 

15  Ver.  14.  X  fair  embroidered  robe.    To  make 

the  comparison  good,  by  tyi!3  7  must  evidently  be  meant  a 
robe  with  figures  worked  upon  it.  Conaxt,  gay  apparel ; 
ScHLOTTMAXN,  Fe.itffeirnniJ ;  DiLLMAXN,  in  mannigfaltigen 
Uniriesen  und  Farben;  Renan,  un  riche  vetement. 

16  Ver.  15.  Their  lijsrht.  "According  to  xxiv.  17," 
says  Pf.i.itzsch,  "  the  light  of  evil  doers  is  the  darkness  of 
the  night,  which  is  to  them,  as  an  aid  to  their  work,  what 
the  light  of  day  is  for  other  men,"  Compare  John  iii.  19 : 
"Loved  darkness  more  than  light." 

"  Ver.  15.  Broken  the  njtlifted  arm.  Our  word 
frustrated  has  the  same  figure.  The  picture  is  a  very  vivid 
one:  the  arm  jngt  rai-ed  to  do  evil  arrested  by  the  light. 

18  Ver.  16.  Abysmal  depths.    U)T\P\   Ipn.    Lit., 

the  secret  of  the  tehom,  or  "  great  deep  "  mentioned  (3en.  1.  2 ; 
■vii.  11.    It  is  sometimes  used  for  the  sea  or  ocean. 

19  Ver.  17.  Been  shown.  The  sense  of  I^JJ  here  ia 
not  th.at  of  opening  (the  gate  opened)  but  oi  revealing. 

»  Ver.  17.  The  realm  of  shades.    PnSv  may  be 

used  figuratively  of  a  state  of  sorrow,  or  of  approach  to 
death,  as  it  seems  to  be  tak-n  Ps.  xxiii.  4,  but  here  by  the 
usual  K-iw  of  p.irallelism,  Tzalmafeth  would  mean  something 
more  remote  and  profound  than  Marelh  (death\  or  farther 
removed  from  this  present  earthly  being.  In  both,  the  ima- 
gery of  gates  is  from  the  same  feeling  of  returnlossness  that 
gave  rise  to  the  similar  language  in  Homer:  'AiSao  Trv'Aat, 
the  gates  of  Hades,  II.  V.  646,  IX.  312. 

21  Ver.  18.  Or  even  the  breadth  of  earth.  Co- 
S.4NT,  even  to  (1^»),  which  is,  perhaps,  to  be  preferred;  since 
n>',  here,  as  in  some  other  places,  denotes  degree. 

-  Ver.  18.  Knowest  it  all.  It  refers  to  all  the  ques- 
tions asked,  and  not  merely  the  breadth  of  the  earth. 


23  Ver.  19.  liight's  dwelling--place.  Well  ren- 
dered by  Umbreit  : 

Wo  geht  der  Weg  hin  zu  des  Lichtes  Wohnung. 

M  Ver.  19.  And  darkness.  It  is  not  the  same  ques- 
tion. Darkness  is  spoken  of  as  a  positive  quality  having  a 
source  and  place  of  its  own.  So  Isaiah  xlv.  7,  "ilX  1 W 
Ttyn    XTIDV    When  God  speaks  to  men  He  mast  address 

them  in  their  own  language,  and  that  must  be  according  to 
their  thinking,  or  the  conceptions  on  which  their  words  are 
founded.  Again,  if  according  to  their  conceptions,  it  must 
also  be  in  accordance  with  the  science  to  which  those  con- 
ceptions owe  their  birth.  This  must  be  done,  or  the  lan- 
guage will  be  unintelligible,  conveying  neither  emotion  nor 
idea.  Tliere  is  no  more  ground  of  objection  here,  on  the  o 
accounts,  than  there  is  to  the  recorded  announcements  to 
the  Patriarchs  or  the  Prophets,  or  in  any  other  cases  in 
which  God  is  represented  as  speaking  to  men  in  human  lan- 
guage, whether  from  a  flaming  mountain,  or  from  a  burning 
bush,  or  from  a  bright  overshadowing  cloud  (I'tc^ieATj  (fxareiurj) 
Mattb.  xvii.  5,  or  from  a  whirlwind,  or  from  "  a  still  small 
voice."  Light,  darkness,  Tzalmaveth,  the  gates  of  death, 
the  sea  with  its  bars  and  doors,  the  araphel  with  its  swad- 
dling band,  the  Tehom  or  great  deep,  are  themselves  but  a 
language,  the  best  that  could  be  employed,  to  express  the 
great  ultimate  truth  here  intended,  namely  the  immeasc- 
RABI.E  UNKNOWN  to  which  the  highe>t  human  knowledge  only 
makes  an  approach,  ever  leaving  an  unfathomable,  wliich 
is  still  beyond,  and  still  beyond,  its  deepest  snundiiigs. 
However  far  the  phenomenal  is  pushed  the  great  ullimnte 
fads  are  as  far  as  ever  from  being  known.  We  may  think 
we  have  reached  the  Last,  and  given  it  some  name  that  shall 
stand,  but  another  addition  to  the  magnifying  power  of  our 
lenses  throws  this  again  into  the  region  of  the  phenomenal, 
or  of  "  the  things  that  do  appear,"  leaving  the  ultimate  law, 
and  the  ultimate  fact,  still  beyond,  and  so  on  forever  and 
for  evermore.  It  has  been  rather  boldly  said  that  the  ques- 
tions of  these  l.ast  chapters  of  .lob  would  not  now  be  asked, 
since  science  has  answered  most  of  tliem  long  ago.  Science 
has  done  no  such  thing;  and  no  truly  scientific  man  would 
affirm  it.  Whatever  hypothesis  we  adopt,  whether  of  rays, 
or  of  undulations,  light  itself,  in  its  apxyj,  is  invisible.  It  is 
one  of  "the  things  unseen  "  (IIeb.xi.3);  "  the  way  to  i/^  house" 
is  not  yet  known.  And  so  of  otherthings,  even  the  most  com- 
mon phenomena  mentioned  in  this  chapter  have  yet  an  un- 
known about  them.  What  change  takes  place  in  tbe  molecules 
or  atoms  of  water  (whether  in  their  shape  or  their  arrange- 
ment) when  it  congeals,  is  as  unknown  to  us  as  it  was  to  Job. 
Wo  know  not  out  of  what  '•  womb  "  of  forces  comes  the  ice, 
and  the  hoar  frost,  or  the  snow  flake  even,  with  its  myriad 
mathematical  diversities  of  congelation  and  crystallization. 
The  truth  is,  the  unknown  grows  faster,  at  every  step,  than 
the  known.  Every  advance  of  the  latter  pushes  the  lino 
farther  back  thr,n  it  was  before,  and  so  long  as  the  ratio  of 
the  discovered  to  the  undiscovered  is  itself  nnkuown,  there 
is  no  r.ashness  in  saying  that  as  compared  with  the  Divine 
knowledge,  the  real  Imlh,  even  of  nature,  we  are  as  ignoritnt 
as  Elihu  or  Job.    That  this  is  no  mere  railing  against  sci- 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


157 


20  That  thou  should'st  take  it  to  its"*  bounds, 
Or  know  the  way  that  leadeth  to  its^"  house? 

21  Thou  know!'^^  It  must  be  that  thou  theu  wast  born, 
And  great  the  number  of  thy  years. 


22 


23 


The  treasures  of  the  snow  hast  thou'®  approached  ? 
Or  seen  the  store-house  of  the  hail  ? 
Which  for  the  time  of  trouble  I  reserve,^' 
The  day  when  hosts  draw  near'°  in  battle  strife. 


24  Where  is  the  way  by  which  the  lightning^^  parts  ?" 
How  drives^^  the  rushing  tempest'*  o'er  the  laufl  ? 

25  Who  made  a  channel  for  the  swelling  flood  ? 
A  way  appointed''*  for  the  thunder  flash  ? — 

26  To  make  it  rain  on  lands  where  no  one  dwells, 
Upon  the  desert,  uninhabited  ? 

27  To  irrigate'®  the  regions  wild  and  waste, 


ence  is  shown  by  the  testimony  of  no  less  a  scientist  than 
Alexander  Humboldt  himself.  Thin  he  says,  Kosmos,  Vol. 
II.,  p.  48,  in  respect  "  to  the  meteorological  processes  which 
take  place  in  the  atmosphere,  the  formation  and  solution  of 
Tapor,  the  generation  of  hail,  and  of  the  rolling  thunder, 
there  are  questions  propounded  in  this  portion  of  the  book 
of  Job  which  we,  in  the  present  state  of  our  physical  know- 
ledge, may  indeed  be  able  to  express  In  more  scientific  lan- 
guage, but  scarcely  to  answer  more  satisfactorily." 

2»  Ver.  20.  To  its  bounds.  This  shows  that  ultimate 
causal  knowledge  is  intended, — or  that  finishing:  knowledge 
(to  Tc'Aeioi/  as  disMnguished  from  the  to  ex  fie'povs,  1  Cor. 
xiii.  10)  beyond  which  nothing  more  is  to  be  known  about  it. 

26  Ver.  20.  The  way  that  leadeth  to  Its  house. 
Another  mode  of  expressing  the  same  idea.  " Its  hnvfe''' 
where  dwells  the  apxri,  or  first  principle  that  makes  it  what 
It  is,  and  of  which  all  subsequent  jdienomena  are  but  differ- 
ent degrees  of  manifestation  ;  the  phenomenon  last  reached 
by  scientific  discovery  being  only  called  an  ap^ri  till  some- 
thing beyond  it  is  revealed  and  takes  the  name.  These 
questions,  as  Hnmboldt  intimates,  may  yet  be  asked,  each 
one  of  them,  and  no  mere  names  like  "  gravity, "  "force," 
"  correlation  of  forces,"  can  evade  their  point,  or  conceal  our 
inability  to  answer  perfectly. 

27  Ver.  21.  Thou  know!  Many  take  this  as  irony. 
This  is  the  way  Resan  gives  it: 

Tu  le  sais  sans  donte !  car  tu  6tai8  n6  avant  elleg ; 
Le  nombre  de  tea  jours  est  si  grand! 

The  idea  is  insupportable.  The  voice  of  Jehovah  is  sounding 
loud  above  the  roar  of  the  tornado  that  bursts  from  the  elec- 
tric amber  cloud ;  Job  and  all  the  rest  most  probably  lying 
prostrate,  with  their  faces  in  the  dust!  What  a  time  for 
sarcasm,  especially  on  such  a  theme,  the  fewne«s  of  the  hu- 
man years!  But  the  translation  aliove  given,  it  may,  per- 
haps, be  said,  comes  nearly  to  the  same  thing.  It  is  not  so. 
The  peculiar  style,  combined  of  the  exclamatory  and  the  in- 
terrogative, is  to  bring  vividly  before  the  mind  the  change 
that  ensues  in  the  illustrative  phenomena  to  be  now  men- 
tioned. The  personal  knowledge  of  the  first  mentioned 
great  creative  acts  could  only  be  claimed  on  the  score  of  ex- 
perience or  cotemporeity,  which  are  out  of  the  question. 
Those  now  to  he  mentioned  are  familiar  every-day  pheno- 
mena, and  observation,  it  might  be  thought,  is  sufficient  for 
their  discovery.  But  in  these,  too,  there  is  an  unfathomable 
depth  of  mystery.  As  no  length  of  human  days  could  give 
the  one,  so  no  keenness  of  observation,  or  of  inductive  ana- 
lysis, could  reach  the  other,  though  lying  right  beneath  our 
eyes.  So  here  r\j,'T,  spoken  abruptly  and  forcibly,  but  not 
with  irony  or  contempt,  is  exclamatory  and  at  the  same  time 
carries  a  hypothetical  force:  Thou  kiioiveslt  that  is,  as  if 
thou  knewest,  or  could'st  know!  The  second  clause  is  only 
a  varied  and  foi'cible  mode  of  presenting  the  same  thought. 
There  is  much  here  that  reminds  ua  of  a  passage  in  tliat 
strangely  impressive  apocryphal  book  of  II.  Esdras  (some- 
times styled  the  IV.):  "Then  said  the  angel  unto  me :  go 
thy  way;  weigh  me  the  weight  of  the  fire,  or  measure  me 
the  blast  of  the  wind,  or  call  me  again  the  day  that  is  past. 
If  I  should  ask  thee  of  the  springs  of  the  Deep,  or  where  are 


the  outgoings  of  Paradise,  peradventure  thou  would'st  say, 
I  never  went  down  into  the  Deep,  neitlier  did  I  ever  climb 
up  into  Heaven;  but  now  have  I  asked  thee  only  of  the  fire, 
and  the  wind,  and  of  the  day  through  which  thou  hast  passed, 
and  of  things  from  which  thou  caust  not  bo  separated,  and 
yet  thou  canst  give  me  no  answer.  Things  grown  up  with 
thee  thou  canst  not  know;  how  then  should'st  thou  com- 
prehend the  way  of  the  Highest!" 

28  Ver.  22.  Approached.    nX3n,    most  literal,  gone 

T      T-: 
or  come  to,  I'i.iited.  entered  into,  as  X13  may  be  rendered  with- 
out the  preposition,  as,  ITJ?    1>'U'    "'ND,  tJon.  .\xiii.  18. 

29  Ver.  23.  I  reserve.  TlJDtyn,  see  Notexxi.  30;  "the 
wicked  reserved  to  the  day  of  doom." 

30  Yer.  23.  When  hosts  draw  near.    This  gives 

the  etymological  idea  of  3Tp:    cZoseness  ami  6«((?e,  literally, 

for  battle  closely  joined.  See  Dent.  xx.  2,  3,  Sx  DD31p3 
J^^n /r3)  ivhen  ye  draw  nigh  to  battle,  or  join  battle. 

31  Ver.  24.  liigrhtning-.  So  Schlottmann  'IIX:  I>as 
Licht  ist  der  Blitz,  as  in  xxxvi.  32,  and  he  might  also  have 
said,  as  in  xxxvii.  3,  11,  15.  He  finds  an  argument  for  it 
from  its  agreement  with  the  second  clause:  the  lightning 
and  the  storm  coming  with  the  snow  and  the  hail.  The  wor4 
"IIT  here  may  refer  to  the  direction  of  the  lightning  flash  so 

difficult  to  trace  (see  Note  on  xxxvii.  4)  or  to  the  method  or 
law  of  the  fact,  as  pn  (see  xxviii.  26)  refers  to  the  dynami- 
cal principle.  If  referred  to  light  it  may  be  the  law  of  its 
existence  or  origin. 

32  Ver.  24.  Parts,  hit.,  is  parted ;  but  the  Niphal  may 
be  rendered  deponently  or  intransitively.  If  11X  is  the 
lightning,  it  pres'nt^  the  idea  of  tUo  heavens  cloven 
by  it  in  all  directions,  or  its  being  cloven  from  the  cloud. 
Ps.  xxix.  7  may  be  regarded  as  parallel  to  it :  "  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  (the  thunder)  cutteth  out  (hewelh  out)  the  flashes 
of  fire,"  Raiim  Levi  be^iQerson  renders:  "how  it  (the  light- 
ning) breaks  from  the  cloud." 

33' Yer.  24.  Mow  drives — or   spreads.    V'3'    is  taken 

intransitively,  as  in  Exod.  v.  12 ;  1  Sam.  xiii.  8. 

34  Ver.  24.  The  mshinsT  tempest.  The  East  %mnd 
(Q'TP,  the  classical  Earns  is  thus  used  for  a  tempest.    See 

Ps.  xlviii.  8,  the  wind  "  that  breaks  the  ships  of  Tarshish, 
Job  xxvii.  21 :"  The  East  wind  (or  the  storm)  carries  him 
away.     See  Jer.  xxiii.  17;  Isai.  xxvii.  8;  Ezek.  xxvii.  26. 

35  Ver.  25.  A  iray  appointed.  This  is  exactly  like 
the  second  clause  of  xxviii.  20.    There   1"1T    is  parallel  to 

pn,  law,  decree,  which  requires  Bomethiug  like  it  in  the  2d 

clause.  The  way  is  not  here  merely  space  direction,  but  me- 
thod of  action. 

30  Ver.  27.  To  irrig'ate.  To  .•iatisfy,  does  not  seem  to 
suit  the  context.  The  regions  mentioned  in  the  Ist  clause, 
nX1ti"D1  nXty.  ■"■'hi  anil  waste,  are  without  any  elements 
of  vegetation,  and  rain  can  only  water  them. 


158 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


As  vieW  as  cause  to  spring  the  budding  grass. 

28  Is  there  a  father*®  to  the  rain  ? 

The  drops  of  dew,  who  hath  begotten*'  them? 

29  Out  of  whose  womb  came  forth  the  ice  ? 
Heaven's  hoar  frost,  who  hath*"  gendered  it  ? 

30  As  by  a  stone*^  the  streams  are  hid  from  sight, 
And  firmly  bound*^  the  faces  of  the  deep. 

31  Canst  thou  together  bind  the  clustering**  Pleiades? 
Or  loose  Orion's  bands  ? 

32  Canst  thou  lead  forth  Mazzaroth**  in  its  times, 
Or  guide  the  ways  of  Arctos*^  with  her  sons  ? 

33  The  statutes  of  the  heavens  knowest  thou  ? 
Their  ruling*^  in  the  earth  canst  thou  dispose  ? 

34  To  the  clouds  canst  thou  lift  up  thy  voice, 
That  floods  of  rain  may  cover  thee  ? 

35  Lightnings  canst  thou  send  forth,  that  they  should  go, 
And  say,  Behold  us !  Here  we  are  ? 


36      Who  hath  put  wisdom  in  the  inward"  parts  ? 


37  Ver.  27.  As  -well  as.  There  seems  a  contrast  between 
the  two  clauses.  Thf!  fi'-st  is  the  sending  of  rain  where  no 
vegetation  conld  be  effected  by  it,  as  in  the  desert  or  the  sea, 
the  second  where  there  is  drought,  but  still  something  to 
germinate.  There  is  no  dwelling  here  on  utilitarian  ends 
merely,  though  there  are  such  occasionally  referred  to ;  the 
frreat  design  seems  to  be  to  show  the  Divine  sovereignty — 
God's  omnipotence  in  making  nature  and  her  laws,  just  as 
it  pleases  Him. 

38  Yer.  28.  A  father  to  the  rain.  A  creator  to  the 
rain;  or  is  it  the  production  of  chance? 

39  Ver.  28.  Begotten.     The  figure  of  generation  is  kept 

up  in  T  7in-  There  has  been  a  great  lack  of  attention  to 
the  momentous  fact  that  so  much  of  this  language  of  gene- 
ration, or  of  evolution,  or  production  by  birth  (one  thing 
coming  out  of  another),  is  employed  in  Scripture,  not  only 

in  the  poetical  parts  such  as  Ps.  xc.  2    (Hv'    O'lH 

yiX   bSinTOi  Prov.  viii.  22;  Ps.  civ.,  and  here  In  Job,  but 

in  the  prose  account  of  Gen.  i. :  "  The  earth  bringing  forth" — 
"  the  waters   "  swarming  with  life " — the    Spirit   "  brooding 

npon  them  " — the  "generntioyis  (nn/IH)  of  the  heavens  and 
the  earth."  It  is  all  so  different  from  those  ideas  of  mechani- 
cal or  magical  creation  in  which  Mohammed  indulges,  and 
which  distinguish  so  many  pagan  mythologies.  It  is  a  Di- 
vine evolution,  through  an  outgoing  Word,  and  the  term 
should  not  be  given  up  to  the  naturalists,  who  discard  the 
idea  of  semination,  and  thereby  make  it  an  eternal,  uninter- 
fered  with,  self-evolving  of  the  higher  as  lying  hid  in  the 
lower. — in  the  lowest  even, — from  an  infinite  eternity. 

«  Ver.  29.  Out  of  whose  womb  ?— "^Vho  hath 
g^enilered  ?     The  same  language  of  parturitive  generation 

(m 7in)  or  causal  growth,  is  here  kept  up.  The  cold  ice 
the  product  of  some  cherishing  heat,  or  brooding  warmth, 
such  as  we  ran  hardly  separate  from  the  idea  of  generation. 

«  Ver.  30.  As  by  a  stone.     The  icy  covering. 

«  Ver.  30.  Firmly  bonnd.  The  Hithpahel  HD  /IT. 
Lit.,  Ho?fJ /«,<(<  to  each  other.  The  idea  of  the  flow  arrested. 
Nothing  could  bptter  express  the  transition  from  the  fluid 
to  the  congoalni  state.  It  is  some  change  in  the  coherence 
and  space  relations  of  the  ultimate  particles,  or  it  may  be  in 
molecules  still  undiscovered,  yet  at  immense  distances  from 
the  ultimate  parts.  But  what  that  change  is,  or  what  a 
world  of  mystery  lies  so  near  us,  right  under  our  hands  and 
eyes,  we  know  no  more  than  Job. 

«  Ver.  31.  Clnstering  pleiades.  nUnj^D.  by 
metathesis  for  HI  J^'O  as  generally  received.  Lit.,  the  clust- 
erings of  Cima  Kor  IJjt  see  Job  xxxi.  36;  Prov.  vi.  2, 
where  it  is  used,  in  connection  with  the  same  word    "ICp, 


for  the  graceful  binding  of  ornaments.  There  is  evidently  a 
contrast  of  binding  and  loosing  between  tlio  two  members, 
but  as  regards  our  knowledge  of  what  particular  constella- 
tions are  meant  we  are  not  much  beyond  the  ancient  ver- 
sions. How  little  can  be  certainly  known  is  seen  in  the 
labored  commentary  of  Delitzsch. 

*4  Ver.  32.  ;9Iazzaroth.  The  change  of  the  liquids  *1 
and  7  is  so  common  and  so  easy  that  there  can  be  but  little 
doubt  of  ri1")TD  here  being  the  same  as  m7T0  {Mazsalolh) 

■X  "  T  — 

2  Kings  xxiii.  5,  where  it  is  used  for  the  constellations.  Liter- 
ally, houses  (in  the  heavens)  as  the  term  is  used  in  the  old 

astrology  (from  the  sense  to  'dwell,  which  7tJ  has  in  Ara- 
bic). From  the  constellations  generally  it  is  transferred  to 
the  12  sigus  of  the  Zodiac;  though  the  signs  in  all  parts  of 
the  heavens  were  observed  for  the  determination  of  seasons. 
■45  Ver.  32.  Arctos  and  her  sons.  The  Northern 
Bear;  her  sons,  the  three  bright  stars  in  the  tail  that  seem 
constantly  sweeping  after  it  as  this  ever  visible  constellation 
circles  round  the  pole.  Bochart  (Hieror.'iicnn,  Vol.  II.,  pa. 
113)  shows  beyond  all  doubt  that  \y^^  is  identical  with  the 

Northern  Bear  as  named  by  the  Arabians,  and  described  in  a 
similar  way  as  accompanied  by  her  daughters.  Tlie  name  is 
feminine  here,  as  apKxoj  in  Greek,  and  ursa  in  Latin.  So 
the  Greeks  called  this  constellation,  as  well  as  the  Northern 
Indians  of  our  own  continent.  The  fixing  it  helps  to  deter- 
mine some  of  the  others  ever  named  with  it,  probably,  in  the 
first  place,  by  the  Plicenician  sailors  much  before  the  Ho- 
meric times.  Among  quite  a  number  of  other  places  see 
Odyss.  V.  272: 

HAHTAAAS  t'  i<TOpmvTi 

•APKTON  6' 

'Ht'  auToO  orpec^eVai,   (cat  t"  'fiPIflNA  SoK€vti. 

The  verb  Hnj  has  a  pastoral  air  here;  see  Ps.  xxiii.  3: 
leads  them  in  the  field  of  the  skies  as  the  shepherd  his 
flock. 

«  Ver.  33.  Their  rnling.  The  corresponding  Arabic 
verb  IJStJ'  means  to  write,  to  mnlce  records.  Hence  it  would 
seem  to  denote  signs,  prescriptions,  and  to  suggest  the  idea 
given  Gen.  i.  14. 

«  Ver.  36.  Inward  parts.  It  is  common  in  all  lan- 
guages to  assign  certain  parts  of  the  body  as  the  seat  of  in- 
tellectURl  and  passional  movements.  The  Hebrew,  like  the 
Greek,  has  quite  a  number  of  such  word^ — heart,  reins,  bow- 
els, etc.  The  use  of  this  word  PintD,  ^"^  !'■  8  (truth  in  the 
inward  /jnr/.'Vougbt  to  settle  its  meaning  here  as  equivalent  to 
reins,  u^ed  as  the  Greeks  use  ^n-ap  or  fiTop  (heart  or  liver) 
for  the  region  where  dwells  the  deepest  thought.    The  refe- 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


159 


Or  who  hath  given  discernment  to  the^^  sense? 

37  Who,  by  his  wisdom,  rules^'  the  clouds? 
Or  who  inclines^"  the  vessels  of  the  skies  ? 

38  When  dust  becomes  a  molten  mass, 
And  clods  together  cleave  ? 

39  For  the  lioness  dost  thou  provide  the  prey, 
Or  still  the  craving  of  her  young  ? 

40  When  in  their  wonted  lairs  they  lay  them  down, 
Or  in  the  jungle  thickets  lie  in  wait. 

41  Who  for  the  raven  maketh  sure  its  meat, 
When  unto  God  her  children  cry, 
And  wander*^  without  food  ? 


rence  of  niHCO  ^o  outward  phenomena  (lightning,  etc.)  as 
is  done  by  Ewald  and  Umbreit,  depends  on  far-fetched  Ara- 
bic etymologies,  and  requires  us  to  regard  such  phenomena 
as  personified,  with  little  or  no  distinct  meaning  after  all. 
ScHLOTTMANN  shows  clearly  the  connection  of  thought:  the 
mention  of  the  celestial  laws  and  their  ruling  in  the  earth 
suggests  mostnaturally  that  greater  work  of  God,  the  making 
and  implanting  the  faculties  that  comprehend  them.  See 
Ps.  xciv.  9. 

«  Ver.  36.  The  sense.  The  rendering  given  to  the 
first  clause  determines  the  general  meaning  'of  the  second, 
though  leaving  somewhat  uncertain  the  precise  meaning  of 
'IDK'-  The  Rabbins  render  it  a  cock,  which  Delitzsch  fol- 
lows, although  such  a  rendering  of  the  word  (see  Bochart, 
Eieroz.  II.,  pp.  114,  115)  breaks  up  the  harmony  of  the  paral- 
lelism. ^131^)  which  occurs  only  here,  must  correspond  to 
mnCO)  tii^t  as  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  what  part  of  the 
body  is  meant,  it  is  better  to  be  governed  by  the  etymology 
generally  (riDC!'.  "s  in  its  more  frequent  Syriac  usage,  to 
see,  look  for,  contemplate,  image,  etc.),  and  by  the  other  deriva- 
tives,   n^Dti'>    image,  picture,   Isai.   ii.   16,    HOti'D   figure, 

Ezek.  viii.  12;  Lev.  xxvi.  1.  As  apart  then  of  the  physical 
system  it  might  be  rendered  tliesensorivm,  did  not  that  sound 
too  technical  or  philosophical.  We  have,  therefore,  simply 
rendered  it  the  ?ense.  This  corresponds  well  to  the  distinc- 
tion between  HODH  "■nd  nj^3  which  the  common  mind, 
even  in  the  davs  of  Job,  accepts  as  familiarly  as  the  most 
philosophical:  the  abstract,  reason,  on  the  one  hand,  the  iu- 
dnctire  observing  faculty  of  experience  (ever  dependent  on 
the  sense)  as  forming  its  intellectual  counterpart  or  comple- 
ment, on  the  other.  The  Hebrew,  or  rather  the  Syriac 
T~\'yV  (saka,  saha,  sah,  seh)  would  seem  to  show  an  aflSnity 
(with  its  guttural  worn  out)  to  the  German  sehen,  Gothic 
sawan,  English  sow  or  see. 

•19  A'er.  37.  Rules.     Heb.  *1£3D»  numbers,  regulates. 

50  Ver.  37.  Inclines.  Thus  is  the  rendering  of  Conant 
very  suitable  to  the  figure.    3'3^^  would  mean,  literally, 


to  conse  to  lie  down,  hence  inclining  or  turning  over  a  vessel  to 
empty  it.  Tlie  Arabic  sense  (pour  out)  is  a  secondary  one, 
in  which  the  old  primary  is  lost.  The  Vulgate  renders  it; 
qnis  enarrabit  ccelorum  ralionem,  et  CONCENTUM  ca'U  qnis  dormire 
faciei  f  In  the  last  clause  u'ho  shall  make  to  sleep  the  harmony 
of  heaven  ?  there  seems  to  have  been  had  in  mind  the  old  doc- 
trine of  the  music  of  the  spheres  (see  Ps.  xix.  5),  and  D'^JJ 
to  have  been  taken  as  meaning  harps.  It  is  a  beautilul 
thought :  who  can  make  to  sleep  that  everlasting  harmony  7 
but  it  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  context. 

61  Ver.  41.  And  wander.  This  is  the  literal  render- 
ing of  1^'jT,  but  it  can  hardly  mean  outward  wandering  or 
flying  about,  which  would  seem  forbidden  by  the  context.  It 
may  be  taken  to  denote  wandering,  or  lapse  of  mind,  if  used 
of  rational  beings;  as  in  Isai.  xxviii.  7,  it  is  used  to  denote 
intoxication.  As  applied  to  the  young  ravens,  it  may  denote 
their  ravening  appetite.  But  the  question  is:  why  is  the 
raven  selected  for  an  illustration  here,  and  in  otlier  parts  of 
the  Scriptures,  as  in  Ps.  cxlvii.  9,  and  by  our  Saviour,  Luke 
xii.  24?  It  seems  to  have  been  universal  in  thn  East,  as  ap- 
pears from  Hariri,  Seance  XIII.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  151,  De  Sacy'a 
Ed.:  "  0  thou  who  hearest  the  young  raven  in  his  nest?" — 
abandoned  in  his  nest,  as  the  supposed  fact  is  stated  by  the 
Scholiast,  and  for  which  he  gives  a  ridiculous  reason:  "  the 
young  raven,"  ho  says,  "  when  it  first  breaks  the  egg,  comes 
forth  perfectly  white,  on  seeing  which  the  parents  flee  with 
terror ;  and  when  this  takes  place,  Allah  sends  to  it  the  flies 
which  fall  in  the  nest.  And  so  it  remains  for  forty  dayg, 
when  its  feathers  become  black,  and  the  father  and  mother 
return  to  it."  It  is  not  mere  helplessness.  The  pathos  is 
doubtless  aided  by  the  idea  of  the  hideousness  of  the  bird, 
which  appears  especially  in  the  young.  Had  it  been  the  dove 
it  might  have  sounded  prettier  to  us;  but  there  is  here  no 
mere  sentimentality;  no  mere  utilitarianism.  God's  "tender 
mercies  are  over  all  His  works;"  but  it  is  also  true  that  He 
"  hath  compassion  on  whom  He  will  have  compassion."  Tho 
Divine  sovereignty  is  the  great  lesson  here  taught,  and  our 
very  deformities,  as  appears  Gen.  viii.  21,  may  draw  EUs 
mercy. 


Chapter  XXXIX. 


The  goats  that  climb  the  rock,  knowest  thou  their  bearing  time? 
Or  dost  thou  mark  it,  how  the  hinds  bring'  forth  ? 
The  months  they  fill,  is  this  thy^  numbering  ? 
Their  hour  of  travail,  is  it  known  to  thee  ? 
They  bow  themselves,  their  ofi*3pring  cleave^  the  womb ; 


1  Ver.  1.  Hinds  bring:  forth.  Very  common  and 
near  events,  but  all  having  a  mystery  beyond  any  explana- 
tion of  human  knowledge,  past  or  present. 

2  Ver.  2.  Thy  numbering'.  Conant  gives  the  idea 
here:  "Notthempre  numbering,  for  that  would  be  a  very 
easy  thing,  hut  the  original  determination  of  the  times."  So 
in  the  second  clause :  It  is  the  mystery  of  parturition,  its 
regularity,  its  suddenness,  its  inexplicable  jiains. 


3  Ver.  3.  Cleave  the  womb.  Grammatically  jri'lS' 
is  the  object  of  n^nvSH;    but  it  comes  to  the  same  thing 


whether  we  render  the  word  causatively,  or  as  above. 
she  makes  them  cleave. 


Lit., 


160 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Their  sorrows*  they  cast  forth. 

4  Strong  are  their  young  as  on  the  plains*  they  grow, 
And  wander  from  them  to  return  no  more. 

5  Who  sent  the  wild  ass  free  ? 
Or  loosed  the  Zebra's®  bands  ? 

6  Whose  home  the  desert  I  have  made, 
The  salt  and  barren  waste  his  haunts. 

7  'Tis  sport  to  him  the  city's  noise  ; 

The  driver's  ringing  shouts,  he  hears  them  not. 

8  The  mountain  range  his  pasture  ground  ; 
There  roams^  he  searching  every  blade^  of  grass. 

9  The  Oryx,^  will  he  be  thy  willing^"  slave  ? 
Or  in  thy  stall  contented  make  his  home  ? 

10  As  in  a  furrow  canst  thou  bind  his  cord  ? 
To  plane"  the  valleys  will  he  follow  thee  ? 

11  Ah,  trust  him  !  wilt  thou  ?  for  his  strength  is  great  I 
Or  leave  to  him  the  produce  of  thy  toil  ? 

12  Canst  thou  be  sure  he  will  bring  home  thy  seed? 
Or  gather  it  to  form  thy  threshing  floor  ? 

13  The  Ostrich^'*  wing  that  flaps  so  joyously  I 
Is  it  the  feathered  pinion  of  the  stork  ?^* 

14  Nay^* — she  it  is  that  leaves  her  eggs  to  earth, 
And  warms  them  in  the  dust, 

15  Forgetting  that  the  foot  may  crush, — 
The  roaming  beast  may  trample  them. 

16  Hard*^  is  she  to  her  young,  as  though  not  hers ; 


*  Ver.  3.  Their  sorrowH.  Their  sharp  pangs.  They 
are  here  spoken  of  as  identified  with  the  offspring.  There  is 
a  great  mystery  here,  whether  we  regard  it  as  a  moral  one, — 
the  parturition  pangs  of  the  animal  as  a  curse  from  the  fall 
of  man, — or  a  purely  physical  one.  Why  does  nature  seem 
"  to  stumble  here,"  as  Cudworth  says ;  or  if  she  has  been 
from  eternity  "  selecting  the  best,"  why  has  she  not,  ages 
ago,  reached  the  easier  way?  There  is  something  very  totjch- 
ing  in  this  second  clause:  Their  sorroivs  Ihey  cas^t  forth.  In  the 
case  of  the  human  subject  how  pathetic  the  language  of  our 
Saviour,  John  xvi.  21 :  "A  woman  when  she  is  in  travail 
hath  sorrow  because  her  hour  is  come  ;  but  when  she  is  de- 
livered she  no  longer  remembers  her  pain  because  of  joy  that 
one  hath  been  ^lorn  into  the  world."  Delitzsch  happily 
compares  njnvtyn  here  with  the  pii/(a<.  ii&lva.  of  Msca. 

Again.  1417,  and  EuRiP.  Imi.  45. 
B  Ver.  4.  The  plains.    "13  the  crpen  field  used  collec- 

T 

lively  for  all  abroad.    Latin, /or«s. 

6  Ver.  5.  The  Zebra's  bands.  The  tautology  of  E. 
v.,  is  intolerable.  Delitzsch  attempts  to  hide  it  under  his 
two  words  Wildesel  and  Wildliuij ;  as  Umbeeit  also  under 
Waldesel  and  end.  The  in_y  must  be  something  different 
from  the  J?'^£).    There  is  but  little  authority  for  rendering 

it  zehrn,  but  it  suits  the  passage  rthe  wild  horse  coming  after 
the  wild  ass)  and  almost  anything  is  better  than  the  tauto- 
logj'.  The  next  verse  may  be  taken  as  referring  to  the  111  y 
alone. 

'  Ver.  8.  Roams  he  searching:.  The  participial 
form  is  used  as  combining  with  tyilT"  the  verbal  sense  of 
exploration  in  IliT'. 

8  Ver.  8.  Every  blade  of  gprass.  The  Hebrew  idiom 
in  such  cases  makes  73  distributive. 

9  Ver.  9.  The  Oryx.  E.  V.,  johVoto.  Most  commenta- 
tors now  iDike  it  the  wild  ox,  noted  for  its  fierceness. 


10  Ver.  9.  Willing  slave.  The  trani?lation  may  be 
free,  but  it  closely  combines  the  sense  of  H^X  and  '^2'J. 

11  Ver.  10.  To  plane.  Tltj?,  rendered  to  fcan-ow;  more 
correctly  complanavit.  See  Hos.  x.  11.  Hence  from  the  al- 
lied Lamed  He  form  rnt^.  the  plain,  campus. 

12  Ver.  13.  The  Ostrich  iringr.  E.V.,  Tlie  peacoclc. 
The  description  that  follows  unmistakably  points  out  the 
ostrich  called  here  D'JJTj  ifl  the  plural,  from  her  sharp, 

•  T  : 
ringing  cries. 

13  Ver.  13.  The  stork.  nTDn  la  the  well-known 
name  of  this  bird, — the  piou.i,  so  called  from  the  care  she 
takes  for  her  parents  and  her  young,  here  contrasted  with 
the  acTTopyca,  or  want  of  natural  affection,  in  the  ostrich. 
The  D>4  is  indirectly  a  denial.  Instead  of  the  construct 
state,  wing  of  the  stork,  the  word  is  taken  rather  as  an  adjec- 
tive: the  storlc  wing.    So  nVJ  feather,  pbimage,isdeacTiiitiYe. 

T 

It  is  the  full,  warm,  thick-feathered  wing  of  the  one  bird,  as 
contrasted  with  the  scant,  featherless  membrane  of  the 
other,  unfitted  for  flying  or  hovering.  The  want  of  disposi- 
tion, and  the  want  of  adaptation,  go  together.  God  made 
her  so  in  both  respocts.  On  the  Darwin  or  Lucrotian  theory, 
her  poor  flapper,  wliich  she  uses  so  much,  ought  to  have  be- 
come a  warm,  woll-feathered  pinion  ages  ago. 

!■*  Ver.  14.  BTay ,  The  denial  comes  out  more  strongly  in 
the  ^3  which  gives  a  reason  for  the  contrast.  And  thus 
there  is  better  preserved  the  main  idea  of  both  verses,  namely, 
the  variety  of  i]ualitics  displayed  in  the  works  of  God.  The 
ancient  versions  are  very  dark  here.  The  LXX.  does  not 
pretend  to  translate,  simply  turning  the  Hebrew  into  Greek 
letters,  veeKaacra,  acri&a  koX  ve4<r(Ta. 

16  Ver.  IG.  Hard  is  she.  There  is  no  difficulty  with 
the  masculine  verb  here  (n^^pn)i  since  the  feminine  is 
only  generic.  I 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


161 


In  vaiu  her  labor  since  she  has  no  fear. 

17  For  God  hath  made  her  mindless,'^  void  of  thought, 
No  share  of  knowledge  hath  he  given  her. 

18  But  when  on  high  she  boldly  lifts^'  herself, 
The  horse  and  horseman  both  alike  she  scorns. 


19  To  the  war-horse  gavest  thou  his  strength  ? 
Didst  thou  with  thunder^^  clothe  his  neck  ? 

20  Or  like  the  locust  canst  thou  make  him  bound  ? 
There  is  glory ^'  in  his  nostrils — terror  there. 

21  He  paws  the  plain,  exulting  in  his  might ; 
And  thus  he  goes  to  meet  the  armed'*'  host. 

22  He  mocks  at  fear,  at  panics'^^  undismayed. 
He  turns  not  back  in  presence  of  the  sword. 

23  Against  him^^  rings  the  quiver  (of  the  foe), 
The  glittering  lance  and  spear. 

24  With  rage  and  trembling  swallows^'  he  the  earth ; 


IB  Ver.  17.  Made  her  mindless.  E.  V. :  Deprived 
her  ofunsdoyn,  as  though  they  made  it  from  Til!'?!  =  XtyHi 
or  X^U^rii  Ps-  Ixxxix.  2.3,  exigil,  taken  away  from.  To  make 
forget  (Hiph.  of  HE/J)  would  imply  that  she  once  had  it. 

17  Ver.  18.  Boldly  lifts  herself.  Gesentus  gives  to 
J<TO  tli6  sense  strinxit  {eqimm  flahello).  Hence  it  is  rendered 
phe  lashes  herself.  There  is  little  or  no  authority  for  this. 
The  idea  of  flapping  her  wings  had  been  given  before.  Here 
it  is  evidently  something  else:  her  high  stature,  or  her  hold 
hearing,  by  way  of  contrast,  or  set-ofl'  to  what  was  said  about 
her  stupidity.  The  Hebrew  rflD  (for  XTO)  gives  just  the 
idea  which  the  context  seems  to  demand,  a  bold  contuma- 
cious spirit.  The  old  versions  got  very  much  the  same  idea, 
but  in  a  diflferent  way,  namely,  by  regarding  X'TOH  as  by 
metathesis  for  D'^Oh,  which,  however,  would  be  a  most 
unusual  change.  A  striking  illustration  of  this  passage,  thus 
regarded,  is  furnished  by  Xenophon.  Anab.  I.  3  ;  "^.Tpovdou 
Sk  oirSels  eKaPev.  vroAu  yap  eneanaTO  (f>fvyov<Ta,  TOis  /nee 
TTOtri  Spoixii),  Tais  Se  iTT^pv^LV  apaaa.  uxnrep  icTTioj  ^(pio/aeVi)  .■ 
"  But  no  oiie  ever  caught  the  ostrich,  for  in  her  flight  she 
kept  constantly  drawing  on  the  pursuer,  now  running  on 
foot,  and  again  lifting  herself  up  with  her  icings  spread  out,  as 
though  she  had  hoisted  her  sails."  Compare  the  Homeric 
expression  77.  II.  462,  ayaKkoixevai  TTTepvyeiraiv. 

13  Ver.  19,  With  thunder,   noj;"]^  Fem.  of   Dj?"l 

the  common  word  for  thunder.  Some  render  it  here  the 
flowing  mane;  as  i^o^r;,  supposed  to  come  in  some  way  from 
<^b^os  terror.  Others,  dignitij,  as  though  it  were  the  same  as 
J^f3X'^.  Vulgate  hinnittis,  neighing,  as  resembling  thunder. 
The  ISebrew  Dl'1  in  its  primary  onomatopic  sense  of  fre- 
mitus, trembling,  thunder,  answers  very  well  when  we  keep  in 
mind  the  subjective  effect.  When  we  think  of  the  arched 
neck  of  the  horse  in  his  majestic  boundings,  of  the  quiver- 
ing of  the  strong  muscles,  and  of  the  idea  of  power  which  so 
naturally  associates  itself  with  these  phenomena,  we  have 
something  that  may  be  called  the  feeUnrj  of  thunder  if  not  the 
outward  hearing.  There  is  hyperbole  of  course ;  but  a  per- 
fectly scientific  or  farrier-like  description  of  the  mane,  and 
ears,  and  neck,  etc.,  might  fail  in  this  subjective  truthfulness 
all  the  more  for  its  objective  accuracy. 

19  Ver.  20.  Glory  in  his  nostrils.  There  seems  no 
reason  for  departing  here  from  the  usual  sense  of  the  Ileb. 
Iin.  S''"'"!/.  inajeslii.  It  is  the  impression  made  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  fierce  war-horse  under  the  excitement  of  the 
coming  battle,  and  by  the  associations  connected  with  it. 
Some  would  rtnder  it  snorting  (Schlottmann,  Pillmann). 
This  is  implied,  but  all  the  more  impressively  in  the  usual 
literal  sense  of  the  word.  It  seems  like  the  emission  of 
smoke  and  flame  from  the  fierce  eyes,  and  distended  nostrils, 
and  the  foam  of  his  quick  breathings.  The  representation 
abounds  in  the  Latin  poets;  as  Clandian: 


Ignescunt  patulse  nares- 


LUCRETIOS  V.  1076: 

£t  fremitum  patulis  sub  naribua  edit  ad  arma. 
11 


Virgil  Geokgics  III.,  83 : 


-Turn  si  qua  sonum  procul  arma  dedere 


Stare  loco  nescit,  micat  auribus,  et  tremit  artns 
Collectumque  premens  volvit  sub  naribus  ignem. 

.^SCHTLUS,  Sept.  Theb.  CO : 


apyrjo-TTjs  atf>po^ 

Xpau'ei  (jTaAay^toi?  i-mriKiav  i<  TTVfVUOVtov. 
Tlie  brilliant  loam  from  lungs  of  snorting  steeds. 

20  Ver.  21.  The  armed  host.    Dp}  Delitzsch  here 

agrees  with  E.  V.  in  his  rendering  ffewappneter  Srhaar.  So  in 
Neh.  iii.  19,  ptJ/J  armor  is  used  for  armory. 

21  Vtr.22.  By  panics  undismayed.  J^TT,  thrown 

T  •• 

into  consternation.    A  stronger  word  than  HriD  or  XT. 

22  Ter.  23.  Ag'ainst  him.  Delitzsch  render.*,  over 
him,  but  it  18  the  quiver  of  the  foe,  not  of  his  rider ;  as  appears 
ver.  22, 2d  clause.  CoNiNT  and  E.  V.  are  more  correct.  It  is 
the  rattling  and  splintering  of  lances,  as  in  the  contests  of 
the  medireval  knights,  rather  than  of  Homer's  heroes  who 
fought  from  chariots,  not  from  steeds. 

23  Ver.  24.  Swallows  the  g^round.  NQJ'-  Comp. 
X'Ojn  Gen.  xxiv.  17.    This  is  the  literal  rendering  in 

which  all  agree.  The  only  question  is,  is  it  to  be  taken  as 
actual  or  metaphorical?  Dillmann,  DELiTZsrn,  and  others 
regard  it  as  figurative  of  the  rapidity  with  which  he  passes 
over  the  ground,  as  "  though  he  devoured  it,  or  sucked  it 
up."  But  this  may  be  doubted.  The  literal  view,  swallow- 
ing, or  biting,  the  ground  in  rage  and  inip.atience,  is  not  at 
all  inappropriate.  The  time  of  the  description  seems  to  be 
the  moment  of  the  first  onset,  or  of  some  lull  in  the  battle, 
just  preceding,  or  in  anticipation  of,  the  grand  charge.  This 
corresponds  well  with  the  undoubted  meaning  of  the  second 
clause.  The  war-horse  is  waiting  for  the  signal,  and  in  his 
angry  impatience  biting  the  very  ground,  in  a  way,  however, 
not  to  be  confounded  with  the  action  described  ver.  21.  There 
may  be  hyperbole  here,  but  very  natural  hyperbole,  so  na- 
tural that  the  reader  is  hardly  conscious  of  its  being  hyper- 
bole at  all.  The  other  view  gives  us  an  exceedingly  forced 
and  strained  metaphor,  unnatural  under  any  circumstances, 
but  far  more  so  as  coming  in  the  midst  of  a  description  so- 
vividly  o|)tical,  and  actual,  as  it  may  be  called.  The  accom- 
panying words  are  all  out  of  harmony  with  it.  Had  it  been 
said,  ";>;/  his  swiftness"  he  makes  the  earth  vanish  from  sight, 
or  seems  to  devour  it,  it  might  be  more  tolerable;  but  the 
words  j)i  "  (r(>?«()7i»(7  r(M(?  r(/fl'e."  are  not  at  all  in  unison  with 
such  a  metaphor.  "  Trembling  and  rage  "  denote  ftapa- 
tience,  but  they  have  little  association  with  the  idea  of  swift- 
ness of  motion.  There  is  no  warrant  for  understanding  these 
words  of  the  earth,  especially  TJT  ra^^e,  or  re*7Ze«sHe«s  (as  used 

XIV.  1) ;  and  even  if  it  could  be  done,  there  would  be  still  less 
harmony  with  this  supposed  metaphor.  It  would  demand 
the  ideas  of  smoothness  and  imperceptibility,  rather  thin  of 
trembling  and  commotion;  as  when  Virgil  represents  the 


162 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


'Tis  hard^^*  to  hold  him  in  when  trumpets  sound. 

25  At  every  blast  he  says — aha — aha. 
Afar  oif  snuffeth  he  the  fight, 

The  chieftains'  thunder  and  the  shout  of  war. 

26  From  thine  instruction  soars  aloft'^  the  hawk, 
And  for  the  land  of  Teman  spreads  her  wings  ? 

27  Is  it  at  thy  command  the  eagle  mounts. 
To  make  his  nest  on  high  ? 

28  The  rock  his  dwelling ;  there  he  builds  his  home, 
The  cliff's  sharp  tooth,  the  castle's  battlement. 

29  From  thence  his  piercing^^  eye  looks  out  for  food, 
And  sees  it  from  afar. 

30  'Tis  there  his  young  ones  suck^'  the  blood, 
Whilst  where  the  slain  are  lying,  there  is  he. 


B-wiftness  of  Camilla  as  so  great  that  her  feet  made  no  agita- 
tion in  the  heads  of  grain  over  which  she  was  passing.  But 
aside  from  all  this,  the  metaphor  is  of  that  extremely  far- 
fetched kind,  that  it  would  strike  us  as  an  odd  conceit  even 
if  found  in  one  of  the  most  extrayagant  of  the  Arabian  poets. 
BocHART,  the  great  authority  for  all  this,  and  who  is,  indeed, 
the  source  from  whence  all  later  commentators  have  drawn, 
gives  no  example  of  its  use  by  any  Arabic  «;n/er,  although  he 
is  generally  so  full,  even  to  superfluity,  in  citations  of  the 
kind.  He  only  gives  it  from  the  Lexicographer  Golius,  and 
the  amount  of  it  is,  that  an  Arabic  verb  Dn  7>  Jn  the  VIII 
conj.  Dnn/K.  has  for  one  of  its  many  senses  to  swallow,  and 
that  among  its  noun  derivatives  there  is  QTI 7  (lahim)  that 
means  a  sjci./V  ?!orse,  because,  as  the  Arabian  Lexicographer 
Djeuharius  says,  he  seems  to  swallow  the  ground.  No  au- 
thor is  cited.  If  such  a  strained  metaphor  were  found  any- 
where, it  could  hardly  ba  lacking  in  Ahmed's  History  of 
Timour  (an  extensive  work,  noted  for  its  far-fetched  meta- 
phorical conceits,  which  form  almost  its  entire  contents)  and 
Hariri's  Seances,  which  are  a  perfect  storehouse  of  strange 
similes  of  this  kind  going  to  the  utmost  limits  of  intelligi- 
bility. Neitlier  this  figure  of  the  horse  swallowing  the 
ground,  as  denoting  rapidity,  nor  anything  like  it,  is  found 
in  either  of  them,  as  it  is  not  in  that  most  serious  Arabian 
classic,  the  Koran.  All,  therefore,  that  Bochart  really  gives 
in  support  of  this  notion,  in  which  so  many  have  followed 
him,  is  but  the  unauthorized  dictum  of  a  Lexicographer. 
The  classical  phrases  carpere  campum,  rapere  viain,  it  requires 
but  little  thought  to  see,  are  of  a  wholly  different  character. 
Rapio,  corripio  denote  su)iftnes$  or  humj  by  another  figure, 
that  of  seizing  or  carrying  along,  not  of  swallowing.  And  then 
again  there  is  the  conclusive  ground  that  the  idea  of  a  racing 
or  swiftly  chasing  horse,  interferes  with  what  is  most  graphic 
in  the  whole  picture,  and  especially  with  the  closely  con- 
nected 2d  clause  of  this  verse. 

24  Yer.  24.  "Tls  bard  to  hold  him  In.    This  may 

Beem  like  a  free  rendering  of  t'DX'  K7i  h«t  -it  may,  not- 


withstanding, give  the  precise  idea.  E.  V.  and  Conant  ren- 
der believeth  not.  So  SCHLOTTMANN;  Kaum  glauht  es.  De- 
LITZSCH,  better:  vnd  verbleibt  nicht,  stands  not  still ;  UmBREIT: 
und  hilt  nicht  Stand.  So  Dillmann.  This  corresponds  well 
to  the  primary  sense  of  fOXi    TDXrii  which  is  firmness, 

whence  comes  the  idea  of  faith.  He  does  not  stand  firm  (he  is 
restless,  comp  I JT  above).  Conant's  references  to  ix.  16 ; 
xxix.  12,  deserve  attention,  but  the  context  hero  makes  a 
great  difference.  The  rendering,  he  cannot  believe  it,  goes  too 
much  into  the  horse's  subjective,  or  his  imagination,  to  have 
force  when  all  else  is  so  outwardly  descriptive.  It  sounds, 
moreover,  tame  and  forced  :  he  cannot  believe  it ;  why  not  ? 
He  has  heard  trumpets  sound  often  enough.  The  other  view 
whilst  agreeing  with  the  clearest  senses  of  rDNH   brings 

every  thing  else  into  harmony,  besides  shedding  an  unmis- 
takable light  on  the  first  clause.  It  is  in  the  beginning,  or 
in  an  interval  of  the  battle.  The  trumpets,  aa  is  usual  in 
cavalry  tactics,  are  giving  the  marshalling  signals,  but  the 
time  is  not  quite  come  for  the  signal  of  the  grand  charge. 
The  war-horse  bites  the  ground  in  his  impatience,  and,  at 
every  sound,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  hold  him.  An  admi- 
rable classical  illustration  of  this  is  one  given  in  a  previous 
note  (19  ver.  20)  from  Virg.  Georg.  III.  83.  It  is  cited  by  Co- 
nant,  and  it  should  have  led  him,  we  think  to  the  other  view 
of  |'QX\ 

25  Ver.  26.  Soars  aloft.  *UX-  In  altum  eni»us  est — 
sich  emporschwingen,  Gesenids.  It  is  a  stronger  and  more 
poetical  word  than  ^1^. 

29  Ver.  29.  His  piercing  eye.  This  rendering  and 
the  epithet  are  chosen  as  giving  nothing  more  than  the  clear 
etymological  sense  of  "1£)n.     Literally,  digs,  penetrates. 

27  Ver.  30.  Suck.  IJ^Sj?'  an  intensive  form  from  ^H, 
for  which  some  would  read  1J,'7_i' /',  and  others  1_J,'7j!7. 
It  is  an  ocomatope,  either  way,  denoting  a  most  voracious 
sucking  or  swallowing. 


i 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


1C3 


Chapter  XL. 

1      And  Jehovah  answered^  Job  from  the 
whirlwind  and  said : 

2  As  censurer/  with  the  Omnipotent  to  strive  1 
Contender  with  Eloah  !  let  him  answer  it. 

3  And  Job  answered'  Jehovah  and  said  : 

4  Lo  I  am  vile/  what  shall  I  answer  thee  ? 
My  hand  upon  my  mouth  I  lay. 

5  Once  have  I  spoken — I  cannot  reply — 
Yea  twice,*  but  I  will  add  no  more. 

6  Then  Jehovah  answered  Job  out  of  the  storm-cloud  and  said 

7  Now  like  a  strong  man  gird  thy  loins  ; 

'Tis  I  who  ask  thee  ;  tell  me  what  thou  knowest. 

8  "Wilt  thou  annul  my  right? 

Condemn  me  that  thou  raay'st  be  justified  ? 

9  Hast  thou  an  arm  like  God  ? 

Or  canst  thou  thunder  with  a  voice  like  Him  ? 

10  Put  on  thee  now  thy  glory  and  thy  pride ; 
With  majesty  and  beauty  deck  thyself. 

11  Then  send  abroad  thy  o'erflowing  wrath  ; 
And  look  on  every  proud  one, — bring  him  low. 

12  Behold  the  lofty^ — humble  him  ; 
Tread  down  the  wicked  in  their'^  place. 

13  Together  hide  them  in  the  dust, — 
Their  faces  in  the  darkness^  bind ; 

14  Then,  too,  will  I  confess'  to  thee, 
Thine  own  right  hand  can  save. 

15  Behold  Behemoth'"  now. 


1  Ver.l.  And  JehoTah  answered.  A  pause  seems 
intended  here.  The  voice  ceases  for  a  while,  but  soon  i3  it 
heard  again  from  the  tornado  cloud  in  a  somewhat  severer 
strain,  though  immediately  turning  again  to  a  tone  of  re- 
spect and  encouragement  for  Job.  The  opening  words  are 
exclamatory,  commencing  with  the  abrupt  use  of  the  infi- 
nitive. 

a  Ver,  2.  Censurer.  '^)Q^'  was  taken  by  the  old  ver- 
sions, and  the  old  commentators  generally,  as  a  verb,  al- 
though of  an  anomalous  form.  Gesenius  satisfactorily  shows 
it  to  be  a  noun  of  the  form    TISJI,   with  an  intensive  mean- 

ins:  rebviJcer,  censurer, 

3  Ver.  3.  Answered ;  as  though  called  out  in  answer 
to  the  njJJ^'  above.  , 

*  Ver.  4.  IjO  I  am  vile.    'r\7p:  Levis  mm;  I  am  light, 

^-of  small  account :  Lat.  «t7is  in  the  sense  of  cheapness,  and 
carrving  also  the  idea  expressed  by  the  English  word  used 
by  E.  V. 

B  Vor.  5.  Xea  twice.  Rashi  refers  this  to  two  particu- 
lar speeches  of  Job,  ix.  22,  23  (see  Int.  Theism,  p.  36),  but  it 
is  evidently  a  general  formula  for  repeated  utterance. 


«  Ver.  12.  Betaold  the  lofty.  Compare  Isaiah  ii.  12. 
17,  and  the  speech  of  Artabanus,  Herodotus  vii.  10.  It  abounds 
in  Orientalisms,  as  indeed  Herodotus  does  in  other  places 
more  than  any  other  Greek  writer. 

1  Ver.  12.  In  their  place.  DnPin.  See  Note  xxxiv. 
2,6;  xxxvi.  20. 

8  Ver.  13.  Darkness.    For  the  force  of  ?^0I3  compare 

XX.  26    VJISXS    pD£3   "Ityn    VD-    It  mac?  mean  here  the 

deepest  dungeons  into  which  prnud  tyrants  are  8ometim«fl 
thrown  in  God's  retributive  providence.  Job  had  charged 
Him  with  giving  up  the  world  into  the  hands  of  the  wicked, 
ix.  24. 

»  Ver.  14.  Confess  to  thee.  The  later  commentators 
render  TlIX  "  I  will  praise  Thee."    E.  V.,  "  confeas  to  Thee," 

or  profess — without  the  need  of  any  preposition. 

10  Ver.  15.  Behemoth.  Most  commentators  have  re- 
garded this  word  as  intensive  plural  of  710113  (big  ox).  This 
seems  to  suit  very  welt  a  monster  of  the  grass-feeding  kind  ; 
but  Delitzsch  gives  excellent  reasons  for  regarding  it  as  a 
Hebraized  Egyptian  word  p-eke-mau — river  ox.  It  should 
rather  be  called  boupolamos,  as  it  baa  no  reference  to  a  horse. 


164 


THE   BOOK  OF  JOB. 


16 


18 


19 


20 


21 


99 


9S 


24 


Whom  I  have  made  with  thee  ; 
Just  like  the  peaceful  ox  he  eateth"  grass. 
Behold,  what  might  is  in  his  loins ; 
The  muscles  of  his  belly,^^ — there  his  strength. 
Like  to  a  cedar"  waveth  he  his  tail, 
AVhilst  woven  firm  the  sinews  of  his^*  thighs. 
His  bones'*  are  tubes  of  brass, 
His  limbs  like  iron  bars. 
Chief  is  he  of  the  ways  of  God ; 
It  is  his  Maker  who  brings  nigh^®  His  sword  ; 
And  yet"  the  hills  his  pasturage  ; 
Whilst  round  him  sport  the  species  of  the  plain. 
Beneath  the  lote  trees  lies  he  down  to  rest. 
In  covert  of  the  reed — the  (cooling)  fen. 
They  weave  for  him  his  shade, 
Whilst  round  him  spread  the  willows  of  the  stream. 
Lo,  the  flood  swells,  he  startles  not ; 
Fearless  although  a'^  Jordan  dash  against  his  mouth- 
It  is  as  though  he  took  it  with  his'®  eyes, 
As  with  his  nose  he  pierceth  through  the  nets. 


Since  Bochart's  very  full  di'ciission,  there  has  hardly  been 
any  doubt  about  the  animal  intended  here.  Parts  of  the  de- 
scription following  can  in  no  way  be  accommodated  to  the 
elephant.  The  obj  ection  of  its  being  an  an  iraal  not  found  in  the 
land  of  tJz,  applies  equally  to  both,  and  is  of  no  force  in  either 
case.  It  was  an  animal  not  common,  not  oft^n  seen  tliere, 
doubtless,  but  certainly  heard  of,  and  in  this  way  well  known 
:w  among  the  wonders  of  the  adjacent  Southern  countries. 
On  this  account,  both  the  river  ox  and  tlie  crocodile  were  bet- 
ter adapted  to  the  design  of  the  address  from  the  fact  of  their 
being  strange  productions  of  neigliboring  lands,  often  heard 
of  from  the  relations  of  travellers,  and  having  the  more  in- 
terest for  that  very  reason. 

11  Ver.  15.  He  eateth  g'rass.  There  is  great  force  in 
thus  bringing  into  the  foreground  of  the  picture  this  simple 
trait  of  the  mighty  animal.  He  is  graminivorous  like  the 
ox.  His  simple  mode  of  life  is  thus  first  given  as  furnisliing 
the  most  impressive  contrast  with  his  huge  size,  his  irre- 
sistible strength,  and  his  immense  powers  of  destruction 
should  he  be  aroused  to  exert  them. 

12  Ver.  16.  The  muscles.  The  rendering  navel,  as 
given  by  E.  V.,  and  the  old  commentators  generally,  would 
require  ~\'^U/  or  '\\^,  as  in  Cant.  vii.  3;  Prov.  iii.  8.    The 

primary  sense  of  firmness  is  quite  common  in  the  Syriac. 
Hence  it  is  well  rendered  mnscle  or  sinew.  "  The  loins  and 
the  belly  are  mentioned  because  they  immediately  call  up  to 
our  imagination,  the  form  of  the  beast's  huge  circumference, 
and  of  the  mighty  pillar-like  feet,  the  whole  assuming  a 
wonderful  and  almost  quadrangular  aspect."   Sohlottmann. 

13  Ver.  17.  Waveth  he.  It  seems  like  an  unnecessary 
resort  to  the  Arabic  to  get  a  meaning  for  so  common  and  so 
significant  a  verb  as  T'Sri)  especially  when  we  consider  the 

contrast,  which  is  between  the  unyielding  firmness  of  his 
huge  thighs,  and  the  flexibility  of  his  tail,  whether  sliort  or 
long.     V*3n    '"  iviU,  here,  to  move  at  pleasure.     It  obej's  the 

slightest  volition,  huge  as  it  may  be.  The  waving  cedar, or 
corlar-branch,  is  used  to  indicate  this.  We  cannot  believe 
that  stumpiness,  as  some  make  it,  is  in  either  case  the  point 
of  the  comparison. 

1*  Ver.  17.  IIi.4  thig'hs.  This  is  the  common  Arabian 
sense  of  nn£3  wlien  thus  used.  If  that  of  E.  V.  is  correct, 
it  is  probably  an  euphemism  from  the  old  Hebrew  sense — 
verenda — pudenda. 

16  Ver.  18.  Bones— limbs.  The  words  Qi'J?  and 
D1J  are  each  commonly  rendered  bone;  but  in  such  a  de- 
scription as  this  they  must  bo  taken  to  mean  things  differ- 
CLt  thougli  similar.  The  latter  word  may  have  been  intended 
for  the  ribs  or  more  flexible  bones,  or  the  limbs  generally, 
as  Ees.^n  renders  it: 

Ses  membrea  sent  dos  barres  de  fer. 


16  Ver.  19.  Brin$?s  nig'h  his  sword.  This  is  the 
most  literal  rendering  that  can  be  given.  According  to  E, 
v.,  and  most  of  the  older  commentators  cited  in  Poole's  Sy- 
nopsis, it  means  that  God  only  can  reach  him  with  tlio 
sword.  If  it  is  the  hippopotamus  it  becomes  very  clear.  Tlie 
folds  of  his  skin  are  so  thick  that  no  human  arm  can  drive 
tlie  sword  through  them.  Even  the  most  powerful  of  mo- 
dern shooting  weapons  fail  unless  aimed  at  the  eye,  or  some 
known  vital  part:  Tlie  later  authorities,  Umbreit,  Schlott- 
MAN\,  PiLLMANN,  etc.,  render  it:  His  Maker  reaches  to  him 
(gives  him)  his  sword  (Behemoth's  sword).  The  old  render- 
ing seems  better  for  the  reason  above   given.    The  absence 

of  the  pronoun  and  preposition,  1 7,  or  V  7N,  is  a  difficulty, 
but  less  to  the  old  rendering  than  to  the  new.  Delitzsch 
endeavors  to  obviate  this  by  saying  that  the  language  does 
not  literally  teach  the  giving  (reaching)  his  sword  to  him, 
but  creating  him  with  it.  Why  then  is  such  a  common  word 
^J'  used  in  such  an  uncommon  way?     Moreover,  there  is 

nothing  about  the  hippopotamus  tliat  can  be  called  a  sword. 
There  are  a  couple  of  gigantic  incisors  with  which  he  reaps 
the  grass,  but  they  would  never  suggest  the  idea  of  a  sword. 
Dklitzsch  compares  them  to  sickles  (oipirr),  harjni  =  3111 
hereb)  but  there  are  two  of  them,  and  that  would  require  the 
dual  or  the  plural  (his  two  swords  or  sickles)  especially  in 
an  account  so  graphic  as  this. 

1'  Ver.  20.  AimI  yet.  ''0,  here,  is  commonly  rendered 
for,  deitu,  because,  as  though  his  feeding  on  the  hills,  with 
other  animals  around  him,  gave  a  reason  for  his  being  called 
"  cliief  of  tlie  ways  of  God,"  ver.  19,  or  for  W'hat  is  said  in  the 
second  clause,  whichever  meaning  we  attach  to  it.  This  is 
very  unsatisfactory.  It  rather  seems  to  have  an  adversative 
sense.  The  primary  office  of  the  particle  '3  is  to  call  atten- 
tion to  anything.  This  it  does  by  showing  a  reason  or  i»o- 
tive,  most  frequently  a  reason  for,  but,  oftentimes  a  reason 
against;  as  has  before  been  remarked.  In  the  first  case  it  is 
rendered  for,  because,  etc. ;  in  the  second,  nlthouffh,  yet,  not- 
vithslandbKj.  This  seems  to  make  the  best  sRUse,  and  the 
best  connection  in  this  place.  It  calls  attention  to  the 
peaceful  nature  of  Behemoth,  nntirilhstanding  ''he  is  chief  of 
the  ways  of  God,"  and  notwithslamling  the  fact  that  superhu- 
man strength  alone  can  pierce  the  strong  fortifications  fur- 
nished by  the  thickness  and  firmness  of  his  skin.  It  is 
a  very  striking  picture,  this  immense  animal  peacefully  feed- 
ing on  grass,  and  the  weaker  species  sporting  beside  him. 

13  A'er.  23.  A  Jordan.  The  mention  of  the  Jordan,  al- 
though he  is  not  a  resident  i;.ear  it,  is  all  the  more  natural 
and  the  more  impressive  for  the  reasons  given  at  the  end  of 
Note  10,  ver.  15.  Your  Jordan,  large  as  you  may  think  it  to 
be,  he  would  regard  as  of  little  account. 

19  Ver.  24.  As  though  he  took  It  with  his 
eyes.  That  is,  the  swelling  river.  The  idea  of  irony,  that 
common  resort  in  difficulty,  seems  wholly  out  of  place  hero. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


1G5 


The  version  above  given  is  very  literal ;  the  making  it  com- 
parative is  warranted  by  the  context,  whilst  the  clue  to  the 
gecoml  clause,  and  to  the  connection,  wo  think,  is  found  in 
the  idea  of  an  intended  contrast  between  nose  and  eves.  lie 
calmly  looks  at  the  swelling  river  without  being  startled.  IIo 
takes  it  all  in  his  eye.    It  is  certainly  an  easier  and  more  na- 


tural metaphor  than  the  swallowing  the  ground  metaphori- 
cally by  the  war-horse  xxxix.  24.  Just  so  his  huge  rooting 
proboscis  disdains  every  species  of  snare.  As  the  irony 
breaks  up  all  connection  between  vers.  23  and  24.  so  the 
other  view  of  his  easy  capture  is  not  only  at  war  with  facts, 
but  seems  to  bolittlu  the  whole  of  the  preceding  description. 


Chapter  XLI. 


3. 


10 


11 


With  a  hook  canst  thou  draw  out  Leviathan, 
Or  with  a  line  thou  lettest  down,  his'  tongue  ? 
A  rush  branch  through  his  nostrils  canst  thou  place  ? 
Or  with  the  thorny  spine  bore  through  his  nose  ? 
Will  he  make  many  prayers  to  thee  ? 
Or  will  he  say  soft  things  to  thee  ? 
Or  with  thee  make  a  covenant. 
That  thou  should'st  take  him  for  thy  slave  forever  ? 
Wilt  thou  disport  with  him  as  with  a  bird  ? 
Or  bind  him  (as  a  plaything)  for  thy  maidens 
The  caravans,'*  will  they  make  trade  for  him  ? 
And  then  retaiP  him  to  the*  Canaauites  ? 
With  barbed  irons  canst  thou  fill  his  skin.  ? 
His  head  with  fishing^  spears  ? 
Upon  him  lay  thy  hand  ; 
Tliiuk  of  the  battle— do  no  more. 
Behold  the  hope  (of  taking  him)  is  vain  ; 
Yea  at  the  very  sight  is  one  cast  down. 
There  is  none  so  desperate  to  stir®  him  up ; 
Before  Me  then  (his''  Maker)  who  shall  stand  ? 
Who  hath  first  given,  that  I  should  him  repay  ? 
Since  every  thing  beneath  the  heavens  is  mine  ? 


12      But  I  must  not  in  silence®  pass  his  limbs, 


I  1  Ver.  1.    His  tongne.    Schlottmann  makes   Tlty? 

the  object  of  J^'ptJTi  ■"  "  press  down  his  tongue  with  a  cord." 

Bo  Umbreit.    Deutzsch:  "sink  his  tongue  into  the  line." 

Our  E.  V.  is  clearer  and  more  grammatical  in  making  |1ty  7 

the  object  of  TtJ'D  the  verb  in  the  first  clause,  and  taking 

S^n^  as  DDn^.    The  verb  J^'pl^n  would  then  be  used 

relatively:  which  thou  sinkest;  thus  keeping  its  usual  sense 
as  in  Ezek.  xxxii.  14.  The  other  rendering  would  refer  to 
the  tongue  after  he  is  drawn  out,  but  that  does  not  agree 
with  J^'ptyri,   which  means  to  sink   in  the  water.    It  is 

the  thick  tongue  of  the  crocodile,  into  which  the  hook 
(nSn  hakka)  would  most  readily  fasten  itself,  Bhould  he  at- 

T  ~ 

tempt  to  swallow  the  bait. 

2  Ver.  6.  The  caravans.  The  modem  idea  of  guilds, 
or  partnerships,  has  no  place  here.  The  sense  used  for  71*^3 
is  the  true  one  as  found  in  Pent.  ii.  6;  Hos.  iii.  2,  and  in  the 
frequent  Arabic  use  of  the  Illd  conjugation. 

3  Ver.  6.  Retail.  Hebrew  ini^n%  <"•<  Mmnp — divide 
him  into  smaller  portions. 

*  Ver.  6.  The  Canaanites.  So  Delitzsch,  Ewaid, 
Schlottmann.  There  is  no  reason  for  departing  from  the 
usual  sense.  The  passage  reminds  us  of  the  caravans,  which, 
in  Joseph's  time,  went  down  to  Egypt  (Gen.  xliii.  11)  with 
Tarious  commodities,  in  return  for  which  they  carried  back 


to  the  people  products  of  Egypt,  among  which,  most  proba- 
bly, were  fish  from  the  Nile.  It  is  an  evidence  of  tlie  anti- 
quity of  the  book,  unless  there  is  interposed  the  objection, 
which  grows  weaker  the  more  it  is  studied,  tliat  the  writer 
cunningly  adapts  everything  to  the  patriarchal  times,  with- 
out ever  forgetting  himself,  or  failing  in  any  part  of  his  pic- 
ture. I  , 
6  Ver.  7.  Fishing  spears.    D'JI    7^7]^,    so  called 

from  their  sharp  ringing  or  whizzing  sounds. 
6  Ver.  10.  Xoneso  desperate.    "10X  and  "^J^X 

T  :  -  ■  "^  .•  " 

fierce,  recklens,  cruel,  atrox.  See  Prov.  v.  9;  xvii.ll;  Isaiah 
xiii.  9;  Jerem.  x.xx.  14;  Lam.  iv.  3;  Pent,  xxxii.  33;  Job 
XXX.  21.    Its  use  here,  in  connection  with  the  word  1JT1_^", 

affords  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  phrase  fjTw    "^^L' 

Itt:  •  •• 
to  rouse  Leviathan  (ch.  iii.  8)  as  the  translator  has  rendered  it 
in  that  passage  :  readii  to  roxise  Leviathan  ;  most  desperate  or 
despairing  men.  With  such  an  exegesis,  furnished  by  the 
book  itself,  and  in  the  very  words,  it  seems  unnecessary  to 
resort  to  that  far-fetched  idea  of  some  later  commentators, 
namely,  the  anti-liebraic  and  anti-patriarchal  notion  of  "  en- 
chanters who  rouse  up  the  dragon  to  swallow  the  sun  in  an 
eclipse." 

'  Ver.  10.  (His  Maker.')  The  transition  is  so  sudden 
that  the  words  in  brackets  do  no  more  than  give  its  force. 

8  Ver.  12.  In  silence  pass;  or  be  silent  about.  De- 
litzsch, although  giving  this  rendering,  seems  to  .admit  that 
it  is  tame.    It  will  seem  so  unless  we  keep  in  mind  the  con- 


166 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


His  strength,  his  well-proportioned®  build. 

13  His  coat  of  mail,'"  who  hath  revealed  its  front  ? 
The  doubling  of  his  jaws,"  who  enters  there  ? 

14  The  doors  that  shut  his  face,  who  opens  them  ? 
The  circuits  of  his  teeth — how'^  terrible  ! 

15  'Tis  a  proud  sight,"  the  grooves  that  form  his  shield ; 
Each  one  a  seal,  shut  close  and  firmly  bound. 

16  So  near  do  they  to  one  another  join. 
The  very  wind  between  them  cannot  pass. 

17  Each  to  his  fellow  cleaves ; 

Firmly  they  hold  ;  there  is  no  parting  them. 

18  His  sneezings"  sparkle  with  the  light ; 
His  eyes  are  like  the  eyelids  of  the  dawn. 

19  Forth  from  his  mouth  go  burning'*  lamps, 
And  sparks  of  fire  set'®  free. 

20  Out  of  his  nostrils  goeth  forth  a  smoke ; 
As  from  a  caldron  blown,  or  seething'''  pot. 

21  His  breath  enkindleth  coals ; 

A  tongue"  of  flame  seems  issuing  from  his  mouth. 


nection  of  thought.  The  anthropopathisms  of  the  passage 
do  not,  as  we  have  seen,  at  all  detract  from  the  idea  of  a  Di- 
vine speaker.  The  two  preceding  verses  contained  an  excla- 
mation, as  though  God,  speaking  more  hmnano,  makes  a  sud- 
den application  of  what  had  been  said,  turning,  as  it  were, 
for  a  moment,  from  this  mighty  work  of  His  to  recall  the 
hearer  to  a  remembrance  of  his  own  infinitely  greater  power. 
This  most  briefly  done,  he  resumes  again  the  description, 
coming  back  to  it  as  to  something  that  might  have  been 
passed  over:  "I  must  not  omit:"  "  I  must  not  keep  silence 
about." 

9  Ver.  12.  His  well-proportioned  bnild.  The 
reading  contains  both  ideas  about  which  commentators 
slightly  vary,  whether  it  be    VT}   a  measure,  or  rn  =  fH, 

grace,  beavtt/.  Both  may  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the 
word  in  either,  though  one  is  predominant  in  each.    TIJ,'  • 

arra?/,  _^?ness  of  arrangement.  Hence  order,  proportion.  The 
crocodile  is  not  beautiful  strictly,  but  there  is  something 
very  regular  in  his  build.  , 

10  Ver.  13.    His  coat  of  mail.    W^yy,   his  thick 

scaly  hide,  and  esppciftlly  the  front  of  it,  or  that  strong  part 
of  it  which  covers  his  face  and  teeth. 
"  Ver.  13.  Tlie  doubling  Of  bis  jaw.    Heb.   |p1 

primarily  a  bit  or  bridle,  here  put  for  the  jaw  or  jaws  in 
which  it  is  inserted. 

12  Ver.  14.  How  terrible  1    Kenan: 

Autour  de  ses  dents  habite  la  terreur. 

13  Ver.  15.  »Tis  a  proud  sigtat.    MIXJ.    Lit.,  pride, 

glory.  The  reference  is  to  the  curious  contexture  of  his 
scales. 

1*  Ver.  18.  His  sneezings.  It  more  properly  means 
his  water  spoulimjn,  which  sparkle  in  the  light  of  the  sun,  es- 
pecially in  the  early  morning  to  which  the  second  clause  re- 
fers. See  ch.  iii.  19.  See  Schlottmann's  reference  to  Aris- 
totle. 

15  Ver.  19.  Bnrnini^  lamps.  The  translation  of  E. 
v.,  the  most  literal,  and  better  corresponding  to  the  appear- 
ance than  flames  or  sparks.  Schlottmann,  Fachel.  The 
glistening  bubbles  on  the  water.  There  is  hyperbole,  in- 
deed, but  truthful  hyperbole,  because  just  what  such  pheno- 
mena would  suggest.  , 

i«  Ver.  19.  Set  free.     1J37Dr\\  make  fh.Hr  escape. 

V  Ver.  20.  Seething  pot.  E.V.;  though  applied  to 
in-  Dr.  CoNANT  renders  jIDJK  reeds  (a  kettle  with  kin- 
dled reeds).  The  construction  seems  against  it.  pojN  has 
the  appearance  here  of  the  name  of  some  vessel  like   nn 


although  the  other  sense  has  more  examples.  The  primary 
idea  of  ^DJN  is  fermentation,  heat,  boiling.  Hence  comes 
□  JK  warm,  stagnant  water,  full  of  air  bubbles,  probably — 

T  T 

pains,  marsh.  Thence  the  name  for  that  which  grows  in 
such  damp  places,  the  reed  or  flag, -very  ill  adapted  to  making 
a  fire  of.  Hence  the  sense  of  a  boiling  i^essel  derived  directly 
from  the  primary  idea.  It  is  an  example  of  the  variety  of 
verbal  branches  that  may  grow  from  one  root. 

18  Ver.  21.  A  tongue  of  flame.    SH;  does  not  of  it- 
self mean  fire ;  but  rather  a  splendor  in  the  shape  of  a  tongue 
or  prolonged  stream   flickering  and   waving  like  a  licking 
to.igue.     Hence   the   classical   figure   lambena  flamma.    We 
reed  not  trouble  ourselves   about  the  scientific  accuracy  of 
this  description  ;  neither  on  that  account  are  we  to  discard 
it  as  hyperbolical,   or  unworthy  of  a  Divine  address.    God 
should  talk  scientifically,  that  is,  accurately,  it  is  said,  if  He 
speaks  at  all.    But  when  will  scientific  language  be  settled 
so  as  to  be  never  unsettled  ?     Besides,  this  is  emotional  lan- 
guage, a  Divine  painting,  as  we  have  said,  wholly  descriptive 
so  as  to  produce  a  subjective  or  emotional   effect.     It  is  ad- 
dressed to  the  feeling  as  the  most  truthful  part  of  our  na- 
ture.    Such  is  this  emotional  state   which  the  very  sight  of 
the  animal,  especially  in  some  peculiar  positions,  produces 
in  the  mind.    It  was  this  which  gave  rise  to  the  description 
of  Achilles   Tatius  as  cited  by  Schlottmann  :  fiujcTrjp  ini 
fj-eya  Kexv^^t  "<'■'■  nv(MV  TruptoSr]  Kanvov  u?  otto  7n)y^s  ttv- 
pos:  "  a  nostril  gaping  to  an  immense  extent,  and  breathing 
out  a  flaming  smoke  as  from  a  fountain  of  fire."    Travellers 
who  mean  to  be  strictly  truthful  are  often  under  this  influ- 
ence, and  their  wonderful  descriptions   thus  produced,  are 
sometimes   nearer  to  the  life,  in  tlie  sense   mentioned,  than 
the  iHost  statistical  accounts.     Let  any  one  compare,  for  ex- 
ample, the  present  picture  of  the  animal  with  the   most  sci- 
entific record  of  the  creature,  presented   with   an   idealess 
accuracy  in  their  scientific  technics  :    "  Crocodile,  genus  saiir 
rianmn,  reptile  ;  cauda  elongnta,  etc. ;  or  to  put  it  into  Latin 
English:  "  the  vertebras  concave  anteriorly,  convex   poste- 
riorly,   having  intercalated  processes,  the  lower  jaw  longer 
than  the  cranium — the  condyles  of  the  temporal   bones  cor- 
responding to  ossa  quadrata   placed   behind  the  articulation 
of  the  head,"  etc.,  etc.    All  well  enough  as  minutes  or  memo- 
rial measurements  of  the  creature,  and  very  useful  in  their 
way.     But  then  let  the  reader  of  such  an  account  see  a  real 
live  crocodile  just  rising  out  of  the  depths,  as  described  by  a 
traveller  whom   Schlottmann  quotes:     Ein    dicker  Bauch 
stromte  aus  soinen  weitgeofneten   Nasenlbchern  mit  einem 
Gerausche  welches  beinahe  die  Erde  erschiitterte:    A  thick 
smoke  streamed  out  of  bis  wide-opened  nostril  holes,  with  a 
roaring  which  almost  made  the  earth  to  tremble."    Or  let 
him  compare  it  with  th(» impression,  — the  truthful   impres- 
sion we  mean, — made  by  this  sublime  description  in  the 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


1G7 


22  Strength  dwelleth  ever  in  his  neck  ; 
Before  him  (as  a  courier)  terror'®  runs  ; 

23  His  fleshy  folds,  how  firmly  do  they  cleave ! 
Hard  bound  upon  him — all  immovable. 

24  His  heart  is  molten  as  a  stone  ; 

Yea,  like  the  nether  millstone  petrified. 

25  "W  hene'er  he  rises  up  the  mighty  are  afraid ; 
In  breaking  terrors  go  they  all  astray. 

26  Though  one  may  reach™  him  with  the  sword,  it  holdeth  not ; 
Nor  spear  avails,  nor  dart,  nor  coat  of  mail. 

27  The  iron  he  esteems  as  straw, 
And  brass  as  brittle  wood. 

28  The  archer  cannot  make  him  flee  ; 
Sling-stones  are  turned^'  to  chaff". 

29  Like  stubble  are  they  held,"  the  ponderous  mace, 
The  shaking  of  the  spear — he  laughs  at  all. 

80  Sharp  pointed  shards'^  beneath  him  lie  ; 

A  threshing  drag  he  spreads  upon  the  mire. 

81  Like  a  caldron  causes  he  the  deep  to  foam, 
Or  like  an  ointment  pot,  the^*  !Nile. 

82  Behind  he  makes  a  sparkling  path  to  shine ; 
One  takes  the  water  flood  for  hoary  hair. 

83  On  earth  there  is  none  to  be  compared  with  him, 
Created  without  fear. 

84  On  all  high  things^*  he  looketh  (fearlessly), 
Himself  the  king  o'er  all  the  sons^  of  pride. 


Book  of  Job.  It  would  at  once  decide  the  qnestion  of  the 
higher,  that  is,  the  emotional  truthfulness.  And  here  the 
remark  has  place  that  in  speaking  of  anthropopathic  lan- 
guage we  are  to  avoid  the  idea  of  any  pretense,  or  mei-e  accom- 
modation on  the  part  of  God,  as  of  a  parent  to  children  in  a 
childish  way,  or  of  a  wise  man  condescending  to  the  use  of 
incorrect  language  to  the  ignorant.  No,  it  is  the  Infinite 
coming  really  down  into  the  finite  sphere,  as  He  roust  be 
able  to  do  if  He  is  truly  Infinite  and  "  can  do  all  things."  It 
is  the  parent,  not  talking  childish  simply,  but  really  becoming 
the  child,  for  the  moment,  and  so  speaking  in  hU  own,  as  he 
speaks  in  the  child's  vernacular.  Can  we  have  any  difficulty 
here,  after  knowing  that  the  Infinite  Word  became  flesh, 
and  took  our  human  tabernacle,  and  in  all  things  felt  and 
spoke,  earnestly  and  sincerely,  as  we  fe^l  and  speak,  yet  never, 
for  a  moment,  parting  from  His  eternal  and  essential  Deity  1 

19  Ver.  22.  Terror  rnns.  Not  the  terror  of  the  fugi- 
tive merely,  but  Terror  personified  as  the  avant  coureuroi  the 
mighty  beast,  running  joyfully,  or  dancing  before  him.  In 
some  versions    yn    may   have  been   taken  for  Vn.    But 

though  the  latter  word  only  occurs  once,  its  significance 
would  be  most  plain,  were  it  not  so  clear  in  the  Syriac  and 
the  Arabic.     PIDXI    is   the   extreme  terror  that  produces 

faintness.    Eenan's  rendering  is  very  vivid : 
Devant  lui  bondit  la  terreur. 

20  Ver.  26.  May  reach  him.  The  verb  yWT\  in  its 
sense  aiiigit,  assecutus  est,  reached,  come  nigh  to,  closely  resem- 


bles  U^ jn  xl.  19 ;   and  the  similarity  of  the  expressions 

strongly  confirms  the  view  taken  there. 

21  Ver.  28.  Are  turned.    I^ijnj  ;  see  Note  xxviii.  5. 

22  Ver.  29.  Like  stubble  are  they  held.  )2^r\2 
This  plural  verb  seems  to  have  nnir\  alone  for  its  subject, 
but  it  belongs  as  well  to  jn'3  that  follows. 

23  Ver.  30.  Sharp  pointed  shards,  j^^lH    Hnn 

V  T  "  ~ 

sharp  points  of  broken  potsherds,  like  th.at  mentioned  ii.  8. 
which  "Job  took  to  scrape  himself  with," — a  number  of  times 
used  in  Scripture  to  express  fragmentary  iir  liroken  things 
But  does  it  mean  any  parts  of  the  animal,  as  some  think  :  the 
under  or  belly  scales  that  leave  their  mark  upon  the  miry 
bed  of  the  river,  (as  though  a  thrashing  drag  had  been  drawn 
over  it)  or  rather  sharp  things  below  him  at  the  bottom  of 
the  river?  DELlTZSen  favors  the  former  idea,  together  with 
CoNANT  and  Schlottmann.  The  translator  follows  them, 
though  there  are  strong  objections.  The  belly  scales  are 
not  hard  nor  sharp. 

24  Ver.  31.  The  Nile.  It  is  called  Q'  or  the  sea  by  the 
Arabians,  or  Al-bahar  as  it  is  at  this  day  denoted.  For  Q^ 
thus  used,  see  Kor.  Surat  xx.  39. 

25  Ver.  34.  Everything'  exalted :  Every  animal 
that  seems  to  tower  above  it,  or  every  proud  assailant  who 
thinks  him  an  easy  capture. 

26  Ver.  34.  The  sons  of  pride.  The  proudest  of  the 
wild  beasts.  He  attacks  Behemoth  himself  VDiy,  how- 
ever, is  used  as  descriptive  of  any  very  fierce  wild  beast  of 
the  wilderness  or  of  the  desert.  See  xxviii.  8.  Vdloaik: 
filios  mperbise. 


168 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Chapter  XLII. 

1  Then  Job  answered  Jehovah,  and  said  : 

2  I  know  it  now,  all  things^  are  in  Thy  power. 
No  thought  of  Thine  can  ever  be  withstayed. 

3  "  Who  is  this^  that  without  knowledge  counsel  hides  ?" 
'Tis  I  then^  who  have  spoken  foolishly ; 

Wonders  too  great  for  me,  that  I  knew  not. 

4  But  hear,  O  hear  me  now,*  and  let  me  speak  again. 
"  Tis  I  who  ask  "  (thou  saidst^  it)  "  let  me  know," 

5  By  the  ear's  hearing®  have  I  heard  of  thee ; 
But  now  mine  eyes  behold. 

6  This,  then,^  (mine  only^  word)  :  I  loathe  me,'  I  repent, 
In  dust  and  ashes. 


And  it  was  so  that  after  the  Lord  had  spoken  these  words  unto  Job,  the  Lord 
said  to  Eliphaz  the  Temanite :  "  My  wrath  is  kindled  against  thee,  and  against  thy 
two  friends ;  because  ye  have  not  spoken  unto^"  me  the  thing  that  is  firm,"  as  my 
servant  Job  hath. 

Now  then  take  unto  you  seven  bullocks  and  seven  rams,  and  go  unto  my  ser- 
vant Job,  and  offer  up  a  burnt  offering  for  you.  But^^  his  face  will  I  accept,  that  I 
may  not  deal  with  you  after  your  folly  ;  for  ye  have  not  spoken  unto  me  the  right 
thing,  as  my  servant  Job. 


1  Ver.  2.  All  things  are  in  thy  power.    If  we 

■would  know  the  aim  of  this  address,  or  the  question  it  an- 
swers, and  on  which  commentators  have  so  differed,  we  have 
the  solution  here  in  the  very  words  of  Job.  His  submission 
reveals  the  design  of  this  wondrous  display  of  power.  Job 
certainly  did  not  miss  the  point ;  for  the  whole  object,  (un- 
less, as  Merx  does,  we  suppose  the  whole  dramatic  plan  to 
he  a  failure)  was  to  convince  him  of  it.  And  he  is  convinced. 
He  sees  it  as  he  never  saw  it  before :  Omnipotence  not  to  be 
doubted  or  distrusted  from  suspicion  of  any  fataUty  in  things, 
or  absolute  sovereignty  never  to  be  called  in  question.  See 
more  fully  on  this  in  the  Introduction  on  the  Theism  of  the 
book,  pp.  21-25,  and  40,  41. 

2  Ver.  3  Who  is  this  ?  As  though  the  words  struck 
him  in  a  new  light. 

3  Ver.  3.  'Tis  I  then.  He  repeats  the  words  of  the  Al- 
mighty as  though  he  saw  a  force  in  them  he  never  saw  be- 
fore, and  makes  a  personal  application  of  them  to  himself 
in  a  way  not  expressed,  or  inadequately  exprpssed,  at  their 
former  utterance.  Now  he  confesses  that,  whatever  refe- 
rence they  may  have  had  to  Elihu  or  to  others,  they  certainly 
include  himself.  He  is  the  man  who  has  talked  so  wildly. 
He  says  nothing,  thinks  nothing,  of  others.  He  is  alone  in 
the  presence  of  God  whose  appearance  he  had  invoked.  See 
Remarks  in  Note  on  xxxviii.  2,  and  Int.  Theism,  p.  26. 

*  Ver.  4.  O  hear  me  now.  Intensive  force  of  XJ, 
the  particle  of  entreaty.  He  had  twice  said  he  would  add  no 
more,  xxxi.  40 ;  xl.  5  ;  but  now  he  asks  for  a  single  word, 
and  to  enforce  it,  repeats  the  words  of  the  Almighty  in  the 
2d  clause. 

6  Ver.  4.  (Thon  saidst  it.)  The  feeling  of  the  dra- 
matic action  might  be  enough,  but  these  words  in  brackets 
simply  give  the  meaning  which  the  unimpassioned  reader 
might  mistake.  As  he  had  before  done,  ver.  3,  so  here  Job 
repeats  to  himself  the  language  of  xxxviii.  3  (2d  clause)  in 
the  very  words  as  they  were  uttered  by  God.  It  is  the 
ground  of  the  one  deihmUinn  he  wishes  to  make.     So  Renan. 

9  Ver.  5.  By  the  ear's  hearing'.  A  traditional 
knowledge,  a  traditional  theism.  Now  it  is  something  far 
deeper,  and  clearer,  whether  an  actual  visual  sight  of  some 
Divine  glory,  or  something  so  described,  as  being  as  much 
greater  than  former  knowledge  as  the  sense  of  the  eye  ex- 
cels that  of  the  ear. 


7  Ver.  6.  This  then. 


T3    1^  must  refer  to  this  one 

thing  he  wishes  to  say.  "  It  is  on  this  account  I  asked  Thee 
to  hear  me  as  Thou  hast  given  me  permission."  Propterea. 
For  tnis  one  word.  What  is  in  brackets  simply  indicates 
the  emphasis  of  the  appeal.    This  is  shown  by  the  difficulty 

of  giving  J3    7_J!  any  strictly  logical  meaning  here. 

8  Ver.  6.  (Mine  only  word.)  Belonging  to  the  em- 
phasis. 

9  Ver.  6.  I  loathe  nje.  The  verb  DXD  is  often  used 
without  an  object,  as  it  is  here,  and  there  is  no  reason  why 
it  is  not  to  be  supposed  to  be  a  personal  as  well  as  an  imper- 
sonal object  that  is  understood.  The  rendering,  I  loathe,  ot 
I  reject  U,  that  is,  my  argument,  comes  to  the  same  thing. 

10  Ver.  7.  Spoken  nnto  me.  E.  V.,  and  most  others, 
ancient  and  modern,  render  it  spoken,  de  me,  or  concerning 
me ;  LXX.  ivMTri.6v  fxov ;  Vulgate,  coram  me.  Aden  Ezra 
maintains  that  it  "  pertains  solely  to  the  confession  which 
Job  had  made  unto  God  .and  the  others  had  not :"  and  hence 
he  would  translate  it,  to  me.    The   difference   is  important, 

and  for  the  reason  of  adopting  here  for  '' /X  the  sense  which 
is,  indeed,  the  more  nsnal  and  almost  universal  one,  see  the 
Introduction  on  the  Theism  of  the  book,  page  35.  The  view 
there  taken,  however,  might  be  maintained,  even  if  we  give 

to  7X  the  less  common  sense  of  de,  or  concerning. 
"  Ver.  7.  The  thing'  that  is  firm.    See  also  the 

Int.   Theism,  page  36.    nj1DJ>  primary  sense  firmness,  sto- 

T      : 
biJiti/,  that  lehich  will  stand,  just  the  thing  that  ought  to  be 
said.     The  whole  aspect  of  the  context  gives  the  ide.a  of  some 
single  right  saying  in  distinction   from  an  extended  argu- 
ment. 

»2  Ver.  8.  Bnt  his  face  will  I  accept.  E.  T., 
"  For  bis  face."  The  particle  is  DX  '3)  commonly  ren- 
dered hut,  and  Conant  seems  right  in  saying  that  it  refers  to 
the  implication  in  the  preceding  clause,  namely,  that  their 
prayer  would  not  be  accepted. 


RHYTHMICAL  VERSION. 


169 


9  Then  went  Elipliaz  the  Temanite,  and  Bildad  the  Shiihite,  and  Zophar  the  Naa- 
mathite,  and  did  as  the  Lord  had  spoken  unto  them,  and  the  Lord  accepted  the 
face'^  of  Job. 

10  And  the  Lord  turned  the  captivity  of  Job  when  he  prayed'*  for  his  friends.  And 
the  Lord  increased  all  that  Job  had,  twofold. 

11  Then  there  came  unto  him  all  his  brethren  and  all  bis  sisters,  and  all  that  had 
been  of  his  acquaintance  before,  and  they  did  eat  bread  with  him  in  his  house,  and 
they  mourned  with  him,  and  comforted  him  for  all  the  evil  that  the  Lord  had 
brought  upon  him ;  every  man  also  gave  him  a  piece  of  money,  and  every  one  a 
ring  of  gold. 

12  So  the  Lord  blessed  the  latter  end  of  Job  more  than  his  beginning  ;  for  he  had 
fourteen  thousand  sheep,  and  six  thousand  camels,  and  a  thousand  yoke  of  oxen, 
and  a  thousand  she  asses. 

13  He  had  also  seven  sons  and  three  daughters. 

14  And  he  called  the  name  of  the  first  Jemima,  and  the  name  of  the  second,  Kezia, 
and  the  name  of  the  third  Keren-happuch. 

15  And  in  all  the  land  were  no  women  found  so  fair  as  the  daughters  of  Job  ;  and 
their  father  gave  them  an  inheritance  among  their  brethren. 

IG         And  Job  lived  after  this'*  a  hundred  and  forty  years,  and  saw  his  sons,  and  his 

sons'  sons,  even  four  generations. 
17        So  Job  died  old  and  full  of  years. 


13  Ver.  9.  Tbe  face  of  Job.  To  lift  «j3  the  face  ia 
Bomething  more  than  mere  acceptance,  it  denotes  grace, 
furor. 

w  Ver.  10.  Prayed  for  bis  friends.    Job  was  a 

priest  after  the  order  of  Melchizedeck,  and  so  a  type  of  the 
Great  High  Priest  who  forgave  hia  sins,  and  "  bore  his  infir- 
mities, and  carried  all  his  sicknesses." 

15  Ver.  16.  Liived  after  tbis.  This  does  not  necessa- 
rily mean,  in  addition  to  this.  Such  language  may  denote 
that  he  lived  on,  after  tbis,  until  he  reached  the  age  of  a  hun- 


dred and  forty  years,  making  his  years  seven  less  than  the 
number  of  Jacob's.  There  is  no  one  of  the  patriarchs  who 
lived  as  long  as  the  other  reckoning  would  make  him, — at 
the  least  two  hundred  years.  If,  therefore,  it  was  the  in- 
vention'of  "  tiie  poet,"  the  "  first  poet,"  or  tlie  "  second."  or 
even  the  third  ("  the  Boppelginger  of  the  first,"  as  Delitzsch 
strangely  intimates)  he  would  hiinlly  have  placed  him  so  far 
back.  Moreover,  "sons  and  sons  of  sons,  four  generations," 
would  be  rather  moderate  for  a  longevity  so  great  as  this 
reckoning  would  make. 


ADDENDA. 


SERIES   OP    DISSERTATIONS 


ON  THE 


MORE  DIFFICULT  PASSAGES  OF  THE  BOOK 


QUESTIONS  OF  INTEREST  SUGGESTED  BY  THEM. 


ADDENDA. 


EXCURSUS    I. 

Chap.  XIX.  25-27. 

i  know  that  my  redeemer  lives; 

And  o'er  my  dust,  survivor,  shall  he  stand. 

My  skin  all  gone,  this  [remnant]  they  may  rend, 

But  from  my  flesh  shall  I  Eloah  see; 

Shall  see  him  mine; 

Mine  eyes  shall  see  him — stranger  now  no  more. 

If  this  passage  were  taken  by  itself,  it  might  be  entitled,  "  A  Psalm  of  Job,  the  Suf- 
fering and  the  Tempted  Man  of  God."  It  might  have  for  its  prefatory  motto  |Vjn,  a  raptu- 
turous  Meditation,  or  an  Ecstatic  Burst  of  Joy,  at  the  thought  of  seeing  his  Redeemer,  his 
once  seemingly  alien,  but  now  reconciled,  God.  There  is  something  in  it  which  suggests  the 
glorious  language  at  the  close  of  the  16th  Psalm  : 

Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  Hades ; 

Thou  wilt  not  suffer  thy  Beloved  to  see  cormption. 

Thou  wilt  make  me  know  the  way  of  life; 

Fulness  of  joys  in  thy  presence, 

Glories  at  Thy  right  hand  forever  more. 

That  Psalm  is  entitled  onDD,  which  the  LXX.  have  well  rendered  arrjloypacpia,  a  monu- 
mental engraving,  ox  pillar  writing,  from  the  Hebrew  Dr\3,  to  cut  in,  engrave — not  for  3n00, 
as  some  think,  but  an  independent  root,  wrongly  rendered  maculatus  by  Gesenius,  Jerem. 
ii,  22.  It  is  rather,  "  indelibly  cut  in,"  or  deeply  marked,  as  E.  V.  has  it— the  Syriac  sense 
being  wholly  a  secondary  one,  and  the  name  for  gold,  Ur)2,  coming  from  the  idea  of  coining 
or  stamping.  The  application  of  these  words  to  Christ  by  the  Apostle  Peter  would  warrant 
us  in  styling  it  the  Saviour's  monumental  inscription,  to  be  placed  on  the  holy  sepulchre,  if 
its  site  were  really  known.  The  internal  evidence  warrants  us  in  regarding  these  memorable 
words  of  Job  in  a  similar  light,  whilst  the  language  prefacing  it,  vers.  23,  24,  leaves  no  doubt 
of  its  appropriate  monumental  character,  whether  used  for  the  Redeemer  or  the  redeemed. 
The  conjunction  1  would  not  militate  against  this,  since  it  merely  shows  a  connection  as  it 
stands,  but  becoming  redundant  when  the  passage  is  taken  separately,  like  the  Greek  "on  left 
untranslated  in  New  Testament  quotations. 

The  passage  has  ever  been  regarded  as  a  most  remarkable  one.  In  order  to  its  right  in- 
terpretation, the  first  thing  is  to  determine  the  points  that  are  perfectly  clear.  They  will 
give  us  the  meaning  of  the  rest,  and  of  the  whole.  The  ideas  which  admit  of  no  doubt  may 
be  thus  stated :  1.  Job's  feeling— after  a  season  of  great  despondency— that  he  had  something 
most  important  to  announce  (vers.  23,  24).  An  idea  has  somehow  suddenly  sprung  up  in 
his  mind,  which  he  wishes  so  engraved,  so  cut  in  the  rock,  that  it  may  never  be  lost.  It  is 
something  for  the  world  to  know.  This  alone  is  sufficient  to  show  that  it  is  more  than  a  hope 
of  getting  back  again  his  sheep  and  camels,  as  some  of  the  lowest  Rationalists  regard  it. 
2.  There  is  One  whom  he  calls  his  Goel,  avenger  or  redeemer,  who  will  be  the  power  of  his 
deliverance.  This  Redeemer  is  described  as  p"*??-  one  after  him,  who  is  to  stand,  *i3;i^  iZ^ 
over  dust,  whether  it  means  his  dust,  or  dust  generally,  as  a  name  for  earth,  or  for  the  dead, 


172  ADDENDA.      EXCURSUS  I. 


as  is  the  case  in  other  passages  (see  13>'  'p.pJJ',  dwellers  in  dust,  Isaiah  xxvi.  19;  also  Ps.  xxii. 
30;  Gen.  iii,  19;  Ps.  civ.  29,  et  al.).  3.  There  is  a  clear  allusion  to  his  body,  his  skin,  and 
something  remaining  after  his  skin,  which  is  to  be  destroyed  without  destroying  him.  4.  He 
is  to  see  God.  Language  cannot  be  clearer  than  that  by  which  this  is  expressed.  Two  dis- 
tinct verbs  of  sight  are  used,  and  the  declaration  is  made  three  times  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner.  5.  He  is  to  see  God  reconciled,  no  more  a  stranger,  '^^  or  an  enemy,  *i2f  (as  he 
seems  to  describe  him,  or  some  hostile  power  that  God  permits,  xvi.  9).  The  view  enter- 
tained by  Gesenius,  UxMbreit,  Vaihinger,  Stickel,  Hahn  and  Von  Hoffmann  (as 
above),  and  that  of  ScHLOTTMANN  and  Delitzsch,  referring  IT  to  Job,  come,  in  this  re- 
spect, to  the  same  thing.  6.  There  is  unmistakable  language  expressing  an  ecstatic  rapture 
at  the  thought  conceived,  and  an  ardent  longing  for  its  fulfilment. 

So  far  the  passage  is  clear.  Now,  for  particular  words.  /^J,  ver.  25.  All  render  this 
word  Redeemer.  But  the  Scripture  uses  it  in  two  ways.  The  oldest  sense  of  ^W,  the  Avenger 
of  blood,  comes  directly  from  the  primary  meaning  to  be  stained,  stained  with  blood.  In  this 
sense,  the  ^NJ  is  the  next  of  kin  (Nachmann),  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  murdered  man 
until  he  avenges  him  by  slaying  his  murderer.  This  is  the  idea  on  what  may  be  called  the 
criminal  side  of  the  ancient  jurisprudence.  Thence  it  passes  to  the  civil.  Here  the  Goel, 
the  Nachmann,  the  next  of  kin,  is  the  one  who  buys  back  (redeems)  the  lost  inheritance. 
The  other  is  the  older  usage,  and  it  seems  the  more  strange,  therefore,  that  Olshausen,  as 
quoted  by  Conant,  should  say  so  positively :  "  Der  Blutracher  gehort  in  keiner  weise  hieher." 
On  the  contrary,  everything  points  to  this  idea.  Job  regards  himself  as  one  murdered  by  a 
cruel  enemy,  and  the  prologue,  whether  we  accept  it  historically  or  dramatically,  confirms  it 
in  the  strictest  sense.  Satan  was  his  murderer,  and  the  Goel  is  the  great  Redeemer  promised 
Gen.  iii.  15,  and  of  whom,  as  the  human  Avenger  and  Deliverer  (the  Oedvdpuiror^  a  divine 
kinsman),  some  trace  is  preserved  in  all  mythologies,  besides  appearing  so  prominently  in 
the  Prophets  as  the  "^13J  /X,  the  Militant  or  Hero  Messiah.  The  presence  of  the  avenging 
idea  in  his  mind  is  shown  by  the  language,  xvi.  18 ;  O  Earth,  cover  not  thou  my  blood  (see 
note  on  that  passage).  And  so,  too,  in  regard  to  the  word  |i"'tl^  5  if  a  Hebrew  term  were  to 
be  invented  to  express  Nachmann,  no  one  would  be  more  appropriate  to  it  than  this.  For 
the  best  interpretation  of  "^i^V  '}!  see  Delitzsch.  The  pronoun  being  omitted  does  not 
weaken  the  view.  Its  absence  allows  us  to  regard  it  as  spoken  of  the  human  dust  generally, 
all  the  dead,  although  Job  must  have  had  primary  reference  to  himself.  Ch.  xli.  25  shows 
that  the  phrase  may  be  taken  of  the  earth,  generally,  as  place,  if  the  context  demands  it ; 
but  here,  where  Job  is  speaking  of  his  decaying  and  already  decomposing  body,  everything 
points  to  that  mournful  sense  of  dust  which  is  first  found  in  Gen.  iii.  19,  as  denoting  that  out 
of  which  man  was  formed,  and  to  which  he  returns.  From  this  it  pervades  the  scriptural 
language,  and  becomes  a  name  for  the  material  of  the  human  body,  even  before  death : 
"who  am  but  dust  and  ashes."  The  difficulty  in  regard  to  l3p.J,  a  strong  Piel  verb,  denoting 
sharp  cutting  or  biting,  comes  from  overlooking  the  principle  mentioned  in  the  note  to  vii.  3, 
and  the  illustrations  there  furnished  from  Job  iv.  19;  xviii.  18;  xxxiv.  20;  Ps.  xlix.  15; 
Luke  xii.  20,  and  other  places.  The  same  reason  prevails  here.  The  agent  is  something 
fearful  or  loathsome,  causing  aversion  to  the  very  mentioning  of  the  name.  Our  E.  V.  and 
the  earlier  translations  took  the  right  general  view,  whatever  may  have  been  their  applica- 
tions. The  agent  here  is  most  probably  worms.  It  may  be  that  Job  thought  of  the  worms 
destroying  his  flesh  in  the  grave ;  but  that  is  not  as  likely  as  the  reference  to  the  worms  then 
crawling  on  his  diseased  body,  and  of  which  he  speaks  vii.  6.  They  must  have  been  a  source 
of  great  torment  as  well  as  of  loathing,  and  their  being  something  in  open  sight  would  ac- 
count, along  with  the  other  reason,  for  his  not  naming  them,  except  by  the  implied  pronoun. 
There  may  have  been  a  gesture  (<5«/cr<«:wr) ;  but  there  is  hardly  need  of  the  supposition,  either 
in  regard  to  the  biting  worms  or  the  wretched  fragment  of  a  body.  In  the  case  of  such  ob- 
jects, the  eyes  interpreted  everything,  and  the  fewest  words  were  the  most  impressive.  They 
and  this  are  all  that  is  needed. 

After  my  skin.    This  denotes  the  more  interior  and  vital  parts  of  the  body  until  it  is  all 


JOB  XIX.  25-27.     I  KNOW  THAT  MY  REDEEMER  LIVES.  173 


sore  and  corroded.  The  view  gives  force  to  Schlottmann's  argument,  that  '"^i^'^O  means 
"wi^Aou^  Ais/esA,"  supposed  to  be  all  gone  in  consequence  of  the  process  previously  ima- 
gined. It  was  thought  best  to  render  'Tf  ??  in  the  most  literal  manner,  from  my  flesh;  since 
the  translator  found  it  difficult  to  decide,  with  certainty,  which  of  the  views  taken  of  0  is 
the  right  one  [from  as  &  position,  or  from  as  meaning  without),  and  therefore  left  it  in  Eng- 
lish with  the  same  ambiguity  it  has  in  the  Hebrew.  The  weight  of  evidence,  however,  is  on 
the  side  of  a  total  disembodiment.  And  here  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  true  force  of  the 
passage,  as  testimony,  would  seem  actually  weakened  by  overstraining  it  into  a  dogmatic 
teaching  or  anticipation  of  the  New  Testament  doctrine  of  the  resurrection.  This  would  in- 
volve the  idea  of  an  outward  supernatural  revelation,  made  directly  by  an  outward  divine 
influence  upon  the  mind  ;  for  Job  could  not  have  thought  it  otherwise.  The  other  supposes 
it  an  idea  brought  out  of  him  in  his  extreme  anguish,  his  experience  of  the  vanishing  body 
with  the  soul  yet  vigorous,  and  his  strong  yearning  after  the  reconciled  presence  of  God.  It 
is  such  a  sudden  flashing  uj)  of  hope  as  might  be  believed  to  come  from  such  a  state.  The 
Scripture  has  also  more  power  for  us  in  this  way,  when  we  feci  its  revelations  to  be  thus 
brought  out  of  the  depths  of  the  soul — revelations  all  the  more  divine  by  being  thus,  in  God's 
providence,  pressed  out  of  the  human,  than  if  they  had  been  outwardly  and  mechanically 
given  as  dogmatic  truths. 

Shall  see  hivi  mine;  '7,  for  m,e,  on  my  side;  a  stranger  now  no  more;  IT  J^i,  or  estranged; 
or  as  he  might  have  said,  "'^  vh^  no  longer  an  enemy,  as  he  seemed  to  be  xvi.  9.  For  the  in- 
terpretation of 'pn:]  TiVlJOn^,  there  can  be  nothing  happier  than  that  of  Ewald,  whose  ra- 
tionalizing might  be  almost  forgiven  him  for  the  spiritual  insight  and  enthusiastic  feeling  he 
manifests  in  his  description  of  the  state  of  soul  these  words  express :  So  dass  er  endlich  im 
hochsten  Entzucken  wie  vergehend  ausruft,  0  ich  vergehe  fast  vor  freudigem  Beben  und 
hochster  Sehnsucht  I  "  So  that  finally  in  the  highest  rapture,  like  one  wholly  overcome,  he 
cries  out :  '  O  I  faint,  I  am  almost  gone,  from  joyous  emotion  and  the  high  intensity  of 
desire.' "  (See  Introduction  Theism,  pa.  8,  where  this  passage  is  more  fully  treated  in 
connection  with  Ch.  xiv.  14.)  That  the  full  rendering  given  to  that  impressive  word  1^3  by 
the  translator,  is  not  beyond  its  fair  significance,  will  appear  from  its  use  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  3 : 
"Longs  my  ?,o\x\,  faints  my  soul  (HniD), — "my  heart  and  my  flesh  cry  out,  O  living  God, 
for  thee."  So  Ps.  Ixiii.  2 :  "Thirsts  for  thee  my  soul — longs  for  thee  my  flesh — so  to  see  thy 
glory,  as  I  have  seen  thee  in  the  sanctuary."  Compare  also  Ps.  cxix.  81 :  "  Faints  my  soul 
for  thy  salvation"  ["Wiil  T\r\i2).  And  here  it  may  be  well  to  note  what  it  was  for  which  Job 
so  longed.  It  goes  not  only  beyond  the  common  worldly  good,  but  also  what  might  be 
esteemed  a  high  religious  aspiration.  It  is  not  the  recovery  of  his  lost  oxen  and  camels,  as 
observed  before ;  it  was  not  the  restoration  of  his  family  joys,  though  he  speaks  so  feelingly 
(xvi.  7)  of  his  "  desolated  household ;"  it  is  not  the  thought  of  living  again  merely  in  another 
existence ;  it  is  not  the  bliss  of  that  Vedaic  Paradise  of  flowers  and  sunshine  which  Merx 
describes  as  so  surpassing  the  darker  Shemitic  conceptions  (see  Int.  Theism,  pa.  16).  The 
intense  desire  which  makes  him  faint  away  is  for  reconciliation  with  God,  to  behold  him  as  a 
friend,  a  stranger  now  no  more,  as  one  "whose  favor  is  life,  whose  loving-kindness  is  more 
than  life."  This  was  the  Hebrew  and  Patriarchal  piety  which  we  now  think  so  far  behind 
our  own.  It  appears,  as  has  been  said  (Int.  Theism,  pa.  5),  even  in  their  despondency 
when  the  thought  of  death  as  the  close  of  their  being  had  its  most  mournful  aspect  in  the 
idea  of  bidding  farewell  to  God :  "I  said,  I  shall  no  more  see  Jah,  Jah  (Jehovah  the  Lord), 
in  the  land  of  the  living,"  or  among  the  living;  Hezekiah's  Prayer,  Isaiah  xxxviii.  11. 
At  other  times  it  is  the  soul  consoling  itself  with  the  idea  of  God  surviving.  In  this  vciy 
passage,  "Tl  would  of  itself  express  this,  but  the  context  demands  it.  It  is  not  that  the  Ee- 
deemer  lives  merely,  or  is  alive,  but  that  he  lives  after  Job,  to  stand  over  and  watch  his 
sacred  dust.  This  is  an  idea  prominent  in  that  most  expressive  paraphrase  of  Watts  which 
some  would  depise  as  uncritical  and  incorrect.  It  is  a  question  of  subordinate  importance 
whether  in  this  passage  of  Job  there  is  taught  dogmatically  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  body  as  held  in  our  Christian  articles,  or  whether  there  is  only  the  thought  of  a  spirit- 


174  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  I. 


ual  beholding  of  the  divine  presence.  "The  power  of  an  endless  life"  (see  Int.  Theism, 
pa.  4),  a  true  resurrection  power,  is  in  it;  and  we  may,  therefore,  regard  the  spirit  of  the 
words  as  expressed  in  those  lines  of  the  unpretending  hymnist  that  may  be  found  engraved, 
as  Job  wished  it  engraved,  in  so  many  of  our  rural  burying-grounds : 

God  my  Redeemer  ever  lives, 

And  often  from  the  skies, 
Looks  down  and  watches  o'er  my  dust. 

Till  He  shall  bid  it  rise. 

Though  greedy  worms  devour  my  skin. 

And  gnaw  my  wasting  flesh, 
Yet  He  will  build  my  bones  again, 

And  clothe  them  all  afresh. 

.  Then  shall  I  see  my  Saviour's  face. 

With  strong  immortal  eyes, 
And  feast  upon  his  unknown  grace. 
With  rapture  and  surprise. 

Watts'  "  strong  immortal  eyes  "  is  a  happy  attempt  to  give  the  force  of  Job's  thrice-repeated 
beholding;  whilst  the  "rapture  and  surprise"  are  justified  by  the  expressive  Hebrew  words 
he  had  employed,  'pna  TlViD  \1D  :  "My  reins  faint  in  my  bosom." 

This  was  a  turning  point  in  Job's  experience.  He  is  never  afterwards,  as  Sanctius 
remarks,  exactly  the  man  he  was  before,  or  in  the  preceding  parts  of  this  discussion.  He 
never  again  uses  such  language  as  came  from  him,  chap.  iii.  and  xvi.  Occasionally  he  relapses 
into  despondency,  but  it  is  of  an  humbler  and  gentler  kind.  The  dark  hour  is  over;  the 
anger,  the  impatience,  the  bitterness,  seem  gone.  He  still  wonders  at  the  unexplained  mys- 
teries of  God's  providence  towards  the  righteous,  and  the  still  more  inexplicable  enigma  of 
his  dealings  with  evil  doers.  This  appears  in  chapters  xxi.,  xxiv.  and  xxvii. ;  but  in  the 
same  connection,  he  shows  that  he  understands  and  can  describe  their  final  catastrophes  as 
well  as  those  who  had  wrongly  charged  him  with  holding  that  God  actually  and  personally 
favors  the  wicked.  In  chap,  xxiii.,  he  mourns  the  hidings  of  the  divine  countenance;  "0 
that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  him;"  but  it  is  still  with  the  great  hope,  weakened  it  may  be, 
but  not  lost:  "I cannot  trace  him,  but  He  hnoweth  the  way  that  I  take,  and  when  He  hath 
sufficiently  tried  me,  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold."  In  chap,  xxvi.,  he  shows  that  he  can  talk 
of  the  divine  power  and  works  as  loftily  as  Bildad,  though  without  his  pretension.  In  chap, 
xxviii.,  we  have  his  sublime  soliloquy  on  the  unknown  and  unknowable  in  the  divine  wis- 
dom. In  chap,  xxix.,  he  mournfully  recalls  "the  moons  of  old,"  and  mourns  at  the  remem- 
brance of  his  departed  joys.  In  the  most  natural  way,  whilst  disdaining  all  false  humility, 
he  recounts  the  acts  which  had  made  "the  poor  to  bless  him,"  and  "the  widow's  heart  to 
sing  for  joy."  Following  this,  in  that  most  eloquent  vindication,  chap.  xxxi.  where  his  words 
come  to  a  close,  we  find  him  challenging  his  accusers  to  a  review  of  his  life,  and  concluding 
with  a  most  solemn  appeal  to  the  Punisher  of  falsehood  and  Vindicator  of  truth.  It  is  all 
most  truthful,  as  well  as  most  pathetic,  and  so  far  from  seeming  like  boasting,  it  adds  to  the 
power  of  that  most  humble  confession  which  is  brought  from  him,  not  by  the  arguments  of 
his  opponents,  but  by  that  divine  presence  at  which  he  alone  is  melted,  whilst  the  others 
stand  confounded  and  amazed.  Even  here  there  abides  with  him  the  power  of  that  glorious 
hope,  tempering  his  confession,  so  as  to  bring  forth  the  fruit  of  soothing  penitence  instead 
of  fell  despair.  It  was,  in  fact,  this  utterance  of  chap,  xix.,  which  begins  that  preparation 
for  complete  submission,  and  for  the  revelation  of  the  divine  favor,  which  commentators 
have  so  variously  assigned  in  their  artificialand  unappreciative  divisions  of  "  the  drama." 


JOB  XXI.  17.     SOLILOQUIZING  CHARACTER  OF  JOB'S  SPEECHES.  175 


EXCURSUS  II. 

A  Remarkable  Difference  between  the  Speeches  of  Job  and  (hose  of  the  other  Speakers.  The 
Pausing,  Soliloquizing  Character  of  the  former,  and  the  seeming  Unconsciousness  they 
betray  of  Surrounding  Persons.  Bearing  of  this  feature  on  the  alleged  inconsistencies  of 
Chaps,  xxi.-xxviii. 

Chap.  XXI.  17. 

How  OFT  GOES  OUT  THE  LIGHT  OF  'WICKED  MEN. 

This  is  the  rendering  of  our  English  Version,  and  it  is  the  only  one  that  would  have 
been  thought  of,  if  there  had  not  been  supposed  to  be  some  exigentia  loci  that  calls  for 
another.  It  is  the  simplest  and  easiest  translation  of  plain  Hebrew  words  in  the  only  sense 
in  which  they  are  found,  wherever  they  occur  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  This  supposed 
difficulty  is  in  the  apparently  sudden  change  from  a  vivid  description  of  the  impunity  and 
prosperity  of  the  wicked  to  an  equally  vivid  painting  of  their  destruction.  It  may  seem  less 
strange,  however,  when  we  call  to  mind  that  there  is  a  similar  transition,  Ps.  Ixxiii.  The 
wicked  are  there  described  as  prospering :  "  their  eyes  stand  out  with  fatness ;  they  are  not 
in  trouble  as  other  men ;"  the  pious  are  stumbled  at  the  sight,  etc.  Soon  we  have  a  very 
different  strain  commencing  with  that  most  suggestive  particle  '^X :  "  Yes,  verily.  Thou  dost 
set  slippery  places  for  them;  how  are  they  brought  to  desolation  as  in  a  moment  1  they  are 
consumed  with  terrors."  The  transition,  in  itself  considered,  is  equally  striking;  but 
in  the  interval,  which  is  unmeasured  for  us,  Asaph  had  "gone  into  the  sanctuary;"  whether 
it  mean  the  outward  temple  or  tabernacle,  or  the  private  sanctuary  of  his  own  pious  medita- 
tions.   There  he  recovered  himself;  there  he  saw  that  there  was  another  side  to  the  matter. 

Here  there  is  no  interval  of  outward  action,  nor  is  there  mentioned  any  subjective  one. 
But  a  transition  must  have  taken  place.  The  consistency  of  the  passage,  even  its  dramatic 
consistency,  demands  something  of  the  kind.  It  may  have  been  very  short — but  a  second  or 
two  in  fact — for  the  thoughts  often  travel  very  far,  and  that,  too,  consecutively,  in  a  brief 
interval  of  time.  Is  the  supposition  of  such  a  pause  an  arbitrary  one  ?  or  are  there  rational 
grounds  to  be  found  for  it  in  the  peculiar  character  of  the  drama,  in  the  conditions  of  the 
speakers,  especially  the  principal  one,  and  in  the  modes  of  utterance  natural  to  such  condi- 
tions ?  In  the  very  beginning,  we  are  told,  the  friends  sat  a  long  time  with  Job  in  perfect 
silence;  "for  they  saw  that  his  suffering  (3X3n)  was  very  great."  May  we  not  suppose 
shorter  intervals  of  a  similar  character  to  have  occurred  in  other  parts  of  the  discussion,  with 
resumptions  seemingly  sudden  and  disconnected?  It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  scene.  They 
wait  for  him  while  his  short  panting  breath  (xvii.  1)  forbids  his  speaking,  or  when  they  see 
him  drop  his  head  and  voice,  and  become  absorbed  in  reverie.  Such  pauses,  whether  for 
these  or  other  reasons,  would  especially  occur  in  the  speeches  of  Job.  Those  of  the  friends 
are  direct  and  continuous.  "Whether  it  be  argument,  or  appeal,  or  sententious  and  didactic 
lecturing,  it  goes  straight  on  to  its  close ;  and  there  are  few,  if  any,  cases  where  we  fail  to  see 
a  direct  connection  throughout.  This  comes  from  their  condition  as  cool,  theoretical  or  ora- 
torical pleaders,  with  nothing  in  their  circumstances,  bodily  or  spiritual,  to  produce  such 
musing  or  ejaculatory  pauses.  The  friends  are,  indeed,  figurative  and  rhetorical ;  but  Job  is 
vehement,  exclamatory,  appealing,  expostulating— crying  out  from  his  extreme  anguish — 
now  addressing  the  friends,  then  protesting  unto  God — praying,  deprecating,  at  times  talking 
or  muttering  to  himself  like  a  man  in  delirium.  In  one  place  (ix.  35),  he  feels  and  says, 
that  he  "  is  not  his  perfect  self,"  in  other  words,  out  of  his  composed  and  rational  mind. 
The  friends  may  be  always  near  him ;  yet  he  sometimes  talks  as  one  hardly  conscious  of 
their  presence.    Chapter  xiv.  seems  almost  wholly  made  up  of  this  unconscious  soliloquizing. 


176  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  II, 


The  same  may  be  said  of  chapter  xxiii.  There  are  times  when  everything  seems  lost  sight 
of  but  his  pain  and  that  ever-present  feeling  of  God's  estrangement.  Again,  it  is  the  haunt- 
ing idea  of  some  unseen  malignant  persecutor  that  breaks  up  the  continuity  of  his  thoughts, 
and  drives  him  to  what  seems  almost  a  frantic  raving,-  as  in  some  parts  of  ch,  xvi. 

This  spasmodic  style,  and  this  unconscious,  soliloquizing  feature,  which  make  such  a 
difference  between  the  speeches  of  Job  and  those  of  the  friends,  has  not  been  sufficiently 
attended  to  by  commentators.  In  it,  perhaps,  may  be  found  the  solution  of  many  difficulties 
and  a  rational  means  of  explaining  the  inconsequential  appearance  of  many  passages.  If 
this  be  called  an  imagination,  it  has  its  rational  warrant,  The  scene  is  easily  called  up. 
As  he  sits  groaning  in  the  ashes  (ii.  8),  with  head  bowed  down,  in  mournful  silence — except 
when  roused  by  some  of  their  unfeeling  taunts,  or  still  more  unfeeling  exhortations  to  con- 
fession— his  thoughts  revolve  in  a  way  that  grammatical  rules  cannot  always  connect,  nor 
particles  define.  He  starts  from  his  musing,  and,  though  it  may  have  been  but  for  a  mo- 
ment, his  thoughts  have  drifted  far,  and,  on  resuming,  they  may  even  seem,  perhaps,  to  be 
moving  in  what  appears  to  be  an  opposite  direction.  If  we  closely  study  the  place,  however, 
there  will  be  found  something  which  reveals  the  position  of  these  pauses,  as  well  as  any  stage 
marks  could  do.  It  gives  us,  too,  a  glimpse  of  what  he  has  been  thinking  of  in  the  interval, 
and  which  has  deflected  the  current.  This  is  indicated  in  various  ways.  It  is  sometimes 
the  resuming  particle,  such  as  an  0^'^,  an  D^?^,  an  ^f<,  a  DJ,  and  sometimes  a  "13,  coming  in 
in  such  a  manner  that  we  cannot  easily  connect  what  follows  with  what,  to  the  eye,  had  imme- 
diately preceded :  ah  yes — so  it  is — in  very  truth — yes,  this  also,  etc.  They  refer  to  the  inter- 
vening thought,  a  protest,  it  may  be,  an  appeal,  a  prayer,  a  deprecation,  some  new  fear,  or 
some  sudden  hope,  which  colors  all  that  follows.  Sometimes  such  a  pause  is  to  be  inferred 
from  the  context.  It  is  revealed  by  an  apodosis  which  has  no  protasis  apparently,  unless  it 
can  be  thus  supplied,  or,  it  may  be,  by  the  mere  abruptness  of  the  language.  Job's  religious 
emotions  are  to  be  regarded  in  the  same  way:  now  up,  now  down — sinking,  as  in  xix.  20, 
21;  soaring,  as  in  vers.  25-27  of  the  same  chapter — utterly  despondent,  xiv.  10-12,  then 
praying,  ver.  13,  finding  encouragement  from  the  prayer  to  put  the  great  question,  ver.  14, 
getting  immediate  assurance,  as  appears  ver,  15,  desponding  again,  ver.  19,  and  mourning  as 
though  death  filled  all  his  thoughts,  vers.  21,  22.  And  so,  too,  after  the  great  hope  of  chap, 
xix.,  lamenting  again  the  hiding  of  God's  countenance,  chap,  xxiii. :  "  0  thai  I  knew  where 
I  viight  find  Him." 

In  the  speeches  of  the  friends,  we  find,  indeed,  difficulties  arising  from  the  obscurities 
of  rare  words,  or  strange  idioms;  but  they  are  i^hilological,  instead  of  logical.  There  are 
none  of  that  peculiar  kind  we  meet  with  in  the  musing  and  passionate  appeals  of  Job.  These 
may  be  passages  perfectly  clear  in  themselves ;  but  the  difficulty  is  that  of  finding  the  thought 
connection  between  them.  The  idea  of  a  silent,  soliloquizing  or  musing  interval,  be  it  more 
or  less,  elapsing  between  them,  and  during  which  the  thoughts  take  a  different  direction, 
gives  the  only  way  of  explaining,  whilst  furnishing,  too,  a  strong  argument  that  the  explana- 
tion is  real. 

Thus  here,  in  chap,  xxi.,  the  first  break  of  the  kind  is  at  ver.  16.  To  that  point  the 
description  of  the  wicked  is  clearly  continuous.  Then  we  find  language  which  certainly 
seems  to  make  ajar  with  what  precedes.  There  is  something  wrong,  something  to  be  depre- 
cated, about  the  wicked  after  all.  He  stops  and  thinks ;  then  raises  his  head  and  talks  to 
himself.  His  language  seems  introspective,  rather  than  addressed  to  any  outside  hearers. 
A  new  thought  comes  up :  However  prosperous  they  may  sometimes  seem  to  be,  bad  men 
have,  after  all,  no  security.  They  are  not  independent  of  a  higher  Power.  Even  when  we 
see  no  break  in  their  prosperity,  there  is  something  in  it  which  excites  distrust.  Job  "goes 
into  the  sanctuary  "  of  his  own  thoughts.  Then  "  understands  he  better  about  their  end." 
The  interjection  \\),  with  which  he  begins,  shows  the  new  feeling.  He  calls  attention  to  it 
as  somewhat  difiering  from  what  he  had  said,  though  not  contradicting  it : 

Behold!    Their  good  is  not  in  their  own  power; 
The  way  of  wicked  men,  0  be  it  far  from  me. 


JOB  XXI.  17.      JOB'S  FEARFUL  DOUBT.  177 


Another  brief  pause,  and  the  other  view  is  taken  with  still  increasing  confidence ;  ver.  16 
being  a  transition  facilitating  its  adoption. 

One  thing  is  quite  clear.  The  more  modern  interpreters  are  right  in  supposing  that  in 
ver.  17,  and  in  what  follows,  there  is  a  reference  to  the  very  words  the  friends  have  used  in 
various  places,  but  it  is  not  by  way  of  irony,  nor  of  sharp  dissent  that  he  employs  them. 
They  come  up  to  his  recollection  with  the  feeling  that  there  is  truth  in  them,  however  one- 
sided they  may  appear.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  assent,  only  expressed  in  a  more  impassioned  way. 
This  greatly  one-sided  picture  of  Zophar  (chap,  xx.),  leaving  out,  as  it  does,  some  of  the 
most  obvious  facts  belonging  to  a  complete  representation  of  the  case,  together  with  Job's 
sense  of  its  injustice  as  cruelly  insinuated  against  himself,  sets  him  strongly  in  the  direction 
he  first  takes.  He  sees  only  that  side.  Then  comes  up  the  thought  that  he  may  be  going 
too  far,  and  committing,  perhaps,  the  same  one-sided  error.  He  is  proceeding  towards  the 
very  position  they  had  charged  him  with,  namely  that  God  actually  favors  the  wicked. 
There  is,  too,  something  within  him  which  tells  him  that  he  would  not,  after  all,  exchange 
his  jyain  for  their  pleasure,  even  as  he  himself  has  painted  it :  "  The  counsel  of  the  wicked 
be  it  far  from  me  "  (xxi.  16).  And  so,  we  may  suppose,  comes  the  intervening  check  and 
the  confession  expressed  in  brackets  as  really  belonging  to  the  feeling  of  the  passage : 

(Yes,  truth  ye  say):  How  oft  goes  out  the  light  of  wicked  men  I 
When  comes  upon  them  their  calamity. 
And  God  in  wrath  allots  them  deadly  pains! 

This  third  line  has  every  appearance  of  being  intended  as  a  qualifying  of  what  he  had  said 
above  (2d  clause  of  ver.  13)  about  their  easy  death.  That  may  be  often  so;  but  other  cases 
come  to  mind  of  their  dying  in  pain  and  horror.  So  the  Psalmist  had  said :  "  There  are  no 
bands  (or  pangs,  ni^nn,  strictures,  tortures,  a  word  very  similar  to  D^'p^n  here)  in  their 
death."  But  when  the  vision  had  been  cleared  by  a  higher  power,  he  sees  them  "standin.^ 
on  slippery  places  and  utterly  consum.ed  with  terrors."  ^ 

What,  then,  is  the  fearful  thought  to  which  Job  alludes,  ver.  6,  in  view  of  the  prosperity 
of  the  wicked? 

Which  when  I  call  to  mind,  then  am  I  sore  afraid, 
And  trembling  taketh  hold  on  all  my  flesh. 

At  first  view,  it  would  seem  to  be  this  prosperity  in  itself  considered,  as  the  object  of  his 
jealousy,  that  seems  so  awful  to  him ;  but  what  follows,  after  ver.  17,  shows  that  even  there 
another  idea  was  mingling  with  this,  and  contained  the  real  element  of  horror.  The  immu- 
nity of  the  wicked  seen  in  one  view,  their  downfall,  their  utter  ruin,  sometimes,  here  upon 
earth,  so  frequently  seen  in  another  (as  shown  by  examples  Job  could  not  have  been  igno- 
rant of,  and  that,  too,  coming  often  out  of  the  very  circumstances  of  their  prosperity),  the 
apparent  absence  of  any  rule  or  distinction  in  relation  to  it— all  this  produced  a  feeling  of 
utter  bewilderment  and  confusion ;  especially  as  called  up  by  the  thought  of  his  own  unin- 
telligible affliction.  Some  wicked  men  prospered  all  through,  others  overthrown  by  the 
most  dire  calamities;  he  cannot  understand  it;  taken  in  connection  with  his  own  case,  it 
utterly  dismays  him.  Is  there  one  that  rules  over  this  dark  enigmatical  world?  This  is  the 
question  that  appals  him.  He  is  again  approaching  the  verge  of  that  precipice  he  was  so 
near  ix.  24.  It  was  that  dark  thought  of  an  undistinguishing  physical  fatality  described 
Ecclesiastes  ix.  2 ; 

The  all,  according  as  it  is  to  all— one  fate  to  all. 

The  just,  the  vile,  the  good,  the  pure,  the  one  with  sin  defiled ; 

As  to  the  good,  so  unto  him  that  sins ; 

As  to  the  perjured,  so  to  him  who  fears  to  break  an  oath. 

An  indifferent  Deity  I  The  thought  is  horrible ;  he  cannot  bear  it ;  perhaps  there  is  no  God 
at  all.  The  suggestion  terrifies  him ;  trembling  taketh  hold  on  all  his  flesh,  ver  6  But 
here  he  is  in  a  better  state.  The  influence  of  that  enrapturing  hope  (xix.  25)  has  not  been 
lost,  and  his  faith  in  God  is  strengthened  by  that  idea  of  a  final  judgment  so  clearly  ex- 
pressed ver.  30,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  that  some  have  made  to  pervert  it  to  a  different 


178  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  II. 


and  even  an  opposite  meaning.  It  is  that  great  idea  whicli  has  shown  itself  in  all  the  reli- 
gious ethics  of  the  world — the  thought  of  a  "judgment  to  come,"  more  deeply  rooted  in  the 
moral  constitution  of  man  than  even  that  of  a  future  life  when  regarded  irrespective  of  it. 
The  idea  may  have  accompanying  it  less  of  time  and  locality.  It  is  attended  with  great 
eschatological  difficulties,  which  even  the  Scripture  does  not  fully  clear  up ;  but  still  it  holds 
on.  The  human  mind  cannot  wholly  surrender  it.  At  some  time,  and  in  some  way,  all 
shall  be  made  right,  however  dense  "  the  clouds  and  darkness  "  that  now  surround  the  throne 
of  God.  Such  thoughts  seem  to  mingle  together  in  the  mind  of  Job,  as  they  are  irregularly 
brought  out  in  hia  introspective  passionate  way. 

In  the  course  of  the  chapter  there  are  other  musings  of  a  similar  kind.  In  vers.  23-26, 
his  thoughts  wander  to  the  differences  in  the  deaths  of  individuals,  whether  religious  or 
wicked,  and  there  comes  up  again  a  similar  skeptical  feeling : 

Alike  do  they  lie  down  in  dust. 

But  it  is  no  more  at  war  with  this  higher  view  of  the  judgment,  than  the  similar  language 
in  Ecclesiastes.  In  ver.  31  there  is  another  seeming  transition,  describing  the  wicked  man 
as  carried  to  the  tomb,  just  as  the  righteous  is — and  all,  of  every  character,  following  on  in 
the  same  thronged  way.  The  conclusion  is,  "  your  comforting  "  (if  ye  will  call  it  so)  is  in 
vain.  It  is  only  a  partial  view  ye  take,  and  there  is,  consequently,  much  of  falsehood  and 
deception  in  your  answer ;  eee  ver.  34. 

In  taking  such  a  view  of  Job's  speeches,  not  merely  in  respect  to  this  question  of  pauses, 
but  in  regard  to  their  strange  subjective  character,  their  evident  soliloquizing,  their  sudden 
changes,  and  the  striking  differences,  in  all  these  respects,  between  them  and  those  of  his 
friends,  the  first  feeling  is  one  of  wonder  at  the  dramatic  skill  which  has  thus  depicted  them. 
A  deeper  thinking  carries  us  beyond  this.  It  is  not  mere  dramatic  painting  that  we  have 
before  us.  No  one  invented  this  character.  It  is  a  reality — a  true  soul-experience.  A  man 
did  thus  suffer ;  he  was  thus  tempted  and  forsaken  ;  he  did  thus  speak.  It  is  substantially 
true,  as  we  have  elsewhere  attempted  to  show,  in  respect  to  the  language  of  chap.  xiv.  and 
xix.  (Int.  Theism,  pa.  9).  No  human  genius,  even  though  accompanied  by  the  highest 
skill  in  dramatic  fiction  that  has  been  exhibited  in  modern  times,  ever  so  entered  into  the 
depths  of  the  soul,  or  could  have  drawn  such  a  picture,  unless  he  drew  from  the  life — not 
the  outer  merely,  but  the  most  interior  life  laid  bare  to  him  by  some  revelation  of  the  hu- 
man coming  from  a  sphere  above  the  plane  of  any  mere  human  experience.  We  may  say 
this  with  confidence  when  we  consider  what  caricatures  have  been  almost  all  attempts  to 
draw  the  religious  life  as  mere  invented  fiction,  although  taking  all  the  aids  they  could  get  from 
the  Scriptures.  If  such  an  experience  is  a  thing  unknown  to  writers  of  fiction  now — if  all 
their  attempts  to  set  it  truly  forth  are  failures — it  was  still  more  unknown,  it  was  still  more 
beyond  the  inventive  powers  of  any  ancient  writers,  if  we  may  suppose  any  such  attempts  to 
have  been  made  in  the  early  day.  This  story  of  Job,  his  sufferings,  his  speeches,  his  prayers, 
his  expostulations,  his  almost  frantic  appeals,  his  despondency,  his  despair,  his  exalted  hope 
so  soon  followed  by  relapses  into  darkness,  his  deep  penitence,  his  most  pathetic  confession, 
his  full  submission  at  the  close — all  this  is  from  a  higher  than  human  pencil.  Compare  it 
with  any  thing  in  the  literature  of  the  world,  whether  we  take  the  earlier  or  the  later  date. 
What  is  most  remarkable  throughout  the  whole  is  that  cleaving  unto  God  which  no  vehe- 
mence of  expostulation  can  sunder,  even  though  he  seems  to  see  the  Almighty  repelling  his 
approach :  "  Let  Him  slay  me,  still  will  I  wait  "—still  "  trust  in  Him,"  xiii.  15.  And  here 
we  find  the  very  centre  of  his  deepest  anguish.  It  was  not  mere  bodily  suffering  that  most 
affects  him  ;  though  that  seems  to  have  been  indescribably  great.  It  is  the  thought  of  God 
as  "  hiding  His  face  from  him."  But  when  it  goes  beyond  even  this,  to  the  conception  of 
God  as  estranged  from  the  world,  as  utterly  indifferent  to  the  affairs  of  men — when  he  is  in 
danger  of  losing  the  idea  of  a  Providence  altogether,  and  even  of  a  personal  God  at  all — it 
is  this  that  drives  him  wild,  that  "  fills  him  with  terror,"  and  causes  "  trembling  to  take  hold 
of  all  his  flesh,"  xxi.  6.  Then,  too,  how  is  the  contrast  heightened  when,  in  his  lowest  ex- 
tremity, after  that  piteous  cry,  xix.  21,  there  is  suddenly  let  into  his  mind  the  thought 


JOB  XXL  17.      HOW  OFT  GOES  OUT  THE  LIGHT  OF  WICKED  MEN.  179 

that  he  shall  yet  see.  Eloah— when  and  where  he  knows  not,  thinks  not — see  Him  with  his 
own  er/es—see  Him  a  "  reconciled  God,"  no  longer  a  stranger  or  an  enemy.  The  hope  fills  his 
soul  with  an  insupportable  rapture,  under  which  his  poor  diseased  body  faints  away,  Yor 
freudigem  Beben  und  hochster  Sehnsucht,  as  Ewald  describes  it  without  going  at  all  beyond 
those  strong  Hebrew  words,  'pn^  'PiVlD  ^Sl).  No  man,  we  say,  invented  this.  His  friends, 
men  of  pure  and  lofty  thoughts,  in  themselves  considered,  could  not  understand  it,  and  no 
cool  writer  of  fiction  could  have  made  even  an  approach  towards  describing  such  an  expe- 
rience. There  is  nothing  known  to  men  by  which  they  could  draw  such  a  character  by  mere 
dramatic  delineation.  It  is  indeed  dramatic,  but  only  as  a  part  of  God's  acted  revelation  in 
the  world.  The  record  of  it,  therefore,  though  through  some  human  medium  worthy  of  the 
sacred  oflice,  may  be  supposed  to  be  made  under  the  divine  guidance,  and  is  substantially 
true  in  the  language,  as  well  as  in  the  acts,  and  in  the  soul-exercises  recorded. 

In  order  to  avoid  what  is  deemed  an  inconsistency,  and  even  a  contradiction,  in  the  speech 
of  Job,  many  interpreters  give  to  no3,  in  the  17th  verse  of  chap,  xxi.,  the  sense  of  hoio  sel- 
dom instead  of  how  often,  making  it  almost  equivalent  to  a  denial  that  wicked  men  are  ever 
visited  with  calamity  at  all.  They  then  supply  this  particle  before  a  number  of  clauses  that 
follow:  "  How  seldom  goes  out  theilamp,  &c.;  how  seldom  does  their  destruction  come  upon 
them  ;  how  seldom  are  they  as  stubble,  or  as  the  chaff,  which  the  wind  drives  away."  There 
is  no  reason,  grammatical  or  philological,  why  they  should  not  go  on,  in  the  same  way,  to 
supply  it  before  the  clauses  of  ver.  19  :  "  How  seldom  does  Eloah  treasure  up  his  iniquity  for 
his  sons ?  Hoio  seldom  does  He  requite  [punish)  him,  so  that  he  knows  it? "  The  tenses  and 
the  order  of  the  words  are  alike,  and  no  reason  except  this  supposed  exigentia  loci  can  be 
given  why  they  should  not  be  rendered  in  a  similar  way.  Here,  however,  at  ver.  19,  the  dif- 
ficulty is  supposed  to  be  escaped,  by  giving  the  futures— though  just  like  the  futures  before 
— the  interrogative  and  imprecatory  turns :  "  Will  God  treasure  up  his  iniquity  for  his  chil- 
dren (leaving  him  in  prosperous  impunity)  ?  Eather  let  Him  requite  it  to  himself  (the 
wicked  man),  that  he  may  know."  Or  the  first  clause  of  ver.  19  is  taken  as  Job's  sarcastic 
quotation,  or  anticipation  rather,  of  their  own  language :  "  God  layeth  up  his  iniquity  for 
his  children,  does  he?  rather  let  Him  repay  it  to  the  sinner  himself."  It  represents  Job  as 
holding  that,  with  very  rare  exceptions,  the  wicked  man  is  prospered  during  his  own  life, 
and  that  it  is  no  answer  to  this  to  say  that  the  evil  comes  upon  his  children.  Job  arraigns 
the  divine  conduct,  and  makes  bold  to  say  what  God  ought  to  do  :  "  Eather  let  Him  requite 
it  to  himself" — make  him  pay  his  own  debts,  not  bring  it  on  his  poor  children  :  "  Let  his 
own  eyes  see  his  own  destruction ;  let  him  drink  himself  of  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty." 
Now  this  certainly  represents  Job  in  an  awful  light.  It  is  not  only  a  false  view  he  holds  of 
the  wicked  man's  lot,  as  unbroken  prosperity,  but  a  profane  fault-finding  with  God  for  let- 
ting it  come  upon  his  children,  instead  of  punishing  the  sinner  himself.  The  kind  of  argu- 
ment he  is  supposed  to  make  in  showing  the  injustice  of  this,  is  still  more  profane.  "  The 
wicked  man  is  dead,"  so  is  he  made  to  reason — dead  without  pain  (see  ver.  13),  and  it  can- 
not trouble  him  whether  his  children  suffer  or  not ;  he  has  no  will  nor  wish  in  the  matter; 
there  has  been  "peace  in  his  day,"  what  difference  does  it  make  to  him  what  comes  after 
him.  A  more  impious  sentiment  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  whole  book;  a  more  impious  sen- 
timent is  not  to  be  found  any  where,  than  is  here  ascribed  to  Job.  His  strong  language  in 
other  cases,  with  all  its  seeming  irreverence,  may  be  regarded  as  coming  from  spasms  of  in- 
tolerable pain,  making  him  to  cry  out  of  seeming  cruelty.  His  vehement  expostulations 
with  God,  though  sometimes  terrific,  do  actually  show  the  depth  and  the  preciousness  of  the 
divine  idea  in  his  soul.  It  is  revealed  in  his  very  despair.  But  here,  in  respect  to  matters 
outside  of  himself,  he  deliberately  charges,  or  is  supposed  to  charge,  God  with  the  grossest 
injustice,  and  profanely,  nay,  even  sneeringly,  advises  Him  as  to  what  would  be  a  more 
suitable  proceeding  :  "Let  Him  requite  it  to  the  man  himself,  and  not  to  his  children,  who 
are  innocent,  and  about  whom,  now  that  he  has  gone,  after  having  had  his  own  selfish  un- 
interrupted day  of  prosperity,  he  cares  nothing;"  for  "what  concern  hath  he  in  his  house 
after  him?" 


180  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  11. 


On  this  hypothesis,  these  supposed  interrogations  of  Job,  are  really  the  most  direct  as- 
sertions that  the  wicked  man  is  very  rarely,  if  he  is  ever,  punished ;  whilst  some  of  his  lan- 
guage, thus  regarded,  is  so  directly  in  the  face  of  other  Scriptures  as  to  give  the  Rationalist 
Umbreit  the  idea  that  it  was  intended  for  that  very  purpose :  "  '  How  seldom  are  the  wicked 
driven  away  like  chaff  before  the  wind  ? '  as  though  Job,  or  the  writer  of  Job,  meant  to  take 
a  position  directly  in  the  face  of  the  1st  Psalm,"  This  is  Umbreit's  exegetical  wisdom. 
He  actually  supposes  a.  polemic  intention  here  with  respect  to  that  portion  of  Scripture :  Ge- 
gen  eine  einsei'ige  uud  lieblose  Auslegung  dieses  Psalms  poletnisirt  recht  eigentlich  Hiob. 
Umbreit,  p.  167. 

But  to  come  back  to  the  philological  argument;  all  this  is  answered  by  turning  to  the 
Concordance  of  Noldius.  This  particle  HrDJD  is  given  by  him  as  occurring  in  eleven  passages 
cited.  In  no  single  place  in  the  Scripture  has  it  any  other  meaning  than  that  of  hoic  often, 
how  many^  how  long,  &c. — quot !  quolies  !  quanta  !  There  is  not  a  single  one  in  which  the 
rendering  hoio  seldom^  how  rarely,  how  few,  how  little  {quantula)  would  not  wholly  change  or 
completely  reverse  the  sense  intended.  Ps.  Ixxviii.  40  is  referred  to  by  Delitzsch  and 
others,  but  a  glance  at  the  passage  shows  that  it  is  the  other  way:  inno'  no:3,  "  hotv  oft  did 
they  rebel  against  him?"  That  is,  very  often,  scepissime.  Job  xiii.  23  is  cited  as  though 
r\)i)p  ""7  rrDD  should  be  read :  "  how  few  are  my  sins  ?"  but*  this  is  felt  at  once  to  be  out  of  har- 
mony with  the  context  and  the  spirit  of  the  appeal.  Whatever  Job's  own  opinion  may  have 
been  as  to  the  number  of  his  sins,  the  address  is  evidently  made  to  one  who  is  supposed  to 
regard  them  as  many.  This  is  shown  by  what  every  reader  must  feel,  namely,  that  the  sub- 
stitution there  of  how  feio  for  how  many,  takes  away  all  the  force  of  the  supplication.  It  is 
so  in  other  languages.  Quot,  quoties,  quanta,  noadKig^  can  never  be  rendered  how  few  or  how 
seldom ;  for  that  is  a  thing  we  seldom  have  occasion  to  ask  about,  whether  the  desire  be  to 
obtain  information,  or  to  express  admiration,  or  wonder.  The  word  for  it  in  Hebrew,  should 
there  be  occasion,  would  be  Oj^?,  with  some  interrogative  or  explanatory  particle,  as  Job  x. 
20,  '^^tO^'?  ^l),  "are  not  my  days  few  ?"  (see  also  Isaiah  xxix.  17)  ;  or  some  such  kind  of 
language  as  we  have  Ps.  xxxix.  5,  "Make  me  to  know  (or  let  me  know)  the  measure  of  my 
days  K'H  no  what  it  is,  'JX  /in  HD,  how  trayisient,  how  frail  lam."  Another  mode  is  resorted 
to  by  making  Job's  language  here  to  be  ironic,  but  this  is  so  inconsistent  with  the  pathos 
and  dignity  of  the  passage,  that  it  needs  no  formal  answer. 

Whatever  ingenuity  may  be  shown  in  such  reconciling  expositions,  it  becomes  of  no 
avail  from  the  fact  that  the  same  supposed  difficulty  meets  us  in  other  places  where  no  device 
of  exegesis  can  get  rid  of  it.  Thus  in  ch.  xxvii.,  from  vers.  13  to  23,  there  is  given  by  Job  a 
most  unmistakable  picture  of  the  doom  of  the  wicked,  painted  in  colors  surpassing  those  of 
Zophar  ia  ch.  XX.,  or  of  any  other  one  of  the  disputants:  "His  children  are  destroyed  by 
the  sword  or  by  famine ;  his  widow  shall  not  weep ;  he  buildeth  his  house  like  a  moth ;  ter- 
rors take  hold  on  him;  a  tempest  stealeth  him  away  in  the  night;  as  by  a  storm  is  he  hurled 
out  of  his  place  (see  Prov.  xiv.  32 ;  1  Sam.  xxv.  29) ;  God  casts  his  vengeance  upon  him- 
men  hiss  him  out  of  his  place."  Very  numerous  and  ingenious  have  been  the  attempts  to 
settle  the  difficulty  here,  if  it  be  a  difficulty.  Some  would  re-arrange  the  text,  so  as  to  give 
the  passage  to  Zophar,  in  whose  mouth  they  think  it  would  be  more  consistent.  Kennicott 
would  bring  in  his  numerous  emendations.  For  other  attempted  solutions,  see  Conant's 
very  valuable  annotation.  Rosenmueller  solves  it  in  one  way ;  Umbreit  in  another ;  some 
make  it  an  interpolation,  and  so  on.  The  perplexity  is  increased  by  the  way  in  which  each 
solver  (Umbreit  for  example)  dwells  on  the  wisdom  of  his  own  solution,  and  so  compla- 
cently eulogizes  the  genius  of  this  most  "  skillful  dramatic  poet,"  to  whom  he  confidently 
ascribes  it,  whilst  calling  other  attempts  "Cimmerian  darkness,"  although  their  authors 
thought  them  as  wise  as  his  own.  Ewald's  view  of.  xxvii.  13-23,  although  it  cannot  be 
accepted  as  a  satisfactory  solution  on  this  hypothesis,  contains  some  things  worthy  of  note. 
"  It  is  the  turning-point,"  he  says,  "  in  the  development  of  Job's  dark  destiny.  The  removal 
of  the  doubts  presented  demand,  as  it  were,  a  new  and  sure  beginning.  Job  begins  to  feel 
what  an  infinite  salvation  there  lies  in  the  consciousness  of  innocence,  how  through  it  he 


JOB  XXI.  17.      JOB'S  SPEECHES  EMOTIONAL,  NOT  LOGICAL.  181 


has  been  delivered  in  the  most  extreme  peril,  and  now,  with  the  great  gain  of  a  noble  expe- 
rience, and  of  inward  strength  acquired,  stands  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  time.  This  con- 
sciousness, so  hardly  won,  has  a  retroactive  effect  upon  his  view  of  the  dark  side  of  life,  giving 
him  a  stand-point  whence  he  may  see  how  much  there  must  be  in  the  world  and  in  God  that 
is  now  incomprehensible,  and  that,  though  the  wicked  may  seem  to  prosper,  and  the  pious 
to  suffer,  yet  is  there  an  eternal  order  of  development,  in  which  innocence  shall  not  be  with- 
out its  fruit,  nor  guilt  go  unpunished.  Thus  the  doubts,  not  wholly  set  aside,  but  made 
more  easy  to  bear,  and  deprived  of  their  power  to  hurt,  retire  into  the  back-ground.  Job 
has  clearly  expressed  the  yearning  anticipations  of  his  soul,  and  given  utterance  to  the 
purest  and  highest  truths,  thereby  gaining  a  full  triumph,  and  taking  the  victor's  place  in 
the  contest.  For  he  gives  up  nothing  of  his  fundamental  idea ;  since  in  reference  to  the 
whole  matter  in  controversy,  he  returns  to  his  first  jiosition,  where  he  stands  like  a  rock, 
maintaining  his  innocence  against  every  assault."  Ewald,  Das  Buch  Ijob,  2d  Ed.,  pa.  245. 
This  is  very  well  said ;  but  it  contains  some  things  far-fetched,  however  ingenious.  It  makes 
Job  too  logical.  It  strives  too  much  after  a  doctrinal  consistency,  and  yet  in  what  is  said 
about  the  new-acquired  consciousness  and  the  taking  of  new  stand  points,  there  is  something 
which  may  be  claimed  as  substantially  in  harmony  with  what  we  have  here  endeavored  to 
set  forth,  namely :  that  the  emotional  in  Job,  the  musing,  introspective  temperament  which 
is  taken  up  with  its  own  revolving  exercises,  and  thinks  little  of  outward  consistency,  is  pre- 
dominant in  all  he  says — thereby  presenting  that  striking  contrast  between  his  speeches  and 
those  of  the  friends,  which  cannot  be  too  much  insisted  on  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Book. 
To  sum  up,  it  may  be  said,  that  in  such  passages  as  have  occasioned  this  comment, 
Job  is  evidently  affected  by  three  influences — outward  influences  we  might  call  them  in  par- 
tial distinction  from  the  inward  state  on  which  we  have  been  dwelling.  He  perceives  the 
falsehood  of  the  strong  pictures  of  the  wicked  man's  misfortunes  in  this  world,  which  the 
friends  present  as  exceptionless  and  universal.  He  feels  keenly,  too,  the  injustice  of  their 
indirect  application  to  himself;  and  all  this  sets  him  on  the  opposite  tack,  as  we  may  say. 
After  proceeding  some  distance  in  this  direction,  there  comes  in  that  higher  consciousness 
of  which  Ewald  speaks,  modifying  the  description  and  even  turning  it  the  other  way.  That 
he  does  not  perceive,  and  therefore  makes  no  open  provision  against  the  logical  or  rhetorical 
jar,  comes  from  the  musing,  pausing,  introspective,  outwardly  unconscious,  inwardly  self- 
conscious,  mode  of  thought  and  speech,  so  characteristic  of  him,  or  from  the  fact  that  a  good 
deal  of  the  time  he  is  talking  to  God,  to  whom  his  logical  consistency  is  of  no  consequence, 
or  to  himself,  by  whom  all  its  defects  are  consciously  supplied.  This  admitted,  the  absence 
of  connection  is  accounted  for,  and,  instead  of  being  surprised  at  it,  we  are  led  to  expect 
what  may  be  called  the  emotional,  rather  than  the  logical,  transitions. 

A  third  reason  for  the  seeming  inconsistency  of  Job  is  of  a  lower  kind,  but  still  consis- 
tent with  purity  and  integrity  of  character.  The  friends  seem  to  assume  towards  him  a 
higher  moral  position  in  picturing  the  wicked  man's  ruin.  Job's  desire  to  repel  this  false 
assumption  of  didactic  superiority  is  a  right  one.  It  leads  him,  however,  after  he  has  suffi- 
ciently denied  what  was  fallacious  in  their  too  one-sided  descriptions,  to  take  the  other  course 
by  way  of  showing  that  he  understands  the  case  as  well  as  they  do — that  he  has  not  been  an 
inattentive  or  obtuse  observer  of  human  life,  and  that,  if  he  chooses,  he  can  even  go  beyond 
them  in  all  such  picturings.  It  is  a  feeling  similar  to  that  which  leads  him  to  take  down 
the  lofty-talking  Bildad,  when  expatiating,  as  the  latter  does  in  chap,  xxv.,  upon  the  great- 
ness of  the  divine  works,  as  though  he  would  give  Job  a  lesson  here.  The  one  whom  he 
thus  assumes  to  teach  properly  replies,  by  showing  that  he  too  has  thought  upon  these  things, 
that  he  too  can  talk  in  this  strain,  should  it  be  necessary,  and  even  outdo  him  in  such  an 
oratorical  effort.     To  see  this,  compare  chapters  xxv.  and  xxvi. 

In  general,  however.  Job's  thoughts  and  words  are  from  his  inner  world.  He  cares  lit- 
tle for  logical  consistency,  because  less  than  they  is  he  thinking  of  an  audience,  or  of  an 
antagonist — unless  it  be  that  seeming  antagonism  or  divine  estrangement  over  which  he  is 
ever  mourning.  It  is  over  the  tumultuous,  volcanic  flood  of  his  own  thoughts,  he  is  con- 
stantly brooding,  and  bringing  them  out  to  light.    This  he  does  in  that  irregular,  broken 


182  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  III. 


way  of  which  we  find  so  many  unmistakable  examples,  leading  to  the  conclusion  that  in  a 
proper  consideration  of  this  dramatic  feature,  there  is  found,  not  only  a  solution  of  every 
seeming  hiatus,  but  also  very  much  of  the  true  impressiveness  of  this  sublime  production. 
It  is  from  this,  too,  as  mjiy  be  said  again,  that  we  get  a  conviction  of  the  objective  reality  of 
the  whole  action,  which  no  talk  about  artistical  and  dramatic  skill  can  set  aside. 


•EXCURSUS  III. 

ON  THE   nn^Ji^    DV    or   dies   IEARUM. 
Chap,  XXI.  30. 

To  THE   DAY   OF   DOOM   THE  WICKED   MAK   IS  KEPT  ; 

To   THE   DAY   OF   MIGHTY   "WRATH   ARE  THEY   BROUGHT   FORTH. 

The  more  carefully  we  study  the  translation  of  this  passage  in  our  English  Version,  and 
as  given  by  Dr.  Conakt,  the  more  clear  will  it  become  that  it  presents  the  substantial 
meaning.  It  agrees  with  the  old  versions,  Vulgate,  Syriac  and  LXX.,  as  it  appears  in 
its  Hexaplar  Syriac  translation.  On  the  same  side  is  Easchi,  also  the  best  of  the  old 
commentators  as  cited  in  Poole's  Syn'opsis,  together  with  Gesenius,  Pareau,  Cokant, 
and  others  of  later  times.  On  the  other  side,  is  the  formidable  array  of  Heiligstedt,  Um- 
BREIT,  DiLLMANN,  Delitzsch,  et  al.  Had  the  verse  stood  by  itself,  we  hazard  nothing  in 
saying  that  no  other  translation  than  that  of  E.  V.  and  Luther  would  have  been  thought 
of.  It  is  its  apparent  disagreement  with  a  false  hypothesis,  that  has  led  to  the  varied  com- 
ment. 

■^^n  simply  means  restraint,  cohibuit ;  whether/?"o?«  a  thing,  or  for  a  purpose,  depends  upon 
the  preposition,  or  the  context.  So  /^^H  simply  means  brought  forth  or  out;  whether /ro??i  or 
to,  or  for  what  purpose,  to  be  determined  in  like  manner.  It  may  be :  held  back  from  danger 
or  harm,  in  which  case  the  preposition  D,  expressed  or  implied,  would  seem  to  be  indispen- 
sable ;  or  it  may  mean  kept,  reserved  for,  where  the  preposition  /  would  alone  give  the  sense 
demanded.  An  example  of  this,  which  Gesenius  deems  conclusive  from  its  exact  similarity 
to  the  present  passage,  is  found  ch.  xxxviii.  23 :  "  which  I  have  reserved,"  Tl^BTl,  "  to  the 
time  of  trouble"  ("IV  r\]!^)^  "to  the  day  (OvH)  of  battle  and  war."  So  the  other  verb  1^3'' : 
"  They  are  brought  forth."  How  ?  The  context  shows.  D'om,  to  or  in  f  The  preposition 
determines.  In  Isai.  Iv.  12  (cited  for  the  later  view,  but  wholly  inapplicable),  "  they  are 
brought  forth  in  peace,"  DiSb'3  (2  not  S).  The  unsuitableness  of  this  reference  appears  from 
the  fact  that  it  would  prove  too  much.  The  wicked  would  be  not  only  brought  forth  from 
danger  "  at  the  day  of  wrath  "  (if  that  can  be  the  meaning  of  Dvb),  but  they  are  also  brought 
forth  triumjyhantly — not  merely  saved,  but  saved  in  a  striking  or  processional  manner,  as 
though  God  made  them  conspicuous  objects  of  His  favor.  It  cannot  mean,  brought  out  of 
trouble;  for  on  the  very  hypothesis  demanded  by  this  mode  of  exegesis.  Job  has  been  setting 
forth,  and  is  still  setting  forth  their  uninterrupted  prosperity.  It  cannot  mean  "  brought 
out,"  so  as  to  be  spared  from  death,  if  "  the  day  of  wrath  "  meant  that ;  for  such  an  idea 
would  involve  a  contradiction  on  either  hypothesis.  Most  absurd  here  is  Eosenmueller, 
who  interprets  it  that  "in  the  day  of  God's  wrath  the  wicked  men  are  brought  to  the  sepul- 
chre by  way  of  deliverance  from  evils:  Die  irarum  Dei  dcducuntur  ad  sepulchrum  (ut  supra 
X.  19)  malis  crepti  improbi;"  that  is,  "they  are  taken  away  before  the  evil,"  or  "from  the 
evil  to  come."  This  is  the  very  thing  Isaiah  says  of  the  righteous,  Ivii.  1 ;  whilst  Job  here 
Li  made  to  say,  or  to  approve  of  saying,  just  the  contrary.    The  insuperable  objection,  how- 


JOB  XXI.  30.      TO  THE  DAY  OF  DOOM  THE  WICKED  MAN  IS  KEPT.  183 


ever  to  this  rendering  lies  in  the  preposition  employed  for  both  verbs  before  OV.  There  is 
n6  way  of  making  this  mean /row,  or  in,  or  at.  At  the  day  might  do  sometimes  as  a  render- 
ing of  DvS,  where  the  context  strongly  demanded  it ;  but  here  to  or  for  the  day  gives  such 
a  facile  sense  that  it  repels  every  other.  For  a  context  precisely  similar,  see  Prov.  xvi.  1, 
•n'j:'^  DvS  i'tyi,  "the  wicked  man  for  the  day  of  evil."  Compare  also  Prov.  xxi.  31,  "a  horse 
for  the  day  of  battle  ;"  Isaiah  x.  3,  "  to  the  day  of  visitation ;"  Jer.  xii.  3,  "  devote  him  to 
the  day  of  slaughter."  Why  go  away  from  the  plain  indication  of  the  preposition,  all  the 
more  conclusive  from  the  fact  that  DvS  here,  and  in  all  these  cases,  denotes  the  scene,  the 
event,  rather  than  time?  Dillmann  feels  the  force  of  this,  and  it  almost  makes  him  retract 
the  other  interpretation,  which  only  a  supposed  exigentia  loci,  arising  out  of  a  false  hypo- 
thesis in  regard  to  the  whole  chapter,  leads  him  to  adopt.  "  It  cannot  be  denied,"  he  says, 
"  tnat  for  D'l'^  we  should  rather  expect  DVI},  whikt  S  seems  rather  to  denote  aim  and  limit, 
as  "jtyn  with  S,  xxxviii.  23,  and  ^3r,  x.  19  ('brought  forth  from  the  womb  to  the  grave ') 
and  nn^pS  hy\\  xxi.  32,  just  below."  Comp.  Jer.  x.  19 :  "a  lamb  brought  out  to  the  slaugh- 
ter ;"  the  same  Isaiah  liii.  7 ;  Hos.  x.  7 ;  xii.  2 ;  Ps.  xlv.  15. 

Again,  does  it  look  like  an  idea  so  traditional  and  universal  that  wicked  men  are  specially 
spared  in  a  day  of  calamity  (whether  it  refer  to  general  or  private  judgments),  and  that  in 
days  of  God's  wrath  they  are  brought  forth  in  processional  triumph?  Let  anyone  study 
the  Proverbs  of  Solomon's  collecting,  the  best  ethical  authority  for  this  purpose,  and  he  will 
see  in  what  a  variety  of  ways  the  opposite  idea  is  set  forth :  "  The  wicked  for  the  day  of 
evil."  How  universal  the  aphorism  that,  in  some  way,  wickedness  will  bring  ruin  upon  the 
wicked.  The  proverb  just  referred  to  is  almost  in  the  very  language  of  this  passage.  Its 
testimony  to  the  human  ethical  consciousness  would  be  amply  sufficient,  if  the  idea  did  not 
meet  us  everywhere  in  the  so-called  Chockma  or  Hebrew  Wisdom,  The  world's  experience, 
too,  is  the  other  way.  There  are  indeed  cases  of  remarkable  prosperity  attending  wicked  men, 
but  it  is  not  general,  so  as  to  form  the  subject  of  an  aphorism  in  traditional  ethics.  There 
is  no  such  universality  in  the  fact,  to  say  the  least,  as  the  "signs  of  the  way-farers"  thus  in- 
terpreted would  give  it.  Especially  would  it  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  best  views  we  can 
get  of  the  early  Arabian  world.  From  the  earliest  Eastern  poetry,  as  well  as  from  the  Ko- 
ran, do  we  derive  just  the  contrary  idea.  When  Mohammed  threatens  the  robber  Kafirs,  or 
unbelievers,  with  the  old  dogma  that  wicked  prosperity  is  in  danger  of  a  downfall,  they  are 
always  represented  as  replying :  "  Ah,  that  is  just  what  we  and  our  fathers  have  been  threat- 
ened with  of  old ;  it  is  all  a  fable  (a  saying)  of  the  ancients."  Every  scholar  is  familiar 
wdth  the  Greek  doctrine  of  Nemesis,  carried  even  to  the  superstitious  length  of  holding  that 
mere  prosperity  of  itself,  without  crime,  was  dangerous,  or  that  it  indicated  some  fearful 
doom  to  which  the  prosperous  man  was  reserved.  The  same  eschatological  idea,  though 
without  time  or  place,  comes  forth  in  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament :  "  The  wicked 
shall  not  stand  in  the  judgment,"  Ps.  i.  6  ;  "The  upright  shall  have  dominion  over  them  on 
the  morning  "  (Ps.  xlix.  15),  or  the  great  dies  reiributioms  for  which  the  earliest  Arabian  that 
we  know  of  uses  the  same  expression,* 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  regard  Job's  pictures  here  as  of  a  mixed  kind,  irregular  and 
impassioned — now  setting  forth  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked,  all  the  more  strongly  from  the 
remembrance  of  his  own  misery,  and  dwelling  on  certain  items  (xxi.  11)  from  the  contrast 
his  vivid  imagination  finds  in  them  to  his  own  forlorn  condition— then  checking  himself 
and  dilating  upon  the  other  view,  of  which  he  must  have  known  many  examples  in  his  own 
worldly  experience — it  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  what  follows.  The  very  absence  of  any 
visible  rule  in  the  present  state  of  things,  would  lead  to  the  thought  of  some  r\n3j;  LDV, 
some  great  judgment-scene,  however  indeterminable  or  inconceivable  its  time  and  locality. 
It  was  this  feeling  that  created  the  idea,  and  led  to  the  ethical  lore  of  "  the  way-passers " 
as  the  common  carriers  of  the  traditions  and  doctrines  of  the  peoples.    The  impunity  of 

*  LoKMAN,  as  quoted  in  the  Kitab  'ulagani ;  Koss,  as  cited  by  Shaeastajti,  437  (Cureton's  Ed.),  and  Hakiri,  Seanoa 
xxy. 


184  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  III. 


wicked  men  is  certainly  not  one  of  these  world  sayings;  and  could  it  be  supposed  it  would 
be  directly  in  the  face  of  that  Vergeltungslehre  of  which  the  Kationalist  commentatftrs 
have  so  much  to  say,  as  the  universal  doctrine  of  the  ancient  world. 

There  may,  perhaps,  be  the  understood  meaning :  reserved,  held  back  from  present  evils, 
for  the  day  of  Tt*.  the  day  of  the  great  calamity,  and  that  may  also  be  gotten  from  Easchi, 
and  from  the  servaiur  of  the  Vulgate,  whether  in  the  sense  of  preserved  or  watched  for,  but 
this  would  only  the  more  confirm  the  idea  of  the  great  TX  to  which  such  a  reserving  is  pre- 
paratory. 

According  to  the  common  interpretation  of  xlii.  7,  Job  is  commended  for  saying  of,  or 
concerning,  God :  what  is  right  (p^J,  firm,  constans,  consistens).  But  what  a  picture  of  daring 
irreverence,  and  of  profane  scofl5ng,  even,  does  he  present,  according  to  the  view  some  take 
of  this  whole  chapter  1  It  has  three  aspects :  1.  He  is  supposed  to  describe  the  wicked  as 
enjoying  uninterrupted  prosperity  through  the  present  life,  then  leaving  it  without  pain, 
and  with  no  concern  for  any  thing  that  may  come  after  them,  which  very  unconcern  is  re- 
presented as  a  portion  of  their  good.  2.  In  what  Job  says  from  ver.  17  and  onward,  where 
he  seems  to  qualify  the  sweeping  character  of  the  first  assertions,  he  is  only  sneering  at  the 
language  of  the  friends,  repeating  it  insincerely  or  in  a  taunting  manner,  and  thus  actually 
giving  a  stronger  emphasis  to  his  first  assertions.  3.  Not  content  with  this,  he  adopts,  as  the 
supposed  meaning  of  "the  way-passers,"  that  the  wicked  not  only  go  on  with  impunity  in 
the  common  course  of  life,  but  that  they  are  specially  favored  in  a  time  of  great  calamity, 
and  in  the  day  of  wrath  (great  wrath,  wraths,  in  the  plural,  which  must  mean  God's  wrath) 
they  are  brought  out  in  triumph  (w3V,  in  a  procession  as  it  were).  And  this  is  done  by 
God!  It  is  not  merely  an  overlooking  (as  Paul  seems  to  say  Acts  xvii.  30),  a  letting  men  go 
their  ways,  but  a  special  favoring  of  the  wicked.  He  brings  them  out  in  a  sort  of  proces- 
sional pomp,  and  keeps  them  from  harm  in  His  dies  irarum.  Kenak  here  goes  beyond  all 
others  who  take  this  view : 

Au  jonr  fatal,  le  mdchant  est  6pargn6, 

Au  jour  de  la  colore  dirine,  il  est  soustrait  au  chitiment, 

as  though  God  specially  shielded  him  when  the  divine  vengeance  is  shown  upon  the  earth. 
Now  add  to  this  Job's  assuming  to  tell  God  (ver.  19)  what  He  ought  to  do,  according  to  this 
interpretation,  namely,  to  "  punish  the  bad  man  himself  in  his  lifetime,  and  not  let  it  come 
on  his  innocent  children,  of  whose  sufferings  he  has  no  feeling  " — and  there  is  reached  the 
very  climax  of  impiety.  He  could  not,  moreover,  have  gone  more  directly  in  the  face  of  his 
own  caution  (ver.  22) :  "shall  a  man  teach  God?  teach  Him  who  judges  the  high?"  And 
yet  all  this  comes  directly  from  the  mode  of  interpreting  this  chapter  (xxi.)  adopted  by  De- 
LITZSCH  and  others. 

The  extreme  Rationalist,  Merx,  would  also  represent  Job  as  teaching  in  this  passage, 
ver.  30,  that  the  wicked  are  specially  favored ;  but  he  has  a  much  easier  way  of  doing  it. 
Seeing  clearly  that  the  text,  as  it  stands,  can  only  be  interpreted  of  the  wicked  being  brought 
out  for  judgment  and  perdition,  he  inserts,  with  his  usual  recklessness,  the  negative  N '. 
making  it  read :  "  the  wicked  are  not  reserved  to  the  day  of  calamity ;  they  are  not 
brought  forth  for  the  day  of  wrath."  That  is  the  way  in  which  he  makes  them  escape, 
and  that  is  the  strange  doctrine  he  thus  forces  into  the  mouths  of  "the  way-passers." 
But  in  doing  this  he  confirms,  in  the  most  decided  manner,  the  other  sense  for  which  we 
contend.  It  is  a  confession  that  it  is  the  only  one  admissible  unless  the  negative  X7.  for 
which  he  has  no  warrant  whatever,  is  inserted.  In  his  note  he  does  not  hesitate  to  charge 
the  Jewish  critics,  those  worshippers  of  words  and  letters,  with  having,  for  dogmatic  pur- 
poses, designedly  changed  the  text.       ^ 


JOB  XXII.  5-13.      TUE  HARSH  CRIMINATIONS  OF  ELIPHAZ.  185 


EXCURSUS  IV. 

Chap.  XXII.  5-13. 
THE  HARSH   CRIMINATIONS  OF  ELIPHAZ.  . 

These  verses  present  one  of  the  great  difficulties  of  the  book.  The  apparent  harsh- 
ness of  the  charges  made  against  Job,  as  they  appear  in  our  English  Version,  and  in  other 
translations,  seem  inexplicable,  whether  viewed  in  their  moral  or  in  their  mere  dramatic 
aspect.  The  view  to  be  taken  of  them,  however,  depends  very  much  on  the  mode  of  ren- 
dering, and  this  again  takes  much  of  its  coloring  from  the  meaning  given  to  ver.  5,  and 
especially  the  starting  particle  Xin.  In  one  view  it  represents  Job  as  not  only  guilty  of 
enormous  sins,  but  as  so  notorious  for  them  as  to  put  denial  out  of  the  question  :  "  Is  not  thy 
wickedness  great,  and  thine  iniquities  infinite  ?  "  Did  Eliphaz  actually  mean  to  charge  him 
thus  ?  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this  are  so  great,  that  we  are  driven  to  a  close  study  of 
the  language,  to  see  if  there  may  not  be  some  modification,  to  say  the  least,  of  such  a  ren- 
dering. 

Much,  as  has  been  said,  depends  upon  the  right  view  of  the  starting  word,  in  itself, 
and  as  affected  by  the  context.  The  Hebrew  language  having  no  modal  forms,  the  question 
whether  such  an  expression  as  n3'2  '*|n;;i  Nin  is  indicative  (under  an  interrogative  form),  and 
thus  directly  assertive,  or  whether  it  is  potential,  conjectural  (or  hypothetical),  must  depend 
very  much  on  the  particles  and  constructive  forms  that  accompany  or  follow.  Is  not  thy 
evil  great  ?  May  not  thy  evil  be  great  ?  Would  not  thy  evil  be  great?  Either  of  these 
might  be  given  as  the  sense  in  certain  connections.  *5 /H  ™a^y  express  doubt,  as  in  1  Sam. 
xxi.  12:  "Is  this  David  the  king?"  or  "can  this  be  David  the  king?"  It  may  be  a 
true  interrogative  seeking"  information,  as  1  Kings  i.  2 ;  or  it  may  be  a  form  of  most  posi- 
tive assertion,  as  Numbers  xxiii.  26  :  "  Did  I  not  surely  tell  thee  ?  "  or  it  may  be  rendered 
"  perhaps,"  as  in  Dent.  xxxi.  17,  or  "  it  may  be,"  denoting  conjecture,  1  Sam.  xx.37  :  "Per- 
haps the  arrow  is  beyond  thee."  There  are  two  strong  arguments  for  the  conjectural  or 
hypothetical  rendering  here — one  contextual  or  circumstantial,  the  other  grammatical.  1st. 
All  the  facts  of  the  case  are  most  clearly  against  the  positive  or  indicative  rendering. 
Though  the  form  is  interrogative,  it  would,  in  fact,  if  thus  taken,  be  the  most  emphatic 
way  of  saying,  not  only  that  "  Job's  wickedness  was  great,  and  his  sins  innumerable,"  but 
that  all  the  world  knew  it,  and  that  he  himself,  the  very  man  appealed  to,  knew  it  as  some- 
thing that  could  not  be  denied.  He  is  not  only  a  sinner,  but  a  most  notorious  one. 
Now  this  cannot  be  the  meaning.  It  would,  in  the  first  place,  be  in  direct  contradiction 
with  the  clearest  assertions  of  the  prologue :  "  a  man  pure  and  upright,  fearing  God,  and 
departing  from  evil."  It  would,  2d,  be  inconsistent  with  the  action  of  the  friends  them- 
selves, who  doubtless  knew  his  reputation  for  righteousness  and  purity  throughout  the 
East,  and  who  had,  therefore,  come  so  far  to  console  him.  3d.  It  would  be  at  war  with 
that  dramatic  propriety  of  which  some  talk  so  much,  that  they  should  thus  fall  upon  him, 
especially  Eliphaz,  who,  in  what  he  says  iv.  3,  4,  6,  had  affirmed  all  these  views  of  Job's 
religion  and  known  integrity.  Everything  shows  that  they  had  formed,  and  had  good  rea- 
sons for  forming,  the  highest  estimate  of  his  moral  worth.  When  and  where  had  they 
learned  the  contrary,  that  he  must  speak  so  positively  and  so  undoubtingly  about  Job's 
crimes?  See  Note  Int.  Theism,  pa.  32.  It  is  a  difficulty  which  Ewald  strongly  feels. 
"Whence,"  says  he,  p.  225,  "did  Eliphaz  derive  his  knowledge  of  the  gross  sins  he  ascribes 
to  Job ?  Had  he  detected  him  in  any  such  acts?  Or  could  he  bring  any  witnesses  in  proof 
of  his  charges  ?    Impossible !    Not  only  the  whole  book,  but  God  himself  directly  contra- 


186  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  IV. 


diets  it."  CoccEius  had  taken  tlie  ground  that  the  charges  were  in  their  nature  conjectural. 
Umbeeit  treats  this  idea  with  contcmi^t,  and  ytt  hardly  seems  aware  of  the  immense  diffi- 
culties that  attend  the  other  view  of  a  strong  positive  assertion.  Rosenmueller  and  others 
I^roceed  in  the  same  way.  The  conjectural  supposition,  however,  is  the  most  natural.  Eli- 
phaz  did  not  know  of  any  such  crimes ;  he  had  no  proof;  he  sought  none ;  refers  to  none. 
The  zeal,  however,  enkindled  in  the  course  of  the  dispute,  led  him  to  think  there  might  be 
sins  unknown,  and  which,  perhaps,  had  slipped  from  the  memory  of  Job  himself  in  the  days 
of  his  prosperity.  If  there  were  any  sins  at  all,  then  those  specified,  he  might  think,  would 
be  the  very  ones  that  a  man  of  power  C^J)  and  property  like  Job  would  be  most  likely  to 
fall  into  occasionally,  whilst  maintaining  something  of  a  general  character  for  probity.  To 
such  the  speaker's  partisan  feeling  would  give  a  heightened  coloring  of  atrocity.  Still,  they 
are  all  stated  conjecturally  or  hypotlietically,  as  the  only  means  of  accounting  for  the  puz- 
zling fact  of  his  great  losses  and  sufferings.  Unjust  as  they  are,  yet,  when  thus  viewed,  the 
seeming  accusations  are  stripped  of  much  of  their  harshness.  They  may  be  the  language  of 
an  injudicious  and  mistaken  friend,  especially  moved  to  reproof  because  Job  shows  so  little 
of  acknowledgment  and  repentance.  It  is  as  though  he  had  said  to  him :  "  There  may  be 
more  evil  in  your  case  than  you  have  probably  thought ;  prosperity  may  have  blinded  your 
eyes ;  your  sins  may  be  ]*p  {'i*,  not  infinite  in  our  mathematical  sense  of  the  term,  but  beyond 
your  numbering — without  estimate,  that  is,  many  more,  and  greater,  than  you  have  thought." 
In  his  vehemence  Eliphaz  uses  hyperbolical  language,  but  not  intended  to  be  taken  literally 
in  the  sense  of  actual  infinity,  or  even  of  anything  beyond  numbering. 

Then  there  is  the  grammatical  argument.  The  ''3  following,  both  as  expressed  in  ver. 
6,  and  implied  in  the  7th,  and  others  succeeding,  is  dependent  on  ^'7n  above :  may  it  not  be 
the  case  that  f  Then,  in  the  verses  following,  it  becomes  specificative  or  illustrative  of  the 
general  charge  :  "  May  not  thy  wickedness  be  so  great,  that  during  thy  prosperous,  unthink- 
ing life,  thou  mayest  have  wrongly  taken  a  pledge  from  some  poor  man,  stripped  off  a  gar- 
ment, not  given  water  to  the  thirsty  traveller,  have  sent  away  the  widow  unredressed,  and 
even,  in  some  cases,  wronged  the  orphan  ?"  There  is  an  air  of  particularity  about  them,  as 
though  tentative  of  Job's  conscience,  that  seems  very  much  to  favor  the  idea  that  these  are 
just  what  CocCEius  calls  them,  conjectural  and  hypothetical.  The  view  thus  taken  of  '3' 
as  specificative,  alone  furnishes  a  satisfactory  reason  for  the  futures  /^nn,  M'ti'Un,  npKTl,  j'JDn, 
that  follow  it  in  the  succeeding  clauses.  The  conditional  hypothesis,  making  the  construc- 
tion the  subjective,  or  consequential  iu  the  thought,  alone  accounts  for  them  :  "  Would  not 
thy  wickedness  be  great,"  as  'i^y^  "jn;?'!  X^n  may  be  rendered,  or  "  would  it  not  be  great 
wickedness  in  thee,"  that  thou  shouldst  take,  or  shouldst  have  taken  a  pledge,"  etc.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  take  ^^'  ver.  6,  as  independent,  or  render  it  for  or  because,  it  would  not  be 
easy  to  show  a  reason  why  the  veib  should  not  have  been  in  the  preterite  (j^7?n) ;  just  as  in 
XV.  25  (which,  on  that  view,  would  be  a  precisely  similar  case),  '3  is  followed  by  HDJ^  and  in 
ver.  26  by  nD3.  The  only  reason  that  can  be  given  for  the  different  form  of  the  tenses  here 
is  that  "'3  is  truly  dependent  on  the  conjectural  {<7n  above,  whilst  the  futures  are  dependent 
on  the  specifying  power  of  the  particle  here  carrying  the  conjecture  all  through.  The  8th 
verse  is  parenthetical,  and  in  ver.  9  we  have  a  preterite  jj)n_l^,  "thou  hast  sent  away  •"  but 
such  an  intervening  change  is  not  only  explicable  grammatically,  as  affected  by  the  previous 
parenthetical  movement,  but  also  rhetorically,  as  denoting  the  zeal  of  the  speaker,  carried 
away  by  his  own  vivid  suppositions,  and  coming  almost  to  look  upon  them  as  actual  facts. 
In  regard  to  these  futures,  translators  and  commentators  have  always  found  a  difficulty  if  'D 
was  to  be  rendered  absolutely.  The  whole  case  is  very  clearly  and  concisely  stated  by  Ju- 
Kius  as  cited  in  Poole's  Synopsis:  Quia  status  harum  criminationum  co7ijeciuralis  est,  et 
magis  in  presunrptionibus  quam  certis  probationibus  positus,  fuixiro  utitur :  pignus  acceperis, 
nudaveris,  etc 

In  the  question,  "ts  not,"  or  "may  not  thy  evil  he  great?"  there  may  be  a  looking  back 
to  the  previous  reflections  as  well  as  to  the  supposed  changes  that  follow.  It  may  refer  to 
that  idea  of  trafficking  with  God  (ver.  2),  or  getting  gain  to  one's  self  from  some  profiting  we 


] 


JOB  XXII.  5-13.      THE  HARSH  CRIMINATIONS  OF  ELIPHAZ.  187 

may  have  fancied  to  accrue  to  Ilim  from  our  defective  virtue.  Something  like  this  is  the 
idea  of  Good,  who  contends  that  v^nn,  and  the  other  futures  that  follow  ''^,  should  be  ren- 
dered :  "  Thou  wouldst  oj)i3ress/'  "  Thou  wouldst  strip,"  etc.  That  is,  a  man  wicked  enough 
(in  the  estimatidn  of  Eliphaz)  to  vindicate  himself  as  Job  does  (or  to  think  of  profiting  God 
by  his  religion)  might  be  supposed  capable  of  committing  all  these  acts."  There  is  a  con- 
nection between  n;?"i,  the  evil  here  (ver.  5),  and  the  religion  and  righteousness  mentioned 
above,  as  the  things  by  which  Eliphaz  would  represent  Job  as  claiming  to  be  profitable  to 
God.  Even  admitting  that  there  might  be  some  such  an  outstanding  account,  though  far 
less  than  Job  perhaps  imagined,  still,  in  the  judgment  of  Eliphaz,  there  was  another  balance 
to  be  settled:  "Thine  evil,  too,  may  be  very  great,"  as  well  as  thy  religion  by  which  thou 
thinkest  to  bring  God  into  thy  debt.  All  this  is  very  unjust  to  Job,  as  we  see  it ;  but  it  pre- 
pares the  way  very  naturally  for  the  conjectural  or  hyj^othetical  style  of  what  follows. 

Following  this  connection,  we  find  a  demand  for  the  repetition  of  the  same  particle, 
*< /H,  as  essential  to  the  complete  sense  of  the  sixth  verse  :  "May  it  not  be  that  thou  hast 
taken  a  pledge  of  thy  brother  for  nought?"  If  its  force  goes  through  all  these  specifications, 
as  both  the  context  and  the  grammar  require  (that  is,  the  future  forms),  then  it  actually 
belongs  to  the  translation  in  each  one,  as  something  essential  to  its  fair  exjiression,  and  not 
as  merely  paraphrastic  or  explanatory.  So  Cocceius  justly  regards  it,  and,  therefore,  inserts 
fortassis :  Num/ortossw  pignus  cepisti  a  fratribus  tuis  sine  causa,  etc.  To  which  he  adds 
the  note :  Conjecturaliter  et  disjunctive  explico,  nulla  repugnante  grammatica,  ne  crudeliores 
sententias,  quam  ipsi  amici,  in  Jobum  cudam.  Instead  of  nulla  grammatica  repugnante^ 
Cocceius  might  have  said :  grammatica  revera  postulante. 

So,  too,  ver.  8  is  to  be  taken  as  language  ascribed  to  Job  by  Eliphaz  : 

(Hast  said)  the  land  is  for  the  strong ; 

not  in  so  many  words,  but  as  indicated  by  his  supposed  deeds,  which,  the  accuser  would  say, 
speak  louder  than  words.  Thou  hast  acted  as  though  the  land  belonged  to  the  strong.  It 
is  "  the  language  of  the  case"  to  use  a  technic  of  the  Arabian  Grammarians.  It  represents 
the  supposed  spirit  of  the  one  thus  spoken  of.  Thus  Rabbi  Tanchum  in  his  Arabic  Com- 
mentary on  Lamentations  iii.  36,  maintains  that  the  Hebrew  words  HNT  N7  "'j'lX,  the  Lord 
not  see  it  (badly  rendered  by  E.  V.,  the  Lord  approveth  not),  is,  in  fact,  the  language  of  the 
w'icked  to  themselves,  and  not  of  the  prophet,  as  our  translation  makes  it  with  a  great  force 
upon  nxi.  "  To  subvert  a  man  in  his  cause, — the  Lord  does  not  see  it;"  so  their  actions 
say. 

If  this  general  view  be  correct,  then  the  conjectural  or  hypothetical  idea  goes  also  into 
the  conclusion,  ver.  10 : 

Wherefore,  it  may  be,  snares  are  round  thee  spread. 

Otherwise  it  would  seem  like  judicial  exultation  over  the  misery  of  Job.  It  does  not,  how-_ 
ever,  relate  so  much  to  the  fact  as  to  the  conjectural  reason :  It  may  be  that  acts  like  these 
are  the  cause  of  all  your  trouble.  Aside  from  the  grammatical  reasons,  it  may  be  truly  said, 
that  we  are  absolutely  forced  to  some  such  view  of  the  hypothetical  character  of  these  state- 
ments in  order  to  avoid  the  most  revolting  supposition  of  such  charges  being  directly  and 
positively  made  without  a  particle  of  evidence.  The  warmth  of  disputation  may  have  very 
naturally  led  to  an  uncharitable  expression  of  suspicion  and  of  harsh  suppositions ;  but  all 
beyond  this  is  a  violation  of  dramatic,  as  well  as  of  moral,  and  logical  consistency. 


188  ADDENDA.      EXCURSUS  V. 


EXCURSUS  V. 

ON    THE    HEBREW    WORD     Jl^tJ^'lH 

T    • 

As  occuRRiNQ  Job  VI.  13,  XL  6,  XII.  16,  and  especially  XXVI.  3. 

This  word  is  used  not  only  by  the  Chokma  writers,  as  they  are  called,  but  also  by  the 
Prophets.  Like  other  Hebrew  words  of  intelligence,  it  denotes  both  a  form  of  truth  and  also 
the  faculty  of  the  mind  that  perceives  it — being,  in  this  respect,  like  our  word  reason.  That 
it  has  the  former  aspect,  Job  xxvi,  3,  appears  from  the  verb  fij^lTl  and  the  parallelism  which 
demands  for  it  the  sense  of  teaching.  Hence  an  objection  to  Ewald's  rendering,  feste  Ein- 
sicht,  in  that  place,  as  well  as  to  the  Verstdndiges  of  Dillman  and  Zockler.  As  denoting 
a  power  or  state  of  mind,  Anschauung  would  have  been  a  better  word.  As  a  form  of  truth, 
it  is  the  highest  which  the  Hebrew  language  affords,  unless  it  be  the  more  general  term  HODn 
regarded  as  including  it.  This  is  seen  from  its  associations.  Thus  in  Prov.  iii.  21  it  is  some- 
thing higher  than  H^IIp,  sagacity,  prudence ;  Prov.  viii.  14  (rendered  in  E.  V.  sound  wisdom) 
it  is  joined  with  ny3  and  H^J^ ;  Prov.  xviii.  1,  it  is  the  speculative,  contemplative  wisdom, 
to  which  the  recluse  (T'SJ )  so  earnestly  devotes  himself.  It  is  ascribed  to  God,  Isaiah  xxviii. 
29,  and  in  a  still  more  remarkable  manner.  Job  xii.  16  (see  Note  thereon).  T7-ii(h  is  the 
best  rendering,  if  we  take  that  word  in  its  highest  and  broadest  sense  for  the  reality  of  things 
(see  Webster's  definition),  or  the  truth  fixed  and  necessary,  in  distinction  from  the  flowing, 
the  apparent,  the  phenomenal.  Delitzsch  well  defines  it  from  J.  H,  Michaelis  as  vera  et 
realis  sapientia,  although  in  his  version  he  seems  to  limit  its  force.  The  objection  is  that 
this  is  too  metaphysical  for  the  Book  of  Job,  or  as  J.  D.  Michaelis  states  it,  nimis  a  vidgari 
sensu  remota.  Such  words,  he  goes  on  to  saj,phUosophi  in  scholis  condunt  non plebs :  "school- 
men make  them,  not  the  people."  But  this  only  shows  that  he  himself  was  no  metaphysi- 
cian, in  the  true  sense  of  the  term.  What  is  the  sensus  vulgaris  f  The  highest  forms  of 
truth  have  their  seat  in  the  common  mind,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact,  that  language  ever,  in 
some  way,  makes  names  (the  names  that  are  wanted)  before  philosophy,  as  such,  is  ever 
heard  of.  The  contemplative  soul  of  Job  was  as  capable  of  such  an  idea  as  that  of  Mi- 
chaelis. Plato's  distinction  of  the  ovra  and  the  yiyvdiieva,  or  real  being  as  distinguished 
from  the  phe7iomenal,  or  ever-changing,  is  one  that  belongs  to  every  thoughtful  mind.  Paul 
makes  it,  2  Cor.  iv.  18,  though  carrying  it  to  a  sublimer  height  than  Plato:  "the  things  seen 
and  the  things  unseen,"  the  temporal  and  the  eternal ;  the  latter  not  simply  unseen  as  absent 
from  a  present  personal  sense,  but  as  in  their  very  being  super-sensual.  By  giving,  more- 
over, this  higher  and  wider  sense  to  rTiyin,  there  is  brought  out  the  contrast  evidently  intended 
in  the  two  clauses  of  xxvi.  3:  the  first,  the  teaching  of  the  unlearned,  or  the  practical,  the 
second,  the  more  speculative  or  contemplative  wisdom — the  truth  of  things  in  their  widest 
sense  (^'^^).  The  old  derivation  of  this  word  was  from  l^''  the  undeclinable  substantive  verb, 
as  ova!a  [essence,  being)  is  made  from  elfi'i,  o)v  in  Greek.  Gesenius  departs  from  this ;  but 
the  best  commentators  such  as  Delitzsch,  Ewald,  et  al.,  have  come  back  to  it,  making  its 
true  etymological  sense  to  be  substantia,  vnoaTaaiq,  the  solid,  the  real — true  being  (see  De- 
LIZSCH  on  this  verse).  So  the  Jewish  Rabbinical  writers  have  regarded  it.  In  their  philo- 
sophical discussions,  they  use  the  H'tyin  of  the  Old  Scriptures  as  their  term  for  the  super- 
sensual  wisdom  or  philosophy.  From  it  they  have  also  made  a  technical  distinction  among 
philosophers  or  wise  7nen(D'D3n).  They  are  the  ri'tyin  'ODn,  the  metaphysici,  the  specula- 
tive thinkers  in  distinction,  from  the  "ipnnn  'DDn,  the  Physici,  or  natural  philosophers  who 
proceed  by  experiment  and  induction  (see  Buxtorf  Lex.  Chald.  990,  819).  Compare  Paul's 
expression,  1  Cor.  i.  20,  av^TjTtjTai.  tov  aluvoq  tovtov,  seekers,  inquirers,  experimenters  [JSfaturfor- 
scher)  of  this  world.    Thus  also  is  it  used  by  such  Jewish  writers  as  Levi  Ben  Gerson. 


JOB  XXVI.  5,  6,  7.      THE  SHADES  IN  SHEOL,  ETC.  189 

Philosophical  words  formed  in  this  way  from  the  old  Hebrew  are  not  fanciful  or  arhitrary. 
The  idea  on  which  they  are  founded  are  in  the  root  words,  and  they  came  to  the  Rabbinical 
writers  out  of  the  demand  for  them  as  our  own  scientific,  philosophical,  or  theological  words 
derived  from  the  Greek  and  Latin.  FuEEST  also  gives  the  sense  substantia.  See  Notes  on 
Job  V.  12 ;  vi.  13,  and  xii.  16. 


EXCURSUS    YI. 

Chap.  XXVI.  5,  6,  7. 


THE  SHADES  IN"  SHEOL.     ABADDON",  OE  THE  "WORLD  BELO"W  SHEOL.     JOB's  YIE"V7  OF  THE 
POSITION  OF  THE  MUNDUS,  AND  OF  THE  EARTH. 

In  chapter  xxv.,  Bildad  had  been  holding  forth  on  God's  glories  in  the  worlds  above, 
ahd  His  knowledge  of  celestial  things.  It  would  seem  as  though  he  meant  to  overawe  and 
confound  the  unconfessing,  impenitent  man.  Job  turns  the  mind  in  another  direction,  or  to 
the  deeper  mystery  of  the  world  below.  All  things,  "  in  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth,"  as 
well  as  above  the  earth,  lie  naked  before  the  eye  of  God.  Thus  ver.  5,  though  seeming 
abrupt  and  unconnected,  forms  the  transition  to  this  deeper  and  more  mysterious  region. 
The  argument  is  that  He  sees  the  lowest  and  most  hidden  things,  as  well  as  the  celestial 
hosts,  the  KaTaxSovioi  as  well  as  the  krrovpdviot.  It  is  j^^cce,  therefore,  rather  than  events,  or 
descriptions  of  things  contained,  that  is  mainly  thought  of.  On  this  account,  the  adverb 
where  is  not  a  superfluity  in  the  translation,  but  a  necessary  link  in  the  association  of  thought. 
The  "giant  shades"  represent  the  world  they  inhabit,  and  all  the  more  impressively  from 
the  sudden  way  in  which  Job  mentions  them  after  his  brief  reproof  of  Bildad's  declamation. 
This  is  the  view  of  Mede  as  given  in  Poole's  Synopsis :  Locus  ubi  antiqui  gigantes  lugent 
sub  aquis  ;  infernus  et  locus  perditionis  patet  oculis  Dei.  He  compares  it  with  Prov.  xv. 
11:  "^Aeo^  and  ^5ac?c/on  are  before  the  Lord."  In  both  passages  Abaddon  is  the  deeper, 
the  darker,  the  more  returnless  place.  It  is  the  Locus  Perditionis,  the  world  of  the  lost.  As 
thus  designating  place  generally  (the  world  below  and  the  world  lowest  of  all),  it  leaves  a 
secondary  question  how  far  this  is  mythical,  legendary,  so  regarded  by  the  speakers  them- 
selves, or  to  what  extent  it  was  actually  believed.  It  may  be  used  as  Paul  uses  Ka-axOSvioi 
Phil.  ii.  10:  "things  or  beings  below  the  earth,"  in  distinction  from  those  above,  without 
our  supposing  in  him  a  knowledge  of  the  Antipodes,  or  of  an  actual  world  below.  It  is  used 
to  denote  the  great  depths  and  their  possible  inhabitants,  in  distinction  from  the  visible 
things  in  the  heavens,  or  as  a  comprehensive  mode  of  denoting  all  beings  "above  the  earth, 
and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth." 

The  word  D'^3"i  is  undoubtedly  used  for  manes,  umbrce,  the  shades,  supposed  to  inhabit 
the  under-world.  This  comes  directly  from  the  primary  sense  of  weakness  in  N31  when  used 
for  ns").  The  D'X3"i,  the  weak,  the  powerless.  It  immediately  suggests  Homer's  Kauovreg  as 
applied  to  the  dead,  the  wearied,  or  eidula  KafiSvrtJv,  the  images^  umbrce,  or  shades  of  the  de- 
ceased. For  a  similar  use  of  this  word  in  Hebrew  see  Isaiah  xiv.  10;  xxvi.  14,  19;  Ps. 
Ixxxviii.  11;  Prov.  ii.  18;  ix.  18;  xxi.  16.  What  makes  a  seeming  difficulty,  however,  is 
the  fact  that  the  same  term  is  used  for  a  race  of  giants,  as  in  Gen.  xiv.  5  ;  xv,  20  ;  Isa.  xvii. 
5.  This  naming  may  have  come  from  some  law  of  contrary  association,  such  as  frequently 
influences  language.  They  were  called  the  feeble  very  much  as  the  Greek  called  the  Furies 
Evfievidec,  the  kindly  ones,  the  gracious  powers.  Here,  in  fact,  the  true  force  of  the  passage 
is  best  given  by  combining  the  two  ideas :  the  once  mighty  men  of  old  now  feeble,  wailing 
ghosts.  Such  a  tradition  of  mighty  rebellious  powers  engaged  in  a  contest  with  heaven, 
defeated  and  cast  down,  was  certainly  in  the  world,  and  in  the  most  ancient  mythologies. 


190  ADDENDA.    EXCURSUS  VI. 


The  question  may  arise,  whether  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  referring  to  the  old  antediluvian 
giants  (the  "  men  of  renown  "  mentioned  Gen.  vi.),  or  to  some  such  war  with  the  higher 
powers  as  is  shadowed  in  the  Greek  fables  of  the  conflict  between  the  gods  and  the  giants, 
or  the  gods  and  the  Titans,  the  latter  the  helpers  of  Kronos  when  dethroned  by  Zeus,  and 
hurled  down  beneath  the  waters  of  the  abyss,  as  related  in  ^SCH.  From.  Vinct.  219 : 

Taprdpov  /usln/iftaO^c 
"KeiSfiuv  KakvTTTei  rbv  naTMiyevrj  l\.p6vov 
AvTolai  Gv/j/j.d;(oi<7i: 

The  deep  black  pit  of  Tartarus  that  hides 
The  old-born  Kronos  with  hia  helping  hosts. 

Compare  2  Peter  ii.  4 :  "  God  spared  not  the  angels  that  sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  hell, 
[raprapcjaag^  a  word  taken  from  this  Greek  mythical  language),  and  delivered  them  unto 
chains  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto  judgment."  The  New  Testament  writings  ( Jude  6, 
2  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  4,.  and  passages  in  the  Eevelations)  show  that  the  idea  of  such  a  conflict  existed 
before  the  birth  of  our  Saviour,  and  might  be  called  universal  in  the  world,  Jewish  as  well 
as  heathen— going  back,  perhaps,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  manner  of  those  Apostles  speak- 
ing of  it,  and  quoting  old  authorities,  to  a  most  remote  antiquity.  Some  great  event  of  t^e 
kind,  whether  regarded  as  having  taken  place  in  the  heavenly  or  in  the  earthly  sphere, 
seems  to  have  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  primitive  mind  in  whatever  way  it  was 
revealed  or  traditionally  transmitted.  Hence  all  early  mythology  is  so  full  of  it,  however 
monstrous  and  grotesque  the  forms  it  has  assumed.  The  Bible  has  the  least  to  say  about  it ; 
but  the  few  indications  it  does  give  are,  on  that  very  account,  the  more  fearful  in  their  cha- 
racter: " The  giants  groan  beneath  the  waters" — "delivered  unto  chains  of  darkness" — 
"reserved  unto  the  judgment."  There  is  nothing  in  the  Hesiodean  and  Homeric  Tartarus, 
or  in  the  stories  of  Tityus,  Sisyphus,  and  Tantalus,  or  in  the  corresponding  horrors  of  Indian 
and  Scandinavian  myths,  to  be  compared  with  this  veiled  language  of  perdition  and  despair. 
In  this  passage  the  Rephaim,  or  giant  shades,  are  represented  as  suffering  extreme  anguish 
(nilTT',  writhing,  torture,  travail),  and  this  shows  that  the  reference  to  them  is  that  of  a  spe- 
cial case,  as  of  some  awful  example,  and  not  to  the  shades  generally,  who  are  described  as 
quiescent,  inert,  rather  than  as  suffering. 

In  the  rendering  "deep  Abaddon,"  ver.  6,  the  epithet  is  justified  by  the,  evidently  in- 
tended contrast.  Abaddon  is  lower  than  Sheol,  or  the  underworld.  Or  if  iflcludcd  in  the 
latter  term,  it  is  its  deepest  department,  and,  in  every  respect,  a  more  mysterious  conception. 
They  are  not  tautologies.  Abaddon  seems  to  bear  something  of  the  same  relation  to  Sheol 
that  Tartarus,  in  Homer,  bears  to  Hades.     Compare  the  Iliad  viii.  13 : 

6?  Tdprapov  r)fp6fin'a, 
TrjAe  fxaA",  fj^i  pd6i<TTOV  uvrb  x9ov6i  icm  ^ipeSpov' 
Tocrcrov  ivepff  'AiSeio  oaov  oiipavos  ear'  airo  yaiTjs.* 


-Down  to  rayless  Tartarus, 


Deep,  deep,  in  the  great  Gulf  below  the  earth, — 
As  far  beneath  the  Shades  as  earth  from  heaven. 

— Bryant. 

Delitzsch  says  that  Abaddon  alternates  with  "^Jp.,  the  grave,  and  cites  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  12. 
So  in  Job  xxviii.  22  it  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  ri^D ;  just  as  Death  and  Hades  are 
mentioned  together  Rev.  i.  18  ;  xx.  14.  In  the  latter  place,  too,  they  are  both  represented, 
after  Hades  has  given  up  the  souls  of  the  righteous,  as  being  cast  into  that  deeper  place, 
"the  lake  of  fire."  But  in  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  12  the  word  is  used  as  denoting,  generally,  all  after 
death,  or  the  most  extreme  world  of  death,  if  we  may  regard  it  as  synonymous  with  the 
expression  nvj^nn  103,  in  lacu  inferno  of  ver.  7  just  above.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind, 
however,  that  there  (Ps.  Ixxxviii.  12)  the  terms  are  taken  metaphorically,  to  express  the 
extremes  of  darkness  and  misery.  Here,  and  in  Prov.  xv.  11  (as  used  in  both  cases  with 
Sheol),  it  evidently  makes  a  climax.     The  parallelism  demands  that  it  be  taken  as  some- 


JOB  XXVI.  5,  6,  7.      THE  SHADES  IN  SHEOL,  ETC.  191 

thing  beyond  Sheol,  deeper,  darker,  more  hidden  and  mysterious,  yet  still  open  to  the  all- 
seeing  eye.  Comp.  Ps.  cxxxix.  8.  So  also  in  Deut.  xxxii.  22,  there  appears  this  idea  of  a 
deeper  underworld  than  Sheol,  or  of  a  deeper  department  of  it,  as  it  were,  "beneath  that 
lowest  deep  a  deeper  still:"  "For  a  fire  is  kindled  in  mine  anger,  and  shall  burn  ViNC'  ^J; 
n'rpnPj  to  the  lowest  hell,"  LXX,  cwc  'XiSov  KaTurdrov.  It  may  be  said,  that  this  is  merely 
imagery;  but  what  did  it  all  come  from?  In  Job  xxxi.  12  this  word  is  again  taken  figura- 
tively to  denote  the  deepest  destruction  :  "  It  would  be  like  a  fire  (the  sin  of  adultery  there 
mentioned)  that  would  consume  even  to  Abaddon"  (comp.  Prov.  v.  8).  It  was  the  moral 
feeling  that  carried  the  imaginations  of  Jews  and  Greeks  in  both  directions,  up  and  down. 
The  world  must  be  as  deep  as  it  is  high.  So  the  Greeks  had  their  spheres  above  spheres, 
even  to  the  Empyrean,  whilst,  in  the  other  direction,  the  idea  of  Hades  was  not  complete 
unless  Tartarus  was  placed  beneath  it.  In  like  manner,  the  Hebrew  mind  had  its  "heavens" 
in  the  plural  (Gen.  i.  1),  then  its  "heaven  of  heavens,"  and  its  third  heavens  (the  Rabbins 
afterwards  made  them  Jift'i/).  The  complement  of  the  idea  was  needed.  Up  and  down  are, 
indeed,  relative  terms,  and  so  thinking  men,  from  Solomon  to  Aristotle  and  Newton,  have 
ever  regarded  them.  But  the  ideas  they  typify  are  real.  It  is  felt  that  there  must  be  in  the 
great  system  of  things  a.profundUy  corresponding  to  the  altitude,  an  evil  to  the  good,  a  dark- 
ness, a  risk,  and  a  loss,  forming  a  counterpart  to  the  light,  the  hope,  and  the  glory.  This 
carried  the  mind  in  the  opposite  direction,  first  to  the  grave,  then  to  Sheol,  then  to  Abaddon 
or  the  lacus  infernus,  nrnnr}  "^13,  below  all.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  from  this  came 
much  of  the  imagery  of  the  Revelation.  In  that  book  (chap.  ix.  11),  the  name  Abaddon  is 
given  to  the  Power  of  the  place,  rather  than  to  the  place  itself;  it  makes  it  the  King  of  the 
Abyss,^  Saailea  Tfjg  a^vaaov  ;  whence  he  is  also  called  AttoT^M'uv  ( Apollyon)  the  Destroyer ;  but 
it  is  the  same  idea  and  the  same  destruction. 

Even  in  the  Old  Testament,  as  may  be  learned  from  passages  in  Job  and  the  Psalms, 
there  was  connected  with  Sheol  some  idea  of  deliverance :  "  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in 
Hades ;"  but  Abaddon  was  total  perdition  :  "  the  way  of  the  wicked  (Ps.  i.  6)  shall  perish," 
13Xri ;  that  is,  it  leads  to  Abaddon,  the  world  of  irrecoverable  ruin.  As  is  argued  in  the 
Introd.  Theism,  pa.  13,  there  is,  in  the  Old  Testament,  a  veil  cast  over  the  whole  idea  of 
existence  after  death,  or  over  Sheol  itself.  Still  more  dense  is  the  covering  that  enshrouds 
Abaddon  ;  but  even  in  the  Old  Scriptures  there  are,  now  and  then,  glimpses  of  the  remoter 
fearful  ruin,  too  frequently  passed  over  as  merely  metaphorical.  So  in  the  Greek  mythology 
there  are  cases  of  return  from  Hades,  however  rare  and  exceptional,  but  from  Tartarus  there 
was  no  deliverance;  the  lost  were  there /orever,  tov  ad  xp^vov  (see  Plato,  Hep.  615,  B.  Gorg. 
525  c).  So  far,  however,  as  the  Scriptures,  whether  Old  or  New,  give  us  glimpses  of  this 
awful  state,  it  is  not  one  of  extinction  or  annihilation.  The  figures  all  point  the  other  way 
to  the  idea  of  existence  in  perdition.  It  is  d-uXs/a,  utter  destruction.  It  is  the  world  of  the 
perished,  of  the  lost  [perditorum).  In  a  word  it  is  J'''^??^,  an  existence  still  having  place  and 
state,  but  one  of  total  and  irretrievable  disorganization. 

In  verse  7,  Job  comes  back  from  Hades  and  Abaddon  to  the  earth  and  the  mundus 
above.  By  the  North  is  primarily  indicated  the  north  pole  of  the  heavens  which  seems  lifted 
up  and  impending  over  emptiness.  Over  nothing ;  imj^roperly  rendered,  upon  nothing ; 
no'Sa  h^_,  upon  not  anything;  "''73  and  HO^  as  HO  and  HO  in  HOIXD,  anything  whatever.  It; 
immediately  suggests  the  description  of  Ovid,  Met.  i.  11: 

Pendens  in  aere  tellna 
Ponderibus  librata  suis. 

No  wonder  need  be  felt  at  this  language  of  Job,  as  though  expressing  an  idea  peculiarly 
modern.  No  thoughtful  mind  could  ever  contemplate  the  sun's  setting  in  the  evening  West, 
and  its  rising,  a  few  hours  after,  in  the  morning  East,  without  the  thought  of  its  having 
gone  under  the  Earth,  or  of  the  Earth's  having  turned  over.  Even  this  latter  view  was  more 
ancient  than  the  days  of  Pythagoras,  who  had  the  Copernican  idea  of  the  solar  system, 
derived  as  is  supposed,  from  the  Egyptians,  or  the  East.  See  Note  on  Ecclesiastes  i.  5  and 
Ps.  xix.  6  (Lange  Com.,  Vol.  x.,  p.  38),  where  the  s'ln  is  represented  as  "panting"  up  "the 


192  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  VI. 


eastern  steep."  From  this  there  must  have  been  the  conception  of  an  underside,  at  least,  to 
the  earth,  or  of  a  body  lying  in  space,  with  space  all  around  it.  Zockler  says:  "We 
must  not  think  of  a  ball,  but  of  a  circular  plate  or  disk ;"  but  he  has  no  authority  for  saying 
this.  The  Latin  orbis  terrarum  is  a  very  different  idea,  and  has  a  different  origin  from  the 
appearance  of  the  visible  horizon.  Once  depart  from  the  notion  of  an  indefinitely  extended 
plane,  or  conceive  of  a  body  lying  in  space,  and  there  is  immediately  suggested  the  spherical 
figure,  or  something  like  it.  This  is  not  only  because  it  is  easiest  in  its  conception  (the 
Scheibe  of  Zockler,  a  flat  plate  figure,  wabbling  in  space,  being  difficult  as  well  as  incon- 
gruous), but  because  it  is,  theoretically,  the  most  perfect  figure  for  the  mind's  contemplation, 
as  Aristotle  reasons  in  his  very  clear  and  conclusive  argument  [Booh,  De  Coelo,  lib.  ii.  13, 
14)  for  the  sphericity  of  the  Earth,  made  long  before  the  days  of  Columbus.  The  same 
thinking  has  led  some,  in  modern  times,  to  the  idea  of  a  spherical  Universe.  We  need  not, 
moreover,  give  ourselves  any  difficulty  about  the  apparent  inconsistency  between  this  more 
correct  view  and  the  merely  phenomenal  one,  ver.  10,  or  what  is  said  about  the  "  pillars  of 
the  earth,"  Job  ix.  6,  or  attempt  to  explain  it,  as  Zockler  does,  by  making  pillars  mean 
something  inside  the  Earth,  as  its  bones  or  skeleton.  In  ancient,  as  well  as  in  modern, 
times,  the  poetical  or  phenomenal  conception  existed  side  by  side  with  the  more  contempla- 
tive idea, — if  the  latter  is  not,  indeed,  the  more  poetical  of  the  two  when  held  without  its 
prosaic  arithmetic.  Byron  speaks  of  the  "  sun  setting  on  the  wide,  wide  sea,"  just  as  Homer 
does.  Neither  is  there  any  occasion  here  to  talk  about  the  absurdity  of  some  ancient  ideas 
in  respect  to  the  Earth's  support,  such  as  that  presented  in  the  old  worn-out  lecturer's  stories 
of  the  Earth  on  the  elephant,  and  the  elephant  on  the  tortoise.  Men  who  say  that  Gravita- 
tion supports  the  Earth — going  no  further  than  the  name,  or  its  mathematical  calculus — are 
guilty  of  an  equal  absurdity  ;  or  rather,  all  the  worse,  we  might  say,  for  the  seriousness  of  its 
pretension,  whereas  the  old  explanations  referred  to  have  something  of  a  jocular  air  about 
them.  Easchi  gives  us  a  grand  idea  here.  The  support  of  the  world,  he  says,  is  iT\iriiI  piTn 
T['^2'^'r\  iw,  "  the  strength  of  the  arms  of  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be  He."  The  reference  is 
to  Dent  xxxiii.  27,  D/ijr  DJ^'^T  nnnp,  "  underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms,"  or  the  "  arms  of 
01am,"  the  "  arms  of  the  world,"  the  arms  that  hold  up  the  world,  whether  it  be  the  world 
in  space  or  the  world  in  time  [Olamic,  ceonian).  Rabbi  Levi  Ben  Gerson  explains  it  meta- 
physically: nD"'73,  he  says,  "is  the  centre  of  the  earth,  called  nothing,  because  it  is  nothing 
in  itself,  being  only  a  point  in  position,  and  yet  the  supporting  and  supported  point  of  the 
whole."  In  the  next  verse,  there  is  the  same  essential  mystery  as  in  the  suspended  earth : 
the  waters  in  the  cloud  maintaining  their  equilibrium  in  the  air. 

Ver.  7.  The  world.  So  |*"1*<  is  best  rendered  here,  as  in  Prov.  viii.  31  (l^f^X  S^n),  and 
in  some  other  places,  where  it  seems  to  be  put  for  the  visible  mundus  of  which  the  Earth  is 
the  centre,  or  on  which  the  sky  is  built  (1  Sam.  ii.  18).  In  Ps.  xviii.  16,  ^^y}  is  used  for  the 
Earth,  and  so  in  Ps.  xciii.  1,  and  some  other  places  {"the  round  world"  as  the  English 
Church  Psalter  renders  it).  The  view  connects  itself  with  the  visible  celestial  sphere,  and 
thus  the  second  clause  is  only  an  extension  of  the  first:  the  North  Pole  over  the  void,  or  the 
whole  mundus  conceived  as  having  the  earth  for  its  nucleus,  and  thus,  as  a  whole,  hanging 
over  nothing.  This  would  not  be  in  conflict  with  the  more  limited  view  of  the  Earth  as 
itself  unsupported  in  space.  It  may  be  called  the  tellurian  rather  than  the  simply  terrestrial 
idea,  or  than  the  terraqueous  conception,  the  Earth  lying  upon  the  encircling  waters,  which 
Delitzsch  attaches  to  the  idea. 


JOB   XXVII.,  XXVIII.,  XXIX.,  XXX.      POSITIONS  AND  CONNECTIONS.  IK 


EXCURSUS  VII. 

ON  THE  POSITIONS  AND  CONNECTIONS  OF 

Chs.  XXVII.,  XXVIII.,  XXIX.,  XXX, 

Chapter  xxv.  closes  tlie  speeches  of  the  friends.  In  eh.  xxvi.  Job  replies  directly  to 
Bildad.  Ch.  xxvii.  begins  what  may  be  called  his  closing  Vindication,  which  may  be  di- 
vided into  six  parts  :  1st.  Job's  solemn  oath  by  way  of  protest  against  the  charges  really  or 
.seemingly  made :  ch.  xxvii.  1-11.  2d.  His  picture  of  the  wicked  man  and  his  doom,  xxvii. 
11  to  the  end  of  the  chapter.  This  may  be  regarded  as  a  more  careful  statement  of  the  case, 
and,  to  some  extent,  a  retractation  of  former  extravagant  positions  into  which  he  had  been 
driven  by  the  criminations  of  his  opponents,  grounded,  as  they  were,  upon  the  opposite  ex- 
treme (see  Excursus  II.,  page  7).  3d.  A  meditation  on  the  unsearchableness  of  the  divine 
wisdom  as  compared  with  the  deepest  discoveries  of  natural  and  human  knowledge,  ch. 
xxviii.  It  may  be  rightly  called  a  meditation,  or  soliloquy,  because  it  seems  addressed  to  no 
one,  and,  taken  by  itself,  would  give  little  or  no  intimation  of  any  other  human  presence. 
Such  a  character,  too,  might  be  given  to  it  from  its  apparent  lack  of  open  logical  connection 
with  the  chapter  immediately  preceding.  Its  emotional  connection,  however,  it  is  not  diflB- 
cult  to  trace.  More  than  any  direct  assertion  would  have  been,  is  it  an  admission,  by  the 
one  who  thus  soliloquizes,  that  he  has  been  rash  in  his  complaints  of  the  divine  procedure. 
He  "  has  uttered  what  he  understood  not,  things  too  wonderful  for  him  that  he  knew  not," 
as  he  afterwards  more  expressly  confesses,  xlii.  3.  Its  connection  is  also  seen  from  its  lead- 
ing him,  at  the  close  of  the  chapter,  to  that  submission  in  which  he  describes  the  highest 
wisdom  of  man  to  be  "  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  departure  from  evil."  4th.  A  touching  re- 
miniscence of  his  former  prosperity  and  standing  among  men — most  pathetic  indeed,  but 
free  from  any  murmuring  spirit,  or  any  rebellious  language,  ch.  xsix.  5th.  A  like  impas- 
sioned representation  of  the  contempt  and  neglect  in  which  he  is  now  held  by  the  vile,  and 
of  the  extreme  misery  of  his  condition,  ch.  xxx.  There  are  here  a  few  touches  of  the  old 
feeling,  but  presented  in  an  exquisitely  natural  way:  "  God  is  hard  toward  him  "  (ver.  21), 
"His  hand  is  still  against  him;"  but,  in  the  main,  the  spirit  of  the  sufferer  is  subdued, 
though  exceedingly  mournful,  and  never  wholly  lapses  from  that  better  tone  which  had  come 
to  it. from  the  rapturous  hope  of  the  divine  presence  and  reconciliation,  xix.  25-27.  6th.  A 
most  eloquent  assertion  of  his  integrity,  with  a  glowing  recital  of  the  deeds  by  which  it  had 
been  manifested,  and  a  most  indignant  denial  of  the  charges  made  against  him.  Then  Elihu 
speaks,  whom  we  may  suppose  to  have  been  present,  with  others  probably,  during  the  whole 
debate. 

But  the  most  remarkable  among  these  six  intervening  chapters  is  the  xxviii.  The  con- 
nection, too,  between  it  and  the  others  is  the  least  easily  traced.  Chapter  xxvi.  had  been  a 
reply  to  Bildad  in  his  own  style.  Chapter  xxvii.  was  addressed,  in  a  more  general  manner, 
to  all  three  of  the  disputants  ;  but  here,  in  ch.  xxviii.,  Job  seems  occupied  almost  wholly 
with  his  own  thoughts.  Chapters  xxix.,  xxx.  xxxi.,  again  betray  the  presence  of  others  to 
whom  they  seem  to  be  addressed,  and  by  a  consciousness  of  which  their  mode  of  thought 
and  utterance  seems  to  be  in  a  measure  influenced.  Here  in  ch.  xxviii.  the  speaker  seems  to 
be  all  alone,  so  far  as  any  outward  indications  are  concerned,  or  to  be  talking  only  to  himself 
and  God.  This  justifies  us  in  calling  it  a  soliloquy,  and  in  expecting,  consequently,  an  emo- 
tional rather  than  a  strictly  logical  connection.  It  drives  us,  also,  to  the  supposition  of  an 
interval  of  silence  between  the  last  words  of  ch.  xxvii.,  "  Men  shall  hiss  him  out  of  his 
place"  (or  indeed,  the  whole  picture  presented  in  the  latter  portion  of  that  chapter),  and 
the  '3  which  so  startlingly  commences  the  xxviiith.:  "  For  there  is  a  vein — yes,  surely — there 
13 


194  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  VII. 


is  a  vein  for  the  silver,"  &c.  We  would  be  more  struck  with  this  if  we  always  read  the  two 
parts  continuously,  or  without  that  break' which  is  made  by  the  division  into  chapters.  Such 
interval  of  silence  may  be  of  the  briefest  duration,  and  yet,  as  is  elsewhere  observed,  the 
thoughts  may  have  travelled  far — always,  however,  controlled  and  guided  by  the  underly- 
ing feeling  which  seems  never  to  leave  the  mind  of  Job.  He  is  ever  brooding  over  the 
mystery  of  suffering  innocence,  rather  than  of  the  impunity  or  the  punishment  of  the  wicked 
— ideas  wholly  subordinate  to  it.  With  this  mystery,  a  meditation  on  the  unsearchable 
wisdom  of  God,  such  as  this  chapter  is  occupied  with,  stands  in  closest  connection.  We  are 
surprised  at  finding  Delitzsch  raising  an  objection  to  it  on  the  ground,  as  he  says,  that 
"  the  chapter  treats  not  so  much  of  the  wisdom  of  God  as  of  th|  wisdom  of  men."  It  is  so, 
apparently,  and  as  far  as  mere  quantity  is  concerned,  but  surely  this  is  only  preparatory  to  the 
great  conclusion.  From  the  very  beginning,  the  other  idea,  with  the  ever  underlying  thought 
that  leads  to  it,  has  been  in  the  speaker's  mind.  The  secrets  of  nature,  and  the  human  ex- 
plorations of  nature,  are  brought  in,  and  dwelt  upon  at  such  length,  only  to  impress  more 
strongly  on  the  mind  the  contrast  presented  by  the  deeper  mystery, — only  to  make  more 
startling  the  question  :  "  Where,  then,  shall  wisdom  be  found  ?  "  the  great,  the  all-explaining 
wisdom.  The  mention  of  the  silver  in  the  beginning  is  only  one  of  the  illustrative  facts  or 
examples,  having,  in  itself,  no  more  to  do  with  the  connection  of  thought  than  "the  iron," 
or  "  the  stone  of  darkness,"  or  the  "  bread  that  cometh  out  of  the  earth."  It  is  altogether 
too  slight,  therefore,  when  Delitzsch  would  make  the  connection  to  consist  in  the  mention 
of  the  silver  here  as  suggested  by  the  ^33,  the  bad  man's  silver,  mentioned  xxvii.  12 ;  as 
though  this  had  been  retained  in  mind  through  all  the  following  verses,  and  had  suggested 
the  deep  train  of  thought  which  so  distinguishes  ch.  xxviii.  Only  keep  in  view  the  peculiar 
character  of  Job's  speeches,  their  soliloquizing  tendency  at  all  times,  and  this  tendency  now 
increased  by  the  silence,  or  withdrawal,  of  the  other  speakers, — only  keep  this  steadily  in 
mind,  and  we  have  the  explanation,  as  we  diffidently  think,  in  search  of  which  so  many 
commentators  have  taken  so  many  different  ways. 

Why  do  the  innocent  suffer  ?  It  is  ever  on  hia  mind.  The  question  is  a  most  difficult 
one,  even  when  viewed  in  the  fullest  light  afforded  by  the  Gospel.  In  some  of  its  aspects 
it  is  absolutely  appalling :  Why  do  the  innocent  suffer?  Not  merely  the  virtuous  man,  so 
called,  who  is  only  comparatively  righteous  :  why  do  children  suffer?  why  do  infants  Suffer? 
Or,  admitting  them  to  have  a  connection  with  the  common  depravity,  and  the  common  guilt, 
why  do  they  suffer  so  severely?  more  severely,  in  some  respects,  than  others ;  since  no  diseases 
are  so  painful,  no  deaths  so  agonizing,  to  appearance,  as  those  that  are  sometimes  endured 
when  these  young,  vigorous,  acutely-feeling  human  lives  are  quenched.  The  term  is  not  too 
strong.  It  is,  indeed,  a  most  appalling  mystery,  at  which  science,  so-called,  should  lay  her 
hand  upon  her  mouth,  and  confess  her  total  ignorance,  instead  of  the  foolish,  stammering 
talk  in  which  she  sometimes  indulges  about  "natural  laws,"  and  certain  dim,  far-fetched 
utilitarian  ends  of  pain — thereby  only  "  darkening  counsel  by  words  without  knowledge." 
What  problem  in  nature  is  to  be  compared  with  the  moral  mystery  of  the  dying  infant — 
dying,  agonizing,  in  the  very  presence  of  that  science  which  has  so  much  to  say  about  the 
Kosmos,  and  knows  so  little  about  the  human  body  with  its  deep  springs  of  life  and  death  ! 

Why  do  the  innocent  suffer  ?  God  only  knows — as  the  old  ante-Koranic  Arabians  were 
so  accustomed  to  say.  Why  do  I  suffer  so,  says  Job — suffer  so  much  more  than  other  men  ? 
The  higher  wisdom  of  God  alone  can  solve  the  problem ;  and  to  this  he  turns  from  that  pic- 
ture of  the  wicked  man  which  in  itself  presents  so  little  mystery.  The  deepest  things  in 
nature,  as  viewed  in  the  light  of  any  science,  modern  as  well  as  ancient,  present  only  a  step 
in  this  remoter  inquiry  :  "  But  where  shall  wisdom  be  found,  and  where  is  this  place  of  un- 
derstanding?" "The  eagle's  eye  (the  personification  of  the  keenest  sense-intelligence)  hath 
not  seen  it;"  "the  Deep  saith  it  is  not  in  mo,  the  Sea  saith  it  is  not  in  me ;"  nature  doth 
not  reveal  it.  "  It  is  not  found  in  the  land  of  the  living  ;  "  history  does  not  make  it  known  ; 
the  search  carries  the  mind  beyond  the  present  world  of  being ;  "  Abaddon  and  Death  say 
we  have  barely  heard  with  our  cars  a  rumor  "  of  the  mighty  secret.  "  But  God  knoweth 
the  way  thereof,"     He  who  gave  nature  her  decrees — "  He  who  made  a  law  for  the  rain,  and 


JOB   XXVIL,  XXVIII.,  XXIX.,  XXX.      POSITIONS  AND  CONNECTIONS.  105 

a  way  for  the  thunder's  flash  " — can  alone  look  through  nature,  and  beyond  nature,  to  the  re- 
motest ends  for  which  she  herself  was  ordained;  and  it  is  lie  "  who  saith  unto  man  that,  for 
him,  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  that  is  wisdom,  and  to  depart  from  evil  (moral  evil)  that,  for  him, 
is  understanding," 

This  is  the  train  of  thought  that  springs  up  at  the  commencement  of  ch.  xxviii.,  or  during 
the  brief  silent  interval,  so  charged  with  emotion,  that  precedes  it.  The  unspoken  link  con- 
nects the  two  chapters  more  closely  than  any  formal,  logical,  or  grammatical  bond,  and  the 
'3,  which  the  silent  thought  suggests,  is  the  transition  note  that  takes  us  into  the  higher 
modulation  :  "  Yes,  ao  it  is — ^yea,  truly  so  it  is  :" — 

For  silver,  there's  a  vein, 

A  place  for  gold  which  they  refine. 

The  iron  from  the  dust  is  brought, 

And  copper  from  the  molten  stone. 

To  (nature's)  darkness  (man)  is  setting  bounds; 

Unto  its  end  he  searcheth  everything, — 

The  ore  of  darkness,  where  the  death  shade  dwells. 

But  Wisdom  I  where  shall  it  be  found  ? 

That  wisdom  of  which  man  knows  not  "  the  place  nor  price,"  which  "  gold  and  pearls  can 
never  buy." 

Why  do  we  suffer  so?  To  this  deep  cry  of  humanity  nature  returns  no  answer.  God 
only  knows.  The  acknowledgment  of  this  is  the  highest  human  wisdom,  as  submission  to  it 
is  the  clearest  human  duty. 

Among  all  the  emendations  proposed  on  account  of  the  alleged  want  of  connection  be- 
tween chap,  xxviii.  and  chap,  xxvii.,  as  they  stand,  no  one  seems  more  plausible  than  that 
of  Pareau  {Commentatio  De  Immortalitatis  ac  VitcB  FiUuroe  Notitiis  ab  Antiquissitno  Jobi 
Scriptore,  pp.  246-250).  He  would  simply  make  the  two  chapters  change  places.  In  one 
aspect  of  the  case,  his  reasoning  might  seem  entitled  to  very  serious  consideration.  As  he 
says:  "  Any  one  who  reads  chap,  xxviii.  directly  after  chap,  xxvi.,  must  admit  that  there  is 
a  very  natural  and  easy  conjunction — sentiet  ipse  tantam  esse  in  utroque  et  consilii  et  argu- 
raenti  conjunctionem,  ut  nexus  facilitas  in  oculos  incurrat.  What  is  said  in  chap.  xxvi. 
about  the  greatness  and  mystery  of  the  divine  works,  God's  seeing  into  the  Underworld,  His 
glorious  beauty  in  the  heavens,  and  especially  the  closing  thought  that  these  ^^  things  thai 
are  seen  "  are  but  "  the  endings,"  the  outstandings,  "  of  His  way&,"  leads  most  easily  to  the 
train  of  thought  carried  on  in  the  first  part  of  chap,  xxviii.,  and  to  the  transition  thence  to 
the  unsearchableness  of  the  divine  wisdom.  But  then,  again,  after  giving  all  due  weight  to 
this,  we  find  immense  difficulties  in  the  other  direction.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  easy  to 
discover  the  nexus  between  chap,  xxviii.  and  chap,  xxvii.  regarded  as  coming  right  after  it. 
The  calming,  solemnizing,  most  sublime,  yet  tender  meditation  which  closes  the  one,  followed 
immediately,  in  una  ienore,  or  without  any  interval,  by  the  oath  and  vehement,  if  not  angry, 
protest  which  so  mark  the  commencement  of  the  other.  Let  a  man  read  them  continuously, 
uno  tenore  legat,  as  Pareau  says,  and  he  cannot  but  feel  that  there  is  a  want  of  harmony 
both  in  the  thought  and  in  the  diction  :  "  The  fear  of  Adonai,  man's  only  wisdom,"  and  in 
the  next  breath  a  charging  God  with  delay  or  denial  of  justice,  if  not  an  unjust  decision  in 
respect  to  the  right  of  his  cause.  This  cannot  be.  "Dramatic  propriety,"  to  say  nothing  of 
anything  else,  would  demand  that  between  two  such  declarations  there  should  be  some  con- 
siderable interval  of  time,  marked  by  the  intervention  of  new  trains  of  thought.  In  the 
second  place,  there  is  a  still  greater  inharmoniousness  between  the  latter  part  of  the  27th  and 
the  beginning  of  the  29th,  which,  according  to  the  proposed  change,  would  immediately 
succeed  it:  The  downfall  of  the  rich  wicked  man,  vividly  and  even  exultingly  drawn, 
and  the  touching  picture  of  his  own  happiness  in  days  that  are  past: 

Ch.  xxvii.  21.  The  east  wind  lifts  him  up,  and  he  is  gone; 

A  tempest  steals  him  in  the  night  away; 
Ver.  22.  God  hurls  his  bolt  against  him ; 


196  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  VII. 


Ver.  23.  Men  clap  their  hands, 

And  hiss  him  from  his  place. 
xxix.  1.  0  that  I  were  as  in  the  moons  of  old, 

As  in  the  days  when  God  took  care  of  me. 

There  may  be  no  direct  contradiction ;  but  every  reader  must  feel  that  that  there  is  a  sad 
discord  in  it  when  thus  presented. 

On  the  other  hand,  nothing  would  seem  to  be  more  natural,  or  more  fitting,  than  the 
emotional  transition  from  this  closing  meditation  of  the  28th,  as  it  stands,  and  the  pathetic 
wish  that  opens  the  29th,  although  most  likely  with  a  brief  interval  between  them.  For 
there,  too,  is  the  inserted  textual  scholium :  "And  Job  again  resumed  his  parable ;"  resump- 
tion certainly  implying  some  intervening  silence.  The  train  of  thought,  to  one  who  enters 
into  the  emotion,  is  unmistakable:  "Man's  wisdom  is  the  fear  of  the  Lord;  to  depart  from 
evil  is  his  understanding."  It  makes  him  think  of  his  own  case,  of  his  own  perfect  submis- 
sion to  the  Divine  Wisdom,  i.  21,  and  this  not  in  a  boastful  or  self-righteous  way,  but  from 
a  reminiscence  which  only  a  false  or  feigned  humility  would  repel.  "  A  man  fearing  God 
and  departing  from  evil ;" — just  such  a  man  he  had  aimed  to  be ;  just  such  a  man  God  him- 
self had  twice  described  him  as  being  (r;^!?  ID]  D'n^.«  «T.,  i-  1,  8).  The  "fear  of  the  Lord;" 
that  had  been  his  religious  life;  "  eschewing  evil,"  departing  from  evil,  that  had  been  his  con- 
stant aim.  How  purely  this  appears  in  that  touching  practice  of  his  described  i.  5 :  his  rising 
early  in  the  morning,  and  offering  prayers  and  sacrifices  for  his  children,  lest,  peradventure, 
in  their  hours  of  joy,  they  may  have  forgotten  God.  "This  did  Job  continually"  (Cp^^  /^ 
"all  his  days").  And  now  that  they  are  all  dead  and  gone,  swept  away  by  a  providence 
utterly  inexplicable — now  that  his  house  lies  desolate  (xvi.  7),  his  reverential  fear  of  God,  his 
love  of  God,  as  Easchi  says,  continues  still.  At  the  end  of  this  sublime  meditation  he  again 
asserts  it  as  man's  highest  wisdom,  his  highest  duty.  He  feels  that  it  is  his  wisdom,  his 
duty,  now,  as  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity:  "But  0  that  it  were  with  me  as  in  the  moons 
of  old," 

■When  shone  npon  my  head  the  lamp  of  God, 
And  through  the  darkness,  by  its  light  I  walked. 

For  there  had  been  shades  even  in  that  season  of  worldly  happiness,  as  he  himself  intimates 
in  the  close  of  his  opening  lamentation : 

I  was  not  confident;  I  did  not  feel  secure; 
Nor  did  I  careless  rest;  yet  trouble  came. 

In  the  language  of  the  131st  Psalm:  "  His  heart  had  not  been  haughty,  nor  his  eyes  lofty; 
neither  had  he  walked  in  ways  too  great  or  too  wonderful  for  him." 

The  tran.slator  has  made  it  his  aim  to  adhere  most  strictly  to  the  Hebrew  text  and  order; 
but  if  any  change  could  be  admitted,  it  would  not  be  in  the  text,  properly,  but  in  the  transi- 
tion scholia  that  divide  the  chapters.  These  can  hardly  be  said  to  belong  to  the  text  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  speeches  themselves.  They  are  like  the  titles  to  the  Psalms,  or  the  note 
at  the  end  of  chap,  xxxi.,  3TX  '"'^DT  ISH,  "  the  words  of  Job  are  finished,"  such  as  are  found 
at  the  closing  portions  of  old  manuscripts,  like  the  finis  in  modern  books.  Compare  the 
end  of  Psalm  Ixxii.  These  may  have  been  the  work  of  the  original  writer ;  but  they  have 
more  the  appearance  of  scholia  added  by  later  transcribers,  though  before  the  time  of  the 
ancient  versions.  In  either  view,  there  is  an  essential  difference  between  them  and  the  text 
strictly.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  these  scholia,  as  they  appear  before  chap,  xxvii. 
and  xxix.,  have  a  peculiar  word  that  is  not  found  in  the  others:  "Then  Job  resumed  his 
parable,  and  said."  In  the  Hebrew  it  is  St^D,  mashal.  If  we  keep  the  rendering  parable,  it 
must  be  understood  as  having  two  senses.  Parable,  ■Trapafiolfj  [TrapafidHu),  is  a  placing  side 
by  side.  The  two  things  thus  placed  may  be  an  outward  allegorical  fiction  and  the  inner 
sense  it  represents.  Or  the  figure  may  be  wholly  outward,  referring,  as  it  does  here,  to  the 
stj'le  of  the  diction — a  placing  side  by  side  two  sentences  similarly  constructed  and  express- 
ing similarity  of  idea.  Thus  regarded,  the  parable,  or  mashal  (Latin  similis)  is  synonymous 
with  parallelism,  that  is  the  speaking  or  chanting  in  couplets.    That  it  really  was  a  kind  of 


JOB  XXVIII.      REFERENCES  TO  MINING  OPERATIONS,  ETC.  197 

chanting,  appears  not  only  from  the  musical  notes  in  the  Psalms,  but  from  the  peculiar  word 
here  connected  with  it:  "Job  added"  (resumed),  i/i^?  ^^^,  "to  li/t  up"  (not  simply  take 
up)  "his  parable,"  It  was  the  lifting  up  the  voice  after  a  pause,  and  going  on  in  the  chant- 
ing measured  movement,  as  Selah  {"irpo,  a  letting  down,  a  pause,  or  silence)  denoted  the  con- 
trary proceeding.  On  the  naturalness  and  facility  of  this  in  ancient  times,  and  in  the  eastern 
world  (notwithstanding  its  seeming  strangeness  to  us),  see  remarks  in  the  Introduction,  or 
Argument  on  the  Theism  of  the  Book,  pp.  41,  42. 

There  would  seem  to  be  a  propriety  in  having  such  a  scholium  of  resumption,  with  its 
implied  preceding  pause,  at  the  beginning  of  chap,  xxviii.,  rather  than  of  chap,  xxvii. ;  but 
a  better  way  would  be  to  regard  it  as  coming  in  both  places,  as  it  occurs  also  at  the  com- 
mencement of  chap.  xxix. ;  and  so  the  translator  has  ventured  to  give  it.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  these  two  scholia  (chaps,  xxvii.  and  xxix.)  are  peculiar  in  having  this  word 
mashal  [lifting  up  his  mashal),  as  also  from  their  occurrence,  in  this  way,  in  the  long  talk  of 
Job  (xxvi. — xxxi.).  It  is  after  the  others  have  ceased  to  respond,  and  when  he  goes  on  by 
himself,  hardly  seeming  to  heed  their  presence — being  occupied,  as  it  were,  with  his  own 
deeper  thoughts  and  deeper  experience.  Elsewhere  they  mark  the  close  of  particular 
speeches  and  the  commencement  of  a  reply.  The  fact  noticed  may  be  claimed  as  strongly 
confirming  what  the  translator  has  said  in  other  places  about  such  soliloquizing  pauses,  and 
as  showing  that  they  were  in  the  mind  of  the  earliest  writer,  or,  at  least,  of  the  earliest  tran- 
scribers. 


EXCURSUS  YIII. 


ON  THE  REFERENCES  TO  MINING  OPERATIONS  IN  CERTAIN  VERSES   OF  JOB  XXVIII.,  AND 
ESPECIALLY  THE  DIFFICULTIES  OF  VERSES  4tH  and  6TH. 

An  immense  amount  of  commentary  has  been  written  on  these  passages,  and  especially 
ver.  4,  which  Schultens  at  first  described  as  "  Cimmerian  darkness,"  though  afterwards  he 
seems  to  have  got  more  light  upon  it,  which  has  been  much  used  by  others  since  his  time. 
The  ancient  versions,  LXX.  and  Vulgate,  give  us  little  or  no  help.  The  Syriac  is  more 
to  be  trusted ;  but  the  text  there  seems  to  be  corrupt,  as  is  apt  to  be  the  case  with  transcrip- 
tions of  difficult  passages.  The  old  commentators,  as  given  in  Poole's  Synopsis  of  the 
Criiica  Sacra,  seem  to  present  irreconcilable  variances.  The  later  commentators,  since  the 
days  of  Schultens,  agree  in  referring  it  to  mining  operations,  in  which  they  are  undoubtedly 
right,  as  may  be  inferred,  in  a  general  way,  from  the  first  three  verses,  together  with  the  9th 
and  11th.  The  error,  however,  into  which  some  have  fallen,  seems  to  consist  in  the  minute- 
ness of  description  they  profess  to  find.  Schultens,  we  think,  first  gave  to  '"^T  the  render- 
ing siomgs  suspended,  that  is,  in  the  shaft  of  the  mine.  It  has  a  pretty  good  foundation 
etymologically.  It  is  picturesque,  moreover,  and  that  made  it  at  once  a  favorite.  Later 
commentators  have  generally  adopted  it.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means  certain.  Not  suspen- 
sion generally,  like  Tnrs,  but  a  vacillating,  tottering  motion,  from  side  to  side,  seems  to  be 
the  primary  meaning  of  'i"^,  and  the  one  which  most  readily  explains  its  other  applications. 
With  this,  however,  suspension  easily  connects  itself,  and  there  mingle  with  it  also  certain 
senses  derived  from  Tn'^  (to  draw,  as  from  a  well  by  letting  down  a  bucket),  which  increase 
the  resemblance.  There  is,  however,  no  clear  example  of  this  sense  of  suspension,  unless  the 
present  case  is  one.  In  Ps.  cxvi.  6,  'i^l^l  is  much  better  rendered:  "I was  weak  {wavering, 
tottering,  haltitig),  and  He  saved  me,"  or  I  was  relaxed.  So  in  Prov.  xxvi.  7,  rendered  by 
some,  "  the  legs  of  the  lame  hang  down  "  (Ges.  crura  dependent),  there  is  much  rather  the 


198  /ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  VIII. 

sense  of  weakness,  vacillation,  tottering,  and  the  thing  compared  to  this  (in  the  second  clause), 
namely,  "  a  proverb  in  the  mouth  of  a  fool,"  well  preserves  its  adaptedness :  it  (the  jiroverb) 
has  no  force  or  steadiness  in  such  a  mouth.  This,  too,  it  should  be  noted,  is  nearer  the  form 
of  n^*!,  though  Gesenius  tries  to  make  it  from  iT\  (vSt  for  ' '7^).  In  Isaiah  xix.  6,  the 
full  form  of  the  word  we  have  here  is  used  of  streams,  and  joined  with  '^'^p  [are  dried  up) : 
"ll'^fO  '"^X''  Uim  nSn.  This  suggests  for  the  first  verb  the  sense  of  diminution,  or  of  weak- 
ness  [languida  sunt,  Ges.)  ;  but  it  may,  nevertheless,  keep  the  primary  meaning  oi  deviation, 
vacillation.  They  present  the  phenomena  of  streams,  or  wadies,  nearly  dried  up,  with  here 
and  there  a  varying  of  the  shallow  channel,  a  running  in  devious  ways,  instead  of  the  strong, 
direct  flowing  of  a  full  river.  Compare  ^^p!^"!,  Job  v.  18.  The  derivative  meaning  of  i^.7^, 
door  [vaha]  is  clearly  from  the  swaying  sense  without  including  that  of  suspension.  So,  too, 
the  Arabic  dalla  has  no  such  sense  of  suspension  as  Delitzsch  ascribes  to  it.  The  deriva- 
tive, daldal,  is  used  to  denote  a  vacillating  motion,  or  swaying  from  side  to  side ;  but  this 
comes  from  a  sort  of  onomatopic  analogy,  such  as  may  be  recognized  in  our  words  dally  and 
dalliance.  The  Arabic  dala  has  the  same  meaning  with  the  Hebrew  H/l^  to  draw  water  by 
letting  down  a  bucket.  This  might  do  here  if  we  suppose  77T  to  borrow  its  meaning  from  it, 
as  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  with  verbs  similarly  related.  And  thus  we  have  rendered  it 
generally  in  this  place,  swing  themselves  down,  or  "  let  themselves  down,"  without  that  forced 
idea  of  a  narrow  mining  shaft,  the  great  objection  to  which  is,  that  it  compels  the  forcing  of 
other  very  familiar  Hebrew  words.  It  might  denote  a  swinging  frovi  the  rocks  of  their  wild 
-vay,  or  from  one  precipice  to  another  by  means  of  ropes.*  The  word  IJ^J  carries  on  the 
same  general  idea  of  wandering,  roaming  (see  such  passages  as  Am.  iv.  8;  viii.  12 ;  Jer.  xiv. 
10 ;  Lam.  iv.  15),  and  seems  almost  synonymous  with  TtJ  or  lU,  denoting  uniformly  a 
moving  from  place  to  place.  In  Judges  ix.  9,  11  (fable  of  Jotham),  it  seems  to  denote  the 
swaying  of  the  branches  of  trees  ;  though  the  context  would  rather  demand  for  it  the  sense 
of  ruling,  like  sway  in  English  (to  bend,  transitive  or  intransitive),  or  from  some  other  ana- 
logy. It  can  hardly  have  there  (Judg.  ix.)  this  image  of  waving  branches,  since  it  is  used 
of  the  vine  as  well  as  of  the  lofty,  swaying  trees.  In  neither  respect,  however,  would  it  be 
suitable  to  this  idea  of  a  mining  shaft,  whilst  in  the  other,  or  roaming  sense,  so  common, 
and  almost  universal,  it  would  present  a  striking  incongruity.  In  that  case,  too,  *iil  and 
C'ijX  would  refer  simply  to  the  men  above  in  their  relation  to  the  others  regarded  as  below 
them  in  the  shaft ;  a  distinction,  as  it  would  seem,  too  narrow  for  terms  so  wide.  It  would 
be  extravagant  as  applied  to  a  separation  so  brief  in  time,  and  so  short  in  space ;  whilst  it 
would  take  away  from  that  picture  of  remoteness  and  of  solitary  wandering  which  the  whole 
contour  of  the  passage  seems  to  present.  Even  as  regards  our  extensive  modern  minings  it 
would  be  a  gross  hyperbole. 

It  has  been  admitted  that,  in  itself,  this  sense  of  suspension  given  to  ^  vT  is  not  only 
picturesque,  but  seems  to  be  possessed  of  a  fair  etymological  ground.  The  objections  arise 
from  the  context.  Strongest  among  these  is  the  necessity  such  a  rendering  creates  of  giving 
exceedingly  forced  senses,  apparently — very  unusual  senses  at  least — to  very  plain  and  very 
common  Hebrew  words.  It  compels  us  to  depart  from  that  simple  literal  usage  which,  in 
such  places  as  this,  not  unfrequently  furnishes  the  best  clue  to  the  idea.  We  get  the  thought 
of  something  out  of  the  way,  and  that  leads  us  to  overlook  the  plain  sense  of  words  as  not 
adapted  to  it.  So  here,  this  pictorial  fancy  of  suspension  once  entertained,  there  must  be 
got  for  vnj  the  sense  of  shaft — a  perpendicular  ot,  sometimes,  a  horizontal  hole  dug  or  ciit 
in  the  earth.  It  might  be  said,  that  the  verb  |*'^3,  taken  transitively,  is  not  well  adapted  to 
such  an  operation,  meaning,  as  it  generally  does,  a  sudden  bursting  rupture  or  breaking. 

*  This  would  seem  to  be  the  real  meaning  of  Pliny,  H.  N.  xxxiii.  4,  21,  though  quoted  by  Zo€KLER  and  Deutzsch  in 
favor  of  the  shaft-idea:  Is  qui  csedit  funibns  pendet,  ut  prociiJ  tnftienfi  species  ne  ferarum  quidem  sed  alitum  fiat.  Pen- 
dentes  majorl  ex  parte  librant  et  lineas  ilineri  priedncitnt.  The  words  in  Italics,  especially,  giye  this  idea  of  swinging  from 
lofty  rocks  or  precipices,  and  thus  carrying  on  the  lines  of  their  farther  progress;  so  that  to  the  spectator  at  a  dislanee  they 
look  like  birds  in  the  air.  It  is  all  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  persons  descending  in  a  narrow  hole,  or  shaft,  by  means 
of  a  windlass.  It  suggests  rather  the  idea  of  scouts,  explorers,  and  the  language  of  Job  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
same  conception. 


JOB  XXVIII.      REFERENCES  TO  MINING  OPERATIONS,  ETC.  199 

But  waiving  that  consideration,  there  is  no  hazard  in  saying,  that  of  such  a  sense  for  Snj  not 
the  least  trace  can  be  found  in  any  use  of  the  word  in  any  j^assage  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
although  it  occurs  more  than  a  hundred  times.  It  is  a  remarkably  clear  word,  and  its 
application  to  localities  well  known  and  visible  such  as  the  nahal  Kedron,  the  brook  or  tor- 
rent Kedron,  the  naAa^  Kishon  {nahal  kedhumim,  "that  ancient  river  Kishon"),  can  leave 
no  doubt  in  respect  to  its  exact  meaning.  It  is  a  valley,  a  ravine,  or  wady,  with  a  torrent 
running  through  it  which  is  often  dried  up,  leaving  the  valley  itself  as  chiefly  represented 
by  the  word.  See  its  frequent  use  in  connection  with  proper  names  of  such  places :  Nahal 
Eshcol,  Nahal  Arnon,  Nahal  Jabbok,  etc.  The  mere  fact  of  such  marked  geographical  uses 
would  have  prevented  its  being  applied  to  a  thing  so  different  as  the  perpendicular  shaft  of 
a  mine.  Delitzsch  seems  to  feel  this  when  he  suggests  the  treatment  of  it  here  as  a  differ- 
ent word,  with  a  different  etymology :  /HJ  from  ' /H,  to  bore,  like  '"/n,  a  pipe  or  flute ;  but 
this  would  be  unexampled  among  Hebrew  derivations,  whilst  it  has  no  support  whatever  in 
any  Arabic  word  or  usage.  It  is  the  same  necessity  of  accommodation  to  the  intruded  idea 
that  compels  a  departure  ftovn  the  usual  sense  of  "IJ  before  alluded  to,  and  which,  in  its  par- 
ticiple sense  of  temporary  dweller  or  sojourner,  does  not  differ  from  the  other  form,  "iJ,  pil- 
grim or  traveller.  There  Ls,  too,  the  preposition  DJ?0  in  its  double  or  intensive  form  [from, 
with),  denoting  a  departure /row  the  accustomed  or  the  familiar,  the  traveler's  common  track, 
into  the  wild  and  the  unknown — 

Where  breaks  the  valley  from  the  pilgrim's  view, 

or  from  the  dweller's  knowledge,  whichever  rendering  we  may  give  to  it  (see  foot-note.  Job 
xxviii.  4).  The  whole  style  of  the  language  favors  this  mode  of  viewing  it :  forgotten  of  the 
foot;*  i-T}.  being  used  for  i\iQ  foot-worn -mv&j  to  which  these  wanderers  (DTIJiyjn  with  the  arti- 
cle) may  be  said  to  be  lost,  or  which,  as  this  most  poetical  diction  presents  it,  has  forgotten 
them.  It  is  almost  the  language  of  ^schylus,  Prom.  Vinct:  far  removed,  aparov  elg  ipTj/iiav 
to  an  untrodden  wild — away  from  the  haunts  of  man,  anavdpuKog  (ver.  20),  an  almost  verbal 
translation  of  the  Hebrew  '^''J'^?..  It  is  the  same  feeling  that  is  created  by  the  description 
of  the  Greek  poet.  There  is  about  it  all  an  air  of  solitariness  and  remoteness,  inconsistent 
■with  any  idea  we  can  form  of  the  shaft  of  a  mine  which  is  generally  a  well  known  and  much 
frequented  place. 

In  ver.  5,  there  is  the  same  general  idea  of  the  human  inquisitiveness  to  which  all  else 
in  this  part  of  the  chapter  is  subservient.  It  may  refer  to  mining  operations,  or  to  a  search 
for  precious  stones  in  caverns,  or  deep  places  of  the  earth,  supposed  to  lie  near  the  subterra- 
nean fires,  and  of  which  certain  precious  stones  and  metals  were  regarded,  in  some  way,  as 
the  product.  Here,  also,  a  too  narrow  view,  which  would  confine  it  to  the  first  class  of  works, 
seems  to  have  caused  violence  to  the  language  of  the  passage,  especially  in  the  second  clause. 
The  ■'p^n  »<in  of  ver.  3,  implied,  as  it  is,  all  through  ver.  4,  is  to  be  supplied  in  this:  "  I£e 
searches  out,"  or  men  search  out : 

Earth's  surface  (they  explore)  whence  comes  forth  bread, — 
Its  depths  below,  where  it  seems  turned  to  fire. 

Its  upper  and  lower  regions  are  both  the  scenes  of  the  human  search  for  wealth  or  knowledge. 
All  else  in  the  language  is  used  to  express  a  contrast  which  does  not  seem  to  have  been  suf- 
ficiently attended  to.  It  is  that  which  is  supposed  to  exist  between  the  products  of  the  two 
regions — bread  above  and^^re  below,  or  rather  something  of  the  nature  of  fire,  K/X  103,  some- 
thing _/ire-^i^e,  z^mcows,  joynftc,  pyrogenous,  nvpoeiSec ;  this  being  the  nearest  way  by  which 
the  Hebrew  language  could  express  what  in  Greek  would  be  denoted  by  the  qualifying  ter- 

*  Those  who  adopt  the  idea  of  the  shaft  have  two  ways  of  interpreting  Sjl  'JO.  One  refers  it  to  the  fact  that  they 
are  no  longer  supported  in  the  usual  way,  by  the  foot,  but  held  up  by  the  rope.  The  other  would  regard  it  as  denoting  that 
they  are  be7^«f(?;J //ifi /oo<  of  the  person  above,  at  the  opening  of  the  shaft,  the  TJ,  or  reniainer,  so  called  because  he  staijs 
behind.  A  much  easier  clue  to  the  meaning  is  obtained  from  its  resemblance  to  the  familiar  Greek  phrase,  ix  jroSiav,  to 
denote  one  who  is  mil  of  the  way,  far  off.  When  in  the  singular,  e'/c  ttoSoj,  as  in  Pindar,  AVto.  yii.  99,  it  becomes  identical 
with  it. 


200  ADDENDA,     EXCURSUS  VIII. 

mination  ei6?/g*  attached  to  words.  It  makes  quite  a  difference  whether  we  take  the  particle 
1^3,  in  this  case,  as  qualifying  the  noun  ^^_,  or  the  verb  '=I3i^P. :  sometJihig  like  fire,  which  the 
speaker  could  describe  in  no  other  way,  or  turned  up  like  fire,  or  as  by  fire,  according  to  the 
view  of  some.  103  may,  indeed,  be  merely  a  particle  of  comparison  when  the  context  so 
demands :  but  here  everything  points  the  other  way.  It  is  the  fire  itself  which  is  qualified  : 
fire  as  it  were;  and  so  our  English  translators  took  it,  though  they  seem  to  have  expressed 
very  obscurely  whatever  idea  about  it  they  may  have  had  in  their  minds. 

In  this  view  of  t^^*  10D,  it  becomes  very  important  to  determine  the  force  au'l  relation  of 
the  verb  *]3nj.  Does  it  denote  some  operation  of  the  supposed  miners,  their  turning  up  the 
bowels  of  the  earth  like  fire  (that  is,  as  fire  is  turned,  though  that  seems  to  give  hardly  any 
sense),  or  does  it  mean  turning  them  up  by  means  of  fire?  The  objection  to  the  latter  view 
is  grammatical.  It  would  demand  a  preposition  with  W^,  or  an  established  ellipsis  of  one. 
Such  an  ellipsis  of  3  does  indeed  occur  in  connection  with  words  of  ti^ne  and  place,  as  is 
common  in  language ;  but  when  it  is  wanted  to  denote  instrument  or  means,  it  is  met  with 
only  in  peculiar  cases,  where  the  context  is  such  as  to  allow  no  possible  doubt,  or  where  the 
instrument  is  identical  with  the  verb  in  nature  and  in  action:  As,  "  Thej  stoned  him.  stones^' 
(Lev.  xxiv.  23),  or,  "  David  was  girded  a  linen  girdle"  (2  Sam.  vi.  14) ;  or,  "They  sowed  the 
city  salt"  (Judg.  ix.  45).  In  such  cases,  it  resembles,  somewhat,  the  Greek  idiom  giving  a 
bare  accusative  of  the  garment  or  sword  after  verbs  of  clothing  or  armor.  So,  too,  words- 
uttered,  or  sounds,  may  be  treated  as  instruments  without  a  preposition ;  as,  "  He  cried  a 
great  cry  "  (Ezek.  xi.  13),  instead  of,  with  a  great  cry.  See  other  cases  presented  by  Noldius, 
and  involving  the  same  principle.  Such  an  expression,  however,  as  turned  up  fire,  meaning, 
turned  up  by  fire,  is  wholly  unexampled.  So  great  has  seemed  this  difficulty,  that  some 
would  solve  it  by  a  different  reading,  103  instead  of  103.  Some  who  adopt  this  view  of  fire 
as  the  instrument,  though  with  so  little  warrant,  carry  it  out  to  the  most  minute  details.  It 
is  fire  as  used  in  smelting,  or  for  breaking  rocks  igne  et  aceto,  as  Eosenmueller  holds.  So 
Castalio  (quoted  by  Eosenmueller)  :  Agunt  per  magna  spatia  cuniculos,  et  terram 
subeunt,  non  secus  ac  ignis  facit,  ut  in  ^tna  et  Vesuvio.  Delitzsch  makes  it  "  a  turning 
and  a  tossing  up  of  the  earth  as  by  fire;"  and  all  this  without  any  preposition,  which  is  all 
the  more  demanded  on  account  of  the  103,  if  the  latter  denotes  a  comparison  of  action  having 
relation  to  the  verb,  instead  of  being  qualificative  of  ^i^  ("turned  up,"  JJ'X33,  or  tJ'xn  103). 

A  strong  argument  against  this,  aside  from  the  others  that  have  been  mentioned,  is 
derived  from  the  nature  of  the  verb  "JSn.  A  careful  examination  will  show  that  the  Niphal 
here,  instead  of  denoting  any  action  of  miners,  or  of  men  in  any  way,  simply  expresses  the 
contrariety  between  the  two  things  mentioned,  namely  bread  as  the  product  of  the  surface, 
and  the  fire,  or  the  igneous  substances,  the  quasi  fire  {^ii  103)  that  reveals  itself,  or  its  effects, 
in  the  depths  below.  To  make  this  clear,  there  is  need  of  adverting  to  a  few  preliminary 
facts.  Such  an  idea  of  fire  in  the  earth  is  not  a  product  of  modern  science  only.  There  are 
many  reasons  for  regarding  it  as  a  very  ancient  notion.  The  appearance  of  volcanoes,  whe- 
ther in  action  or  quiescent,  must  have  early  given  rise  to  it ;  and  we  know,  from  modern 
explorations,  that  there  must  have  been  such  in  those  regions  of  the  world,  even  though 
Scripture,  and  other  history,  had  been  perfectly  silent  about  it.  But  there  are  notices  of  it 
in  the  Bible.  Sinai  was  probably  a  volcanic  mountain,  and  it  would  be  no  derogation  from 
the  wonder  of  the  Sinaitic  lawgiving  that  God  had  chosen  it  on  that  very  account.  That 
similar  phenomena  were  not  unknown  in  Judea  and  Arabia,  is  evident  from  such  passages 
as  Psalm  civ.  32 :  "  He  but  looks  at  the  earth  and  it  trembles;  He  toucheth  the  mountains  and 
they  smoke."  Hence  the  old  idea  of  subterranean  rivers  of  fire,  to  which  there  may  have 
been  allusion  in  the  'Ji^l7?  l/.Ci,  rivers  of  Belial  {iorrentes  inferni)  of  Ps.  xviii.  6,  the  C3'C) 
|i;n  and  the  |ixt^  *113,  the  ^'pit  of  noise,"  or  the  roaring  pit,  of  Ps.  xl.  3,  the  nS^i'p  |V,  or 
*  boiling  mud"  of  Ps,  Ixix.  3,  all  of  them,  indeed,  used  metaphorically,  but  presenting  pri- 
mary ideas  suggesting  something  very  like  the  imagery  by  which  Socrates,  in  the  Phaedo, 

*  From  elSov,  species,  kind  (a  kind  of  fire,  tn  use  an  exprpsciye  vulgarism),  like  the  Hebrew  J'O-     It  may  mean  force  of 
fire,  OT  fiery  force ;  aa  Cicero  says,  omnia  ad  igiveam  vim  referent,  or  as  Pliny  yiii.  38,  57,  speaks  of  the  "  fiery  color  of  gems." 


JOB  XXVIII.      REFERENCES  TO  MINING  OPERATIONS,  ETC.  201 

111,  D,  describes  the  subterranean  regions:  aewduv  jroTafiuv  d/i//x(iva  fiFyeOi]  virb  t?)v  yijv,  Kat 
depiiuv  vSciruv,  iroXv  Se  rrvp,  /cat  irvpbg  fieya'kovg  noTafiovc,  7ro2/loyf  6e  vypov  Trr/?.ov  ISoppopucharipov : 
"immense  magnitudes  of  ever- flowing  rivers  beneath  the  earth,  and  of  boiling  waters  C^^ 
pxt^j  the  crater  of  noise,  or  tlie  hollow  resounding  crater),  and  of  vast  fire,  and  of  great  rivers 
of  fire,  and  many  rivers  of  flowing  mud  boiling  with  turbulence."  We  cannot  keep  out  of 
our  minds  "  the  horrible  pit  and  the  miry  clay,"  by  which  the  Scripture  may  be  supposed  to 
represent  this  awful  conception  of  subterranean  fire,  and  of  boiling  floods,  with  which  it  is 
mingled.  There  were  volcanoes  in  the  Arabian  peninsula ;  the  land  of  Idumea  presents  the 
strongest  evidence  of  old  eruptions,  and  they  may  have  suggested  to  Job,  or  the  author  of 
Job,  the  same  ideas  that  ..Etna  gave  to  ^schylus  : 

cvOev  EKpayf/aovrai  vore 
JloTafin'c  nvpbc  SaTrrovTeg  aypiaiq  yvdOoiq, 
T7jc  Ka2,2,iKapTvov  'ZiKeTiiag  TiEvpag  yvag. 

There  is  then  a  double  contrast  here  :  1st,  between  the  upper  surface  of  the  earth,  called 
simply  l*"'^,  and  the  earth  below,  n"'r\nn ;  2d,  between  the  productions  of  the  surface,  of 
which  the  bread  is  the  general  representative,  and  the  fire,  or  quasi  fire,  which  seems  to  affect 
the  nature  of  things  below,  showing  itself  not  only  in  the  striking  outward  phenomena 
referred  to,  but  in  the  subterranean  productions,  metals,  precious  stones,  sapphires,  etc.,  sup- 
posed to  have  in  them  more  or  less  of  the  fire-like  or  pyrogenous  element.*  One  class  of 
things  is  turned  into  the  other,  the  process  being  conceived  in  either  way,  or  in  both  ways. 
For  the  expression  of  such  a  contrast  and  such  a  transformation,  there  is  no  word  in  Hebrew, 
or  in  any  other  language,  better  adapted  than  this  verb  "jSn.  The  primary  idea  of  this  root, 
and  one  which  it  never  loses,  is  that  of  reversal,  metamorphosis,  transformation.  As  a  word 
of  action,  or  motion,  simply,  it  is  the  turning  of  a  thing  upside  down,  or  completely  reversing 
its  position ;  as  Hosea  vii.  8,  the  turning  of  a  cake  as  it  is  baked  in  the  fire,  2  Kings  xxi.  13, 
the  txirning  over  a  dish  when  it  is  wiped.  In  this  sense,  it  is  applied  figuratively  to  the  com- 
plete overturning  {KaTaaTpo(p7/)  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  to  which  there  is  such  frequent  refer- 
ence in  the  Bible.  As  denoting  change,  it  expresses  a  complete  reversal  of  condition,  in 
which  sense  it  is  more  completely  and  more  literally  applicable  to  this  notable  case  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah  than  in  the  first.  It  was  not  only  a  subversion  locally,  but  the  bringing  into 
a  state  the  direct  opposite  of  the  former,  so  that  land  becomes  water,  fertility  barrenness  and 
salt,  fragrance  and  freshness  a  vile  and  loathsome  putridity  (see  Note  on  the  Destruction  of 
the  Cities  of  the  Plain.  Laistge,  Gen.,  p.  443).  This  is  the  real  force  of  that  oft-used  noun 
n^sno  as  so  repeatedly  applied  to  this  event.  So  that  it  becomes  a  kind  of  proper  name, 
and  passes  traditionally  into  the  Arabic  mention  of  the  catastrophe,  occurring  frequently  in 
the  Koran  (see  the  note  aforesaid).  These  cities  are  called  the  overturned,  Mow-ta-fe-kat, 
VIII.  Conj.  Participle  of  the  root  '\^^,  which  is  the  same  with  the  Hebrew  "jSn.  What  is 
worthy  of  note  is  that  in  Arabic  this  is  the  only  application  of  the  word  in  which  the  archaic 
sense  is  retained.  In  other  cases,  it  has  the  idea  of  falsehood  and  lying,  which,  though  not 
found  in  the  Hebrew,  except  a  bare  trace  of  it  Prov.  xvii.  20,  is  common  in  the  Arabic  13K, 
and  comes  most  naturally  from  this  same  old  primary  idea  of  reversal  or  contrariety,  only 
changed  from  action  to  speech.  It  is  the  saying  of  that  which  is  just  the  contrary  of  what  is. 
From  this  idea  oi  reversal  comes  another,  or  third  usage  of  the  word  which  occurs  in  many 
places,  and  seems  to  give  the  true  meaning  here.     It  is,  as  has  been  said,  that  of  transforma- 

*  The  action  of  fire,  or  the  pyrogenons  nature  of  snbstances  found  in  the  earth,  and  especially,  in  the  npighborhooJ 
of  volcanoes,  is  unmistakable.  Says  Prof.  Peekins,  of  Union  College,  a  most  reliable  authority  on  those  matters,  "All  of 
the  precious  stones  (proper),  such  as  the  sapphire,  diamond,  ruby,  etc.,  have  most  probably,  at  one  time,  been  in  a  melted 
state.  So  gold,  silver,  copper,  in  many  instances,  are  found  in  such  a  state  as  to  indicate  that  they  have  not  only  been 
melted,  but  heated  to  such  a  temperature  that  they  have  been  vaporized  and  deposited  in  the  fissures  of  the  rocks."  Again 
he  says:  "In  the  lava  from  volcanoes,  when  it  is  coolsd,  bright  crystals  are  found  in  little  cavities,  resembling,  in  their 
physical  properties,  crystals  found  in  the  rocks  far  away  from  volcanoes,  and  which,  in  the  memory  of  man,  have  not  been 
in  an  active  state." 

Science  arranges  such  facts,  and  draws  its  conclusions  from  them ;  but  the  appearances  struck  the  contemplative  mind 
in  ancient  times,  and,  besides  direct  notices,  there  is  much  in  language,  and  especially  in  the  names  for  gems  and  metallio 
substances,  that  indicates  the  same  early  observation. 


202  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  VIII. 


tion,  metamorphosis,  or  of  one  thing  turning  into  another.  In  none  of  these  uses  can  it  be 
employed  as  some  would  translate,  that  is,  for  digging  up  the  earth,  tossing  it  to  and  fro, 
as  Delitzsch  says,  or  splitting  rocks  with  fire  and  vinegar.  When  regarded  in  this  last 
sense,  it  is  totally  inapplicable  to  any  such  idea.  This  sense  of  transformation  has  many 
examples;  as  Lev.  xiii.  3:  the  hair  (of  the  leper)  turned  white,  with  many  following  exam- 
ples; Exod.  vii.  15:  rod  turned  to  a  serpent;  Exod.  viii.  20:  water  turned  to  hlood ;  Ps.  cv. 
26,  the  same;  Ps.  cv.  25,  heart  turned  to  hate ;  Ps.  cxiv.,  rock  turned  to  pool  of  water;  Isaiah 
xxxiv.  9,  valleys  turned  to  pitch;  Joel  iii.  14,  sun  turned  to  darkness;  Job  xix.  19,  friends 
turned  to  enemies,  though  there  it  may  have  the  local  sense:  are  turned  away  (their  faces)  at 
the  shocking  sight  of  the  sufferer.  For  other  examples,  see  Amos  v.  8,  morning  to  shadow 
of  death;  Ps.  Ixvi.  6,  sea  to  dry  land;  Ps.  xxxii.  4,  my  moisture  to  the  summer  drouth;  with 
other  places  in  all  of  which  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  the  idea  of  a  transformation  to  some- 
thing of  a  different,  and,  in  general,  of  a  seemingly  opposite  nature.  In  such  cases,  the 
Kiphal  is  equally  used  with  the  Kal,  just  as  in  English  the  transitive  sense,  turns  i7iio,  and 
the  passive,  is  turned  info,  have  the  same  meaning.  Or  they  might  all  be  rendered,  in  Eng- 
lish, without  a  preposition  :  rod  turned  serpent,  water  turned  blood,  etc. 

Besides  its  own  inherent  fitness,  the  difficulties  in  the  other  translations  seem  to  drive 
us  to  this  sense  of  transformation,  so  well  established  in  so  many  other  cases.  Taking  the 
other  view,  as  presented  by  Delitzsch  and  Rosenmueller,  the  subject  of  "^anj  would 
seem  to  be  I'"?.**;  but  there  the  gender  is  in  the  way.  If  we  take  n'JJ)nn  for  the  subject, 
there  is  a  similar  difficulty  with  the  number ;  not  insurmountable,  indeed,  as  it  may  be  taken 
collectively  for  the  interior  of  the  earth.  The  impersonal  rendering,  it  turns,  or  there  is  a 
turning,  would  do,  but  it  suits  the  sense  of  transformation  rather  than  that  of  a  turning  up 
by  the  miners.  All  grammatical  difficulties  are  obviated  by  taking  for  the  subject  Cuni 
(bread  or  food)  in  the  first  clause,  just  as  it  is  joined  to  this  same  verb,  and  in  this  same 
sense  of  transformation,  xx.  14 :  "^l^HJ  VJ^DS  lonb,  his  bread  in  his  bowels  is  turned,  changed, 
transformed  to  something  else,  becoming  the  poison  of  asps,  as  appears  in  the  second  clause. 
So  here  t5"<  lOD  ''\ii'ni  urh,  bread  is  turned  to  fire,  or  to  the  t^**  '^'OD,  the  fire-lihe  [igneous,* 
TrvpoeiSsi) ;  bread  and  fire  being  taken  as  contraries,  or,  at  least,  very  different  forms  of  mat- 
ter. The  idea  being  somewhat  strange,  or  out  of  the  usual  way,  this  mode  of  expression  is 
adopted :  as  it  were  fire,  as  though  this  subterranean  fiery  energy  must  be  something  different 
from  common  fire,  yet  having  so  much  of  a  similar  elemental  nature  as  to  demand  a  similar 
name.  The  translator  has  used  the  word  seejiis  as  a  corresponding  expression  for  an  idea 
hypothetically  strange. 

The  examples  of  "]3n  and  "jSnj  show  that,  in  this  sense  of  transformation,  they  may 
have  a  subject  after  as  well  as  before  them,  or  a  double  nominative — being,  in  this  respect, 
like  the  substantive  verbs  of  being  and  becoming.  In  this  way,  B'K  IDD,  taken  as  one  com- 
pound idea,  may  be  regarded  as  the  post-subject  of  "^snj.  The  preposition  7,  coming  as  it 
does,  in  the  majority  of  the  cases  cited,  does  not  affect  this  principle,  since  it  does  not  denote 
approach  merely,  but  the  one  thing  actually  becoming  the  other.     In  some  of  the  most 

*  There  would  seem  to  be  denoted  something  of  an  elemental  distinction,  in  the  nearest  way  the  Hebrew  language 
rould  express  it,  though,  in  fact,  it  differs  from  the  Greek  only  in  putting  the  qualitntive  sign  at  the  beginning,  instead 
of  the  end  of  the  word.    Thus  the  Kabbinical  writers  use  the  similar  particle  n733,  and  the  noun  ri133.  derived  from  it, 

T   -  ~ 

for  rptnntity.  It  is  commonly  said,  that  the  ancients  held  earth,  air,  fire  and  water  to  be  the  four  elements;  but  it  would  be 
more  correct  to  say,  that  they  used  these  words  as  representative,  not  of  simple  substances,  in  our  modern  chemical  sense, 
but  of  four  supposed  stafcs  of  matter,  like /uiV?,  sohiJ,  grirseoHs,  efc.  All  things  were  only  varied  forms  of  the  same  matter 
ever  passing  into  different  states.  This  is  a  very  old  thought  that  the  human  mind,  in  some  way,  had  become  possessed  of 
long  before  the  dawn  of  any  exact  inductive  science.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  old  Orphic  Protean  fable:  the  first  matter  taking 
all  forms — all  things  turning  into  each  other — the  tame  matter,  yet  different  things,  because  having  different  forms;  as,  oa 
the  other  hand,  it  might  be  different  matter,  coming  and  going,  yet  the  same  thing,  because  preserving  the  same  form,  idea 
or  law.  Modem  science,  though  she  laughs  at  alchemy,  has  not  yet  exploded  this.  The  denominating  the  four  elementary 
Btateg  of  matter  by  the  names  earth,  fire,  water,  etc.,  was  a  mere  accommodation.  When  the  Greeks  wished  to  be  more  exact, 
they  used  derivative  words  with  a  qualitative  termination,  such  as  y^iVos,  iri/poeiJrjy,  etc.  We  have  a  good  example,  Plato 
De  Leg.  895  D;  'Efti/  ISiatiev  nov  TavTr]v  ytvoiiivr)v  iv  Tip  yij.tfw,  i)  evvSpta,  r]  IIYFOEIAEI,  ti  iron  </)^<rOfi€i'  iv  r<f  TOiovT(j> 


JOB  XXVIII.      REFERENCES  TO  MINING  OPERATIONS,  ETC.  203 

striking  of  these  cases,  liowever,  there  is  no  preposition,  as  in  a  number  of  those  from  Levi- 
ticus xiii.,  and  no  difference  is  made,  in  this  respect,  between  the  active  and  the  passive,  or 
between  the  transitive  and  intransitive  usage,  as  Lev.  xiii.  3,  {27  ':|3ri  "ij;t? ;  vcr.  25,  ^S^A 
p 7  "l^'ki',  hair  turned  white.  In  other  places,  it  is  \^'',  to  white;  but  the  idea  is  the  same,  and 
calling  it  the  second  subject  does  not  alter  the  case.  It  might  more  properly  be  rendered 
u'hiieness ;  but  the  real  change  is  from  the  black  hair  to  the  white  hair,  or  from  the  diseased 
to  the  healthy.  Ps.  cxiv.  8,  however,  presents  two  distinct  substantives  without  any  prepo- 
sition :  D'O  DJX  "iv^fn  oan,  turned  the  rock  pool  of  waters ;  the  passive  would  have  been,  livn 
DJX  "jfl.nj,  the  rock  turned  pool  of  water.  We  have,  to  some  extent,  the  same  idiom  in  Eng- 
lish, as  he  turned  Mohammedan,  or  as  Shakspeare  says,  "  to  turn  hushandj'  In  Job  xx.  14, 
we  have  an  example  of  such  a  construction  all  the  more  striking  from  the  fact  that  the  lead- 
ing words  are  the  same  with  those  of  the  passage  before  us.  It  is  the  same  verb,  the  same 
noun,  and  the  same  idea  of  transformation.    It  haa  already  been  partially  cited : 

■^DHJ  r;jD3  bnS 
i3ip3  D'jniD  n"inD 

:r:  . t  ;        ~       : 

In  consequence  of  the  rythmical  division,  made  by  the  accents,  we  take  the  second  subject 
in  the  second  member  of  the  parallelism  : 

His  bread  in  his  bowels  is  turned, 
The  poison  of  asps  within  him. 

To  make  it  clear,  translators  insert  a  substantive  verb  in  the  second  clause:  it  is,  or  it  becomes, 
the  poison  of  asps  within  him.  But  it  is  virtually  the  same  with  the  other  examples  above 
given,  and  so  Luther  renders  it :  Seine  Speise  inwendig  im  Leibe,  wird  sicli  verwandeln  in 
Ottergalle.  Delitzsch  is  hypercritical  on  Luther  here.  "The  J^!)1''P,  he  says,  is  not 
equivalent  to  iTinpi ;  but  we  see  that  this  can  be  expressed  without  the  preposition,  and 
certainly  there  are  cases  where  the  construction  is  carried  from  one  member  of  the  parallel- 
ism to  the  other.  He  would  supply  the  substantive  verb  in  the  second  clause ;  but  his  own 
translation  shows  that  the  poison  is  but  the  bread  changed  in  its  form,  and  therefore  in  its 
nature.  The  idea,  therefore,  is  precisely  what  Luther  gives:  "His  food  in  his  body  is 
changed  into  (becomes)  the  adder  poison  " — his  bread  turns  poison.  Job  xx.  14  is  rendered  by 
Junius  and  Tbemellius  in  accordance  with  this  idea :  cibus  ejus  in  visceribus  ejus  convei-- 
susfel  aspidum  in  i-psojiet.  The  passage.  Job  xxviii.  5,  is  also  so  given  by  them  as  to  pre- 
serve the  idea  of  transformation,  although  the  construction  is  not  clearly  seen  :  Terra  ex  qua 
prodit  cibus,  quamvis  sub  ea  diversum  flat,  velut  ignis  ardeat. 

In  verse  9  below,  ']2i^  (Kal  transitive)  has  the  first  of  the  senses  above  named,  that  is, 
the  local,  or  sense  of  subversion,  instead  of  conversion :  D'^n  E^T^U^O  ijarij  "he  overturneth  the 
mountains  from  the  root."  This  might  seem  to  furnish  an  argument  for  the  sense  some 
would  give  to  the  Niphal  here ;  but  a  careful  look  at  the  two  places  shows  that  the  inference 
is  the  other  way.  In  ver.  9  everything  is  perfectly  clear.  There  is  the  subject,  man,  the 
object,  the  mountains,  and  the  kind  of  action,  whether  hyperbolically  expressed  or  not,  quite 
unmistakable.  Why  could  it  not  have  been  so  expressed,  ver.  5,  or  with  simply  a  change  to 
the  passive?  The  sense  of  subversion  in  the  first  passage  involves  great  difiiculty  and 
obscurity  in  these  respects,  as  we  have  already  seen.  It  is  much  increased  by  the  particle 
103.  The  rendering,  turned  up  as  fire,  gives  no  meaning ;  as  by  fire  demands  the  instru- 
mental preposition,  of  whose  ellipsis,  in  such  a  case  as  this,  there  is  no  example.  If  earth  is 
taken  for  the  subject,  the  gender  is  in  the  way ;  if  'Tj'^r''Z^,  taken  as  a  noun,  then  the  num- 
ber ;  if  Dn7^  no  other  meaning  can  be  given  to  it  than  that  of  transformation.  The  clear- 
ness in  the  one  case,  the  difficulty  in  the  other,  shows  that  some  out  of  the  way  idea  was 
intended. 

Another  argument  is  that  throughout  the  Hebrew  Bible  the  Niphal  has  everywhere  the 
sense  of  transformation,  and  is  used  in  the  manner  of  a  deponent.  Out  of  more  than  thirty 
cases,  there  are  but  two  which  even  seem  to  present  any  other  meaning,  and  they,  on  exami- 


204  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  IX. 


nation,  immediately  resolve  themselves  into  the  common  idea.  There  is  the  prediction 
against  Nineveh,  Jonah  iii.  3,  i^P^nj  niyj.  This,  however,  does  not  so  much  denote  a  local 
subversion,  though  that  may  be  a  part  of  it,  as  a  complete  change  of  state,  from  grandeur  to 
ruin  and  desolation,  as  said  above  of  Sodom,  from  fertility  to  barrenness  and  salt,  from  being 
like  "  the  garden  of  the  Lord"  to  the  blasted  waste  and  putridity  of  the  Dead  Sea.,  Another 
such  seeming  case  is  Ps.  Ixxviii.  57 :  "  changed  like  the  deceitful  bow,"  or  the  relaxed  bow, 
springing  back  to  the  old  state  from  which  it  had  been  violently  bent ;  verwandelt,  as  it  is 
rendered  by  Hupfeld.  So  Josh.  viii.  20,  "  the  pursued  iransjormed  or  changed  to  pursuers ;" 
1  Sam.  X.  6,  inx  l^'N?  '^srij,  "  Saul  transformed  to  another  man."  In  Prov.  xvii.  20,  the  idea 
is  not  subversion,  but  contrariety,  the  opposite  of  what  is,  as  in  the  Arabic  sense  of  ")3X- 
These  examples  have  been  dwelt  upon  so  minutely  to  show  that  in  this  obscure  place,  Job 
xxviii.  5,  the  sense  of  transformation  is  not  only  allowable,  but  demanded,  and  that  the 
Vulgate  rendering,  igni  subversa  est,  which  has  been  the  source  of  all  similar  translations, 
has  not  only  its  intrinsic  difficulties,  but  is  opposed  to  the  almost  exceptionless  usage  of  this 
Niphal  verb. 


EXCURSUS   IX. 

Chap.  XXIX.  18. 
AND  LIKE  THE  PALM  TREE  MULTIPLY  MY  DAYS. 

Besides  the  rendering  above  given,  and  in  the  text,  there  are  two  other  modes  of  trans- 
lating this  verse,  each  well  sui:»ported  by  the  best  authorities.  Good  reasons,  therefore, 
should  be  given  for  departing  from  them.  There  is,  first,  that  of  the  common  English  ver- 
sion, supported  by  Conant.  It  has  in  its  favor,  among  the  moderns,  Umbreit,  Stickel, 
Vaihinger,  Hahn,  Eenan  and  others.  Among  the  ancient  authorities,  there  are  the 
Targum,  Syriac,  Arabic.  So  also  Luther,  Tremellius  and  Junius,  with  others  given 
in  Poole's  Synopsis.  It  seems  plausible  and  easy,  but  is  open  to  quite  strong  objections. 
In  the  first  place,  it  makes  an  incongruous  simile.  Heaps  of  corn  collected  in  vast  quanti- 
ties (Gen.  xli.  49),  promises  of  immense  posterity  (Gen.  xxxii.  12 ;  Isai.  xlviii.  18),  great 
multitudes  of  people  (all  Israel,  etc.,  1  Sam.  xiii.  8;  2  Sam.  xvii.  11;  1  Kings  iv.  20),  are 
well  expressed  by  sand,  since,  in  general,  it  is  intended  to  denote  the  numberless,  or  what  it 
is  useless  to  attempt  to  count.  There  is  an  extravagance,  however,  in  applying  it  to  the  years, 
or  the  days,  of  any  human  life,  however  long.  It  is,  moreover,  applied  to  visible  objects,  or 
conceived  as  visible,  that  strike  us  by  their  multitude,  whereas  time,  however  divided,  pre- 
sents no  such  conception  of  countless  particles.  Again,  to  the  comparison  7inD,  there  is 
almost  always  added  the  sea  (CH),  or  the  sea  shore.  Out  of  twenty  examples  there  are  only 
two  exceptions,  Hab.  i.  9,  "  gather  captivity  like  the  sand,"  and  Ps.  cxxxix.  18,  in  both  of 
which  cases  the  idea  of  number  is  so  clear  as  not  to  need  the  addition.  In  Isaiah  xlviii.  18, 
the  sea  is  mentioned  right  before  and  after.  This,  however,  although  having  weight,  is  not 
conclusive,  since  Job  may  have  meant  the  sand  of  the  desert.  In  the  third  place,  it  makes 
strongly  against  this  rendering,  that  it  is  out  of  harmony  with  what  follows,  even  if  we  take 
it  as  an  independent  assertion  {my  root  was  open),  instead  of  a  continuation  of  an  idea,  or 
of  a  state  preceding  as  would  seem  to  be  denoted  by  the  participle  Hina  {my  root  laid  open, 
etc.).  Ver.  19  is  in  any  way  most  abrupt  and  void  of  connection,  if  we  render  ^in  either 
eand,  or  the  phoenix  bird,  and  this  is  the  more  strange  in  a  passage  so  emotional,  and  espe- 
cially when  we  consider  the  wonderful  beauty  of  the  language  following. 

The  second  rendering  is  that  adopted  by  EwALD,  Dillmann,  Delitzsch  and  Z6ckI;ER. 
Dehtzsch,  in  particular,  goes  into  a  labored  defence  of  it.    They  regard  ^Tl  as  meaning 


JOB  XXIX.  18.      AND  LIKE  THE  PALM  TREE  MULTIPLY  MY  DAYS.  205 

the  phccnix,  the  fabulous  bird  said  to  live  a  thousand  years,  then  to  die,  or  go  out  in  its  nest 
through  some  sort  of  spontaneous  combustion,  after  which  it  had  a  kind  of  second  birth,  and 
lived  the  same  ronnd  again.  Hence  the  argument  of  Delitzsch,  and  which  is  really  the 
best  he  offers,  that  the  bird  is  so  called  from  the  Arabic  /in,  meaning  a  circuit  or  round, 
though  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Arabians  themselves  ever  used  this  word  for  the  phoe- 
nix, and  it  has  no  such  meaning  in  Hebrew.  The  great  authority  for  this  rendering  is 
derived  from  the  Jewish  Eabbinical  commentators,  and  from  the  Talmud.  This  is  suspi- 
cious on  the  very  face  of  it;  for,  however  excellent  these  commentators  in  some  respects,  yet 
nothing  is  so  apt  to  lead  them  into  extravagance  as  a  story  about  some  fabulous  animal, 
especially  some  monstrous  creature  of  a  bird.  The  only  thing  in  the  context  .which  seems 
to  favor  it  in  the  least  is  the  mention  of  the  word  nest,  |p.,  in  the  first  clause  of  the  verse; 
but  this  is  so  used  for  habitation  (as  in  Numb.  xxiv.  21,  where  it  is  taken  as  synonymous 
with  ^iT'io,  seat,  and  Hab.  ii.  9,  where  it  is  in  parallelism  with  ri]3,  house),  that  the  figurative 
may  be  regarded  as  nearly  out  of  sight,  not  suggestive  of  any  comparison,  or  as  itself  sug- 
gested by  what  Job  had  said,  a  few  verses  above,  about  his  own  domestic  felicity  when  his 
young  children  were  round  about  him  as  the  parent  bird  in  its  nest.  If  we  regard  it  as  sug- 
gestive of,  or  suggested  by  this  monstrous  phoenix  story,  then  we  must  carry  it  through.  It 
was  not  merely  a  dying  in  his  nest,  his  home,  like  an  aged  man  with  his  offspring  round 
him,  but  dying  in  flames,  like  the  phoenix,  to  live  again.  The  association  of  ideas  would  be 
monstrous,  far  removed  from  the  simplicity  characteristic  of  the  book,  whether  we  regard  it 
as  a  later  Solomonic  invention,  or  as  a  true  patriarchal  history.  The  Greek  fable  was  a  late 
thing,  comparatively,  and  there  is  no  evidence  whatever  of  its  having  anything  Shemitic 
about  it.  If  the  phoenix  was  chosen  for  the  comparison,  it  must  have  been  on  account  of  these 
marvellous  incidents  of  combustion  and  revivification,  since  in  other  respects,  or  the  mere 
domestic  image  of  the  nest,  there  are  other  birds  that  would  have  done  much  better.  It  is, 
however,  this  idea  of  revivification  which  commended  it  to  some  of  the  earlier  Christian 
interpreters,  who  found  in  it  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection.  In  the  same  way,  <polvt^,  in 
the  LXX.  version  of  Ps.  xcii.  13  (palma  in  the  Vulgate,  "^"OT^  in  the  Hebrew),  was  also  turned 
into  the  phoenix ;  as  BochAET  says,  Hieroz.  819 :  NonnuUi  Fairies  avide  arrijiuerunt  quia 
videbalurfacere  adresurrectionisjidem:  " The  righteous  man  shall  flourish  {revive)  like  the 
phoenix."  It  may  be  said,  too,  that  in  this  place  the  rendering,  phoenix  (meaning  the  fabu- 
lous bird),  disrupts  the  two  verses,  more  even  than  the  rendering,  sand.  How  it  reads! 
"  Multiply  my  days  as  a  phoenix — ray  root  laid  open  to  the  waters,  and  the  dew  lodging  all 
night  upon  my  branch."  It  is  not  only  a  most  abrupt  change  of  figure  in  two  clauses  closely 
connected  by  the  form  and  dependence  of  their  words,  but  a  most  inharmonious  succession 
of  ideas,  especially  if  we  carry  along  what  is  most  prominent  in  the  fable,  the  images  of  com- 
bustion and  of  revivification  out  of  the  ashes. 

The  third  rendering,  and  the  one  which  the  translator,  after  the  most  careful  study,  has 
found  himself  compelled  to  adopt,  is  that  of  the  LXX.  and  of  Jerome  in  the  Vulgate.  The 
former  renders  7in  not  simply  <polvt^,  which  might  be  taken  to  mean  either  the  palm  or  the 
bird,  but  removes  all  ambiguity  by  using  the  words  cjarrep  crlTiexog  (poiviKog,  "like  the  stem  of 
the  palm  tree."  The  Vulgate  has  simply  siaif  jmlma.  The  authority  they  had  for  this 
could  have  been  nothing  else  than  the  standing  Jewish  tradition  about  the  word,  before  the 
Targum,  the  Talmud,  or  those  Rabbinical  expositors  who  delighted  in  such  stories  as  that 
of  the  phoenix  and  the  roc.  See  what  a  monstrosity  they  make  of  '\y*y,  Job  xxxviii.  36, 
rendering  it  the  cock:  "Who  hath  given  intelligence  to  the  cock?"  in  defiance  of  all  the 
harmonies  of  the  passage.  It  was  not  so  with  the  older  Jews  when  the  LXX.  version  was 
made.  Jerome,  too,  as  he  tells  us  in  many  places  of  his  commentaries,  relied  much  upon 
his  Jewish  teacher,  who  often  gave  him  clear  and  consistent  renderings  for  words,  but 
nowhere  such  wild  fables  as  these.  From  such  an  earlier  and  better  source  must  he,  as  well  as 
the  LXX.  translators,  have  derived  their  rendering  of  S'in.  It  is  much  more  likely  that  the 
later  Jewish  rendering  of  phoenix,  as  a  bird,  came  from  a  perversion  of  the  LXX.,  than  to 
suppose  the  reverse,  as  Delitzsch  seems  to  do ;  namely,  that  the  Greek  translators,  not  un- 


206  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  IX. 


derstanding  the  Hebrew  ilea  attached  to  /in,  or  why  they  rendered  it  phoenix,  took  it  for 
the  tree,  instead  of  the  bird.  This  is  incredible.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  too,  that  the 
Jewish  Talnmdic  and  Rabbinical  writers  connect  this  with  other  fables  about  the  phoenix 
bird,  such  as  that  it  did  not  eat  of  the  forbidden  fruit  which  Eve  gave  to  all  the  other  birds 
(see  BocHART,  Hieroz.  II.  p.  818),  and  other  strange  things  told  about  it  in  the  ark.  These 
stories  show  that  this  phoenix  translation  which  was  mingled  with  them  must  have  been 
later  than  that  purer  source  from  which  these  earlier  translations  Tsere  made. 

But  why  should  the  palm  tree  be  called  /Tl  which  elsewhere  means  the  sand?  Is  thfre 
the  semblance  of  a  philological  reason  for  it,  or  any  reason  aside  from  that  beautiful  fitness 
of  such  a  rendering  here  which  all  must  admit?  We  think  there  is.  The  common  name  for 
palm  tree  in  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament  is  lor)  [Thamar],  a  name  given  for  its 
straightness,  its  towering  figure.  This  name  does  not  occur  in  Job,  which  would  seem  strange 
as  it  is  so  common  an  object,  and  presents  such  a  beautiful  comparison,  unless  it  is  presented 
by  some  other  word.  There  may  have  been  one  of  those  dialectical  variations  which  became 
so  numerous  in  the  later  Arabic.  In  Job's  surroundings  there  was  a  fitness,  too,  in  naming 
it  from  the  sand,  as  its  more  common  Hebrew  name  in  Palestine  came  from  its  stateliness. 
There  were,  moreover,  other  things  suggestive  of  similar  ideas  that  characterized  the  palm 
tree.  It  was  not  only  an  inhabitant  of  a  sandy  soil,  the  beach,  or  the  desert,  but  it  also 
loved  the  water.  Hence  its  favorite  seat  was  where  these  two  things  were  combined,  as  in, 
or  on  the  borders  of,  an  oasis  in  the  desert,  such  as  Tadmor,  named  from  its  palm  trees 
(lO'ir}=iorin,  in  1  Kings  ix.  18,  written  "i?3n ),  and,  on  this  very  account,  called  Palmyra,  the 
city  of  palms.  Here  met  together  both  of  those  characteristics  which  so  adapt  the  palm  tree 
to  this  comparison.  It  is  the  tree  of  the  sand ;  its  root  loves  the  water,  lies  open  to  the 
water,  which  it  instinctively  finds  beneath  the  sand,  whilst  its  stately  towering  stem  (or 
ct£?lexoc  as  the  LXX.  render  it,  having  this  in  mind  probably),  presents  its  isolated  branch 
(Typ  here  in  the  singular,  branch,  or  top,  instead  of  branches)  to  receive  the  nourishing 
dews  of  heaven.  The  sand  tree,  or  the  sand  tree  near  the  fountain,  and  an  indication  of  its 
presence ;  this  seems  a  good  ground  for  a  poetical  name,  if  it  is  any  more  poetical  than  that 
which  names  it  for  its  stateliness.  In  the  Greek  version  of  the  Book  of  Sirach,  xxiv,  15, 
Wisdom  says,  "  I  was  exalted  like  the  palm  tree  iv  alyia'kolgj  on  the  sea  shores,"  the  sandy 
beaches,  or  margins  of  streams  running  through  deserts,  like  the  Jordan  near  Jericho 
anciently  famous  for  its  palms.  Its  other  quality  is  attested  by  Pliny,  Lib.  xiii.,  ch.  4,  as 
quoted  by  Bochart:  Palma  gaudet  riguis  toto-que  anno  bibere  amat.  So  Theophrastus, 
ETri^TiTel  TO  vaiiarialov  v6up,  "  it  seeks  the  fountain  water."  These  two  qualities,  loving  the 
sane?,  and  loving  the  water,  might  seem  inconsistent,  but  it  is  in  fact  this  compound  property 
which  makes  it  the  fertilizer  of  the  desert,  by  drawing  up  water  that  may  lie  below,  and  thus 
becoming  the  creator,  as  it  were,  of  such  oases  as  Tadmor  or  Palmyra.  Both,  however,  meet 
us  in  that  clear  passage,  Exod.  xv.,  where  the  station  Elim,  in  the  desert,  is  so  strikingly 
described  as  "twelve  fountains  of  water  and  seventy  palm  trees."  The  sand  tree  had  made 
the  fountains  by  which  in  turn  it  was  nourished.  It  may  be  said,  in  short,  that  whilst  the 
literal  interpretation,  the  sand,  here  greatly  weakens  the  figure  evidently  designed  to  be  car- 
ried through  both  verses  (18,  19),  the  other  rendering  of  the  fabulous  phoenix  utterly  destroys 
it ;  and  the  wonder  is  that  men  like  Ewald  and  Delitzsch  could  have  tolerated  it  for  a 
moment.  It  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  translation  of  the  LXX.  and  Vulgate  presents  per- 
fectly this  exquisite  association  of  ideas.  The  palm  lives  long.  That  adapts  it  to  the  first 
verse,  and  immediately  suggests  the  charming  imagery  that  follows:  the  deep  root  drinking 
the  water  in  the  earth  below,  the  lofty  top  inhaling  the  dew  of  heaven ;  earthly  prosperity 
crowned  with  the  divine  favor.*  We  cannot  wonder  that  it  was  a  favorite  text  with  old 
divines,  who  sought  to  accommodate  (and  justly,  too,  for  no  other  book  than  the  Bible  seems 

*  The  boanty  of  this  comparison  of  the  righteous  to  the  palm  tree  cannot  be  better  exprossed  than  in  the  words  of  the 
Kt.  Rev.  John  Saul  IIowson,  in  Smith's  Pictionarj'  of  the  Bible,  Article  Palm  :  "  The  Bighleons  fhall  flourish,  etc. ;  it  suggests 
a  world  of  illustration,  whether  respect  be  had  to  the  order  and  regular  aspect  of  the  tree,  its  fruitfulness,  the  perpetual 
greenness  of  its  foliage,  or  the  height  at  which  it8  foliage  grows,  as  far  as  possible  from  Earth,  and  as  near  as  possible  to 
Heaven." 


JOB  XXX.      ON  THE  SUPPOSED  LOCALITY  OF  CHAP.  XXX.  207 


so  made  for  such  a  purpose)  places  and  figures  of  this  kind  to  the  inward  religious  experience. 
They  were  learned  men,  and  knew  more  about  the  letter  of  the  Scriptures  than  many  a 
boasting  Eationalist ;  but  they  also  heard  in  it  a  voice  the  latter  cannot  hear.  The  thought 
is  called  up  by  a  passage  in  the  dying  experience  of  Thomas  Hallyburton,  Professor  of 
Divinity  University  of  St.  Andrew's,  and  author  of  a  most  learned  and  acute  work  on  the 
Insufficiency  of  Natural  Religion  (ed.  1714).  When  near  his  end,  and  in  the  most  acute 
pain,  he  was  asked  one  morning  how  he  found  himself  "Och,  sirs,"  he  replied,  "sore 
enough  in  body,  but  sweet  in  soul,  my  root  spread  out  by  the  waters  of  life,  and  the  dew  lay 
all  night  upon  my  branch." 

It  confirms  the  comparison  and  the  rendering  given  in  the  text,  that  the  palm,  as  has 
been  said,  is  a  long  living  tree.  Any  one  can  see  how  much  better  it  suits  the  simile  of 
growing  years  than  the  sand,  which  is  suitable  only  to  the  comparison  of  visible  objects  con- 
fusing the  eye  by  their  number,  and  thus  becoming  countless  [numeroque  careniis  arena?,  as 
Horace  says,  Odes,  Lib.  i.  24).  It  is  illy  adapted  to  denote  succession  of  any  kind,  especially 
that  of  a  flowing  quantity  like  time,  or  the  years  and  days  of  life.  The  beautiful  propriety 
of  the  figure,  Ps.  xcii.  13,  where  it  is  joined  with  the  cedar  in  expressing  the  idea  of  a  hale 
old  age,  furnishes  also  a  strong  argument  in  support  of  the  rendering  adopted  here :  "  The 
righteous  shall  flourish  like  a  palm  tree  (wf  <t>olvi^),  like  a  cedar  in  Lebanon  shall  he  grow 
(nja/";,  LXX.  TTlT/dwd^asrai,  VULG.  multiplicabitur) ;  they  shall  yet  bear  fruit  in  old  age;  they 
shall  be  resinous  and  green  :'^  They  shall  be  evergreens.  To  sum  up — the  comparison  of  the 
sand  is  defective  and  incongruous,  as  we  have  shown;  that  of  the  fabulous  phoenix,  mon- 
strous and  unscriptural ;  this  suits  every  aspect  of  the  figure. 


EXCURSUS  X. 


ON  THE  SUPPOSED  LOCALITY  OF  CHAP.  XXX. 

If  there  were  scenic  directions  in  the  Book  of  Job,  as  in  modern  acted  dramas,  this 
chapter  might,  perhaps,  have  had  appropriately  placed  before  it  the  inscription : 

Scene — The  Border  of  the  Desert. 
Such  a  direction  would  seem  to  have  some  plausible  ground  of  support  from  internal  evi- 
dence. The  imagination,  if  it  be  called  such,  is  not  only  admissible,  but  has  much  to  make 
it  rational.  Nothing  is  told  us  to  that  effect;  but  certainly  it  would  be  a  very  natural  sup- 
position, that  the  wretched  Job,  now  become  an  outcast,  stripped  of  property  and  children, 
abandoned  by  his  wife,  and  afflicted  by  this  terribly  loathsome  and  infectious  disease,  had 
removed  himself,  or  had  been  removed,  to  a  distance  from  the  scenes  of  his  former  life.  It 
is  to  the  credit  of  his  three  friends,  notwithstanding  the  harshness  appearing  in  some  parts 
of  their  argument,  that  they  ran  the  risks,  and  bore  the  disagreeableness,  of  remaining  with 
him  under  these  circumstances.  Such  a  view  in  regard  to  his  location  is  quite  consistent 
with  many  things  in  the  preceding  chapters.  It  would  very  naturally  suggest  some  of  the 
wild  frontier  scenery  Job  describes  in  Ch.  xxviii.,  especially  the  first  part.  It  would  vividly 
recall,  by  way  of  contrast,  the  scenes  of  his  former  life,  the  abundant  "milk,  the  flowing 
streams  of  oil"  (xxix.  5,  6),  now  coming  before  his  imagination  like  theSharab  (^^"f,  Isaiah 
xlix.  10),  or  mirage  of  the  desert.  So  we  might  say,  too,  in  respect  to  the  brilliant  nocturnal 
images  presented  in  such  passages  as  xxii.  12;  xxv.  6;  xxvi.  13.  The  stars  and  constella- 
tions come  out  most  gloriously  in  the  clear,  dry  atmosphere  of  the  desert.  It  gives  them, 
too,  a  more  imposing  appearance  of  height  when  seen  as  the  only  striking  objects  visible 
from  an  extended  barren  plain : 

Lo!  where  Eloah  dwells!  the  heaven  sublime! 
Behold  I  the  crown  of  stars  I   how  high  they  are ! 


208  ■  ADDENDA.  EXCURSUS  XL 


This  is  language  much  more  likely  to  be  used  in  the  vast  solitary  Sahara,  than  in  scenes 
crowded  with  the  sisrht,  or  the  memory,  of  well  known  multifarious  objects.  So  Ch.  xxv.  13, 
where  Bildad  says:  "Look  to  the  moon,  behold  1"  or  where  Job,  in  his  reply,  points  to  the 
brilliant  constellation  of  the  serpent  nearly  overhead  (xxvi.  13).  It  is  probable,  too,  that 
these  discourses  mainly  took  place  by  night,  as  the  cooler,  calmer  hour,  the  season  of  con- 
templation, of  "  good  thinking,"  as  denoted  by  that  beautiful  word  Ev(pij6i>?}^  the  Greek  poeti- 
cal name  for  the  night.  We  know,  too,  from  other  sources  (Hariri,  and  other  Arabian 
Seance  writers),  that  the  Nightly  Consessus  was,  among  the  early  Arabians,  a  favorite  mode 
of  grave  discussion,  so  established,  in  fact,  that  it  gave  rise  to  a  peculiar  verb  and  noun  em- 
ployed in  the  Ante-Koranic  times  for  that  very  purpose,  samara,  to  discourse  by  night,  nociem 
confabulari  lucente  luna,  with  derivatives  carrying  the  aame  idea,  and  denoting  manner  and 
place. 

The  chief  argument,  however,  for  supposing  such  a  scenic  location  here  comes  from  this 
30th  chapter  itself.  These  vagabonds,  so  graphically  pictured  to  us,  these  Troglodytes,  or 
dwellers  in  holes  of  the  earth,  as  ver,  6  represents  them,  could  never  have  so  haunted  Job 
had  he  been  at  or  near  his  old  abode  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  (xxix,  7)  or  castle,  or  in  the 
fertile  country  adjacent.  When  they  came  out  of  their  desert  holes,  and  visited  this  fertile 
region,  it  was  only  as  beggars  driven  by  want,  and  to  whom,  on  account  of  their  incapacity 
for  labor,  or  their  general  shiftlessness,  even  the  meanest  employments  were  denied  (xxx,  1, 
2).  These  wild,  famished,  uncouth  creatures  now  find  him  on  the  border  of  their  own  desert 
homes,  and  crowd  around  him  in  a  sort  of  stupid  wonder  at  his  deplorable  appearance. 
Their  astonishment  at  the  strange,  emaciated  man  is  soon  turned  to  the  most  brutal  scorn. 
They  make  his  defenceless  condition  the  object  of  their  senseless,  savage  mirth — of  gross 
insults,  and,  at  last,  of  violent  assaults.  See  a  similar  description  of  the  same,  or  a  similar 
crew,  chap.  xxiv.  b-^. 


EXCURSUS   XL 

THE    AKGEL    INTERCESSOB. 

Chap,  xxxiii.  23,  24. 

And  is  there  then  an  angel  on  his  side — 
The  interceding  one — of  thousands  chief — 
To  make  it  known  to  man — His  righteousness; 
So  will  He  show  him  grace,  and  say: 
Deliver  him  from  going  down  to  death ; 
A  ransom  I  have  found, 

Gesenitjs  renders  y'^O  "jnSd  angelus  intercedens  pro  hominibiis  apud  Deum,  fitdrnc, 
tntelaris,  and  refers  to  Matt,  xviii.  20,  In  this  idea  of  a  supernatural  being,  or  a  divine 
messenger,  he  has  agreeing  with  him  Ewald,  Schlottmann,  Dillmann,  Delitzsch, 
ZoECKLER,  and,  among  the  older  commentators,  Mercerus,  Scultetus,  Cocceius  and 
others.  The  Vulgate  has  angehts  loquens,  but  meaning  a  celestial  being,  which  Luther 
follows :  ein  Engel,  einer  aus  tausend.    To  this  corresponds  Renan  : 

Mais  s'il  trouve  un  ange  Intercesseur, 
Un  des  innombrables  6tres  celestes. 

On  the  other  band,  Umbreit,  Eosenmuelleb  and  Conant  maintain  that  it  is  a  mere 


JOB  XXX 'II.  23,  24.      THE  ANGEL  INTERCESSOR.  209 

human  messenger,  and  that  by  it,  most  lilccly,  Elihu  intends  himself.  The  reasons  against 
this  latter  part  of  the  idea  are  most  conclusively  given  by  Schlottmann  and  Delitzsch. 
It  is  not  to  be  imagined,  that  Elihu,  whatever  some  may  say  of  his  vanity  and  forwardnes.s, 
should  dare  to  represent  himself  as  a  divine  or  prophetic  messenger  to  Job,  sent  in  this  way 
to  announce  to  him  the  divine  will,  and  to  promise  him  the  divine  forgiveness.  The  word 
□^N7,  as  CoccEius  observes,  forbids  it.  To  announce  to  man  seems  to  imply  something 
higher  than  a  human  messenger.  But  1^ /^,  by  itself,  would  be  sufficient.  The  almost 
universal  usage  of  this  word  makes  it  the  representative  of  a  heavenly  messenger.  The  com- 
paratively few  cases  in  which  it  is  used  for  a  human  herald,  such  as  1  Sam.  xvi.  19 ;  xix.  11 ; 
xix.  20 ;  1  Ivings  xix.  2 ;  Job  i.  14,  ever  present  a  context  forbidding  any  other  idea.  Com- 
pare Job  i.  14  and  iv.  8.  Everything  in  this  passage  suggests  the  latter  rather  than  the 
former,  and  throws  the  burden  of  proof  upon  those  who  contend  for  the  human  character. 
Delitzsch  remarks  that  there  is  more  of  angelology  in  Elihu's  speeches  than  in  other  parts 
of  the  book;  but  a  better  argument  is  drawn  from  the  close  connection  of  this  account  with 
the  vision-warnings  mentioned  just  above  (vers.  14,  15),  as  among  the  modes  of  the  divine 
instruction.  The  transition  is  very  easy  from  these  to  angelophanies,  if  they  are  not,  in  fact, 
identical — that  is,  the  angel  appearance  occurring  in  vision. 

The  language,  too,  "  one  of  a  thousand,"  coupled  with  the  epithet.  Mediator,  or  Inter- 
cessor, shows  tliat  something  more  is  meant  than  an  ordinary  angel,  to  say  nothing  of  its 
being  human.  It  seems  to  denote  the  chief  of  a  mighty  host.  It  immediately  calls  to  mind 
the  rnrc  "^NtD  so  often  mentioned  in  the  Bible  as  the  divine  representative,  the  angel  of 
whom  the  patriarchs  speak,  Jacob's  /5<Jn  "^'^/^l',  Gen.  xlviii.  6,  "the  Angel  that  redeemed 
him  from  all  evil,"  the  "Angel  of  the  Presence"  mentioned  in  the  Pentateuch,  and,  lastly, 
carries  our  thoughts  to  the  Great  Intercessor  of  our  Christian  faith,  and  of  whom  all  the  rest 
are  prefigurations.  It  may  be  here  but  the  germ  of  the  idea ;  but  it  may  be  regarded  as  con- 
taining all  that  is  afterwards  unfolded.  It  is,  in  truth,  a  very  old  idea,  and  dates  back  to 
that  early  promise  of  one  who  was  to  be  the  avenger  of  the  murdered  human  race,  and  the 
great  champion  of  the  divine  mercy.  Job  may  have  had  in  mind  this  theanthropic  idea  in 
the  remarkable  declaration  xix.  25,  where  he  speaks  of  his  Goel  or  Redeemer  as  surviving 
kinsman,  and  in  xvi.  19,  as  his  "Witness  on  high,"  l^nty,  his  Attesting  Angel,  as  the  same 
name  is  afterwards  used  in  the  Arabian  Ante-Mohammedan  theology.  See  Koran  Surat 
xi.  21. 

What  seems  strongly  to  confirm  this  view  of  the  f^O  "jnSd  is  the  mention,  just  above, 
of  another  class  of  superhuman  beings,  the  ^'POO^  or  slayers,  ver.  22.  The  manifest  empha- 
sis of  the  passage,  and  the  manner  of  using  this  latter  word,  show  that  something  more  is 
meant  than  diseases,  or  the  pains  of  the  last  moments.  It  indicates  a  belief,  to  say  the  least, 
such  as  is  found  in  the  early  Arabian  theology,  and  referred  to  in  the  Koran  Surat  Ixxix., 
entitled  An-naziat,  "The  Angels  who  tear  forth  the  souls  of  men  with  violence,"  as  distin- 
guished from  others  called  An-nashetat,  or  "those  who  take  them  away  with  gentleness.". 
There  is  in  the  Old  Testament  more  than  one  glimpse  of  a  terrific  idea,  namely  of  some  out- 
ward invisible  violence  at  the  death  of  the  wicked,  or  of  invisible  powers,  whatever  may  be 
their  character,  who  are  present  to  take  them  forcibly  away.  It  is  intimated  in  that  passage 
(before  referred  to.  Note  2,  ver.  3,  chap,  vii.),  Luke  xii.  20,  by  the  word  cnvaiTovaL  [they 
demand,  exact),  used  without  any  expressed  subject,  as  though  the  real  agents  were  too  fearful 
to  mention.  So  in  the  other  passages  there  quoted,  Ps.  xlix.  15  and  Prov.  xiv.  32.  In  the 
first,  some  unseen  and  unnamed  powers  are  represented  a.^  putting  \}i^'^,  a  strong  Piel  word), 
forcing,  "driving,  the  wicked  into  Sheol,"  where  Death  is  their  shepherd  (feeds  them),  in 
strongest  contrast  with  Ps.  xxiii.  4,  where  the  Good  Shepherd  (the  Mediator  Angel)  walks 
with  the  just  in  the  terra  vmhrarum.  In  the  other  passage  (Prov.  xiv.  32),  no  beings  are 
mentioned ;  but  the  contrast  is  all  the  more  striking  between  the  death  of  the  righteous  man, 
full  of  hope  of  some  kind,  and  the  violent  ejection  from  the  body,  or  their  "  being  driven 
away  in  their  wickedness,"  that  befalls  the  other  class.  According  to  Rabbi  Tanhum,  one 
of  the  most  acute  of  Jewish  commentators,  there  lies  the  same  thought  in  the  passage,  1  Sam. 


210  ADDENDA.      EXCURSUS  XI. 

XXV.  29.  It  is  the  contrast  between  "  the  soul  of  David  bound  up  in  the  bundle  of  life,^'  and 
the  souls  of  his  enemies,  whom  Abigail  speaks  of  as  destined  to  be  "  cast  out  violently,"  as 
though  "slung  out  of  a  sling."  It  is  the  language  of  a  questionable  woman  making  a  ques- 
tionable prayer,  but  still  is  it  valuable,  the  Rabbi  remarks,  as  showing  the  common  belief 
of  the  common  mind  in  Israel.  He  himself  regards  the  expression,  "  slung  out  of  the  middle 
of  the  sling,"  as  interpreted  by  its  opposite,  "bound  up  in  the  bundle  of  life."  It  is  ever- 
lasting security  and  rest  in  the  one  case,  an  everlasting  unrest  in  the  other — a  violent  driving 
forth,  "the  sport  of  nature,"  as  he  strangely  styles  it,  "tossed  evermore  on  the  waves  of  mat- 
ter, or  projected  into  infinite  space,  or  whirled  round  eternally,  and  never  finding  any  termi- 
nation to  its  wanderings."  It  is  something  like  the  interpretation  that  Al  Beidawi  gives 
to  the  passage  of  the  Koran,  Surat  Ixxix.,  before  cited.  See  Pococke,  Notes  to  Maimoni- 
DES,  Porta  Moses,  p.  92,  93. 

To  one  who  thus  holds  that  the  DTion  (vers.  22)  denote  the  death  angels  (as  do  the 
best  commentators  even  among  the  Rationalists),  it  would  seem  to  follow,  a  fortiori,  that  the 
l^bo  1N70  of  the  next  verse  must  be  also  superhuman,  though  far  excelling  in  goodness  and 
power.  This  makes  it  the  more  strange  that  the  interpretation  thus  given  to  D'HOD  should 
be  rejected  by  Schlottmann,  whilst  he  argues  so  strongly  for  the  angel  meaning  in  tbe 
latter  place.  Delitzsch  dwells  at  length  upon  the  passage  referred  to' in  Genesis,  and  else- 
where, in  support  of  the  view  here  taken  of  the  Angel  Mediator,  and  makes  a  very  conclu- 
sive argument.  So  in  regard  to  the  D'nOD,  he  refers  to  the  "destroying  angel,"  "^^J^^n 
n^PE/an  2  Sam.  xxiv.  16,  and  "the  evil  angels,"  n)'.i;"^  OxSo  of  Ps.  Ixxviii.  49.  For  the 
"  one  of  a  thousand  "  he  refers,  in  like  manner,  to  Ps.  xxxiv.  8,  the  nfrr  ^t^^D,  the  "  Angel 
of  the  Lord  who  encampeth  (as  though  head  of  a  host)  round  about  them  who  fear  God,  and 
delivereth  them."  The  words  "one  of  a  thousand"  cannot  denote  a  choice  man.  There  is 
no  occasion  nor  ground  for  saying  any  such  thing  here,  and  Ecclesiastes  vii.  28,  which  is 
sometimes  cited,  is  far  from  supporting  it.  Still  less,  as  before  remarked,  is  there  ground 
for  holding  that  in  the  use  of  such  distinguishing  language  Elihu  has  reference  to  himself. 
Whether  it  be  real  modesty  which  he  professes,  or  mock  modesty,  such  as  those  who  under- 
rate the  character  charge  upon  him,  it  would  be  equally  inconsistent  with  such  a  claim. 

There  is  another  expression  in  the#passage  which  suggests  an  evangelical  idea,  or  the 
germ  of  one,  as  furnishing  the  easiest  interpretation.  It  is  the  word  l"*^',  his  righteousness, 
or  his  rectitude.  The  idea  of  anything  due  the  patient  here  described,  either  as  merit  or  as 
any  uprightness  of  his  own  that  needs  to  be  revealed  to  him,  would  seem  wholly  out  of  place. 
He  is  represented  as  a  penitent  who  turns  to  God  from  warnings  given  in  dreams,  or  in  con- 
sequence of  sore  chastisements.     His  character,  as  estimated  by  himself,  is  given  in  ver.  27  : 

I  sinned,  I  made  my  way  perverse. 

Neither  can  it  mean  his  profit,  as  Delitzsch  renders  it :  "  to  declare  unto  man  what  is  for 
his  profit."  Its  most  simple  and  literal  rendering  is  :  "to  show  unto  man  his  justice,"  and 
this  must  be  God's  justice.  Such  an  interpretation  would  seem  to  be  demanded  by  the  word 
TJO/,  to  reveal.  If,  however,  the  pronoun  is  taken  as  grammatically  belonging  to  man — 
though  there  is  nothing  which  compels  such  a  view — it  is  his  righteousness  (man's  righteous- 
ness) as  made  and  given  to  him  by  God;  just  as  the  spirit  which  God  gives  to  man,  Gen.  vi. 
3,  is  called  by  Him  'nn^  my  spirit,  or  as  the  animation  given  by  him  to  the  animals  is  called 
(Ps.  civ.  29)  their  spirit,  Dnn.  It,  however,  need  not  be  confined  to  the  stricter  evangelical 
sense  of  justification,  y^p''  may  be  taken,  in  a  general  sense,  as  denoting  God's  merciful 
dealing  with  the  penitent  man  in  not  judging  him  according  to  his  sins,  whatever  may  be 
the  ground  for  so  doing.  Taken  either  way,  it  comes  to  the  same  thing.  And  this  is  "the 
righteousness  of  faith,"  as  we  find  it  all  through  the  Old  Testament,  namely,  the  feeling  of 
acceptance  on  some  other  ground  than  that  of  human  merit,  although  what  that  other  ground 
might  be  were  almost  wholly  unknown.  Whether  it  was  the  obedient  offering  of  the  sacrifice 
as  a  symbol  of  something  unrevealed,  or  a  hope  in  God's  pure  mercy,  it  was  clearly  distinct 
from  works  as  a  ground  of  debt.  It  left  to  God  "  to  provide  the  Lamb  "  that  truly  "  takes 
away  sin,"  in  His  own  unknown,  yet  most  heartily  trusted  way. 


JOB  XXXIII.  23,  24.      THE  ANGEL  INTERCESSOR.  211 

This,  it  may  be  said,  is  "  a  finding  of  evangelical  ideas  in  the  Old  Testament."  But 
what  is  there  strange  or  inconsistent  in  such  a  mode  of  interpretation  if  such  ideas  are  really 
there,  having  their  deep  seat,  in  fact,  in  the  human  conscience  ever  demanding  something 
out  of  itself  as  the  ground  of  the  divine  accceptance  ?  It  may  be  defended  on  tlie  rational 
principle,  that  if  the  Bible  is,  in  any  true  and  hearty  sense,  "  the  Word  of  God,"  or  in  any 
sense  which  would  authorize  the  Rationalist  to  call  it  Sacra  Scriptura,  as  he  is  patronizingly 
fond  of  doing,  then,  in  order  to  be  worthy  of  such  a  title,  it  must  be  a  one  book,  as  truly  as 
it  is  a  divine  book.  If  there  is  any  meaning  in  such  a  characterization,  it  follows  that  every 
part  bears  upon  every  other  part — shadow  here,  substance  there,  a  gleam  in  one  i)lace,  the 
noon-day  light  in  another — and  every  part  upon  the  whole.  Otherwise  we  deny  to  God'a 
highest  gift  to  man  a  wholeness  which  is  deemed  essential  to  the  lowest  physical  organism. 
Especially  does  this  hold  in  respect  to  all  connected  with  the  promise,  the  office,  and  the 
work  of  the  Messiah,  or  the  great  redeeming  power  so  early  predicted  in  "  the  roll  of  revela- 
tion," "^30  ^^JP^,  Ps.  xl.  8.  Says  Delitzsch:  "The  Angel  of  Jehovah  of  primeval  history 
is  the  oldest  prefigurement  in  the  history  of  redemption  of  the  future  incarnation,  without 
which  the  Old  Testament  history  would  be  a  confused  quodlibet  of  premises  and  radii  without 
a  conclusion  and  a  centre."  This  was  the  principle  on  which  the  learned  and  pious  com- 
mentators of  the  seventeenth  century  proceeded  in  all  their  interpretations :  The  Bible  is  a 
one  book,  every  part  bearing  more  or  less  on  every  other.  In  their  applications  of  the  idea 
they  sometimes  stumble  us.  We  draw  back  from  following  Cocceius,  Vitringa,  and  Caryl 
in  the  extent  to  which  they  would  carry  it.  They  find  too  much  in  a  passage ;  so  we  think ; 
they  discover  resemblances  our  eyes,  sometimes,  fail  to  see  (it  may  be,  because  we  lack  the 
measure  of  their  spiritual  insight),  but  we  cannot  help  feeling  that  they  often  strike  out  a 
wondrous  light,  such  as  we  cannot  ascribe  to  any  accidental  accommodations.  They  are,  at 
least,  accommodations,  if  we  will  call  them  such,  that  no  other  book,  and  no  other  literature, 
could  ever  furnish,  whatever  amount  of  pious  or  aesthetic  imagination  we  might  apply  in  the 
attempt  to  produce  a  similar  effect.  Let  a  man  try  it  on  the  Koran,  or  on  any  classical 
production. 

The  book  of  Job  especially  may,  in  this  way,  be  regarded  as  a  nursery  of  evangelical 
ideas,  though,  in  many  cases,  just  appearing  in  their  germs.  They  grow  out  of  the  extreme 
condition  of  the  sufferer,  his  utter  want  of  help,  and  the  inability  of  his  friends  to  meet  his 
case  with  any  of  the  ordinary  methods  of  reproof  or  consolation.  They  are  pressed  out,  as  it 
were,  by  the  need  that  is  felt  of  some  ground  of  justification  or  support  stronger  and  higher 
than  the  soul  can  elsewhere  find.  The  reading  of  the  whole  Bible  shows  that  this  is  God's 
mode  of  revealing  truth  through  the  human  itself,  instead  of  the  dogmatical  way  of  abstract 
precept,  having  no  connection  with  any  actual  experience.  Such  cases  may  surprise  us, 
sometimes,  by  their  apparent  isolation,  and  yet  when  an  emotional  idea  is  thus  brought  out 
of  the  soul  itself,  there  is  ever  some  word  to  sustain  it,  some  hint,  some  strange  thought, 
seeming  to  stand  alone  in  the  older  scripture,  as  something  dimly  revealed,  but  api^earing  in 
all  its  glory  in  the  later  revelations  of  the  divine  and  human  characters. 

"  To  declare  unto  man  His  righteousness."  The  Genevan  version  annexes  a  note  to  this : 
"To  declare  wherein  man's  rigliteousness  standeth,  which  is  through  the  justification  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  faith  therein."  Dr.  Conant  cites  this,  though  we  hardly  know  whether  aa 
agreeing  with  it,  or  as  implying  that  it  goes  too  far.  It  would  certainly  be  going  too  far  as 
a  translation,  or  even  a  paraphrase ;  but  so  evangelical  a  man  as  Dr.  Conakt  would  not 
object  to  it  as  a  fair  inference  from  Scripture  taken  as  a  whole,  or  as  a  comparison  of  this 
germinal  idea  with  other  and  fuller  parts  of  the  Bible. 

When  we  take  into  view  the  whole  book  of  Job,  whether  in  respect  to  the  claim  made 
for  it  of  some  divine  authorship,  or  of  mere  dramatic  consistency,  the  idea  very  naturally 
arises,  that  this  ^""70  "1X70^  here  mentioned  as  the  comforter  of  the  penitent  in  extreme 
affliction,  and  whom  Elihu  would  especially  regard  as  the  intercessor  in  such  a  case  as  that 
of  Job,  is  one  of  the  DTlbx  ''J3,  or  "sons  of  God"  mentioned  i.  6  and  ii.  1,  or  rather  p 
D''n7X,  the  son  of  God  pre-eminently.  Such  would  be  the  idea  suggested  by  the  description, 
"  the  one,"  or  the  chief,  "  among  a  thousand."    Something  like  it  would  seem  to  have  been  ia 


212  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  XI. 

the  mind  of  the  Targumist,  and  to  have  suggested  his  rendering  N£0''7p"13,  napdKlTjroq  (the 
Comforter).  The  opposite  of  this  in  the  Targumic  dialect  is  "lU'Dp^  Gr.  Karriyopoc^  the  Accu- 
ser. The  opening  suiter-earthly  scene  at  once  presents  itself.  Even  from  that  date,  this 
Ben  Eloliim,  son  of  God,  or  Paraclete,  may  have  been  commissioned  to  sustain  the  sufferer 
in  the  great  and  unequal  conflict  he  is  called  to  wage  with  Satan,  the  Accuser,  the  Adversary, 
who  is  permitted  to  try  Job  to  the  uttermost.  This  brings  to  mind  the  scenes  described  in 
the  New  Testament,  the  Temptation,  the  sore  conflict  of  the  Mediator  himself  when  repre- 
senting humanity,  and  his  great  triumph  over  that  same  hostile  power  with  which  he  has 
been  contending  since  the  announcement  in  the  Protevangel.  Whether  such  is  a  rational 
mode  of  using  Scripture  depends  altogether  upon  the  settlement  of  this  question  which  may 
be  said  to  form  the  dividing  line  between  the  Kationalistic  and  the  Evangelical  mode  of 
Scriptural  exposition  :  Is  the  Bible  a  one  book  ?  Is  there  a  one  mind  throughout,  or  is  it  a 
mass  of  isolated  fragments,  having  no  more  connection  than  the  separate  parts  that  go  to 
make  up  what  we  might  call  a  Jewish  or  a  Greek  literature?  Is  it  a  grand  epic  having  a 
true  epic  unity :  The  Book  of  the  Wars  of  Messiah  with  Satan  the  Enemy  of  Mankind?  or  is 
it  a  fragmentary  Iliad,  a  collection  of  ancient  songs  or  ballads  without  any  uniting  idea,  as 
some  of  these  same  Eationalists  falsely  characterize  the  great  Grecian  epic? 

"u4  ransom  I  have  found,'' — a  covering,  an  atonement — a  cancelling  or  bloUing  out  [put- 
ting out  of  view)  as  the  etymological  image  [ohduxit,  oblevit,  Gen.  vi.  14)  would  more  exactly 
denote.  It  is  not  easy  to  keep  away  the  idea  of  something  evangelical,  or  protevangelical 
when  we  read  these  words  in  such  a  connection.  It  is  God's  representation,  capable  of  being 
spread  over  a  wider  or  a  narrower  view.  There  is  no  language  of  which  the  scriptural  writers 
geem  more  fond  than  this  of  blotting  out,  covering,  putting  away  from  the  divine  eye,  or  hiding, 
as  it  were,  human  sin.  What  more  do  we  want  than  this  image  connected  with  the  hearty 
belief  that  there  is  a  true  ground  for  it,  out  of  man,  and  in  something  done  by  the  Mediator 
by  whom  it  is  effected,  some  transcendent  virtue  in  him,  or  some  ineffable  deed'  of  glory,  so 
bright  that  it  turns  the  divine  eye  to  itself,  and  away  from  the  sin  of  him  who  pleads  it — 
covering  it  over  as  it  were,  blotting  it  out,  or  hiding  it  as  something  lost  and  unremembered 
in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

0  happy  is  that  man,  and  blest, 
Whose  sins  are  covered  o'er. 

— Scotch  Version  Ps.  xxxii  1. 

It  may  be  called  an  anthropopathic  figure ;  but  volumes  on  "  The  Philosophy  of  the  Atone- 
ment" could  not  so  penetrate  the  intellect  by  first  penetrating  the  affections.  It  should  be 
remembered,  too,  that  whatever  may  be  the  nature  of  the  atonement,  it  is  God's  provision. 
"  I  have  found,"  TiXi'O.     Delitzsch  well  remarks  on  this  word,  that  it  denotes  not  a  mere 

'  •        T  T  ' 

casual  meeting  with  a  thing,  but  a  finding  after  seeking — in  other  words,  a  providing.  The 
language  here,  he  says,  is  suggestive  of  Heb.  ix.  12,  aluviav  lirpuaiv  evpafisvoc,  "having  found 
an  eternal  redemption  (an  eternal  ransom)  for  us." 

"Deliver  him,''  ver.  24.  The  language  may  be  applied  to  a  wider,  or  to  a  narrower  deli- 
verance. It  may  be  a  recovery  from  bodily  sickness,  or  from  spiritual  disease,  or  from  both 
combined;  it  may  have  reference  to  the  temporal  or  the  eternal;  but  it  is  the  same  essential 
salvation.  Noah  when  he  watched  the  ascending  flame  of  the  burnt-offering.  Job  when  he 
said,  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,"  David  when  he  said,  "Blessed  is  the  man  whose 
sins  are  covered,"  the  woman  who  touched  the  hem  of  Christ's  garment  that  she  might  be 
healed  of  her  bodily  disease,  and  Paul  when  he  said,  "There  is  now  no  condemnation  to 
them  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,"  had,  each  of  them,  the  same  essential  "  righteousness  of 
faith." 


JOB  XXXVIII.  1,  2.      THE  WHIRLWIND  AND  THE  PERSON  SPOKEN  OF.  218 


EXCURSUS   XII. 

THE  WHIRLWIND,   XXXVIII.   1  ;   AND  THE  PERSON  SPOKEN  OF,  VER.   2. 

The  fact  that  n"i>'D  here  has  the  article  attached  to  it  is  not  to  be  disregarded  in  deter- 
mining the  plan  and  connections  of  the  book,  although  it  may  not  be  deemed  absolutely 
conclusive.  The  whirlwind  (n"Tj;^pn)  seems  certainly  to  suggest  something  known,  or  of 
whose  presence,  or  approach,  the  reader  has,  in  some  way,  had  intimation.  So  Schlott- 
MANN :  "  The  article  shows  that  that  very  storm  is  meant,  the  coming  up  of  which  Elihu  has 
already  described."  Instead  of  being  weakened,  this  is  rather  strengthened  by  the  view  of 
3711  (the  golden  sheen)  as  presented  in  the  transLator's  notes  to  xxxvii.  22  and  23.  The 
HDID,  or  thunderstorm,  is  the  forerunner  of  the  n"i^D,  just  as  the  tornado,  as  now  witnessed, 
often  has  such  a  predecessor.  Whether  natural  or  supernatural,  or  a  combination  of  both 
(since  the  Scriptures,  as  we  have  seen,  Lange  Gen.  Special  Int.  to  Chap.  I.,  page.  145,  does 
not  make  that  sharp  distinction  which  our  philosophy  does),  it  would  be  equally  consistent 
with  the  view  of  the  book  as  a  drama,  or  as  an  actual  narrative  of  fact.  Like  the  pillar  of 
cloud  and  fire  in  the  wilderness,  or  the  volcanic  flames  of  Sinai,  this  m>'D  may  have  had 
mingled  with  it  more  or  less  of  meteorological  causation,  and  this  warrants  an  appeal  to  the 
peculiar  electric  or  amber  hue  that  is  sometimes  seen  in  such  wind  clouds,  giving  them  an 
appearance  majestic,  yet  more  awing  than  the  darkest  nimbus  charged  with  rain. 

Delitzsch,  however,  thinks  that  the  article  is  to  be  taken  generically,  namely,  the  whirl- 
wind, as  distinguished  from  other  species  of  winds,  and  so  equivalent  to  a  whirlwind.  Conant 
and  others  of  our  best  commentators  take  the  same  view.  It  may,  doubtless,  be  so  regarded, 
and  therefore  the  article  by  itself  is  not  conclusive.  There  is,  however,  another  argument 
equally  strong,  whether  we  read  with  the  article  or  without  it,  and  that  is  the  great  impro- 
bability of  such  a  declaration  :  "  The  Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind,"  or  "  out  of  a 
whirlwind,"  if  no  mention  had  been  made,  and  no  intimation  had  been  given,  either  in  the 
narrative,  or  in  the  dramatic  action,  of  any  such  event.  The  improbability  of  it  is  not 
diminished — it  is  rather  greater — if  we  suppose  such  announcement  to  come  right  after  Job's 
words,  xxxi.  40,  or  even  some  of  the  verses  above  supposed  to  be  misplaced  in  order  to  favor 
such  a  theory.*  The  very  fact  that  this  undramatic  abruptness,  as  it  would  in  that  case  be, 
is  not  seen  or  felt  by  the  reader,  comes  from  the  Elihu  portion,  and  the  effect  it  has  upon 
the  minds  even  of  those  who  reject  it  as  spurious.  Indeed,  a  very  strong  and  conclusive 
argument  for  the  genuineness  of  this  Elihu  portion,  is  the  very  fact,  that  it  makes  such  an 
appropriate  preparation  for  the  Theophany  and  the  whirlwind  by  which  it  is  attended.  This 
we  have  endeavored  to  show  elsewhere  (see  Int.  Theism,  Note  p.  26,  27).  The  view  intended 
to  be  enforced  here  is,  that  this  is  felt  all  the  more  powerfully  from  its  having  been  thus 
brought  in  dramatically,  without  any  intervening  narrative  clause,  such  as  occurs  in  other 
parts.  But  that  there  should  have  been  no  announcement,  not  even  of  the  narrative  kind, 
would  be  a  singular  thing.  It  would  be  especially  so  in  a  drama  where  all  the  events  expla- 
natory of  the  great  action  are  so  minutely  given  in  the  prologue  and  in  the  appendix,  to  say 

*  Everything  in  the  context  goes  to  show  that  ver.  40  of  that  chapter  is  the  real  peroration  of  Job's  speech.  It  is  in 
the  vindica.tory  style  of  the  whole  chapter,  pervading  it  throughout,  and  resumed  at  ver.  38,  -whilst  vers.  35,  36  and  37 
form  one  of  those  passionate  parenthetical  outbursts  interspersed  here  and  there,  as  in  vers.  6-tl  12-23-28,  and  which, 
while  making  the  speech  more  irregular  and  impetuous,  add  greatly,  on  that  very  account,  to  its  rhetorical  force.  The 
■whole  chapter  is  a  most  solemn  appeal,  an  answering  "like  a  hero-man  with  his  loins  girded,"  just  as  God  bids  him  do, 
xxxviii.  3.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  continued  oath,  and  its  sharp  imprecatory  clause,  ver.  40 :  "  Let  thistles  grow  instead  of  wheat" 
(let  my  land  be  cursed,  if  the  injustice  and  oppression  you  charge  me  with,  chap,  xxii.,  be  true;  equivalent  to  our  "So 
help  me  God"),  forms  the  most  fitting  conclusion  that  can  be  imagined.  It  should  be  remembered,  too,  that  although  Job 
appeals  to  the  Almighty,  xxxi.  35,  the  whole  chapter  is  a  vindication  of  himself  from  the  iniustico  of  his  friends,  and  has 
no  reference  to  any  plan  or  cmmsel  of  God,  such  as  Delitzsch  supposes  to  be  intended  by  71^*1%  xxxviii.  2. 


214  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  XH. 

nothing  of  the  narrative  account  of  Elihu,  his  country  and  his  kindred,  previous  to  his 
speaking.  It  has  been  charged  that  he  appears  too  suddenly,  and  with  too  little  mention  of 
the  manner  and  reason  of  his  coming.  God's  speaking  out  of  a  whirlwind,  with  nothing  said 
or  hinted  of  a  whirlwind,  or  of  any  theophanic  accompaniment,  would  seem  a  much  stranger 
fact,  especially  if  we  regard  the  book  as  a  drama.  However  different  the  forms  of  dramatic 
representation,  it  is  a  universal  characteristic  that  some  preparatory  warning,  either  by 
speech,  or  action,  or  by  something  called  machinery,  is  given  of  celestial  appearances.  In 
truth,  nothing  could  be  more  undramatic  than  the  other  view,  especially  if  we  read  chap, 
xxxviii.  as  coming  directly  after  chap.  xxxi.  We  have  a  sententious  moralizing  on  the 
divine  ways ;  no  intimation  is  given  of  approaching  deity  ;  when  all  at  once  it  is  said :  "The 
Lord  answered  out  of  the  whirlwind,"  or  a  whirlwind,  mj^DH  p,  a  Hebrew  word  for  the 
most  violent  tempest,  tornado,  procella,  ni^'D  nil  (see  Ps.  cvii.  25;  Ezek.  xiii.  11,  13;  Tsai. 
xxix.  6;  Jon.  i.  4,  12;  Jerem.  xxiii.  19;  xxv.  32).  Had  it  been  said:  The  Lord  answered 
from  heaven,  as  the  angel  called  to  Abraham,  or  from  the  skies,  or  from  a  cloud,  or  from  the 
air,  or  from  any  common  constant  condition  of  physical  surroundings,  it  would  not  have  been 
BO  remarkable,  although,  even  in  such  cases,  not  according  to  scriptural  usage,  which  always 
prepares  us,  in  some  way,  for  such  a  divine  speaking.*  It  is  very  much  as  though  the  sixth 
verse  of  Exod.  iii.  had  come  directly  after  the  first:  "And  Moses  was  feeding  the  flock,  etc.; 
and  God  said,  I  am  the  God  of  thy  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob."  Or  had 
verse  6  read :  "  and  God  spake  out  of  the  burning  bush,"  or  "  a  burning  bush,"  when  no 
intimation  whatever  had  been  given  of  any  such  appearance,  then  th.e  case  would  be  per- 
fectly parallel  to  this  in  its  strange  abruptness.  In  like  manner,  had  Exod.  xx.  1 :  "  And 
God  spake  all  these  words  saying,"  etc.,  come  directly  after  xix.  1 :  "  The  same  day  came  the 
children  of  Israel  into  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,"  the  leaving  out  of  all  the  intervening  appear- 
ances would  not  be  more  strange,  or  contrary  to  Bible  usage.  There,  too,  as  in  the  other 
case,  would  the  wonder  have  been  enhanced,  had  chap.  xx.  commenced :  "  and  God  spake 
out  of  the  fire,"  when  nothing  had  been  said  or  hinted  in  respect  to  any  fire  natural  or  super- 
natural. So  too  in  1  Kings  xix.  11,  God's  speaking  to  Elijah  in  the  still  small  voice  that 
followed  the  earthquake,  the  wind,  and  the  fire,  might  just  as  well  have  immediately  followed 
his  speeches  to  the  priests  of  Baal.  Compare  other  theophanies  of  the  Old  Testament,  as 
also  those  of  the  New,  such  as  Matt.  iii.  16,  17 ;  Acts  ix.  3,  and  the  difference  will  be  been  at 
once.  The  attending  circumstances  differ  in  each  case ;  but  the  reader  cannot  fail  to  see  the 
point  of  the  parallel.  In  like  manner,  the  divine  declarationsf  to  the  prophets  have  their 
preparatory  narrative  announcements.  Surely  there  would  have  been  something  here  like 
the  mention  of  the  gathering  phenomena  out  of  which  the  Lord  spake  to  Moses  and  Elijah, 
had  there  not  been  dramatic  intimations  which,  when  rightly  understood,  prepare  us  for  the 
voice.  Such,  we  think,  is  the  effect  of  reading  the  xxxvi.  and  xxxvii.  chapters  (the  latter 
part  of  Elihu's  speech).  The  most  unlearned  reader,  without  any  helps  of  exegesis,  though 
having  a  very  inadequate  view  of  the  meaning  of  many  verses,  gets  such  an  impression.  It 
is  in  the  very  atmosphere  of  the  style  and  language,  we  may  say.  It  is  an  impression,  grow- 
ing more  and  more  vivid  till  the  close,  of  something  fearful  present  and  approaching.  There 
ia  felt  to  be  a  naturalness  in  Elihu's  cry,  ver.  22:  "With  God  is  dreadful  majesty;"  and  this 
is  the  reason  why  so  little  surprise  is  felt  by  such  a  reader  at  the  words  'out  of  the  whirl- 
wind," at  the  opening  of  chap,  xxxviii.     The  exegete  would  get  the  same  impression  should 

*  DniMANN  thinks  the  article  has  no  significance,  because  "  always,  whenever  God  draws  nigh  in  majesty,  or  as  a  Judge 
of  the  earth,  it  is  usually  the  case  that  the  whirlwind  announces  and  attends  his  coming."  It  would  have  been  well  had 
he  pointed  out  some  cases  where  (he  whirlwind  itself  is  not  announced,  or  some  acconnt  given  of  it  in  narration,  or  some 
intimation  of  its  coming  or  presence  in  the  scene  itself.  The  argument  is  just  the  other  way ;  since,  if  this  view  be  taken, 
there  is  no  other  case  like  it  in  all  Scripture. 

f  To  this  there  might  seem  opposed  the  frequent  declarations  of  the  Pentateuch:  "  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses;" 
but  in  them  no  outward  appearances  are  mentioned  at  all,  which  at  once  destroys  any  parallelism  between  such  cases  and 
this:  "The  Lord  spake  out  of  a  whirlwind."  There  is,  moreover,  no  reason  to  believe  that  there  were  any  theophanic 
appearances  at  all  in  such  communications.  A  veil  is  thrown  over  the  whole  subject;  but  they  were  most  likely  wholly 
mibjective,  or  through  nothing  more  outward  than  the  oracle,  the  Shekinah,  or  the  Trim  and  Thummim.  Po  of  many  of 
the  prophetic  revelations.  We  may  regard  them  as  mainly  subjective  by  dreams,  or  otherwise,  not  specified  because  of 
their  frequency.    An  objective  vision  is  always  minutely  and  even  pictorially  detailed,  as  Isai.  vi.  and  Ezek.  i. 


JOB  XXXVIII.  1,  2.      THE  WHIRLWIND  AND  THE  PERSON  SPOKEN  OF.  21.> 

he  take  the  poem  according  to  its  plan,  and  give  up  his  uncritical  effort  to  discredit  the  very 
part  which,  more  than  all  others,  proves  the  dramatic  unity. 

Another  question  arises  out  of  this  portion  of  the  book :  Who  is  the  person  addressed, 
or  rather  spoken  of,  as  one  who  darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without  knowledge?  In  the 
Int.  Theism,  p.  25,  26,  a  few  reasons  are  given  for  referring  it  to  Elihu,  to  which  something 
more  may  here  be  added.  Delitzsch  thinks  that  the  use  of  the  participle  form  '^'^'no 
denotes  its  reference  to  some  one  who  has  just  stopped,  or  been  stopped  speaking.  The 
remark  is  in  the  main  just,  and  if  the  genuineness  of  the  Elihu  portion  is  maintained,  it 
would  follow  that  Elihu  was  intended.  Delitzsch,  however,  uses  it  for  the  other  purpose, 
namely,  as  showing  that  Job  was  the  last  speaker,  who,  he  says,  "  is  interrupted*  by  Jehovah 
without  any  intervening  speaker  having  come  forward."  The  word  "  interrupted  "  (unter- 
brochen)  is  certainly  at  war  with  the  impression  made  by  the  close  of  ch.  xxxi.  38,  39,  40. 
Job  seems  to  bring  what  he  intended  to  say  there  to  a  full  rhetorical  and  most  impressive 
close.  Even  without  the  formula  :  "  The  words  of  Job  are  ended,"  on  which  we  have  else- 
where remarked  (see  Note  45  to  ver.  40  of  ch.  xxxi.),  everything  goes  to  show  that  he  was 
done,  that  he  meant  it  for  a  final  defence,  to  which  he  would  add  no  more.  Elihu,  on  the 
other  hand,  towards  the  close  of  his  speech,  shows  appearances  of  embarrassment  and  confu- 
sion :  "  0  teach  us  what  to  say :  we  cannot  order  our  speech  by  reason  of  darkness ;  is  it  told 
Him  that  I  am  speaking?"  Then  there  is  the  cry  at  the  appearance  of  the  golden  cloud, 
the  Allah  Akbar  {God  is  great)  that  follows,  and  the  finishing  word  as  of  one  overwhelmed 
by  the  sense  of  a  near  divine  presence,  and  of  the  insignificance  of  all  human  wisdom,  and 
human  counsel  in  comparison  with  it:  "He  regards  none  that  are  wise  in  heart."  The 
words  are  on  his  lips  when  the  awful  voice  breaks  forth.  Such  is  the  scene,  briefly  but  faith- 
fully sketched  from  the  graphic  outlines  of  Scripture.  To  those  who  are  fond  of  calling  the 
book  a  drama,  and  of  praising  its  artistic  merit,  it  may  be  said,  that  nothing  could  be  more 
artistic,  more  dramatic,  unless  it  be  that  actual  reality  which  exceeds  all  art.  If  it  be  a  work 
of  fiction,  then  "  the  later  poet,"  as  Delitzsch  calls  him,  is  the  equal  of  the  older,  and  by 
his  skill  in  the  difficult  work  of  perfectly  adapting  an  interpolated  portion,  shows  that  he 
might  well  have  been  the  author  of  the  whole. 

The  expression  "darkening  counsel,"  if  we  suppose  it  to  refer  to  Elihu,  may  be  taken  aa 
descriptive  of  this  perturbation.  We  need  not  regard  it  as  the  language  of  censure,  but  as  a 
mere  passing  notice  of  the  last  trembling  speaker  and  his  confused  utterance,  before  the 
voice  directly  turns  to  Job,  who,  though  silent,  is  yet  the  principal  figure  in  the  scene. 
Again,  the  style  of  the  language:  "  Who  is  this  that  darkens  counsel  by  words  without  know- 
ledge?" do  not  seem  to  characterize  well  the  close  of  Job's  speech,  chap.  xxxi.  They  might 
have  been  charged  as  bold  and  confident,  or  as  impious  perhaps,  but  they  were  very  plain 
words,  very  clear,  and,  as  against  the  friends,  very  pertinent.  They  were,  too,  most  true,  as 
his  inmost  conscience  testified.  Ver.  37  of  that  chapter  is  simply  a  most  solemn  appeal  to 
God,  an  oath  or  attestation.  It  is  not  repelled  as  impious.  God  meets  the  appeal,  and  evi- 
dently treats  it  with  respect,  as  appears  in  the  next  verse,  xxxviii.  3,  which,  beyond  all  doubt, 
is  directly  addressed  to  Job :  "  Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man  "  (like  a  hero  man,  "13JJ). 
It  is  as  though,  in  comparison  with  other  men,  the  Almighty  declared  him  a  worthy  anta- 
gonist whom  He  frankly  meets,  and  meant  to  give  him  some  intimation  of  a  sterner  encounter 
than  he  had  yet  known:  It  is  not  thy  three  misjudging  friends,  it  is  not  the  young  Elihu, 
with  well-intentioned  but  imperfect  and  darkened  counsel,  it  is  I  who  ask  thee  now  (the  em- 
phasis in  "^/Xtyx  is  on  the  first  person  as  we  have  endeavored  to  give  it  in  the  translation), 
and  to  Me  art  thou  to  make  answer,  if  thou  canst.  There  are  certainly  fair  grounds  for 
maintaining  that  this  new  style  of  language  in  ver.  3.  and  the  coloring  given  to  it  by  5<J,  the 
particle  of  respect  and  entreaty,  indicate  a  turning  away  to  a  new  object  after  Elihu  had  been 

*  This,  of  conrse,  is  a  r^'ection  of  the  Elihn  portion.  So  the  Rationalist  Commentators  say  boldly.  Delitzsch,  how- 
ever, would  be  thought  to  maintain  its  integrity,  and  even  inspiration,  as  a  true  part  of  Holy  Scripture.  But  nothing 
seems  more  illogical  {pace  lanti  viri  would  we  say  it)  than  his  attempt  to  do  this,  in  what  he  has  to  say  about  "the  older 
poet"  and  "  the  later  poet "  The  argument  that  would  patch  Scripture  in  this  way  would  prove  the  LXX.  and  Syriao 
Versions  to  be  also  parts  of  the  Scriptural  canon. 


216  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  XII. 


disposed  of  in  the  previous  verse.  Some  attention  had  to  be  given  to  him  as  the  last  speaker, 
and  immediately  the  great  matter  of  the  address  is  brought  up :  "  But  as  for  thee,  Job,  now 
prepare  thyself  for  a  sharper  questioning." 

That  the  words  of  ver.  2  are  spoken  of  Elihu  may  be  inferred  from  the  word  '^^^.,  coxm- 
sel :  though  the  argument  may  not  be  deemed  conclusive.  The  primary  and  most  usual  idea 
of  this  noun  is  that  of  cownse/ in  the  sense  of  advice,  instruction,  which  it  derives  directly 
from  the  universal  usage  of  the  verb  yT,  as  1  Kings  i.  12,  where  both  are  found,  NJ  ■]i*j^"'« 
nx;/,  "I  will  counsel  (advise)  thee  a  counsel,"  or  a  counselling;  for  the.  one  sense  easily 
passes  into  the  other,  the  instructing  or  the  instruction.  In  this  very  usual  acceptation,  it 
well  describes  Elihu's  counsel  or  instruction  to  Job  as  pronounced  here  dark  and  inadequate. 
Another  frequent  sense  is  prudence,  wisdom  or  skill  in  counselling.  In  this  way  it  is  ascribed 
to  Deity  along  with  other  attributes,  such  as  HODn,  HJO,  For  examples  of  this,  see  espe- 
cially the  book  of  Proverbs.  So  in  Job  xii.  13,  "  with  Him  is  counsel  and  strength,"  Isaiah 
xxviii.  29,  and  other  places.  But  it  may  be  questioned  whether  it  ever  means  the  divine 
purpose,  or  plan,  or  providence  (as  Renan  renders  it),  whether  general  or  special.  Yet  this 
is  the  sense  given  to  it  by  those  who  make  Job  the  object  of  these  words  of  seeming  reproof. 
"It  is  the  divine  decree,  or  plan,"  says  Delitzsch,  "full  of  purpose  or  connection,  which 
Job  darkens,  that  is,  distorts  by  judging  it  falsely,  or,  as  we  say,  places  in  a  false  light." 
One  would  hardly  get  this  idea  from  reading  the  speeches  without  any  reference  to  any  such 
supposed  censure.  It  might  have  some  good  application  to  the  speeches  of  the  three  friends, 
for  they,  in  their  wisdom,  assume  to  know  something  of  the  divine  purpose,  and  that  it  must 
be  to  punish  Job  for  his  sins.  Elihu  maintains  the  idea  of  discipline,  but  all  are  equally 
wide  of  the  real  purpose,  which  is  wholly  super-earthly  and  superhuman,  as  set  forth  in  the 
prologue.  It  is  to  show  to  Satan,  and  the  Bene  Elohim,  that  a  man  on  earth  "  could  serve 
God  for  nought."  It  was  not  a  purpose  either  of  punishment  or  of  discipline,  primarily,  or 
for  any  good  or  evil  to  Job  considered  as  the  direct  object,  but,  through  his  sufferings  (see 
Eph.  iii.  10 ;  JoTin  ix.  3),  to  make  this  fact,  or  this  truth,  "known  to  the  Principalities  and 
Powers  in  the  Heavens,  /card  npddeffiv  tuv  alijvuv,  according  to  the  purpose  of  the  eternities." 
But  Job  knew  nothing  of  any  such  purpose.  He  could  not  understand  it  at  all;  he  could 
form  no  conception  of  it  because  it  had  not  been  revealed  to  him.  Neither  had  he  expressed 
any  opinion  about  it,  as  the  others,  in  their  wisdom,  had  done,  and,  therefore,  he  could  not 
be  said  to  darken  it.  His  language  throughout  is  a  righteous  protest  against  their  unjust 
expositions  of  the  case,  mingled  with  a  constant  moan  over  his  own  misery,  so  acute  in  itself, 
and  rendered  still  more  intolerable  by  a  sense  of  some  mysterious  estrangement  of  one  whom 
he  had  loved  and  served.  It  was  God,  in  fact,  with  all  reverence  be  it  said,  who  had  made 
dark  his  own  counsel  to  Job,  and  on  account  of  this  he  so  touchingly  mourns:  "O  that  I 
knew  where  I  might  find  Him ;"  "  He  hideth  His  face  from  me ;"  but  He  knoweth  the  way 
that  I  take."  This  was  his  consolation,  though  all  was  dark  to  him  in  respect  to  tlie  ways  of 
G'oc?,— "when  He  hath  tried  me,  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold;"  "for  truly  the  purpose  con- 
cerning me  Cpn  my  decree)  He  will  accomplish,  and  many  such  (unfathomable  decrees) 
are  with  Him,"  xxiii.  3,  10,  14.  Surely  there  is  nothing  in  such  language  as  this  that  can 
be  called  "a  darkening  counsel  by  meaningless  words,"  or  as  Delitzsch  says,  "a  distorting, 
or  perverting,  or  placing  it  in  a  false  light."* 

In  the  Introductiox  on  the  Theism  of  the  book,  the  opinion  is  maintained,  that  the 
language  xlii.  7 :  "  the  saying  what  is  right  to,  or  respecting,  God,"  refers  solely  to  Job's 
humble  confession,  xlii.  1-6.  But  certainly  those  who  hold  that  he  is  commended  for  saying 
what  is  right  in  the  general  discussion,  as  most  commentators  do,  should  hesitate  in  applying 
to  him  reproving  words  that  seem  of  a  directly  opposite  character,  and  especially  as  con- 
trasted with  the  respectful  and  encouraging  words  in  the  language  that  immediately  follows 
(ver.  3).    It  should  be  remembered,  too,  that  in  the  whole  course  of  that  discussion  there  is 

*  The  remark  of  XJmdreit  on  this  lacgunge  is  genpral:  Ein  demuthigendes  Wort  fur  die  pliilosophischen  K'impferl 
it  is  most  probable,  however,  that  he  hug  Elihu  in  view,  of  whom  he  has  a  very  poor  opinion,  as  a  pretentious  prattler, 
although  he  admits,  and  gives  some  very  good  arguments  for,  the  genuineness  of  tho  portion  characteristic»Ily  regarding 
blm  as  iugenionsly  designed  by  the  author  aa  a  Bort  of  foil  to  the  other  speakers. 


JOB  XXXVm.  1,  2.      THE  WHIRLWIND  AND  THE  PERSON  SPOKEN  OF.  217 


nothing  more  noble,  more  clear,  or  more  commanding  the  sympathy  of  the  reader,  than  that 
eloquent  vindication  of  chap.  xxxi.  If  there  is  here  a  reference  to  it  at  all.  it  would  seem  to 
be,  not  in  the  2d,  but  in  the  3d  verse  of  chap,  xxxviii.,  after  the  momentary  notice  of  Elihu. 
This  does  indeed  look  like  a  reminiscence  of  that  pathetic  appeal  (xxxi.  35) :  "  0  that  one  would 
hear  me."  And  now  the  reply  comes :  "  Gird  up  thy  loins  now  like  a  man  ;  it  is  I  who  ask 
of  thee,"  not  thy  dark  and  erring  friends:  "It  is  I,"  who  have  come  (as  the  whole  purport 
of  the  language  following  warrants  us  in  paraphrasing),  not  to  reveal  any  plans  or  counsels, 
not  to  solve  a  problem,  or  to  decide  a  debate,  but  "  to  make  my  glory  to  pass  before  thee," 
—not  to  teach  thee  my  wisdom  or  skill  in  nature,  but  to  strengthen  thy  faith  in  my  Omni- 
potence: 'Tear  not,  thou  worm,  Job;"  "I  am  El  Shaddai,"  the  Almighty  one,  stronger 
than  Satan,  and  all  the  powers  of  evil  that  are  permitted  to  contend  with  thee,  and  to  try 
thee  so  sorely:  " I  can  do  all  things"  (xlii.  2)  ;  therefore  "fear  thou  not;  only  believe." 
One  thing  further  may  be  remarked  under  this  head :  Had  the  purpose  or  plan  of  God  been 
intended  by  HV;;,  and  not  the  advice  or  instruction  given  by  Elihu  and  the  others  to  Job, 
it  would  have  been  ''^'^y,  my  counsel,  placing  the  meaning  beyond  all  doubt,  instead  of  the 
general  term  used  abstractly.  The  reference  to  Isaiah  xxvi.  11  (DI'  ^ixjp  supposed  to  be  for 
'D;'  nxjp)  does  not  bear  out  the  objection  of  Delitzsch,  since  ^V  is  a  sufficient  limitation 
of  ^^Jp,  preventing  of  itself -any  misunderstanding  of  the  idea. 

An  argument  in  favor  of  its  being  Job  who  is  addressed  in  ver.  2  might  seem  to  be 
derived  from  his  own  language  xlii.  3  ;  but  a  careful  examination  renders  doubtful  any  such 
inference.  There  is  something  strange  in  the  way  these  words  are  there  repeated  with  a 
slight  change,  of  D''7>'D  for  yi^no.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  because  in  the  deep 
humility  of  his  confession  he  seems  to  take  them  to  himself  that  they  were  originally  so 
intended.  Job  takes  all  to  himself.  He  is  the  only  man  among  them  who  makes  confession. 
The  words  have  been  ringing  in  his  ears,  and  now,  in  his  awe-struck,  soliloquizing  style,  he 
repeats  them  over  to  himself,  as  though  conscious  alone  of  his  own  faults,  and  having  no 
thought  of  any  other  parties  :  I  am  the  man ;  it  is  I,  then,  "  who  have  uttered  what  I  knew 
not,"  "  things  too  great  and  too  wonderful  for  me."  The  inference  is  strengthened  fi-om  the 
fact  that  in  a  like  musing  way,  like  one  overwhelmed  with  the  deepest  conviction  of  the 
divine  condescension,  he  repeats  the  words  of  God  himself,  'J;?'"lini  ■]SnB'X,  "I  will  demand 
of  thee  and  answer  thou  me."  To  take  these  as  a  demand  that  Job  makes  of  the  Almighty 
produces  utter  confusion.  Hence  some  have  been  led  to  regard  the  passage  as  an  interpola- 
tion, or  a  misplacement.  But  viewed  as  the  language  of  one  in  amazement,  and  talking  to 
himself,  as  it  were,  they  have  a  wonderful  dramatic  force.  So  Conant  very  justly  regards 
"this  second  member  as  quoted  from  the  words  of  the  Almighty."  We  think,  however,  that 
he  errs  in  taking  them  directly  here  as  Job's  own  language,  and  giving  as  their  sentiment : 
"  Let  me  now  demand  of  thee,  and  be  instructed."  The  objection  to  it  is  that  no  questions 
follow  as  really  made  by  Job.  This  is  answered  on  the  unsatisfactory  ground  that  only  "the 
general  sentiment  was  intended."  But  tlie  dramatic  significance  is  greater  on  the  other  view. 
It  is  a  kind  of  silent  exclamation  of  amazement:  In  this  new  feeling  that  has  come  upon 
him,  he  says  these  words  over  to  himself,  but  as  God's  own  language  He  utters  them  just 
as  they  were  spoken,  but  to  the  reader  the  real  feeling  and  the  real  significance  come  through 
a  change  of  the  persons  :  "  Thou  ask  of  me !  I  answer  thee  !"  And  this  it  is  which  prepares 
us  for  the  language  that  follows:  "I  have  heard  of  Thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,"— that 
is,  I  have  had  traditional  knowledge  of  Thee—"  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  Thee."  The  new 
knowledge  excels  the  old,  even  as  the  sense  of  sight  excels  that  of  the  ear ;  '  wherefore  I 
reject  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes." 

The  view  here  maintained  in  respect  to  the  object  of  xxxviii.  2  is  held  by  Lyra,  one  of 
the  most  judicious  of  the  older  commentators:  Sed  quis  hie  reprehenditur ?  He  answers: 
Elihu,  quern  his  verbis  tacere  jubet ;  Jobus  autem  jampridem  siluerat.  And  so  another  authority 
quoted  by  Mercerus  :  Hunc  iaxat  Beus,  vel  quod  non  satis  efficaciter  Jobum  argueret,  vel 
quod,  cum  homu7icio  esset,  de  m.ajestate  Dei  orsus  est  agere."  See  Poole's  Synopsis.  Others 
of  the  same  opinion  are  referred  to  by  Caryl.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  great 
majority  of  commentators  refer  the  words  to  Job.    This  is  done,  of  course,  by  those  who 


218  ADDENDA.     EXCURSUS  XII. 

reject  the  Elihu  portion.  Even  they,  however,  who  admit  it  (and  they  are  the  larger  number, 
if  we  take  into  view  not  only  those  who  hold  to  its  original  authenticity,  but  also  men,  like 
Delitzsch  and  others,  who  accept  it  as  canonical,  though  from  a  later  author),  may  consis- 
tently do  so,  and  yet  feel  no  great  difficulty  (arising  from  this  intervention)  in  regarding  the 
divine  address  as  overlooking  Elihu,  and  referring  directly  back  to  Job's  concluding  words, 
chap.  xxxi.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  great  mass  of  ordinary  readers  who  ktiow  nothing 
of  the  critical  doubts  in  relation  to  this  part.  Very  satisfactory  reasons  may  be  given  for 
this.  The  speech  of  Elihu  seems  long  from  its  division  into  five  chapters,  and  from  the 
mass  of  commentary  with  which  it  has  been  loaded ;  but  the  real  time  occupied  by  its  utter- 
ance could  not  have  exceeded  twenty  minutes,  or  half  an  hour  at  the  utmost.  What  is  of 
still  more  importance.  Job  all  this  time  is  the  principal  figure.  A  painter  of  the  scene  would 
place  him  in  the  foreground,  barely  distinguishing  Elihu,  and  throwing  the  others  altogether 
into  the  shade.  Again,  although  Job  is  not  the  last  speaker,  he  is  the  last  one  spoken  of, 
and  his  own  hardly  suppressed  manifestations  help  to  bring  him  into  prominence.  Elihu 
keeps  him  in  view  continually.  Eight  times  does  he  expressly  address  him  by  name  (xxxiii. 
1,  31 ;  xxxiv.  5,  7,  35,  36 ;  xxxv.  16 ;  xxxvii.  14),  besides  sharp  personal  appeals  in  almost 
every  verse.  Much  of  his  language  intimates  an  actual  part  taken  by  Job,  either  by  way 
of  look,  or  gesture,  or  some  sign  of  impatience,  as  though  he  was  on  the  point  of  speaking 
himself.  The  critical  insight  of  old  Caryl  discovers  this,  and  he  gives  it  as  a  reason  for  the 
prompt  intervention  of  the  divine  voice,  silencing  Elihu,  and  preventing  that  reply  on  the 
part  of  Job  which  threatened  to  render  the  controversy  interminable. 

Much  of  what  we  have  thus  said  may  be  condemned  as  conjecture ;  but,  even  when  thus 
regarded,  it  shows  how  natural  this  Elihu  portion  is,  and  how  consistent  with  the  dramatic 
unity  of  the  book,  even  if  we  regard  the  divine  address  as  wholly  overlooking  it.  A  close 
study,  we  think,  will  carry  us  beyond  this,  and  force  the  conclusion  that  it  is  not  only  a  con- 
sistent, but  a  necessary  part  of  a  work  claiming  to  be  a  dramatic  whole,  and  that,  without  it, 
this  "artistic  plan  and  unity"  of  which  "the  higher  criticism"  has  so  much  to  say,  would  be 
far  less  easily  traced. 


THE 


BOOK  OF  JOB. 


THEOLOGICALLY  AND  HOMILETICALLY  EXPOUNDED 


OTTO  ZOOKLEE,  D.  D. 

PROFESSOR     OF     THEOLOGY     AT     GRBIFSWALD. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EDITED 


LLEWELYN  J.  EVANS,  D.  D., 

PROF.    OF  BIB.    LITERATURE   IN    LANE   THEOL.    SEMINARY,   CINCINNATI,  O. 


NEW  YOEK: 
SCRIBNER,  ARMSTRONG  &  CO.,  654  BROADWAY. 

1874. 


PREFACE. 


The  exegetical  principles  which  the  author  has  applied  in  this  exposition  of  the  Book 
of  Job  require  no  preliminary  statement  to  be  made  of  them  here.    They  continue  to  be  the 
same  with  those  which  we  followed  in  our  exposition  of  the  Solomonic  Scriptures,  which  has 
already  made  its  appearance  in  this  Series  (Vol.  X.  of  the  Old  Testament),  and  they  rest  on 
the  fact,  of  which  we  are  most  firmly  convinced,  that  both  as  to  substance  and  time  the  book 
here  treated  of  belongs  to  the  Literature  of  Wisdom  peculiar  to  the  Solomonic  age.     That 
which  we  have  already  briefly  set  forth  on  this  subject  in  the  General  Introduction  to  this 
group  of  writings  (Vol.  X.,  p.  14  seq.)  has  been  confirmed  to  our  mind  by  a  more  thorough 
examination  of  the  poem  as  to  its  contents,  form  and  purpose — except  that  we  have  again 
receded  from  the  hypothesis  there  presented  as  an  admissible  one  of  its  having  originated  in 
the  age  immediately  following  that  of  Solomon,  and  have  declared  ourselves  more  unquali- 
fiedly than  heretofore  in  favor  of  the  opinion  held  at  present  by  the  majority  of  those  com- 
mentators who  believe  in  revelation,  that  the  book  proceeded  immediately  from  the  Solo- 
monic epoch.     For  neither  the  arguments  advanced  by  a  number  of  critics  of  the  liberal 
school  in  favor  of  the  opinion  that  the  book  originated  in  the  age  of  Manasseh,  in  the  first 
half  of  the  Seventh  Century  before  Christ,  nor  those  advanced  by  the  latent  commentator, 
A.  Mekx  [Das  Oedicht  von  Hiob ;  hebr.  Text,  krilisch  bearbeitet  und  ubersebzt,  nebst  sachlicher 
und  kritischer  Einleitung,  Jena,  Mauke,  1871,  p.  41  seq.),  in  favor  of  the  closely  related 
hypothesis  that  it  was  composed  about  the  year  700  B.  C,  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  have 
been  able  to  convince  us.     The  many  bold  innovations  in  the  line  both  of  textual  criticism 
and  of  exegetical  and  Biblical  theology  which  the  latter  writer  has  sought  in  some  instances 
to  establish,  in  others  at  least  to  suggest,  in  respect  to  the  composition,  and  the  scientific 
treatment  of  the  book,  may  be  of  service  doubtless  in  stimulating  and  advancing  the  future 
exegesis  of  Job  in  some  directions,  and  especially  in  the  criticism  of  the  text.     In  general, 
however,  and  on  the  whole,  the  views  which  have  for  years  now  prevailed  in  the  various 
circles  of  commentators  on  our  book,  will  receive  no  radical  modification  from  these  hypo- 
theses of  Merx's,  least  of  all  from  any  which  are  so  thoroughly  arbibrary  as  e.  g.  that  which 
is  advanced  on  p.  44,  that  ch.  xxviii.  contains  a  "concealed  polemic"  against  the  Old  Testa- 
ment doctrine  of  Wisdom  ( I ),  or  the  ingenious,  but  totally  unfounded  fancy  (p.  100  seq.), 
that  the  two  animal  descriptions  in  the  last  discourse  of  Jehovah  (ch.  xl.  15 — xli.  26  [34]) 
are  to  be  regarded  as  being  in  a  measure  " Paralipomena  to  Job,"  i.  e.  "rejected  fragments 
which  had  been  jotted  down  by  the  poet  while  engaged  in  the  work  of  production."     On 
this  account  we  cannot  indulge  in  excessive  regret  that  the  printing  of  this  exposition  having 
begun  as  far  back  as  the  middle  of  the  present  year,  and  having  made  slow  progress  in  con- 
sequence of  various  hindrances,  it  has  been  practicable  to  refer  to  the  book  of  Merx  only  in 
a  few  passages  on  the  last  sheets.     It  has  been  a  cause  of  more  serious  regret  that  of  the 
posthumous  work  of  the  sainted  Hengstenberg — Das  Buck  Hiob  erldutert  (Berlin,  Schlawitz, 
1870) — a  manual  which  is  especially  valuable  for  the  purposes  of  practical  and  homiletic 
exposition,  and  which  we  might  class  with  the  most  solid  ex*>getical  productions  of  the  highly 
esteemed  theologian  of  Berlin,  we  have  been  able  to  use  for  comparison  only  the  first  half, 
reaching,  so  far  as  the  expository  part  is  concerned,  to  the  end  of  the  14th  chapter.    With 
the  exception  of  these  two  helps,  the  latest  which  have  appr-ared,  and  of  some  foreign  com- 

2-l\ 


222  PREFACE. 

mentaries,  which  we  have  been  unable  to  procure,  but  the  omission  of  which  can  scarcely  be 
regarded  as  an  important  deficiency  in  the  prosecution  of  our  work,  all  the  modern  and  latest 
exegetical  literature  on  the  subject  has  been  consulted  by  us  with  due  care,  and  that  portion 
of  it  which  is  of  special  value  has  been  examined  and  compared  with  the  utmost  possible 
thoroughness.  At  the  same  time  we  have  not  allowed  this  dependence  on  our  predecessors 
to  prejudice  in  any  degree  the  independence  of  our  own  conclusions,  as  may  be  seen,  e.  g., 
in  the  position  Ave  have  taken  respecting  the  discourses  of  Elihu,  which,  notwithstanding  the 
opposition  of  many  moderns,  we  cannot  otherwise  than  regard  as  an  integral  constituent  of 
the  poem  according  to  its  original  construction. 

May  this  work,  of  the  deficiencies  of  which  no  one  can  be  more  sensible  than  we  are,  be 
not  altogether  barren  of  fruit  as  a  contribution  to  the  exposition  and  to  the  seasonable  appli- 
cation of  the  oldest  "  Cross  and  Comfort-book  "  of  God's  people !  May  it  be  valued  as  to 
some  degree  a  useful  help  in  particular  to  that  class  of  Scripture  students  who,  while  they  do 
not  blindly  surrender  themselves  to  certain  traditional  prejudices  of  the  modern  critical  the- 
ology, labor  with  unfeigned  zeal  for  the  reconciliation  of  faith  in  the  Bible  revelation  with 
the  verified  results  of  the  scientific  investigations  of  the  day,  especially  into  the  questions 
which  concern  the  history  of  religion  and  civilization  I 

Dr.  ZOCKLER. 


Greifswald.  November,  1371. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


INTRODUCTION. 

*         21.    NAME  AND  CONTENTS  OF  THE  BOOK. 

The  name  which  our  Book  has  borne  from  antiquity,  and  without  any  variation  what- 
ever on  the  part  of  the  sources  by  which  it  has  been  transmitted,  is  that  of  its  principal  hero 
— Job  [Hebrew  ii'*<.  Germ.  Hiob,  of  which,  however.  Dr.  Zockler  remarks  that  it  less  accu- 
rately represents  the  Heb.  than  the  form  Job  (Ijob,  Ijjob)].  This  name  is  no  free  poetic 
invention  of  the  author,  but  without  doubt  a  proper  name  assigned  to  him  by  primitive  tra- 
dition, the  name  of  a  particular  person  belonging  to  the  history  or  the  legend.  The  suppo- 
sition that  it  was  the  product  of  poetic  fiction  on  the  part  of  the  author  is  contradicted  by 
the  circumstance  that  the  book  nowhere  contains  any  allusion  to  the  signification  of  the 
name,  notwithstanding  that  the  religious  and  ethical  tendency  of  the  book,  and  especially 
its  aim,  which  is  rightly  to  explain  and  to  justify  the  suffering  which  overtakes  innocence, 
would  have  furnished  abundant  occasion  for  such  allusions.  It  is  to  be  sure  a  question 
how  the  name  is  to  be  etymologically  explained ;  whether,  with  most  expositors,  ancient  and 
modern,  we  form  it  after  the  Hebrew,  in  which  case  3rx  would  seem  to  be  a  passive  partici- 
ple from  ^l^*  (Ex.  xxiii.  22),  and  to  signify  accordingly  "the  assailed,  persecuted  one,"  or 
with  some  of  the  moderns,  we  base  it  on  the  Arabic  verb  3lN=3lti',  with  the  signification, 
"  he  who  turns  around,  who  repents,  who  returns  to  God."  But  whichever  of  these  two  sig- 
nifications, which  are  equally  admissible,  may  be  the  original  one,  the  poet  would  have  had 
opportunity  enough  to  introduce  some  reference  to  it  if  it  had  lain  at  all  within  his  plan  to 
make  such  allusions,  or  even  if  a  moralizing  nomenclature  had  belonged  to  the  circle  of  his 
vision  and  to  his  individual  poetic  style.  For  in  the  other  names  of  his  book  as  well,  whe- 
ther of  persons,  or  of  countries,  or  of  races,  he  abstains  wholly  from  all  such  attempts  at  ety- 
mological characterization.  Whence  it  is  sufiiciently  apparent  that  the  name  of  the  hero, 
which  has  given  name  to  the  entire  book,  has  its  origin  in  a  concrete  historical  tradition. 

The  Theme  and  Contents  of  the  book  are  briefly  as  follows : 

Ch.  i. — ii. :  The  Prologue,  or  the  Historical  Introduction  to  the  poem.  Job,  an  inhabi- 
tant of  the  land  of  Uz,  noted  for  his  piety,  riches  and  position,  being  accused  before  God  by 
Satan,  is,  in  accordance  with  the  divine  decree,  subjected  to  a  severe  trial.  A  series  of  sud- 
den calamities  robs  him  in  a  very  short  time  of  his  possessions,  his  children,  and  his  health, 
and  in  an  instant  plunges  him,  afflicted  with  the  most  terrible  species  of  leprosy,  elephantia- 
sis, from  the  height  of  earthly  prosperity  into  the  deepest  misery.  He  endures  this  visitation, 
however,  with  wonderful  equanimity ;  and  even  when  his  wife,  overcome  by  doubt,  urges 
him  to  renounce  God,  he  allows  no  blasphemous,  nor  even  an  impatient  word  to  pass  from 
his  lips. — Three  friends  of  Job,  Eliphaz,  Bildad  and  Zophar,  who  come  to  visit  him  from 
sympathy,  are  so  powerfully  affected  at  the  sight  of  his  misery,  that  for  seven  days  and  nights 
they  sit  down  with  the  sorely  afflicted  man  in  silence,  without  giving  him  a  word  of  comfort, 

Ch.  iii. — xxxi. :   The  Dialogue,  or  the  dialectic  discussion  of  the  problem.     Job,  having 

at  last  himself  broken  the  long  silence  by  a  violent  outburst,  beginning  with  a  curse  on  the 

day  of  his  birth  (Ch.  iii. :    Theme,  or  immediate  occasion  of  the  dialogue)  there  springs  up 

223 


224  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

a  long  colloquy  between  him  and  his  three  visitors  in  respect  to  the  question  whether  his 
suffering  is  unmerited,  or  whether  it  has  come  upon  him  as  the  just  punishment  of  his  sins. 
The  friends  maintain  the  latter ;  they  defend  the  position  that  God  never  imposes  suffering 
otherwise  than  by  way  of  retribution  for  particular  moral  offenses  and  transgressions  of  His 
law ;  and  they  accordingly  urge  on  the  sorely  afflicted  man  in  a  tone  now  of  milder,  now  of 
more  violent  accusation,  the  necessity  of  knowing  himself  and  turning  to  God  in  true  peni- 
tence. Job,  on  the  contrary,  finds  no  connection  whatever  between  his  suffering  and  his 
guilt,  declares  himself  to  be  conscious  of  no  sin  at  all  by  which  he  could  have  incurred  such 
calamity ;  he  even  goes  so  far  as  to  utter  violent,  almost  desperate  accusations  against  God, 
in  that  he  doubts  His  justice,  and  represents  himself  as  innocently  persecuted  by  Ilim.  Pre- 
sently, however,  he  rises  to  a  state  of  greater  calmness  and  composure,  when,  supported  by 
the  consciousness  of  his  innocence,  and  at  the  same  time  humbly  submitting  himself  beneath 
the  inscrutable  dispensations  of  the  wise  and  just  God,  he  declares  his  purpose  faithfully  and 
reverently  to  cleave  to  Him,  while  he  none  the  less  expresses  his  yearning  hope  for  a  mani- 
festation of  God,  in  which,  as  he  distinctly  anticipates.  He  will  bring  to  light  his  innocence, 
and  restore  him  out  of  his  misery. — The  colloquy  runs  through  three  series  of  discourses  (Ch. 
iv.-xiv. ;  Ch.  xv.-xxi. ;  Ch.  xxii.-xxxi.),  which  exhibit  in  each  successive  stage  a  heighten- 
ing of  the  conflict  between  the  friends  as  his  accusers,  and  Job  as  he  replies  to  them  one  by 
one.  Especially  do  the  discourses  in  which  Eliphaz  arraigns  Job,  which  open  each  new  Act 
[or  Series],  indicate  an  advance  in  the  direction  of  more  and  more  direct  assaults  on  the  per- 
sonal character  of  the  sufferer,  and  stronger  suspicions  of  his  innocence.  The  discourses  of 
Bildad  and  Zophar  are  in  each  instance  shorter  than  those  of  Eliphaz.  In  the  third  series 
of  discourses  (Ch.  xxii.  seq.)  Zophar  no  longer  takes  part  in  the  colloquy ;  but  Job,  having 
forcibly  repelled  the  assaults  of  Eliphaz  and  Bildad  (Ch.  xxiii.,  xxiv.,  and  Ch.  xxvi.-xxviii.), 
proceeds  in  a  kind  of  ajipended  monologue  (Ch.  xxix.-xxxi.),  elaborately  contrasting  with  an 
apologetic  purpose  his  former  and  present  condition,  continually  asserting  his  innocence  in 
the  most  emphatic  language,  and  expressing  his  firm  confidence  in  the  final  interposition  of 
God  for  his  vindication ;  and  thus  he  holds  the  field  victorious  over  all  the  assaults  of  his 
adversaries. 

Ch.  xxxii. — xxxvii. :  The  discourses  of  Elihu,  or  the  aitemj'ii  to  settle  the  controversy  by 
means  of  human  wisdom. — A  fourth  opponent  of  Job  now  makes  his  appearance,  Elihu, 
inferior  to  the  former  three  in  age,  but  not  in  wisdom  and  eloquence.  He  seeks  to  show  that 
Job  in  his  vindication  was  guilty  of  great  one-sidedness  in  totally  repudiating  any  guilt  on 
his  part,  and  in  casting  doubt  on  God's  justice  by  representing  himself  as  cruelly  tormented 
and  persecuted  without  cause.  He  censures  the  polemic  of  the  friends  against  Job  as  inade- 
quate and  inconsequential,  recognizes  him  as  the  victor,  who  has  reduced  them  to  silence ; 
but  having  done  this,  he  controverts  his  right  to  utter  accusations  and  doubts  against  God's 
justice,  seeks  to  glorify  this  cardinal  attribute  of  God  by  showing  that  He,  moved  not  by 
anger,  but  by  love,  often  decrees  suffering  for  His  hurnan  children  with  a  view  to  chasten 
and  purify  them,  and  admonishes  him  to  submit  reverently  and  humbly  under  all  dispensa- 
tions of  the  Most  High,  whose  wondrous  power  and  majesty  he  most  vividly  describes  and 
extols  at  the  end  of  his  discourse. 

Ch.  xxxviii. — xlii, :  The  Divine  decision^  or  God's  judgment  in  respect  to  the  C07itending 
parties,  together  with  the  historical  epilogue,  or  closing  act.  The  exhibitions  of  one-sidedness, 
which  characterize  this  attempt  of  a  human  arbiter  to  mediate  in  the  controversy,  serve  to 
set  forth  in  its  proper  light  the  appearance  of  God  on  the  scene,  the  way  for  which  has  now 
been  sufficiently  prepared.  Jehovah  appears,  and  in  a  powerful  discourse  addressed  to  Job 
out  of  a  storm  shows  (ch.  xxxviii — xli.)  that  it  is  folly  to  doubt  His  wisdom  and  justice  in 
ruling  the  destinies  of  men  on  earth,  and  for  this  reason,  that  to  the  man  who  utters  such 
doubt  not  even  the  simplest,  commonest  processes  in  the  external  life  of  nature  are  clear  and 
comprehensible,  at  the  same  time  that  in  those  processes  those  Divine  attributes  are  supremely 
and  most  gloriously  revealed.  With  this  exposition,  which  is  directed  more  especially 
against  Job,  is  connected  the  condemnation  of  the  three  friends  on  account  of  their  short- 
sighted, harsh,  unfriendly  view  of  the  relation  in  which  he  stood  to  the  Divine  righteousness. 


§2.    THE  HISTOBICAL  MATERIAL  OF  THE  BOOK.  225 


Still  more  emphatic  is  the  condemnation  which  follows  in  the  final  scene  cf  the  wholo^  which 
is  introduced  by  Job's  penitential  confession  of  his  sin  (ch.  xlii.),  this  condeiuuation  being 
pronounced  first  of  all  formally  and  d.rectly  by  requiring  of  them  a  definite  expiation  ot 
their  offense,  and  by  God's  declaration  that  He  graciously  accepted  Job's  intercession  in 
their  behalf,  and  then  circumstantially  in  the  fact  that  Job's  prosperity,  dignity  and  honor 
are  restored,  and  that  his  earthly  possessions  are  given  back  to  him  two-fold.  The  problem 
of  the  book  thus  seems  to  meet  with  a  solution  that  is  sufficiently  profound,  and  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  pious  Job  are  an  example  and  a  demonstration  of  the  existence  of  sufferings 
which  are  essentially  designed  to  prove,  test,  purify  and  establish  the  innocence  of  the  right- 
eous ones  on  whom  they  fall. 

yote.— The  orthography  JTinh,  first  introduced  by  Luther  in  his  Oertran  translation,  was  intended  simply  to  hinder  tho 
word  from  being  pronounct'd  with  a  consonantal  J  (comp.  Hebr.  "yV,  Gen.  xlvi.  V6),  and  to  iudicatc  the  presunce  of  an  aspi- 
rate at  the  beginning  of  the  dissyllable.  But  inasmuch  as  this  X  at  the  beginning  of  the  word  does  not  according  to  our 
notions  constitute  an  audible  breathing,  and  since  it  serves  rather  to  make  more  prominent  that  internal  consonantal  Yodh- 
sound,  which  the  Daghesh  in  the  second  radical  expresses,  the  word  is,  with  Ewald,  Dillmann,  and  other  moderns,  to  bo 
written  Ijob  [Engl.  lyob].  (The  form  Ijjoh  [or  lyyoh]  would  involve  a  needless  hardeLing  of  that  consonant  1  Yodh,  as  well 
as  a  useless  pleonasm,  such  as  would  be  e.  g.  the  rendering  of  vK^JT  hy  Dauiyyel.)  We  come  near  enough,  however,  to 
the  Hebrew  sonnd  of  the  name  if  wo  adhere  to  the  'Tw^  of  the  Greek  and  the  Job  of  th"  Latin  Bible,  with  a  correct  pronun- 
ciation of  the  initial  sound. — As  respects  the  etymology  of  ^VX,  the  attempt  of  the  LXX.  to  identify  this  name  and  its 
dependents  with  that  of  the  Edomite  prince  331',  a  grandson  of  Esan  (Gen.  xxxvi.  33),  may  be  set  asid»  as  etymologically 

T 

impossible  and  historicnlly  nndemonstrable  (comp.  ?  2).  The  two  explanations  given  above  in  the  text  are  the  only  ones 
that  deserve  more  minute  minute  consideration.  Of  these  the  second,  which  finds  the  basis  of  the  word  in  the  Arab.  31X. 
"to  turn  "(of  which  thelleb.  3'X  is  only  a  dialectic  variation)  might  seem  to  deserve  lUe  preference  fur  the  lollowing  reusons  : 

-  T 

1.  Because  in  any  case  Job's  final  turning,  conversion  to  God,  constituted  an  original  characteristic  feature  of  Job's  conduct 
and  destiny.  2.  A  specifically  Hebrew  etymon  of  the  name  seems  to  be  less  in  harmony  with  the  pobition  and  ethnogra- 
phical peculiarities  of  the  land  of  Uz.    3.  The  form  3TX,  from  3"X,  "to  treat  hostilely,"  jutiging  by  the  analogy  of  mo^t 

I      .  •  -  T 

such  formations  as  follow  7l£3p,  should  have  not  a  passive,  but  an  active  sense  (comp.  Ewald,  Lehrb.  J  155,  c).  4.  Finally, 
such  a  f>rm,  if  in  fact  expressing  the  passive  meaning,  "the  assailed,  persecuted  one,"  seems  to  express  the  thought  too 
indefinitely,  bee  luse  the  essential  thought  that  the  hostile  treatment  was  "from  God"  is  not  also  expressed.  lufiu'iiced 
by  these  arguments,  Kromayer,  J.  D.  Michaelis,  Bertholdt,  Eichhorn,  Rosenmiiller  among  the  older  commentators,  Ewald, 
Delitzsch,  Dillmann,  etc.,  among  the  latest,  have  preferred  to  explain  the  name  after  the  Arabic,  partly  with  a  rtference  to 
the  Koran,  in  which  (Sur.  38,  ver.  40)  the  Job  of  the  Old  Testament  history  is  introduced  by  the  designation  "  the  returning, 
the  repentant"  one.  The  passage  referred  to,  however,  Fcarcely  suffices  to  establish  this  explanation  beyond  question,  for: 
(a)  That  passage  of  the  Koran  (vers.  16  and  29)  applies  the  same  predicate — "the  one  turning,  or  changing  himself  ' — to 
David  and  Solomon,  (b)  Tbe  suffering  which  the  hero  of  our  book  endures  seems  far  more  characteristic  of  him  than  tho 
final  change  which  takes  place  in  him.  (c)  The  notion  of  "being  assailed,  persecuted,"  assigned  to  3rN,  does  not  no^d  t'^ 
be  supplemented  by  the  clause — "on  the  part  of  God" — seeing  that  the  sufferings  of  our  hero  proceeded  in  no  small  degrect 
from  the  hostility  of  men,  and  most  of  all  from  that  of  his  best  friends,  (d)  That  the  language  of  Uz,  the  land  of  Job's 
natifity,  was  predominantly  Arabic,  is  by  no  means  an  established  fact,  but  is  on  the  contrary  at  varian  e  with  the  decidedly 
Hebrew  cast  of  the  other  proper  names  in  the  book,  and  especially  those  of  the  three  daughters  of  Job  (ch.  xlii.  14).  (e) 
The  use  of  words  in  the  form  7lt3p  'n  Hebrew  with  a  passive  signification  is  supported  by  some  weighty  examples,,  espe- 
cially T|7',  "bom."  It  will  be  seen  accordingly  that  there  is  a  series  of  strong  arguments  to  justify  the  expUnation  of 
the  word  in  accordance  with  the  Hebrew  etymology,  as  explained  by  Gesenius,  FUrst,  de  Wette,  TJmbreit,  Hirzel,  Ifeilig- 
stedt,  Havernick,  Davidson  (Introduction,  Vol.  II.,  p.  174)  [Uengstenberg,  Noyes,  A.  B.  Davidson,  Carey,  Schlottmann, 
Wordsworth,  Rodwell],  etc.  The  theory  that  the  name  is  fictitious,  and  intentionally  denotes  a  purely  allegorical  character 
is  disproved  by  either  one  of  the  two  definitions  in  question,  and  still  more  by  the  considerations  to  be  adduced  in  the  seqjiel 
iu  favor  of  the  historical  reality  of  tbe  principal  persons  and  facts  of  the  narrative. 

1 2.    THE  HISTORICAL  MATERIAL  OF  THE  BOOK. 

From  the  above  exhibition  of  the  contents  and  course  of  thought  in  the  book  it  h  elear 
that  it  is  no  mere  fiction,  as  has  been  frequently  maintained  from  early  times  (first  by  R.  Resli 
Lakish  in  the  Ta'viud,  Bnba  bafhra,  fol.  xv.  1;  then  by  Maimonides,  Salmasius,  Le  Clerc, 
J.  D.  Michae'is,  Dathp,  Bertholdt,  Bernstein,  Augusti,  Bruno  Bauer  [Reuss,  Merx],  etc.). 
This  theory,  that  the  material  of  the  narrative  had  its  origin  in  the  author's  imagination,  is 
disproved  by  the  following  considerations,  in  addition  to  the  concrete  historical  character 
which  attaches  to  the  name  Job,  as  wfll  as  to  the  names  of  the  other  chief  personages  of  the 
story. — 1.  The  fact  that  the  country  where  the  scene  of  the  action  is  laid,  the  land  of  Uz,  did 
not  stand  in  close  connection  with  Israel,  and  that  no  other  reason  can  well  be  assigned  for 
the  choice  of  this  particular  country  than  the  fact  of  its  having  been  already  designated  by  a 
15 


226  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

definite  historical  tradition ;  especially  seeing  that  a  purely  fictitious  investiture  correspond- 
ing to  the  spirit  and  character  of  the  action,  which,  while  it  is  not  indeed  theocratic,  is  never- 
theless intensely  religious  and  specifically  monotheistic,  would  have  much  more  naturally 
suggested  some  Israelitish  locality,*  2.  The  fact  that  it  must  have  been  important  for  the 
author  to  illustrate  the  lofty  truth  to  be  demonstrated  by  an  example,  the  historical,  reality 
of  which  could  not  have  been  denied  by  his  contemporaries ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  a  purely 
parabolical  dress  would  have  been  very  ill-suited  to  the  religious  and  didactic  purpose  by 
which  he  was  governed.  3.  The  fact  that  the  setting  forth  of  pure  invention  as  actual  his- 
tory would  be,  according  to  the  correct  observation  of  Ewald  and  Dillmann,  "  entirely  foreign 
to  the  spirit  of  early  antiquity,  and  moreover  entirely  superfluous  in  view  of  the  great  abun- 
dance of  legends,  which  were  then  accessible."  4.  Finally,  the  mention  of  Job,  along  with 
Noah  and  Daniel  in  the  book  of  Ezekiel  (ch.  xiv.  14-20) ;  a  mention  which  by  no  means 
rests  solely  on  the  text  of  our  book,  but  which  assuredly  proceeds  from  the  desire  to  name 
three  characters  in  the  circle  of  sacred  history  famed  for  their  wisdom  and  piety  (comp.  my 
Bearbeitung  des  Proph.  Daniel,  p.  11  seq.),  and  which  accordingly  is  a  direct  attestation  to 
the  historical  reality  of  the  person  of  our  hero,  a  proof  which,  on  account  of  the  pre-exilic 
antiquity  of  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel,  is  stronger  than  that  furnished  by  the  later  allusions 
to  the  history  of  Job  in  the  Book  of  Tobit  (ch.  ii.  12,  16),  and  in  the  Epistle  of  James  (ch. 
V.  11). 

These  arguments  for  the  historical  verity  of  the  narrative  are  indeed  far  from  suflScient 
to  prove  that  in  every  particular  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  veritable  history,  and  that  this  book 
is  accordingly  to  be  taken  altogether  out  of  the  class  of  the  poetical  products  of  the  Old 
Testament  Literature,  and  to  be  assigned  to  the  class  of  historical  books.  This  crude  opinion, 
ruthlessly  destructive  as  it  is  of  the  poetic  character  of  the  book,  has  found  defenders  from 
the  time  of  the  Alexandrian  translators,  whose  attempt  at  identifying  Job  with  Jobab  (Gen. 
xxxvi.  33),  the  son  of  Zerah,  and  the  grandson  of  Esau  (see  the  Appendix  to  Job  xlii.  17, 
at  the  end  of  Comm'y. :  TTpovnfjpx^'^  ^^  ■'■o  bvofia  avrov  'Iw/3a/?.  'Hi'  6s  6  irarf/p  avTov  Zapid,  k. 
T.  1.)  rests  on  that  sort  of  an  exaggerated  historical  view  of  the  historic  material  of  the  book. 
So  according  to  all  appearance  Josephus  (c.  Apion.  I.  8)  ;  and  so  in  like  manner  many 
Rabbis,  and  Church  Fathers,  and  more  particularly  in  modern  times  the  orthodox  Reformed 
of  the  16th  and  17th  Centuries,  as  e.g.,  Fr.  Spanheim,  whose  Historia  Johi  (Oj^p.  T.  II.,  p. 
1703)  took  the  ground  that  only  by  maintaining  the  historical  reality  of  the  contents  of  the 
book  can  the  author  be  vindicated  against  the  charge  of  a  fraudulent  invention  [in  historia 
sit,  fraus  scripioris) ;  also  the  celebrated  orientalist  Alb.  Schultens,  in  Leyden,  who  endeavored 
to  show  that  the  book  is  a  true  narrative,  relating  a  colloquy  of  ancient  Eastern  sages  in  the 
poetic  improvisatory  style  of  the  Arabian  tales.  The  principal  reasons  which  may  be  urged 
against  this  extreme  historical  theory  are  the  following:  1.  The  plan  and  purpose  of  the 
whole  book,  which  on  the  one  side  resembles  a  drama,  on  the  other  a  philosophical  dialogue 
(comp.  I  3).  2.  The  scene  in  heaven  with  which  the  story  begins  (ch.  i.  6  seq.),  which  like 
the  theophany  in  ch.  v.  38  seq.,  could  be  regarded  as  historic  only  in  the  sense  of  a  history 
characterized  by  strong  idealization.  3.  The  poetic  completeness  of  the  discourses,  which, 
notwithstanding  all  that  may  be  alleged  respecting  their  affinity  to  the  proverbial  discourses 
which  the  Arabian  sages  improvised  in  poetic  form,  with  those  e.  g.  found  in  the  celebrated 
Consessus  of  the  Hariri,  bear  nevertheless  the  impress  of  an  earnest,  not  to  say  laborious 
artistic  effort,  and  of  which  Luther  without  doubt  said  truly  in  his  Table-Talk:  "People  do 
not  talk  that  way  in  temptation."  4.  The  poetic  transparency  and  intentional  regularity  of 
the  relations  and  facts  which  are  described,  as  shown  by  comparing  the  introductory  verses 


*  HengBtenberg  (BeUr&ge  znr  Einl.  ins.  A.  T.,  II.  302  B'q.)  explains  the  course  of  the  Tsraelifish  author  of  the  book  in 
placing  the  action  in  a  foreign  land,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  his  purpose  ''to  solve  the  problem  from  the  standpoint  of  that 
knowledge  of  God  which  prevails  among  men  universally  and  outside  of  the  theocracy."  This  is  not  incorrect  in  so  far  as 
it  is  in  fact  very  obviously  the  poet's  aim  to  stamp  an  extra-Israclitish  character  on  the  whole  action  and  discussion  (comp. 
I  5,  together  with  the  Note).  But  to  say  that  from  beginning  to  end  he  invented  his  material,  that  he  imagined  a  pious 
man  like  Joh,  lio'onging  to  the  heathen  land  of  Uz,  a  personality  such  as  in  fict  could  not  have  existed  within  the  bounds 
of  heathenism,  this  is  a  supposition  improbable  in  itself,  which  has  no  points  of  tupport  in  the  book  itself,  and  no  analogies 
ia  the  remaining  religious  liter.vture  of  that  remote  .antiquity. 


§2.    THE  HISTORICAL  MATERIAL  OF  THE  BOOK.  227 

of  the  prologue  with  the  concluding  verses  of  the  epilogue.  (Observe  in  particular  the  exact 
doubling  of  Job's  former  possessions  in  cattle,  according  to  ch.  xlii.  12,  as  also  the  round 
numbers  in  the  same  passage,  and  in  vers.  13  and  16).  5.  The  sublime  profundity  of  the 
religious  and  ethical  problem  treated  of  in  the  book,  and  the  impressive  power  of  the  truths 
brought  forward  to  aid  in  its  solution  ;  and  in  general  the  ideal  beauty  of  the  whole,  which 
cannot  possibly  be  explained  apart  from  the  reflective  and  artistically  creative  activity  of  a 
poetic  genius  endowed  in  unusual  measure  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

We  are  left  accordingly  to  that  view  which  has  of  late  met  with  such  wide,  and  indeed 
almost  exclusive  acceptance,  which  assumes  along  with  a  historic  kernel,  a  free  poetic  treat- 
ment by  the  author  of  the  material  derived  from  the  ancient  legend,  a  treatment  which 
invests  such  material  with  great  depth  and  beauty.  It  is  precisely  the  view  which  Luther 
expressed  in  his  Table-Talk :  "  I  hold  that  the  book  of  Job  is  a  true  history,  which  was  after- 
wards put  into  a  poem  ;  and  that  what  is  here  said  happened  to  a  man,  although  not  pre- 
cisely according  to  the  words  which  are  here  recorded."  And  modern  writers  ( Jahn,  DiJder- 
lein,  Eichhorn,  Eosenmiiller,  Umbreit,  Vaihinger,  Ewald,  Hirzel,  Dillmann,  Delitzsch, 
Davidson  [Schlottmann,  Canon  Cook  in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.,  and  in  Bible  (Speaker's)  Com- 
mentary; McClintock  &  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  Art.  "Job;"  Princeton  Review,  Vol.  XXIX., 
p.  284],  etc.,  have  discussed  this  view,  and  argued  in  favor  of  it  at  length.  Just  where  the 
historical  kernel  ceases,  and  the  poetic  vesture  begins,  it  would  be  impossible  precisely  to 
define.  This  difficulty  is  especially  due  to  the  fact  that  the  material  which  served  the  poet 
for  his  creative  use  was  not  history  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  but  history  which  had 
passed  through  the  channels  of  legendary  tradition,  and  also  to  the  fact  that  there  were  no 
variations  of  the  legend,  of  equal  value  and  approximating  a  like  antiquity  with  that  which 
lies  at  the  basis  of'our  book.*  All  that  can  with  much  probability  be  assumed  to  be  true  is 
that  along  with  the  person,  the  abode,  and  the  surroundings  of  Job,  the  fact  of  the  sudden 
overthrow  of  his  prosperity  and  of  his  pious  constancy  in  adversity  had  been  transmitted  to 
the  poet  by  the  legend.  Still  further,  the  nature  of  the  calamities  which  had  overtaken  him, 
and  particularly  of  his  bodily  suffering,  may  well  have  been  a  part  of  the  historical  tradition. 
So  correctly  Ewald,  Heiligstedt,  Hirzel,  Havernick,  etc.,  against  Hahn,  Hengstenberg, 
Schlottmann,  Davidson  and  others,  who  needlessly  think  that  the  poet  represents  his  hero 
as  afflicted  with  elephantiasis  for  the  simple  reason  that  of  all  the  diseases  known  to  him  this 
was  the  most  horrible  and  loathsome.  Had  there  been  any  variation  in  the  ancient  tradition 
respecting  the  nature  and  characteristics  of  Job's  disease,  such  an  opinion  might  be  regarded 
as  having  more  definite  support.  But  in  view  of  the  fact  that  we  have  only  one  source  of 
information,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  nature  of  the  disease  from  which  the  pious  patri- 
arch suffered  is  also  to  be  taken  as  a  part  of  the  original  tradition. 

In  respect  to  the  age  of  Job,  many  conjectures  have  been  indulged  in  since  that  gloss  of 
the  Septuagint  which  represented  him  as  a  contemporary  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  or  rather  of 
Jogeph,  and  thus  as  belonging  to  the  pre-Mosaic  period.  In  accordance  with  that  intima- 
tion, he  has  been  assigned  to  the  period  intervening  between  the  age  of  Joseph  and  that  of 
Moses  (Chrysostom,  Carpzovius,  Lightfoot  [Carey,  Lee],  etc.;  or  still  later  as  an  early  con- 
temporary of  Moses  (Kennicott,  Remarks  on  Select  Passages  of  Scripttire,  p,  152)  [Words- 
worth] ;  or  even  to  the  pre-Abrahamic  period  (e.  g.  Hales,  Analysis  of  Sacred  Chronology,  II. 
63  seq.,  where  an  attempt  is  made,  on  the  basis  of  astronomic  computations,  to  determine  the 
year  2130  B.  C,  or  818  after  the  floocj,  as  the  time  of  Job's  affliction  and  trial  of  his  con- 
stancy) ;  or  finally  he  has  been  assigned  to  the  post-patriarchal  and  post-Mosaic  age,  as  a 

*  That  the  Koran  furnishes  traditional  intelligence  about  Job  (comp.  Note  on  ?  11,  that  in  consequpnre  therpof  families 
of  distinction  among  the  ancient  Arabians  were  wont  to  give  the  name  Job  to  those  connected  with  tliem,  or  to  boa  t  of 
their  descent  from  the  pious  patriarch  of  that  name,  that  in  Arabia  down  to  the  Fourth  Century  of  our  era  the  supposed 
grave  of  the  pious  sufferer  was  the  scene  of  religious  pilgrimages  and  observances,  and  that  even  in  modern  times  not  less 
than  six  different  places  in  the  East  have  put  forth  claims  to  be  the  genuine  burial-places  of  Job  (comp.  Jahn,  Einleilung,  II. 
761  seq. ;  Winer,  Reallexikon,  I.  493 ;  J.  C.  Wetstein  in  the  Appendix  to  Delitzsch's  Commy. ;  G.  Fliigel,  Hiob  bei  den  Muhor- 
medanern  iu  Ersch  &  Gruber's  Encijdopadie)—aM  this  of  course  deserves  no  consideration  as  a  means  of  enlarging  or  eluci- 
dating our  historical  information  cjnceming  Job.  Of  just  as  little  value  in  this  respect  is  the  long  appendix  to  ch.  xlii.  17 
found  in  the  LXX. 


228  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

contemporary  of  the  Judges,  or  of  Solomon,  or  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  or  of  Ezra,  etc.  (comp. 
below  I  5,  the  remarks  on  the  time  when  the  book  was  composed).  It  is  evident  that  most 
of  these  attempts  at  determining  the  time,  and  especially  those  which  presuppose  the  abso- 
lute historical  reality  of  the  material,  without  any  legendary  or  poetic  drapery,  are  altogether 
arbitrary.  It  may  be  urged,  however,  in  general  that  the  following  reasons  make  it  probable 
that  Job  lived  and  suffered  in  the  time  of  the  patriarchs,  and  consequently  before  Moses : 

1.  The  extreme  age,  extending  far  beyond  one  hundred  and  forty  years,  to  which  he 
lived,  according  to  ch.  xlii.  16. 

2.  The  mention  of  the  gold  coin,  HM't^p  (ch.  xlii.  11),  with  which  we  are  made  acquainted 
through  the  histories  of  Jacob  and  Joshua  (Gen.  xxxiii.  19;  Josh.  xxiv.  32),  which  is  the 
only  coin  anywhere  mentioned  in  the  book,  and  which  is  accordingly  a  witness  to  the  proba- 
bility that  it  belongs  to  the  patriarchal  age. 

3.  The  mention  of  the  musical  instruments,  3J';',  flute,  "1133,  guitar,  and  ^n,  tynibal 
(ch.  xxi.  12;  xxx.  31),  the  only  instruments  recognized  in  Genesis  (Gen.  iv.  21;  xxxi.  27), 
which  accordingly  are  of  the  most  ancient  sort. 

4.  The  mention — which  also  carries  us  back  into  the  age  of  Genesis — of  writing  on 
stone,  by  means  of  an  iron  stylus,  or  chisel  (ch.  xix.  23  seq.) ;  along  with  which,  indeed  in 
the  same  passage,  and  in  ch.  xxxi.  35,  mention  is  also  made  of  writing  on  parchment  or  in  a 
book  (i3Da  3n3),  a  mode  of  writing,  however,  which  indisputably  belongs  to  the  pre-Mosaic 
age,  as  a  glance  at  the  monuments  of  Ancient  Egypt  will  show. 

5.  The  act  of  Job  in  officiating  as  priest  in  the  family  circle,  offering  an  atoning  sacrifice 
(ch.  i.  5),  which  reminds  us  decidedly  of  the  same  act  on  the  part  of  Noah  (Gen.  viii.  20), 
and  of  Jacob  (Gen.  xxxv.  2 ;  comp.  on  the  other  side  Ex.  xix.  10 ;  Num.  xi.  18 ;  Josh.  vii.  13). 

6.  The  number  seven,  which  was  so  characteristic  of  the  worship  of  antiquity,  and  which 
appears  in  the  bullocks  and  rams  offered  by  Job  (comp.  ch.  xlii.  8  with  Num.  xxiii.  1 ;  also 
Gen.  vii.  2  seq  ;  viii.  19  seq.,  etc.). 

7.  The  reference,  characteristic  of  the  religious  physiognomy  of  the  pre  Mosaic  age,  to 
the  idolatrous  adoration  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  to  the  worship  of  the  stars,  or  Sabaism 
(see  ch.  xxxi.  26;  and  comp.  Deut.  iv.  19;  xvii.  3). 

These  are  the  arguments  which  are  usually  urged  to  prove  that  Job  was  a  contemporary 
of  the  pre-Mosaic  patriarchs.  Granting  that  some  of  them,  particularly  those  cited  under 
6  and  7,  are  of  less  force,  and  are  equally  applicable  to  a  later  period,  they  yield  in  the  main 
a  considerable  degree  of  probability  that  the  time  fixed  on  above  is  approximately  correct. 
An  approximate  estimate,  however,  is  all  that  can  be  reached  by  such  an  investigation  into 
the  age  of  a  point  of  history  wrapped  in  the  mist  of  a  poetic  legend.  Comp.  still  further  our 
remarks  on  the  concluding  verses  of  the  Epilogue,  ch.  xlii.  12-17,  where  additional  traces 
may  be  found  of  Job's  having  belonged  to  the  patriarchal  age. 

§3.    THE  POETIC  ART-FORM  OF  THE  BOOK. 

The  task  which  lay  before  the  author  as  respects  the  artistic  treatment  of  his  material, 
was  essentially  two  fold.  First  he  was  to  put  his  material  in  narrative  form,  in  a  style  of 
poetic  description,  elevating  and  transfiguring  the  concrete  historic  fact  into  the  ideal  truth 
of  transactions  of  eternal  significance.  Next  he  was  to  discuss  reflectively  the  problem  which 
constitutes  the  religious  and  ethical  kernel  of  thrse  transactions,  touching  the  possibility 
and  the  divinely  ordained  purpose  of  unmerited  suffering  on  the  part  of  men.  The  first  part 
of  his  task  he  accomplishes  in  the  sections  of  prose  narrative,  the  Prologue  and  the  Epilogue, 
which  open  and  close  the  book.  The  second  part  receives  the  author's  attention  in  the  dis- 
courses of  the  book,  which  are  far  more  extensive  and  elaborate,  which  in  form  and  language 
are  thoroughly  poetic,  and  in  which  alone  direct  expression  is  given  to  that  which  is  obviously 
the  scope  and  purpose  of  the  work  as  a  whole — the  discourses,  to  wit,  of  Job,  of  his  three 
friends,  of  Elihu,  and  also  of  Jehovah,  who  personally  appears  to  give  to  the  conflict  its  final 
solution.  These  discourses  exhibit  to  the  last  detail  a  high  degree  of  elaboration  and  poetic 
art.     The  opening  discourse  by  Job  in  ch.  iii.,  which  contains  the  theme  of  the  discussion, 


§3.    THE  POETIC  ART-FORM  OF  TAE  BOOK.  229 

lielongs  to  the  preparatory  part  of  the  book,  in  which  the  foundations  of  the  problem  are 
laid  down,  in  connection  with  the  introductory  information  conveyed  by  the  Prologue  con- 
cernino-  the  events  which  befel  Job,  and  the  supra-mundane  occasions  of  the  same  as  con- 
sistino-  in  God's  permissive  agency  and  Satan's  agency  as  tempter  (chs.  i.,  ii.).  The  discuursos 
of  Job's  three  friends,  or  rather  opponents,  together  with  the  replies  which  the  object  of  their 
attacks  makes  to  each  one  individually  (ch.  iv.-xxviii.),  carry  on  the  entanglement  of  the 
conflict  to  be  described.  This  consists  in  a  three-fold  series  of  unjust  accusations  of  Job, 
proceeding  from  the  standpoint  of  an  external  and  one-sided  conception  of  the  legal  doctrine 
of  retribution,  corresponding  to  which  we  have  a  series  of  arguments  by  Job,  which  are  not 
less  one-sided,  which  in  part  are  violently  passionate  and  morally  unsound,  in  which  he 
asserts  his  innocence,  and  casts  suspicions  on  the  justice  of  God's  ways.  Job  himself  pre- 
]  tares  the  way  for  the  final  solution  of  the  conflict  in  the  exhibition  which  he  makes  of  genu- 
ine theocratic  piety  in  the  monologue  appended  to  the  three  acts  of  the  colloquy,  where  he 
appears  as  one  who  has  been  brought  back  to  a  more  thoughtful  appreciation  of  his  condi- 
tion, and  for  that  same  reason  as  triumphing  over  the  reproaches  of  his  three  friends  (ch. 
xxix.-xxxi. ;  comp.  above  p.  6).  The  solution  receives  its  completion  indeed  only  in  the 
three  following  stages  of  the  conclusion;  the  first  of  which  is  signalized  by  the  appearance 
of  Elihu,  who  exhibits  the  utmost  that  human  wisdom  can  contribute  by  way  of  answer  to 
the  difficult  questions  which  arise  in  respect  to  the  significance  of  the  sufferings  of  the  inno- 
cent (ch.  xxxii.-xxxvii.) ;  the  second  by  the  long  address  of  Jehovah  to  Job  which  sets  forth 
the  adjudication  of  the  point  in  controversy  in  accordance  with  the  divine  point  of  view,  the 
argument  here  being  general  in  its  character  (ch.  xxxviii.-xli.) ;  the  third  finally  by  the 
concrete  actual  decision  rendered  between  the  contending  parties  by  the  distribution  of 
punishment  and  reward  to  the  one  and  the  other  respectively  (ch.  xlii.).* 

According  to  the  views  here  expressed,  it  may  seem  doubtful  with  which  of  the  varieties 
of  poetry  familiar  and  current  among  ourselves  this  book  should  be  classified ;  for  it  evidently 
exhibits  characteristics  which  belong  to  several.  In  its  Prologue  and  Epilogue  we  find  the 
objective  description  and  the  childlike  naivete  in  narrative  which  distinguish  the  ei^ic  style. 
Not  a  few  parts  of  the  discourses  have  a  lyric,  and  in  particular  an  elegiac  tone.  In  its  spe- 
cial object  and  its  general  scope,  it  is  indisputably  didactic.  But  it  is  as  a  drama,  more 
especially  a  drama  pre-eminently  earnest  in  tone  and  pervaded  by  a  religious  philosophy 
as  to  its  contents,  as  a  tragedy  of  religious  philosophy,  that  it  exhibits  itself  at  first  sight  to 

*  Such  in  substance  is  the  plan  of  the  poem  as  conceived  by  most  moderns,  who  maintain  the  genuineness  of  Elihu's 
discDUrses,  especially  Hahn,  p.  4  seq. ;  De'it/.sch,  I.,  p.  15;  Schloitmann,  p.  20  seq.  If  the  genuineness  of  the  discourses 
referred  to  be  controverted,  the  analysis  of  the  whole  poem  would  receive  only  one  unessential  modification,  to  wit,  that 
one  of  the  constituents  which  prepare  the  way  for  the  final  solution  mnst  be  omitted,  a  constituent,  however,  which  is 
highly  conspicuous  and  influential.  Compare  e.  g.  the  following  analysis  by  Dillmann  (p.  xviii.  seq.),  which  is  on  the  whole 
closely  related  to  that  given  above:  "Forasmuch  as  the  history  here  set  forth  is  the  history  of  a  controversy,  the  whole 
resolves  itself  into  three  divisions:  the  opening,  the  entanglement,  the  solution.— In  the  opening  of  the  problem  (ch.  i.-iii.), 
the  piety  and  the  prosperity  of  the  hero  are  briefly  set  forth,  a  glance  is  given  at  a  transaction  taking  place  in  heaven 
between  God  and  Satan,  in  which  a  decision  is  formed  affecting  Job's  destiny,  and  then  in  rapid  succession  are  described 
the  calamities  which  swept  away  his  prosperity,  and  the  believing  resignation  of  the  sufferer,  which  does  not  give  way 
under  the  sneers  of  his  wife,  and  which  only  after  the  advent  of  the  throe  friends  and  their  gloomy  silence  is  driven  into 
an  expression  of  captious  complaint  and  doleful  despair.— The  entanglement  (eh.  Iv.-xxviii.),  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  the 
friends  now  enter  into  a  colloquy  with  Job,  shapes  itself  into  a  controversial  discussion  between  him  and  them.  On  the 
part  of  Job,  however,  this  discussion  reveals  at  the  same  time  an  inward  soul-strugale,  in  which  he  must  woik  his  way  up 
out  of  the  errors  of  superstition  and  unbelief  back  again  to  sobriety  of  thought  and  a  right  belief.  Kot  until  he  has  brought 
h's  faith  and  his  religion  out  of  this  struggle,  not  only  unharmed,  but  inwardly  strengthened,  can  the  solutinn  follow.  Here 
we  have,  as  the  first  step,  the  hero  on  whom  the  burden  of  his  sad  destiny  still  presses  heavily,  setting  forth  in  a  long  dis- 
course, or  soliloquy,  the  perplexing  enigma,  that  he  should  have  been  cast  down  out  of  his  former  s'ate  of  favor  and  pros- 
perity into  his  present  misery,  although  he  could  solemnly  affirm  that  he  had  not  permitted  himself  any,  not  even  the 
slightest  departure  from  God's  ways  in  thought,  word  or  deed,  and  earnestly  yearning  for  a  ray  of  divine  light,  and  for 
deliverance  (ch.  xxix.-xxxi.).  Whereupon  God  then  appears  to  the  tried  sufferer,  at  first,  however,  only  in  order,  through 
the  majesty  of  Ilis  divine  appearance,  aud  His  lofty  divine  discourse,  to  lead  him  freely  and  voluntarily  to  take  hick  and 
repent  of  h's  presumptuous  sinful  speeches,  which  he  had  delivered  in  the  heat  of  the  struggle  (ch.  xxxviii.-xlii.  6).  Only 
when  thus  huml>l(d  and  purified  by  penitence,  does  God  now  expressly  vindicate  him  as  against  the  friends,  deliver  him, 
and  endow  him  anew  with  gr<  ater  prosperity  Cch.  xlii.  7-17).  This  decision  in  nctual  life  carries  wiih  it  als)  the  solution 
of  the  theoreticiil  questions  involved  :  it  is  proved  that  even  an  innocent  man  mny  sufTer  for  h's  own  g"0'l.  ami  for  the  fur- 
therance of  his  spiritual  life."— So  also  Ewald  in  his  elaborate  exhibition  of  the  iuward  progress  of  the  poem  (p.  25  seq.). 


230  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

him  who  regards  its  plan  as  a  whole  and  its  arrangement,  the  division  of  its  principal  dia- 
logue into  three  acts  or  movements,  the  increase  of  the  entanglement  toward  the  end,  and 
the  purely  dramatic  solution  by  the  appearance  and  judicial  intervention  of  God  Himself. 
No  wonder  therefore  that  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  subject  the  poem  in  a  one-sided  and 
exclusive  manner  to  one  or  another  of  these  classifications.  It  has  been  viewed  as  an  epic 
poem  by  Stuss  {De  Epopceia  Jobwa,  Comvienlatt.  III.,  Goth.,  175y),  Lichtenstein  [Num  liber 
Jobi  cum  Odyssea  Homeri  comparari  possii,  Helmst.,  1773),  Ilgen  {Jobi  antiquissimi  carminis 
hebraici  nalura  atque  virius,  Lips.,  1789),  August!  [Einleitung  ins  A.  Test.,  p.  268),  Good 
(  Version  of  Job,  Introductory  Dissertation,  sect.  2),  etc.  Its  lyric  character  has  been  specially 
emphasized  by  Stuhlmann,  Keil  (the  former  of  whom  calls  it  a  "  religious  poem,"  the  latter 
a  "lyric  aphoristic  poem"),  and  several  others;  while  J.  D.  Michaelis  (who  in  his  Prolego- 
mena zum  Hiob  endeavors  with  unusual  zeal  to  exhibit  the  practical  utility  of  the  doctrinal 
contents  of  this  "moral  poem").  Herder  (who  calls  it  the  "most  ancient  and  exalted  didactic 
poem  of  all  nations"),  and  others,  look  at  it  chiefly  in  the  light  of  a  didactic  poem;  so  also 
Diedrich  [Das  B.  Hiob  hiirz  erkldrt,  etc.,  Leipzig,  1858),  who  calls  it  a  "  parable  "  (against 
which  see  Vilmar,  Past.-theolog.  Blait.,  Vol.  XL,  p.  69  seq.).  The  book  was  already  recog- 
nized as  a  drama  by  Luther,  who  after  his  homely  striking  fashion  says  of  it :  "  It  is  just  like 
what  you  see  in  a  play ;"  and  by  Leibnitz,  whom  it  strikes  as  being  a  musical  drama,  as 
being  indeed  altogether  operatic  (comp.  Schmidt's  Zeitschr.f.  Qeschichte,  1847,  for  May,  p. 
436) ;  so  also  Brentius,  Joh.  Gerhard,  Beza,  Mercier,  Cocceius,  and  others,  who  have  spoken 
of  it  as  a  "tragedy,"  and  have  undertaken  to  compare  with  it  those  works  of  iEschylus  and 
Sophocles,  which  describe  conflicts  similar  to  those  of  our  book  carried  on  by  sufi'ering  heroes 
against  the  dark  powers  of  destiny,  or  against  the  wrath  of  the  gods  (thus  recently  A.  Vogel 
in  the  Inaugural  Dissertation:  Quid  de  fato  senserint  Judaei  et  Greed,  Jobo  et  Sophocli  Philoc- 
tete  probatur,  Gryphisw.  1869,  in  which  an  interesting  parallel  is  drawn  between  Job  and 
Philoctetes).  Most  moderns  also  recognize  this  dramatic  character,  especially  Umbreit 
(Introd.  to  his  Commy.,  p.  xxxiii.),  Ewald  who  calls  it  "the  divine  drama  of  the  ancient 
Hebrews  "  {Dichter  des  A.  Bundes,  IIL  p.  56),  Hupfeld  [Deutsche  Zeitschr.f.  christliche  Wis- 
senschaft,  1850,  No.  35  seq.),  Davidson  [Introduction  to  the  0.  T.,  IL,  p.  179),  Delitzsch  (Art. 
"  Job  "  in  Herzog's  Realencykl.  VI.,  p.  123  [and  Commy.  I.,  p.  15  seq.  See  also  Schlottmann, 
p.  40  seq. ;  A.  B.  Davidson,  L,  p.  16  seq. ;  Lowth,  Lectures  XXXIL— XXXIV. ;  Dillmann, 
Introd.  to  Commy.,  p.  21 ;  Froude,  Westminster  Review,  1853,  reprinted  in  Short  Studies  on 
Great  Subjects,  p.  228  seq.]).  The  objections  urged  to  this  view  by  G.  Baur  {Das  B.  Hiob 
und  Dante's  Gottl  Koviddie,  eine  Par  allele,  in  the  Studd  u  Kritikcn,  1856,  Part.  III.)  are  valid 
only  in  so  far  as  they  deny  that  the  poem  was  intended  for  actual  scenic  representation,  and 
thus  justify  the  use  of  the  word  drama  only  in  the  wider  sense,  that  of  an  epico-dramatic 
poem,  of  the  same  class  with  Dante's  masterpiece.*  In  this  more  general  sense,  however, 
it  deserves  beyond  question,  and  with  scarcely  less  right  than  the  Song  of  Solomon,  to  be 
called  a  drama;  especially  seeing  that  it  introduces  characters  wnich  are  clearly  defined  andj 
sharply  discriminated,  and  consistently  maintains  their  several  individualities  down  to  the 
final  absolute  adjudication  by  God.  Even  the  attempt  to  exhibit  in  detail  the  principal 
scenes  or  acts  of  this  epic  or  didactic  religious  drama,  which  Deliizsch  has  made  (I.,  p.  15), 
cannot  be  condemned,  so  far  at  least  as  the  principle  is  concerned.     That  writer,  agreeing 


*  [The  same  may  bo  said  of  the  criticisms  of  Eenan,  Hengstenberg  and  Merx,  wbich  otherwise  are  interesting  and  sug- 
gestive. "  The  Sheniites,"  says  the  former,  "  w  re  unacquainted  with  those  species  of  poetry  which  are  founded  on  the 
development  of  an  action,  the  fpopee,  the  drama,  as  well  as  with  those  forms  <  f  speculation  which  are  founded  on  the 
experimental  or  rational  method,  philosophy,  science.  Thtir  poetrj'  is  the  canticle;  their  philosophy  is  the  parable 
(Mofh/it).  Their  style  lacks  the  period,  as  their  thought  lac^s  the  syllogism.  Enthusiasm,  and  reflection  as  well,  express 
themselves  with  t^iera  in  brief  and  vivid  strokes,  for  whiih  it  is  needless  to  seek  anything  analogous  in  the  rhetorical 
arrangement  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Lat'na.  The  poem  of  Job  is  beyond  contradiction  the  most  ancient  chef-ifoeuvre  of  that 
rhetoric,  as  on  the  contrary  the  Koran  is  the  specimen  which  stands  nearest  to  us.  We  must  abandon  all  compariso  i 
between  forms  of  treatment  and  movement  so  far  removed  Irom  our  taste,  and  the  solid  and  continuous  texture  of  classic 
works.  The  action,  the  regular  march  of  the  thought,  which  are  the  lile  of  Greek  composit'ons,  are  here  wanting  entirely. 
But  a  vivacity  of  imagination,  a  forre  of  concentrated  passion,  to  which  nothing  can  be  compared,  shoot  forth,  if  I  may  sav 
80,  into  a  thousand  scintillations,  and  make  every  line  a  discourse  or  a  thesis  {philotopkeme)  complete  in  itselt."  Le  Livre  de 
Job,  introductory  Etude,  p.  63  seq.] 


p.    THE  POETIC  ART-FORM  OF  THE  BOOK.  231 


substantially  with  the  arrangement  and  partition  of  the  poem,  which  we  have  given  above, 
distinguishes  eight  parts,  or  acts  of  the  dramatic  action,  as  follows : 

1.  Chap.  i. — iii.:  The  opening  {Anhiupfung,  which  may  also  be  rendered :  The  tying  of 
the  knot]. 

2.  Chap,  iv.— xiv. :  The  first  course  of  the  controversy;  or  the  entanglement  beginning. 

3.  Chap.  XV. — xxi. :  The  second  course  of  the  controversy ;  or  the  entanglement  in- 
creasing. 

4.  Chap.  xxii. — xxvi. :  The  third  course  of  the  controversy ;  or  the  entanglement  at  ita 
height. 

5.  Chap,  xxvii. — xxxi. :  The  transition  from  the  entanglement  to  the  unravelment  (from 
the  ^iciq  to  the  Ivai^)  :  Job's  monologues. 

6.  Chap,  xxxii. — xxxvii. :  The  completion  of  the  transition  from  the  ^t:<yig  to  the  I'vai^; 
the  discourses  of  Elihu. 

7.  Chap,  xxxviii. — xlii.  6 :  The  unravelment  in  the  consciousness. 

8.  Chap.  xlii.  7 — 17  :  The  unravelment  in  outward  reality. 

In  this  enumeration  of  eight  acts  too  little  prominence  is  given  to  the  threefold  division 
on  which  the  author  unmistakably  founds  his  arrangement  of  the  book,  and  that  intention- 
ally, a  division  which  is  observable  not  only  in  the  three  movements  of  the  colloquy  between 
Job  and  his  friends,  but  also  in  the  threefold  groups  of  discourses  which  follow,  to  wit,  those 
of  Job,  of  Elihu,  and  of  Jehovah  (on  this  triadic  arrangement  of  the  poem  comp.  Baur,  I.  c, 
p.  642  seq.).  ["  The  ruling  number  !:/iree  is  most  visible  in  all  its  parts.  (1)  The  whole  book 
falls  into  three  sections:  Prologue,  Poem,  Epilogue.  (2)  The  poem  strictly,  also  into  three 
parts  :  Job  and  the  Friends,  Elihu,  God.  (3)  The  discussion  between  Job  and  the  friends 
again  into  three  cycles.  (4)  Each  cycle  falls  into  three  pairs :  Eliphaz  and  Job,  Bildad 
and  Job,  Zophar  and  Job ;  only  in  the  last  cycle  Zophar  fails  to  appear,  and  Job  speaks 
twice.  (5)  Job  sustains  three  temptations.  (6)  Elihu  makes  three  speeches.  (7)  And, 
finally,  very  many  of  the  speeches  fall  into  three  strophes."  A.  B.  Davidson. — To  which  add 
that  in  the  interim  between  the  controversy  with  the  friends,  and  the  appearance  of  Elihu, 
Job  utters  three  monologues].  For  this  reason  it  is  more  correct  to  regard  the  two  epic  nar- 
rative sections,  the  Prologue  and  Epilogue  (1  and  8  according  to  Delitzsch),  as  standing  out- 
side of  the  partition  of  the  poem  proper,  and  forming,  as  it  were,  only  its  outer  frames.  We 
shall  then  have  for  the  dramatic  kernel  of  the  whole  (chap.  iii. — xli.)  six  scenes  or  acts,  the 
same  number  which  Delitzsch  has  assumed  for  the  Canticles  (see  Vol.  X.  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Series  in  this  Comm'y.,  p.  vi.,  of  Introd.  to  Cant.).  Comp.  below,  §  11,  the  more 
detailed  outline  of  the  contents. 

It  must  not  of  course  be  forgotten  in  this  connection  that  our  book  is  an  essentially  oriental 
poem,  exhibiting  only  an  incomplete  and  partial  analogy  to  the  various  forms  of  poetic  art 
produced  by  the  classic  nations  of  the  West.  Draw  if  you  will  a  parallel,  reaching  to  th>i 
minute:-*t  detail,  between  the  most  famous  products  of  the  ancient,  and  of  the  modern  occi- 
dental drama ;  look  on  the  idea  of  a  hero  struggling  with  the  divine  destiny  as  pre-eminently 
^schylean  or  Sophoclean;  compare  the  Prologue,  with  its  predominance  of  narrative,  and 
the  presence  of  the  dialogue  as  only  a  partial  element,  with  the  prologues  of  Euripides,  which 
also  form  "  epic  introductions  "  to  the  accompanying  dramas  ;  be  it  that  the  description  of 
the  celestial  council  in  this  Prologue  anticipates  the  famous  "  Prologue  in  Heaven  "  of 
Goethe's  Faust  ;*  or  be  it  that  in  another  sense,  in  that  namely  which  concerns  the  repre- 
sentation of  spiritual  conflicts  and  physical  movements  as  themes  of  dramatic  art,  we  should 
be  justified  in  comparing  it  rather  with  the  Iphigenia  and  Tasso  of  our  greatest  poet,  and  i  i 
saying  with  Delitzsch  that,  as  in  those  poems,  "  the  deficiency  of  external  action  is  compen- 
sated by  the  richness  and  precision  with  which  the  characters  are  drawn :" — it  must  not  be 

*  Comp.  Ewald,  p.  57  :  "  Whether  Goethe's  Faust  is  to  be  compared  with  this  book  or  not,  does  not  need  to  be  con- 
sidered here  ;  BO  much  however  is  clear  that  without  the  Book  of  Job  its  brillisint  openi' g  scene  would  never  have  been 
what  it  is."  See  also  Baur,  I.  c,  p.  588  seq.  [and  for  a  comparison  of  the  two  poems,  sea  Merx,  xxxiii.-xxxiv.  aiid  Froude, 
Short  Studies,  p.  268  seq.] 


232  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


iorgotten  after  all  that  the  book  is  an  iutellectual  creation,  the  conception  and  the  elabora- 
tion of  which  are  thoroughly  oriental ;  that  it  is  the  work  of  one  of  those  profoundly  religious 
sages,  endowed  with  an  imagination  mighty  and  lofty  in  its  scope,  and  with  pre-eminent 
poetic  genius,  in  which  the  whole  East,  whether  Shemitic  or  Perso-Indian,  so  remarkably 
abounds.  If  accordingly  we  are  to  seek  analogies  with  which  to  compare  the  poem  as  to  its 
idea,  character,  and  plan,  we  must  put  in  the  front  Arabic  and  Hindu  poems,  such  as  on  the 
one  side  the  Consessus  of  the  celebrated  Makama-poet  Hariri,  already  referred  to,  which  at 
least  exhibits  a  noteworthy  parallel  to  the  dialogue  form  of  the  middle  divisions  of  our  book 
(comp.  Umbreit,  p.  XXXI.),  and  on  the  other  side  the  ancient  Hindu  narrative  of  the  suf- 
ferer HariQtschandra,  sorely  tempted  and  tried  by  Civa,  which  in  its  oldest  and  simplest,  as 
yet  undramatized  form  may  be  found  in  the  Aitareya-Br9.hmana,  VII.  18,  and  in  the  Bhtlga- 
vata-Puraua,  IX.  7,  6,  but  which  in  its  complete  artistic  development  in  the  form  of  a 
religous  drama  is  found  only  in  much  more  recent  sources,  as  e.g.  in  the  Markandeya, — and 
Padma-Purana  (out  of  Sec.  8-10  of  our  chronology),  as  also  in  modern  Hindu  popular  dra- 
mas, which  are  still  regarded  with  favor.*  It  is  indeed  a  nearer  line  of  comparison  to  seek 
for  parallels  in  the  religious  and  poetic  literature  of  the  Old  Testament  people  of  God.  And 
here  we  find  on  the  one  side  Solomon's  HSong  of  Songs, -which,  presents  itself  as  a  drama, 
artistically  correct,  elaborate,  and  harmoniously  complete ;  on  the  other  side  the  Solomonic 
Book  of  Proverbs,  which  presents  itself  as  a  pearl-like  string  of  numerous  ethical  and  reli- 
gious apothegms,  arranged  in  part  at  least  in  the  form  of  a  dramatic  dialogue.  As  to  its 
didactic  contents  and  purpose,  our  book  resembles  more  the  latter  of  these  writings,  as  to 
form  and  composition  the  former.  Nevertheless  the  profound  earnestness  of  its  fundamental 
thought  and  of  its  didactic  purpose  necessitates  important  deviations  in  form  and  diction 
from  the  Song  of  Solomon,  the  only  representative  of  a  scriptural  drama  which  can  be  con- 
sidered along  with  it.  For  while  the  plan  of  the  latter  is  melo-dramatic,  and  its  principal 
affinities  seem  to  be  with  the  erotic  lyrics  of  the  classic  nationalities.  Job,  especially  in  view 
of  the  narrative  character  of  the  jirologue  and  epilogue,  bears  the  stamp  of  an  epic  drama, 
and  in  its  lyric  element  resembles  most  closely  the  elegiac  poetry  of  the  Greeks.  Comp. 
the  General  Introduction  to  the  Solomonic  Literature  of  Wisdom,  Vol.  X.  of  this  series,  p.  12. 
Furthermore  in  resj^ect  of  its  external  poetic  structure,  and  especially  of  the  verse  and 
strophe-structure  of  its  discourses,  the  book  may  be  most  nearly  compared  with  the  Proverbs 
and  the  Song  of  Solomon.  In  these  its  poetic  parts  it  consists  throughout  of  short  verses, 
mostly  of  two  members  ;  each  member  contains  on  an  average  not  more  than  three  to  four 
words.  This  structure  is  carried  out  with  the  most  rigid  consistency  and  great  skill  through 
all  the  discourses,  so  that  in  many  respects  we  are  reminded  of  the  five-feet  iambic  lines  of 
the  modern  drama,  and  we  can  understand,  or  at  all  events  we  are  inclined  to  excuse  the 
remark  which  Jerome  once  made,  although  as  to  the  main  point  it  is  certainly  erroneous, 
that  the  book  is  written  in  versus  hexamelri  [Prafat.  in  Job,  T.  IX.,  0pp.  p.  1100;  comp.  my 
book  on  Jerome,  p.  347). —  It  cannot  escape  the  sharp  ob-erver,  moreover,  that  a  greater  or 
less  number  of  single  verses  everywhere  group  themselves  together  in  strophes  or  stanzas, 
which  coincide  with  the  logical  arrangement,  or  sub-divisions  of  the  thought ;  and  that  this 
strophic  division  is  carried  out  with  tolerable  regularity  throughout  all  the  discourses.  Here 
and  there  this  strophic  structure  is  indicated  even  by  external  signs,  e.  g.  in  chap,  iii ,  where 
the  second  and  third  strophes  alike  begin  with  nn?  ;  in  ch.  xxx.,  where  three  strophes,  of 
eight  stich8  each,  are  severally  introduced  by  nn;?l ;  in  chap,  xxxvi.  22-33,  where  three 

•  See  in  Schloftmaiin,  p.  18  seq.  an  analysis  of  the  legend  of  Hari^t^chandra,  according  to  these  more  recent  sources, 
and  especially  of  a  drama  in  the  modern  Hindi!  popular  dialect,  extracts  fmrn  whi'-h  have  been  furnished  by  Roberts 
(Oriental  nUistrciticmii,  J),  ibl  scq.).  According  to  this  authority  the  fundamental  idi'a  common  to  both  these  pro(luctii>n8, 
the  JoV<-legend  and  this  Itindil  poem,  seems  to  be  that  "  the  righteou.s  man  can  obtain  the  victory  with  the  pow.  r^  of 
temptation  which  advance  against  him  out  of  the  unseen  world  of  spirits."  A  still  mo.e  i)ttrticular  point  of  correspondence 
lies  in  the  fart  that  "all  the  temptations  which  befall  Ilari^ti-chandra  aim  at  extorting  from  him  the  one  falsehood  that  he 
had  not  promised  the  hiah  reward  for  the  offering  presented  to  the  gods  by  A'i^ni^niitra  (Civa);" — precisely  as  in  the  Book 
of  Job  Satan  is  ever  on  the  watch  for  the  <yne  word,  by  which  the  sorely  tried  sufferer  is  to  bid  God  farewell,  and  to  re- 
nounce nis  service.  It  is  true  that  our  Bible  poem  represents  with  incomparatdy  greater  depth  and  purity  the  inward 
truth  of  the  sufferer  triumphing  over  these  temptatiuus. 


^3.    THE  rOETIC  ART-FORM  OF  THE  BOOK.  233 

Beries  of  thoughts  in  succe-<sion  begin  with  |n,  each  forming  an  eight-line  strophe,  ei^c.  The 
Masoretes  have  as  in  the  Psalms  and  Proverbs  used  a  peculiar  systevi  of  accentuation  to  indi- 
cate both  the  divisions  of  stichs  and  verses,  and  also  this  strophe  arrangement  tliroughoiit 
tie  entire  poetical  sections  of  the  book  [i.  e.,  from  chap.  iii.  2  to  chap.  xlii.  G;.  This  accen- 
tuation, however,  which  rests  on  the  tradition  of  the  synagogue,  imporiaiit  as  we  must 
adjudge  it  to  be  for  the  rhythmical  adjustment  of  the  composition,  and  in  connection  there- 
with for  the  exegetical  interpretation  of  these  sections,  does  not  nevertheless  exclude  all 
doubt  in  respect  to  these  divisions  of  thought  and  of  verse  in  detail.  For  the  authors  of  the 
masoretic  system  of  accentuation  themselves  did  not  always  possess  a  clear  and  accurate 
insight  into  the  strophe-structure,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  have  almost  everywhere 
erroneously  applied  their  [poetic]  accentuation  to  the  prose  passages  which  have  occasionally 
found  their  way  into  the  poetic  sections.  The  later  tradition  accordingly  has  quite  generally 
"the  notation-value  only  of  the  prose  or  rhetorical  accents,  not  that  of  the  metrical  or  po  ti- 
cal."  For  which  reason  the  more  recent  commentators  differ  both  in  respect  to  the  question 
whether  attempts  to  restore  the  strophe-structure  are  at  all  permiss  ble,  and  also  in  respect 
to  the  bounds  to  be  assigned  to  particular  strophes.  Stickel  and  Delitzsch,  e.  g ,  assume  a 
constant  change  of  the  strophic  structure,  similar  to  that  which  obtains  in  the  lyric  poems 
of  the  Bo  k  of  Psalms,  and,  as  a  consequence,  a  somewhat  marked  inequality  in  the  extent 
of  particular  strophes,  which  are  built  now  of  four  stichs,  now  of  eight,  now  of  six,  or  of  any 
greater  number  of  lines.  Schlottmanu,  Koster,  Ewald,  Vaihinger,  and  Dillmann,  on  the 
contrary  maintain  that  the  structure  of  the  strophes  is,  at  least  in  general,  equal  and  regular, 
and  would  determine  the  law  of  their  construction  more  in  accordance  with  the  Mftshai- 
poetry  of  the  Proverbs,  than  with  the  lyrical  rhythm  of  the  Psalter,  in  the  accompanying 
translation  and  explanation  of  the  poem  we  shall  follow  in  the  main  tlie  principles  which 
guide  the  latter  class  of  commentators,  for  the  reason  that  their  greater  simplicity  seems  to 
us  to  be  pre-eminently  in  agreement  with  the  character  of  the  poem,  which  in  particular 
passages  indeed  is  lyrical,  but  which  is  predominantly  gnomic  and  didactic  (of  the  Mlishai 
genus).  Here  and  tbere  however,  and  particularly  in  the  discourses  of  Elihu,  the  strophic 
structure  of  which  is  in  many  places  wont  to  be  incorrectly  rendered,  we  shall  feel  con- 
strained to  give  the  preference  to  the  divisions  of  Stickel  and  Delitzsch. 

[Merx  has  propounded  in  his  Introduction  (p.  LXXV.  seq.)  an  ingenious  and  elaborate 
theory  of  the  syllabic  and  strophic  structure  of  Hebrew  poetry,  which  claims  for'that  poetry, 
especially  in  its  lyric  and  musical  forms,  a  degree  of  regularity  and  symmetry  far  higher  than 
is  usually  attributed  to  it.  He  finds  the  true  law  of  its  form  to  be  the  number  of  syllables  in 
the  stich,  or  line,  the  norm  being  eight  syllables  to  the  stich,  and  the  strophes  being  com- 
posed of  an  equal  number  of  stichs,  or  of  a  number  symmetrically  alternating.  Without 
denying  all  merit  to  the  theory,  or  that  its  author  has  in  not  a  few  instances  used  it  with 
striking  results,  it  is  certain  that  the  sweeping  application  which  he  has  made  of  it  to  the 
Book  of  Job,  necessitates  or  invites  the  most  arbitrary  treatment  of  the  text,  by  the  assump- 
tion of  lacunae  or  interpolations,  simply  at  the  demand  of  the  rhetorical  structure.  Assuredly 
in  Hebrew,  as  in  all  Oriental  poetry,  where  "the  thought  lords  it  over  the  form,"  a  far 
greater  degree  of  liberty  and  elasticity  must  be  accorded  to  the  form  than  this  theory  pre- 
supposes.— E.]. 

Note  1. — In  respect  to  the  artistic  heauty  and  completeness  of  the  poetic  sections,  and 
especially  in  respect  to  the  skilfulness  shown  in  the  dramatic  evolution  and  delineation  of 
character,  comp.  Delitzsch  I.,  p.  16  seq. :  "  Satan,  Job's  wife,  the  hero  himself,  the  three 
friends, — everywhere  diversified  and  minute  descrijition.  The  poet  manifests,  also,  dramatic 
skill  in  other  directions.  He  has  laid  out  the  controversial  colloquy  with  a  masterly  hand, 
making  the  heart  of  the  reader  gradually  averse  to  the  friends,  and  in  the  same  degree  win- 
ning it  towards  Job.  He  makes  the  friends  all  through  give  utterance  to  the  most  glorious 
truths,  which  however,  in  the  application  to  the  case  before  them,  turn  out  to  be  untrue. 
And  although  the  whole  of  the  representation  serves  one  great  idea,  it  is  still  not  represented 
by  any  of  the  persons  brought  forward,  and  is  by  no  one  expressly  uttered.  Every  person  is, 
as  it  were,  the  consonant  letter  to  the  word  of  this  idea;  it  is  throughout  the  whole  book 


234  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB, 

taken  up  with  the  realization  of  itself;  at  the  end  it  first  comes  forth  as  the  resulting  pro- 
duct of  the  whole.  Job  himself  is  not  less  a  tragic  hero  than  the  Q5dipus  of  the  two  tragedies 
of  Sophocles.  What  is  there  an  inevitable  fate,  expressed  by  the  oracle,  is  in  the  book  of 
Job  the  decree  of  Jehovah,  over  whom  is  no  controlling  jjower,  decreed  in  the  assembly  of 
angels.  As  a  painful  puzzle  the  lot  of  afiiiction  comes  down  on  Job.  At  the  beginning  he 
is  the  victor  of  an  easy  battle,  until  the  friends*  exhortations  to  repentance  are  added  to 
suffering,  which  in  itself  is  iucomprehei^sible,  and  make  it  still  harder  to  be  understood.  He 
is  thereby  involved  in  a  hard  conflict,  in  which  at  one  time,  full  of  arrogant  self-confidence, 
he  exalts  himself  heavenward;  at  another  time  sinks  to  the  ground  in  desponding  sadness, 

"  The  God,  however,  against  which  he  fights,  is  but  a  phantom,  which  the  temptation 
has  presented  to  his  beclouded  eye,  instead  of  the  true  God;  and  this  phantom  is  in  no  way 
different  from  the  inexorable  fate  of  the  Greek  tragedy.  As  in  that  the  hero  seeks  to  main- 
tain his  inward  freedom  against  the  secret  power  which  crushes  him  with  an  iron  arm;  so 
,Tob  maintains  his  innocence  against  this  God,  who  has  devoted  him  to  destruction  as  an 
offender.  But  in  the  midst  of  this  terrific  conflict  with  the  God  of  the  present,  this  creation 
of  the  temptation,  Job's  faith  gropes  after  the  God  of  the  future,  to  whom  he  is  ever  driven 
nearer  the  more  mercilessly  the  enemies  pursue  him.  At  length  Jehovah  really  appears,  but 
not  at  Job's  impetuous  summons.  He  appears  only  after  Job  has  made  a  beginning  of 
humble  self-concession,  in  order  to  complete  the  work  begun,  by  condescendingly  going 
forth  to  meet  him.  Jehovah  appears,  and  the  Fury  vanishes.  The  dualism,  which  the  Greek 
tragedy  leaves  unabolished,  is  here  reconciled.  Human  freedom  does  not  succumb;  but  it 
becomes  evident  that  not  an  absolute  arbitrary  power,  but  divine  wisdom,  whose  inmost 
impulse  is  love,  moulds  human  destiny." — 

Dillmann  expresses  himself  similarly  in  respect  to  the  surpassing  skill  shown  in  the 
dramatic  development,  and  the  fine  as  well  as  sharp  individualization  of  character  (p,  xxi. 
seq.).  He  also  groups  together  with  these  qualities  the  magnificent  power  of  descrijition,  and 
splendor  of  diction  which  characterize  this  book :  "  In  freshness  and  power  of  poetic  percep- 
tion and  sensibility,  in  wealth  and  splendor  of  imagery,  in  inexhaustible  fulness  of  ideas,  in 
fineness  of  psychological  insight  and  observation  of  nature,  in  the  faculty  of  picturing  the 
most  manifold  movements  of  the  world  of  nature  and  of  humanity,  in  the  ability  to  reproduce 
the  same  thing  appareled  in  a  form  that  is  ever  new,  in  the  art  of  modulating  the  tone  and 
complexion  of  the  speakers,  according  to  their  various  moods,  of  adapting  himself  equally  to 
sorrow  and  lamentation,  to  anger  and  passion,  to  scorn  and  bitterness,  to  yearning  and  hope, 
to  rest  and  contentment,  in  the  art  of  setting  forth  with  peculiar  impressiveness  the  majesty, 
dignity,  power,  and  clearness  of  God,  when  He  speaks,  and  finally  in  mastery  of  language,  in 
beauty,  weight,  and  terseness  of  expression,  this  poet  may  be  put  on  an  equality  with  the  best 
models  of  all  ages.  His  work  is  artistically  wrought  down  to  its  every  detail.  Each  of  the 
four  discourses  of  the  book  is  a  masterpiece  of  itself,  and  full  of  fine  relations  to  the  rest," 
etc. — Comp,  also  Ewald,  p,  54  seq. ;  Vaihinger,  p.  15  seq. ;  Schlottmann,  p.  40  seq. ;  44  seq. ; 
54  seq. ;  66  seq,  [A.  B.  Davidson,  xxiii,  seq. ;  Merx,  xvii.  seq.,  xlvii,  seq. ;  Lowth,  Lecture 
xxxiv. ;  Renan,  Etude,  etc.,  p.  Ixi.  seq. ;  Princeton  Rev.,  Vol.  xxix.  p.  325]. 

Note  2. — Special  consideration  should  be  given  to  the  peculiar  beauty  and  loftiness  of 
the  poetic  art  of  the  book,  as  these  qualities  are  seen  in  its  descrijUions  of  nature,  its  physical 
images  and  similes,  and  as  they  impart  to  it  a  mode  of  perception,  thought,  and  composition 
characterized  by  a  peculiar  primitive  power  and  freshness,  an  antique,  as  it  were  patriarchal 
simplicity,  depth,  and  pungent  power.  The  Catholic  theologian  Gugler,  a  thoughtful  pupil 
of  Herder's,  remarks  on  this  peculiarity  :  "  Nature  stands  everywhere  before  the  soul  in  its 
primeval  form,  touching  as  it  were  on  chaos.  The  mountain  ranges,  the  roaring  waters,  the 
outstretched  heaven,  the  sun,  the  constellations, — these  are  the  wonders,  surpassing  number, 
which  take  the  feeling  by  storm.  The  unveiled  abysses,  the  outspread  night,  the  earth 
hanging  on  nothing,  the  water  gathered  up  in  the  clouds,  the  quaking  pillars  of  heaven,  the 
thunder,  the  lightning  shining  to  the  ends  of  the  world,— these  are  the  phenomena,  not  to  be 
numbered,  these  are  the  wonders  not  to  be  searched  out,  which  occupy  the  aroused  faculty 
of  thought.    Nature  in  its  primitive  vastness  and  depth  lies  before  the  wondering  struggling 


§4-    IDEA  AND  AIM  OF  THE  BOOK.  235 

heart"  (Gugler,  Die  heil  Kanst,  III.,  p.  144).— Comp,  Herder  [Brief el.,  II):  "The outlook 
which  this  book  furnishes  preaeuts  itself  to  me  now  as  the  starry  heaven,  now  as  the  joyous 
wild  tumult  of  creation,  now  as  humanity's  profoundest  wail,  from  the  ash-heap  of  a  prince, 
among  the  rocks  of  the  Arabian  desert."  Also  Joh.  Friedr.  v.  Meyer,  who  remarks  of  the 
book :  "  Its  massive  style,  its  lights  and  shadows,  the  enigmatic  obscurity  of  its  terse  expres- 
sions, that  largeness  of  spirit,  with  which  it  moves  forward,  compassing  worlds  and  weighing 
an  atom,  looking  through  men,  and  penetrating  the  wondrous  depths  of  the  Godhead, — this 
lofty  character  has  at  all  times  made  the  book  an  object  of  deserved  reverence." — Of  the 
latest  critics  and  expositors  G.  Baur  has  in  particular  deemed  this  peculiarity  of  thought  and 
representation  in  the  book  worthy  of  attentive  consideration  in  the  treatise  already  cited — 
Das  Buck  Jfiob  und  Dante's  Gotll.  Komodie.  "It  would  scarcely  be  an  exaggeration,"  he 
says  (p.  621  seq.)  "  to  affirm  that  there  are  in  Job  as  many  representations  of  nature  as  in  all 
the  rest  of  the  Old  Testament ;  from  heaven  to  hell  the  poet  traverses  the  whole  realm  of 
creation.  Especially  does  his  gaze  delight  to  rest  on  the  phenomena  of  heaven  ;  and  it  is  a 
characteristic  fact  that  in  his  poem,  moving  as  it  does  in  the  sphere  of  pastoral  life,  and  la 
the  prophecies  of  the  herdsman  Amos,  may  be  found  the  entire  Old  Testament  nomenclature 
of  the  stars.  .  .  .  From  heaven  he  turns  to  the  water  which  is  bound  up  together  in  the 
clouds  (chap.  xxvi.  8  seq.),  to  the  hail  and  snow,  which  are  there  prepared  (chap,  xxviii.  22 
seq.),  to  the  lightning  and  thunder  (chap,  xxxviii.  25,  35),  and  with  especial  frequency  does 
he  speak  of  the  rain-showers,  which  in  that  climate  are  doubly  precious  and  beneficent  (chap, 
v.  10;  xxxviii.  25,  28,  37  seq.).  This  brings  him  to  the  earth,  which  hangs  upon  nothing 
(chap.  xxvi.  7) ;  he  thinks  of  the  sea,  which  is  shut  in  with  doors  (chap,  xxxviii.  8) ;  he 
remembers  with  peculiar  interest  the  brook  which  dries  up,  and  mournfully  deceives  the  hope 
of  the  caravans  (chap.  vi.  15;  xiv.  11);  and  he  goes  down  to  the  gates  of  death  (chap, 
xxxviii.  17).  ...  The  whole  splendor  of  these  descriptions  is  concentrated  in  chap, 
xxxviii. — xli.  In  a  series  of  incomparably  vivid  delineations,  by  means  of  a  few  firm  master- 
strokes, there  are  produced  before  us,  with  all  their  various  peculiarities,  the  lion,  the  raven, 
the  gazelle,  the  wild  ass  freely  roaming,  the  swift  ostrich,  the  spirited  horse,  the  hawk  and 
eagle,  the  hippopotamus  and  crocodile.  Even  the  fabulous  phenix  is  not  forgotten  (chap. 
xxix.  18)." — Baur  then  justly  gives  prominence  to  the  fact  that  even  a  Humboldt  has  paid 
his  tribute  of  admiration  to  our  poet's  deep  inward  sensibility  to  nature  and  his  talent  for 
description  {Cosmos  II.,  pp.  414,  415,  Bohn's  Scient.  Lib.]. 

§  4.  IDEA  AND  AIM  OF  THE  BOOK. 

In  SO  far  as  the  Book  of  Job  seeks  to  harmonize  the  fact  that  men  endure  unmerited 
suffering,  or  at  least  suffering  which  is  not  directly  merited,  with  the  divine  justice,  it  labors 
at  the  solution  of  a  problem  which  falls  in  the  category  of  the  theodicies,  i.  e.  the  attempt  to 
justify  the  presence  of  sin  in  a  world  created  by  God.  It  exhibits  "  the  struggle  and  victory 
of  the  new  truth,  that  sufferings  are  not  merely  penalties,  that  they  have  other  causes  founded 
in  the  divine  wisdom ;  that  they  may  be,  to  wit,  trials  and  tests,  out  of  which  piety  should 
come  forth  strengthened  and  purified.  It  sets  forth  the  doctrine  that  man,  when  dark  suf- 
ferings burst  upon  him,  for  which  he  can  find  no  reason  in  the  sins  which  he  has  committed, 
must  not  doubt  the  righteousness  and  love  of  God,  which  are  eternally  unchanged,  but  must 
rather  in  humility  recognize  the  imperfection  of  his  own  righteousness,  which  needed  such  a 
trial,  in  order  to  verify  itself  and  attain  to  faith"  (Hahn).  The  idea  of  the  poem  consists 
accordingly  in  the  proposition  that  God  in  His  wisdom  decrees  for  His  human  children 
calamities  and  grievous  providences,  which  are  not  directly  and  unqualifiedly  the  penalties  of 
sin,  but  in  part  chastisements  for  purification,  and  in  part  means  for  proving  and  testing  the 
sufferers,  serving  to  illustrate  and  demonstrate  their  righteousness. 

This  proposition  finds  expression  in  the  epico-dramatic  development  of  the  history  in 
four  stages. 

1.  The  one-sided  opinion,  derived  from  a  perverted  interpretation  and  application  of 
the  Mosaic  Law,  but  predominantly  prevalent  among  the  large  mass  of  those  who  belonged 


230  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

to  the  Old  Covenant,  that  grievous  sufferings  are  always  and  without  fail  a  punishment  for 
specific  sins,  and  even  that  the  magnitude  of  the  sufferer's  guilt  can  be  inferred  from  the 
magnitude  of  his  calamity ; — this  opinion  being  advocated  by  the  three  friends  of  Job,  who 
through  their  advocacy  of  it  become  his  opponents,  and  intensify  most  bitterly  his  painful 
consciousness  of  unmerited  suffering. 

2.  The  simple  denial  of  this  proposition,  involving  the  aflarmation  that  even  an  innocent 
man  may  suffer,  and  that  he  [Job]  in  particular  is  an  innocent  sufferer,  who  will  yet  be 
surely  proved  to  be  such  by  Jehovah,  is  defended  by  Job  in  his  replies  to  the  accusations  of 
the  friends. 

3.  The_^rs^  Aa{/"of  the  correct  positive  solution  of  the  problem,  consisting  in  the  presen- 
tation of  the  chastening  and  purifying  aim  of  unmerited  suffering,  is  contributed  by  the  dis- 
courses of  ElihiL  They  seek  in  a  way  which  accords  with  Prov.  iii.  11  (comp.  Heb.  xii.  5 
seq.)  to  exhibit  the  sufferings  of  the  righteous  man  as  chastisements  and  means  of  purifica- 
tion, having  "  the  sin  of  the  righteous  man  indeed  for  their  ground,  but  having  for  their 
motive  not  God's  wrath,  but  His  love,  aiming  to  refine  and  to  advance  the  sufferer." 

4.  The  other  half  of  the  positive  solution  of  the  problem,  consisting  in  the  exhibition  of 
the  suffering  of  the  righteous  as  ordained  to  prove  them  and  to  test  their  innocence,  finds 
expression  in  the  discourses  of  Jehovah,  in  His  judicial  arbitration  between  the  contending 
parties,  as  well  as  in  His  actual  restoration  of  Job's  former  prosperity.  According  to  this, 
the  profoundest  solution,  in  which  the  whole  scope  of  the  book  culminates,  and  finds  its 
definitive  authoritative  expression,  the  afflictions  of  the  innocent  are  "  means  of  proving  and 
testing,  which,  like  chastisements,  find  their  motive  in  the  love  of  God.  Their  object  is  not, 
however,  the  purging  away  of  the  sin  which  may  still  cling  to  the  righteous  man,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  the  manifestation  and  testing  of  his  righteousness"  (Delitzsch). 

The  former  side  of  the  positive  solution,  that  advanced  by  Eliliu,  belongs  as  yet  to  the 
circle  of  human  perceptions  and  experiences  ;  it  represents  the  highest  and  the  deepest  that 
the  wisdom  of  man  on  earth,  limited  to  itself,  except  indeed  as  it  derives  aid  from  the  Old 
Testament  revelation  of  God,  can  contribute  to  the  answer  to  be  made  to  the  inquiry  into 
the  nature  and  aim  [of  such  sufferings].  The  latter  side  of  the  solution  which  finds  its 
expression  in  the  discourses  of  Jehovah,  and  the  historical  movement  of  the  entire  book, 
proceeds  from  a  wisdom  which  is  from  above,  and  to  which  the  corruption  of  the  human 
race  is  not  the  first  thing  and  the  last,  but  something  transitory,  a  condition  destined  to  be 
finally  removed  through  the  suffering  of  a  perfectly  and  absolutely  Righteous  Man.  The 
solution  of  Elihu  looks  backward  to  the  original  sin  of  humanity,  and  to  the  mournful  fact 
of  experience  proceeding  therefrom,  that  not  one  of  the  children  of  men  is  righteous  before 
God,  but  that  on  the  contrary  there  adheres  even  to  the  most  innocent  and  pure  member  of 
our  race  sin,  which  will  need  to  be  purged  away.  The  divine  solution— which,  as  will  be 
more  fully  shown  hereafter,  by  no  means  contradicts  that  of  Elihu,  but  in  part  confirm^,  and 
in  part  supplements  it— looks  prophetically  forward  to  the  future  expiatory  suffering  of  a 
Eighteous  Man.  who  alone  deserves  to  be  called  truly  righteous,  whose  martyrdom  accord- 
ingly bears  the  character  of  a  suffering  not  for  Himself  alone,  but  for  His  brethren,  laden  with 
guilt,  and  needing  to  be  reconciled  with  God,  who  in  short  as  a  truly  innocent  sufferer,  is 
called  to  be  the  redeemer  of  the  human  race,  making  atonement  for  their  sins,  removing 
their  guilt  and  procuring  their  sanctification.  To  the  extent  that  the  indirectly  Messianic 
element  of  this  divine  solution  comes  in  close  contact  with  the  deepest  and  noblest  side  of 
tliat  which  Job  maintains,  with  the  expression  of  his  hope  that  God  will  appear  to  vindicate 
and  establish  conspicuously  his  innocence — or,  in  other  words,  to  the  extent  that  what  Job 
says  in  the  second,  as  yet  subjective  and  one-sidedly  negative  stage  in  the  solution  of  the 
problem,  of  his  confident  waiting  for  a  divine  redeemer  (a  ^Nij,  ch.  xix.  25),  receives  both 
directly  and  indirectly  an  objective  confirmation  and  attestation  from  Jehovah  Himself  in 
the  fourth  stage  of  the  solution — we  may  assign  the  whole  poem  to  the  class  of  Old  Testament 
writings  which  are  mediately  and  implicitly  Messianic.  At  least  we  may  say  that  its  idea, 
like  that  of  the  other  Chokmah-poems  (Proverbs,  Canticles,  Ecclesiastes),  includes  in  itself 
and  suggests  a  prophetic  Messianic  thought. 


§4.  IDEA  AND  AIM  OF  THE  BOOK.  2;J7 

We  find  these  fundamental  ideas  of  the  book  correctly  perceived  and  set  forth  with 
satisfactory  clearness  only  on  the  part  of  such  expositors  as  maintain  its  integrity,  especially 
of  such  as  do  not  doubt  the  genuineness  of  the  discourses  of  Elihu.  Here  belong  especially 
Vaihinger,  Stickel.  Gleiss  [Beitrdge  zur  Krilik  des  Buches  Hiob,  1845,  p.  34  scq.),  Havernick, 
Keil  {Hist.  krit.  Einldtung,  III.,  p.  300  seq.),  Welte,  Delitzsch,  Davidson  (Introd.,  p.  213 
seq  ).*  Several,  however,  even  of  the  opponents  of  the  genuineness  of  the  sections  ch.  xxxii.- 
xxxvii.  have  with  approximate  correctness  defined  the  idea  and  the  problem  of  the  book,  as 
e.  g.  Heiligstedt,  Dillmann,  and  again  recently  Schrader  in  his  Bearbeitung  der  de  Wetle'schen 
Emleitung,  p.  551  seq — On  the  contrary  the  fundamental  thought  of  the  book  has  been  sub- 
jected, by  the  advocates  of  the  book's  integrity  no  less  than  by  its  opponents,  to  expositions 
which  are  wrong  and  one-sided,  and  in  some  instances  even  fundamentally  perverse.  The 
greater  or  less  value  of  these  theories  will  be  ascertained  by  the  measure  of  their  agreement 
with  that  which  is  given  above. 

a.  According  to  Umbreit,  Hirzel,  Eenan  [Noyes],  and  some  others,  the  poet  aims  to 
prove  the  untenableness  of  the  Mosaic  doctrine  of  retribution,  the  weak  points  of  which  he  was 
desirous  of  exhibiting  in  the  suffering  of  the  righteous  Job,  as  a  peculiarly  striking  example. 
Against  which  it  has  been  rightly  argued  by  Hahn,  Dillmann,  Delitzsch,  etc. :  That  the 
polemic  edge  of  the  book  is  turned  not  against  the  Mosaic  doctrine  of  retribution  in  itself 
considered,  but  against  the  abuse  of  it  to  an  unfriendly  caviling,  malicious  suspicion,  and 
harsh  judgment  concerning  persons  in  misfortune.  That  it  proceeds  in  truth  upon  a  deeper 
apprehension  and  a  more  correct  interpretation  of  the  doctrine  of  retribution  set  forth  in  the 
Law,  not  in  opposition  to  it  (which  would  be  in  fact  equivalent  to  opposing  the  law  itself), 
is  particularly  shown  by  the  close  of  the  book,  where  on  the  one  side  Job  is  compelled  to 
retract  the  doubt  which  he  had  previously  uttered  in  respect  to  God's  righteousness,  while 
on  the  other  side  by  this  same  divine  righteousness,  which  now  appears  as  retributive  justice 
in  the  good  sense  of  the  term,  as  rewarding  him  {justitia  remunerans  s.  retribuens),  he  is  again 
restored  to  honor,  and  his  innocence  is  brought  forth  to  the  light. 

b.  According  to  a  remark  thrown  out  without  refiection  by  Heinr.  Heine  ( Vermischie 
Schriften,  1854,  I.),  the  poet  is  treating  of  the  development  of  religious  doubt.  "The  Book 
of  Job  is?  Me  Cavtlcle  of  Skepticism  [das  Hohelied  der  Skepsis],  and  horrid  serpents  hiss 
therein  their  eternal  Wherefore?  As  man  when  he  suffers  must  weep  himself  out,  so  must 
Job  doubt  himself  out.  This  poison  of  doubt  must  not  be  wanting  in  the  Bible,  that  great 
storehouse  of  mankind." — A  crude  opinion,  proceeding  from  a  monstrous  exaggeration  of 
the  foregoing  one-sided  theory,  and  directly  at  variance  with  the  true  scope  of  the  book, 
which  is  on  the  contrary  anti-skeptical,  and  which  strengthens  the  belief  in  God's  providence 
and  righteous  retribution.  Delitzsch  remarks  truly  that  the  name — "  Canticle  of  Skepticism" 
— would  better  suit  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes. 

c.  According  to  Baumgarten-Crusius  {Libri  de  Jobo  argumenti  descriptio,  in  Opusc.  theo- 
logica,  1836,  p.  174  seq.)  the  book  aims  "  to  unfold  the  idea  of  the  true  Wisdom."— Evidently 
a  definition  of  its  contents  and  aim  which  is  far  too  general,  vague  and  abstract,  and  which 
improperly  loses  sight  of  the  special  object,  in  accordance  with  which  the  poet  exhibits  and 
illustrates  true  wisdom  [sensu  subjectivo  et  objeciivo), 

d.  According  to  Scharer  (Z>.  B.  Mob,  1818,  I.,  p.  21),  and  Augusti  [Gnmdriss  einer 
hhtor.  krit.  Einl.  ins  Alie  Testament,  1827,  p.  267)  [Lee,  Introd.  to  Commy.,  p.  Ill],  it  is  the 
poet's  purpose  to  present  in  Job  the  ideal  of  a  constant,  pious  and  submissive  sufferer.  A 
similar  view  is  taken  by  Hengstenberg  (in  his  Dissertation  "  iiber  d.  B.  Hiob,"  Berlin,  1856 
[also  in  D,  B.  Hiob  erldutert,  Berlin,  1870,  p.  11  seq]),  who  finds  represented  in  the  book 
the  model  of  a  suffering  righteous  man,  such  as  was  possible  in  the  theocracy  of  the  Old  Cove- 
nant, but  which  could  never  have  existed  within  the  pre-Christian  heathen  world. — But  it 
is  only  in  the  Prologue  that  Job  is  spoken  of  as  a  character  that  through  all  his  misery  was 
unchangeably  pious  and  devout.  His  conduct  as  it  appears  further  along  in  the  course  of 
his  discourses  receives  at  last  a  severe  rebuke  from  God  Himself.     And  in  fact,  according  to 

*  [It  is,  however,  a  curious  error  on  the  part  of  our  author  to  ast-ign  the  Inst  two  writers  to  thia  class,  seeing  that 
Doli^z6ch  seriously  questiors,  and  Davidson  decidedly  rejects,  the  genuinene  s  of  Klihu's  di^cou^se8.J 


238  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

the  poet's  plan,  it  is  not  as  an  ideal  of  theocratic  piety  that  Job  appears,  but  as  a  holy  man, 
whose  religious  development  takes  place  on  the  basis  of  the  patriarchal  life  outside  of  Israel. 
This  is  seen  plainly  enough  in  the  fact  that  the  scene  of  the  history  is  placed  in  the  land  of 
Uz,  in  the  fact  that  the  Divine  names  almost  exclusively  used  by  Job  are  Eloah  and  Shad- 
dai  ("  Jehovah  "  being  used  twice  only),  also  in  the  many  other  traces  and  indications  which 
the  book  furnishes  of  a  saint  of  the  order  of  Melchizedek.  Comp.  below,  ^  7  [and  see 
Conant's  criticism  of  this  view,  p.  xx.  seq.]. 

e.  According  to  Schlottmann  and  Keil  [Einleilung)  [Good,  Introductory  Dissertation,  p. 
12.  19;  A.  B.  Davidson,  p.  15,  etc.,  Canon  Cook  in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.  Art.  "Job,"  and  in 
Bible  Commentary,  Introd.,  p.  6 ;  Froude,  Short  Studies,  etc. :  "  The  Book  of  Job,"  p.  241  seq.], 
the  author  aims  to  describe  by  a  picture  from  life  the  struggle  and  victory  of  the  pious  man 
in  the  most  terrible  temptation.  Against  which  Dillmann  rightly  says :  "  If  it  was  not  also 
his  purpose  to  advance  the  knowledge  of  his  readers,  and  to  instruct  them  in  respect  to  the 
relation  of  evil  [suffering]  to  the  moral  conduct  of  men,  it  is  inconceivable  why  he  should 
have  made  his  work  to  consist  for  the  most  part  of  a  series  of  controversial  discourses  respect- 
ing the  ground  and  end  of  suffering." 

/.  According  to  Stuhlmann,  Bertholdt,  Eichhorn,  v.  Colin  [Bibl.  Tlieol.,  p.  293  seq.),  M. 
Sachs  {Zur  Charakteristik  und  ErldiUerung  d.  B.  Hiob,  Studd.  u.  Krit.,  1834,  IV,,  p.  912) 
Knobel  [De  carminis  Jobi  argumento,  fine,  ac  dispositione,  1835)  Vatke  (Die  Bel.  des  Allen- 
Testaments,  I.,  1835,  p.  576  seq.),  Umbreit,  De  Wette,  Hirzel,  Steudel  {  Vorlesungen  iiber  die 
Theol.  des  Alien  Testaments,  herausg.  v.  Oehler,  1840,  p.  511  seq.),  Hupfeld  [Deutsche  Zeits- 
chr.  f.  christl.  Wissensch.,  etc.,  1850,  No.  35  seq.)  [Merx,  p.  XIIl. ;  Rodwell,  p.  VIII.],  the 
poet  has  indeed  a  didactic  purpose ;  it  is  one  however  which  is  limited  to  the  inculcation  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  unconditional  submission  of  the  finite  subject  to  the  absolute  Lord  of  all 
things,  whose  dispensations,  even  when  they  seem  incomprehensible,  are  still  to  be  borne 
with  resignation,  and  without  murmuring. — According  to  this  view  the  book  represents  Job's 
suffering  as  an  absolutely  mysterious  dispensation,  and  thus  preaches  a  certain  fatalism, 
the  resignation  of  a  stoic  indifference  to  the  inexorable  and  inscrutable  will  of  destiny.  This 
is  wholly  antagonistic  both  to  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  in  general,  and  of  our  book 
in  particular,  which  furnishes  clear  expositions  respecting  the  ground  and  end  of  Job's  suf- 
ferings, and  that  not  simply  in  those  sections  which  the  above-named  critics  (for  the  most 
part  at  least)  condemn  as  not  genuine,  in  the  prologue,  the  epilogue,  and  the  discourses  of 
Elihu,  but  also  in  the  kernel  of  the  book,  the  authenticity  of  which  cannot  be  questioned,  as 
e.  g.  in  Job's  utterances  in  ch.  xvii.  9  ;  xix.  23  seq. ;  xxxi.  1  seq. 

g.  According  to  J.  D.  Michaelis  [Einl.  in  die  gottl.  Schriften  des  A.  Bdes.  I.,  2  seq.)  the 
poet  aims  to  set  forth  the  idea  of  a  righteous  retribution  in  the  future  life.  The  view  of 
Ewald  is  similar,  according  to  whom  the  book  develops  the  thought :  that  suffering  is  to  be 
overcome  neither  by  conceiving  it  as  merely  a  divine  penalty,  nor  by  doubt  and  unbelief, 
but  only  by  the  certainty  that  spirit  is  eternal,  by  patience  and  fortitude  through  faith  in 
eternal  divine  truths,  and  also  by  self-knowledge  sharpened  anew  by  suSering  [Die  Dichier 
des  A.  B.  III.,  p.  10  seq  ) — According  to  this  view  the  idea  of  immortality  and  future  retri- 
bution, which  emerges  in  the  book  only  incidentally,  is  unduly  emphasized  and  made  pro- 
minent. Moreover,  according  to  Ewald's  view,  earthly  suffering  is  removed  much  too  far 
from  its  connection  with  the  sin  of  the  human  race.  The  man  afflicted  with  it,  in  the  proud 
consciousness  of  his  own  strength  and  immortality,  like  the  suffering  heroes  of  the  classic 
poetry  of  antiquity  (Ulysses,  Philoctetes)  should  have  lifted  himself  above  his  sufferings  and 
despised  them,  instead  of  doing  what  our  poet  manifestly  requires  him  to  do,  humbling 
himself  as  a  sinner  under  the  almighty  hand  of  the  God  decreeing  them  (ch.  xl  3  ;  xlii.  1-6).* 

h.  According  to  several  Rabbis  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  also  H.  v.d.  Hardt  ( Cb??imentoi:. 
in  Jobum,  sive  historia  popxdi  Israelis  in  Assyriaco  exilio,  I.,  1728),  J.  LeClerc  (on  chap.  i.  1), 
Garnett  (A  dissertation  on  the  book  of  Job,  ed.  2,  1751),  Warburton  {The  Divine  Legation  of 
Moses,  Book  VI.,  Sect.  II.,  Works,  Vol.  V.,  London,  1811),  Bernstein   (  Ueber  Alter,  InhaU, 


[See  Coniint'd  refutation  of  this  theory,  Introd.,  p.  xiv.]. 


§  5.    THE  RELIGIOUS  AND  NATIONAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  BOOK.  239 


Zweck,  und  gegenwdrtige  Oestall  des  Baches  Hiob,  in  Keil  &  Tzschirner,  Analekten,  I.,  1813, 
p.  109  seq  ),  Bruno  Bauer  [Die  Religion  des  A.  T.,  1840,  IL,  p.  470  seq.),  and  quite  recently 
F.  Seinecke  [Der  Orundgedanke  des  B.  Hiob,  1863),  [G.  Croly  :  The  Book  of  Job,  18G3],  the 
idea  and  scope  of  the  book  have  reference  to  the  IsraeliLish  nationality.  The  suffering  Job  typi- 
fies the  sufferings  of  the  people  of  Israel  in  exile  ;  by  his  patience  and  submission  the  poet  would 
teach  his  contemporaries  that  they  can  bear  their  severe  destiny  only  by  humble  submission  to 
God's  power  and  wisdom,  and  that  they  can  find  comfort  and  rest  only  in  a  firm  and  childlike 
trust  in  His  righteousness,  which  ruleth  overall  things.— This  allegoristic  version  of  the  poem 
is  disproved  by  the  absence  of  anything  whatever  in  the  details  of  the  work  to  sustain  such  a 
double  significance  in  the  person  and  destinies  of  Job  ;  also  by  the  want  of  proof  that  the  poem 
was  not  composed  until  after  the  exile  ;  finally  by  the  fact  that  in  the  prologue  Job  is  described 
as  entirely  innocent  in  his  misfortune,  whereas  elsewhere  throughout  the  Old  Testament  the 
exile  is  continually  viewed  as  the  well-deserved  punishment  of  Israel's  sins.  Comp.  the 
elaborate  criticism  of  the  last-mentioned  work  of  Seinecke's  in  the  Darmstddter  Theolog. 
Litbl,  18G3,  No.  99. 

i.  According  to  most  expositors  of  the  ancient  and  mediaeval  Church,  whom  some  mo- 
derns have  also  followed,  particularly  in  the  Romish  Church,  Job's  suffering  is  an  immediate 
type  of  the  atoning  suffering  of  Christ;  nay  more,  Job  himself  is  more  or  less  identified  with 
Christ,  the  views  and  principles  advocated  by  him  merge  imperceptibly  in  the  doctrines  of 
the  Gospel ;  whereas  on  the  contrary  the  three  friends  are  regarded  as  the  champions  of 
heretical  opinions,  and  Elihu  as  the  representative  of  a  secular  wisdom  hostile  to  faith 
(Jerome,  etc.),  or  as  an  idle  philosophical  braggart,  and  phrase-monger  (Gregory  the  Great, 
etc.).  [Wordsworth,  however,  who  also  adheres  to  the  typical  interpretation  of  the  book, 
regards  Elihu  as  "  representing  the  office  of  the  ministers  of  God's  Church  in  preparing  the 
soul  for  the  presence  of  God  by  the  preaching  of  His  Word."  Introd.  to  Comm'y.,  p.  ix. 
See  also  Comm'y.,  p.  70  seq.].  We  may  find  one  effect  of  this  unsound  allegoristic  interpre- 
tation of  the  history  under  ecclesiastical  auspices — an  interpretation  which  may  be  traced 
back  to  Origen,  the  founder  of  all  unsound  allegoristic  theories  in  the  Church— in  the  unfa- 
vorable judgment  which  has  been  pronounced  on  the  religious  and  moral  stand-point  and 
character  of  Elihu  by  many  of  the  latest  expositors,  e.  g.,  by  Herder,  who  compares  his 
discourses  to  the  idle  senseless  chatter  of  a  child,  Eichhorn,  Bertholdt,  Umbreit,  Hahn,  and 
others,  who  make  him  out  to  be  an  immoderate,  self-sufficient,  and  at  the  same  time  narrow- 
minded  boaster.  The  erroneousness  of  these  views  will  sufficiently  appear  from  the  remarks 
made  above.  Comp.  also  what  is  said  below,  in  §  8,  concerning  the  genuineness  of  Elihu's 
discourses,  and  their  admirable  coherence  with  the  entire  plan  and  movement  of  the  book  ; 
together  with  the  Exegetical  remarks  on  the  same  (particularly  the  Doctrinal  and  Ethical 
Remarks  on  chap,  xxxii.,  xxxiii.). 

§5.    THE    RELIGIOUS    AND    NATIONAL    CHARACTER  OF    THE  BOOK.       ITS    PLACE    IN    THE 

CANON. 

The  Chokmah  character  of  our  book,  or  the  fact  that  it  belongs  to  the  Solomonic  poems 
of  Wisdom,  is  sufficiently  apparent  from  that  which  has  been  already  remarked  about  its 
material,  its  form,  and  its  scope.  The  historic  material  used  bears  an  impress  which,  if  not 
extra-theocratic,  is  at  least  pre-theocratic ;  and  manifest  pains  are  taken  to  give  prominence 
to  this  characteristic  of  its  material,  as  being  not  specifically  Mosaic,  by  distinctly  setting 
forth  the  extra  Israelitish  home,  and  the  patriarchal  age  of  its  hero.  Its  object  is  thereby 
recognized  as  belonging  to  that  class  of  themes  and  problems  which  are  of  universal  human 
interest,  which  transcend  the  more  limited  circle  of  vision  which  lies  within  the  Israelitish 
theocracy,  and  which  everywhere  characterize  the  Chokmah-poetry,  the  representative  in  the 
Old  Testament  literature  of  a  philosophic  humanism  (comp.  Vol.  X.  of  this  series,  Introd.  to 
Proverbs,  p.  4  seq.).— As  regards  its  form  it  seems  to  be  most  nearly  related  to  the  classic 
productions  of  the  Chokmah-literature;  to  Solomon's  Song  in  virtue  of  its  dramatic  plan 
and  arrangement;  to  the  Proverbs  in  virtue  of  its  gnomic  and  didadic  character,  and  the 


240  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

M^shai-lite  rhythm  of  .its  discourses ;  and  to  both  at  once  in  virtue  of  its  wealth  of  vivid 
and  symbolically  significant  pictures  of  the  life  of  nature  and  humauity,  in  which  the  deep 
feeling  for  nature,  and  the  faculty  of  brilliant  natural  description  characteristic  of  the  Solo- 
monic epoch  of  Old  Testament  literature  announce  themselves. — And  finally  in  respect  of  its 
scope  it  exhibits  a  rehition  of  inward  nearness  to  the  poetry  of  Wisdom,  in  so  far  as  by  virtue 
of  its  endeavor  to  maintain  in  the  realm  of  ethics  and  religion  the  point  of  view  belonging 
to  universal  humanity  this  poetry  has  a  special  interest  in  the  great  problem  of  theodicy, 
to  wit,  the  vindication  of  the  Divine  action  against  one-sided  and  unjust  accusations  from 
men ;  and  especially  in  so  far  as  the  indispensable  necessity  of  the  fear  of  God  and  of  hum- 
ble submission  beneath  God's  remedial  discipline  ("IDIO)  to  the  right  understanding  of  God's 
dispensations  is  an  idea  which  belongs  to  the  very  heart  of  the  practical  ethics  of  those  books, 
and  particularly  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs.  And  not  only  does  our  book  share  this  ethical 
tendency  in  common  with  the  other  Chokmah-writings,  but  in  addition  the  most  conspicuous 
feature  of  their  doctrinal  contents,  to  wit,  the  central  idea  of  the  Divine  Wisdom  as  the  medium 
of  the  personal  activity  of  God  in  the  world  of  nature  and  of  humanity,  is  by  no  means 
absent.  But  on  the  contrary  the  way  in  which  our  poet  in  ch.  xxviii.  1  seq.  describes  the 
absolute  wisdom,  the  Chokmah  pure  and  simple,  as  the  highest  moral  good,  and  as  the  sum 
total  of  all  that  is  valuable  and  desirable  for  man,  at  the  same  time  that  he  makes  its  pos- 
session depend  on  the  fear  of  God  and  uprightness  of  life  (ver.  28),  exhibits  the  closest  affi- 
nity with  that  which  is  said  in  Prov.  iii.  16  seq. ;  viii.  22  seq.  (comp.  Eccles.  xii.  13)  of  the 
hypostatic  wisdom  of  God,  and  the  conditions  of  participation  in  the  same.  All  the  charac- 
ters, moreover,  who  take  part  as  speakers  in  the  book,  appear  as  witnesses  and  disciples  of 
this  wisdom,  whether  as  one  sided,  defective,  erroneous  representatives,  as  was  the  case  with 
the  three  friends,  and  in  many  respects  with  Job  himself,  or  as  normal  and  authoritative 
interpreters  of  the  true  Wisdom,  as  was  the  case  with  Elihu,  who,  notwithstanding  his  youth, 
surpasses  all  the  other  speakers  as  the  representative  of  the  highest  to  which  human  wisdom 
and  insight  can  attain.  They  are,  one  and  all,  Ch3.k3,mim,  lovers  of  wisdom  and  teachers  of 
wisdom  [sectatores  sapientim,  (juMao^oi) — these  characters  of  the  great  drama — although  there 
are  important  differences  among  them  as  regards  the  quality  and  degree  of  the  wisdom  which 
tbey  teach.  The  author  certainly  does  not  describe  them  as  theocratic  sages,  not  as  belong- 
ing to  the  class  of  Israelitish  Chakamim,  like  Solomon,  Ethan,  Heman,  etc.,  for  he  causes 
their  extra-Israeliiish  character  to  appear  distinctly  and  unmistakably  enough,  when  he 
introduces  them  as  speaking  neither  of  the  law,  nor  of  prophecy,  neither  of  Sinai,  nor  of 
Zion,  as  using  only  once  or  twice  the  theocratic  name  of  God,  Jehovah  (Job  uses  this  name 
only  in  ch.  i.  21 ;  xii.  9;  and  possibly  in  ch.  xxviii.  28,  see  on  the  passage),  but  on  the  con- 
trary as  using  interchangeably  the  ni'7N  of  poetry,  the  'i!"^  of  the  patriarchs,  and  the  D'^^X 
of  the  universal  religion  (the  last,  however,  only  three  times:  ch.  xx.  29;  xxxii,  2;  xxxviii. 
7).  He  thus  purposely  characterizes  them  as  belonging  to  the  category  of  those  extra- Israel- 
itish sages,  which  in  1  Kings  v.  10,  apropos  of  the  description  of  the  all -surpassing  wisdom 
of  Solomon,  are  called  "  sons  of  the  East,"  and  "  Egyptians  "  (comp.  Job  i.  2) ;  it  is  his  pur- 
pose to  describe  them,  and  among  them  Job  in  particular,  as  well  as  Elihu,  as  possessors  of 
a  wisdom  and  a  piety  which  had  not  grown  in  the  soil  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  which  were  pre- 
Mosaic  and  patriarchal,  or,  if  you  please,  Melchizedekean  (comp.  the  Note  at  the  end  of  this 
section).  Notwithstanding  all  this,  however,  they  are  none  the  less  disciples  of  Wisdom, 
earthly  reflectors,  human  reverer?!,  and  lovers  of  the  divine  Chokmak  The  heavenly  light 
of  God,  which  from  the  beginning  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world  (John  i. 
9),  this  is  their  sun  also,  the  mysterious  source  of  their  knowledge  and  understanding.  They 
belong  to  the  children  of  God  outside  of  Israel,  the  "  children  of  God  that  were  scattered 
abroad"  (John  xi.  52),  whom  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was  first  to  gather  together,  and  to 
introduce  into  the  communion  of  the  redeemed.  They  partake,  however,  of  the  knowledge 
and  worship  of  the  supreme,  the  only  true  God,  And  verily  it  is  a  divine  wisdom  wliich  is 
specially  and  most  nearly  related  to  that  of  the  Israelitish  theocracy,  a  wisdom  originating 
in  Paradise,  and  like  that  of  Solomon,  Ethan,  Heman,  etc.,  struggling  back  toward  Paradise, 
which  illuminates  them.     It  is  its  advance  through  error,  doubt  and  serious  conflicts  to  the 


§5.    THE  RELIGIOUS  AND  NATIONAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  BOOK.  24] 


final  comprehension  of  revealed  truth,  that  our  poem  succeeds  in  describing  with  the  won- 
derful art  of  dramatic  development. 

After  all  that  has  been  said,  our  book's  'place  in  the  canon  of  the  lloly  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament  can  admit  of  no  doubt.  It  stands  in  the  closest  proximity  to  the  Chokmah- 
poems  of  the  Solomonic  age,  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  and  the  Canticles,  At  all  events  it  stands 
nearer  to  them  than  to  Ecclesiastes,  with  which,  in  view  of  the  many  traces  it  betrays  of  a 
later  (post-exilic)  origin,  and  in  view  of  its  Levitico-.Tewish  character,  it  has  nothing  in  com- 
mon however  true  it  may  be  that  the  sceptical  tinge  of  many  of  its  discourses  indicates  a 
certain  affinity  to  certain  fundamental  ideas  of  this  later  poem  of  wisdom.  Its  Mashil  form, 
and  the  frequent  lyrico-elegiac  tone  of  its  discourses,  assimilate  it  still  further  to  those  por- 
tions of  the  Book  of  Psalms,  which  in  view  of  the  gnomic  and  didactic  stamp  which  they 
bear  are  to  be  classed  with  the  Literature  of  Wisdom,  and  which  we  have  heretofore  (Vol.  X. 
of  this  Series,  Introd.)  characterized  as  Chokmah-psalms ;  as,  e.g.,  Ps.  i.,  xv.,  xix.,  cxi., 
cxii.,  cxix.,  cxxv.,  cxxvii. 

In  fact  both  the  Synagogue  and  the  Church  have  constantly  assigned  to  our  book  its 
place  not  only  in  general  among  the  Hagiographa  (K'thubhim),  to  which  it  belongs  in  any 
case  in  virtue  of  its  being  neither  a  historical  narrative,  nor  prophetic  preaching,  but  rather 
a  didactic  poem,  but  also  in  particular  in  proximity  to  the  books  just  mentioned  as  most 
nearly  related  to  it,  the  Psalms,  the  Proverbs,  the  Canticles,  and  Ecclesiastes.  But  its  place 
in  the  neighborhood  of  these  books  varies  greatly  according  to  the  different  traditions.  Our 
editions  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  in  so  far  as  they  follow  the  German  class  of  Manuscripts,  place 
the  book  between  the  Proverbs  and  the  Canticles ;  they  place  it  last  of  the  series  of  poet'C 
books  which  introduce  the  Hagiographa,  the  Tehillim,  Mishle,  and  Job  (Psalms,  Proverbs, 
and  Job),  leaving  the  Song  of  Solomon  to  follow  as  the  first  of  the  "  five  festival-rolls  " 
(m'7JD  IS'on),  that  group  of  writings  the  remainder  of  which  are  Ruth,  Lamentations,  Kohe- 
leth,  and  Esther.  According  to  the  Spanish  class  of  Hebrew  MSS.,  and  the  Masora,  the 
arrangement  is  different,  the  K'thubhim  here  beginning  with  the  series — Chronicles,  Psalms, 
Job,  and  Proverbs.  The  arrangement  in  the  Talmud  (Baba  bathra,  14  b)  is  similar,  where 
Ruth  is  put  first,  with  Psalms,  Job,  and  Proverbs  following.  The  Masoretes  call  this  group 
(Tehillim,  Job,  Mishle),  after  the  initial  letters  of  their  names,  D*<r\  nsD,  and  they  view 
this  Team — group  as  being,  like  the  Chamesh  Megilloth,  a  complete  whole.  Whether  the 
vox  memorialis  HDX,  which  serves  to  describe  the  group  according  to  another  ancient  tradi- 
tion, indicates  that  here  and  there  the  order — Job,  Proverbs,  Psalms — was  actually  followed, 
is  doubtful.  It  is  certain  on  the  other  hand  that  the  LXX.  assign  to  the  three  principal 
poetical  books  the  order— Job,  Psalms,  Proverbs  (the  form  D^'*),  and  that  this  order  of  the 
Alexandrian  canon  has  continued  to  be  the  ruling  order  in  the  Hellenistic  literature  and 
in  the  Church.  There  are  variations  however  even  here,  as  in  Philo,  and  the  Evangelist 
Luke,  who,  like  the  Hebrew  Bibles,  place  the  Psalms  [viivovq)  at  the  head  (Luke  xxiv,  44)^ 
and  in  Melito  of  Sardis,  in  the  2d  Cent,,  whose  canon  exhibits  the  following  peculiar  order 
for  the  poetical  Hagiographa : —Psalms,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  Canticles,  Job,  (Euseb. 
Hist.  Eccl.  IV.,  26).  Luther's  version  [also  E.  V.]  follows  the  order  which  through  the 
Alexandrian  version  is  become  the  established  order  in  the  Church. 

Note. — In  respect  to  the  skill  and  historical  truth  with  which  the  poet  has  succeeded  in 
preserving  the  impress  of  patriarchal  times,  and  the  pre-Mosaic,  and  hence  extra-Israelitish 
religious  individuality  of  his  characters,  comp.  Dillmann,  p.  XXII.:  "He  has  carefully 
avoided  any  intermixture  of  Israelitish  things,  manners,  and  ideas ;  he  has  throughout 
exhibited  the  ways  and  the  relations  of  the  four  men  in  accordance  with  the  patriarchal  age, 
relying  in  part  on  Genesis.  When  they  appeal  to  historical  illustrations,  they  are  taken 
from  primeval  history  (as  in  chap.  xxii.  15  seq.).  What  they  say  of  God,  and  of  divine 
things,  is  apparently  derived  only  from  the  good  old  tradition,  from  nature,  and  the  history 
of  universal  humanity.  Except  in  three  passages  they  do  not  even  use  the  divine  name, 
Jahve.  Their  circle  of  thought  and  expression  is  far  more  distinctively  that  of  the  Shemitic 
people  in  general  than  that  of  the  Canaanitish  Hebrews.  The  theatre  of  the  poem  is  the 
edge  of  the  desert  (see  e.  g.,  chap,  i,  15,  17,  19),  and  its  figures  and  illustrations  correspond 
16 


242  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

therewith  (as  in  chap.  vi.  18seq. ;  xi.  12;  xxiv,  5;  xxxi.  32)." — The  view3  of  Delitzsch  are 
similar,  who  takes  occaaioa  however  to  controvert  the  modern  opinion  that  the  poet  in  the 
exercise  of  a  free  creative  fancy  invented  all  these  characteristics  of  an  extra-Israelitish 
nationality  and  religion  on  the  part  of  his  hero,  and  justly  maintains  in  opposition  the  opi- 
nion which  in  substance  has  been  advocated  also  by  Hengstenberg  [Beitrdge,  II.,  302  seq.  : 
Vortrag  uher  das  Buck  Hiob,  185G).  "  The  book  of  Job,"  says  Delitzsch  (I.,  p.  6  seq.)  "  treats 
a  fundamental  question  of  our  common  humanity ;  and  the  poet  has  studiously  taken  his 
hero  not  from  Israelitish  history,  but  from  extra-Israelitish  tradition.  From  beginning  to 
end  he  is  conscious  of  relating  an  extra-Israelitish  history, — a  history  handed  down  among 
the  Arab  tribes  to  the  east  of  Palestine,  which  has  come  to  his  ears ;  for  none  of  the  proper 
names  contain  even  a  trace  of  symbolically  intended  meaning,  and  romantic  historical  poems 
were  nowhere  in  use  among  the  ancients.  This  extra-Israelitish  history  from  the  patriarchal 
period  excited  the  purpose  of  his  poem,  because  the  thought  therein  presented  lay  in  his  own  mind. 
The  Thora  from  Sinai,  and  prophecy,  the  history  and  worship  of  Israel  are  nowhere  intro- 
duced; even  indirect  references  to  them  nowhere  escape  him.  He  throws  himself  with 
wonderful  truthfulness,  consistency,  and  vividness,  into  the  extra-Israelitish  position.  His 
own  Israelitish  stand-point  he  certainly  does  not  disavow,  as  we  see  from  his  calling  God 
nirr"  everywhere  in  the  prologue  and  epilogue ;  but  the  non-Israelitish  character  of  his  hero 
and  of  his  locality  he  maintains  with  strict  consistency.  .  .  .  Even  many  of  the  designations 
of  the  divine  attributes  which  have  become  fixed  in  the  Thora,  as  D]3X  ij^i^,  p^n,  D^TT], 
which  one  might  well  expect  in  the  book  of  Job,  are  not  found  in  it;  nor  again  3113,  often 
used  of  Jehovah  in  the  Psalms ;  nor,  generally,  the  dogmatic  terminology,  as  it  may  be 
called,  of  the  Israelitish  religion;  besides  which  this  characteristic  is  to  be  noted,  that  only 
the  oldest  mode  of  heathen  worship,  star- worship  (chap.  xxxi.  26-28),  is  mentioned,  without 
even  the  name  of  God  (mN3X  TVTV  or  niN3^  DTl'iX)  occurring,  which  designates  God  as  Lord  of 
the  he.avens,  which  the  heathen  deified.  The  author  has  intentionally  avoided  this  name 
also,  which  is  the  star  of  the  time  of  the  Israelitish  kings;  for  he  is  never  unmindful  that 
his  subject  is  an  ante-  and  extra-''^sraelitish  one." — In  these  last  remarks  of  Delitzsch's,  with 
which  we  are  constrained  to  agree,  may  be  found  the  corrective  for  a  remark  of  Dillmann's 
which  is  one-sided,  and  not  altogether  free  from  the  liability  to  be  misunderstood.  When 
this  commentator,  who  is  generally  influenced  by  sound  and  correct  views  says  (p.  XVII.  of 
.the  Introd.  to  his  Comm'y.)  :  "  So  far  is  it  from  being  the  author's  purpose  to  transport 
himself  arbitrarily  out  of  the  circle  of  revealed  truth,  that,  on  the  contrary,  his  whole  problem 
alike  with  his  solution  of  it,  rests  on  the  Mosaic  system  of  doctrine" — it  would  seem  to  be 
his  purpose  to  assign  everything,  both  the  doctrinal  contents  of  the  poem  and  the  history 
■which  serves  as  its  framework,  to  the  circle  of  the  Mosaic  system,  while  nevertheless  the 
■personal  actors,  as  well  as  the  religious  ideas  and  representations  which  are  put  in  their 
jnouth,  are  intentionally  described  as  pre-Mosaic,  and  presented  from  an  extra-theocratic 
point  of  view.  Very  true  the  poet  himself,  where  his  historic  individuality  emerges,  as  in 
the  prologue  and  epilogue,  reveals  himself  as  an  Israelite,  a  worshipper  of  Jehovah,  an 
adherent  of  Mosaism.  But  his  heroes,  or  the  characters  of  his  drama,  bear  a  pre  Mosaic  patri- 
archal impress;  they  are  sages  of  the  class  called  "sons  of  the  East,"  1  Kings  v.  10,  [E.  V., 
iv.  30]  not  sages  versed  in  the  Law,  and  ministering  to  the  Law,  like  Solomon,  Ethan, 
Heman,  Chalcol,  Darda,  or  like  the  prophets  of  the  schools  of  Samuel  and  Elijah.  And  the 
religious-ethical  problem  discussed  by  them  is  one  which  did  not  grow  in  the  soil  of  fhe 
Mosaic  religion,  but  an  outgrowth  of  the  piety  and  practical  wisdom  of  the  old  Shemitic 
patriarchs,  however  true  it  may  be  that  the  profound  solution  which  it  receives  in  course  of 
their  discussion  presupposes  something  above  and  beyond  the  perceptions  and  experiences 
which  belong  to  the  patriarchal  stage  of  revelation,  admitting  indeed  that  in  this  same  solu- 
tion there  is  contained  a  supra-patriarchal  and  supra-Mosaic  element,  a  prophetic  anticipation 
of  the  future  transition  of  these  two  preparatory  stages  of  the  true  religion  into  the  stage  of 
their  absolute  fulfilment  and  perfection  through  Christ.  Comp.  Delitzsch  (I,  p.  8  seq.) : 
"  The  poet  is  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  conviction  that  even  beyond  Israel  fellowship  is 
possible  with  the  one  living  God,  who  has  rerealed  Himself  in  Israel;  that  He  also  there 


§6,    THE  TIME  WHEN  THE  BOOK  WAS  WRITTEN,  243 

continually  reveals  Himself,  ordinarily  in  the  conscience,  and  extraordinarily  in  dreams  and 
visions;  that  there  is  also  found  there  a  longing  and  struggling  after  that  redemption  of 
■which  Israel  has  the  clear  words  of  promise.  His  wondrous  book  soars  high  above  the  Old 
Testament  limit;  it  is  the  Melchizedek  among  the  Old  Testament  books.  The  final  and 
highest  solution  of  the  problem  with  which  it  grapples,  has  a  vein  extending  out  even  beyond 
the  patriarchal  history.  The  Wisdom  of  the  Book  of  Job  originates  from  Paradise.  For 
this  turning  to  the  primeval  histories  of  Genesis,  which  are  earlier  than  the  rise  of  the 
nations,  and  the  investigation  of  the  hieroglyphs  in  the  prelude  to  the  Thora,  which  are 
otherwise  almost  passed  over  in  the  Old  Testament,  belong  to  the  peculiarities  of  the 
Chokma." 

?  6.  THE  TIME  WHEN  THE  BOOK  WAS  WRITTEN. 

As  an  external  indication  of  value  in  determining  the  time  when  the  book  of  Job  waa 
written,  we  may  take  into  account  its  position  in  the  canon,  near  the  Psalms  and  the  book 
of  Proverbs,  always  before  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes,  which  shows  so  many  traces  of  a  later 
age.  This  position,  however,  is  too  uncertain ;  and  even  if  it  were  fixed,  it  could  still  not 
be  inferred  from  it  that  the  book,  although  placed  near  those  writings  of  the  age  of  David 
and  Solomon,  had  also  been  produced  about  that  time,  a  considerable  period,  that  is  to  say, 
before  the  book  of  Coheleth,  which  was  not  written  until  after  the  Exile.  And  in  general 
the  rule  followed  by  those  who  collected  and  arranged  the  canon  is  not  that  of  strict  chrono- 
logy, and  yields  only  very  general  and  indefinite  conclusions  in  respect  to  the  successive 
origination  of  particular  books. 

Of  greater  value  would  another  external  criterion  be,  that,  namely,  which  lies  in  the 
linguistic  vesture  of  the  book,  provided  only  that  the  fact  that,  comparatively,  it  abounds  in 
Aramaisms  could  be  made  to  prove  that  it  was  written  in  a  decidedly  late  age.  But  there  is 
not,  and  there  never  can  be,  a  history  of  the  development  of  the  Hebrew  language  so  strict 
in  its  chronology  that  each  of  its  stages  can  be  sharply  defined,  and  used  as  means  for  deter- 
mining the  time  of  particular  books,  or  sections  of  books.*  The  Aramaic  coloring,  together 
with  the  correspondences  with  the  later  Hebrew,  of  which  the  book  furnishes  many  instances 
(such  as  e.  g.  plural  forms  in  J':,  the  use  of  the  preposition  'p  for  the  accusative,  words  like 
]n7  73p  [found  once  even  in  the  prose  prologue,  ch.  ii.  10],  ^"''^^i;]'  TS^TW^^j,  lip,  f]pP,  "ITJ,  or 
even  Aramaizing  forms  such  as  occur  in  ch.  vi.  27 ;  viii.  8 ;  xv.  7 ;  xxi.  23,  e^c),  prove  nothing 
definite  in  favor  of  a  later  origin,  for  such  peculiarities  are  of  general  occurrence  in  books  of 
a  highly  poetic  character,  as  e.  g.  in  Solomon's  Song,  in  the  Song  of  Deborah,  Judges  v. ; 
and  also  in  the  prophet  Amos,  although  these  books  must  not  for  that  reason  be  brought 
down  very  late  in  time.  Moreover,  Bernstein  (in  Keil  und  Tzschirner's  Analekten,  I.  3),  and 
others  have  advanced  statements  which  are  decidedly  exaggerated  in  respect  to  the  number 
of  the  Aramaisms  in  our  book ;  statements  which  are  equally  worthless  with  the  opinion, 
which  has  been  expressed  here  and  there  from  an  early  time,  that  the  book  in  its  present 
form  has  for  its  basis  an  Aramaic  text — an  opinion  which  the  apocryphal  appendix  to  the 
LXX.,  following  ch.  xlii.  17,  has  already  expressed :  ovto(;  ipfiTjvEv-eac  ek  rfjg  'Zvpianfjg  [iii^Xo^^  and 
which  has  been  still  further  advocated  by  Aben-Ezra,  Jurieu,  Carpzovius,  tlie  last  two  in 
connection  with  the  endeavor  to  discover  the  author  of  the  translation  into  Hebrew,  whom 
they  identify  either  with  Moses  (so  Carpz.),  or  with  Solomon  (so  Jurieu:  corap.  also  the  fol- 
lowing section  at  the  beginning). — If  the  linguistic  character  of  the  book  be  examined  for 
more  definite  data  in  support  of  conjectures  respecting  the  time  when  it  was  written,  the  cor- 
respondences with  the  vocabulary  and  usage  of  the  book  of  Proverbs  might  first  of  all  be 
considered;  as  e.  g.  ch.  xx.  18  (p^V)  with  Prov.  vii,  18;  ch.  v.  2  (HnS)  with  Prov.  xx.  19; 
ch.  xii.  5;  xxx.  24;  xxxi.  29  (T3)  with  Prov.  xxiv.  22;  ch.  xxxiii.  7  ('P^)  with  Prov.  xvi. 
26;  ch,  xxxvii.  12  (Piv^nn)  with  Prov.  i.  5;  xi.  14;  xii.  6,  and  often;  ch.  v.  4  ("to  be 

*  Comp.  the  remarks  of  Jul.  FUrst,  Geseft.  der  bihluchen  Literatur  und  des  judisch-heVenuittscken  SchH/llhwnn,  I.,  p.  37: 
"As  a  whole  it  (the  Hebrew  language)  shows  so  great  stability  and  unchangeableness,  such  a  stamp  of  uniformity,  that  after 
the  period  of  antiquity  no  rssential  modification  of  it,  such  as  is  found  in  the  Indo-European  langnaire,  can  be  recognized." 
And  a  little  further  on :  "  The  differences  in  the  three  periods  of  the  language  affect  at  most  its  coloring  .  .  .  not  the  e88ei>- 
tial  structure  of  the  language.    An  actual  progrees  of  the  language  is  accordingly  not  to  be  recognized." 


244  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  COOK  OF  JOB. 

crushed  in  the  gate ")  with  Prov.  xxii.  22 ;  ch.  xv.  16;  xxxiv.  7  ("to  drink  iniquity  like 
water")  with  Prov.  xxvi.  6;  similar  correspondences  in  expression  might  be  found  with 
many  of  the  Psalms  (comp.  Ps.  xxxix.  14  with  Job  ix.  27 ;  x.  20,  21 ;  Ps.  Iviii.  9  with  Job 
iii.  IG  ;  Ps.  Ixix.  33  with  Job  xxii.  19;  Ps.  ciii.  15,  16  with  Job  vii.  10 ;  xiv.  2) ;  also  corres- 
pondences with  the  Aramaisms  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  (comp.  the  Introd.  to  the  latter,  Vol. 
X.  of  this  Scries,  p.  14  seq.*).  From  these,  however,  it  would  be  scarcely  legitimate  to  infer 
more  than  the  fact  that  our  book  belongs  generally  to  the  age  of  David  and  Solomon,  or  at 
least  that  its  age  borders  on  that. 

The  inquiry  into  the  age  of  the  poet  receives  no  help  from  a  third  witness  of  an  external 
sort,  to  wit,  the  fact  that  in  the  well-known  passage  in  the  prophet  Ezekiel  (Ez.  xiv.  14,  28 ; 
comp.  ch.  xxviii.  3),  Job  is  mentioned  along  with  Noah  and  Daniel,  as  two  other  examples 
of  wisdom  and  piety.  For  this  mention  would  at  most  furnish  a  chronological  conjecture  in 
regard  to  the  hero  of  the  poem,  not  at  all  in  regard  to  the  poem  itself  and  its  author :  even  a 
post-exilic  authorship  of  this  poetic  version  of  the  story  of  Job  could  be  reconciled  with  Eze- 
kiel's  use  of  the  name,  which  moreover  does  not  convey  the  slightest  intimation  whether  the 
age  of  Job  was  nearer  to  that  of  Noah,  or  to  that  of  Daniel,  or  whether  it  should  be  located 
somewhere  in  the  middle  between  the  two. 

The  time  when  the  book  was  written  must  accordingly  be  determined,  in  the  absence 
of  other  authoritative  external  witnesses,  on  the  basis  of  probability  in  accordance  with  in- 
ternal tests.  Here  we  must  note,  first  of  all,  and  as  being  of  essential  importance,  the  Chok- 
ma-character  of  the  poem,  which  we  have  already  exhibited  in  the  preceding  section.  The 
opinion  that  our  poem  was  produced  during  the  bloom  of  the  Literature  of  Wisdom  in  Israel 
in  the  time  of  Solomon  is  made  probable  by  internal  evidences  of  the  most  weighty  charac- 
ter. It  is  to  be  preferred  to  the  two  theories  which  differ  from  it;  both  to  that  which  carries 
its  authorship  back  into  the  Mosaic,  or  even  the  pre-Mosaic  age,  and  to  that  which  brings  it 
down  near  the  time  of  the  exile,  or  even  into  the  post-exilic  age. 

1.  The  book  is  treated  as  older  than  the  epoch  of  David  and  Solomon,  as  belonging  in- 
deed to  the  Mosaic  age,  or  even  as  being  the  work  of  Hoses  himself,  who  composed  it  before 
the  giving  of  the  law  on  Sinai,  in  certain  passages  of  the  Talmud  {Sota  Jer.  V.  8;  £.  Bathra, 
15,  a),  by  several  of  the  Church  Fathers,  such  as  Origen,  Ephraem  Syrus,  Jerome,  Polychro- 
nius,  Julian  of  Halicarnassus ;  by  some  of  the  Rabbis,  such  as  Saadia,  Aben-Ezra,  Kimchi 
(comp.  Hottinger,  Thes.  Phil.,  p.  499;  "Wolf,  Bibl.  hebr.  II.,  p.  102);  among  later  authorities 
by  Huetius  [Demonstraiio  Ev.  IV.,  2,  p.  377),  J.  D.  Michaelis,  Jahn,  Hufnagel,  Friedlander, 
Stier  ( The  Words  of  the  Lord  Jesus),  Ebrard  {Das  Buch  Hiob  tibers.  und  erlautert  fur  Gebil- 
dete,  Landau,  1858),  Haneberg,  J.  Graber  [Die  Stellung  und  Bedentung  Hiobs  im  Allen  Tes- 
tament, Beweis  des  Glaubens,  Bd.  V.,  1869,  p.  433  seq.).  Mason,  Good,  Palfrey,  andothers  [and 
so  Wordsworth,  Dr.  Mill  (quoted  by  Wordsworth),  Elzas,  while  Canon  Cook  in  Smith's  Bib. 
Diet,  thinks  it  must  have  been  written  before  the  promulgation  of  the  law,  by  one  speaking 
the  Hebrew  language  (see  also  Introd.  to  Job  in  Bib.  Commentary,  p.  14  seq.;  Princeton  Re- 
view, Vol.  XXIX.,  argues  that  the  Mosaic  authorship  has  not  been  disproved;  Carey  thinks 
the  exact  time  cannot  be  determined,  but  assigns  to  it  a  very  ^reat  antiquity].  Akin  to  this 
is  the  view  of  Carpzovius  already  mentioned  [Introd.  in  libr.  canon.  V.  T  II.,  p.  45  seq.),  to 
wit,  that  Mqscs  translated  from  the  Aramaic  the  book  which  in  its  original  language  was  yet 
older  than  himself  [so  also  Ben  Zev;  see  Preface  to  Bernard's  Commentary,  p.  LXX.,  while 
according  to  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  Art.  "Job,"  it  was  "originally  framed  in 
Job's  age  (by  that  romance  style  of  composition  spontaneous  with  Orientals),  and  that  in  its 
Arabic  dress  it  was  gathered  by  Moses  from  the  lips  of  the  Midianitish  bards  during  his  resi- 
dence among  them;  that  it  was  first  composed  by  him  in  the  Hebrew  language,  but  not  re- 
duced to  its  present  complete  form  till  considerably  later,  perhaps  by  Solomon "] ;  also  the 
theory  that  the  book  had  a  pre-Mosaic  origin,  as  held  by  Ilgen,  Bertholdt,  Stuhlmann,  Eich- 
horn,  and  quite  lately  by  E.  von  Bunsen,  who  combines  with  it  the  singular  supposition  that 

*  In  respect,  to  the  lingiiistlc  affinity  of  our  book  to  the  writings  of  the  Solomonic  age,  and  particularly  the  ProTerbs, 
comp.  Michaelis  (EiWei'<«n(7  I,  92  seq.) ;  Gesenius  (Geschicbte  der  hebrUischen  Sprache  und  Schrift,  p.  33  seq.);  RosenmliUer 
[Scliol.,  p.  38) ;  Havernick  {Einleitung  III.  353  seq.) ;  also  Yaihinger  and  Ilahn  in  iheir  Commentaries. 


§  6.   THE  TIME  WHEN  THE  BOOK  WAS  WRITTEN.  245 


Job  is  identical  with  Melchizedek  {Die  Einheit  der  Religionen  im  Zusammenhang  mit  den 
Volkerwanderungen  der  Urzeit  und  der  Geheimlehre,  I.  Bd.,  Berlin,  1870,  p.  420  seq.).     [Here 
may  be  mentioned  the  opinion  of  those  who  think  Job  himself  was  the  author,  e.g.,  Schul- 
tens,  Lowth,  Peters,  Tomline,  Hales,  Home,  Magee,  Lee,  Barnes,  Croly.     Wemyss,  who  holds 
this  not  improbable,  adds,  as  his  own  conjecture,  the  name  of  Joseph.]     The  attempt  has 
been  made  to  represent  the  book  as  approximately  Mosaic,  as  belonging  at  least  to  the  period 
of  the  Judges,  by  the  K.  Eliezer  (according  to  Baba  Bathra  15,  and  Sola  Jer.  f.  20,  3),  and 
Philippus  Presbyter  (the  author  of  a  pseudo-Jeromean  Commentary  on  Job  in  Opp.  Hieron. 
ed.  Vail.  T.  III.,  App.  p.  895  seq.).     All  these  attempts  to  assign  to  the  book  an  exaggerated 
antiquity,  and  particularly  the  hypothesis  that  Moses  was  its  author,  in  favor  of  which  may 
at  least  be  urged  such  considerations  as  a  certain  similarity  in  many  of  the  descriptions  and 
reflections  of  the  book  to  Ps.  xc.  and  the  song  of  Moses  (Deut.  xxx.),  are  decisively  refuted  by 
the  following  arguments:    1.   The  reflective,  subjective,  and  artistically  perfect  character 
of  the  poem,  which  indicates  a  time  considerably  later  than  that  of  the  promulgation  of  the 
law.     2.  The  character  of  the  religious  problem  of  the  poem,  which,  even  if  it  be  treated  by 
the  poet  from  an  extra-theocratic  point  of  view,  pre-supposes  nevertheless  an  accurate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  theocracy — nay,  more,  a  profound  immersion  into  its  spirit.*     3.  The 
very  evident  familiarity  of  the  poet  with  doctrinal  rejjresentations,  which  belong  only  to  a 
stage  in  the  development  of  revealed  religion  which  was  conditioned  by  the  law,  and  which 
became  possible  on  the  basis  of  it,  such  as  the  idea  of  Wisdom  as  a  principle  of  the  Divine 
activity  in  governing  and  illuminating  the  world  (chap,  xxviii.),  and  the  representa  ion  of 
Sheol  as  a  gloomy,  prison-like  realm'  of  shadows  (chap.  iii.  17  seq.;  vii.  7  seq.;  xiv.  10  seq.; 
xvi.  21 ;  xvii.  6;  xxx.  23).     4.  The  frequent  references  to  conditions  and  relations,  which  pre- 
suppose a  more  advanced  culture  and  development  in  society  and  the  state,  than  the  simple, 
and,  so  to  speak,  elementary  conditions  of  the  Mosaic  age  (comp.  chap.  ix.  24;  xii.  17  seq.; 
XV.  28;  xxiv.  12;  xxix.  7;  xxxix.  7).     5.  Finally,  as  a  peculiarity  in  the  material  which 
points  definitely  to  the  period  of  the  first  kings,  the  double  mention  of  the  gold  of  Ophir 
chap.  xxii.  24;  xxviii.  16;  comp.  1  Kings  ix.  28;  x.  11). — In  view  of  such  manifest  traces 
of  a  later  age,  the  assignment  of  the  poem  to  the  Mosaic,  or  to  the  pre-Mosaic  age,  or  to  the 
age  immediately  following  Moses,  seems  to  be  in  the  highest  degree  improbable;  and  Herder 
is  right  when,  in  express  opposition  to  its  Mosaic  authorship,  he  says:  "The  poet  of  the  book 
of  Job  is  certainly  not  Moses;  we  might  just  as  well  say  that  Solon  wrote  the  Iliad,  and  the 
Eumenides  of -.Eschylus  I"     [Oeist  der  Ebr.  Foesie,  1805,  I.,  p.  130). 

II.  Following  some  of  the  ancient  Rabbis,  such  as  R.  Eleazer  and  R.  Jochanan  {B.  Bathra 
and  Soia  Jer.  1.  c),  a  number  of  modern  exegetes  and  critics  have  assigned  the  poem  to  an 
age  considerably  later  than  that  of  the  literature  of  David  and  Solomon;  such  as  Ph.  Codur- 
cus  {Annotationes  in  Jobum,  1651),  who  regards  it  as  having  been  composed  by  Isaiah  in  the 
eighth  century;  Rosenm.  (Schol.  ed.  2),  Stickel,  Ewald,  Heiligstedt,  Bottcher,  Magnus,  Bleek, 
Davidson,  Herbst  and  De  Wette  (in  their  Introductions),  Renan,  Dillmann  [Merx],  N61- 
decke  {Die  Alttestamental  Literatur.,  1868,  p.  191),  Fiirst  (Gesch.,  der  bibl.  Literal.  II.,  424  seq), 
and  several  others,  who  assign  it  to  the  first  half  of  the  seventh  century,  or  the  age  immedi- 
ately following  that  of  Isaiah  [Noyes,  and  Rodwell,  without  specifying  more  closely,  place 
it  between  the  Solomonic  age  and  that  of  the  exile] ;  Hirzel,  who  (p.  10  of  his  Commentary) 
thinks  it  was  not  composed  till  the  end  of  the  seventh  century,  after  the  deportation  of  king 
Jehoahaz,  in  the  year  608,  and  that  it  was  written  in  Egypt ;  Garnett,  Bernstein,  Umbreit, 
Arnheim,  who  assign  it  to  the  period  of  the  Babylonish  exile ;  and  Grotius,  v.  d.  Hardt,  Le 
Clerc,  Warburton,  Heath  {Essay  towards  a  new  English  version  of  the  Book  of  Job,  1755), 
Gesenius,  Vatke,  Koster,  Br.  Bauer,  E.  Meier  (in  Baur  and  Zeller's  Theolog.  Jahrbh.,  1846, 
p.  129  seq.),  Zunz,  Bunsen,  etc.,  who  look  on  the  post-exilic  epoch,  and  in  particular  the  5th 

*  Comp.  HaUn,  p.  2.5:  "Since  the  contents  of  our  book  are  profoundly  related  to  the  internal  development  of  the  theo- 
cracy, while  the  idea  of  the  connection  between  sin  and  sufTering,  which  is  objectively  advanced  by  Mosea  in  a  form  that  i.s 
altogether  general,  meets  us  here  not  in  this  general  form,  nor  in  that  one-sided  conception  of  it  which  is  most  nearly  re- 
lated to  it,  but  in  a  new  and  broader  interpretation,  which  involves  an  advance  beyond  the  original  form,  the  book  cannot 
be  regarded  as  having  been  produced  before  Moses,  nor  by  Moses,  but  in  a  much  later  period." 


246  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

Cent.  B.  C,  as  the  t^iue  when  it  was  composed.  The  two  latter  modifications  of  this  view 
represent  the  extreme  limit  of  the  efforts  which  have  been  made  to  bring  down  the  age  of  the 
book.  They  depend  on  the  idea  already  repudiated  in  §  4  under  A,  according  to  which  Job 
is  a  personification,  or  at  least  a  type  or  image  of  the  people  of  Israel  suffering  in  exile. 
They  stand  or  fall  substantially  with  this  allegoristic  interpretation,  of  which  Delitzsch  says 
truly  that  "it  is  about  the  same  as  the  view  that  the  guilty  Pericles  may  be  intended  by  king 
Oedipus,  or  the  Sophists  by  the  Odysseus  of  the  Philoctetes."  And  the  other  arguments 
urged  in  favor  of  the  exilic  or  the  post-exilic  origin  of  the  poem  by  such  critics  as  do  not  ad- 
here to  this  allegoristic  theory,  or  at  least  are  not  strenuous  in  upholding  it,  have  no  particu- 
lar weight.  The  assumed  Aramaistic  character  of  the  language  is,  as  has  been  already  shown, 
to  be  accredited  simply  and  solely  to  the  poetic  contents  and  dress  of  the  book,  and  proves 
nothing  therefore  in  favor  of  the  period  of  the  exile.  Just  as  little  do  the  representations 
which  the  book  gives  of  Satan  and  of  the  angels  prove  this;  for  there  is  no  historical  ground 
whatever  for  referring  these  to  Chaldee  or  Persian  influences.  The  theory  under  considera- 
tion is,  however,  decisively  disproved  by  the  fact  that  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  who  lived  and 
prophesied  towards  the  end  of  the  seventh  century,  must  have  known  our  book  and  made  use 
of  it  (comjx  chap.  iii.  3-10  with  Jer.  xx.  14-18;  chap.  xix.  24  Avith  Jer.  xvii.  1;  chap.  xxi. 
19  with  Jer.  xxxi.  29;  also  chap.  xix.  8  with  Lam.  iii.  7,  9;  chap.  xii.  4;  xvii.  6 ;  xxx.  1  with 
Lam.  ii.  15).  Far  more  weight  should  be  assigned  to  these  correspondences  with  Jeremiah, 
especially  seeing  that  Jeremiah  is  obviously  the  copyist,  the  book  of  Job  being  the  original, 
tlian  to  the  twofold  mention  of  Job  by  Ezekiel  (comp.  above) ;  or  to  the  correspond- 
ences, which  are  ixx  less  certain  and  indisputable,  between  this  book  and  the  second  part  of 
Isaiah  (comp.  chap.  xxi.  22  with  Isa.  xl.  14;  chap.  xii.  24  with  Isa.  xl.  23;  chap.  xii.  17,  20 
with  Isa.  xliv.  25;  chap.  ix.  8;  xxxviii.  4  with  Isa.  xliv.  24;  chap.  xv.  35  with  Isa.  lix.  4). 
This  undeniable  dependence  of  Jeremiah  on  the  author  of  this  book  is  at  the  same  time  de- 
cisive also  against  the  opinion  of  Hirzel  that  our  book  was  produced  in  the  age  immediately 
before  the  exile,  say  under  Jehoahaz;  an  opinion  which  is  still  further  refuted  by  the  fact 
that  the  passage  in  chap.  xv.  18  seq.  describes  not  at  all  the  invasion  of  Palestine  by  foreign 
oriental  nationalities,  but  rather  foreign  incursions  over-running  the  original  inhabitants  of 
Edom  or  Teman  (the  country  of  Eliphaz).  And  so  in  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  refer- 
ences to  the  condition  of  the  Israelitish  people  and  kingdom  as  one  of  confusion  and  incipi- 
ent ruin,  which  not  only  Hirzel,  but  De  Wette,  Stickel,  Ewald,  and  others  find  in  the  book, 
are  without  any  foundation  in  fact,  and  can  by  no  means  be  supported  by  such  passages  as 
chap.  ix.  24;  xii.  6,  14  seq.;  xxi.  7,  16  seq.;  xxiv.  1  seq.  (comp.  the  exegetical  remarks). 

There  remains  only  that  modification  of  the  opinion  that  the  book  has  a  post-Solomonic 
origin,  which  conjectures  its  date  as  being  the  first  half  of  the  seventh  century,  or  the  age  of 
Manasseh  (696-643),  and  which  has  been  defended  with  particular  acuteness  by  Ewald,  Dill- 
mann,  Fiirst,  Davidson,  Schrader,  etc.  It  is  the  most  plausible  of  the  theories  advanced  by 
modern  criticism  regarding  the  age  of  the  book ;  at  the  same  time  there  is  much  which  ar- 
gues against  it,  and  which  points  to  an  earlier  period: 

a.  Already  does  Isaiah  even,  in  several  passages,  and  especially  in  chap,  xix.,  show  fa-  , 
miliarity  with  the  book  of  Job  (comp.  in  particular  Isa.  xix.  5  with  Job  xiv.  11;  Isa.  xix. 
13,  14  with  Job  xii.  24 seq.);  nay,  the  book  of  Amos,  which  is  considerably  older  yet,  exhi- 
bits several  allusions  to  this  book,  which  lead  us  to  regard  it  as  older  than  that  (comp.  Amos 
iv.  13  with  Job  ix.  8;  Amos  v.  8  with  Job  ix.  9;  xxxviii.  31 ;  Amos  ix.  6  with  Job  xii.  9;  and 
see  Vaihinger  in  the  Stud,  und  Krit.,  1846,  I.,  p.  146  seq.;  also  Schlottmann,  p.  109).  The 
opinion  that,  on  the  contrary,  these  passages  in  the  prophetic  books  are  older  than  the  cor- 
responding passages  in  our  poem  (an  opinion  which,  e.g.,  Volck  [De  summa  carm.  Job  sen- 
ientia]  has  advanced  in  respect  to  those  passages  in  Isaiah),  is  in  most  cases  improbable,  and 
in  some  absolutely  untenable.     Comp.  below  on  chap.  xiv.  11. 

b.  The  verbal  correspondences  already  noted  between  this  book  and  that  of  Proverbs  in- 
dicate that  in  all  probability  the  book  was  composed  in  the  Solomonic  age,  or  at  least  not  far 
from  the  same ;  and  this  conclusion  is  rendered  all  the  more  certain  by  the  fact  that  those 
correspondences  occur  only  to  a  limited  extent  with  the  introductory  chapters  (1-9)  of  the 


§  6.    THE  TIME  WHEN  THE  BOOK  WAS  WRITTEN.  217 

Book  of  Proverbs  (which  chapters  properly  belong  to  the  ago  immediately  following  Heze- 
kiah;  see  Vol.  X.  of  this  Series,  Introd.,  p.  26seq.),  the  great  majority  of  them  being  related 
to  the  old  Solomonic  nucleus  of  the  collection,  chap.  x. — xxii. 

c.  Several  more  definite  corrospondcnces  of  thought  and  expression,  which  occur  between 
this  book  and  that  of  Proverbs  (both  in  its  older  and  its  later  divisions),  cause  the  priority 
of  Job  to  seem  more  probable  and  natural.  Comp.  chap.  xv.  7  with  Prov.  viii.  25 ;  chap, 
xxi.  17  with  Prov.  xiii.  9;  xx.  20;  xxiv.  20;  chap,  xxviii.  18  with  Prov.  iii.  15.  Here  it  is 
of  particular  importance  to  consider  the  relation  of  Wisdom  in  chap,  xxviii.  of  our  book  to 
the  descriptions  of  the  same  Divine  Principle  in  the  government  of  the  world  and  in  revela- 
tion given  in  chapters  iii.,  viii.,  and  ix.  of  Proverbs;  a  relation  which  clearly  exhibits  a  course 
of  development  as  obtaining  between  the  two  representations,  a  progress  from  the  less  deve- 
loped idea  of  the  Chokmah  in  Job  to  its  more  full  doctrinal  unfolding  in  the  introductory 
part  of  the  book  of  Proverbs,  and  which  accordingly  proves  the  age  of  the  earlier  book  to  be 
that  of  Solomon,  or  at  least  the  age  immediately  following. 

d.  That  the  traces  of  serious  doubt  respecting  the  retributive  justice  of  God,  which  our 
book  exhibits,  are  of  necessity  to  be  regarded  as  signs  of  a  post-Solomonic  origin,  "  of  its 
origin  even  in  the  time  of  the  later  kings,"  is  an  unproved  assumption,  which  has  been  ad- 
vanced by  Ewald,  Dillmann,  and  several  others,  and  which  involves  a,  peiiiio  princ'qyii,  resting 
on  no  objective  fact.  In  this  respect  it  resembles  the  similar  proposition  which  has  been  ad- 
vanced touching  the  poetic  form  of  the  book,  to  wit,  that  as  a  specimen  of  religious-didactic 
poetry,  it  must  be  of  necessity  considerably  later  than  the  "dramatizing  popular  poetry"  of 
the  Canticles,  it  "presupposes  a  longer  practice  of  the  religious  lyric  art,  and  of  proverbial 
poetry,  and  cannot  accordingly  be  placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  same"  (Billmann, 
p.  XXVI.). 

e.  The  descriptions  already  referred  to  in  chapters  ix.,  xii.,  xxi.,  and  xxiv.  (particularly  in 
chap.  xii.  14  seq.,  xxi.  16  seq.;  and  xxiv.  1  seq  )  by  no  means  prove,  as  is  often  assumed,  that 
grievous  catastrophes,  such  as  destructive  raids  by  powerful  hostile  armies,  deportations  of 
entire  masses  of  men,  etc.,  are  assumed  as  having  already  overtaken  Israel,  and  that  accord- 
ingly the  poem  must  have  been  composed  after  the  Assyrian  invasions  in  the  eighth  century 
before  Christ.  For  in  the  history  of  the  nations  of  Western  Asia  catastrophes  of  that  sort 
are  in  general  "as  old  as  the  traditions  of  history"  (think  of  Chedor-laomer,  of  Sesostris,  of 
Shishak,  1  Kings  xiv.  25  seq.),  and  the  supposition  that  those  passages  necessarily  referred  to 
the  country  and  the  nation  of  the  Israelites  is  unfounded,  and  in  fact  is  altogether  irrecon- 
cilable with  the  geographical  territory  contemplated  in  the  book,  which  is  predominantly 
that  of  the  Idumean  Arabia.  "The  assumption  that  a  book  which  sets  forth  such  a  fearful 
conflict  in  the  abyss  of  affliction,  as  the  book  of  Job,  must  have  sprung  from  a  time  of  gloomy 
national  distress,  is  untenable.  It  is  sufficient  to  suppose  that  the  writer  himself  has  expe- 
rienced the  like,  and  experienced  it  at  a  time  when  all  around  him  were  living  in  great 
luxury,  which  must  have  greatly  aggravated  his  trial "  (Delitzsch,  I.,  p.  20). 

/.  ,It  is  still  further  an  arbitrary  assumption  to  say  that  "  the  contest  of  principles  between 
the  two  parties,  the  pious  and  the  unbelieving,"  as  the  same  is  described  in  chap.  xvii.  8,  and 
chap.  xxii.  19  is  of  necessity  to  be  taken  as  indicating  a  later  age.  This  view  is  just  as  desti- 
tute of  any  certain  external  support,  as  the  theory,  pressed  into  its  support,  that  those  Psalms, 
which  contain  allusions  to  similar  party-contests  (comp.,  e.  g.,  Ps.  xxxix.  14  [13]  with  Job 
ix.  27;  X.  20;  Ps.  Iviii.  9  [8]  with  Job  iii.  16 ;  Ps.  Ixix.  33  with  Job  xxii.  19,  etc.),  were  com- 
posed after  the  time  of  David,  or  even  near  the  time  of  the  exile.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  other  supposed  indications  of  the  time  of  the  later  kings,  on  which  Dillmann  lays 
stress,  I.  c,  to  wit,  "  star- worship,  with  its  seductive  influence,"  the  mention  of  which  in  ch. 
xxxi.  26  seq.,  it  is  said,  points  expressly  to  the  times  of  Ahaz,  and  still  more  of  Manasseh 
(as  though  even  in  the  pre-Mosaic  and  the  Mosaic  age  this  kind  of  idolatry  was  not  known, 
and  warnings  uttered  against  it;  comp.  above,  ?  2) ;  also  the  fact  that  a  written  pro- 
cess and  a  written  judgment  are  presupposed  injudicial  cases  in  chap.  xiii.  26;  xxxi.  35  seq. 
(as  though  the  O'^SD  in  the  royal  court  of  David  were  not  already  accustomed  to  complete 
written  procedures  in  administrative,  and  certainly  also  in  judicial,  matters !). 


248  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

III.  The  reasons  above  given  are  predominantly  negative  and  indirect,  designed  to 
weaken  the  force  of  the  objections  to  the  opinion  that  the  book  of  Job  proceeds  from  the  So- 
lomonic age.  The  following  are  the  positive  arguments  in  favor  of  this  opinion,  which  has 
been  maintained  by  R.  Nathan  {B.  Bathra,  f.  15 ;  Sota  Jer.  20,  3),  by  Gregory  of  Nazianzen 
[Or.  IX.),  Luther,  Spanheim,  Harduin,  Doderlein,  Staudlin,  Richter  [De  state  I.  Job  defi- 
nienda,  1799,  |11),  Augusti,  Havernick,  Keil,  Oehler,  Welte,  Vaihinger,  Schlottrrann,  Hahn, 
Delitzsch,  etc.  [so  also  A.  B.  Davidson,  Hengstenberg,  while  Stanley,  Hist,  of  the  Jewish 
Church,  Lecture  XXVIIL,  regards  its  "derivation  from  the  age  of  Solomon"  as  very 
evident]. 

g.  The  double  mention  of  the  gold  of  Ophir  (see  above,  No.  I.,  5)  which  is  most  easily 
explained  by  supposing  that  the  poets  in  their  figurative  language  would  most  naturally  make 
xise  of  this  costly  natural  product  of  the  Oriental  world  of  wonders  just  at  the  time  when  it 
was  first  brought  in  considerable  quantities  to  the  Shemitic  countries  of  Western  Asia  (comp. 
alsoPs.  xlv.  10  [9]). 

h.  The  mention  of  so  many  other  notable  natural  objects,  costly  articles,  rare  and  splen- 
did jewels,  etc.;  the  description  of  which  is  characterized  by  an  exuberant  abundance  of  ob- 
servations in  the  natural  worldj  and  of  indications  showing  that  sense  and  spirit  were  satiated 
with  the  enjoyment  of  life,  a  warm,  agreeable  fullness  of  life,  such  as  was  quite  peculiar  to 
the  time  of  Solomon,  and  which,  outside  of  our  poem,  is  especially  apparent  in  the  Canti- 
cles, whose  observations  of  the  world  exhibit  a  cosmopolitan  wealth  of  material,  and  whose 
coloring  in  the  domain  of  natural  description  is  glowing  and  splendid.  Comp.  the  rare  ani- 
mals and  the  other  natural  wonders  described  in  chap.  xxx.  29,  and  chap,  xxxix.  1 3 — chap, 
xli.;  also  the  mention  of  pearls  (corals)  and  other  costly  treasures  in  chap,  xxviii.;  and  with 
these  comp.  such  passages  as  Cant.  iii.  9;  iv.  3,  13;  vi.  7;  vii.  2seq.;  also  Prov.  iii.  15;  viii. 
11 ;  XX.  15;  xxxi.  10;  1  Kings  v.  13;  vii.l3seq.;  x.  11  seq.  (see  Introd.  to  Song  of  Solomon, 
Vol.  X.  of  this  Series,  p.  13,  and  also  p.  384  of  this  volume). 

i.  The  many  correspondences  found  especially  in  the  eschaiological  representations  of  our 
book,  and  especially  in  its  utterances  concerning  the  conditions  of  men  after  death,  and  to 
the  realm  of  shadows  (/INty),  with  that  which  the  Proverbs,  and  many  of  the  Psalms  be- 
longing to  the  best  period,  teach  in  respect  to  these  points  (comp.  {''^P*?,  abyss,  in  the  sense  of 
ViNty,  Prov.  XV.  11,  and  Job  xxvi.  6;  xxviii.  22;  and  also  the  many  correspondences  of  our 
book  with  the  Lamentation-Psalms  of  theEzrahites,  Hemanand  Ethan,  Ps.  Ixxxviii.,  Ixxxix., 
especially  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  5  with  Job  xiv.  6  ;  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  9  [8]  with  Job  xxx.  10  ;  Ps.  Ixxxix. 
8  [7]  with  Job  xxxi.  34;  Ps.  Ixxxix.  48  [47]  with  Job  vii.  7;  Ps.  Ixxxix.  49  [48]  with  Job 
xiv.  14) :  -in  short  its  agreement  with  the  eschatology  of  the  time  of  David  and  Solomon 
(comp.  above,  p.  247),  which,  along  with  that  which  has  been  remarked  repeatedly  in  respect 
to  its  essential  harmony  with  the  doctrine  of  God  and  the  doctrine  of  Wisdom,  constitutes 
a  consideration  of  no  small  weight. 

k.  Finally,  the  classic,  magnificent  form  of  the  poem  as  a  work  of  art  [^  3),  which  in  the 
eyes  of  every  unprf  judiced  observer  gives  to  it  a  position  immediately  alongside  of  the  Canti- 
cles, the  Solomonic  nucleus  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  and  the  best  and  oldest  portions  of  the 
Book  of  Psalms,  even  though  by  this  course  we  multiply  the  classical  products  of  the  literary 
epoch  represented  by  David  and  Solomon  to  a  degree  which  is  astonishing,  or  even  almost  in- 
credible.* If  any  concession  be  made  to  one  of  the  weightiest  arguments  by  which  the  post- 
Solomonic  authorship  is  sustained,  the  frequent  reference  to  great  public  calamities,  and 
severe  national  afiiictions  (see  under  e),  we  might  come  down  to  the  age  immediately  follow- 
ing that  of  Solomon,  or  we  might  say  with  the  editor  of  this  Series  (Vol.  I.,  Introd.  to  the 
Old  Testament,  p.  85  seq.) :  "The  origin  of  the  book  belongs  to  the  time  when  the  glory  of 

*  Comp.  Dpiitzsch,  I.,  p.  21 :  "  The  book  bears  thronghont  the  creative  stamp  of  that  opening  period  of  the  Chokmah, 
^-of  that  Solomonic  age  of  knowledge  and  art,  of  deeper  thought  respecting  revealed  religion,  and  of  intelligent  progressive 
culture  of  the  traditional  forms  of  art, — that  unprecedented  age,  in  which  the  literature  corresponded  to  the  summit  of 
glorious  magnificence  to  which  the  kingdom  of  the  promise  had  then  attained  ...  a  time  when  the  chasm  between  Israel 
and  the  nations  was  more  than  ever  bridged  over  ...  a  time  introductory  to  the  extension  of  redemption,  and  the  triumph 
of  the  religion  of  Israel,  and  the  union  of  all  nations  in  faith  in  the  God  of  love." 


27.   NATIONALITY  AND  HOME  OF  THE  POET.  249 


Solomon  was  on  the  decline."  In  the  main  however  we  must  rest  satisfied  with  the  view 
that  the  book,  both  as  to  its  character  and  its  age,  belongs  to  the  group  of  Solomonic  poems 
of  Wisdom,  and  Luther's  judgment  in  the  Table-Talk  is  anything  but  a  blunder;  on  the 
contrary  it  substantially  hits  the  nail  on  the  head :  "It  is  possible  and  supposable  that 
Solomon  composed  and  wrote  this  book,  for  we  find  just  his  way  of  speaking  in  the  Book  of 
Job  as  in  bis  other  books.  Fhrasis  non  multum  est  dissimilis.  The  story  of  Job  is  old,  and 
was  quite  familiar  to  everybody  in  Solomon's  time,  and  he  undertook  to  describe  it,  as  though 
I  should  undertake  to  describe  the  stories  of  Joseph  or  Rebecca." 

I  7.    NATIONALITY  AND  HOME  OF  THE  POET. 

The  country  and  home  of  the  author  of  our  poem  has  been  treated  in  much  the  same  way 
as  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Many  one-sided  and  untenable  conjectures  have  been  advanced 
which  require  to  be  refuted,  or,  at  least,  reduced  to  their  proper  value. 

The  same  confusion  which  has  produced  the  attempt  to  identify  the  age  of  the  poet  with 
that  of  Job  has  also  largely  prevailed  in  respect  to  the  place  where  the  one  and  the  other 
lived.  According  as  the  land  of  Uz  has  been  assigned  to  the  territory  of  Aramaic  Syria,  or 
Arabia,  or  Idumea,  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  represent  our  book  as  an  extra- Palestinian 
production,  as  to  its  language,  its  conception,  and  its  entire  origin.  Its  authorship  has  been 
variously  referred  to  Syria  (the  LXX.,  the  Pseudo-Origen's  Comm.  in  Job,  Aben  Ezra),  to 
Arabia  (Spanheim,  Vitringa,  Witsius,  Job.  Gerhard,  Calovius,  also  Kromayer :  Filia  rnatri 
obstetricans  h.  e.  de  usu  linguw  arab.  in  addiscenda  ebrxa,  p.  72),  or  to  Edomitis  (Herder,  II- 
gen),  or  to  a  Nahorite,  i.e.,  a  Mesopotamian  (Niemeyer,  Charakteristik der Bibel, II., 480 seq.). 
Perceiving  the  extravagance  of  these  hypotheses,  Bertholdt  and  Eichhorn  limited  themselves 
to  the  assumption  that  the  author  was  an  Israelite,  sojourning  in  Idumea  or  Arabia — an  opi- 
nion against  which  it  has  been  correctly  observed  that  it  "results  from  confounding  the  scene 
of  the  book  with  the  author's  standpoint,  which  is  wholly  independent  of  the  same"  (Hahn, 
p.  22).  A  bolder  conjecture,  and  yet,  in  view  of  certain  remarkable  peculiarities,  a  more 
plausible  one,  is  that  of  Hitzig  {Komment.  zu  Jesaia,  1813,  p.  285),  and  of  Hirzel  {Komment., 
p.  12),  that  the  book  was  written  in  Egypt,  that  is  to  say,  by  a  Hebrew  living  in  Egypt. 
Hirzel,  in  particular,  finds  reasons  for  this  opinion  in  various  traces  of  a  familiar  acquaint- 
ance on  the  part  of  the  poet  with  Egyptian  objects,  an  acquaintance  which  is  presumed  to 
have  been  founded  on  his  own  observation.  Among  these  he  names  the  description  of  mining 
in  chap,  xxviii.  1-11,  which,  as  he  claims,  indicates  personal  knowledge  of  the  gold  mines 
of  Egypt  (Diodorus  III.  12;  Josephus,  De  bello  Jud.  VI.  912) ;  acquaintance  with  the  Nile, 
as  shown  in  chap.  vii.  12;  viii.  11-13;  ix.  26;  the  mention  of  mausoleums  in  chap.  iii.  14; 
the  reference  to  the  Egyptian  process  in  judicial  cases  in  chap.  xxxi.  35 ;  the  allusion  to  the 
phenix  in  chap.  xxix.  18;  and  finally  the  description  of  the  war-horse  in  chap,  xxxix.  19seq., 
and  of  the  still  more  specifically  Egyptian  animal  prodigies,  the  hippopotamus  and  the  cro- 
codile in  chap.  xl.  and  xli.  These  reasons,  however,  will  be  found  inconclusive.  Either  they 
rest  on  a  false  or  doubtful  exegesis,  or  they  prove  only  so  much  familiarity  with  Egypt  as 
might  have  been  acquired  by  traveling  in  that  land,  or  even  by  mere  hearsay. 

a.  There  is  no  foundation  whatever  for  referring  the  passage  in  ch.  vii.  12  to  the  Nile, 
the  passage  in  ch.  xxxi.  35  to  the  judicial  processes  of  the  Egyptians  (comp.  what  is  said 
above  in  the  preceding  section,  under  II.),  or  the  passage  in  chap,  xxxix.  19  seq.  speci- 
fically to  the  Egyptian  war-horse.  As  though  the  use  of  cavalry  and  the  breeding  of  horses 
were  not  abundantly  practised  in  Palestine,  especially  after  the  time  of  Solomon  (comp.  1 
Kings  V.  6  seq.  [iv.  26  seq.] ;  ix.  19 ;  x.  28)  I 

b.  It  is  questionable  whether  by  the  mausoleums  or  "ruins"  (^"I^"J^)  ^^  ^^-  '"•  ^'^'  *^® 
author  had  particularly  in  mind  Egyptian  mausoleums,  for  instance  the  pyramids,  seeing 
that  Palestine  might  easily  have  made  him  acquainted  with  structures  of  that  kind  (comp. 
Is.  xxii  15  seq. ;  Josephus,  De  B.  Jud.  I.  2,  5),  and  seeing  that  the  exegesis  of  the  passage 
is  very  uncertain  (see  on  the  verse).  In  like  manner  it  is  exceedingly  questionable  whether 
his  description  of  mining  in  ch.  xxviii.  is  necessarily  derived  from  the  Egyptian  gold-diggings. 


250  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

For,  in  the  first  place,  hi3  description  by  no  means  refers  exclusively  to  the  mining  of  gold, 
but  includes  just  as  much  the  mining  of  silver,  iron  and  copper  (see  ver.  2  seq.),  and  also  the 
mining  of  precious  stones,  among  which  he  expressly  mentions  the  sapphire.  In  the  next 
place,  the  comprehensiveness  of  his  acquaintance  with  mining  operations  makes  it  more  pro- 
bable that  he  had  in  mind  the  iron,  gold,  lead  and  copper  mines  of  Idumea  and  Arabia,  as 
well  as  the  sapphire  veins  of  the  last  meutioned  country,  the  existence  of  which  is  attested  by 
antiquity,  provided,  that  is,  that  the  source  of  his  knowledge  is  to  be  looked  for  in  any  foreign 
mines.  For  it  is  certainly  not  easy  to  see  why  the  business  of  mining  should  not  have  been 
carried  on  within  the  limits  of  Palestine  itself,  at  least  from  the  time  of  the  first  kings,  and 
indeed  from  the  age  of  Moses,  in  view  of  such  direct  testimony  as  is  furnished  by  Deut.  viii. 
9 ;  xxxiii.  25  ;  as  well  as  of  such  figures  and  poetic  similes  as  are  found  in  Prov.  xvii.  3 ;  xxvi. 
23;  xxvii.  21;  Isa.  i.  22;  Ezek.  xxii.  18;  Mai.  iii.  3,  etc.  Comp.  Kobinson's  Physical  Geo- 
graphy of  the  Holy  Land,  pp.  340,  373;  v.  Rougemont,  Die  Bronzezeit,  etc.  (1869),  p.  87. 
And  finally,  it  is  just  as  doubtful  whether  the  mention  of  the  phenix  in  chap.  xxix.  18  (ad- 
mitting that  ^in  there  really  has  that  meaning,  and  should  not  rather  be  rendered  "sand"), 
must  of  necessity  be  understood  and  explained  in  accordance  ^ith  the  Egyptian  legend  of  the 
phenix,  seeing  that  the  legend  of  this  bird  is  rather  to  be  regarded  as  the  common  property 
of  the  orbis  orientalis,  and  may  in  particular  be  attributed  to  the  Arabians  as  a  part  of  their 
primitive  heritage ;  comp.  Herodot.  II.  73 ;  Tacit.  Ann.  VI.  28 ;  Clemens  Rom.,  1  Cor,  chap. 
XXV.,  etc.;  also  Henrichsen,  De  Phcenicis  fabula  apud  Grsbcos,  Romanos  et  populos  orientales, 
Part  I.,  II.,  Havniae,  1825,  1827;  Piper,  Mythologie  dcr  christl.  Kunst,  1847,  I.  446  seq. 

c.  The  passages  (chap.  viii.  11  seq.)  which  describe  the  papyrus-shrub  (which  is  to  be 
found  predominantly  indeed  along  the  Nile,  but  which,  according  to  Theophrastus,  Hist, 
plant.  4,  9,  grows  also  in  Palestine),  and  the  papyrus-boat  (chap.  ix.  26),  furnish  no  sufficient 
demonstration  that  the  author  lived  in  Egypt.  They  are  rather  to  be  explained  by  supposing 
simply  that  he  became  acquainted  with  these  objects  through  travel,  or  indirectly  through 
oral  tradition.  Even  Isaiah  recognizes  the  papyrus-boats,  although  he  had  never  himself 
seen  Egypt  or  the  Nile !  Moreover,  the  descriptions  of  the  hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile, 
contained  in  Jehovah's  discourses,  do  not  by  any  means  unqualifiedly  require  us  to  suppose 
on  the  part  of  the  poet  the  accurate  knowledge  of  an  eye-witness.  Eather  do  they  seem,  "  not 
only  by  their  ideal  cast,  but  also  by  the  inaccuracies  which  have  slipped  into  them,  to  betray 
an  author  who  possibly  knew  the  animals  referred  to  only  through  what  he  had  heard  con- 
cerning them.  For  which  reason  the  opinion  of  Eichhorn,  Ewald,  Dillmann,  and  Simson — an 
opinion  which  is,  in  other  respects,  without  sufficient  critical  foundation — that  these  descrip- 
tions, constituting  the  whole  section  embraced  in  chap.  xl.  15 — xli.  26  [34],  were  written  by 
a  Jew,  who,  about  the  beginning  of  the  6th  century,  travelled  to  Egypt,  and  lived  there, 
seems  superfluous.  Comp.  §9,  II.,  and  also  the  exposition  of  the  particular  section  re- 
ferred to. 

The  positive  proof  that  Palestine  was  the  author's  country  and  home,  lies,  first  of  all,  on 
the  external  side,  in  the  fact  that,  in  the  section  just  mentioned,  describing  behemoth  and 
leviathan,  the  Jordan  is  introduced  as  an  example  of  a  great  river  (see  chap.  xl.  23) ;  on  the 
internal  side,  in  the  unmistakable  fact  that  as  respects  his  whole  manner  of  thought  and  per- 
ception the  author  stood  in  intimate  relationship  to  the  consciousness  and  life  of  the  theo- 
cracy, which  could  scarcely  have  been  the  case  had  he  lived  outside  the  national  territory  of 
the  theocratic  commonwealth,  and  at  a  distance  from  its  sanctuary.  Through  travel  in  fo- 
reign lands,  perhaps  in  Egypt,  Arabia,  Syria,  and  especially  in  Idumea  and  the  regions  im- 
mediately adjacent,  in  which  the  principal  theatre  of  his  narrative  lies,  he  might  at  any  time 
have  acquired  the  information  which  he  exhibits  respecting  the  peculiarities  of  those  lands 
outside  of  Palestine.  In  the  main,  however,  the  comprehensive  knowledge,  and  the  vast 
wealth  of  vivid  natural  observations,  of  which  his  poem  gives  evidence,  are  to  be  explained 
by  the  universal  cosmopolitanism  of  his  intellectual  tendencies,  and  by  the  extent  and  solidity 
of  his  entire  culture,  which  in  a  sage  of  the  Solomonic  age  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  The 
abundance  of  the  "secular  knowledge"  deposited  in  the  book  appears  essentially  as  "the  re- 
sult of  the  wide  circle  of  observation  which  Israel  had  reached  in  the  time  of  Solomon  "  (De- 


2  7.    NATIONALITY  AND  HOME  OP  THE  POET.  251 

litzsch).  And  there  is  no  really  unanswerable  argument  to  show  that  this  sage,  highly  cul- 
tivated and  richly  endowed,  like  Solomon  himself  (comp.  1  Kings  iv.  30seq.;  v.  lOseq.),  of 
necessity  lived  far  from  Solomon's  court,  and  from  what  were  in  that  age  the  central  points 
of  the  theocratic  national  life  of  Israel,  and  that  we  must  look  to  the  remote  south,  or  south- 
east of  that  famed  land,  the  region  bordering  on  Idumea,  for  his  place  of  residence.  When 
Stickel,  Vaihinger  [Stud,  und  A'H^,  1846,  I.,  178seq.),  Bottcher  [Lehrbuch  der  hebrdlsohen 
Sprache,  I  29  and  86),  and  Dillmann  present  arguments  to  establish  the  probability  that  he 
lived  in  Southern  Palestine,  derived  from  the  language  and  from  other  sources,  not  one 
of  these  arguments  is  of  sufficient  weight  to  prove  more  than  the  bare  possibility  of  this  hy- 
pothesis.    For — 

(1)  The  statement  that  the  book  "exhibits  so  many  Aramaic  and  Arabic  peculiarities  of 
diction,"  as  to  indicate  that  the  author's  home  bordered  on  the  territory  where  the  Aramaic 
and  Arabian  languages  were  spoken,  must  be  adjudged  to  be  exceedingly  precarious,  after 
what  we  have  said  above  in  the  preceding  section  in  respect  to  the  value  of  linguistic  pecu- 
liarities for  the  more  precise  determination  of  the  question  touching  the  origin  of  our  book. 
It  would  seem  to  be  equally  precarious  with  the  well-known  opinion  of  Hitzig  and  Ewald, 
that  the  Song  of  Solomon  had  its  origin  in  Northern  Palestine,  on  account  of  its  numerous 
Aramaisms  (comp.  the  Introduction  to  our  Commentary  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  Vol.  X.  of 
this  Series,  §3,  Rem.  2,  p.  14seq.). 

(2)  The  absence  of  any  definite  references  to  Jerusalem,  as  the  centre  of  the  Israelitish 
cultus  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  author's  purpose  to  locate  the  scene  of  the  action  out- 
side of  Palestine,  and  in  a  patriarchal,  pre-Mosaic  sphere,  and  to  adhere  to  this  plan  with  ri- 
gid consistency  throughout  (comp.  §5). 

(3)  The  exact  familiarity  of  the  author  with  the  conditions  and  phenomena  of  life  in 
the  desert  by  no  means  necessitates  the  conclusion  that  his  home  bordered  on  the  desert ; 
for  even  in  the  country  immediately  surrounding  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  whole  Israelitish 
territory  east  of  the  Jordan,  the  life  of  the  desert  might  be  studied  in  all  its  peculiarities, 
and  our  author  shows  himself  throughout  to  be  in  every  respect  a  poet  endowed  with  a  rich 
poetic  fancy  and  talent  for  description,  a  man  in  whom  was  to  be  found,  according  to  Stickel's 
own  confession,  "a  plastic  genius  so  manifest  and  powerful  that  he  was  competent  to  give  a 
true  description  of  what  he  had  not  seen  with  his  own  eyes." 

(4)  Just  as  little  does  the  author's  knowledge  of  the  animal  prodigies  of  Egypt  and 
Arabia,  of  the  costly  products  of  these  lands,  and  also  of  the  star-worship  prevailing  in  these 
and  in  other  oriental  countries,  compel  us  to  suppose  that  "he  lived  in  the  centre  of  the 
most  active  commercial  intercourse  between  the  nations  of  Arabia,  Egypt  and  Babylonia,  at 
the  point  where  the  great  commercial  routes  from  the  Euphrates  and  Eastern  Arabia  to 
Egypt  and  the  Philistine  and  maritime  ports,  and  again  from  Southern  Arabia  to  Damascus 
and  Palmyra  crossed."  For  under  the  peaceful  reign  of  Solomon,  with  its  complete  organi- 
zation and  close  centralization,  even  a  resident  of  Jerusalem  might  have  acquired  a  vivid 
conception  and  exact  information  respecting  all  those  things.  Especially  would  he  be  able, 
as  the  result  of  the  active  commercial  relations,  which,  according  to  1  Kings  v.  1  seq.,  x.  1 
seq.,  Solomon  had  established  with  Egypt,  Arabia  and  Phenicia,  to  extend  the  circle  of  his 
observation  over  all  that  territory,  even  although  he  himself  never  had  occasion  to  journey 
along  the  caravan-routes  of  the  south-east,  or  to  live  there  for  any  length  of  time. 

It  is  not  necessary  accordingly  to  assume  for  the  poet  either  an  extra-Israelitish  origin 
or  place  of  abode,  or  a  residence  on  the  boundaries  of  the  land  of  Israel  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Edom,  or  of  the  Syro  Arabian  desert.  On  the  contrary  all  that  we  find  in  his  poem  is 
most  satisfactorily  explained  on  the  theory  that  he  belonged  to  the  pious  and  literary  coterie 
of  sages,  whose  rendezvous,  according  to  1  Kings  iv.  30  seq.,  was  Solomon's  court,  and  that 
the  classification  of  the  actors  in  his  poem  with  the  wise  "  sons  of  the  east,"  and  the 
"  Egyptians"  (comp.  §  5)  rests  simply  on  the  fact  that  his  unusually  wide  circle  of  observa- 
tion, and  his  comprehensive  knowledge  of  nature  and  mankind  had  put  him  in  possession 
of  a  mx)re  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  practices  and  habits  and  circle  of  ideas  peculiar  to 
these  extra-theocratic  sage^.     The  conjecture  of  Delitzsch  (I.  p.  23)  that  the  author  of  our 


252  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

book  might  have  been  Heman,  the  Ezrahite,  the  singer  of  "the  88th  Psalm,  written  under 
circumstances  of  suffering  similar  to  Job's,"  is  indeed  lacking  in  any  more  precise  support, 
whether  in  the  poem  itself,  or  in  the  scanty  intimations  conveyed  by  the  Books  of  the  Kings 
respecting  the  person  of  this  Heman.  For  which  reason  Delitzsch  himself  does  not  follow 
up  this  conjecture  any  further,  but  contents  himself  with  the  conclusion  resjiecting  the 
author's  probable  nationality  which  we  have  stated  above,  and  which  there  are  scarcely 
counter-arguments  of  sufficient  weight  to  overthrow. 

[was  hezekiah  the  author  of  job?] 

After  all  that  has  been  written  on  the  question  of  the  authorship  of  the  Book  of  Job, 
the  suggestion  of  a  new  solution  of  the  problem  may  well  seem  superfluous.  On  the  one 
side  the  question  itself  may  be  deemed  unimportant ;  on  the  other  side  the  solution  of  it 
may  be  pronounced  impracticable,  and  a  new  conjecture  but  one  more  contribution  to  the 
limbo  of  idle  speculation.  It  must  be  admitted  however  that  if  the  question — who  wrote  the 
book  of  Job  ? — ever  should  receive  an  answer  sustained  by  a  reasonable  array  of  probabili- 
ties, such  an  answer  would  be  of  no  small  value  in  elucidating  the  book  itself,  and  the  his- 
toric revelation  of  Divine  truth,  of  which  it  is  so  important  a  part.  The  answer  here  sug- 
gested is  one  that  has  suggested  itself  to  the  translator  during  the  progress  of  the  work  with 
singular  force,  and  with  an  accumulating  weight  of  probability,  in  view  of  which  he  feels 
justified  in  at  least  propounding  the  above  inquiry —  Was  Hezekiah  the  author  of  the  Book 
of  Job  f  and  in  inviting  attention  to  the  considerations  which  incline  him  to  an  affirmative 
answer,  and  which  he  ventures  to  presume  may  serve  to  show  that  the  inquiry  is  not  alto- 
gether an  unreasonable  one. 

It  may  be  true  that  the  author  of  this  book  will  ever  continue  to  be  a  ''  Great  Un- 
known." It  may  be  that  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  has  purposely  withheld  from  the  sacred 
volume  every  such  clue  to  his  personal  identity,  as  would  place  it  beyond  all  question.  If 
so  it  is  undoubtedly  better  that  it  should  be  so.  I  am  certainly  very  far  from  wishing  to 
dogmatize  on  the  subject.  I  simply  suggest  the  name  of  Hezekiah  as  a  hypothesis  worthy 
of  consideration.  That  hitherto  the  name  seems  to  have  occurred  to  no  one  is,  I  admit,  a 
presumption  against  it.  All  the  more  so  perhaps  that  some  have  come  so  near  it,  hovering 
all  about  it,  yet  never  alighting  upon  it.  Thus  Warburton  says  of  Job  xxxiii.  17  seq. : 
"  This  is  the  most  circumstantial  account  of  God's  dealing  with  Hezekiah,  as  it  is  told  in  the 
books  of  Chronicles  and  of  Kings ;"  and  of  Job  xxxiv.  20,  that  "  it  plainly  refers  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  first-born  in  Egypt,  and  Sennacherib's  army  ravaging  Judea."  Ewald, 
speaking  of  the  remarkable  epoch  of  which  Hezekiah  is  the  central  and  commanding  figure, 
says  that  the  culture  of  the  highest  form  of  poetry,  the  drama,  during  this  period,  is  shown 
by  the  book  of  Job,  which  exhibits  the  highest  point  reached  by  the  poetic  art  of  the  nation 
in  ancient  times.  Merx  finds  his  theory  as  to  the  time  when  the  book  was  composed  [viz. 
about  700  B.  C.)  confirmed  by  the  existence  of  the  College  of  Sages,  established  by  Hezekiah, 
"  the  poet's  contemporary  "  [Das  Buch  Hiob,  p.  XLVI.).  Eenan  "  loves  to  place  the  book  " 
in  the  same  period,  and  finds  "  rapports"  between  the  psalm  of  Hezekiah  and  the  book  of 
Job.  Carey,  speaking  of  the  case  instanced  by  Elihu  in  chap,  xxxiii.  24  seq.  says  :  "  This 
case  is  not  unlike  that  of  Hezekiah ;  indeed  it  so  resembles  it  in  many  particulars  that  I 
wonder  it  should  have  escaped  (as  I  believe  it  has  done)  tbe  notice  of  commentators."  To 
no  one  of  these  however  does  the  thought  seem  to  have  occurred  that  Hezekiah  himself  may 
have  been  the  author — and  yet  why  not?  Let  me  submit  the  following  considerations  in 
favor  at  least  of  haviug  the  claims  of  Hezekiah  considered. 

1.  Hezekiah  was  a  gifted  poet.  This  no  one  can  doubt  who  is  familiar  with  that  most 
beautiful  Ode  which  Isaiah  has  preserved  for  us  in  chap,  xxxviii.  9  seq.  Its  exquisite  me- 
lody, its  plaintive  pathos,  its  depth  of  sentiment,  its  beauty  of  imagery,  its  dev(jtional  ten- 
derness have  never  been  surpassed  within  the  same  compass.  Zwingli  has  said  of  it  truly: 
est  au/em  carmen  hoc  cum  primis  doctum  et  elegans.  Delitzsch  acknowledges  its  "  lofty 
sweep,"  although  he  calls  it  "cultivated  rather  than  original  poetry."  The  criticism  pro- 
ceeds however  from  the  manifest  presupposition  that  the  song  is  an  imitation  of  Job,  having, 


2  7.    NATIONALITY  AND  HOME  OF  THE  POET.  253 

he  says,  "  a  considerable  number  of  the  echoes  of  the  book  of  Job."  But  what  if  instead 
of  being  an  echo,  it  is  the  keynote  of  Job?  What  if  here  we  have  the  germ  of  that  won- 
drous creation  ?  If  at  least  with  Ewald,  Kenan  and  Merx  we  attribute  it  to  the  age  of  He- 
zekiah,  whom  shall  we  find  more  likely  or  more  worthy  to  be  the  author  of  it  than  the  royal 
poet  himself? 

2.  The  remarkable  correspondences  of  thought  and  expression  between  this  Ode  and  the 
book  of  Job  are  most  striking  and  significant.  These,  as  we  see,  have  been  recognized  by 
such  competent  critics  as  Renan  and  Delitzsch,  and  indeed  they  lie  on  the  surface.  Note  in 
particular  the  following : 

In  Is.  xxxviii.  10  compare  the  phrase  nUp  '''^yjp  with  hinp  ""^S  in  Job  xvii.  16,  each 
phrase  involving  the  same  conception  of  the  entrance  to  Sheol. 

In  ver.  11  the  phrase  C'nn  y^it^  found  also  in  Job  xxviii.  13.  In  the  same  verse  note 
the  idea  of  life  as  "seeing,"  or  "being  seen  of  men,"  so  common  in  Job  (see  ch.  vii.  8 ;  viii. 
18;  X.  18;  xx.  9).  If,  with  Gesenius,  Rosenmliller,  Delitzsch,  Noyes,  Wordsworth,  we  take 
^■^n  to  mean  the  rest,  cessation,  of  the  grave,  we  have  a  thought  which  occurs  repeatedly  in 
Job  in  such  passages  as  iii.  17 ;  xiv.  6. 

In  ver.  12,  compared  with  Job  iv.  21,  observe  the  use  of  J^OJ,  for  the  removal  of  man  by 
death,  involving  a  comparison  to  the  removal  of  the  tent  with  its  pins  and  cord.  The  com- 
parison of  life  to  the  weaver's  thread  is  also  common  in  Job,  especially  in  the  use  of  the  verb 
j'V3j  as  in  ch,  vi.  9;  xxvii.  8  (perhaps).  Compare  also  ch.  vii.  6.  The  expression  "from 
day  to  night "  finds  its  exact  parallel  in  Job  iv.  20  in  "  from  morning  to  evening,"  i.  e.  in 
one  day,  quickly. 

In  ver.  13  the  comparison  of  God  to  a  lion,  fiercely  assailing  and  rending  the  sufferer, 
reminds  us  forcibly  of  Job  x.  16  and  xvi.  9;  comp.  ix.  17  and  xvi.  14.  How  vividly,  more- 
over, do  the  sleepless  apprehensions  and  anguish  of  the  night,  as  described  in  this  clause, 
remind  us  of  such  passages  as  Job  vii.  3,  4,  13-15. 

In  ver.  14  the  moanings  referred  to  remind  us  of  Job  iii.  24;  the  clause  D1*iD7  T;;  iSt 
of  ^^y  naSl  mbx-bx  in  Job  xvi.  20;  and  the  remarkable  clause  Vt?'?J:J)  "be  bail  for  me,"  is 
exactly  reproduced  in  Job  xvii.  3,  "^f^i?  '^r!?^  ^^  ^^^P' 

In  ver.  15  the  expression  "'K'tlJ  "ip  is  characteristic  of  Job  (see  ch.  iii.  20 ;  vii.  11 ;  x.  1). 

In  ver.  16  the  peculiar  adverbial  use  of  |p3  reminds  us  of  DHZ  in  Job  xxii,  21, 
In  vers.  17  and  18  the  expressions  wJl'nnt^  and  "lU-'TlV  may  be  compared  with  Job  xvii. 
16 ;  xxxiii.  22,  24. 

The  view  of  Sheol  in  ver.  18  is  quite  in  harmony  with  that  expressed  by  Job  in  ch.  x. 
21,  22. 

It  would  assuredly  be  difficult  to  find  in  any  part  of  Scripture  of  the  same  length  so 
many,  and  for  the  most  part  unique,  correspondences  with  any  other  part,  as  those  here 
exhibited.  If  Hezekiah  did  not  write  the  book  of  Job,  he  had  certainly  saturated  his  mind 
with  its  thought  and  phraseology  in  a  remarkable  degree. 

3.  The  correspondences  just  mentioned  are  not  the  only  indications  of  a  common  source 
for  these  two  compositions.  The  essential  mental  and  literary  characteristics  of  each  are 
largely  the  same.  There  are  differences  indeed  in  the  metrical  movement,  as  might  be 
expected  from  the  difference  in  the  nature  and  object  of  the  two  compositions,  the  one  being 
a  Psalm  to  be  sung  on  the  negmoth  in  the  temple,  the  other  a  lyrico-dramatic  composition, 
adapted  rather  to  rhetoric  recital.  In  the  former  accordingly  the  verse-lines  are  longer  and 
more  sustained,  in  the  latter  shorter  and  more  concise.  Apart  from  this,  however,  the  same 
artistic  skill  characterizes  the  execution  of  both,  the  same  exquisite  modulation  of  rhythm, 
now  softly  flowing  and  melodious,  as  in  vers.  10,  11,  17,  now  abrupt  and  urgent,  as  in  vers. 
12,  13,  16.  There  is  the  same  occasional  terse  obscurity  of  construction  and  expression,  as 
in  vers.  13,  15,  16  ;  the  same  emphatic  iteration  of  words  and  clauses,  as  in  vers.  10,  17,  19 
(and  comp.  Job  ix,  20  b,  21  a;  x.  22,  etc.) ;  the  same  strong  contrasts  and  sudden  transitions, 
as  in  vers.  15  seq,  compared  with  the  verses  preceding  (and  comp.  Job  xix.  23  seq.  with  vers, 
preceding).  The  limited  compass  and  special  scope  of  the  Psalm  indeed  of  necessity  limit 
the  scope  of  the  writer's  genius ;  but  to  the  close  observer  it  is  really  remarkable  how  many 


254  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

of  the  characteristics  of  the  book  of  Job  reproduce  themselves  in  this  Ode.  No  minor  popm 
of  Milton's  exhibits  more,  or  more  decided  traces  of  the  art  of  Paradise  Lost.  In  the  first 
half  of  the  Ode  we  have  the  sombre  gloom,  the  plaintive  pathetic  tone  of  the  earlier  discourse< 
of  Job,  the  wail  of  a  suffering,  crushed,  almost  a  despairing  heart.  In  ver.  13,  however,  there 
is  a  flash,  faint  indeed,  yet  unmistakable  of  that  Titanic  audacity  with  which  Job  ventures 
to  arraign  the  pitiless  severity  of  God  in  His  treatment  of  him.  Observe  the  vague  reserve, 
in  the  very  manner  of  Job,  with  which  he  avoids  naming  his  Divine  Assailant:  "So  will  He 
break  all  my  bones."  In  the  latter  half  of  the  Psalm  again  the  tender  brightness  of  the  pic- 
ture reflects  those  passages  in  Job  where  the  sufferer  emerges  from  the  darkness  of  the  con- 
flict into  the  hope  of  future  deliverance,  or  where  his  friends  seek  to  win  him  to  repentance 
by  depicting  such  a  deliverance,  or,  in  particular,  where  Elihu  describes  the  restoration  of 
the  penitent  sufferer  (Job  xxxiii.  24  seq.).  We  find  even  that  marked  characteristic  of  the 
book  of  Job  to  multiply  illustrations  from  the  animal  world  (see  ver.  14).  The  same  con- 
ception of  a  redeemed  life  as  a  life  of  song  and  praise  which  pervades  the  closing  verses  of 
Hezekiah's  Psalm,  exhibits  itself  once  and  again  in  Elihu's  discourse,  as  when  in  ch.  xxxiii. 
27  he  says:  "  lie  will  sing  ("'i^'')  to  men,  and  say,"  etc.,  or  when  in  ch.  xxxvi.  24,  he  exhorts 
Job,  saying:  ''Remember  that  thou  exalt  His  work,  which  men  have  sung  repeatedly" 
(nnii/).  These  peculi-irities  would  seem  to  be  too  deeply  rooted  in  the  mental  individuality  from 
which  these  productions  have  proceeded  to  be  the  result  of  accident,  of  conscious  imitation, 
or  of  unconscious  influence.  If  there  is  anywhere  in  Scripture  a  literary  clue  to  the  author- 
ship of  this  book,  where  shall  we  look  for  one  more  satisfactory  than  is  here  furnished  us? 

Passing  on  from  this  Ode  of  Hezekiah,  we  shall  next  find  in  the  facts  of  his  life  and 
personal  experience,  in  the  psychological  traits  of  his  character  which  history  reveals,  and  in 
the  circumstances  of  his  time,  most  suggestive  hints  pointing  us  to  him  as  the  author. 

4.  Most  important  of  these  facts  in  Hezekiah's  life  is  his  fatal  sickness  and  miraculous 
restoration  as  recorded  in  2  Kings  xx.  1  seq. ;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  24  seq. ;  Is.  xxxviii.  1  seq. — 
Here  is  communicated  first  of  all  the  fact  that  for  an  indefinite  space  of  time  Hezekiah  was 
brought  face  to  face  with  death.  He  contemplated  it  as  imminent  and  inevitable.  He  passed 
through  the  strange  experience  of  one  for  whom  the  grave  was  ready.  Now  if  anything  is 
certain  in  regard  to  the  authorship  of  the  book  of  Job,  it  is  that  it  was  written,  as  Merx  says, 
"  with  the  author's  heart  blood."  The  author  of  Job's  discourses  had,  we  may  be  sure,  passed 
through  the  mental,  if  not  the  physical  throes  of  clying.  Such  passages  as  we  find  in  chs. 
X,,  xiv.,  xvii.  (see  vers.  1,  ISseq.,  particularly),  xxxiii.  (vers.  22  seq.),  have  a  reality  about  them 
such  as  belongs  to  experience,  rather  than  imagination.  Death  and  the  Hereafter  have  for 
the  poet  an  awful  fascination  which  he  cannot  resist,  the  secret  of  which  becomes  intelligible 
only  by  the  stern  announcement  of  an  Isaiah  to  the  writer:  "Set  thine  house  in  order,  for 
thou  shalt  die,  and  not  live." 

6.  The  passages  referred  to,  and  others  in  the  book,  become  still  more  significant  in  view 
of  the  particular  malady  which  threatened  the  life  of  the  poet-king.  According  to  2  Kings 
XX.  7  (Isa.  xxxviii.  21),  he  was  afflicted  with  "a  boil,"  or  "boils,"  fH^,  which  maybe  taken 
either  as  singular,  "tumor,"  or  as  a  collective,  "boils."  But  the  very  same  word  is  used  in 
describing  Job's  malady  (ch.  ii.  7),  where  it  is  said  that  Satan  smote  Job  PH'^t',  "  with  boils." 
Now  it  is  not  necessary  to  assume  that  Hezekiah  was,  like  Job,  smitten  with  leprosy,  or  that 
the  fnt:/  from  which  he  suffered  was  precisely  the  same  with  that  from  which  Job  suffered. 
It  is  enough  that  the  fatal  disease  which  afflicted  him  was  accompanied  by  a  painful  and 
offensive  eruption,  by  a  tumor,  or  boils.  Would  not  this  explain  the  terrible  vividness  with 
which  the  poet  enters  into  all  the  physical  experiences  of  Job's  disease,  its  pain,  restlessness, 
offensiveness,  etc.,  as  described  in  chs.  vi.,  vii.,  xvi.,  xvii.,  xix.,  xxx.? 

But  the  significance  which  attaches  to  the  general  character  of  the  disease  is  still  further 
enhanced  by  several  of  the  details  of  Hezekiah's  sickness,  especially  when  compared  with 
Job  xxxiii.  14  seq.,  a  passage  of  which  Warburton  and  Carey  have  both  remarked  (see  above) 
that  it  presen's  most  striking  analogies  to  the  case  of  Hezekiah 

6  One  of  the  leading  lessons  of  the  book  of  Job,  and  one  that  is  prominently  inculcated 
in  the  discourse  of  Elihu  is  that  Gnd  s  dealings  with  men  are  disciplinary,  designed  to  try, 


2  7.    NATIONALITY  AND  HOME  OF  THE  POET.  255 

teach,  and  purify  them.  So  it  is  said  in  2  Chron.  xxxii.  31  that  God  left  Hezekiah,  "  to  try 
him,  that  he  might  know  all  that  was  in  his  heart."  This  indeed  was  after  his  sickness, 
but  the  principle  is  the  same,  and  it  is  at  least  remarkable  that  this  fundamental  thought  of 
the  book  of  Job  is  emphasized  as  a  fact  of  special  siguificance  in  the  life  of  Hezekiah. 

7.  Still  more  specifically  Elihu  declares  that  the  purpose  of  God  in  sending  affliction  on 
man  is  to  deliver  him  from  pride  (Job  xxxiii.  17).  According  to  2  Chron.  xxxii.  25,  26,  this 
was  the  besetting  sin  of  Hezekiah.  According  to  the  poet's  conception  it  was  evidently  to 
be  regarded  as  a  leading  trait  in  the  character  of  Job,  the  radical  sin  which  Jehovah  rebuked 
(chap.  xl.  7  seq),  and  for  which  Job  humbled  himself  (chap.  xlii.  2  seq.). 

8.  According  to  Elihu  man's  insensibility  and  wilfulness  make  it  necessary  that  God 
should  afflict  him  once  and  twice,  i.  e.,  repeatedly,  before  His  chastisements  work  out  their 
proper  result  (chap,  xxxiii.  14,  29).  According  to  2  Chron.  xxxii.  25,  2G,  31,  God  visited 
Hezekiah  more  than  once  with  His  displeasure  before  he  humbled  himself  aright  before 
Him. 

9.  Isaiah  was  sent  to  the  king  in  his  sickness  with  the  message — "  Set  thine  house  in 
order,  for  thou  shalt  die,  and  not  live."  And  in  his  Ode  Hezekiah  represents  himself  as 
saying  :  "  In  the  quiet  (or  perhaps :  middle,  meridian)  of  my  days  I  must  go  to  the  gates  of 
Sheol."  Ho.v  perfectly  does  this  correspond  with  the  description  of  Elihu  (xxxiii.  22)  : 
''  His  soul  draweth  near  unto  the  grave,  and  his  life  to  the  destroyers." — So  again  in  speaking 
of  his  recovery,  Hezekiah  says  beautifully:  "Thou  hast  loved  my  soul  out  of  the  pit  of  de- 
struction" (Isa.  xxxviii.  17).  In  like  manner  Elihu  represents  the  restored  one  as  singing: 
"  He  has  redeemed  my  soul  from  going  into  the  pit"  (Job  xxxiii.  28). 

10  On  receiving  the  prophet's  message,  the  king  turned  his  face  toward- the  wall,  and 
prayed  to  Jehovah,  and  Jehovah  graciously  accepted  his  prayer.  So  with  touching  beauty 
Elihu  describes  the  restored  sufferer :  "  He  shall  pray  unto  Jehovah,  and  He  will  be  favorable 
unto  him  "  (xxxiii.  26). 

11.  It  is  said  of  Hezekiah  that  "  he  wept  a  great  weeping  "  (Isa.  xxxviii.  3,  and  comp. 
ver.  14  :  "  mine  eyes  fail  [with  looking]  upward  ").  So  Job  describes  his  excessive  weeping 
(chap.  xvi.  16,  20  ;  xvii.  7). 

12.  God  sent  Isaiah  as  His  messenger  to  announce  to  Hezekiah  His  gracious  purpose  of 
deliverance,  saying :  **  I  have  heard  thy  prayer,  I  have  seen  thy  tears,  behold  I  will  heal 
thee."  So  Elihu  mentions,  as  a  glorious  possibility,  a  Messenger,  a  Divine  Interpreter,  to 
declare  to  man:  "Deliver  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit;  I  have  found  a  ransom."  In 
what  way  more  fitting,  more  touching,  more  expressive  could  that  inspired  VJ^'U^,  that  glo- 
rious hypothesis  of  an  incomparable  Divine  Messenger  and  Interpreter  have  been  revealed 
to  an  Old  Testament  saint  than  through  such  an  experience  as  that  of  Hezekiah's,  when  the 
prophet-evangelist,  whom  he  knew  and  loved  so  well,  brought  him  that  message  of  life  in 
death  ?  Who  better  qualified  to  be  the  human  type  of  the  Divine  Malak  and  Melitz  than 
Isaiah  ?  Who  so  well  fitted  to  receive,  to  understand,  and  to  convey  to  others  that  prophetic 
glimpse  of  the  Prophet  that  was  to  come  as  Hezekiah? 

13.  The  wonderful  restoration  of  Hezekiah  and  the  lengthening  of  His  life,  finds  its 
e-tact  counterpart  in  the  language  of  Elihu  and  Job,  and  in  the  fact  recorded  in  the  Epi- 
logue (chap.  xlii.  16).  How  wonderfully  lifelike  the  language  of  Elihu  in  chap,  xxxiii.  25 
if  viewed  as  prompted  by  just  such  an  experience  as  that  of  Hezekiah  !  "  His  flesh  revives 
with  the  freshness  of  youth  ;  he  shall  return  to  the  days  of  his  youth."  What  more  truthful 
than  the  joy  which  such  a  restoration  of  the  healthy  flesh  would  bring  to  one  afflicted  as 
either  Job  or  Hezekiah  was  1  What  new  force  and  vividness  are  imparted  to  the  yearning 
presage  of  the  doctr'ne  of  the  resurrection  in  chap.  xix.  25  seq.,  when  interpreted  in  the  light 
of  an  event  which  to  him  who  realized  it  was  all  but  a  resurrection  from  the  dead  I  So  also 
the  addition  of  one  hundred  and  forty  years  to  Job's  life  would  have  for  such  an  one  a  real, 
vital  significance,  as  a  token  of  God's  favor,  which  it  could  never  possess  as  a  mere  fiction  of 
the  imagination.  As  Delitzsch  says :  "  After  that  Job  has  learned  from  his  own  experience 
that  God  brings  to  Hades  and  out  again,  he  has  forever  conquered  all  fear  of  death,  and  the 
germs  of  a  hope  of  a  future  life,  which  in  the  midst  of  his  affliction  have  broken  through  his 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


consciousness,  can  joyously  expand.  For  Job  appears  to  himself  as  one  who  is  risen  from  the 
dead,  and  is  a  pledge  to  himself  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead"  (Commy.  I ,  p.  315).  Of 
what  known  historical  character  could  this  be  more  truly  said  than  of  Hezekiah? 

14.  The  intimations  which  are  given  us  respecting  Hezekiah's  personal  character,  views, 
and  conduct,  are  hardly  less  significant.  He  is  thus  described  in  2  Kings  xviii.  3  seq. :  "  He 
did  that  which  was  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  that  David  his  father  did. 
.  .  .  He  trusted  in  the  Lord  God  of  Israel ;  so  that  after  him  was  none  like  him  among  all 
the  kings  of  Judah,  nor  any  that  were  before  him.  For  he  clave  to  the  Lord,  and  departed 
not  from  following  him,  but  kept  his  commandments,  which  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 
And  the  Lord  was  with  him,  and  he  prospered  whithersoever  he  went  forth,"  etc.  There  is 
much  in  this  description  to  remind  us  of  Job's  pre-eminent  piety  and  prosperity,  as  described 
in  the  Prologue.  Hezekiah  describes  himself  as  "  having  walked  before  Jehovah  with  a 
perfect  heart,  and  having  done  that  which  was  good  in  His  sight,"  and  in  his  prayer  he 
beseeches  Jehovah  to  remember  this  (Isa.  xxxviii.  3).  So  Job  is  described  as  perfect  and 
upright,  one  that  feared  God,  eschewed  evil;  he  pleads  his  integrity  (chap.  vi.  10;  x.  7;  xiii. 
16 ;  xvi.  17 ;  xix.  23  seq. ;  xxiii.  29,  31,  passim),  and  prays  that  God  would  reward  him 
according  thereto.  So  Elihu  says  of  God :  "  He  will  render  unto  man  his  righteousness." 
All  this  is  precisely  in  the  spirit  of  Hezekiah's  prayer,  and  like  that  prayer  all  bears  the 
stamp  of  a  living  experience.  To  Hezekiah  as  to  Job  his  affliction  was  a  mystery,  unex- 
pected and  inexplicable.  The  Jewish  tradition  heightens  the  mystery  by  representing  him 
as  previously  believing  in  his  own  immortality.  This  of  course  is  to  be  rejected,  and  yet  it 
is  of  historic  value  as  a  witness  to  the  contrast  Ijetween  Hezekiah's  previous  career  of  un- 
clouded prosperity  and  happiness,  and  the  gloona  with  which  his  sickness  beclouded  his 
destiny.  Just  such  a  contrast  in  kind  as  that  between  Job's  prosperity  and  adversity.  The 
greatest  and  best  of  kings  since  David,  who  had  done  more  than  all  his  predecessors  to  restore 
the  purity  of  faith  and  worship  in  the  land,  the  immediate  successor,  too,  of  Ahaz,  one  of  the 
most  wicked  of  the  kings,  and  yet  a  grievous  sufferer,  and  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  his  days  I 
Would  it  be  at  all  strange  if  such  a  mind,  richly  endowed  with  the  poetic  faculty,  tried  with 
such  dark  and  bitter  experiences,  and  grappling  with  the  problems  which  such  experiences 
suggested,  should  have  felt  himself  drawn  to  the  story  of  Job,  and  incited  to  do  just  what  the 
author  of  this  book  has  done,  in  using  it  as  a  poetic  medium  by  which  to  communicate  the 
results  of  his  thoughts  and  experiences  to  the  world? 

15.  We  have  other  intimations  of  severe  mental  conflict  in  the  experience  of  Hezekiah. 
Thus  when  the  Assyrian  Eabshakeh  had  delivered  his  insulting  message  from  Sennacherib, 
Hezekiah  "  rent  his  clothes,  and  covered  himself  with  sackcloth,  and  went  into  the  house  of 
the  Lord"  (2  Kings  xix.  1  seq.).  And  indeed  the  history  of  his  relations  to  the  king  of 
Assyria  down  to  the  overthrow  of  Sennacherib's  hosts  must  have  been  productive  through- 
out of  continual  anxiety,  conflict,  at  times  even  agony  of  soul  (see  1  Kings  xix.  14  seq.). 
And  in  the  case  of  so  thoughtful  and  devout  a  prince  as  Hezekiah,  these  conflicts  through 
which  he  passed  were  not  the  mental  exercises  of  one  occupied  simply  with  questions  of 
statecraft,  or  secular  business  ;  they  involved  the  applicat  on  of  moral  and  religious  princi- 
ples of  the  most  profound  and  comprehensive  significance.  This  may  be  assumed  with  cer- 
tainty from  the  character  of  the  man,  from  the  circumstances  of  his  reign,  and  from  the  pe- 
culiar relations  and  sympathy  between  himself  and  the  prophet  Isaiah  (see  below  No.  20). 
There  are  few  characters  throughout  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  theocracy,  the  thrilling  ex- 
periences of  whose  life  would  furnish  so  many  of  the  psychological  antecedents  to  the  pro- 
duction of  this  great  religious  drama  as  Hezekiah. 

16.  The  conspicuous  position  which  Hezekiah  occupies  as  a  moral  reformer  of  the  Jew- 
ish people  is  highly  significant.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  his  reign  was  to  re-open  the  temple, 
to  re-establish,  purify,  and  enrich  its  service  and  ceremonial  (2  Chron.  xxix.).  He  showed 
the  thoroughness  of  his  reformatory  spirit  by  removing  the  "  high  places  "  of  all  kinds,  not 
only  those  on  which  false  gods  were  worshipped,  but  those  as  well  which  some  even  of  his 
pious  predecessors  had  spared  for  the  worship  of  Jehovah  (2  Kings  xviii.  4,  22).  "The  mea- 
sure must  have  caused  a  very  violent  shock  to  the  religious  prejudices  of  a  large  number  of 


2  7.    NATIONALITY  AND  HOME  OF  THE  POET.  257 


people,  and  we  have  a  curious  and  almost  unnoticed  trace  of  this  resentment  in  the  fact  that 
Rabshakeh  appeals  to  the  discontented  faction,  and  represents  Hezekiah  as  a  dangerous  in- 
novator, who  had  provoked  God's  anger  by  his  arbitrary  impiety  "  (Smith's  Bih  Die,  Art. 
"High  Places").  He  showed  his  courage  by  destroying  tha  Nehushtan,  revered  and  at 
times  worshipped  by  the  nation,  as  the  serpent  lifted  up  by  Moses  in  the  w-ilderness  (2  Kings 
xviii.  4).  "  To  break  up  a  figure  so  curious  and  so  highly  honored  showed  a  strong  mind,  as 
well  as  a  clear-sighted  zeal"  (Smith's  Bih.  Die,  Art,  "  Hezekiah").  "  He  was,  so  to  speak, 
the  first  Reformer;  the  first  of  the  Jewish  Church  to  protest  against  institutions  which  had 
outlived  their  usefulness,  and  which  the  nation  had  outgrown''  (Stanley:  Hist,  of  the  Jewish 
Church,  Lect.  38).  After  the  fall  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  Hezekiah  sought  to  restore  the 
spiritual  unity  of  the  nation  by  inviting  the  remnant  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  to  unite  in 
celebrating  a  grand  national  Passover  in  Jerusalem  (2  Chron.  xxx  ).  HereiT  we  see  the 
same  characteristic  traits,  the  same  fearlessness,  independence,  contempt  of  false  forms 
(shown  perhaps  in  contemptuously  characterizing  the  "Sacred  Serpent,"  JVehii^htan,*  the 
brazen  thing),  the  same  spirituality,  breadth,  freedom,  which  we  find  in  the  book  of  Job,  in 
its  protests  against  popular  traditional  errors,  in  its  assertion  of  profound  spiritual  truth. 
That  combination  of  reverent  faith  with  iconoclastic  daring,  of  theocratic  devoutness  with 
cosmopolitan  breadth,  of  the  love  even  of  ceremonial  reality  with  the  hatred  even  of  theo- 
logical shams,  which  is  so  marked  a  characteristic  of  the  book  of  Job,  is  just  what  we  find 
in  Hezekiah,  above  almost  all  the  leading  characters  of  Old  Testament  history. 

17.  The  general  literary  culture  of  Hezekiah  may  be  inferred  not  only  from  his  Ode, 
but  also  from  his  establishment  of  a  College  of  Sages,  and  the  commission  which  he  gave 
them  to  collect  and  preserve  the  Solomonic  literature  (Prov.  xxv.  1).  The  interest  in  the 
Chokmah  literature  which  this  fact  discloses  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  hypothesis  that 
one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  that  literature  should  have  proceeded  from  him. 

18.  In  close-t  connection  with  this  Hezekianic  supplement  to  the  Proy^^rbs,  if  not  indeed 
as  a  part  of  it,  we  have  another  incidental,  but  striking  confirmation  of  the  hypothesis  here 
continued.  The  proverbs  of  Agur  and  Lemuel  (Prov.  xxx.  31),  there  are  valid  reasons  for 
believing,  are  of  extra- Palestinian  origin  (see  Commy.  on  Proverbs  in  this  Series,  Vol.  X.. 
pp.  30,  246  seq.,  256  seq. ;  also  Stuart  on  Proverbs,  p.  47  seq.).  Without  arguing  the  con- 
troverted questions  pertaining  to  the  subject,  it  is  sufiicient  for  our  present  purpose  to  note- 
the  fact  that  in  all  probability  these  fragments  originated  in  Mas^a,  a  district  of  No-Etherii 
Arabia,  their  authors,  Agur  and  Lemuel,  who  were  possibly  brothers,  being  princes  of  the 
kingdom.  If  (according  to  Delitzsch)  the  district  was  Ishmaelitish,  the  interest  shown  iu 
their  writings  by  Hezekiah  and  his  college  would  be  precisely  what  we  should  expect  on  the 
theory  of  the  Hezekianic  origin  of  Job.  Nothing  certainly  could  be  more  natural  than  that 
the  interest  shown  in  the  pious  and  wise  meditations  of  the  two  exira-theocratic  Arabian. 
Emirs,  Agur  and  Lemuel  (with  their  noble  mother),  should  accompany  the  interest  shown  im 
the  story,  and  the  religious  meditations  suggested  by  the  story  of  the  extra-theocratic  north- 
Arabian  emir.  Job.  If  (according  to  Hitzig,  Stuart,  etc.)  Massa  was  an  Israelitish  colony  i  i 
Arabia,  we  are  brought  at  once  to  the  migration  of  the  Simeonites  to  Mt.  Seir,  recorded  in  1 
Chron.  iv.  38-43  as  having  taken  place  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah.  If  we  assign  that  migra- 
tion to  the  earlier  part  of  Hezekiah's  long  reign  (of  29  years)  the  supposition  becomes  not  at 
all  impossible  nor  improbable  that  the  words  of  Agur  and  Lemuel  should  have  been  brought 
to  the  knowledge  of  Hezekiah  and  his  sages  before  the  close  of  his  reign. 

19.  And  here  we  are  brought  to  consider  the  remarkable  correspondences  between  the- 
words  of  Agur  and  the  book  of  Job.  If  in  Prov.  xxx.  1  we  read  vX  Ti-xS  "  j  have  labored, 
wearied  myself  abou-,  God,"  we  have  the  thought,  of  which  Job  is  so  full,  that  the  utmost, 
of  human  power  and  exertion  will  never  fathom  the  mystery  of  God's  Being.  Compare  still 
further  ver.  3  with  Job  xviii.  3  ;  ver.  4  with  Job  xi.  8  ;  xxii.  12,  14 ;  xxvi.  14;  xxxviii.  5j.6y 
10,  11,  21 ;  xii.  24 ;  ver.  9  with  Job  xxi  14;  xxxi.  24  25,  28  ;  ver.  82  with  Job  xxi.  5  ;  xl..4?. 
Also  the  mythological  Aluka  in  ver,  15,(respecting  which  see  below,  No.  23).     These  corres^ 

»  So  Dean  Stan li'y  :  "Thfi  Sacred  Serpen',  tli"  symbol  of  tlie  Divina  Presence,  had  been  treated  contemptuously  as  a 
mere  serpent,  a  mer^  piece  of  brass,  and  nchiog  more." 
17 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


pondences,  especially  those  from  the  introductory  fragment  of  Agur's  words  (vers.  1-6),  are 
certainly  remarkable  enough  to  justify  the  in'  rence  that  the  one  writer  was  familiar  with 
the  other.  The  imperfect,  fragmentary,  obscure  character  of  Agur's  words  would  indicate 
that  they  were  the  original  If  so,  who  more  likely  to  have  known  of  them  and  used  them 
(at  least  on  the  hypothesis  given  above)  than  Hezekiah  ? 

20.  The  correspondences  between  Job  and  Isaiah  are  most  numerous  and  striking,  as  the 
following  table  will  show.  In  the  first  class,  marked  A,  we  have  correspondences  of  thought, 
and  in  many  instances  of  the  accompanying  expression ;  in  the  second  class,  marked  B,  the 
correspondences  are  simply  of  expression. 


Job  i.  6  seq. 
iii.  23 
iv.  3 
iv.  19 
iv.  19 
iv.  21 
V.  3 
V.  14 
V.  14 
viii.  14 
ix.  6 
ix.  8 
ix.  8 
ix.  9 
X.  9 
X.  16 
xi.  13 
xi.  14 
xi.  19 
xvi.  10 
xvi.  18 
xvii.  12 
xviii.  13 
xviii.  14 
xviii.  15 
xviii.  15 
xviii.  16 
xviii.  19 
xviii.  20 
XX.  6 
XX.  8 
XX.  26 
xxi.  12 
xxi.  18 
xxi.  24 
xxii.  14 
xxii.  24 
xxii.  26 
xxvi.  7 
xxvi.  7 
xxvi.  11 
xxvi.  12 


with 


Isa.  vi.  1  seq. 

Job  xii.  9         with 

Isa.  xii.  20 

xl.  27 

xii.  9 

<( 

Ixvi.  2 

XXXV.  3 

xii.  13 

(( 

xi.  2 

1.9 

xii.  17 

« 

XX.  4 

li.  8 

xii.  17 

(( 

xliv.  25 

xxxiii.  20 

xii.  17 

« 

xix.  11  seq. 

xxvii.  6 

xii.  19 

(( 

xl.  23 

xix.  13  seq. 

xii.  22 

« 

xxix.  15 

lix.  10 

xii.  24 

(( 

xix.  13 

lix.5 

xii.  25 

(( 

xix.  14 

xiii.  13 

xiii.  19 

<( 

1.9 

xl.  22 

xiv.  2 

(( 

xi.  7 

xliv.  24 

xiv.  7 

(( 

vi.  13 

xiii.  10 

xiv.  7 

« 

xl.  24 

xxix.  16 

xiv.  11 

(( 

xix.  5 

xxxi.  4 

xiv.  12 

« 

li.  6 

i.  15 

i.  15 

XV.  33 

« 

xviii.  5 

xvii.  2 

XV.  35 

« 

xxxiii.  11 

Ivii.  4 

xxvi.  13 

(( 

li.  9 

xxvi.  21 

xxvii.  21 

(( 

xxvii.  8 

V.  20 

xxviii.  25 

It 

xl.  12 

ix.  20 

xxix.  14 

(( 

xi.  5 

xxviii.  15 

xxix.  14 

(( 

li.  9 

xiii.  19 

xxix.  14 

« 

lix.  17 

xxxiv.  11 

xxix.  14 

(( 

Ixi.  10 

V.  24 

XXX.  21 

« 

Ixiii.  10 

xiv.  22 

XXX.  26 

(( 

lix.  9 

xiii.  8 

XXX.  27 

« 

xvi.  11 

xiv.  13  seq. 

XXX.  30 

« 

xxiv.  6 

xxix.  7 

xxxi.  36  seq 

(1 

Ixi.  10 

XXX.  11  seq. 

xxxvi.  16 

(t 

XXV.  6 

v.  12 

xxxvi.  16 

(( 

Iv.  2 

xvii.  13 

xxxviii.  7 

ft 

xiv.  12 

Iviii.  11 

xxxviii.  23 

it 

xxviii.  17. 

xxix.  15 

xl.  11 

ti 

ii.  12  seq. 

xiii.  12 

Iviii.  14 

xl.  22 

xliv.  24 

1.2 

li.l5 

§  7.  NATIONALITY  AND  HOME  OF  THE  POET. 


259 


Job  Hi.  7 
iii.  13 
iii.  14 
iii.  14 
iii.  17 
iii.  17 
iv.  5 
V.  20 
V.  21 
vi.  10 
vii.  1 
vii.  2 
vii.  19 
viii.  11 
viii.  11 
viii.  11 
viii.  20 
viii.  20 
ix.  7 
ix.  13 
ix.  13 
ix.  13 
X.  4 
xi.  4 


with        Isa. 


xlix.  21 
xxiii.  12 
Iviii.  12 
Ixi.  4 
xiii.  11 
XXV.  3 
xvi.  8 
xlvii.  14 
xxviii.  15 
xxx.  14 
xl.2 
xl.lO 
xxii.  4 
xviii.  2 
xxxv.  7 
xix.  7 
xli.  13 
xlii.  6 
xix.  18 
li.  9 
xxx.  7 
xxvii.  1 
xxxi.  3 
xxix.  24 


Job.  xii.  21 
xiii.  17 
xiii.  26 
xiv.  5 
XV.  11 
XV.  13 
XV.  32 
XV.  32 
xvi.  4 
xviii.  4 
xviii.  4 
xxii.  11 
xxii.  23 
xxii.  28 
xxiii.  11 
xxvi.  13 
xxxvi.  3 


with 


Isa.  V.  27 
vi.  9 
X.  1 
X.  22 
vii.  13 
XXV.  4 
ix.  13 
xix.  15 
xxxvii.  22 
vii.  16 
vi.  12 
Ix.  6 
xix.  22 
vii.  7 

XXX.  11 

xxvii.  1 
xxxvii.  26 


It  is  not  claimed  of  course  that  all  the  individual  instances  here  given  imply  derivation 
on  the  part  of  either  from  the  other.  The  large  number  of  similarities  does,  however, 
unquestionably  prove  that  either  Isaiah  was  largely  influenced  by  the  author  of  Job,  or  con- 
versely. It  is  certainly  not  impossible  that  Isaiah  was  indebted  to  Job  for  the  above  analo- 
gies, or  most  of  them.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  equally  possible,  and  in  some  instances  more 
probable  from  the  nature  of  the  resemblance,  that  Isaiah  was  the  original.  In  view  of  the 
intimate  personal  relations  between  Isaiah  and  Hezekiah,  the  strong  influence,  mental  and 
moral,  which  the  aged  prophet  exerted  over  the  youthful  king,  the  marked  impression  which 
the  words  of  the  former  made  on  the  latter,  nothing  could  be  more  natural  or  probable  than 
that  if  Hezekiah  was  the  author  of  Job,  the  influence  of  Isaiah  should  be  visible  throughout. 

21.  A  few  striking  coincidences  with  the  prophet  Amos  have  been  noted,  to  wit: 


Job  ix.  8  with  Amos  iv.  13 

ix.  9     "  V.  8 

X.  22     "  V.  8 

XX.  6  seq.  ix.  2,  3 


Job  xxviii.  14  with  Amos  ix.  2,  3 
xxviii.  25,  26  "  ix.  6 

xxxviii.  25     "  ix.  6 

xxxviii.  31     "  V.  8 


Zockler,  Delitzsch  and  others  infer  from  these  the  priority  of  Job.  The  converse,  how- 
ever, may  just  as  reasonably  be  maintained.  There  is  no  reason  why  Hezekiah,  for  instance, 
should  not  have  been  familiar  with  his  prophecies,  especially  when  we  remember  the  deep 
interest  which  he  took  in  the  spiritual  reformation  of  the  entire  nation. 

22.  The  manifold  correspondences  between  this  book  and  the  Proverbs  need  only  be 
referred  to.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  some  of  the  most  striking  of  these  correspond- 
ences relate  to  the  first  nine  chapters  of  the  book,  which  Delitzsch,  Zockler  and  others  place 
considerably  later  than  Solomon.  Moreover,  they  are  of  such  a  character  as  to  indicate  the 
priority  of  the  passages  in  the  Proverbs.  This  is  notably  the  case  with  Job  xv.  7  seq.,  which 
is  evidently  an  ironical  application  to  Job  of  the  description  of  Wisdom  in  Prov.  viii.  22  seq. 
(ver.  25  in  particular).     The  whole  bitter  force  of  the  questions  of  Eliphaz  here  comes  from 


260  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


his  tacit  assumption  that  Job  is  not  only  familiar  with  the  language  of  Wisdom,  but  that  by 
hia  self-conceit  he  arrogates  to  himself  the  prerogatives  which  Wisdom  there  claims.  Tlie 
suggestion  of  our  Commy.  (see  on  ch.  xv.  7)  that  the  passage  in  Proverbs  was  derived  from 
that  in  Job  is  a  most  palpable  varepov  Kporepov.  Comp.  a  similar  ironical  use  of  Ps.  viii.  4  in 
Job  vii.  17,  and  see  the  Coramy.  on  the  latter  passage. 

23.  The  poetic  use  of  mytliological  representions  of  foreign  origin,  which  is  so  marked  a 
peculiarity  of  the  book  of  Job  (see  Commy.  on  ch,  iii.  8  ;  ix.  13;  xxvi.  12,  13;  xxviii.  18; 
xxxviii.  31,  32),  find  their  closest  analogies  in  the  literature  of  the  Hezekianic  period ;  to 
wit  in  Isaiah  (see  ch.  xiv.  13;  xxvii.  1),  and  in  Agur  (Prov.  xxx.  15).  This  seems  to  have 
been  the  period  when  the  Hebrew  mind  was  most  susceptible  to  the  intellectual  as  to  the 
other  influences  of  the  oriental  population!?  by  which  it  was  surrounded,  and  when  the 
facilities  for  such  influence  were  most  abundant.  "  All  the  kingdoms  from  the  Tigris  to  the 
Nile,"  says  Ewald  {Gesch.  Des  Volkes  Israel,  p.  647),  were  united  together  in  the  most  mani- 
fold and  close  ties ;  and  between  Israel  and  these  people  (Israel's  civil  power  being  now 
largely  broken)  an  ever  more  active  rivalry  sprang  up  in  the  p'lrsuit  of  wisdom."  That  the 
mind  of  Hezekiah  was  keenly  alive  to  these  influences  is  evident  from  the  wide  range  of  his 
political  relations,  and  material  acquisitions.  That  with  all  his  theocratic  devoutness  he 
would  not  as  a  poet  reject  such  poetic  mythological  ornamentation  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  as  a  king  "even  in  the  changes  which  he  introduced  into  the  Temple,  he  spared  all 
the  astrological  altars  and  foreign  curiosities  which  Ahaz  had  erected  '  (Stanley :  Hist,  of 
the  Jeiv.  Ch.,  Lect.  XXXVIII. ;  see  2  Kings  xxiii.  12). ' 

24.  This  suggests  that  the  protest  against  astral  worship  found  in  Job  xxxi.  26  seq.  would 
have  all  the  more  force  if  proceeding  from  Hezekiah,  when  we  consider  that  during  the  reign 
of  Ahaz  his  father,  it  is  said  of  the  nation  that  they  "  worshipped  all  the  host  of  heaven  "  (2 
Kings  xvii.  16),  and  that  it  was  one  chief  object  of  Hezekiah  to  purify  the  nation  of  this  sin 
(2  Kings  xviii.  4;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  1). 

25.  While  it  is  true,  as  Zockler  argues,  that  the  passages  which  describe  the  rise  and 
power  of  the  wicked  and  the  oppressor,  and  the  invasions  of  alien  powers  (see  ch.  ix.  24;  xii. 
4r-&,  14-25;  XV.  18  seq.,  28;  xvii.  8,  9;  xxi.  7  seq.,  16-18  ;  xxiv.  2-17)  are  not  decisive  as  to 
the  age  of  an  Oriental  poem,  it  may  fairly  be  urged  that  the  frequency  of  such  passages,  and 
the  feeling  which  manifestly  pervades  the  descriptions,  would  seem  to  show  that  it  was  an 
evil  of  peculiar  magnitude  and  oppressiveness  in  the  time  of  the  author  of  Job.  Such  we 
know  was  the  character  of  the  Assyrian  tyranny  and  invasions  of  Oriental  lands,  and  parti- 
cularly of  Palestine  in  the  age  of  Hezekiah.     See  2  Kings  xviii.  9,  13,  17 ;  xix.  8,  17,  24,  etc. 

26.  The  Assyrian  invasion  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  under  Shalmaneser,  and  the  deport- 
ation of  the  ten  tribes,  which  took  place  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xviii.  9  12)  was 
an  event  which  could  not  fail  of  making  a  profound  impression  on  the  heart  and  imagination 
of  Hezekiah,  and  of  reflecting  itself  in  his  writings.  Do  not  such  passages  as  Job  xii.  14-25 ; 
XV.  19-30,  breathe  the  very  sentiments  and  language  which  the  invasion,  overthrow  and  cap- 
tivity of  the  neighboring  kingdom  would  evoke? 

27.  The  most  remarkable  historical  event  in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  and  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  recorded  in  history,  was  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib,  and  the  overthrow  of  his 
hosts  in  one  night  by  "  the  Angel  of  the  Lord."  And  is  not  the  book  of  Job  full  of  that  tra- 
gic event,  and  its  solemn  lessons?  See  ch.  xxxiv.  20  ("  In  a  moment  shall  they  die,  and  the 
people  shall  be  troubled  at  midnight,  and  pass  away ;  and  the  mighty  shall  be  taken  away  without 
hand"),  24  ("  He  shall  break  in  pieces  mighty  men  without  number,"  etc.),  25  ("  He  overturn- 
eth  them  in  the  night,"  etc.);  xxxv.  10;  xxxvi.  20;  ("Desire  not  the  night,  when  peoi^le 
are  cut  off  in  their  place,"  or  on  the  spot) ;  xl.  12, 13.  Are  not  these  descriptions  and  warn- 
ings manifestly  inspired  by  the  destruction  of  Sennacherib's  army?  Comp.  Ps.  Ixxvi.  5,  6, 
a  Psalm  which  some  critics  have,  not  without  reason,  ascribed  to  Hezekiah. 

28.  Shortly  before  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  in  the  reign  of  Uzziah,  an  appalling  earthquake 
took  place  in  the  neigliborhood  of  Jerusalem.  It  was  an  event  so  notable  as  to  become  a 
historical  landmark  (see  Amos  i.  1).  According  to  Zechariah  (xiv.  4,  5),  compared  with 
Josephus,  Ant.  IX.  10,  §  4,  it  would  seem  to  have  split  the  Mount  of  Olives,  or  some  other 


§  7.    NATIONALITY  AND  HOME  OF  THE  POET.  261 

hill  near  the  city,  and  to  have  overturned  a  part  of  it  (see  Smith's  Bib.  Die  ,  Art.  ''  Earth- 
quake"). Would  not  this  catastrophe  account  for  the  many  and  vivid  references  in  Job  to 
such  convulsions  of  nature?    See  ch.  ix.  5,  6;  xiv.  18;  xviii.  4;  xxvi.  11. 

29.  The  frequency  and  elaborate  fulness  of  the  references  to  kings,  rulers,  judges,  in  the 
book,  are  suggestive  of  a  profound  interest  on  the  part  of  the  writer  in  that  class  of  persons, 
their  conduct  and  their  destiny.  See  ch.  iii.  14,  15;  ix.  24;  xii.  17-11);  xv.  24;  xxi.  28-33; 
xxix.  7  seq.,  25 ;  xxxi.  37 ;  xxxiv.  18  seq. ;  xxxvi.  7.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  passages 
which  describe  the  movements  and  destinies  of  nations,  e  g.  ch.  xii.  23-25;  xxxiv.  29,  30; 
those  which  describe  the  administration  of  justice,  especially  ch.  xxix.  12  seq  ;  the  many 
military  terms  and  allusions,  e.  g  ch.  x.  17;  xv.  24;  xix.  12;  xx.  24;  xxx.  12  seq.;  xxxviii. 
23,  including  also  the  descrip  ion  of  the  war  horse  in  ch.  xxxix.  The  con  amore  tone  of  these 
passages  must  be  perceptible  at  a  glance.  The  author,  if  not  a  king,  statesman,  warrior,  like 
Hezekiah,  at  least  thought,  and  felt,  and  wrote  like  one. 

30.  The  Egyptian  peculiarities  of  the  book,  which  have  led  Hirzel,  Hitzig  and  others  to 
suppose  that  it  must  have  been  written  in  Egypt  [e.  g.  the  references  to  the  Nile,  ch.  vii.  12; 
viii.  11-13;  ix.  26;  to  pyramids,  ch.  iii.  14;  ihe  descriptions  of  the  hippopotamus  and  the 
crocodile  in  clis.  xl.,  xii),  will  not  be  found  strange  if  we  ascribe  the  book  to  Hezekiah, 
when  we  remember  the  intimate  relations  existing  during  his  reign  between  the  kingdoms  of 
Judah  and  Egypt  (see  2  Kings  xviii.  21,  24,  and  comp.  the  denunciations  of  the  Egyptian 
alliance  by  Isaiah  in  Isa.  xxx.  2-6;  xxxi.  1,  and  elsewhere). 

31.  The  prevalence  of  Aramaic  peculiarities  in  the  book  of  Job,  introduced  as  a  feature 
in  the  artistic  local  coloring  of  the  discourses,  need  not  surprise  us  in  an  age  when  the  "Sy- 
rian language  "  was  so  well  understood  by  Hezekiah's  courtiers,  as  appears  to  have  been  the 
case  from  Isa.  xxxvi.  11,  and  when  Aramaic  influences  in  general  were  making  themselves  felt 
more  and  more  in  Palestine. 

32.  The  interest  which  the  book  of  Job  shows  in  mining  operations  (see  especially  chap, 
xxviii.)  was  peculiarly  characteristic  of  the  age  of  Hezekiah.  See  Ewald,  Gesch.  des  Volkes 
Israel,  p.  645.  We  have  an  example  of  this  in  the  account  given  of  Sargon's  expedition  to 
Palestine  during  the  14th  year  of  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  (referred  to  in  Isa.  xx.),  when, 
according  to  Rosenmiiller,  Bihl.  Geogr.,  he  occupied  himself  in  the  inspection  of  mines,  (see 
Smith's  Bib.  Die,  Art.  "  Hezekiah").  To  this  may  be  added  the  skill  shown  by  Hezekiah 
in  the  engineering  operations  by  which  Jerusalem  was  put  in  a  state  of  defense  against  the 
army  of  Sennacherib  (2  Chron.  xxxii.  2-5).  That  a  poet  possessed  of  so  high  an  order  of 
mechanical  genius  as  Hezekiah  should  have  written  the  28th  chapter  of  Job  is  at  least  a  very 
reasonable  supposition. 

33.  This  is  still  further  confirmed  by  what  is  said  of  Hezekiah's  wealth  and  treasures  in 
2  Kings  XX.  13 ;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  27  seq.  "  The  palace  at  Jerusalem,"  says  Stanley,  "  was  a 
storehouse  of  gold,  silver,  and  jewels ;  the  porch  of  the  palace  was  once  more  hung  with 
splendid  shields."  The  abundant  mention  of  precious  stones  by  the  author  of  Job,  and  his 
elaborate  description  of  the  operations  and  products  of'mining,  are,  to  say  the  least,  not 
inconsistent  with  what  is  said  of  Hezekiah. 

34.  Observe  moreover  that  in  the  description  of  Hezekiah's  possessions,  special  mention 
is  made  (2  Chron.  xxxii.  28)  of  his  "stalls  for  all  manner  of  beasts,'^  showing  that,  like  his 
illustrious  predecessor,  Solomon  (1  Kings  iv.  33),  whom  he  resembled  in  so  many  particu- 
lars, he  was  particularly  interested  in  the  study  of  natural  history.  Would  not  this  account 
for  the  elaborate,  accurate,  and  animated  descriptions  which  the  author  of  Job  has  given  of 
various  animals  in  chaps,  xxxviii. — xii.  ? 

35.  Although  the  discussion  of  ethical  problems  is  characteristic  of  the  literature  which 
sprang  up  in  the  time  of  David  and  Solomon  in  general,  the  discussion  of  questions  con- 
nected with  the  providential  administration  of  human  affairs,  and  particularly  of  that  which 
is  mysterious  in  the  Divine  Dispensations,  belongs  to  the  later,  rather  than  t^e  earlier  por- 
tions of  this  literature.  This  appears  from  an  examination  of  Ezek.  xiv.  18;  Jer.  xxxi.  29 
seq.     Compare  with  these  passages,  e.  g.,  Job  xxi.  19  seq. 

36.  The  theological  significance  of  the  book  of  Job  becomes  much  more  intelligible  if 


262  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

referred  to  the  age  of  Hezekiah,  and  particularly  to  the  period  intervening  between  the 
earlier  and  the  later  prophecies  of  Isaiah.  (Note  the  place  of  the  Hezekiah  episode  in  the 
book  of  Isaiah).  Its  portraiture  of  suffering  innocence,  together  with  its  intimations  of  a 
Deus  apvd  Deum,  to  whom  Job  appeals  of  a  Mokiach,  a  Guel,  a  Melitz,*  from  whom 
mercy  and  deliverance  may  be  expected,  are  a  most  admirable  preparation  for  the  Messiah 
of  Isaiah.  Its  doctrine  of  the  Chokmah,  if  not  an  advance  upon  that  of  the  book  of  Proverbs, 
is  its  harmonious  practical  complement.  Its  intimations  of  immortality  in  chapters  xiv.  and 
xix.  are  the  fitting,  and  even  the  necessary  prelude  of  the  more  full  and  comi^lete  revelations 
of  Ezekiel  and  Daniel.  Its  glimpse  of  a  vindication  over  the  dust  of  Job  furnishes  the  indis- 
pensable transition  from  the  simple  immortality  of  the  older,  to  the  more  definite  resurrec- 
tion-dogma of  the  later  Old  Testament  revelation. 

37.  The  Princeton  Keview  (Vol.  39,  p.  325)  truly  remarks:  "  That  the  author  of  such  a 
book  as  this  should  have  wholly  dropped  from  sight,  and  have  made  no  figure  with  his 
transcendent  abilities  in  the  history  of  Israel,  seems  scarcely  supposable."  If  the  hint  here 
given  be  entertained,  we  are  not  reduced  to  such  a  conclusion.  Is  it  altogether  unreasonable, 
in  view  of  the  cumulaiive  weight  of  the  considerations  presented  above,  to  link  to  this  tran- 
scendent book,  the  name  of  that  extraordinary  prince  whom  the  Rabbinical  literature  has 
even  identified  with  the  Messiah?  E  ]. 

I  8.   THE  UNITY  AND  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  POEM  VINDICATED. 
a.  Against  the  modern  assaults  on  the  genuineness  of  the  prologue  and  epilogue. 

The  less  there  is  to  be  said  of  discussions  concerning  the  authenticity  of  the  poem,  in 
view  of  its  anonymousness,  and  the  absence  of  all  traditional  conjectures  even  in  respect  to 
the  author,  the  more  zealously  has  modern  critidism  directed  its  efforts  against  the  integrity 
of  our  book,  and  attempted  to  discredit  portions  of  it,  larger  or  smaller,  as  interpolations. 
Only  the  exegesis  indeed  can  show,  by  examination  in  detail,  that  these  assaults  vary  in  their 
critical  value,  proceeding  as  they  do  sometimes  from  better,  sometimes  from  inferior  motives, 
at  the  same  time  that  they  must  all  alike  come  to  grief  when  tested  by  a  right  conception  of 
the  idea  and  development  of  the  poem.  The  present  introduction  however  must  furnish  a 
summary  of  the  most  important  arguments  on  the  opposite  side,  together  with  a  preliminary 
refutation  of  the  same. 

The  genuineness  of  the  prologue  and  the  epilogue  (chap.  I.,  II.,  and  chap.  XLII.  7-17) 
was  controverted  by  R.  Simon  [Hist,  crit.),  and  A.  Schultens  [Commeniar.  in  Job,  Lugd  Bat. 
1737).  They  have  been  followed  by  Hasse  in  his  Magazin  fur  die  hihlische  orientalische 
Literatur  (I.  162 seq.),  Stuhlmann,  Bernstein,  D.  v.  CoUn  [Bibl.  Theologie  des  Alien  Testa- 
ments, p.  295),  Magnus  and  Knobel  {De  carminis  Johi  argumento,  fine,  ac  disposiiione,  1835  ; 
also  Studd.  u.  Kritt,  1842,  II).  The  doubt  of  these  writers  in  respect  to  the  genuineness  of 
these  sections  has  in  general  for  its  basis  the  assumption,  that  the  poetic  kernel  of  the  book 
could  not  have  been  framed  around  with  an  introduction  and  a  conclusion  in  p>T0se.  Delitzsch 
however  rightly  maintains  in  opposition  to  this  opiuiou  that  without  such  a  historical  intro- 
duction and  close  the  middle  part  of  the  book  would  be  "  a  torso  without  head  or  foot." 
Moreover  the  narrative  in  both  these  sections,  although  without  rhythmic  form,  nevertheless 
exhibits  an  essentially  poetic  character  (witness  the  ideal  symmetry  of  the  enumerations  in 
chap.  i.  2,  3,  and  in  chap.  xlii.  12,  13;  the  freedom  and  freshness  and  loftiness  of  the  lan- 
guage in  describing  the  celestial  assembly  in  chap.  i.  6  seq. ;  ii.  1  seq. ;  the  genuinely  epic 
uniformity  of  the  form  of  expression  used  in  introducing  the  four  calamities,  chap.  i.  1-4,  16, 
17,  18;  the  transition  in  Job's  utterances  to  the  strict  and  obvious  parallelism  of  poetry, 
chap  i.  21,  etc.).  On  the  contrary  the  poetic  kernel  of  the  book  is  interspersed  with  a  num- 
ber of  prose  elements,  to  wit,  the  superscriptions  of  the  various  poetic  discourses,  not  one  of 
which  is  constructed  with  the  parallel  rhythm,  which  otherwise  prevails  here  throughout. 

In  addition  to  this  principal  argument  the  following  considerations  have  led  the  above- 
mentioned  critics  to  doubt  the  genuineness  of  the  prologue  and  epilogue : 

*  It  is  at  least  a  little  curious  that  except  in  Gen.  xlii.  23,  the  word  T"70  is  found  ouly  in  Job,  in  Isaiah  once  (xliii. 
27),  and  in  2  Chron.  xxxii.  31  of  the  envoys  of  the  king  of  Babylon  to  Hezekiah. 


1 


§  8.    THE  UNITY  AND  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  POEM  VINDICATED.  263 

(1)  An  assumed  contradiction  between  these  two  parts  of  the  idea  of  the  poem.  While  the 
latter  contemplates  Job's  sufferings  from  a  point  of  view  which  is  far  more  profound  and 
ethically  pure,  the  author  of  the  prologue  and  epilogue,  as  the  last-named  section  in  particu- 
lar shows,  favors  the  ordinary  Mosaic  doctrine  of  retribution,  and  so  represents  the  accusa- 
tions uttered  against  God  by  the  sorely  afflicted  Job,  as  being  in  some  measure  justified, 
while  his  repentance  and  confession  (chap.  xlii.  1-6)  are  in  the  same  measure  superfluous. 
It  is  however  sufficiently  evident  that  the  prologue  sets  forth  Job's  suffering  as  absolutely 
dark  and  mysterious,  at  the  same  time  that  this  section  is  written  with  a  view  to  the  gradual 
unfolding  of  the  profounder  significance  of  these  sufferings.  Nay  this  later  unraveling  of 
that  which  at  first  view  is  represented  as  incomprehensible  would  without  that  introduction 
float  in  the  air  with  nothing  to  support  it.  Without  the  firm  historical  basis  of  the  prologue 
the  whole  poem  would  remain  unintelligible  and  give  occasion  for  the  vaguest  conjectures 
touching  the  question  whether  in  truth  an  innocent  sufferer  is  to  be  described  or  not.  And 
as  furnishing  valid  and  complete  proof  that  in  this  case  the  divinely  ordained  suffering  had 
in  fact  overtaken  one  who  was  (comparatively  speaking)  innocent,  but  whom  his  friends  had 
unjustly  and  rashly  charged  with  grievous  offences,  the  deliverance  and  restoration  of  the 
sufferer  as  it  actually  took  place,  and  as  related  in  the  epilogue,  was  no  less  indispensable. 
The  mere  oral  vindication  of  the  sentence  pronounced  by  Jehovah,  without  the  subsequent 
reinstatement  of  Job  in  his  former  prosperity,  would  have  left  the  matter  in  a  decidedly  un- 
satisfactory state.  It  would  have  been  intelligible  only  from  the  New  Testament  point  of 
view,  and  for  Christian  readers,  who  after  sore  afflictions  and  trials  in  this  life  have  learned 
to  hope  for  the  crown  of  righteousness  in  the  other  life  through  the  merits  of  Christ, — not  for 
Old  Testament  saints,  who  had  not  yet  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  being  "born  again  to  a  lively 
hope  "  through  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  who  consequently  might  and  must 
look  for  a  complete  retribution  in  this  life,  comp.  the  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks  on 
chap.  xlii.  7-17. 

(2)  The  alleged  contradiction  between  JoVs  calm,  meek  resignation  to  God's  will,  as  de- 
scribed in  the  prologue  (chap.  i.  21 ;  ii.  10  seq.),  and  his  passionate  excited  utterances  in  chap, 
iii.  1  seq.,  and  also  his  subsequent  bitter  accusations  against  God  and  his  friends.  An  ob- 
jection which  is  closely  dependent  on  the  preceding,  and  which  has  already  been  refuted  for 
the  most  part  by  the  reply  made  to  that.  It  is  necessary  to  note  the  difference  in  time  be 
tween  the  conduct  of  Job,  when  as  yet  he  was  a  silent  sufferer,  and  seemed  therefore  to  be  al- 
together innocent  and  sinless,  and  the  subsequent  outbreak  of  his  real  moral  nature,  which 
came  to  pass  as  the  result  of  his  conflict  with  his  friends,  and  which  showed  that  his  nature 
had  not  been  fully  purified,  or  raised  above  the  necessity  of  repentance  and  atonement. 

(3)  A  contradiction  is  claimed  between  chap.  i.  18,  19,  where  Job's  children  perish,  and 
passages  like  ch^p.  xix.  17  ;  xiv.  21 ;  xxxi  8,  where  he  seems  to  possess  children  in  the  midst 
of  his  misers/.  The  passage  in  chap.  xix.  17  is  however  the  only  one  which  really  presupposes 
that  there  was  any  offspring  to  Job  during  the  colloquy  with  his  friends ;  and  there  by  the 
'^^?  'Al  are  to  be  understood  either  Job's  natural  brothers  ("sons  of  the  same  womb"),  or, 
as  is  more  probable  and  more  in  harmony  with  the  usage  of  language,  grandchildren,  or 
other  natural  descendants  of  Job  (e.  g.  children  begotten  of  concubines),  who  were  not  in- 
cluded in  the  destruction  of  his  sons  and  daughters  recorded  in  the  prologue.  For  in  chap, 
viii.  4 ;  xxix.  5  this  destruction  of  his  children  in  the  more  strict  and  proper  sense  is  clearly 
enough  presupposed  as  having  been  actually  accomplished,  a  fact  which  proves  at  the  same 
time  how  absurd,  or  at  least  how  superfluous  it  is  to  assume  that  in  that  passage  in  chap.  xix. 
the  poet  could  for  the  moment  have  forgotten  himself.  Comp.  the  exposition  of  the  several 
passages  under  consideration. 

(4)  A  further  incongruity  is  claimed  to  lie  in  the  high  value  which  the  prologue  and  epi- 
logue ascribe  to  sacrifices  (chap.  i.  5  ;  xlii.  8),  while  the  kernel  of  the  poem  knows  nothing 
either  of  this,  or  of  any  other  theocratic  ceremonial.  As  though  the  propitiation  of  the  Deity 
by  sacrifices  were  a  theocratic  peculiarity  !  As  though  even  in  the  time  of  the  patriarchs 
sacrificial  observances  of  the  most  various  sorts  did  not  exist,  and  in  particular  those  in  which 
the   number  seven   was    an  important   feature    (comp.  above,  Nos.  5  and  6)!      And   as 


264  INTKODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

though  the  absence  of  any  mention  of  sacrifices  in  the  poetic  part  of  the  book  were  not  purely 
accidental ! 

(5)  The  use  of  the  divine  name  "  Jehovah  ''.  in  the  prologue  and  epilogue  contradicts,  it  is 
claimed,  the  almost  entire  absence  of  this  name  from  the  poetic  part,  where  God  is  called 
only  Eloah,  Shaddai,  etc.  But  the  name  Jehovah  is  by  no  means  entirely  wanting  in  the 
poetic  portions.  It  occurs  in  Job's  mout  i  in  two  passages,  being  used  in  chap.  xii.  9  and 
xxviii.  28  (comp.  1 5),  and  ia  besides  introduced  by  the  poet  in  the  closing  chapters 
containing  the  discourse  of  God  Himself,  no  less  than  five  times  (chap,  xxxviii.  1 ;  xl.  1,  3, 
6;  xlii.  1),  The  predominance  of  those  other  names  of  God  in  the  poetic  part,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  discourses  of  the  friends  and  of  Elihu,  is  beyond  question  directly  due  to  the 
poetic  purpose  of  the  author,  who  aims  to  preserve  so  far  as  possible  the  patriarchal,  pre- 
Mosaic  coloring  of  the  entire  drama,  and  for  that  reason  retires  during  the  discussion  that 
name  of  God  which  was  specifically  characteristic  of  the  theocracy.  The  theory  that  the 
reason  for  this  peculiar  apportionment  of  the  divine  names  lies  in  the  predominantly  poetic 
significance  of  the  names  Eloah  and  Shaddai  (Bertholdt,  Gesenius,  Gleiss,  de  Wette,  etc.), 
or  in  the  purely  external  purpose  of  the  poet  to  distinguish  himself  from  the  persons  intro- 
duced as  speaking  (Eichhorn,  Einleitung,  p.  198),  is  far  less  probable  than  the  motive  here 
assigned,  which  is  essentially  the  view  also  adopted  by  Michaelis,  Steudel,  Stickel,  Ewald, 
Delitzsch,  etc.* 

(6)  Finally  it  is  claimed  that  the  peculiar  role  assigned  to  Satan  in  the  prologue  bears 
witness  against  the  genuineness  of  this  section,  and  proves  that  it  was  added  by  a  later  hand; 
an  argument  on  which  particular  stress  is  laid  by  Knobel  [1.  c),  and  of  which  mention  has 
already  been  made  in  I  6,  in  opposition  to  the  attempts  made  to  prove  that  the  book  was 
written  during  or  after  the  period  of  the  exile.  It  was  there  maintained,  and  it  will  be  more 
fully  demonstrated  below  in  the  exegesis  of  the  passage  that  the  assumption  of  a  Chaldee  or 
Persian  origin  for  the  idea  of  Satan,  has  no  historical  reality.  Here  we  may  first  of  all  refer 
to  the  fact  that  the  knowledge  of  a  Satan,  or  of  a  personal  evil  principle,  is  unquestionably 
of  pre-Mosaic  origin,  as  the  Serpent  in  Paradise,  and  the  Azazel  of  the  levitical  ceremonial 
legislation  clearly  enough  prove,  and  that  no  valid  objection  can  be  urged  against  the  use  of 
the  name  \^^  to  designate  this  evil  archangel  at  so  early  a  period  as  that  when  our  poem  is 
conjectured  to  have  originated.  This  especially  in  view  of  the  appellative  use  of  the  word 
in  such  passages  as  Num.  xxii.  22  and  Ps.  cix.  6,  and  in  view  of  the  notorious  scarcity  of 
poetic  books,  of  the  class  to  which  ours  belongs,  which  only  during  the  long  interval  between 
the  Solomonic  epoch  and  the  origin  of  post-exilic  books  like  Zecliariah  and  the  Chronicles 
could  have  given  real  occasion  for  using  the  name  Satan  (comp.  1  Kings  xxii.  19  seq.,  where 
the  evil  spirit  is  designated  simply  X^^"^"^,  with  Zech.  iii.  1  and  1  Chron.  xxi.  1  seq.). 

From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  there  are  no  valid  reasons  whatever  for  denying  the  genu  - 
ineness  of  the  prologue  and  epilogue;  and  that  furthermore  the  attempts  of  Bernstein  and 
Heiligstedt  to  distinguish  between  a  genuine  nucleus  for  the  prologue  and  later  interpola- 
tions [e.  g.  according  to  Heiligstedt's  conjecture,  ch.  i.  6-12  and  ii.  1-7),  are  unnecessary. 
Prologue  and  epilogue,  as  they  actually  lie  before  us,  are  indispensable  to  the  complete 
unfolding  of  the  idea  of  the  poem.  Without  them  the  whole  would  be  an  inexplicable 
enigma.t 

*  It  is  a  mistaken  and  misleading  view  that  is  t.iken  by  Hengsteuberg  (£eiYra(;e  II.,  30i  s?q.),  when  he  exphiins  the 
poet's  motive  for  using  the  name  Jehovah  in  tlie  Prologue,  and  the  other  names  of  God  in  the  poem  itself,  to  be  his  pur- 
pose "to  present  the  solution  of  his  problem  rot  from  the  standpoint  of  revelation,  but  from  tliat  of  natural  theology." 
Against  which  Hahn  rightly  remarks  (p.  12),  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  discourse  of  God  is  introduced  for  tlio  very  purpos  > 
of  showing  that  natural  human  wisdom  cannot  decide  the  controversy.  The  leason  which  he  himself  assigns  for  this 
contrasted  use  of  the  various  names  of  God,  is  not  altogether  a  suitable  one;  to  wit,  that  in  the  prologue  and  epilogue  God 
btars  the  name  Jehovah  as  the  manifested  God,  who  even  in  the  apparently  mysterious  afflictions  of  His  people  nevertheless 
deals  graciously  and  lovingly,  whereas  on  the  contrary  in  the  poem  itself  He  appears  as  the  concen}ed  God,  who  in  Ilis  myM- 
terious  ways  confronts  man  as  a  stranger,  and  in  His  omnipotence  as  highly  exalted  above  the  world,  and  who  accordingly 
is  called  Elohim,  Eloah,  or  Shaddai.    The  poet  himself  scarcely  m  ikes  s )  artilicial  a  distinction. 

t  Comp.  Keil,  lutroduction,  I.  494  seq.,  as  well  as  the  following  remark  of  Kosenmllller,  there  cited  (Schol.  p.  46):  You 
have  a  work  incomplete  in  every  part,  a  mere  collection  of  speeches,  of  whose  cause,  subject  and  object  you  are  ignorant, 
if  you  take  away  the  exordium  and  conclusion. 


I  9.    CONTINUATION— THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  POEM  VINDICATED.  265 


§  9.   CONTINUATION.      THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  POEM  VINDICATED. 

b.  Against  the  modern  assaults  on  the  sections:  ch.  xxvii.  7 — xxvili.  28,  and  ch,  xl.  15 — xli.  26. 
Within  the  poetic  kernel  of  the  poem  the  section  concerning  Wisdom,  ch.  xxviii.,  and  also 
the  descyription  of  the  behemoth  and  leviathan  (chs.  xl.  and  xli.)  have  become  chief  objects  of 
assault  from  the  destructive  criticism. 

I.  The  passage  concerning  Wisdom,  ch.  xxviii.,  together  with  the  larger  half  of  the  pre- 
ceding chapter  (ch.  xxvii.  13-23),  although  its  genuineness  was  not  disputed,  was.  regarded 
as  having  been  improperly  attributed  to  Job  by  some  of  the  earlier  critics,  as  e.  g.  Kennicott 
{Eemarks  on  Select  Passages  in  the  Old  Testament,  p,  169),  Eichhorn  {Allg.  Bibl.  der  bibl. 
Lileratur,  II.  613),  Bertholdt  and  Stuhlmann  (the  latter  including  also  vers.  11-12  of  ch. 
xxvii.).  They  ascribed  ch.  xxvii.  13  seq.  (or  ch.  xxvii.  11  seq.)  to  Zophar,  and  cli.  xxviii. 
to  Bildad  [Bernard  and  Elzas,  however,  include  ch.  xxviii.  in  the  speech  of  Zophar,  while 
Wemyss  destroys  the'  artistic  plan  of  the  book  entirely  by  transferring  it  to  the  end  as  the 
"peroration"  of  the  whole].  Bernstein,  advancing  still  further  in  the  path  on  Avhich  these 
writers  had  entered,  denied  the  genuineness  of  the  entire  section  from  ch.  xxvii.  7  on,  and 
Knobel  sought  to  prove  that  ch.  xxviii.  at  least  was  a  later  interpolation.  The  reasons  for 
these  critical  decisions  were  the  alleged  contradictions  and  inconsistencies  (on  wbich  De 
Wette  also  had  animadverted,  Einl.  |  288),  which  would  lie  in  the  sections  under  considera- 
tion, inasmuch  as  ch.  xxvii.  7  seq.  (or  11  seq.)  teaches  the  ordinary  doctrine  of  retribution, 
against  which  Job  has  previously  declared  most  solemnly  and  decisively,  and  inasmuch  as 
the  reference  to  the  hidden  wisdom  of  God  in  ch.  xxviii.,  summoning  as  it  does  to  humility, 
does  not  agree  with  the  exhibitions  of  a  presumptuous  confidence  and  proud  self- conscious- 
ness, which  appear  in  Job's  previous  discourses.  But  that  which  Job  seems  to  say  in  ch. 
xxvii.  in  favor  of  the  common  external  theory  of  retribution,  is  in  reality  intended  only  to 
supplement  and  to  rectify  that  which  he  had  previously  maintained,  in  a  manner  somewhat 
one-sided  and  liabled  to  be  misunderstood,  concerning  the  earthly  prosperity  of  the  wicked. 
The  truth,  on  which  thus  far  exclusive  emphasis  had  been  laid,  that  oftentimes  there  is  no 
just  distribution  in  the  apportionment  of  men's  lots,  he  now  supplements  with  the  truth, 
which  indeed  he  also  states  partially,  and  without  the  proper  exceptions  and  qualifications, 
that  at  last  the  wicked  always  receive  their  merited  reward  [see  Exegetical  Eemarks  on  ch. 
xxvii.  9,  10].  And  in  order  to  make  it  apparent,  that  along  with  this  latter  truth  he  still 
adhered  to  that  which  he  had  formerly  maintained  respecting  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked 
and  the  sufferings  of  the  righteous,  he  immediately  proceeds  in  ch.  xxviii.  to  describe  the 
mysteriously  moving  and  hidden  wisdom  of  God,  whose  counsel  is  ever  wonderful,  and  whose 
movements  in  the  allotment  of  prosperity  and  adversity  in  the  life  of  men  of  necessity  have 
in  them  much  that  is  mysterious.*  Thus  understood,  these  two  chapters  contain  in  them  no 
inconsistency,  no  self-contradiction  or  obscurity,  which  could  at  all  justify  the  suspicion  of 
an  interpolation — a  suspicion  which  is  moreover  disproved  by  the  decided  similarity  in  lan- 
guage between  this  section  and  all  the  rest  of  the  book. 

II.  The  descriptions  of  the  behemoth  and  leviathan  (chs.  xl.,  xli.),  were  first  treated  by 
Eichhorn  [Allg.  Bibl.  I.  c.)  and  Bertholdt  as  simply  containing  a  transposition  of  certain 
passages ;  in  particular  the  passage  ch.  xl.  32 — xli.  3  was  removed,  and  placed  after  the 
description  of  the  leviathan,  ch.  xli.  4-26.  Stuhlmann  and  Bernstein  denied  the  genuineness 
of  the  latter  section,  ch.  xli.  4-26.  Ewald,  E.  Meier,  Simson  [Zur  Kritik  des  B.  Eiob,  1861, 
Dillmann,  and  Fiirst  [and  Merx],  however,  deny  the  genuineness  of  all  from  ch.  xl.  15  on 
(so  also  Eichhorn  later  in  his  Eiyileitang  ins  Alte  Test.,  V.  207  seq.).     The  author  of  the 

*  Havernick  says  rightly  (p.  366) :  "  If,  however,  it  might  soem  in  view  of  this  (i.  e.  in  view  of  what  is  advanced  by  Job 
in  ch.  xxvii.  11  seq.)  that  the  opponents  of  Job  are  in  the  right,  this  niisconception  is  obviiited  by  ch.  xxviii.  From  the 
concession  in  ch.  xxvii.  it  does  not  at  all  follow  that  we  are  to  imitate  the  fritnds  in  their  precipitate  external  way  of 
judging  and  condemning.  By  so  doing  we  overlook  entirely  the  limits  of  human  knowledge  in  relation  to  the  divine  wis- 
dom. Accordingly  ch.  xxviii.  proceeds  to  eulogize  this  wisdom  in  ito  secret  depths,  which  no  human  research  can  fathom. 
For  man  the  true  possession  of  this  wisdom  consists  in  genuine  godliness  (ch.  xxviii.  28  again  connecting  with  ch.  xxvii.), 
n  t  in  that  immoderate  cimdut  t  of  the  friends,  by  which  they  in  fact  put  themselves  in  the  place  of  God."  Comp.  also  the 
r. marks  of  BouilUer  (^Observatioiies  misceU.,  p.  255  seq.),  and  of  ntrzel  [pp.  161,  269],  quoted  by  Uivemick, 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


interpolation  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  Jew,  living  in  Egypt  during  the  sixth  century,  pos- 
sibly a  descendant  of  the  fugitives  who  accompanied  Jeremiah  into  that  land,  who  by  his 
vivid  description  of  the  animal  prodigies  of  Egypt  reveals  hknself  as  living  on  the  Nile,  but 
who  also  by  his  mention  of  .he  Jordan  (ch.  xl.  23)  shows  himself  to  have  been  well  acquainted 
with  Palestine.  The  principal  arguments  for  the  non-genuineness  of  this  part  of  the  book 
are  the  following: 

a.  The  intent  and  scope  of  the  discourse  of  God  does  not  permit  such  a  description  of 
animals  here.  Such  an  illustration  of  the  power  of  God  in  creation,  outside  of  man,  would 
be  in  place  in  the  first  discourse  of  God  (chap,  xxxviii.,  xxxix.),  but  not  in  this  second  dis- 
course, which  treats  rather  of  the  relation  of  the  divine  justice  to  men. — But  such  a  separation 
of  power  from  justice  is  altogether  foreign  to  the  poet's  description.  It  is  his  purpose  rather 
to  exhibit  both  these  attributes  of  God  in  His  government  of  the  world,  the  operation  of  His 
power,  and  that  of  His  wisdom  and  justice,  in  their  internal  connection.  The  truth  that 
under  His  strong  arm  God  bows  down  everything,  even  the  proud  evil-doers,  even  the  arro- 
gance of  the  wicked  man, — this  truth  is  illustrated  by  the  description  of  His  influence  in 
subjugating  and  governing  the  gigantic  powers  of  nature,  of  which  two  animal  colossi  are 
here  presented  as  representative  examples.  Behemoth  and  leviathan  indeed  figure  to  some, 
extent  as  symbols  of  evil  powers,  hostile  to  God.  This  however  is  not  to  be  understood  in 
such  a  sense  as  would  allow  Satan,  or  Anti-Christ,  to  be  concealed  under  them,  as  the  alle- 
goristic  exegesis  of  an  earlier  age  often  assumed.  Rather  should  both  descriptions  be  taken 
as  illustrations  in  the  concrete  of  the  fact  that  the  Divine  omnipotence  is  irresistible  and 
invincible,  whether  it  displays  itself  as  creating,  or  destroying,  as  ruling  the  world,  or  as 
judging  it. 

b.  It  is  claimed  that  the  argumentative  means  here  used  are  "  not  well  chosen  "  for  the 
end  in  view;  for  the  reason,  first  of  all,  that  "no  animal  whatever,  not  even  behemoth  and 
leviathan,  is  unconquerable  by  men  (Gen.  i.  29;  ix.  2;  Ps.  viii.) ;  and  next  because  the  two 
animals  here  described,  being  specifically  Egyptian,  were  unknown  to  the  Palestinian  reader, 
and  therefore  must  be  described  at  length,  if  they  were  to  be  of  use  in  the  way  of  proof" 
(Dillmann). — Just  as  though  the  knowledge  of  nature,  possessed  by  oriental  antiquity,  being 
necessarily  limited  as  it  was,  would  allow  the  same  freedom  of  choice  as  that  of  which  our 
modern  knowledge  might  avail  itself,  from  among  hundreds  of  examples  of  colossal  natural 
phenomena,  which  should  be  adapted  to  illustrate  the  Divine  omnipotence.*  And  as  though, 
when  in  Solomon's  reign  an  active  intercourse  and  a  close  acquaintance  was  instituted 
between  Israel  and  Egypt,  the  great  natural  wonders  of  this  very  land  [Egypt]  would  not  be 
eminently  available  for  the  purposes  of  such  illustration,  and  especially  with  a  poet  who 
delighted  at  all  times  in  introducing  that  which  was  new,  extraordinary,  astounding,  and 
foreign. 

c.  In  an  esthetic  respect,  it  is  alleged,  that  the  Section  does  not  correspond  to  the  ideal 
beauty  and  completeness  of  the  rest  of  the  poem;  the  "  fugitive  tender  delicacy  which  cha- 
racterizes the  descriptions  of  animals  given  by  the  older  poet "  is  entirely  missing  in  the 
elaborate  description  of  the  two  Egyptian  beasts  (Ewald).  And  apart  from  the  prolixity, 
which  is  almost  tedious,  and  the  latitude  of  these  descriptions,  the  discourse  in  those  parts 
where  it  takes  the  form  of  questions  and  challenges  from  Jehovah  (chap.  xl.  25  scq.)  "  lacks 
the  crushing  power  and  the  divine  irony  peculiar  to  the  first  discourse  of  God."  Indeed 
much  of  it  is  "  scarcely  more  than  a  rhetorical  form,"  and  the  rhetorical  change  in  chap.  xli. 

*  Comp.  in  my  Theologia  naturalU  (Frankfurt  a.  M.  1860)  Ihe  Section  on  p.  239  seq. :  "  The  aid  fuTuished  by  the  exact 
natural  sciences  in  enlarging  the  Scriptural  symbolical  observation  of  nature,"  whoi  o,  with  express  reference  to  the  section 
of  the  book  of  Job  now  under  consideration  the  idea  is  developed  of  an  amplification  and  a  mulliplication  of  the  aesthetic 
judgments  respecting  the  theological  significance  of  natural  phenomora  which  come  to  us  throu^rh  the  figures  and  com- 
parisons of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  See  especially  p.  240:  "  Does  not  the  wsthetic  verdict  of  lloly  Scripture  delivrred  in  Jub 
xl.  20-xli.  25  respecting  the  leviathan,  i.  e.,  the  crocodile  of  the  Nile,  extend  also  ti?  the  monster  alligators  of  America,  and 
the  gavial  of  the  Ganges  ?  Are  we  not  compelled  even  to  apply  that  which  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  Testament  in 
BO  many  passages  say  respecting  the  strength  and  rapacity  of  the  lion,  to  the  tiger  both  of  the  East  Indies  and  of  South 
America,  of  which  no  mention  is  made  in  the  Bible?  And  would  not  this  latter  animal  furnish  us  a  still  more  striking 
image  in  many  respects  of  the  malice  and  rage  of  the  soul-destroying  arch-flend,  than  the  lion,  according  to  1  Peter  v.  8?" 
ete.— See  further  on  the  subject  below  in  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks  on  chaps,  xl.  and  xlL 


§9.    CONTINUATION— THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  POEM  VINDICATED.  2G7 

4  exhibits  "  in  the  mouth  of  the  God  who  appeared  in  the  tempest  a  flatness  which  is  simply 
intolerable  "  (Dillmann). — Against  these  subjective  dicta  of  taste  Umbreit  has  truly  remarked : 
"  Is  then  elaborateness  of  description  prolixity  ?  is  art  the  same  thing  with  artificialness  ? 
and  is  a  calmly  maintained  objecdvity  after  all  mere  flatness  ?  Our  poet  is  wholly  immersed 
in  the  wondering  contemplation  of  the  two  animal  colossi ;  and  a  certain  reality  in  their 
appearance  has  passed  over  into  the  very  description.  The  same  poetic  painter  who  with 
wonderful  reality  produces  before  us  the  spirited  war-horse  charged  with  lifelike  vigor,  who 
sends  the  swift  hawk  on  its  rapid  flight  through  the  air,  now  at  the  end  with  equal  skill  in 
description  traces  out  before  our  eyes  the  carefully  articulated  structure  of  those  mighty 
monsters." — A  point  which  must  also  be  urged  against  the  charge  of  prolixity  is  the  fact  that 
more  detailed  and  circumstantial  descriptions  are  elsewhere  also  in  Old  Testament  poetry 
descriptive  of  nature  and  of  morals,  wont  to  alternate  wiih  such  as  are  shorter  and  more 
cursory  (in  addition  to  chaps,  xv.,  xviii.,  xx.,  xxviii.,  and  xxxvi — xxxix.  of  our  book,  comp. 
Prov.  vi.  6-8  [the  ant] ;  Prov.  vii.  5  seq.  [the  harlot]  ;  Prov.  xxxi.  10  seq.  [the  good  wife] ; 
Eccles.  xii.  2  [the  house  of  the  body  in  old  age]),  and  that  a  certain  desultory  irregularity 
of  representation  is  everywhere  peculiar  to  the  poets  of  the  Old  Testament. 

d.  That  the  character  of  the  language  in  the  part  before  us  has  in  it  much  that  is  peculiar, 
is  also  an  assertion  which  rests  on  an  sesthetic  judgment,  previously  conceived,  and  which 
is  already  disposed  of  by  the  fact  that  its  advocates  themselves  must  produce  a  long  series 
of  characteristics  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  poem  [e.  g.,  chap.  xl.  17,  18,  28,  30,  32 ; 
xli.  3,  4,  6,  9,  10,  14,  15,  21,  22),  which  they  then  seek  to  explain  by  the  supposition  that 
these  were  borrowed  from  the  genuine  portions  of  the  book  (see  particularly  Dillmann,  p. 
355).  The  peculiarities  of  the  section,  alleged  or  real  [e.  g.,  the  use  of  /^  chap.  xli.  15  or 
'73  chap.  xli.  18  as  a  negative  before  a  simple  verb,  which  is  not  found  elsewhere  in  the 
poem)  do  not  equal  those  correspondences  in  number  or  importance,  and  they  can  scarcely 
be  attributed  to  any  other  cause  than  that  any  long  section,  especially  in  the  domain  of  the 
poetry  of  natural  description,  must  inevitably  have  its  peculiarity  of  diction. 

e.  It  is  alleged  that  the  long  description  of  the  two  animals  is  altogether  unnecessary  to 
the  object  of  the  second  discourse  of  God,  which  has  already  received  a  perfectly  satisfactory 
conclusion  in  chap.  xl.  6-14,  while  on  the  other  hand  chap.  xli.  26  [34]  forms  no  proper  con- 
clusion, and  furnishes  no  intimation  (such  as  we  find  in  chap.  xl.  2)  that  it  is  now  the  place 
for  Job  to  speak.  But  the  negative  question  in  chap.  xl.  9  requires  a  positive  argument  for 
its  support,  without  which  the  second  discourse  of  Jehovah  would  remain  incomplete. 
Moreover  this  second  discourse,  if  it  really  embraced  only  vers.  6-14  of  the  40th  chap,  would 
be  much  too  short  in  comparison  with  the  first,  and  would  fail  to  furnish  the  motive  to  Job's 
humble  confession  in  chap.  xlii.  2 :  he  knows  now  that  Jehovah  can  do  everything.  On  the 
contrary  the  way  seems  well  prepared  for  this  acknowledgment  by  the  proposition  in  chap, 
xli.  26  [34],  which  forms  the  climax  to  the  description  of  the  leviathan,  which  represents  the 
crocodile  as  the  monarch  of  all  beasts,  and  thereby  declares  that  the  divine  poAver  revealed 
in  the  visible  creation  is  glorious  and  invincible.  It  cannot  be  said  of  all  accordingly  that 
there  is  no  inner  connection  between  the  description  under  consideration,  and  that  which 
follows  and  precedes  it.  On  the  contrary  the  discourse  of  God  would  seem  to  be  unsuitably 
shortened  and  mutilated,  if  we  should  cut  off"  these  descriptions  of  animals,  which  constitute 
the  real  point  of  it :  see  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks  on  this  section. 

If  then  that  which  has  been  alleged  against  this  section  appears  to  resolve  itself  essen- 
tially into  a  matter  of  individual  opinion  and  taste,  the  whole  poetic  kernel  of  the  book 
would  present  itself  to  us  as  one  well-rounded,  compacted,  and  unassailable  work,  cast  at 
once  and  in  one  mould,  were  it  not  that  against  a  still  more  extensive  constituent  of  this 
whole  suspicions  have  been  directed,  the  grounds  of  which  are  exceedingly  specious  and  co- 
gent. These  are  the  discourses  of  Elihu,  which  in  a  linguistic  respect  particularly  exhibit 
much  that  is  peculiar,  and  which  have  for  that  reason  been  rejected  as  foreign  to  the  original 
form  of  the  book  by  many  critics  who  otherwise  are  very  prudent  and  judicious. 


268  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


§10.   CONCLUSION— THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  POEM  VINDICATED. 

c.    Against  the  assaults  on  the  discourses  of  Elihu :    Chap,  xxxii — xxxvii. 

It  has  been  maintained  that  this  entire  episode  is  not  an  original  constituent  of  the  poem 
by  Eichhorn  {Einleitung,Y.,  §644  b),  Stuhlmann,  Bernstein,  Knobel,  D.  v.  Colin  [Bill. 
Theol  I.  294),  De  Wette  [Einl.  |  287  ;  in  Schrader's  Neuhearbeit.  §  350),  E.  Meier  (in  Zeller'a 
Theol  Jahrb.  1844,  p.  366  seq.),  Ewald,  Heiligstedt,  Hirzel,  Dillraann,  Bleek,  HupfeUI,  Sci- 
necke  [Der  Grundgedanke  des  Buches  Hiob,  1863),  Davidson  [IrUrod.  II.  p.  204  seq.),  Renan, 
Fiirst  [Merx],  and  several  others,  while  the  majority  of  exegetes  and  critics  maintain  its 
genuineness,  especially  Jahn  {Einl.,  etc.,  II.  776),  Staudlin  (in  his  Beitrdgen  zur  Phllosophie 
und  Gesehichte  der  Religion  und  Sittenlehre,  II.  133  seq.),  Bertholdt,  Gesenius  [Geschichte  der 
hebr.  Sprache  und  Schrifl,  1815,  p.  34  seq.),  EosenmuUer,  Scharer,  Umbreit,  Arnheim,  Gleis><, 
FricdlaQdcrjQteude],  {Vorlesungenuber  die  Theol.  des  Allen  Test.,  18-iO,  Bed.  Ill),  Sticke], 
Vaihinger,  Herbst,  Welte,  Havernick,  Keil,  Hahn,  Schlottmann,  Hengstenberg  (^y.  Kchzlg. 
1856,  No.  16  seq.)  [Good,  Lee,  Noyes,  Wordsworth,  Cook,  Green,  Carey,  Barnes,  and  the 
English  commentators  generally.]  Delitzsch  pronounces  no  definite  decision  either  for  or 
against  the  genuineness,  although  he  inclines  on  the  whole  to  the  opinion  that  these  chap- 
ters were  Avritten  not  by  the  author  of  the  principal  poem,  but  by  another,  although  not  much 
later  than  the  former;  and  he  maintains  emphatically  that  this  slightly  later  author  ("  the 
second,  or  possibly  the  first  issuer  of  the  book")  was  not  materially  inferior  to  the  principal 
poet  in  theological  importance  and  in  poetic  value  and  merit.*  The  other  opponents  of  the 
genuineness  bring  down  the  interpolator  into  an  age  considerably  later.  Some,  Bernstein  in 
particular,  seek  to  establish  his  identity  with  the  unknown  author  of  the  section  in  chap, 
xxvii.  7 — xxviii.  28,  which  is  in  like  manner  rejected. 

The  principal  reasons  urged  against  the  genuineness  are  the  following : 

1.  The  connection  between  Job's  last  discourse  (chap,  xxix-xxxi.)  and  the  discourse  of 
Jehovah,  chap,  xxxviii.  seq.,  is  removed  ;  the  conclusion  of  that  discourse  of  Job's  exhibits 
a  manifest  breaking  off,  a  sudden  interruption  by  the  appearance  of  Jehovah  which  now 
takes  place:  in  like  manner  chap,  xxxviii.  1  seq.  clearly  presupposes,  that  Job,  and  not  an- 
other, must  have  spoken  immediately  before  Jehovah, 

2.  By  anticipating  the  reference  to  God's  infinite  power  and  wisdom  to  which  chapter 
xxxviii.-xli.  give  expression,  the  discourses  of  Elihu  weaken  the  impression  of  the  discourse 
of  Jehovah;  nay  more  they  make  it  simply  superfluous,  in  so  far  as  they  attempt  to  solve  the 
problem  under  consideration  in  the  way  of  knowledge,  while  Jehovah  on  the  contrary  re- 
quires unconditional  submission  beneath  His  omnipotence  and  secret  wisdom. 

3.  We  find  neither  in  the  prologue  any  preparation  for  the  appearance  of  Elihu  after  the 
silencing  of  the  friends — it  does  not  mention  him  in  a  single  syllable — nor  in  the  Epilogue 
any  reminder  of  his  discourses.  The  latter  fact  would  be  all  the  more  singular  seeing  that 
Elihu  had,  just  as  well  a^  the  three  friends,  assigned  Job's  guilt  as  the  cause  of  his  sufler- 
ings;  we  should  therefore  reasonably  expect  that  the  same  censure  would  be  visited  on  him 
as  on  them  (see  chap.  xlii.  7),  whereas  in  fact  the  divine  sentence  completely  ignores  him. 

4.  Moreover  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Job  himself  makes  no  answer  to  Elihu  the  accusa- 
tions of  the  latter  acquire  a  position  of  peculiar  isolation ;  after  the  incisive  rejoinders  which 
Job  makes  to  the  accusations  of  the  three  friends  respectively,  we  necessarily  expect  that  he 
will  attend  to  Elihu's  reproaches. 

5.  It  is  singular  moreover  that  Elihu  addresses  Job  several  times  by  name  (chap,  xxxiii. 
1,  31 ;  xxxvii.  14),  while  neither  the  three  friends  nor  Jehovah  ever  resort  to  such  a  mode 
of  address. 

6.  There  is  a  striking  contrast  between  the  diflFuse  and  circumstantial  way  in  which 

♦Commentary,  Vol.  II.,  p.  309:  "There  are  neither  linguistic,  nor  any  other  valid  reasons  in  favor  of  assigning  it  to  a 
much  later  period.  He  is  the  second  issuer  of  the  book,  possibly  the  first,  who  brouglit  to  liglit  the  hitherto  hidden  tr  a- 
Bure,  enriched  hy  his  own  insertion,  which  is  inestimable  \a  its  relation  to  the  history  of  the  knowledge  of  the  plan  of  re- 
demption."   Comp.  aUo  \  9,  Vol.  I.,  p.  26,  of  the  Introduction,  and  also  the  pamphlet :  "  Far  tmd  wider  Kahnis"  1863,  p.  14. 


^  10.    CONCLUSION— THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  POEM  VINDICATED.  209 

Elihu  is  introduced,  and  the  plain  short  announcement  that  is  given  of  the  appearance  of 
the  three  friends  (chap.  ii.  11). 

7.  The  way  in  which  Elihu  himself  introduces  himself  (chap,  xxxii.  6-xxxiii.  7)  is  not 
altogether  void  of  offense,  in  so  far  as  may  be  discerned  in  it  an  unsuitable  self-praise,  and  a 
boastful  commendation  of  his  own  merits. 

8.  While  the  older  poet,  "  in  contrast  with  the  false  doctrine  of  retribution,  entirely 
.separates  sin  and  punishment  or  chastisement  in  the  affliction  of  Job,  and  by  inculcating  the 
doctrine  that  there  is  an  affliction  endured  by  the  righteous  which  is  designed  simply  to  test 
and  prove  their  innocence,  treats  essentially  the  theme  which  in  New  Testament  phraseology 
may  be  designated  "the  mystery  of  the  Cross,"  Elihu  leaves  sin  and  suffering  together  as 
inseparable,  and  in  opposition  to  the  vulgar  doctrine  of  retribution  sets  forth  the  distinction 
between  disciplinary  chastisement  and  judicial  retribution.  There  appears  thus  a  profound 
difference  in  the  conception  of  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  book  between  the  two — the 
poet  and  his  later  supplementer — the  latter  aiming  to  moderate  the  boldness  with  which  the 
former  would  represent  the  judicial  decision  of  Jehovah  as  directly  following  upon  Job's 
discussion  with  the  three  friends,  and  to  make  suitable  preparation  for  the  rigid  sentence  to 
be  pronounced  by  God  on  both  the  contending  parties  (so  at  least  Delitzsch  in  his  Commy., 
II.,  p.  308,  and  in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl,  Art.  "Hiob,"  p.  119). 

9.  There  are  several  correspondences  with  the  remainder  of  the  book  which  "  bear  on 
them  the  impress  of  imitation  ;  this  is  unmistakably  the  case  with  the  entire  section  in  chap, 
xxxvi.  26-xxxvii.  18,  which  has  been  prompted  by  the  discourse  of  God  in  chap,  xxxviii. 
seq. ;  and  there  are  many  such  instances  in  thought  and  expression,  such  as  chap,  xxxiii.  7, 
15;  xxxiv.  3,  7,  21-24;  xxxv.  5-8;  xxxvi.  25;  xxxvii.  4,  10,  11,  22,"  (so  Hirzel  and  Dill- 
mann). 

10.  The  diction  and  the  style  of  representation  distinguish  the  author  of  Elihu's  dis- 
courses most  decisively  from  the  author  of  the  rest  of  the  poem.  "  Not  only  has  the  lan- 
guage a  strong  Aramaic  coloring,  but  Elihu  uses  regularly  certain  expressions,  forms,  and 
phrases,  in  place  of  which  in  the  rest  of  the  book  other  expressions  are  found  just  as  regu- 
larly, and  without  distinction  between  the  various  speakers,  which  points  not  only  to  a 
difference  in  the  roles,  but  also  to  a  difference  in  the  writers"  (Hirzel).  "Moreover  the 
mode  of  representation  on  the  one  side  shows  greater  breadth  and  wealth  of  words;  on  the 
other  side  it  is  more  artificial  and  strained,  often  enough  obscure,  bombastic,  and  ambiguous. 
1  hese  peculiarities  in  the  discourses  of  Elihu  go  far  beyond  the  style  of  the  poet  elsewhere, 
when  he  distinguishes  individual  speakers  by  particular  terms  of  expression,  and  favorite 
words  and  phrases.  It  is  an  inferior  poet  who  discourses  here,  who  is  not  to  the  same  degree 
endowed  with  clearness  of  thought,  poetic  perception,  and  mastery  of  language.  This  is 
strikingly  enough  shown  both  in  the  structure  of  the  verse,  which  often  sinks  down  to  mere 
prose,  and  in  the  plan  of  the  discourses  :  the  logical  and  the  poetic  divisions  do  not  corres- 
pond ;  the  strophe-structure  fails  "  (Dillmann). 

It  is  a  powerful  phalanx  of  charges  and  of  reasons  for  doubt,  external  and  interral,  which 
we  find  arranged  here.  As  respects  their  critical  value  however  they  are  very  unequal,  and 
particularly  are  the  first  nine  susceptible  of  easy  refutation,  which  seek  their  support  in  the 
relation  of  the  internal  peculiarities  of  the  section  to  the  rest  of  the  poem.  We  will  examine 
them  in  their  order. 

1.  It  is  not  true  to  say  that  Elihu's  discourse  destroys  the  connection  between  Job's  last 
disc  lurse  and  that  of  Jehovah  in  chap,  xxxviii.  seq. :  for  the  conclusion  of  that  last  discourse 
of  Job's  (chap.  xxxi.  38-40)  does  not  read  as  though  it  had  been  broken  off,  neither  does  the 
beginning  of  Jehovah's  discourse  (chap,  xxxviii.  2)  presuppose  that  Job  had  spoken  imme- 
diately before,  and  had  been  interrupted.  The  exegesis  of  the  passages  referred  to  will  exhibit 
both  these  points  more  in  detail,  and  will  at  the  same  time  prove  that  the  close  of  Elihu's 
discourses  by  its  solemn  eulogy  of  the  majesty  of  God  furnishes  a  suitable  preparation  for 
His  appearance  ;  that  probably  also  that  storm  in  which  God  appears  to  Job  (chap,  xxxviii. 
1  ;  xl.  6)  is  intended  by  the  poet  to  foreshadow  and  give  occasion  for  the  descriptions  of 
n.iture  which  form  the  contents  of  these  closing  discourses  (which  are  principally  occupied 


270  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB, 

wi  h  the  majestic  phenomena  that  accompany  a  storm,  which  in  several  passages  indeed 
point  to  Eloah  as  immediately  present,  or  appearing  as  it  were  under  the  symbolic  veil  of 
clouds,  thunder  and  lightning) ;  and  finally,  that  the  absence  of  any  recognition  by  Jehovah 
of  that  which  has  been  spoken  by  Elihu  is  to  be  accounted  for  simply  on  the  ground  that 
Elihu's  discus-ions  served  to  prepare  the  way  directly  for  the  Divine  decision,  that  it  was 
not  necessary  therefore  that  Jehovah  should  define  His  position  toward  this  speaker  who  stood 
on  His  side  and  pleaded  His  cause,  but  that  He  might  recur  at  once  to  Job's  last  utterances.* 

2.  It  is  not  at  all  the  case  that  the  impression  of  the  discourses  of  Jehovah  is  weakened 
by  the  discourses  of  Elihu,  which  prepare  the  way  for  them,  but  do  not  for  that  reason  anti- 
cipate them.  For  it  is  Elihu's  aim  to  present  subjectively  Job's  obligation  to  submit  himself 
humbly  to  Jehovah,  by  contending  against  his  false  self-righteousness,  comp.  chap,  xxxii.  I : 
1\3,i'3  p'^i*  Nin  '3,  for  he  accounted  himself  righteous),  and  by  showing  the  need  of  tho- 
rough self  knowledge,  out  of  which  true  humility  ever  springs.  Jehovah  on  the  contrary 
follows  with  an  argument  proving  the  same  thing  objectively,  by  pointing  out  the  unsearch- 
ableness  of  His  eternal  nature  and  activity,  and  also  the  wonderful  fulness  of  His  power  and 
wisdom — attributes  which  already  Elihu  had  also  set  forth,  although  more  incidentally  (see 
from  chap,  xxxvi.  22  on).  The  predominantly  theoretic  solution  of  the  whole  problem 
touching  the  significance  of  human  suffering,  which  Elihu  presents,  a  solution  derived  from 
the  realm  of  knowledge,  neither  excludes  nor  supersedes  the  more  profound  practical  solution 
which  Jehovah  presents  in  the  realm  of  fact.  On  the  contrary  the  fact  that  first  of  all  there 
comes  before  us  in  Elihu  a  representative  of  human  wisdom,  and  that  of  the  more  profound 
and  solid  order,  attempting  a  correct  solution  of  the  problem  in  question,  and  that  after  him 
God  Himself  first  brings  about  the  absolute  and  final  solution — all  this  rests  on  a  plan  tho- 
roughly conceived  by  the  author,  which  also  accounts  for  the  greater  weight  and  magnificence 
of  the  language  in  Jehovah's  discourse,  and  especially  for  the  incomparably  greater  sublimity 
of  the  description  of  the  divine  power  and  wisdom  which  it  contains.  This  gradation  which 
the  author  manifestly  intends  between  the  discourses  of  Elihu  and  those  of  Jehovah,  this 
absolute  superiority  of  the  latter  over  the  former,  both  as  regards  their  points  of  view,  and 
the  material  and  formal  value  of  their  utterances,  shows  how  perverse  and  erroneous  are 
both  the  judgments  pronounced  against  them  by  their  opponents — whether  we  take  the 
judgment  which  declares  that  Elihu  "says  more  than  God,"  thus  anticipating  and  super- 
seding what  He  says,  or  the  other  judgment  wh'ch  declares  that  in  his  discourses  no  thought 
appears  which  is  entirely  new,  which  has  not  already  shown  itself  in  the  older  book  "  (Ewald, 
p.  320:— against  which  comp.  Havernick,  III.,  373,  also  what  we  have  to  say  below  against 
Dillmann  in  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks  on  chaps,  xxxvi.,  xxxvii.) 

3.  The  silence  of  the  prologue  and  the  epilogue  respecting  Elihu  proves  nothing  in 
behalf  of  the  view  that  the  speeches  of  the  latter  have  been  interpolated.  For  a :  It  is  an 
unsuitable  requirement  that  the  author  should  announce  beforehand  in  the  prologue  all  the 
persons  who  are  to  be  introduced  into  the  poem.  He  would  then  have  had  to  announce 
Jehovah  also  as  one  who  was  later  to  make  His  appearance  in  the  circle  of  disputants.  To- 
gether with  the  contending  parties  (to  wit  Job  on  the  one  side,  and  the  three  friends  on  the 
other),  he  must  have  mentioned  beforehand  the  two  adjudicators,  the  human  and  the  divine, 
whom  he  intends  to  introduce  at  the  close  He  would  thus  have  had  to  bring  forward  in  the 
introduction  all  the  actors  in  the  piece,  which  in  view  of  the  peculiarity  of  the  dramatic 
poetry  of  the  Old  Testament  (comp.  Canticles)  could  not  have  been  required  nor  expected 
of  him. — h :  The  fact  that  Elihu  was  not  condemned  in  the  epilogue  is  to  be  explained  sim- 
ply on  the  ground  that  he  deserved  no  sentence  of  condemnation,  because  he  had  affirmed  Job's 
guilt  in  quite  another  sense  than  Eliphaz,  Bildad  and  Zophar — a  sense  which  far  more  nearly 

*  Hahn's  assertion,  that  Elihu,  so  far  from  speaking  on  the  side  of  God,  simply  repeats  in  sub-tance  the  accusations  of 
the  three  friends  against  Job ;  that  he  is  accordingly  intentionally  ignored  by  Jehovah,  and  "  thereby  put  in  the  po  ition 
of  one  who  had  spoken  as  though  he  had  not  spoken  "  (p.  20),  is  refuted  more  specifically  belbw  in  the  Commy.  Here  we 
would  simply  c<»ll  attention  beforehand  to  the  consideration  how  greatly  the  difficulty  of  defending  the  discourses  of  Elihu 
is  increased  by  so  exaggerating  the  inadequacy  and  defectiveness  of  the  solution  of  the  problem  attempted  by  Elihu,  and 
penerally  speaking,  by  so  unfavorable  a  verdict  on  Elihu's  stand-point  and  character  (such  as  is  found  in  Hahn,  and  formerly 
in  Herder  and  Umbreit). 


PO.    CONCLUSION— THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  POEM  VINDICATED.  271 

approximated  the  absolute  truth,  and  because,  generally  speaking,  he  did  not  put  himself 
forward  as  a  one-sided  partisan,  but  from  the  first  as  an  umpire  and  a  provisional  mediator 
between  the  parties.  "  A  censure  of  Elihu  in  the  epilogue  would  have  been  equivalent  to  a 
declaration  that  Job  was  absolutely  innocent;  this,  however,  was  so  far  from  being  the  case, 
that  Job  on  the  contrary  earnestly  repents  for  having  sinned  against  God,  ch.  xlii.  6 " 
(Havernick,  p.  374).* 

4.  Moreover  the  silence  of  Job  towards  Elihu  has  nothing  at  all  strange  about  it,  if  we 
only  keep  properly  in  mind  the  distinction,  or  rather  the  contrast,  just  set  forth  between  the 
three  friends,  as  a  party  contending  against  Job,  and  Elihu,  who  is  already  lifted  above  this 
party-strife,  and  who  anticipates  the  divine  decision. 

5.  That  Elihu  sometimes  addresses  Job  by  name  is  also  to  be  explained  by  his  position 
as  mediator  between  the  parties.  He  has  to  deal  not  only  with  Job,  but  also,  as  ch.  xxxii. 
3,  6  seq.  shows,  just  as  much  with  the  friends.  There  is  accordingly  in  the  fact  that  he,  in 
contrast  with  them,  expressly  addresses  Job  a  few  times  nothing  more  strange,  nothing  that 
is  at  all  more  concRisive  against  the  genuineness  of  his  speeches  than  in  the  fact  that  Jehovah 
in  the  epilogue  mentions  "  His  servant  Job"  not  less  than  four  times  (ch.  xlii.  7,  8). 

6.  The  alleged  prolixity  and  difFuseness  with  which  Elihu  is  introduced  in  ch.  xxxii. 
2-6  exists  only  in  the  prejudice  or  taste  of  the  critics.  "  Without  these  introductory  words, 
which  contain  throughout  nothing  unnecessary,  we  should  not  know  at  all  how  to  regard 
Elihu,  whether  as  a  disputant,  or  as  a  judge"  (Hahn).  An  exact  portrait  of  the  personality 
of  the  new  speaker  was  absolutely  necessary,  if  his  words  as  to  their  contents  were  to  be  cor- 
rectly apprehended.  Especially  was  there  needed  a  preliminary  intimation  of  the  moral 
characteristics  which  above  all  qualified  him  to  be  an  umpire  between  the  contestants,  and 
to  be  God's  advocate — of  his  piety,  which  caused  him  to  take  offence  at  Job's  self-righteous- 
ness (ver.  2) ;  of  his  wisdom,  which  made  him  appear  superior  to  the  three  friends,  to  their 
narrow-mindedness  and -short-sightedness  (ver.  3);  and  of  his  modesty,  which  had  hindered 
him  from  beginning  to  speak  before  the  other  speakers,  as  being  older  than  himself  This 
introduction  could  certainly  not  be  shorter,  and  convey  all  this ;  and  there  can  be  discovered 
in  it  no  sufiicient  ground  for  suspecting  its  genuineness. 

7.  In  like  manner  the  opinion  that  Elihu's  introduction  of  himself  ch.  xxxii.  6 — xxxiii. 
7  is  not  free  from  much  that  is  objectionable,  that  in  particular  it  exhibits  vain  self  conceit 
and  boastfulness,  resolves  itself  at  bottom  into  a  matter  of  subjective  taste  and  critical  pre- 
possession. That  the  assurance  of  his  humble  and  modest  disposition  with  which  he  begins, 
is  not  empty  boasting  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  has  thus  far  persevered  in  keeping 
silent,  and  that  too  when  so  much  has  been  said  which  might  have  provoked  him  much 
sooner  to  express  his  views.  The  reasons  which  he  assigns  for  speaking  now  (ch.  xxxii. 
15-20),  for  his  inability  to  keep  still  and  to  restrain  himself  any  longer  (comp.  Matt.  xii.  34), 
have  in  this  connection  certainly  nothing  objectionable  or  strange  about  them.  They  pre- 
sent themselves  rather  as  a  well-applied  and  necessary  captatio  benevoleniise.  Moreover  what 
he  says  further  on  in  respect  to  the  rigid  impartiality  which  he  had  laid  down  as  a  law  for 
himself  (ch.  xxxii.  21,  22),  as  also  that  finally  which  he  observes  particularly  against  Job 
(ch.  xxxiii.  1-7)  contains  nothing  which  can  cause  offence  to  an  unprejudiced  consideration 
of  the  case,  or  even  to  such  a  view  respecting  Elihu  in  an  aesthetic  or  moral  respect  as  might 
not  be  altogether  favorable.  And  just  here  should  be  noted  his  unconditional  submission  to 
God's  word  and  will,  of  which  we  have  a  beautiful  exhibition,  and  one  which  distinguishes 
him  as  a  truly  humble  representative  of  divine  truth  (see  ch.  xxxii.  22;  xxxiii.  6). 

8.  The  attempt  of  Delitzsch  to  show  that  Elihu's  solution  of  the  problem  is  radically 
different  from  that  of  the  principal  poet  is  one-sided,  as  may  easily  be  seen.    The  conception 

*  Comp.  also  the  words  of  Pareau  in  his  Commy.  here  appropriately  cited  by  Havernick :  "  For  since  the  author's  own 
plan  requires  that  we  should  look  on  Elihu  as  having  come  to  Job,  not  that  lie  might  speak  himself,  but  that  being  younger 
in  years,  he  might  hear  others  speak  (ch.  xxxii.  4-7),  the  author  wisely  and  suitably  resolved  not  to  mention  him  before 
necessity  required  it.  Neither  was  there  any  need  for  making  any  mention  of  him  in  the  epilogue,  seeing  that  in  the  whole 
argument  and  plan  of  his  discourses  there  was  nothing  which  merited  rebuke.  Nay  more,  they  are  as  a  whole  honorably 
confirmed  by  the  whole  tenor  of  God's  discourses;  and  in  causing  this  honor  to  be  conferred  ou  Elihu  in  fact  rather  than 
ia  words,  the  author  shows  an  exquisite  regard  for  propriety  which  I  can'  ot  help  recognizing." 


272  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

of  sufferings  which  Elihu  maintains  is  that  of  purifying  chastisements,  by  which  even  those 
who  are  apparently  innocent  are  justly  visited.  According  to  the  profound  view  of  the  pur- 
pose of  the  suffering  inflicted  on  the  innocent  which  is  inculcated  by  Jehovah  and  by  the 
author  of  the  whole  poem  it  serves  to  prove  and  test  their  innocence.  Evidently  the  former 
view,  so  far  from  excluding  the  latter,  logically  precedes  it  as  its  necessary  premise.  So  also 
does  the  individual  heart-experience  of  all  Gods  people  who  are  brought  through  such  trials 
actually  illustrate,  in  the  same  way  that  the  plastic  development  of  our  poem  illustrates 
dramatically,  this  progress  from  what  is  as  yet  a  semi-legal  view  of  the  suffering  of  the  inno- 
cent, to  that  view  which  the  New  Testament  presents,  and  which  is  illuminated  by  the  mys- 
tery of  the  cross  (comp.  above,  §  4).  In  the  sufferings  of  Him  who  was  the  Most 
Innocent  of  all  innocent  sufferers,  we  find  these  two  uses  of  suffering  combined  :  its  purify- 
ing and  sanctifying  influence  (not  indeed  on  the  sufferer  himself,  but  on  those /or  and  instead 
©/"whom  He  suffered),  and  also  its  use  in  triumphantly  attesting  His  holiness  and  purity 
before  God  and  men.  And  indeed  the  most  perfect  and  clear  Old  Testament  type  of  this 
New  Testament  redemptive  suffering,  the  Servant  of  God  in  Isaiah  (ch».  liii.),  presents  in 
intimate  union  these  two  aspects  of  the  significance  of  His  sufferings,  their  use  in  purifying 
and  transforming,  and  their  use  in  proving  and  attesting.  The  fact  accordingly  that  in  Job's 
case  Elihu  puts  forward  almost  exclusively  the  tendency  of  suffering  to  chasten  and  to  purify, 
whereas  Jehovah  sets  forth  more  especially  its  probational  tendency,  furnishes  no  argument 
whatever  against  the  unity  of  our  poem.  Comp.  also  below,  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks 
on  chs.  xxxvi.,  xxxvii.,  No.  2. 

9.  The  several  correspondences  in  thought  and  expression  between  this  section  and  pas- 
sages in  the  rest  of  the  poem  may  just  as  satisfactorily  be  explained  as  repetitions,  such  as 
miy  naturally  be  looked  for  from  the  same  author,  rather  than  as  imitations  by  a  later  in- 
terpolator. Indeed  in  order  to  prove  that  they  are  of  the  latter  class,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  "  show  that  there  is  a  weakness  in  the  representation,  that  the  borrowed  words  or  thoughts 
exceed  the  requirements  of  the  passage,  that  the  matter  thus  inwoven  is  unsuitable  " 
(Stickel).  But  this  cannot  be  shown  with  regard  to  any  of  the  correspondences  between 
Elihu's  speeches  and  the  rest  of  the  book,  and  least  of  all  with  regard  to  the  passage  on 
which  the  main  stress  is  laid  by  Hirzel,  Dillmann  and  others  in  chap,  xxxvi.  26-xxxvii.  18, — 
u  passage  which  certainly  indicates  close  affinity  with  the  following  discourses  of  Jehovah,  no 
such  affinity  however  as  may  not  be  easily  and  satisfactorily  explained  by  the  relation  which 
the  passage  in  Elihu  occupies  as  preparatory  to  the  sublime  descriptions  in  God's  discourse. 

10.  The  most  weighty  of  all  these  arguments  of  the  opposition  is  that  derived  from  the 
peculiar  style  and  diction  of  the  section.  Even  this  argument  is  not  unanswerable,  however, 
as  is  evident  from  what  Stickel  in  particular  has  said  in  reply  to  it  (p.  248  seq.).  The  list  of 
real  or  apparent  idiotisms  in  the  section  may  be  reduced  to  the  following: 

a.  A  considerable  number  of  correspondences  with  the  linguistic  usage  of  the  book  of 
Proverbs,  ^yith  which  however  the  rest  of  the  poem  indicates  no  slight  affinity  (comp.  f.  6,  at 
the  beginning). 

h.  Certain  peculiarities  of  expression,  which  recur  with  considerable  regularity,  espe- 
cially il"7.  instead  of  P^T  (chap,  xxxii.  6,  10,  17;  xxxvi.  3),  "l^V  instead  of  nSi;:  (ch.  xxxiv. 

10,  32;  comp.  chap,  xxxvi.  23,  where  the  more  common  form  is  found),  "^^J  instead  of 
D"?'J'?  (chap,  xxxiii.  25 ;  xxxvi.  14),  and  nj3  (chap,  xxxii.  21,  22). 

c.  Three  hapaxkgomena :  "JX,  chap,  xxxiv.  36;  nn,  ch.  xxxiii.  9;  and  ']^}<,,  ch.  xxxiii. 
7— a  number  which  is  not  surprisingly  large  for  a  piece  of  poetry  of  the  length  of  our  sec- 
tion. We  might  place  alongside  of  them  about  an  equal  number  out  of  the  following  dis- 
courses of  Jehovah. 

d.  A  number  of  Aramaisms,  comparatively  somewhat  larger  than  are  found  in  the  rest 
of  the  poem.  This  strong  Aramaic  coloring  however  can  be  explained  without  difficulty  by 
supposing  that  the  author  desires  to  make  prominent  the  Aramaic  origin  of  Elihu  as  one  be- 
longing to  the  tribe  of  Buz  (chap,  xxxii.  2),  and  to  represent  him  as  belonging  to  quite  an- 
other race  than  the  three  friends.  For  whereas  there  were  only  slight  differences  of  diction 
distinguishing  the  speeches  of  the  three  friends  both  from  each  other  and  from  Job  (see  P, 


1 11.  PARTICULAR  ANALYSIS  OP  THE  CONTENTS  OF  THE  BOOK.      27:3 


Rem.  1),  there  is  clearly  presented  in  Elihu  the  representative  of  another  dialect.  And  that 
it  is  the  poet's  intention  to  invest  him  with  this  distinctive  coloring,  is  particularly  signified 
by  the  fact  that  the  Aramaizing  forms  abound  most  of  all  at  the  beginning  of  the  discourses 
(chap,  xxxii.  6  seq.),  and  again  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  principal  section  of  the  same 
(chap,  xxxvi.  2),  whereas  elsewhere  they  are  less  prominent.  Perhaps  also  those  other  pe- 
culiarities of  expression  which  have  been  cited  under  6  may  be  derived  from  this  wish  of  the 
poet  to  cause  this  new  speaker  to  express  himself  in  a  peculiar  dialect.  Comp.  on  ch.  xxxii. 
2.  The  same  may  be  said  of  those  qualities  of  the  style  with  which  de  Wette,  Dillmann, 
and  others,  have  found  fault,  the  traces  of  greater  flatness,  of  less  clearness  of  representation, 
of  a  defective  command  of  language,  all  of  which  may  be  largely  attributed  to  the  effort  of 
the  speaker  after  a  characteristic  coloring  of  speech.  But  the  charge  that  the  rhythmic  con- 
struction of  the  section  is  comparatively  incomplete,  that  the  structure  of  his  verse  "sinks 
down  to  downright  prose,"  or  even  that  "  the  strophe  structure  is  wanting,"  has  in  it  decided 
exaggerations.  For  in  the  remainder  of  the  poem  also  a  more  lax  rhythmic  structure,  and 
one  that  more  nearly  approximates  prose,  alternates  with  a  more  compact,  full,  and  symmet- 
rical strophe-structure.  And  to  say  that  the  latter  is  wholly  wanting  here,  would  seem,  in 
view  of  strophical  constructions  so  distinctly  outlined  and  so  consistently  maintained,  as  we 
find  exhibited  particularly  in  the  fourth  speech  of  Elihu  (e.  g.  chap,  xxxvi.  22  seq. ;  xxxvii. 
1,  6,  11  seq.)  to  be  in  the  last  degree  incorrect ;  comp.  above  §3. 

In  view  of  all  that  has  been  said  there  remains  no  decisive  reason  against  the  genuine- 
ness of  this  section,  not  even  in  the  domain  of  language  and  style ;  for  that  our  poet  possessed 
in  sufficient  measure  vivacity  of  intellect  and  versatility  of  invention  to  be  able  to  individu- 
alize the  characters  of  his  poem  by  attributing  to  them  dialectic  variations  of  language  is 
sufficiently  apparent  from  the  skill  with  which  he  had  already  succeeded  in  distinguishing 
the  three  friends  from  each  other  and  from  Job  by  the  peculiar  impress  stamped  upon  their 
speech,  and  the  skill  with  which  he  had  bestowed  on  Jehovah's  discourses  at  the  close  the 
characteristic  coloring  which  they  consistently  retain  throughout.  The  purpose  however  to 
endow  Elihu  especially,  the  immediate  predecessor  of  Jehovah,  and  the  precursor  of  the  de- 
cision announced  by  Him  with  a  style  the  coloring  of  which  should  be  peculiarly  marked, 
sprang  with  an  internal  necessity  out  of  the  scope  and  plan  of  the  whole,  the  profound  and 
correct  perception  of  which  would  forbid  the  possible  doubt  whether  these  speeches  belonged 
to  the  poem  as  a  whole,  and  would  even  supersede  the  mildest  form  of  this  doubt  to  which 
Delitzsch  inclines  with  his  theory  of  a  double  "  promulgation  "  [Iderausgabe]  of  the  bookr— 
the  first  time  without,  the  second  with  Elihu's  speeches. 

111.   PARTICULAR  ANALYSIS   OF  THE  CONTENTS  OF  THE  BOOK. 

Not  until  we  have  established  the  unity  of  our  book  against  the  various  assaults  made 
upon  it  does  it  become  possible  to  give  an  outline  of  its  contents  in  detail,  and  thereby  to  set 
forth  in  their  completeness  the  poet's  plan,  and  its  elaboration  (comp.  the  preliminary  sum- 
mary of  the  contents  in  1 1,  together  with  the  remarks  made  in  |3,  respecting  the  artistic 
plan  of  the  poem).  In  the  outline  herewith  presented  we  follow  substantially  Vaibinger 
{Das  Buck  Hiob,  2d  Ed.,  p.  227  seq.),  without  however  adhering  in  every  particular  to  his 
divisions,  which  at  times  are  somewhat  arbitrary.  This  arbitrary  feature  consists  chiefly  in 
an  exaggerated  endeavor  everywhere  and  down  to  the  minutest  detail  to  find  Triads  in  the 
divisions  of  the  poem.  The  undeniable  predilection  of  the  poet  for  the  triadic  arrangement 
in  his  speeches  gives  some  foundation  no  doubt  for  this  theory,  although  it  does  not  justify 
our  carrying  such  tri-partitions  to  a  wanton  excess.  Several  other  modern  expositors  also 
furnish  a  thorough  outline  in  detail  of  the  contents  of  the  poem,  e.  g.  Ewald  (p.  34  seq.), 
Schlottmann  (p.  20  seq.),  Davidson  { Introduction,  p.  174  seq.),  but  without  giving  sufficient 
prominence  to  that  tripartite  arrangement.     [See  also  Carey,  p.  37  seq.] 


18 


274  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


HISTOEICAL  INTEODUCTION  (IN  PROSE) :    CHAP.  I.  1. 

1.  Job's  character  and  course  of  life :  chap.  i.  1-5. 

2.  The  Divine  decree  to  try  Job  through  suffering. 

a.  The  milder  form  of  trial  by  taking  away  his  possessions:  chap.  i.  6-22. 

a.  The  preparatory  scene  in  heaven  :  vers.  6-12. 

/3.  The  execution  of  the  decree  of  trial  on  the  possessions  and  family 
of  Job  :  vers.  13-19. 

y.  Job's  constancy  and  patience  :  vers.  20-22. 
6.  The  severer  trial  by  the  loss  of  health :  chap.  ii.  1-10. 

a.  The  preparatory  scene  in  heaven  :  vers.  1-6. 

p.  The  fulfillment  of  the  decree  in  Job's  terrible  disease :  vers.  7,  8. 

y.  Job's  steadfastness  in  piety  :  vers.  9,  10. 

3.  The  visit  of  the  friends,  and  their  mute  sympathy,  as  an  immediate  preparation  for  the 

action  of  the  poem:  chap.  ii.  11-13. 

First  Chief  Division  of  the  poem :  The  Entanglement,  or  the  controversial  discourses  of  Job 

and  his  three  friends:  Chaps.  III. — XXVIII. 

The  Outbreak  of  Job's  Despair,  as  the  theme  and  the  immediate  occasion  of 

the  Colloquy :  Chap.  III.  1-26. 

a.  Job  curses  his  day :  vers.  1-10. 

b.  He  wishes  that  he  were  in  the  realm  of  the  dead  rather  than  in  this  life : 

vers.  11-19. 

c.  He  asks  why  he,  being  weary  of  life,  must  still  live :  vers.  20-26. 

First  Series  of  controversial  discourses :  The  Entanglement  in  its  beginning :  Chaps.  IV.-XIV. 

I.  Eliphaz  and  Job:  Chaps.  IV.-VIF. 

A.  The  accusation  of  Eliphaz :  Man  must  not  speak  against  God,  as  Job  is  doing :  Chaps.  IV..  V. 

1.  Introductory  reproof  of  Job,  on  account  of  his  unmanly  complaint,  by  which  he  could 

only  incur  Gods  wrath  :  chap.  iv.  4-11. 

2.  Account  of  a,  heavenly  revelation,  which  declared  to  him  the  wrongfulness  and  foolish- 

ness of  weak  sinful  man's  raving  against  God :  chap.  iv.  12-v.  7. 

3.  Admonition  to  repentance,  as  the  only  means  by  which  Job  can  recover  God's  favor, 

and  his  former  happy  estate:  chap.  v.  8-26. 

B.  Job's  Reply :    Instead  of  comfort  the  friends  bring  him  only  increased  sorrow :    Chaps. 

VI.,  VII. 

1.  Justification  of  his  complaint  by  pointing  out  the  greatness  and  incomprehensibleness 

of  has  suffering;  chap.  vi.  1-10. 

2.  Complaint  on  account  of  the  hitter  disappointment  which  he  had  experienced  at  the 

hands  of  his  friends:  vers.  11-30. 

3.  Recurrence  to  his  former  complaint  on  account  of  his  lot,  and  an  accusation  of  God  : 

chap.  vii. 

II.  Bildad  and  Job :  Chaps.  VIII— X. 

A.  Bildad's  rebuke :  Man  must  not  charge  God  with  injustice,  as  Job  has  done,  for  God 
never  does  wrong :  Chap.  VIII. 

1.  Censure  of  Job  on  account  of  his  unjust  accusation  against  God  :  vers.  2-7. 

2.  Reference  to  the  wise  teachings  of  the  ancients,  in  respect  to  the  merited  end  of  those 

who  forget  God :  vers.  8-19. 

3.  A  softened  application  of  these  teachings  to  the  case  of  Job:  vers.  20-22. 


5  11.    PARTICULAR  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  CONTENTS  OF  THE  BOOK.  275 


B.  Job's  Reply :  Assertion  of  his  innocence,  and  a  mournful  description  of  the  incompre- 
hensibleness  of  his  suffering  as  a  dark  horrible  destiny :  Chap.  IX.,  X. 

1.  God  is  certainly  the  Almighty  and  ever-righteous  One,  who  is  to  be  feared;  but  His 

power  is  too  terrible  for  mortal  man  :  chap.  ix.  2-12. 

2.  The  oppressive  effect  of  this  omnipotence  and  arbitrariness  of  God  impels  him,  as  an 

innocent  sufferer,  to  presumptuous  speeches  against  God :  chap.  ix.  13-35. 

3.  A  plaintive  description  of  the  merciless  severity  with  which  God  rages  against  him, 

although,  as  an  Omniscient  Being,  He  knows  that  he  is  innocent :  ch.  x.  1-22. 

III.  Zophar  and  Job:  Chaps.  XI.— XIV. 

A.  Zophar's  violent  arraignment  of  Job,  as  one  who  needs  to  submit  in  penitence  to  the  all- 

seeing  and  all-righteous  God:  Chap.  XI. 

1.  Expression  of  the  desire  that  the  Omniscient  One  would  appear  to  convince  Job  of  his 

guilt:  vers.  2-6. 

2.  Admonitory  description  of  the  impossibility  of  contending  against  God's  omniscience, 

which  charges  every  man  with  sin :  vers.  7-12. 

3.  The  truly  penitent  has  in  prospect  the  restoration  of  his  prosperity,  for  the  wicked  how- 

ever there  remains  no  hope  :  vers.  13-20. 

B.  Job's  Eeply :  Attack  upon  his  friends,  whose  wisdom  and  justice  he  earnestly  questions : 

Chaps.  XII.— XIV. 

1.  Ridicule  of  the  assumed  wisdom  of  the  friends,  who  can  give  only  a  very  unsatisfactory 

description  of  the  exalted  power  and  wisdom  of  the  divine  activity :  chap.  xii. 

2.  The  resolution  to  betake  himself  to  God,  the  righteous  Judge,  who,  in  contrast  with 

the  harshness  and  injustice  of  the  friends,  will  assuredly  do  him  justice: 
chap.  xiii.  1-22. 

3.  A  vindication  of  himself  addressed  to  God,  beginning  with  the  haughty  asseveration  of 

his  own  innocence,  but  relapsing  into  a  despondent  cheerless  description  of 
the  brevity,  helplessness,  and  hopelessness  of  man's  life :  chap.  xiii.  23-xiv.  22. 

Second  Series  of  controversial  discourses .  The  Entanglement  increasing :  Chaps.  XV.-XXI. 

I.  Eliphaz  and  Job  :  Chaps.  XV.— XVII. 

A.  Eliphaz:  God's  punitive  justice  is  revealed  only  against  evil-doers:  Chap.  XV. 

1.  Recital,  with  accompanying  rebuke,  of  all  in  Job's  discourses  and  conduct  that  is  per- 

verted, and  that  bears  witness  against  his  innocence  :  vers.  2-19. 

2.  A  didactic  admonition  on  the  subject  of  the  retributive  justice  of  God  in  the  destiny  of 

the  ungodly :  vers.  20-35. 

B.  Job :  Although  oppressed  by  his  disconsolate  condition,  he  nevertheless  wishes  and  hopes 

that  God  will  demonstrate  his  innocence  against  the  unreasonable  accusations  of 
his  friends :  Chaps.  XVI.,  XVII. 

(A  brief  preliminary  repudiation  of  the  discourses  of  the  friends  as  aimless  and  unpro- 
Btable:  chap.  xvi.  2-5). 

1.  Lamentation  on  account  of  the  disconsolateness  of  his  condition,  as  forsaken  and  hated 

by  God  and  men  :  chap.  xvi.  6-17. 

2.  Vivid  expression  of  the  hope  of  the  future  recognition  of  his  innocence :  chap.  xvi. 

18-xvii.  9. 

3.  Sharp  censure  of  the  admonitory  speeches  of  the  friends  as  unreasonable,  and  as  having 

no  power  to  comfort :  chap,  xvii.  10-16. 


276  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

II.  Bildad  and  Job  :  Chaps.  XVIII.,  XIX. 

A.  Bildad :  Job's  passionate  outbreaks  are  useless,  for  the  divine  ordinance,  instituted  from 

of  old,  is  still  in  force,  securing  that  the  hardened  sinner's  merited  doom  shall 
suddenly  and  surely  overtake  him :   Chap.  XVIII. 

1.  Sharp  rebuke  of  Job,  the  foolish  and  blushing  boaster:  vers.  2-4. 

2.  Description  of  the  dreadful  doom  of  the  hardened  evil-doer:  vers.  5  21. 

B.  Job :  His  misery  is  well-deserving  of  sympathy ;  it  will  however  all  the  more  certainly 

end  in  his  conspicuous  vindication  by  God,  although  not  perhaps  till  the  life  be- 
yond :  Chap.  XIX. 

(Introduction :  Reproachful  censure  of  the  friends  for  maliciously  suspecting  his  inno- 
cence: vers.  2-5). 

1.  Sorrowful  complaint  because  of  the  suffering  inflicted  on  him  by  God  and  men :  vs.  6-20. 

2.  An  uplifting  of  himself  to  a  blessed  hope  in  God,  his  future  Redeemer  and  Avenger  : 

vers.  21-27. 

3.  Earnest  warning  to  the  friends  against  the  further  continuance  of  their  unfriendly  at- 

tacks :  vers.  28,  29. 

III.  Zophar  and  Job  :  Chaps.  XX.,  XXI. 

A.  Zophar :  For  a  time  indeed  the  evil-doer  can  be  prosperous,  but  so  much  the  more 
terrible  and  irremediable  will  be  his  destruction  :  Chap.  XX. 

1.  Introduction,  violently  censuring  Job,  and  theme  of  the  discourse :  vers.  2-5. 

2.  Expansion  of  the  theme,  showing  from  experience  that  the  prosperity  and  riches  of  the 

ungodly  must  end  in  the  deepest  misery :  vers.  6-29. 

B.  Job :  That  which  experience  teaches  concerning  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked  during  their 
life  on  earth  argues  not  against,  but  for  his  innocence :  Chap.  XXI. 

1.  Calm,  but  bitter  introductory  appeal  to  the  friends :  vers.  2-6. 

2.  Along  with  the  fact  of  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked,  taught  by  experience,  (vers.  7-16), 

stands  the  other  fact  of  earthly  calamities  befalling  the  pious  and  righteous  : 
vers.  7-26. 

3.  Rebuke  of  the  friends  for  setting  forth  only  one  side  of  that  experience,  and  using  that 

to  his  prejudice:  vers.  27-34. 

Third  Series  of  controversial  discourses :    The  Entanglement  reaching  its  extreme  point : 
Chap.  XXII.— XXVIII. 

I.  Eliphazand  Job:  Chap.  XXII.— XXIV. 

A.  Eliphaz :  Reiterated  accusation  of  Job,  from  whose  severe  sufferings  it  must  of  necessity 

be  inferred  that  he  had  sinned  grievously,  and  needed  to  repent.     Chap.  xxii. 

1.  The  charge  made  openly  that  Job  is  a  great  sinner:  vers.  2-10. 

2.  Earnest  warning  not  to  incur  yet  severer  punishments:  vers.  11  20. 

3.  Admonition  to  repent,  accompanied  by  the  announcement  of  the  certain  restoration  of 

his  prosperity  to  him,  when  penitent:  vers.  21-30. 

B.  Job :  Inasmuch  as  God  withdraws  Himself  from  him,  and  that  moreover  His  allotment 

of  men's  destinies  on  earth  is  in  many  ways  most  unequal,  the  incomprehensible- 
ness  of  His  dealings  may  thus  be  inferred,  as  well  as  the  short  sightedness  and 
one-sidedness  of  the  external  theory  of  retribution  held  by  the  friends:  chapter 
xxiii-xxiv. 


§  11.    PARTICULAR  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  CONTENTS  OF  THE  BOOK.  277 

1.  The  wish  for  a  judicial  decision  by  God  in  his  favor  is  repeated,  but  is  repressed  by  the 

agonizing  thought  that  God  intentionally  withdraws  from  him,  in  order  that 
He  may  not  be  obliged  to  vindicate  him  in  this  life  :  Chap,  xxiii. 

2.  The  darkness  and  unsearchableness  of  God's  ways  to  be  recognized  in  many  other  in- 

stances of  an  unequal  distribution  of  earthly  prosperity  among  men,  as  well 
as  in  Job's  case :  Chap.  xxiv. 

II.  Bildad  and  Job  :  Chap.  XXV.— XXVL 

A.  Bildad :  Again  setting  forth  the  contrast  between  God's  exaltation  and  human  impo- 

tence: Chap.  XXV. 

1.  Man  cannot  argue  with  God :  vers.  2-4. 

2.  Man  is  not  pure  before  God :  vers.  5-6. 

B.  Job :  Rebuke  of  his  opponent,  accompanied  by  a  description,  far  surpassing  his,  of  the 

exaltation  and  greatness  of  God  :   Chap.  xxvi. 

1.  Sharp  Rebuke  of  Bildad  :  vers.  2-4. 

2.  Description  of  the  incomparable  sovereignty  and  exaltation  of  God,  given  to  eclipse  the 

far  less  spirited  attempt  of  Bildad  in  this  direction  :  vers.  5-14. 

III.  Job  alone:  His  closing  address  to  the  vanquished  friends:  Chap.  XXVII. -XXVIII. 

a.  Renewed  solemn  asseveration  of  his  innocence,  accompanied  by  a  reference 

to  his  joy  in  God,  which  had  not  forsaken  him  even  in  the  midst  of 
his  deepest  misery  :  Chap,  xxvii.  2-10. 

b.  Statement  of  his  belief  that  the  prosperity  of  the  ungodly  cannot  endure, 

but  that  they  must  infallibly  come  to  a  terrible  end :  Chap,  xxvii. 
11-23. 

c.  Declaration  that  true  Wisdom,  which  alone  can  secure  real  well-being,  and  a 

correct  solution  of  the  dark  enigmas  of  man's  destiny  on  earth,  is  to 
be  found  nowhere  on  earth,  but  only  with  God,  and  by  means  of  a 
pious  submission  to  God  :  Chap,  xxviii. 


Second  Chief  Division  of  the  Poem.    Disentanglement  of  the  mystery  through  the  discourses 
of  Job,  Elihu  and  Jehovah :  Chap.  XXIX.— XLII.  6. 

First  stage  of  the  disentanglement :  Chap.  XXIX. — XXXI. 

Job's  Soliloquy, 

Setting  forth  the  truth  that  his  suffering  was  not  due  to  his  moral  conduct,  that  it  must  have 
therefore  a  deeper  cause.     [The  negative  side  of  the  solution  of  the  problem.] 

1.  Yearning  retrospect  at  the  fair  prosperity  of  his  former  life  :  Chap.  xxix. 

a.  Describing  the  outward  aspect  of  this  former  prosperity  :  vers.  2-10. 

6.  Pointing  out  the  inward  cause  of  this  prosperity — his  benevolence  and 
righteousness :  vers.  11-17. 

c.  Describing  that  feature  of  his  former  prosperity  which  he  now  most  pain- 
fully misses,  namely,  the  universal  honor  shown  him,  and  his  far- 
reaching  influence :  vers.  18-25. 

2.  Sorrowful  description  of  his  present  sad  estate:  Chap.  xxx. 

a.  The  ignominy  and  contempt  he  receives  from  men  :  vers.  1-15. 

h.  The  unspeakable  misery  which  everywhere  oppresses  him  :  vers.  16-23. 

c.  The  disappointment  of  all  his  hopes:  vers.  24-31. 


278  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


3.  Solemn  asseveration  of  his  innocence  in  respect  to  all  open  and  secret  sins  :  Chap.  xxxi. 

a.  He  has  abandoned  himself  to  no  wicked  lust;  vers.  1-8. 

b.  He  has  acted  uprightly  in  all  the  relations  of  his  domestic  life :  vers.  9-15. 

c.  He  has  constantly  practiced  neighborly  kindness  and  justice  in  civil  life : 

vers.  16-23. 

d.  He  has  moreover  not  violated  his  more  secret  obligations  to  God  and  his 

neighbor:  vers.  24-32. 

e.  He  has  been  guilty  furthermore  of  no  hypocrisy,  nor  mere  semblance  of 

holiness,  of  no  secret  violence,  or  avaricious  oppression  of  his  neigh- 
bor: vers.  33-40. 

Second  stage  of  the  disentanglement :  Chap,  xxxii.-xxxvii. 
Elihu's  Discourses, 

Devoted  to  proving  that  there  can  be  really  no  undeserved  suffering,  that  on  the  contrary  the 
sufferings  decreed  for  those  who  are  apparently  righteous  are  dispensations  of  divine  love, 
designed  to  purify  and  sanctify  them  through  chastisement.  [The  first  half  of  the  posi- 
tive solution  of  the  problem]. 

Introduction :  Elihu's  appearance,  and  the  exordium  of  his  discourse,  giving  the  reasons  for 
his  speaking  :  Chap,  xxxii.  1 — xxxiii.  7. 

1.  Elihu's  appearance  (related  in  prose) :  Chap,  xxxii.  1-6  a. 

2.  An  explanation  addressed  to  the  previous  speakers,  showing  why  he  takes  part  in  this 

controversy :  vers.  6-10. 

3.  Setting  forth  that  he  was  justified  in  taking,  part,  because  the  friends  had  shown,  and 

still  showed  themselves  unable  to  refute  Job :  vers.  11-22. 

4.  A  special  appeal  to  Job  to  listen  calmly  to  him,  as  a  mild  judge  of  his  guilt  and  weak- 

ness :  Chap,  xxxiii.  1-7. 

First  Discourse  :  Of  man's  guilt  before  God  :  Chap,  xxxiii.  8-33. 

a.  Preparatory :   Reproof  of  Job's  confidence    in  his    perfect    innocence : 

vers.  8-11. 

b.  Didactic  discussion  of  the  true  relation  of  sinful  men  to  God,  who  seeks  to 

warn  and  to  save  them  by  various  dispensations,  and  communications 

from  above  :  vers.  12-30. 

a.  By  the  voice  of  conscience  in  dreams :  (vers.  15-18). 

p.  By  sickness  and  other  sufferings  (vers.  19-22). 

y.  By  sending  a  mediating  angel  to  deliver  in  distress  (vers.  23seq.). 

c.  Calling  upon  Job  to  give  an  attentive  hearing  to  the  discourses  by  which 

he  would  further  instruct  him  :  vers.  31-33. 

Second  Discourse :  Proof  that  man  is  not  right  in  doubting  God's  righteousness :  Ch.  xxxiv. 
a.  Opening :  Censure  of  the  doubt  of  God's  righteousness  expressed  by 

Job :  vers.  1-9. 
h.  Proof  that  the  divine  righteousness  is  necessary,  and  that  it  really  exists : 
a.  From  God's  disinterested  love  of  His  creatures  :  vers.  10-15. 
/3.  From  the  idea  of  God  as  ruler  of  the  world :  vers.  16-30. 
c.  Exhibition  of  Job's  inconsistency  and  folly  in  reproaching  God  with  injus- 
tice, and  at  the  same  time  appealing  to  his  decision  ;  vers.  31-37. 

Third  Discourse :  Refutation  of  the  false  position  that  piety  is  not  productive  of  happiness  to 
men:  Chap.  xxxv. 

a.  The  folly  of  the  erroneous   notion  that  it  is  of  small  advantage  to  men 

whether  they  are  pious  or  ungodly  r  vers.  1-8. 

b.  The  real  reason  why  the  deliverance  of  the  sufferer  is  often  delayed,  viz. : 

a.  The  lack  of  true  godly  fear:  vers.  9-14. 

/?.  Dogmatic  and  presumptuous  speeches  against  God,  which  was  the 
case  especially  with  Job :  vers.  15-16. 


§  11.    r ARTICULAR  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  CONTENTS  OF  THE  BOOK.  279 


Fourtli  Discourse :  A  vivid  exhibition  of  the  activity  of  God,  which  is  seen  to  be  benevo- 
lent, as  well  as  mighty  and  just,  both  in  the  destinies  of  men,  and  in  the  natural  world 
outside  of  man :  Chap,  xxxvi.-xxxvii. 

[Introduction — announcing  that  further  important  contributions  are  about  to  be  made  to  the 
vindication  of  God  :  Chap,  xxxvi.  1-4] . 

a.  Vindication  of  the  divine  justice,  manifesting  itself  in  the  destinies  of 

men  as  a  power  benevolently  chastening  and  purifying  them :  Chap. 

xxxvi.  5-21 : 

a.  In  general :  vers.  5-15. 

/?.  In  Job's  change  of  fortune  in  particular:  vers.  16-21. 

b.  Vindication  of  the  Divine  Justice,  revealing  itself  in  nature  as  supreme 

power  and  wisdom  :  Chap,  xxxvi.  22  ;  xxxvii.  25. 
c.  Consideration  of  the  wonders  of  nature  as  revelations  of  divine  wis- 
dom and  jjower :  ch.  xxxvi.  22 — xxxvii.  13. 

(1)  Rain,  clouds  and  storms,  lightning  and  thunder:  ch.  xxxvi. 

22— xxxvii.  5. 

(2)  The  agencies  of  winter — such  as  snow,  rain,  the  north  wind, 

frost,  etc.     Ch.  xxxvii.  6-13. 
/5.  Finally  admonitory  inferences  from  what  precedes  for  Job:  ch. 
^  xxxvii.  14-24.    The  third  stage  of  the  disentanglement :  ch. 

xxxviii.  1 — xlii.  6. 

Jehovah's   Discourses: 

the  aim  of  which  is  to  prove  that  the  Almighty  and  only  wise  God,  with  whom  no  mortal 
should  dispute,  might  also  ordain  suffering  simply  to  prove  and  test  the  righteous.  [The 
second  half  of  the  positive  solution  of  the  problem.] 

First  Discourse  of  Jehovah,  together  with  Job's  answer :  "With  God,  the  Almighty  and 
only  wise,  no  man  may  dispute :  ch.  xxxviii.  1 — xl.  5. 

1.  Introduction :  The  appearance  of  God ;  His  demand  that  Job  should  answer  him  :  ch. 

xxxviii.  1-3. 

2.  God's  questions  touching  His  power  revealed  in  the  wonders  of  creation :  ch.  xxxviii. 

4 — xxxix.  30. 

a.  Questions  respecting  the  process  of  creation  :  vers.  4-15. 
h.  Respecting  the  inaccessible  heights  and  depths  above  and  below  the  earth, 
and  the  forces  proceeding  from  them :  vers.  16-27. 

c.  Respecting  the  phenomena  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  wonders  of  the 

starry  heavens :  vers.  28-38. 

d.  Respecting  the  preservation  and  propagation  of  wild  animals,  especially 

of  the  lion,  raven,  wild  goat,  stag,  wild  ass,  oryx,  ostrich,  war-horse, 
hawk  and  eagle:  ch.  xxxviii.  39 — xxxix.  30. 
8.  Conclusion  of  the  discourse,  together  with  Job's  answer  announcing  his  humble  submis- 
sion: ch.  xl.  1-5. 

Second  Discourse  of  Jehovah,  together  with  Job's  answer :  To  doubt  God's  justice,  which 
is  most  closely  allied  to  His  wonderful  omnipotence,  is  a  grievous  Avrong,  which  must  be 
atoned  for  by  sincere  penitence:  ch.  xl.  6— xlii.  6. 

1.  Sharp  rebuke  of  God's  presumption  which  has  been  carried  to  the  point  of  doubting 

God's  justice:  ch.  xl.  7-14. 

2.  Humiliating  demonstration  of  the  weakness  of  Job  in  contrast  with  certain  creatures 

of  earth,  not  to  say  with  God:  shown  by  a  description 

a.  Of  the  behemoth  (hippopotamus):  ch.  xl.  15-24. 

6.  Of  the  leviathan  (crocodile),  as  king  of  all  beasts:  ch.  xl.  25— xli.  26. 


280  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

3.  Job's  answer:  Humble  acknowledgment  of  the  infinitude  of  the  divine  power,  and 
penitent  confession  of  his  sin  and  folly:  ch.  xlii.  1-6. 

Historical  Conclusion  (in  prose) :  ch.  xlii.  7-17. 

1.  Glorious  vindication  of  Job  before  his  friends:  vers.  7-10. 

2.  The  restoration  of  his  former  dignity  and  honor:  vers.  11,  12  a. 

3.  The  doubling  of  his  former  prosperity  in  respect  to  his  earthly  possessions  and  his  off- 

spring: vers.  12  6- 17. 

\  12.   HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE  OF  THE  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  BOOK. 

The  history  of  the  exposition  of  the  bouk  of  Job,  like  that  of  the  other  Old  Testament 
writings,  embraces  three  principal  epochs  or  stages  of  development :  I.  The  Ancient  Church 
and  Mediaeval  period,  which  was  characterized  by  a  one-sided  Messianic  allegorical  interpre- 
tation of  the  book,  and  by  the  dependence  of  commentators  (who  were  almost  altogether 
ignorant  of  Hebrew)  on  the  authority  of  the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate.* — II.  The  age  of  the 
Reformation,  and  that  immediately  following  (down  to  the  middle  of  the  18th  Cent.).  The 
commentators  of  this  period,  particularly  of  the  evangelical  school,  by  virtue  of  their  in^^e- 
pendent  knowledge  of  Hebrew,  and  their  more  free  apprehension  of  the  book  as  an  organic 
living  whole,  advanced  beyond  the  stand-point  of  the  former  age.  They  did  not  really  suc- 
ceed, however,  in  releasing  themselves  from  the  fetters  of  an  unhistorical  dogmatism,  and  of 
a  lifeless  scholasticism,  indulging  in  abstract  summaries,  but  unable  to  rise  to  an  independent 
view  of  the  successive  stages  in  the  Old  Testament  history  of  redemption.  III.  The  moderti 
age  of  scientific  criticism,  beginning  with  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  During  this  period 
the  knowledge  of  the  languages  and  of  the  whole  civilization  of  the  East  has  been  continu- 
ally increasing  in  extent  and  exactness,  and  has  been  accompanied  on  the  one  side  by  a 
more  rigid  and  pure  historical  perception,  on  the  other  by  an  appreciation,  as  complete  and 
correct  as  possible,  of  the  profound  theological  contents  of  our  book,  and  thus  by  an  appre- 
hension of  its  divine-human  contents  and  character  as  a  whole. — The  first  of  these  periods, 
the  principal  achievements  of  which  are  represented  by  the  names  of  the  Church  Fathers 
Origen  and  Gregory  the  Great,  embraces  also  that  group  of  Jewish  Rabbinical  commentators, 
who  appear  as  the  forerunners  of  the  more  advanced  linguistic  culture  and  exegesis  of  the 
Reformation,  such  as  Rashi,  A  ben  Ezra,  Nachmanides,  Levi  ben  Gerson,  and  the  converted 
Nicolas  de  Lyra.  During  the  second  epoch,  which  has  for  its  most  meritorious  representa- 
tives Job.  Brentius,  Seb.  Schmidt,  Mercier  and  Cocceius,  the  standpoint  of  the  modern  period 
is  heralded  by  Le  Clerc  and  Alb.  Schultens,  in  the  case  of  the  former  by  his  free  critical 
method,  in  the  case  of  the  latter  by  his  application  to  the  business  of  exposition  of  a  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  the  Shemitic  languages. — In  the  last,  or  third  epoch  we  distinguish  a 
period  of  rationalistic  shallowness  of  exegesis  (joined  to  a  defective  estimate  of  the  book  in 
accordance  with  the  standard  of  an  exaggerated  orientalism,  or  of  a  sentimental  humanism), 
and  a  period  during  which  exegesis  has  acquired  greater  depth  in  the  direction  of  a  scrip- 
tural theology,  and  greater  critical  purity.  The  former  period,  extending  from  1750-1820, 
is  characterized  by  such  expositors  as  Moldenhauer;  the  jounger  Schultf^ns,  t^tuhlmann, 
Scharer,  Rosenmiiller;  the  latter  period,  to  which  Umbreit,  Koster  and  Ewald  form  the 
transition,  has  representatives  of  pre-eminent  ability,  and  distinguished  for  solid  achieve- 

*  In  respect  to  the  low  value  of  the  Alex^ndriTn  version  of  the  b''ok  of  Jdb  see  D.-litzsch  (Commy.  I.,  p.  35):  "It  is 
just  the  Greek  translation  of  the  bo  k  of  .Tob  wbich  mffors  most  seriously  from  the  flaws  which  in  general  affect  the  Sep- 
tuagint. Whole  verses  are  omitted,  others  are  removed  from  their  original  places,  and  the  omissions  are  fillei  up  by  apoc- 
ryphal additions."  See  more  fully  the  work  of  G.  Bickell :  De  indnle  ac  rali'me  rersionis  Alexondrinx  in  inlerprelando  Ubr> 
Jobi,  Matburgi,  186:? ;  also  the  Dissertations  of  Krause  and  Krehl,  m^ntione')  below  in  the  "  Monographic  I  iterature,"  a. — 
In  refpect  to  the  Lalin  versions  of  Job  current  in  the  Ancient  Church,  viz.  the  Itjila  before  Jerome,  the  Itala  as  revised  by 
J.  rome  after  the  Ilcxaplar  t>-xt  of  Origen,  and  Jerome's  translation  in  the  Vulgate,  rendered  independen  ly  from  t  e  ori- 
ginal t'Xt — sen  D  litzs  h,  1.  c,  and  my  book  on  Jerome,  p.  181  seq. — In  respect  to  the  Syrian  translation  of  Job  in  the 
Peshito,  made  from  the  original  text,  and  also  in  respect  to  the  liter  version  of  the  sime  after  the  Hexapla--  text  by  Paul  of 
Tela,  about  020,  romp.  Delitzsch  (I.,  p.  36),  MiddelJorpf :  Ouree  hexaplarea  in  Jobum,  1817 ;  also  the  last  edition  of  the  Syro- 
Hexaplar  version,  1834-35. 


§  12.    HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE  OF  THE  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  BOOK.  281 

ments,  in  Hirzel,  Vaihinger,  Hahn,  Schlottmann,  Delitzsch  and  Dillmann,  as  also  in  the 
English  writers  Lee,  Carey  and  A.  B.  Davidson. 

THE  LITERATURE  OF  THE  SUBJECT  IN  DETAIL. 
I.  period:  ancient  and  medieval. 

A.  Christian  Commentators. — Qreelc  Fathers,  including  specially  Origen,  Gregory  of 
Nyssa,  Olyrapiodorus  (deacon  of  Alexandria  about  A.  D.  600),  etc.,  in  all  22,  whose  writings 
are  collected  together  in  Catena  Grcec.  Patrum  in  I.  Job,  collectore  Niceta,  grsece  ed.  et  lat.  vers, 
op.  et  stud.  Patricii  Junii,  Lond.  1637,  io\.— Syrian  Fathers,  especially  Ephraem ;  comp, 
Froriep:  Ephraemianainlibr.  Jobi,  1769,  4. — Latin  Fathers :  Augustine:  Annotafiones  in  I . 
Job  (0pp.  ed.  Bened.  Par.  1679  seq.  T.  III.) ;  Gregory  the  Great:  Exposltio  in  beat.  Job,  s. 
Moralium  I.  I.  XXXV.;  Pseudo-Jerome  (Philippus?) :  Expositlo  Interliaearis  libri  Job,  and 
Commentariolum  in  Job  (the  Expositio  preserved  in  four  different  recensions,  one  of  the  latest 
of  which  was  supervised  probably  by  the  venerable  Bede,  found  in  Val'arsi,  Oj^p.  B.  Hieron. 
Ed.  2,  T.  III.,  Append,  p.  895  seq. ;  the  Commentariolum  in  the  same  work,  T.  V.,  Ajjp.  p. 
1013  seq. ;  (comp.  Bedae  0pp.  ed.  Basil.  3,  col.  602  s.) ;  Albertus  Magnus :  Postillse  super  Job 
(not  printed  as  yet):  Thomas  Aquinas:  Expositio  aurea  in  I.  Job,  T.  XV.,  0pp.  (ed.  Paris, 
1660),  Nicolas  de  Lyra  (Lyranus)  in  the  Postillce  in  uaiversa  Biblia  (written  1292-1330),  first 
printed  at  Eome  1471,  5  voll.  fol.;  Gregory  Barhebroeus:  Scholia  vi  libr.  Jobi  (ed.  G.  H. 
Bernstein,  Vratislav.  1858,  fol.). 

B.  Jewish  Commentators.— R.  Saadia  Gaon  (about  920),  an  Arabic  translation  with 
comments,  contained  in  Isr.  Schwarz:  Tikwath  Enosh,  i.  e.,  Liber  Jobi,  Tom.  II.  (Berol., 
1868) ;  Rashi  (R.  Solomon  Isaaki  of  Troyes,  f  1105),  who  left  behind  him  an  unfinished 
Comment,  on  Job,  which  his  grandson,  R.  Samuel  ben  Mcir  (Nashbam,  f  1160)  finished; 
Aben  Ezra,  of  Toledo  (f  about  1170)  wrote  in  Rome  towards  the  end  of  his  life  a  Commy.  on 
Job,  which  may  be  found  in  the  larger  Rabbinical  commentaries  ;  where  may  also  be  found 
the  commentaries  of  Moses  ben  Nachman,  or  Nachmanides  (Eamban,  born  atGerona,  1194) ; 
of  Levi  b.  Gerson,  or  Gersonides  (Ralbag,  born  at  Bagnols,  1288),  and  of  Abraham  Farisol 
of  Avignon, — ^which,  particularly  the  first  two,  follow  a  strongly  indicated  philosophical  bias. 
Compilations  in  the  nature  of  catence  have  proceeded  from  R.  Shimeon  ha  Darshan  (the 

Yalkul  Shimeoni,  including  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament),  R.  Macliir  b.  Todros  (  Yal- 
kut  Ilechiri,  embracing  the  three  poetic  books  Tehillim,  Mishle,  and  Job),  R.  Menahem  b. 
Chelbo,  R.  Joseph  Kara,  and  R.  Parchon.  The  catenae  of  the  last-named  three  have  not  as 
yet  been  published.  Much  pertaining  to  the  subject  is  contained  in  the  work  of  Israel 
Schwarz,  already  mentioned,  Tikwath  Enosh,  the  first  part  of  which  contains,  besides  a  criti- 
cal revision  of  the  Masoretic  text,  with  a  new  German  metrical  translation,  two  further  divi- 
sions, to  wit:  (1)  Mekor  Israel,  i.  e.,  omnes  de  Ijobi  expUcationes  et  deduciiones  qucc  in 
utroque  Talmude  Midraschiisque  libris  et  Soharo  inveniuntur ;  (2)  Commentarios  a  R.  Jesaia 
de  Trani,  R.  Moses,  et  R.  Joseph  Kimchi,  et  R.  Serachia  ben  Isaac  Barcelonicnsis.  The 
second  part  contains  the  Arabic  translations  of  the  book  of  Job  by  R.  Saadia  Gaon  Alfajumi 
and  R.  Moses  Gekatilia  in  a  Hebrew  version,  along  with  a  Hebr.  Commentary.  Comp.  also 
the  work  which  has  just  appeared :  Translatio7ies  antiquce  Arabicm  Libri  Jobi  qua:  supersunt, 
ex  apographo  codicis  musei  Britannici  nunc  primum  edidit  atque  illustravit  Wolf  Guil.  Frid. 
Comes  de  Baudissin,  Lips.,  1870. 

II.  period:  the  reformation  and  the  age  immediately  following  (1517 — 1750). 
A.  Protestant  Commentators. — 1.  Lutheran:  Joh.  Brentius:  Annotationes  in  i7b6.  Halae 
Suevor.,  1546,  and  0pp.  omn.  Tiibing.,  1578,  T.  HI.,  p.  1  seq.  (the  best  and  fullest  of  these 
older  Lutheran  commentaries ;  comp,  Hartmann,  Brenz,  p.  129,  284) ; — Hieronymus  Weller : 
Auslegung  des  Biichlein  Iliob,  T.  II.,  0pp.  Lips.,  1703  (embracing  only  the  first  twelve  chap- 
ters, but  thoroughly  learned  and  edifying — comp.  Nobbe:  D.  Ilieron.  Weller  von  Molsdorf, 
dcr  Freund  und  Schuler  Luther^ s,  Leipzig,  1870) ; — Victorin  Strigel,  Liber  Jobi  ad  Ehraicam 
veritatem  recognitus  et  argumentis  atque  scholiis  illustratus,  Lips.  1566,  1571; — Abrah.  Calov.: 
Biblia  V.  et  N.  Testamenti  illustrata,  Francof.  1672  seq.,  Tom.  II.;  — Sebast.  Schmid:    Com- 


282  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

meniar  in  Job,  Argentor,  1G70, 1705,  2  vols.; — Job.  Heinr.  Michaelis :  Uberiores  annolationes 
in  Hagiographos  V.  T.  libros,  Hal.  1720, T.I. — Korttim:  Das  Buck Miob iibers.  mit  Anmerk., 
Leipzig,  1708. 

2.  Reformed :  Job.  CEcolampadius :  Exegemata  in  Job  el  Danielem,  Basil.  1532,  and 
often  • — Mart.  Bucer :  CommenLar.  in  libr.  Job,  Argentor.  1528,  fol.; — Huldrich  Zwingli.:  Rand- 
glossen  zu  Job  (in  the  Greek  Aldine  of  1518,  annotated  throughout  by  him,  edited  by  Audr. 
V.  Asola) ; — Job.  Calvin :  Condones  super  I.  Job,  Genev.  1569,  fob;  also  in  0pp.  Calvini, 
Amst.  1671  seq. ;  Job.  le  Mercier  (Mercerus) :  Comment,  in,  Job,  Proverb,  Eccles.,  Cantic, 
1573,  fob; — Jo.  Drusius:  Scholia  in  I.  Job,  Amst.  1636; — Jo.  Piscator:  Commentar.  in  univ. 
Biblia,  4  VoU.  f.,  Herborn,  1643  seq.; — Hugo  Grotius:  Annotadones  in  V.  T.,  Par.  1644,  fob; — 
Jo.  Cocceius :  Camment.  in  I.  Job,  in  0pp.  Vol.  I.,  Amst.  1675  ; — Jo.  Clericus  [Le  Clerc]  : 
Comm.  in  Hagiographos  V.  T.  libros,  Amst.  1731,  fob;— Alb.  Scbultens:  Animadversiones phi- 
lologicce  in  Job,  etc.,  Traj.  ad  Rhen.  1708  (also  in  0pp.  min.  Ludg.  Bat.  1769) ;  by  the  same 
author:  Liber  Jobi  c.  nova  vers,  et  comm.  perpetuo,  Lugd.  Bat.  1737,  2  VoU.  4to  (comp.  the 
abridgment  of  it — A.  Schultens'  Comm.  in  Job  in  compend.  redeg.,  etc.,  G.  J.  L.  Vogel,  T.  I., 
II.,  Hal.  1773,  74) ; — Dav.  Eenat.  Bouillier :  Observationes  miscellanece  in  libr.  Job.  quibus 
versionibus  et  interpretibus  passim  epicrisis  insiituitur,  etc.,  Amst.  1758. 

B.  Catholic  Commentators. — Job.  Maldonatus,  S.  J.  (t  1583) :  Commentarii  inprcecipuos 
JS.  Scriptures  libros  Vet.  Teatamenti,  Paris,  1643  fob; — Casp.  Sanctius,  S.  J.  (f  1626) :  In  I.  Job 
Commentarii  c.paraphr.  Lugd.  Bat.  1625,  fob; — Joacb.  de  Pineda  (S.  J.,  f  1637) :  Commenta- 
riorum  in  I.  Job  libri  XUI.,  2  Vol!.,  Madr.  1597, 1601,  f.;— Baltbas.  Corderius,  S.  J.  (f  1650)  : 
Jobus  elucidatus,  Antverp.  1646,  '56,  f;— Antonio  de  Escobar,  S.  J.  (f  1669)  :  Commentarius 
in  Biblia,  Tom.  IV.; — Bolducius  (Bolduc.  Capuchin)  ;  Commentar  in  Job.,  2  Volb,  Paris,  1631, 
1(538; — Fr.  Vavassor,  S.  J.  (f  1681)  :  Jobus  commentario  et  metaphrasi  illustratus,  Paris,  1679; — 
Augustin  Calmet :  Commentaire  littoral  sur  tous  les  livres  de  I'ancien  et  nouveau  Testament, 
Paris,  1707  sqq.,  22  Veil.,  4to.  (Lat.  Ed.  by  Dom.  Mansi,  Lucca,  1730  seq.). 

III.     THE   MODERN  PERIOD   SINCE   1750. 

1.  The  period  during  which  rationalism  prevailed  (1750 — 1820).* — Goele:  Observationes 
miscellanece  in  lib.  Job,  Amstel.  1758 ; — Job.  Fr.  Bardt :  Paraphrast  Erkldrung  des  B.  Hiob.,  2 
Parts,  Leipzig,  1764;— J.  J.  Baur :  Animadversiones  ad  quoedam  loca  Jobi,  Tubing.  1781 ; — Eck- 
ermann  :  Versuch  einer  neuen poetischen  Uebersetzung  des  B.  Hiob,  etc.,  Liibeck,  1778 ; — Sander : 
Das  Buck  Hiob  Erkldrt,  Leipzig,  1780  ; — Moldenhauer :  Z>.  B.  Hiob  ubersetzt  und  erklUrt,  2 
Parts,  Leipzig,  1780,  1781 ; — J.  D.  Dathe :  Job,  Proverb,  Salom,  Eccl.,  Cantic.  Cant.  lat.  versi 
notisque philol.  et  criticis  illustr. ,113.1.  Sax.  1789;— J.  Chr.  F.  Scbulz:  Scholia  in  V.  Test., 
(Tom.  Vf.,  ed.  G.  Lor.  Bauer),  Norimb.  1796;— H.  A.  Schultens  and  H.  Muntinghe:  Das 
Buch  Hiob  ubersetzt  und  erkldrt.  Aus  den  Hollandischtn  mit  Zusdtzen  und  Anmerkungen  J. 
P.  Berg's  von  K.  F.  Weidenbach,  Leipzig,  1797 ;  C.  Rosenmuller :  Scholia  in  Vet.  Test.,  Tom. 
v.,  Jobus,  lat.  vert,  etperpet.  annotat.  instr..  Lips.  1806;  ed.  2,  1824;— f  Theod.  Dereser  in 
Dom.  V.  Brentano's  Bibelwerk :  Die  heilige  Schri/t  des  Alien  Testaments,  Frankfiirt  a.  M.  1797 
seq. ;— Stuhlmann :  Hiob,  Hamb.  1804  ;  J.  R.  Scbarer  :  Das  B.  Hiob  ubersetzt  und  erkldrt, 
2  Tble.  Bern,  1818  ;— W.  Mdssler :  Das  Buch  Hiob  erkldrt,  Neustadt,  1823  ;— E.  G.  A.  BOckel : 
Das  B.  Hiob,  fur  gebildete  Leser  bearbeitet,  Berl.  1821  ;  2  umgearb.  Auflage  1830  ;— L.  F,  Mels- 
beimer :  Z>a«  B.  Hiob  aus  dem  Hebr.  metrisch  Ubersetzt  und  durch  kurze,  philologische  Anmerk. 
erldutert,  Mannheim,  1823. 

2.  The  period  of  a  more  profound  perception  of  the  history  of  redemption  and  of  theolo- 
gical truth  (1820—1870). 

K.  Umbreit :  Das  Buch  Hiob :  Uebersetzung  und  Auslegung,  nebst  Einleitung  uber  Geist, 
Form,  und  Vcr/asser  des  Buchs.  Heidelb.  1824,  2d  ed.,  1832  ;— F.  B.  Koster :  Das  Buch  Hiob 
und  der  Prediger  Salomonis  nach  ihrer  strophischen  Anordnung  ubersetzt,  Schleswig,  1831 ;  — 
H.  Ewald:  Die  poetischen  Bucher  des  Alien  Bundes,  3  Tbeil.  1836  ;  2d  Ed.  {Die  Dichter  dea. 
Alien  Bundes)   1854; — L.  Hirzel:  Hiob  in  the  Kurzgefasstes  exeget.  Hanb.  zum  Alien  Test., 

*  The  works  iuUicated  by  a  f  proceed  from  Catholic,  those  by  a  *  from  Jewish,  all  the  rest  from  cTaDgelical  com- 
mentators. 


§  12.    HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE  OF  THE  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  BOOK.         283 


1839;  2d  Ed.  by  Just.  Olshausen,  1852 ;  —  J.  G.  Stickel:  Das  BuchHiob  rhythmisch  gegliedert 
und  iibersstzt,  mit  exeget.  und  krit.  Bemerkungen,  Leipzig,  1842  ; — J.  G.  Vaihinger :  Das  Buck 
Hiob,  der  Urschrift  gemass  metrisch  ubersetzt  U7id  erldutert,  Stuttgart,  1842;  2d  Ed.  1856;— A. 
Heiligstedt :  Commentarius  gramm.  hist.  crit.  in  Job  (as  Vol.  IV.,  Part  I.  of  Maurer's  Com- 
ment.) Leipzig,  1847  ;— fB.  Welte  :  Das  Buck  Hiob  ubersetzt  und  erkldrt,  Frieib.  i.  Breisg., 
1849;  H.  A.  Hahn ;  Kommentar  iiber  das  Buck  Hiob,  Berlin,  1850;— Ed.  laid.  Magnus; 
Philolog.-historischer  Kommentar  zum  Buck  Hiob,  2  Parts,  Halle,  1850; — Konst.  Schlottmann  : 
D.  B.  Hiob  verdeuischt  und  erldutert,  Berlin,  1851 ;— A.  Ebrard :  Das  Buck  Hiob  als  poetisches 
Kunstwerk  [injunffussigen  jamben)  ubersetzt  und  erldutert,  Landau,  1858; — Franz  Delitzsch: 
Bibl.  Kommentar  iiber  die poetische  Bucher  des  Alten  Testaments,  2d  Vol.  Das  Buck  Hiob;  mit 
Beitrdgen  von  Prof.  Fleischer  und  Konsul  Wetzstein,  Leipzig,  1864 ;  [translated  into  English 
by  Rev.  F.  Bolton,  B.  A.,  and  published  in  Clark's  Foreign  Theol.  Library,  2  Vols.,  Edinb., 
1869] ;— Ad.  Kamphausen,  in  Bunsen's  Bibelwerk,  Div.  I.  Vol.  III.,  Part  3,  1865 ;  — Fr.  Bott- 
cher :  Neue  exeget.  kriiische  Aehrenlese  zum  Alten  Testament,  edited  by  Miihlau,  Vol.  III., 
1865  (comp.  the  Exeget. -krit.  Aehrenlese,  1849);— G.  H.  G.  Jahr:  Die  poet,  werke  der  alten 
Hebrder  in  neuberichtigter  metrischer  Uebersetzung.  Ein  literarisches  Lesebuch  fiir  Gebildete 
Vol.  II.,  Part  I :  Das  Buch  Hiob,  etc.,  Neuwied,  1865  ; — A.  Dillmann:  Hiob,  for  the  3d  Ed 
'  of  the  Kurzgef.  exeget.  Handb.  zum  Alten  Test,  nach  Hirzel  und  Olshausen  neu  bearbeitet,  Leip 
zig,  1869; — E.  "W.  flengstenberg :  Das  Buch  Hiob  erldutert  {Opus  posthumum),  Berlin,  1870 
71.  [Adalbert  Merx  :  Das  Gedicht  von  Hiob :  Hebrdischer  Text,  kritisch  bearbeitet  und  iiber 
setzt,  nebst  sack  licher  und  kritischer  Einleitung,  Jena.  1871]. 

English  commentaries  :  Sam.  Lee  :  The  book  of  the  Patriarch  Job,  London,  1837  ;  C.  P. 
Carey :  The  book  of  Job  translated,  explained,  and  illustrated,  London,  1858 ; — A  Barnes : 
JS'otes,  critical,  illustrative,  and  practical,  on  the  book  of  Job,  2  Vols.,  New  York,  1852 ; — A.  B. 
Davidson;  A  Commentary,  grammatical  and  exegetical,  on  the  book  of  Job,  Lond.  and  Edinb., 
1862  ;  [E,.  Humfry  ;  The  conflict  of  Job  ;  a  paraphrase,  etc.,  1607  ;  Geo.  Abbott:  Exposition  of 
the  Book  of  Job,  London,  1640; — Joseph  Caryl:  Exposition,  with  practical  observations  on  the 
Book  of  Job,  London,  1648-66  ; — E.  Leigh  :  A?inotations  on  Job,  London,  1657; — J.  F.  Sen- 
nault:^  paraphrase  on  the  book  of  Job,  London,  1648;  James  Duxhaum.:  Exposition  of  the 
book  of  Job,  1659  ; — Geo.  Hutcheson  :  Aii  exposition  upon  Job,  being  the  sum  of  316  lectures, 
Lond.,  1669; — R.  Blackmore  :  A  paraphrase  on  the  book  of  Job,  London,  1700; — Z.  Isliam  : 
Divine  Philosophy  ;  containing  the  books  of  Job,  Proverbs  and  Wisdom,  with  explanatory  notes, 
London,  1706; — T.  Fenton  :  Annotations  on  the  book  of  Job,  and  the  Psalms,  London,  1732; — 
S.  Wesley:  Dissertationes  in  librum  Jobi,  London,  1736; — R.  Grey:  Liber  Jobi  in  versiculos 
metrice  divisus,  cum  vers.  Lot.  A.  Schult.,  etc.,  London,  1742 ; — L.  Chappelow :  A  commentary 
on  the  Book  of  Job,  in  which  is  inserted  the  Heb.  text  and  English  translation,  with  a  Paraphrase, 
etc  ,  Cambridge,  1752  ; — T.  Heath  :  An  essay  towards  a  new  English  version  of  the  Book  of  Job, 
from  the  original  Hebrew,  with  a  commentary,  etc.;  Thomas  Scott :  The  Book  of  Job  in  English 
verse,  translated  from  the  original  Hebrew,  with  remarks,  historical,  critical  and  explanatory, 
London,  1771 ; — C.  Garden  :  An  improved  version  attempted  of  the  Book  of  Job,  with  a  prelimi- 
nary dissertation  and  notes,  critical  and  explanatory,  London,  1796  ; — Stock  (Bp.) :  The  Book 
of  Job  metrically  arranged  according  to  the  Masora,  and  newly  translated  into  English  ;  with 
notes,  critical  and  explanatory,  Bath,  1805 ; — Elizabeth  Smith  :  The  Book  of  Job,  translated 
from  the  Hebrew,  with  a  preface  and  annotations,  by  F.  Randolph,  D.  D.,  London,  1870; — J. 
M.  Good  :  The  Book  of  Job,  literally  translated,  etc.,  with  notes  critical  and  illustrative,  and  an 
introductory  dissertation,  London,  1812; — John  Fry:  Anew  translation  and  exposition  of  the 
very  ancient  Book  of  Job,  with  notes  explanatory  and  philological,  London,  1827  ; — G.  R.  Noyes : 
A  new  translation  of  the  Book  of  Job,  with  an  Introduction  and  Notes,  etc.,  Cambridge,  1827,  2d 
Ed.,  Boston,  1838; — T.  Wemyss  :  Job,  and  his  Times,  or  a  picture  of  the  patriarchal  age,  etc., 
and  a  New  Version,  accompanied  with  Notes  and  Dissertations,  London,  1839 ; — A.  Tattam : 
Book  of  Job  the  Just  in  Coptic,  with  an  English  translation,  1846; — A.  Jenour :  Translation  of 
the  Book  of  Job,  Lond.,  1841 ; — ^T.  J.  Conant :  The  Book  of  Job,  the  common  Eng.  Vers.,  the 
Heb.  text,  and  the  revised  version  of  the  Amer.  Bib.  Union,  wi(h  an  Introduction  and  philologi- 
cal Notes,  New  York,  1857 ; — Chr.  Wordsworth :  The  Book  of  Job,  with  Notes  and  Introduction, 


284  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

London,  1867,  being  Vol.  IV.  of  The  Holy  Bible,  with  notes,  etc.;— J.  M.  Rodwell :  The  Book 
of  Job  translated  from  the  Hebrew,  London,  1 8G4 ; — H.  H.  Bernard  :  The  Book  of  Job,  edited 
by  F.  Chance,  Vol.  L,  London,  1864; — *  A.  Elzas:  The  Book  of  Job,  translated,  etc.,  with  an 
Introd.  and  Notes,  etc.,  London,  1872 ; — also  the  commy.  of  Canon  Cook  in  the  Bible  (or 
Speaker's  Commentary),  New  York,  1874]. 

French  Commentaries :  Ernest  Renan :  Le  livre  de  Job,  traduit  de  I'  Il^brcu,  avec  une 
Etude,  etc.,  Paris,  1859.* 

Jewish  Commentaries:  *  Arnheim  :  Das  Buch  Hiob,  1836  ; — *  J.  Wolfsohn,  Das  Buck 
Hiob,  1843; — *Mor.  Lowenthal :  Hiob,  Praktische  Philosophic  oder  Darstellung  der  im  Buch 
Hiob  obwaltenden  Ideen,  nebst  Uebersetzung  und  Kommentar,  Frankfurt  a.  M.  1846; — Isr. 
Schwarz :   Tikwath  Enosh — see  above  I.,  B, 

Expositions  for  practical  edification  :  The  Bibelwerke  of  Starcke,  Joachim  Lange, 
of  Berleburg,  of  Fischer  and  Wohlfarth,  0.  v.  Gerlach,  Dachsel,  [to  which  add  here  the 
English  general  commentaries  of  Patrick,  Scott,  Henry,  Gill,  Clarke,  efe],  the  Calwer  Hand- 
buch  for  the  exposition  of  the  Bible;  the  translations  (with  brief  expository  notes)  of  Bockel 
(see  above),  Gerh.  Lange  (1831),  Justi  (1840),  Haupt  (1847),  Hosse  (1849),  Spiess  (1852), 
Hayd  (1859),  Berkholz  (1859),  Jahr  (see  above),  and  others.  Also  J.  Diedrich:  Das  Buch 
Job  kurz  erkldrt  fur  heilsbecjierige  aufmerksam.e  Bibelleser,  1858  ; — F.  W.  S.  Schwarz  :  Das  B. 
Hiob,  ein  Kreuz — und  Trost-Buch,  Bremen,  1868, — Herra.  Victor  Andrea :  Hiob.  Klassisches 
Gedicht  der  Hebrder.  Aus  dem  Grundtext  nen  ubersetzt  uud  mit  Anmerkungen  zum  tiefercn 
Verstdndniss  versehen.  Barmen,  1870.  Comp.  also  the  Essay  of  A.  F.  C.  Vilmar  (in  his  Pas- 
toral.-theolog.  Bldttern,  1866,  Vol.  XL,  p.  57  seq.) :  Wie  soil  das  Buch  Hiob  praktisch-erbaulich 
behandelt  werden  ?  [To  the  general  English  commentaries  mentioned  above  may  be  added 
here,  for  practical  nses,  the  particular  commentaries  of  Caryl  (of  which  besides  the  larger 
work,  which  is  rare,  there  is  an  abridgement  published  in  Edinb.,  1836),  Barnes  and  Words- 
worth, mentioned  above.  Also  the  following: — Francis  Quarles  :  Job  militant,  toith  medita- 
tions, divine  and  moral,  1624 ; — A.  B.  Evans :  Lectures  on  the  Book  of  Job,  London,  1856 ;  — 
W.  H.  Green:  The  Book  of  Job,  New  York,  1874]. 

MONOGRAPHS. 
a.  Introductory  and  Critical. — Fr.  Spanheim :  Historia  Jobi.  sire  de  obscur.  hist,  eom- 
mentat.,  Lugd.  Bat.  1672; — C.  Zeyss:  Exegetischt  Einleitung  in  Hiob,  edited  by  J.  Ranibach, 
ZuUich,  1831; — Garnett:  A  dissertation  on  the  Book  of  Job,  etc.,  ed.  2,  1751;-Stuss:  De 
Epopoeia  Jobeea  commentt.  III.,  Goth.  1753; — Lichtenstein :  Num  lib.  Job  cum  Odyssea  Ho- 
meri  comparari  possit?  Helmst.  1773; — D.  Ilgen:  Jobi  antiquissimi  carminis  Hebr.  natura 
ei  virtus,  Lips.  1789;— J.  Bellermann:  Ueber  den  hunstvollen  Plan  im  Buch  Hiob,  1813; — 
Bernstein :  Ueber  das  Alter,  den  Inhalt,  den  Zweck  und  die  gegenwartiye  Beschaffenheil  des 
B.Hiob,  in  Keil  and  Tzschirner's  Analekten,  etc.,  I.  3,  1813;— J.  F.  Krause:  Lectionum'  ver- 
sionis  Alexandrince  Jobi  nondum  satis  examinaturam  specimen,  Eegioinont.  1811 ;— Krehl : 
Observationes  ad  interpretcs  Graecos  et  Latinos  vet.  Ubr.  Job,  I.,  Lips.  1834; — M.  Sachs;  Zur 
Charakteristik  und  Erldulerung  des  Buches  Job,  in  Theol.  Studd.  und  ICrifi.,  1834,  IV. ; — A. 
Knobel:  De  carminis  Jobi  argumento,  fine,  ac  dispotiiione,  1835; — *Dav.  Friedlander:  Ueber 
die  Idee  des  B.  Hiob,  und  die  Zeit  der  Abfassung  d'sselben,  1845; — W.  Gleiss:  Beltrdge  zur 
Kritik  des  Buches  Hiob,  1845; — H.  Hupfeld:  Commentatio  in  quosdam  Jobeidos  locos,  1853 
(also  in  the  Deut.  Zeitschrift  fur  christl.  Wissensch.,  etc.,  1850,  No.  35  seq.) ; — He-^g-tenberg: 
Das  Buch  Hiob,  em  Vortrag.,  1856; — G.  Baur:  Das  Buch  Hiob  und  Dante's  gotil.  Komodie, 
eine  Parallele  in  Studd.  und  Kritt.  1856,  III. ; — Schneider:  Neueste Studien  iiher  das  B.  Hiob, 
in  the  Deutsche  Zeitschr.  f  christl.  Wissensch.,  etc.,  1859,  No.  27  seq.; — Fries:  Ueber  den 
grundlegenden  T hell  des  Buches  Hiob,  in  the  Jahrbucher  fur  deutsche  Theol,  1859,  IV.;— 
Babiger:  De  libri  Jobi  sententia  primari,  Vratisl.  1860 ;— Simson :  Zur  Kritth  das  B.  Hiob, 
1861 ; — Seinecke  :  Der  Grundgedanke  des  Buches  Hiob,  1863  ; — Herm.  Schulz:  Zu  den  kirch- 
lichen  Fragen  der  Gegenwart,  No,  3 :  Das  Buch  .Hiob  in  seiner  Bedeutung  fur  unsre  Zeit, 

*  oonjp.  the  sharp  criticism  of  this  work  hy  the  Abbe  Crelier :  Le  livre  de  Job  vengd  dei  irUerprelationes  faiisses  et  impiet 
de  Jlf.  EmeM  i?enan- Paris.  ISSO. 


2  12.    HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE  OF  THE  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  EOOK.  285 

Frankfurt,  1869; — E.  Reuss:  Das  Buch  Hiob,  ein  Vortrag.,  Strassburg,  1869; — W.  Volck : 
De  summa  carminis  Jobi  senlentia,  Dorpat,  1870 ;  B.  Schmitz :  Der  Ideengang  des  B.  Hiob 
[Greifswalder  Oymnasial-'programm),  1870. 

b.  Exegetical. — Abr.  Hinckelmann  :  Jobi  theologia  evangelica,  Harab.  1687  ; — J.  W. 
Baier:  SysleinamundiJobxum  (ex.  cap.  26),  1707; — J.  W.  Baier:  Behemoth  el  Leviathan  ex 
Job  XL.,  XLI.,  etc.,  Altdorf,  1708; — Erlduterung  einiger  Slellen  des  Hiob,  Herborn,  1713; — 
T.  Hat-aus :  De  Leviathan  Jobi  et  Jonx,  Bremen,  1723 ;  C.  Scheuchzer :  Jobi  Physica  Sacra, 
oder  Hiobs  Naturwissenschaft  verglichen  mit  der  heutigen,  Zurich,  1721 ; — Winter :  De  Behe- 
moth, Havn.  1722; — J.  J.  Reiske:  Conjectural  in  Jobum  ei  Proverbia,  Lips.  1779; — K.  C.  R. 
Eckermann  :  Animadversiones  in  librum  Job,  Lubec.  1779 ; — Exegetische  und  kritische  Ver- 
suche  Uber  die  schwersten  Biellen  des  B.  Hiob.  I.  1,  Leipzig,  1801 ; — J.  H.  F.  v.  Autenrieth : 
Ueber  das  Buch  Hiob,  Tdbingen,  1823 ; — T.  Fockens :  Pulchra  Jobeidos  loca  commentata. 
Amstel.  1844 ; — C.  W,  G.  Kostlin :  De  immortalitatis  spe,  qux  in  I.  Jobi  apparere  diciiur, 
1846  ; — F.  Bottcher:  JEhrenlese  und  Neue  jEhrenlese  (see  above) ; — R.  Riietschi :  Exegetische 
Bemerkungen  Zum  Buch  Hiob,  mit  bes.  Rucksicht  auf  Delitzsch  Kommentar,  in  Studd.  und 
Kritt.  1867,  I. — For  the  special  literature  on  ch.  xix.  25  27  (the  passage  respecting  the  Goel) 
see  below  in  the  history  of  the  exposition  of  this  section  (Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks  on 
ch.  xix..  No.  1).  [The  more  important  English  monographs,  articles,  dissertations,  etc.,  on 
the  book  and  its  contents  are  the  following  :  John  Campbell:  Of  the  his' or y  of  Job,  reflections 
on  the  philosophy  and  religion  of  those  times,  etc.,  in  Hist,  of  the  Bible,  I.  145  ; — Wm.  Warbur- 
ton  (Bp.):  The  Divine  Legation  of  Moses  demonstrated.  Book  VI.,  Sect.  II.;  in  Works  Vol. 
v.,  London,  1811 ; — W.  Magee  (Abp  ) :  Discourses  and  Dissertations  on  the  Scriptural  Doc- 
trine of  Atonement  and  Sacrifice,  1801,  and  Philad.  1825  ; — W.  Hodges:  Elihu;  or  an  Inquiry 
into  the  principal  scope  and  design  of  the  Book  of  Job;  London,  1750; — C.  Costard:  Some 
Observations  tending  to  illustrate  the  Book  of  Job,  and  particularly  Job  xix.  25,  London,  1747 ; 
— C.  Peters:  A  critical  dissertation  on  the  Book  of  Job  (chiefly  in  reply  to  Warburton),  Lon- 
don, 1757; — J.  Garoett:  A  dissertation  on  the  Book  of  Job,  etc.,  London,  1749  ; — G  Croly : 
TTie  Book  of  Job,  Edinb.  1863;  R.  Lowth  (Bp.):  Lectures  on  Heb.  Poetry  (Lect.  XXXII— 
XXXIV.) ; — Isaac  Taylor  :  Spirit  of  Hebrew  Poetry,  New  York,  1861 ; — Home's  Introduction 
to  the  Holy  Scriptures  (4  Vols.,  Lond.  1863),  Vol.  II.,  p.  666seq.;— J.  G.  Palfrey :  Lectures  on 
the  Jewish  Scriptures  and  Antiquities,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  217  seq.,  Boston,  1852 ; — Kitto's  Biblical 
Cyclopaedia,  Art.  "Job"  by  Hengstenberg ; — Smith's  Bib.  Dictionary,  Hackett  &  Abbott's 
Ed.  Art.  "Jb^"  by  Canon  Cook; — McClintock  &  Strong's  Cyclopoedia,  Art.  "Job;"  Kitto's 
Daily  Bib.  Illustr.  Evening  1; — Home's  Introduction  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  Vol.  II ,  p.  6G6 
seq.,  London,  1863  ;—G.  Croly :  The  Book  of  Job,  Edinb.  1863  ;—Pn/iceton  Eevieiv,  Vol. 
XXIX.,  p.  281  seq.;— J.*  A.  Froude  :  The  Book  of  Job,  in  Short  Studies  on  Great  Subjects  ; 
reprinted  from  Westminster  Review,  1853 ;  Spirituality  of  the  Book  of  Job,  as  exhibited  in  a 
Commy.  on  chap,  xiv.,  etc.;  Art.  by  T.  Lewis  in  Bib.  Sacra,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  265  seq.;— E.  P.  Bar- 
rowes:  Interpretation  of  Job  xxviii.  in  Bib.  Sac,  Vol.  X.,  p.  264seq.;— Hirzel's  Introduction, 
translated  in  Bib.  Sac.  VII.  383 ;— Vaihinger's  Art.  on  The  Date  of  the  Book  of  Job,  from  the 
Stud.  u.  Krit.,  reprinted  in  Bihl.  Repository,  Third  Series,  Vol.  IIL,  p.  174 ;— G.  B.  Bacon : 
The  Gospel  according  to  Job,  in  New  Englander,  Vol.  XXI.,  p.  764  seq.] 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

PROL-OaUE. 

Chaps.  I.  1-22— II.  1-13. 

1.     JoVs  Character  and  Course  of  Life.      (Chap.  I.  1-15.) 

1  There  was  a  man  in  the  land  of  Uz,  whose  name  was  Job  ;  and  that  man  was 

2  perfect  and  upright,  and  one  that  feared  God,  and  eschewed  eviL     And  there  were 

3  born  to  him  seven  sons  and  three  daughters.  His  substance  also  was  seven  thousand 
sheep,  and  three  thousand  camels,  and  five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen,  and  five  hundred 
she  asses,  and  a  very  great  household ;  so  that  this  man  was  the  greatest  of  all  the 

4  men  [sons]  of  the  East. — And  his  sons  went  and  feasted  in  their  houses,  every  one 
his  day  [Now  his  sons  were  wont  to  hold  a  feast  at  the  house  of  each  one  on  his 
(birth)-day],  and  [they]  sent  and  called  for  their  three  sisters  to  eat  and  to  drink 

5  with  them.  And  it  was  so,  when  the  days  of  their  feasting  were  gone  about,  that 
Job  sent  and  sanctified  them  [that  he  might  make  atonement  for  them,  Z.],  and 
rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  offered  burnt  offerings  according  to  the  number 
of  them  all :  for  Job  said,  It  may  be  that  my  sons  have  sinned,  and  cursed,  [re- 
nounced, bid  farewell  to]  God  in  their  hearts ! — Thus  did  Job  continually. 

2.     Tlie  Divine  Determination  to  try  Job  through  Suffering. 

a.   The  milder  form  of  trial  by  taking  away  his  possessions. 

(Chap.  I.  6-22.) 

6  Now  there  was  a  day  [it  came  to  pass  on  a  day,  or,  on  the  day]  when  the  song 
of  God  came  to  present  themselves  before  the  Lord  [Jehovah],  and  Satan  came  also 

7  among  them.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Whence  comest  thou  ?  Then  Satan 
answered  the  Lord,  and  said.  From  going  to  and  fro  in  the  earth,  and  from  walking 

8  up  and  down  in  it.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Hast  thou  considered  my  ser- 
vant Job,  that  [for]  there  is  none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a  perfect  and  an  upright 

9  man,  one  that  feareth  God  and  escheweth  evil  ?— Then  Satan  answered  the  Lord, 

10  and  said.  Doth  Job  fear  God  for  nought  ?  Hast  thou  not  made  an  hedge  about 
him,  and  about  his  house,  and  about  all  that  he  hath  on  every  side  ?  Thou  hast 
blessed  the  work  of  his  hands,  and  his  substance  is  increased  [spread  abroad]  in 

11  the  land.     But  put  forth  Thine  hand  now,  and  touch  all  that  he  hath,  and  [verily] 

12  he  will  curse  Thee  to  Thy  face.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Behold,  all  that 
he  hath  is  in  thy  power  [hand],  only  upon  himself  put  not  forth  thine  hand.  So 
Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

13  And  there  was  a  day  [it  came  to  pass  on  the  day],  when  his  sons  and  his  daugh- 

14  ters  were  eating  and  drinking  wine  in  their  eldest  brother's  house  :  and  there  came 
a  messenger  unto  Job,  and  said.  The  oxen  were  ploughing,  and  the  [she]  asses  feed- 

15  ing  beside  thern:  and  the  Sabeans  fell  upon  them,  and  took  them  away;  yea,  they 
have  slain  [smitten]  the  servants  with  the  edge  of  the  sword;  and  I  only  am  escaped 

287 


288 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


16  alone  to  tell  thee.  "While  he  was  yet  speaking,  there  came  also  another,  and  said, 
The  fire  of  God  is  fallen  from  heaven,  and  hath  burned  up  the  sheep  and  the  ser- 

17  vants,  and  consumed  them;  and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee.  While  he 
was  yet  speaking  there  came  also  another,  and  said,  The  Chaldeans  made  out  three 
bands,  and  fell  upon  the  camels,  and  have  carried  them  away,  yea,  and  slain  the 
servants  with  the  edge  of  the  sword  :  and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

18  While  he  was  yet  speaking  there  came  also  another,  and  said.  Thy  sous  and.  thy 

19  daughters  were  eating  and  drinking  wine  in  their  eldest  brother's  house :  and  be- 
hold, there  came  a  great  wind  from  [beyond]  the  wilderness,  and  smote  the  four 
corners  of  the  house,  and  it  fell  upon  the  young  men  [people],  and  they  are  dead ; 
and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

20  Then  Job  arose,  and  rent  his  mantle,  and  shaved  his  head,  and  fell  down  upon 

21  the  ground,  and  worshipped,  and  said  :  Naked  came  I  out  of  my  mother's  womb, 
and  naked  shall  I  return  thither :  The  Lord  [Jehovah]  gave,  and  the  Lord  [Jeho- 

22  vah]  hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord  [Jehovah].  In  all  this 
Job  sinned  not,  nor  charged  God  foolishly  [nor  uttered  folly  against  God]. 

b.   The  severer  trial,  the  loss  of  health. 
(Chap.  II.  1-10). 

1  Again  there  was  a  day  [and  it  came  to  pass  on  a  day  (Z.),  or :  Now  it  was  the 
day]  when  the  sons  of  God  came  to  present  themselves  before  the  Lord    and  Satan 

2  also  came  among  them  to  present  himself  before  the  Lord.  And  the  Lord  said 
unto  Satan,  From  whence  comest  thou  ?     And  Satan  answered  the  Lord,  and  said, 

3  From  going  to  and  fro  in  the  earth,  and  from  walking  up  and  down  in  it.  And 
the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Hast  thou  considered  my  servant  Job,  that  [for]  there 
is  none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a  perfect  and  an  upright  man,  one  that  feareth  God 
and  escheweth  evil  ?  and  still  he  holdeth  fast  his  integrity,  although  thou  movedst 

4  Me  against  him  to  destroy  him  without  cause.     And  Satan  answered  the  Lord  and 
6  said.  Skin  for  skin,  yea  [and]   all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life.     But 

put  forth  Thine  hand  now,  and  touch  his  bone  and  his  flesh,  and  he  will  curse  Thee 

6  to  Thy  face.     And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,   Behold  he  is  in  thine  hand  ;  but 

7  [only]  spare  his  life.     So  Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  smote 

8  Job  with  sore  boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  unto  his  crown.     And  he  took  him  a 

9  potsherd  to  scrape  himself  withal ;  and  he  sat  down  among  the  ashes.  Then  said 
his  wife  unto  him.  Dost  thou  still  retain  thine  integrity.      Curse  [renounce]  God, 

10  and  die!  But  he  said  unto  her,  Thou  speakest  as  one  of  the  foolish  women  speak- 
eth.  What !  shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  God,  and  shall  we  not  receive 
evil  ?     In  all  this  did  not  Job  sin  with  his  lips. 

3.    Tlie  Visit  of  the  Friends  and  their  Mute  Sympathy  as  an  Immediate  Preparation  for 

the  Action  of  the  Poem. 
Vers.  11-13. 

11  Now  when  [or.  Then]  Job's  three  friends  heard  of  all  this  evil  that  was  come 
upon  him,  [and]  they  came  every  one  from  his  own  place  ;  Eliphaz  the  Temanite, 
and  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  Zophar  the  Naamathite ;  for  [and]  they  had  made 
an  appointment  together  to  come  [or :  they  met  together  by  appointment]  to  mourn 

12  with  him,  and  to  comfort  him.  And  when  they  lifted  up  their  eyes  afar  off,  and 
knew   him  not,  they  lifted  up  their  voice  and  wept ;    and  they  rent  every  one 

13  his  mantle,  and  sprinkled  dust  upon  their  heads  toward  heaven.  So  they  sat  down 
with  him  upon  the  ground  seven  days  and  seven  nights,  and  none  spake  a  word 
unto  him  :  for  they  saw  that  his  grief  [affliction]  was  very  great. 


EXEGETIOAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  JoV s  character  and  course  of  life.   Cli.  i.  1-15. 

Ver.  1.  There  -was  a  man  in  the  land  of 
"Dz,  vT^hose  name  Avas  Job.  Literally,  A  man 
was  in  the  land  of   Uz,  etc. :   the  order    of  the 


words  as  in  2  Sam.  xii.  1  ;  Esth.  ii.  5.  On  the 
name  SVX  see  Introduction,  g  1,  and  Note. — 
yvj  ]nX3,  Vulg.  :  in  terra  Hus ;  LXX.  :  h 
X<'^pn  -ri  '  Avairah.  Tomp.  the  more  precise  defi- 
nition: cv  rfi  'Avairidi  £tvI  rolr  dpioig  t?]^  'IfW- 
fiaiac  Kal  'Apa/3/af  (in  the  addition  at  the  end  of 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.   1- 


289 


the  book)   which    gives    with  general   accuracy 
the  position  of  the  country.     For  we  are   cer- 
tainly constrained  to  place  it  in  the  region  lying 
North-East  of  Edomilis  towards  the  Arabian  de- 
sert.     We   cannot  identify  it  with    any  locality 
within  the  land  of  the   Edomites,  nor   with  that 
land  itself,  as  some  writers,  ancient  and  modern, 
have  undertaken  to  do.     For  1.  In  ver.  3  Job  is 
represented  in  general  terms  as  belonging  to  the 
D.7p.  ^?.^>  the  "  sons  of  the  East,"  i.  e.,  as  a  North 
Arabian,  an  inhabitant  of  the  Syro  Arabian  de- 
sert which  extends  eastward  from  Transjordanic 
Palestine  to   the  Euplirates   (conip.    1    Kings  v. 
10  [A.  v.:  iv.  30]  Ipai.  xi.  14;  Jerem.  xlix.  28; 
Ezek.  XXV.  4). — 2.   The  Sabeans   and  Chaldeans 
are,   according  to  vers.    15  and   17,   neighbors, 
dwelling  in  adjacent   territory. — 3.   The  Alalrac 
(A'lanrai.)   mentioned  by  Ptolemy  V.,  xix.  2,  as 
neighbors  of  Babylonia  on  the  West,  under  tlie 
Caucabenes,  are  assuredly  none  other  than  the 
inhabitants  of  the  country  we  are  con'-idering. — 
4.  Jerem.  xxv.  20  sq.,  clearly  and  definitely  dis- 
tinguishes between  Uz  and  Edom.     The  expres- 
sion in  Lam.  iv.  21,  "  0  daughter  of  Edom,  that 
dwellest  in  the  land  of  Uz,"   does  not  affirm  the 
identity  of  the  two   countries,  but  rather  refers 
to  an  expansion  of  the  boundaries  of  Edom  which 
at  some  time  took  place,  so  as  to  include  the  land 
of  Uz  (comp.  NLigelsbach   on  both  the  passages 
cited). — 5.   In  Gen.    x.   23,   Uz,    the  patriarchal 
founder  of  the  country,  after  whom  it  was  named, 
appears  as  the  immediate  descendant  of  Aram  ; 
in  Gen.  xxii.  21,  as  the  son  of  Nahor,  the   bro- 
ther of  Abraham;  and  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  28  as  the 
grand-son  of  Sei'r,  the   ancestor  of  the   Horite 
aborigines  of  Idumea.     None  of  these  passages 
in  Genesis  brings  Uz  into   genealogical   relation 
to  Edom,  though  they  clearly  make  him  appear 
as  geographically  his  neighbor. — 6.  Again   ch. 
ii.  11  of  our  book   (Eliphaz  the  Temanite),   also 
ch.  xxxii.  2  (Elihu  the  descendant  of  Buz  ;  comp. 
Gen.  xxii.  21,  where  the  same  Buz   appears  as 
the  son  of  Nahor  and  the  brother  of  Uz)  argue 
for  a  relation  of  co-ordination  between  the  coun- 
tries of  Uz  and  Edom.— 7.  Josephus  (Ant.  I.,  6, 
4)  names  Ovaoc,  the  son  of  Aram  (Gen.  x.  23)  as 
the  founder  of  Trachonitis  and  Damascus.     This 
reference,  resting  as  it  does  on  a  primitive  tra- 
dition, contains  an  indirect  contradiction  of  the 
supposition   that  Uz  was  an  Idumean  province; 
ratlier  is  the  inference  probable  that  at  one  time 
it  extended  further  North,  as  far  as  South-east- 
ern Syria. — 8.   The   Syro-Arabian   tradition  of 
the  Middle  Ages  and  of  modern  times  fixes  the 
place  where  Job  lived  at  a  considerable  distance 
North,  or  North-East  from  Sei'r-Edom,  to  wit,  in 
the  fruitful  East-IIauranitic   province   el-Bethe- 
nije  (Nukra),  which  Abulfeda  calls   "a  part  of 
the  territory  of  Damascus,"   and  within    which 
at  this  day  are  pointed  out  a   '•  Place   of  Job  " 
(Makam-Ejub)  and  a  Monastery  of  Jol)   (Dair- 
Ejftb),  both  situated  south  of  Navva  on  the  road 
leading  north  to  Damascus   (comp.  Fries  in   the 
Stud,  unci  Krit.,  1854,  II.  ;  and  especially  J.  C. 
Wetstein  :   "The  Monastery  of  Job  in  Ilauran, 
and  the  Tradition  of  Job,"  in  the  Appendix  to 
Delitzsch's    Commentary,    II.    895  sq.,     Clark, 
Edinb.).     We  are  indeed  scarcely  to  look  for  the 
home  of  our  hero  so  far  North   as   these   sacred 
localities  of  the  Christian- Mohamedan  tradition 
19 


concerning  Job,    or  as  the  location  favored   by 
tlie  hypothesis  of  Bocliart,  Ugen,  J.  II.  Michaelis, 
etc.,  which  regards  the  valley  al-Gudia   situated 
not  far  from  Damascus,  as  the  Uz  of  Sci'ipture. 
At  the  same  time  the  considerations   here  pre- 
sented make  it  far  more  probable  that  it  belonged 
to  the  territory  of  East-Hauran  (not  necessarily 
of  Hauran  in  Palestine,  or  the  eastern  portion  of 
Manasseh),  than  that  it  was  identical   with  any 
locality  in  Edom  South,  or  South-West  from  Pa- 
lestine.     ["The   so  called    universalism    of  the 
writer  is  apparent  here.     His  hero  is  a  stranger 
to  Judaism  and   the  privileges   of  the   peculiar 
people,  living  in  a  foreign  country.     The  author 
saw  that  God  was  not  confined   to  the  Jew,  but 
was  and  must  be  evei-ywhere  the  father  of  His 
children,  however  imperfectly  they  attained  to 
the  knowledge  of  Ilim  ;  he  saw  that  the   human 
heart   was   the    same,  too,  everywhere,    that  it 
everywhere  proposed  to  itself  the  same  problems, 
and  rocked  and  tossed  amidst  the  same  uncer- 
tainties ;  that  its   intercourse  with  heaven  was 
alike,  and  alike  awful  in  all  places  ;  and  away 
down  far  in  that  great  desert  stretching  into  in- 
finite expanse,  where  men's  hearts  drew  in  from 
the  imposing  silence,  deep,  still  thoughts  of  God, 
he  lays  the  scene  of  his  great  poem.     He  knows, 
Jew  though  he  be,  that  there  is  something  deeper 
far  than  Judaism,  or  the  mere  outward  forms  of 
any   dispensation,   that  God   and    man   are  the 
great  facts,  and  the  great  problem  their  connec- 
tion." Davidson].     And  that  man  v^as  per- 
fect and  upright,  and  one  that  feared  God 
and  eschewed  evil.     These  four  attributes, 
of  which  on   (literally  integer,  whole,  complete) 
here  denotes  moral  integrity,  and  hence  blame- 
lessness,  while  '^\^''  denotes  uprightness,  right- 
eousness,— are  not  simply  co-ordinate,  but  "  the 
first  furnishes  the  foiindation  of  the  second,  and 
the  last  two  conjointly  of  the  first  two,"  (Hahn). 
For  the  fear  of  God  and  eschewing  evil   are  ob- 
viously mentioned   as   the  ground  or  source  of 
blamelessness  and  uprightness   (comp.  Pro7.  i. 
7)  ;  the  religious  characteristics  serve  to  explain 
the  moral.     The  1  before  ^?T  is   thus'  explana- 
tory, and  might,   as   in  ver.  8  and   chap.    ii.  3, 
be  dispensed  with.     [Lee  remarks  well   on  DH 
that  it  "  seems  to  be  synonymous  with  the  Greek 
rfAcwf,   1  Cor.  ii.  6;   xiv.  20,  etc.,  and  to  signify 
complete  in  every  requisite  of  true  religion,  '  tho- 
roi/ghly  furnished  unto  all  good   works,'   rather 

than  perfect  in  the   abstract ;    and   henco  HDn 

.  ■'''■. 

ch.  ii.  3  is  rather  the  exercise  of  true   religion, 

than  perfection  or   integrity   in  the  abstract." 

Delitzsch   defines    thus:    "DH,   with    the  whi^la 

T 

heart  disposed  towards  God  and  what  is  good, 
and    also  well-ilisposed  toward  mankind  ;    1u?' 

T   T 

in  thought  and  action  without  deviation  con- 
formed to  that  which  is  right,  D'HyX  X^',  fear- 
ing God.  and  consequently  being  actuated  by  the 
fear  of  God  which  is  the  beginning  (t.  e.,  prin- 
ciple) of  wisdom;  J/10  ID,  keeping  aloof  from 
evil,  which  is  opposed  to  God."  Ewald  and  Da- 
vidson   cor-relate    DH    and  D"!! /X  X1\    as   de- 

T  •     v:       ■■: 

scriptive  of  the  inner  qualities  of  a  righteous 


290 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


man,  "^'d^  and    t.'"TO    ID    as    descriptive  of   his 

TT  T  ••  T 

outer  life]. 

Ver.  2  And  there  were  born  to  hita  se- 
ven sons  and  three  daughters.  The  de- 
scription of  his  piety  is  immediately  followed  by 
that  of  his  prosperity,  showing  first  of  all  how 
he  prospered  in  his  family,  hoy  rich  he  was  in 
children.  The  high  significance  which  attached 
to  this  species  of  wealth  and  happiness,  accord- 
ing to  the  Old  Testament  view,  may  be  seen  from 
c.h.  xxi.  8,  11  ;  xxix.  5,  of  our  book,  and  also 
Ps.  cxxvii.,  cxxviii.  The  number  of  sons,  it  will 
be  observed,  far  exceeds  that  of  daughters;  this 
being  in  accordance  with  the  tendency,  preva- 
lent alike  in  ancient  and  in  modern  times,  to 
magnify  the  importance  of  those  by  whom  the 
family  life  and  name  are  perpetuated,  and  to  re- 
gard that  man  as  specially  fortunate,  who  is 
blessed  with  a  preponderance  of  male  descen- 
dants (comp.  Prov.  xvii.  6).  The  number  of 
sons,  moreover,  and  the  n  imber  of  daugliters, 
are  sacred  numbers  of  special  gymbolical  signi- 
ficance, their  sum  likewise  forming  a  sacred 
number  ;  and  again,  in  the  summary  which  fol- 
lows of  the  pati'iarch's  possessions,  we  find  the 
same  numbers  recurring,  as  multiples  of  one 
thousand.  It  has  already  been  shown  in  the 
Introduction,  §  8,  near  the  beginning,  how  in 
these  unmistak  ibly  ideal  numerals  we  recognize, 
notwithstanding  the  prose  form,  the  essentially 
poetic  character  of  the  Prologue  ;  and  the  same 
is  true  of  the  Epilogue  (see  ch.  xlii.  12,  13). 

Ver.  3.  His  substance  also  was  seven 
thousand  sheep  and  three  thousand  ca- 
mels, etc.  ["  It  is  a  large,  princely  house- 
hold." Del.]  "  Although  Job  is  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  wandering  Bedouin,  but  as  a  set- 
tled prince,  or  Emir  (ch.  i.  4,  18  ;  xxix.  7  ;  xxxi. 
32\  who  also  engaged  in  agrinilture  (ch.  i.  14; 
V.  23;  xxxi.  8,  38 sq.),  his  weilth  is  neverthe- 
less, after  the  manner  of  those  coujtries,  esti- 
mated according  to  the  extent  of  his  flocks  and 
herds  (njpO),  together  with  the  servants  thereto 
appertaining."  Dillm. — Five  hundred  yoke 
of  oxen,  and  five  hundred  she  asses.  lOi', 
a  yoke,  i.e.,  pair,  oxen  being  worked  in  pairs  in 
tilling  the  land  (ver.  14).  Only  the  she  asses 
are  mentioned  (comp.  on  the  other  hand  Gen. 
xii.  16;  xxxii.  15),  as  forming  the  most  valuable 
part  of  this  species  of  cattle  property.  In  Syria 
even  yet  they  are  far  more  numerously  owned 
than  the  males,  and  sold  at  three  times  the  va- 
lue of  the  latter  ;  and  this  not  so  much  for  the 
milk  as  for  breeding  (comp.  Wetzstein  in  De- 
litzsch;  alsoRosenmiiller's  J/<c«  tnid  Neues  Mor- 
genland,  III.,  319).— And  a  very  great  house- 
hold (very  many  servants).  HB^  T\~\'^^_,  pre- 
cisely as  in  Gen.  xxvi.  14,  brought  into  connec- 
tion with  wealth  in  cattle,  which,  as  the  more 
important,  is  mentioned  first.     The  Targ.  takes 

m?;^  to  be  the  same  with  Tr\2'^,  1  Chron.  xxvii. 

20,  meaning  husbandry.  This  interpretation, 
which  the  Septuagint  seeks  after  its  fashion  to 
combine  with  the  common  one  [koL  virrjpscia 
Tvo'ATir/  a<j>udpa,  Kal  ipya  /xeyd?.n  yv  a'vTi2  krrl  77/f 
7?;^),  is  condemned  by  the  analogy  of  the  paral- 
lel passage  in  Gen.  xxvi.  14,  as  well  as  by  the 
singular  unanimity  with  which  exegetical  tradi- 


tion favors  the  signification  we  have  given. — So 
that  this  man  w^as  the  greatest  of  all  the 
sons  of  the  East.  ["  Vav  consec.  imperf.  sum- 
ming up  the  issue  of  the  foregone:  all  which 
made  Job  the  greatest  of  the  Orientals."  David- 
son.] On  DTp'-JU  see  above  on  ver.  1,  also  In- 
trod.,   3  5.     For    /IIJ  in  the  sense  of  rich  and 

T 

distinguished,  pee  Gen.  xxiv.  35  ;  xxvi.  13  ;  Ec- 
cles.  ii.  9.  ["  The  sons  of  the  East  are  the  in- 
habitants of  the  regions  East  of  Palestine.  Al- 
tliough  elsewhere  the  term  designates  the 
Arabians,  who  constitute  the  principal  element 
of  tie  population  between  Canaan  and  the  Eu- 
phrates, here  it  cannot  be  referred  specially  to 
them,  for  Job  was  not  an  Arabian,  and  Uz  be- 
longed rather  to  the  Aramaic  race."  Hengst. 
Schlottmann  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
name  "Saracen"  is  Arabic  for  "men  of  the 
East."  E.] 

Vers.  4,  5  describe  and  illustrate  Job's  re- 
markable piety,  presenting  a  single  character- 
istic of  the  same,  which  at  the  same  time  pre- 
pares the  way  for  a  better  understanding  of  the 
narrative  which  follows.  [These  verses  serve  a 
threefold  use  in  the  narrative  :  primarily,  they 
furnish  the  historical  occasion  for  the  terrible 
calamities  which  follow  ;  incidentally,  they  con- 
tain a  striking  illustration  of  Job's  tender  and 
conscientious  piety  ;  and,  finally,  they  present  a 
pleasing  picture  of  patriarchal  family  life  in  its 
affectionate  harmony  and  joyousness. — E.] 

Ver.  4.  Now  his  sons  were  w^ont  to  hold 
a  feast  in  the  house  of  each  one  on  his 
birth-day. — Lit. :  '-And  his  sons  went  and 
made  a  feast,"  etc.     The  verb  "  went"  here,  as 

the  perf.  consec.  O/ni  shows,  refers  not  to  an 

■^  :  |t: 

action  which  took  place  once,  but  to  one  which 
was  wont  to  recur  at  definite  times.  ["  It  does 
not  exhibit  the  whole  religious  expression  of 
Job's  life,  but  only  one  remarkable  custom  in  it; 
hence  being  independent,  vav  has  not  the  imperf. 
consecutive,  but  the  simple  perf.,  expressing 
here  a  single  past  action  which  the  connection 
shows  to  have  been  customary."  Dav.]  Since 
nrMI'D  denotes  not  the  ordinary  daily  meal,  but, 
as  the  derivation  from  riHty  proves,  a  feast  of 
entertainment,  a  banquet  attended  with  wine- 
drinking  (ver.  13),  a  cvfinoaiov,  conviviinn,  it  is 
impossible  to  take  lOV  (Accus.  temper.)  in  the 
sense  of  a  daily  recurrence  of  these  meals,  thus 
assuming  that  every  week  the  dinner  passed 
round  in  rotation  to  each  of  the  seven  brothers 
(Hirzel,  Oehler,  Kamph.,  Del.  [Ilengstenberg, 
AVords.]).  This  would  be  a  living  in  riot  and 
reveh-y,  all  the  more  unbecoming  since  by  such 
an  arrangement  the  parents  would  be  excluded 
altogether  from  the  family-circle,  whereas  the 
sisters  would  be,  contrary  to  Eastern  custom, 
the  habitual  companions  of  their  brothers  at  the 
t.able.  Evidently  DV  denotes  a  day  marked  by 
special  observance  and  feasting  (comp.  Hos.  i.  11  ; 
ii.  15;  vii.  5);  whence  it  would  seem  to  have 
been  either  some  annual  festival,  of  general  ob- 
servance, such  as  the  harvest  festival,  so  widely 
observed  in  antiquity,  or  the  spring  festival  (so 
Ewald,  Vaih.,  Heil.,  Hahn,  Dillm.  [Dav.]);  or 
else  the  birth-day  festival  of  either  one  of  the 
seven  brothers  (Rosml.,  Umbr.,  "Welte,  Schlott. 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.   1-13. 


291 


[Wem.,  Carey,  Eod.,  Bar.,  Elz.]).  The  latter 
seems  to  be  most  favored  by  ch.  iii.  1,  where  DV 
(as  also  in  Ilosea  vii.  5)  evidently  stands  in  the 
sense  of  birth-day  (Gen.  xl.  20) ;  with  this  more- 
over stands  in  special  harmony  what  we  find  in 
vers.  13  and  18,  to  wit,  that  special  prominence 
is  twice  given  to  the  circumstance  that  Job's  ca- 
lamities came  to  pass  on  the  day  when  his  first- 
horn  son  was  lost;  this  very  coincidence  of  those 
f  arful  visitations  with  the  birth-day  festival  of 
his  first-born  (the  ijlX  iTlI^X^.,  the  firstling  of  his 
strength,  comp.  Gen.  xlix.  3).  constituting  for  the 
unfortunate  father  a  tragic  climax  of  sorrow, 
such  as  could  not  have  befallen  him  had  any 
other  festivity  been  the  occasion  which  brouglit 
the  chihlren  together  to  undergo  their  common 
doom.  The  opening  words  of  the  verse  follow- 
ing are  indeed  cited  against  this  view ;  the  fact, 
it  is  alleged,  that  we  find  mentioned  there  a  cycle 
of  days  as  "  the  days  of  their  feasting,"  and 
that  it  was  not  until  they  were  ended  that  Job 
performed  his  purification,  requires,  on  the  as- 
sumption that  these  days  were  the  birth- days  of 
the  seven  sons,  that  the  cycle  should  be  dis- 
tributed over  the  entire  year,  which  would  lead 
us  to  the  untenable  conclusion  that  but  one  ex- 
piation was  ofi^ered  in  the  year,  namely,  at  the 
end  of  the  last  birth-day  festival  (comp.  Dillm.). 
But  why  this  conclusion  should  be  pronounced 
untenable  certainly  does  not  appear.  Moreover 
there  is  nothing  at  all  to  prevent  our  supposing 
that  the  birth-days  of  the  seven  sons,  or  indeed 
of  all  the  ten  children,  were  not  very  far  apart, 
that,  e.  g.,  they  all  fell  within  one  half-year. 
And  then,  over  and  above  all,  it  would  seem  that 
excessively  fine-spun  speculation  as  to  the  ques- 
tion how  the  author  conceived  the  circulation  or 
the  expiration  (TP^)  of  the  festal  days  must  re- 
sult in  some  violence  to  the  character  of  the  nar- 
rative, which  is  not  rigidly  historical,  but  poetic 
and  ideal.  For  this  reason  we  must  reject 
Schlottmann's  endeavor  to  represent  each  of  the 
birth-djy  festivals  mentioned  in  the  account  as 
lasting  several  days,  thus  assuming  that  Job's 
expiatory  sacrifice  was  made  at  the  close  of 
each  such  festival.  This  supposition  would  make 
it  necessary  for  us  to  read  quite  too  much  be- 
tween the  lines,  to  say  in  ver.  4  that  iOV  means 
the  first  in  each  series  of  feast-days,  while  in 
ver.  5,  by  HPK'Dn  '73'  are  meant  the  several  days 
of  each  festival  of  days  (with  which,  however, 
the  verb  n'Pi7)  ^o  8°  round,  devolvi,  does  not 
agree). 

[Zockler'a  argument  in  favor  of  the  birth-day 
theory  is  ingenious  and  suggestive,  but  not  alto- 
gether satisfactory.  The  account  in  the  text  is 
so  brief  and  general  as  to  make  absolute  cer- 
tainty impossible.  The  impression,  however, 
which  the  narrative  most  naturally  makes  on  the 
reader  is:  (1)  That  the  days  of  the  feast  fol- 
lowed each  other  in  immediate  succession  ;  in 
other  words,  that  the  seven  feasts  were  given  on 
seven  successive  days  in  the  houses  of  the  seven 
brothers  in  regular  order  from  the  oldest  to  the 
youngest ;  and  (2)  that  at  the  end  of  the  week, 
probably  on  the  morning  of  the  eighth  day.  Job's 
sacrifice  was  offered.  This  is  the  simple  and 
natural  deduction  from  the  narrative  as  it  stands, 


and  it  is  not  easy  to  harmonize  with  it  the 
theory  tliat  the  feasts  were  held  on  a  series  of 
birth-days,  separate  from  each  otlier  by  an  in- 
terval, longer  or  shorter.  The  suggestion  tliat 
each  birth-day  feast  lasted  several  days,  and 
that  Job's  sacrifice  was  offered  at  the  end  of 
those  days,  is  clearly  shown  by  Z  to  be  unwar- 
ranted, and  at  variance  with  the  statement  con- 
veyed by  the  TPH-  AVeare  thus  reduced  either 
to  (a)  the  daily  theory,  advocated  by  Hirzel,  ete.  ; 
or  to  (6)  the  theory  of  an  annual  festival  (spring 
or  harvest,  or  both).  But  such  an  interminable 
carousal  as  (a)  would  imply,  is,  as  Z.  shows, 
highly  improbable,  and  not  to  be  assumed  with- 
out the  gravest  necessity.  In  favor  of  (It),  on 
the  contrary,  maybe  urged  :  (1)  The  prevalence 
in  antiquity  of  those  simple  season-festivals.  (2) 
The  especial  probability  that  such  feasts  would 
be  observed  in  a  patriarchal  community,  like 
Job's  family,  belonging,  as  it  evidently'  does,  to 
the  period  of  transition  from  a  pastoral  noma- 
dism to  a  settled  agricultural  life.  (3)  The  cor- 
respondence between  the  number  of  Job's  sons 
and  the  seven  days  of  the  festival  week.  (4) 
The  absence  of  Job,  which  would  be  unnatural 
if  these  were  birth-day  festivals,  may  be  at  least 
more  readily  accounted  for  on  such  an  occasion 
of  simple  secular  merry-making  as,  e.  g.,  a  har- 
vest festival.  (Schlottmann  well  remarks  that 
if  the  festival  had  been  religious  in  its  charac- 
ter. Job,  as  patriarchal  priest,  would  have  stood 
more  in  the  foreground). 

Z.'s  remark  that  the  double  mention  of  the 
fact  that  the  fatal  feast  was  held  in  the  house 
of  the  first-born,  becomes  doubly  significant,  if 
the  day  were  his  birth-day,  is  certainly  striking, 
but  of  less  weight  than  the  other  considerations 
presented  above.  The  specification  of  the  place 
of  entertainment  imparts  greater  reality  to  the 
narrative;  the  further  specification  of  the  house 
of  the  first-born  still  further  deepens  the  tragic 
impression  of  the  story,  by  suggesting  that  the 
calamity  struck  the  banqueters  on  the  very  first 
day  of  their  festivities. — E.] — And  sent  and 
called  for  their  three  sisters  to  eat  and  to 
drink  with  them. — This  invitation  which  was 
always  extended  to  the  sisters  (who,  we  are  to 
suppose,  were  living  with  their  mother),  is  made 
specially  prominent  as  showing  "  the  inner  mu- 
tual relation  which  the  father  had  established 
among  his  children"  (Hirzel).  \_'' And  they 
used  to  send  and  invite — an  independent  fact ;  the 
author  lifts  it  out  of  dependence  to  emphasize 
it,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  tlie  beautiful  har- 
mony and  affection  of  Job's  family  one  to  an- 
other, and  the  generous  and  free-hearted  magni- 
ficence of  the  sons,  and  also  the  possibility  of 
the  coming  catastrophe  which  swept  away  sons 
and  daughters  at  once.  The  father  had  no 
relish  for  this  kind  of  enjoyment;  but  no  pee- 
vish dislike  of  it,  or  of  those  who  had,  being  a 
wise  and  liberal  man,  wishing  the  happiness  of 
all  about  him,  and  pleased  to  see  them  enjoy 
themselves  in  their  own,  not  his  way,  so  only 
they  do  it  innocently  and  religiously.  The  sons 
of  Job  seem  to  have  had  establishments  of  their 
own,   and    the    daughters  lived  apart  with  the 

mother.  On  the  irregularity  of  fem.  r\^7ty  with 
fern,   noun,   comp.   Gen.  vii.   13  ;  Jer.  xxxvi.  23 


^9-2 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


(where  (lie  gend.  arc  both  right  and  wrong)  ; 
Zech.  iii.  9."  Day.] 

Ver.  5.  And  it  was  so,  when  the   days 
of  their   feasting  were   gone   about,  i.  c, 

when  the  period  through  which  their  mutual 
invitations  ran,  that  which  embraced  their  fre- 
quent birth-day  festivals,  had  run  its  course 
(TP^'  c°'"P-  ^^^^  which  has  been  said  above 
against  8chlott).  [Good:  "And  it  came  to 
pass,  as  the  days  of  such  banquets  returned," 
■etc.,  which  is  not  only  opposed  to  the  plain  mean- 
ing of  the  verb,  but  at  variance  with  the  obvious 
design  of  Job's  sacrifice,  which  was  retrospec- 
tive, not  anticipatory,  offered  for  the  sins  which 
he  feared  they  had  committed,  not  for  those 
■which  he  feared  they  mif/ht  commit.  A  similar 
rotatory  system  of  banquets  is  said  to  prevail 
in  China.  "  They  have  their  fraternities  which 
they  call  the  brotherhood  of  the  months ;  this 
consists  of  months  according  to  the  number  of 
the  days  therein,  and  in  a  circle  they  go  abroad 
to  eat  at  one  another's  houses  by  turns."  Se- 
medo's  History  of  China,  quoted  by  Burder, 
Oriental  Customs.— E.]  nPty^H  ""D/  is  to  be 
understood  collectively,  "the  days  of  the  ban- 
quets, of  entertaining"  not  as  a  strict  singular, 
of  one  feast  distributed  over  several  days. — 
That  Job  sent  that  he  might  atone  for 
them. — He  sent  for  them  for  this  end  ;  for  the 
efficacy  of  sacrifices  of  purification  depended  on 
the  presence  of  those  in  whose  behalf  they  were 
made.  DU'Tp'l,  literally:  "  and  sanctified,  con- 
secrated them,"  defining  the  object  of  n7t:?''1. 
How  the  sanctification  took  place,  we  are  told  in 
•what  follows.  The  term  expresses  not  merely 
the  preparation  for  the  expiation,  the  lustration 
or  washing  preceding  the  sacrifice,  as  Rosmlr., 
Arnh.,  Hirz.,  Vaih.,  Heil.,  Dillm.  affirm,  on  the 
strength  of  passages  like  Ex.  xix.  10  ;  Josh.  vii. 
13;  1  Sam.  xvi.  5.  [Zockler  seems  to  regard 
the  "sanctification"  here  as  a  part  of  the  gene- 
ral rite  of  expiation  which  Job  performed,  and 
thus  as  taking  place  at  the  same  time.  The 
other  theory,  maintained  by  the  majority  of 
commentators  (including,  in  addition  to  those 
named  above,  Hengst.,  Uav.,  Con.),  is  supported 
by  the  following  considerations  :  "  (1)  The  gene- 
ral usage  of  the  verb  tS'Tp,  the  essential  signifi- 
cation of  which  in  its  transitive  forms  is  to  dedi- 
cate, purify  for  holy  service.  See  Ges.  and 
Fiirsfs  Lex.  (2)  The  analogy  of  the  Mosaic 
and  other  rituals,  in  which  preparatory  rites  of 
purification  are  the  rule.  It  is  true  that  the  au- 
thor of  the  book  is  careful  to  put  himself  and 
his  characters  outside  of  the  Mosaic  system,* 
and  avoids  even  here,  as  we  shall  see  below,  any 
identification  of  Job's  sacrifices  with  the  Mosaic. 
Preparatory  rites,  lustrations,  and  the  like,  are 
however  common  to  all  religions,  and  there  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  author  would 
shrink  from  introducing  a  feature  of  such  gene- 
ral observance  because  it  belongs  to  the  Mosaic 
ritual.  It  is  in  harmony  with  this  that  we  find 
(3)  in  Ex.  xix.  10  the  direct  recognition  of  a  pre- 
paratory rite  of  purification  (the  same  word  be- 


*  D  litzscb  perhaps  states  it  too  strongly  when  he  says: 
"  h^  avoids  even  the  slightest  reference  to  anything  Israel- 
itish." 


ing  used  there  as  here),  before  the  Sinaitic  code 
had  been  given,  whereby  the  prevalence  of  such 
a  rite  in  the  pre-Mosaic  period  is  clearly  implied 
(comp.  Gen.  xxxv.  21).  (4)  The  order  of  terms 
in  the  passage  under  consideration — "  sent," 
"purified,"  "rose  early,"  "offered" — certainly 
agrees  best  with  the  supposition  that  on  the 
evening  of  the  seventh  day  he  sent  and  secured 
the  purification  of  his  children,  their  prepara- 
tion for  the  solemn  holocaust  of  the  morrow,  and 
then  rose  early  on  the  morning  of  the  eiglith 
day,  and  in  presence  of  his  assembled  children 
consummated  the  sacrifice.  Had  only  one  sacri- 
ficial rite  been  designated,  the  natural  order 
would  have  been  "rose,",  "sent,"   "purified," 

"  offered."  (5)  The  absolute  use  of  mK^M  makes 
it  exceedingly  doubtful  whether  we  can  with  Z. 
render  it:  "and  he  sent  for  them."  At  the  same 
time,  as  Z.  admits,  the  impressiveness  and  etH- 
cacy  of  the  sacrifice  required  that  those  for 
whom  it  was  made  should  be  present.  This 
leaves  us  no  alternative  but  to  regard  the  sanc- 
tification and  the  offering  as  two  distinct  rites, 
the  former  secured  by  Job's  mandate  in  his  ab- 
sence, the  latter  performed  by  him  in  person, 
and  in  the  presence  of  his  children.  When  to 
this  we  add  the  separation  of  the  two  verbs 
"  sanctified  "  and  "  offered  "  by  the  verb  "  rose 
early,"  the  conclusion  here  reached  seems  irre- 
sistible.— E.] — And  rose  up  early  in  the 
morning,  and  offered  burnt-offerings,  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  them  all. — Tiie 
comprehensive  magnificence  of  tbe  sacrifice 
made  it  necessary  that  he  should  rise  early. 
[His  rising  early  may  also  be  taken  as  an  indi- 
cation of  his  zeal,  and  of  his  earnest  desire  to 
make  the  expiation  as  promptly  as  possible. 
"Job  made  his  offering  in  the  morning  because 
in  the  morning  the  feelings  are  most  freely  and 
most  strongly  inclined  toward  religious  contem- 
plation. The  saying:  Morgcnslunde  hat  Gold  in 
Munde  (the  morning  hour  has  gold  in  its  mouth), 
is  true  not  only  of  work,  but  also  of  prayer." 
Hengst. — E.]     DDU>^)  perf.   consec.   as  in  ver. 

4.  ["  n7j^n  refers  not  so  much  to  bringing  it 
up  to  the  raised  altar,  as  to  causing  it  to  rise  in 
flame  and  smoke,  causing  to  ascend  to  God  who 

is  above."  Drl  ].  D/D  "ISDO,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  them  all  (accus.  of  nearer 
definition,  Ewald,  ?  300,  c.  [Green,  g  274,  2]). 
.Job,  it  will  be  observed,  offered  hx(rnt-offerin</s, 
not  sin-offerings  (so  again  in  ch.  xlii.  8).  This 
is  quite  in  accordance  with  the  pre-Mosaic  pa- 
triarchal period,  which,  as  all  the  historical  re- 
ferences to  sacrifices  in  the  book  of  Genesis  also 
show,  was  not  i  et  acquainted  with  the  sin-offer- 
ing instituted  later  by  Moses.  [An  indication 
of  the  care  and  skill  with  which  our  author  pre- 
serves the  antique  coloring  of  his  narrative. — 
E.]  Another  genuinely  patriarchal  trait  is 
furnished  in  the  fact  that  Job,  in  his  character 
as  father,  appears  also  in  the  character  ol' 
priest  of  the  household,  offering  its  sacrifices. 
Comp.  Introduction,  ^2. — For  Job  said:  in  the 
first  instance,  naturally,  to  himself,  or  in  prayer 
to  Goil ;  but  surely  also  in  speech  to  others,  as  a 
formal  statement  of  his  principlt'S.  and  explana- 
tion of  his  course.     It  is  a  needless  weakening 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.   1-13. 


293 


of  <he  1DX  (o  explain  with  Ewald,  Hahn,  etc.  : 
"  for  Job  thought." — It  may  be  that  my  sons 
have  sinned,  and  renounced  God  in  their 
hearts ;  to  wit,  in  the  intoxication  of  their 
abanuoument  to  pleasure,  in  the  wanton  or  pre- 
sumptuous spirit  proJuced  by  tlieir  merry- 
making (comp.  Prov.  xx.  1;  Isa.  v.  11;  xxviii. 
7,  elc).  Thus  it  is  that  Job  gives  utterance 
liere  to  that  extraordinary  earnestness  and  zeal 
in  fulfilling  the  Divine  will,  which  leads  him  to 
ascribe  the  highest  importance  to  the  avoidance, 
or,  when  necessary,  the  expiation  of  all  sins, 
even  of  the  heart  and  the  thought.  Comp.  ch. 
xxxi.  24,  sq.  '^'^^,  "to  bless,  to  salute,"  is  also 
used  (e.  g..  Gen.  xlvii.  10;  1  Kings  viii.  66)  of 
"bidding  farewell  to"  [taking  leave  of],  here, 
however,  still  more  definitely  in  a  bad  sense, 
taking  leave  of  one  in  a  hostile  spirit;  dismiss- 
ing, renouncing.  So  also  in  ver.  11  and  ch.  ii. 
6,  9.  The  word  also  admits  of  the  signification 
"to  curse"  (comp.  Ps.  x.  3  [?]  ;  1  Kings  xxi. 
10)  ;  but  most  surely  this  is  not  the  meaning 
here,  where  sins  of  thought  simply  are  referred 
to.  [The  bifurcation  of  definitions,  so  that  the 
same  word  is  used  in  a  good  and  a  bad  sense,  is 
a  well-known  characteristic  of  the  Hebrew  in 
common  with  other  Semitic  languages.  Thus 
Tpn,  grace,  is  used  Pro.  xiv.  34  in  the  sense  of 
disgrace.  Or,  the  word  in  its  radical  significa- 
tion is  a  vox  media,  acquiring  its  ethical  charac- 
ter from  the  specific  application  made  of  it,  of 
which  we  have  a  bappy  illustration  in  \]'^,  pri- 
marily to  kneel,  and  so  to  invoke;  hence  to  bless, 
or  to  curse,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  invo- 
cation. And  still  further:  from  the  meaning  to 
invoke,  comes  to  salute,  which  again  may  be  to 
salute  with  good-will,  or  with  ill-will  ;  in  the 
latter  case  (i£  at  parting)  to  dismiss,  warn  off, 
renounce.  Compare  the  analogous  uses  of  jai- 
psLv  and  valere.  Of  the  harsher  definition,  to 
curse,  it  may  be  observed  that:  (1)  We  are  not 
restricted  to  it.  The  context  does  not  absolutely 
require  it.  We  are  justified  both  by  usage  and 
analogy  in  adopting  the  milder  definition,  to 
forsake,  dismiss.  (2)  It  is  more  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  the  children  of  Job,  nurtured,  as  they 
must  have  been,  by  so  tender  and  conscientious 
a  father,  should  have  been  betrayed,  during 
their  festivities,  into  a  wanton  thoughtlessness, 
a  pleasure-loving  alienation  from  God,  than  into 
positive  blasphemy.  (3)  It  is  more  natural  to 
assume  that  the  pious  patriarch  would  be  ac- 
customed to  fear  the  former,  than  the  latter  more 
heinous  evil,  in  the  case  of  his  children.  Mark 
the  statement :  "  thus  did  Job  continually."  (4) 
The  qualifying  predicate,  "  in  their  hearts," 
agrees  better  with  the  idea  of  forgetting,  or  for- 
saking God  in  feeling,  than  with  that  of  blas- 
phemy. The  latter  would  seek  some  overt  ex- 
pression. (5)  Job's  loving  and  faithful  solici- 
tude for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  children  is 
much  more  strikingly  exhibited,  if  we  regard  it 
as  prompted  by  anxiety  lest  they  shou'd  have 
been  guilty  of  even  the  most  secret  infidelity  in 
thought  or  disposition,  than  if  we  assume  the 
graver  oflfence  to  be  intended.  Lee,  following 
Parkhurst,  thinks  that  Job  suspected  his  children 
of  a  tendency  to  idolatry,  and  translates:  "It 
may  be  my  sons  have   sinned  and  blessed  the 


gods  in  their  hearts."  It  is  sufficient  answer  to 
this  to  sfiy  that  it  violates  the  usus  loquendi  of 

D'riSx,  and  especially  of  D'H/J^I  '^"^3  in  our  book, 
that  we  arc  not  constrained  to  render  the  verb: 
"to  bless,"  and  that  it  is  opposed  to  the  internal 
probabilities  of  the  case.  "  The  only  false  reli- 
gion we  know,  from  the  internal  evidence  of  the 
poem  itself,  to  have  existed  at  this  period,  was 
that  of  Siibiism,  or  the  worship  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  render  it  even 
probable  that  the  sons  of  Job  were  attached  to 
this."  Good.  The  author  just  quoted  (Good) 
seeks  to  avoid  what  he  considers  the  difficulty 
in  the  case  by  giving  to  the  particle  1  here  a 
negative  sense,  under  "a  philological  canon," 
which  he  lays  down  as  follows :  "that  the  im- 
perfect negative  may  be  emploj'ed  alone  in  every 
sentence  compounded  of  two  opposite  proposi- 
tions, where  it  becomes  the  means  of  connecting 
the  one  with  the  other,  such  propositions  being 
in  a  state  of  reciprocal  negation  ;  "  and  he  would 
translate:  "  peradventure  my  sons  may  have 
sinned,  nor  blessed  God  in  their  hearts."  His 
own  illustrations,  however,  fail  to  establish  his 
choice,  as  in  every  instance  the  connective  parti- 
cle has  of  itself  a  negative  force,  such  as  does 
not  belong  to  the  1.  It  is  certainly  inapplicable 
to  the  simple  structure  of  the  Hebrew.  Merx 
in  his  recent  version  violently  and  arbitrarily 
assails  the  integrity  of  the  text  here  and  else- 
where, where  the  like  expression  occurs.     In  his 

own  text  he  Fubstitutes  77p  for  "^in-  It  is  enough 
to  say  of  this  change  that,  as  appears  from  what 
has  been  said  above,  the  necessity  for  it  is  alto- 
gether imaginary,  and  that  the  sole  authority 
for  it  is  the  subjective  non  possumus  of  the  critic. 
— E.  "Job  is  afraid  lest  his  children  ma}'  have 
become  somewhat  unmindful  of  God  during  their 
mirthful  gatherings  In  Job's  family,  therefore, 
there  was  .an  earnest  desire  for  sanclification, 
which  was  far  from  being  satisfied  with  mere 
outward  propriety  of  conduct."  Del.  "  It  is 
curious  that  the  sin  which  the  father's  heart 
dreaded  in  his  children,  was  the  sin  to  which  he 
himself  was  tempted,  and  into  which  he  almost 
fell.  The  case  of  his  sons  shows  one  kind  of 
temptation — seduction  ;  and  his  own  case  the 
other  —  compulsion  and  hardship." — Dav.] — 
Thus  did  Job  continually. — Ht^^',  was 
wont  to  do.     Comp.  Ewald  §  136,  c.  [Green  §  263, 

4].  D'O'H  Sid,  literally,  "all  the  days,"  i.  e., 
continually,  always,  so  long  as  the  particular 
occasion  continued,  or  so  often  as  it  occurred 
anew.  Comp.  Deut.  iv.  10;  vi.  24;  xi.  1 ;  1 
Sam.  ii.  32. 

["  AVhere  now  such  piety  was  to  be  found,  and 
such  conscientious  solicitude  to  keep  his  whole 
house  free  from  sin,  there  we  might  expect, 
judging  after  the  manner  of  men,  that  pros- 
perity would  abide  permanently.  This  at  least 
we  might  expect  from  the  stand-point  of  theory, 
which  regards  the  outward  lot  as  an  index  of 
the  moral  worth,  which  assumes  piety  and  pros- 
perity to  be  inseparable  and  convertible  concep- 
tions But  in  Heaven  it  was  otherwise  decreed." 
Dillmann]. 

2.  The  Divine  determination  to  try  Job  through 


294 


THE   BOOK  OF  JOB. 


suffering,  a.  The  milder  trial,  the  taking  away 
of  his  possessions,  a.  The  preparatory  scene 
in  heaven,  vers.  6-12. 

["Against  human  expectation  and  beyond 
human  conception  the  direst  suffering  overtakes 
the  pure,  pious  Job.  Whence  it  came  no  be- 
liever could  doubt ;  but  why  it  came  vk-as  for  tiie 
Bufferer  and  his  contemporaries  a  great  and  diffi- 
cult problem,  with  the  solution  of  which  they 
grappled  in  vehement  conflict.  The  reader  of 
the  book  would  also  have  remained  in  entire 
ignorance  of  the  Divine  decree,  and  would  have 
followed  the  labyrinthine  sinuosities  of  the  con- 
tending parties,  not  with  superior  discriminating 
judgment,  but  with  an  uncomfortable  uncer- 
tainty, if  the  poet  had  here  simply  rel.ated  the 
calamity  into  which  the  pious  Job  had  been 
plunged  by  God.  It  was  therefore  a  correct 
feeling  which  influenced  the  poet  to  indicate  at 
the  outset  to  the  reader  the  Divine  grounds  of 
the  decree,  and  thus  to  provide  for  him  a  pole- 
star  which  would  guide  him  through  all  the  en- 
tanglement of  the  succeeding  conflicts.  This  he 
does  by  disclosing  to  us  those  events,  occurring 
in  heaven,  which  led  to  the  Divine  decree  con- 
cerning Job,  the  execution  of  which  thereupon 
follows.  No  less  fine  a  conception  of  the  poet 
is  the  circumstance  that  the  calamity  which  Job 
must  bear  does  not  overwhelm  him  all  at  once, 
but  comes  upon  him  in  two  visitations,  lying 
somewhat  apart  in  time  ;  the  first  visitation  de- 
prives him  of  the  greatest  part  of  his  riches  and 
his  children,  the  second  plunges  him  into  the 
most  fearful,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  most 
hopeless  [disease.  Both  visitations  wound  his 
feelings  in  different  ways,  until  on  all  sides  they 
are  tried  most  thoroughly.  Between  the  two  is 
an  interval  of  rest,  in  which  the  stricken  one 
can  collect  his  feelings,  and  set  himself  right  be- 
fore God.  And  as  in  the  second  visitation  his 
suffering  reaches  its  climax,  so  also  does  his 
virtue."     Dillmann]. 

Ver.  6.  Now  it  came  to  pass  on  a  day. — 
Gesenius,  Ewald,  Dillmann,  e/c,  would  translate 
Dl'n,  "the  day,"  or  "that  day,"  giving  to  the 
article  a  retrospective  construction.  But  this 
favorite  mode  of  expression  is  found  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  narrative  even  when  it  cannot  be 
considered  to  have  any  reference  to  what  has 
preceded,  and  where  accordingly  the  translation 
"at  the  time  specified"  is  out  of  the  question; 
e.  g.,  2  Kings  iv.  18.  The  article  here,  there- 
fore, is  used  "because  the  narrator  in  thought 
connects  the  day  with  the  following  occurrence, 
and  this  frees  it  from  absolute  indefiniteness  " 
Del.  ["AVe  are  justified  by  no  analogy  in  ex- 
plaining the  article  as  designating  the  definite 
day  to  which  that  which  follows  belongs.  Ewald 
rightly  explains  '  the  day '  as  an  indefinite 
chronological  link  connecting  what  follows  with 
what  precedes.  So  also  1  Sara.  i.  4  ;  xiv.  1  ;  2 
Kings  iv.  18.  Compare  kv  eneivii  rfj  ijiitpa.  Matt, 
xiii.  1."  ScHLOTT.  Others  (Dav.,  Bar.,  Con.) 
explain  it  of  the  day  appointed  for  the  Divine 
Court  (Chald.  :  day  of  judgment  at  the  new 
year),  which  is  not  essentially  dift'erent from  the 
■view  of  Del.  adopted  by  Ziick,  In  any  case  it  is 
to  be  observed  that  UVT\  is  not  nominative,  but 
accusative  of  time. — E.] — When  the  sons  of 


God  came  to  present  themselves  before 
the  Iiord. — These  words  describe  the  convening 
of  a  heavenly  assembly,  of  a  celestial  lliD  (ch. 
XV.  8;  comp.  Jor.  xxiii.  18  :  Ps.  Ixxxix.  8).  Com- 
pare the  similar  description  in  1  Kings  xxii.  19 

sq.,  also  Isa.  vi.  1  sq.  D'n"?Xrj  ■'J3,  the  sons  of 
God,  i.  e.,  the  angels,  heavenly  spirits;  a  name 
to  be  found  also  in  ch.  xxxviii.  7;  Gen.  vi.  2  [?]  ; 
and  with  slight  modification  in  Ps.  xxix.  1  ; 
Ixxxix.  7  ;  Dan.  iii.  2-3.  Elsewhere  in  our  book 
we  find  them  called  "  servants,"  "messengers  " 
(ch.  iv.  18),  or  "saints"  (holy  ones,  ch.  v.  1; 
XV.  15).  The  name  "  sons  of  God  "  points  to  the 
peculiar  manner  of  their,  creation,  which  took 
place  before  the  lower  spheres  of  nature  or  man- 
kind were  made  (ch.  xxxviii.  4-7),  as  well  as  to 
the  peculiarly  high  degree  in  which  they  partake 
of  the  Divine  likeness,  and  enjoy  inward  com- 
munion with  God.  ["The  word  son  naturally 
expresses  descent;  and  hence  various  related 
notions  such  as  inheritor,  the  idea  of  similarity, 
relation,  etc.  So  a  son  of  God  will  be  one  in- 
heriting the  nature  or  character  of  God,  one  de- 
scended from  Him,  or  like  Him.  This  similarity 
may  be  of  two  kinds :  first,  in  essential  nature, 
that  is,  spirit — hence  the  angels  as  distinguished 
from  man  and  agreeing  with  God  completely  in 
this  respect  are  called  sons  of  God;  second,  in 
ethical  character,  that  is,  holiness,  in  which  sense 
pious  men  are  called  sons  of  God  (Gen.  vi.  2). 
In  the  former  and  in  the  latter  sense  the  holy 
angels  have  a  right  to  the  title ;  and  in  the 
former  sense,  though  not  in  the  latter,  Satan  is 
still  named  a  son  of  God  as  inheriting  a  spiritual 
nature,  and  appears  iu  the  celestial  court." 
Day]. 

mn;  1}1  ^V^nri/,  literally,   to   set  themselves 

over,  i.  e.,  before  Jehovah.  7j7  (instead  of  which 
we  have  elsewhere,  e.g.,  Prov.  xxii.  29  "'Ji?/)  "i^ 
a  usage  of  language  derived  from  the  optical 
illusion  of  the  one  who  is  in  the  foreground 
seeming  to  range  above  the  one  in  the  back- 
ground."    Del.     Comp.  ch.  ii.  1;  Zech.  vi.  5; 

also  the  similar  expression  /^  T3>'  in  1  Kings 
xxxii.  19.  [7^,  "as  if  the  King  sat,  and  the 
courtiers  stood  over  him  (Isa.  vi.  2  ,  /J^^?  in  a 
higher  degree  of  the  seraphim  floating  around 
him  off  the  ground.  Drechsler)  ;  but  this  is  du- 
bious, for  1^_  is  used  where  such  sense  is  inad- 
missible (Judg.  iii.  19  ;  with  Judg.  vi.  31  ;  Gen. 
xxiv.  30  "  Dav.]  To  set  themselves  before  Je- 
hovah is  to  assume  the  customary  attitude  of 
servants  awaiting  the  command  of  their  master. 
— And  Satan  also  came  among  them. — 
[Literally,  the  Satan.  "In  1  Chron.  xxi.  1  the 
name  is  used  without  the  art.;  i.  e.,  has  ceased 
to  be  appellative  and  become  proper — Satan.  In 
our  book  and  Zechariah  the  art.  is  used,  and  we 
should  perhaps  render:  the  Satan,  the  adver- 
sary. In  1  Kings  xxii.  19,  where  a  scene  greatly 
resembling  the  present  is  discovered,  the  tempter 
bears  no  name  ;  but  liis  individuality  is  distinct, 
for  he  is  characterized  as  the  spirit.  The  use  of 
the  art.  cannot  be  of  any  great  weight  as  an 
argument  as  to  the  era  of  our  book."     Day.] 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.  1-13. 


295 


Concerning  the  signification  of  tbe  name  tD  2fn 
(instead  of  which  we  are  not,  with  Eichhorn, 
Herder,  Ilgon,  Stuhlmann,  etc.,  to  read  ptJ'n,  6 
wepioSevrric,  the  world-spy,  from  iDVii/,  ver.  7),  as 
also  concerning  the  relation  of  the  representa- 
tion of  Satan  in  our  book,  to  that  of  the  other 
Old  Testament  books  generally,  see  Doctriuil 
and  Ethical  remarks. 

Ver.  7.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan, 
"Whence  comestthou? — N-H  TXD,  the  sense 
being:  whence  art  thou  just  now  coming?  the 
imperf.  expressing  the  immediate  present  [Satan 
being  conceived  as  in  the  act  of  making  his  ap- 
pearance.—E.]  (Ewald,  I  136,  b).  The  ques- 
tion is  certainly  not  simply  "for  the  purpose  of 
introducing  the  transaction"  (Dillm. );  there 
lies  more  in  it,  to  wit,  the  intimation  that  Satan's 
ways  are  not  God's  ways ;  that  it  is  his  tuont  to 
roam  about,  a  being  without  stability,  malicious, 
intent  upon  evil ;  that  there  is  in  his  case  a 
reason,  which  does  not  exist  in  the  case  of  God's 
true  children,  the  angels,  why  God  should  in- 
quire after  his  crooked  and  crafty  ways,  and 
compel  him  thereby  to  give  an  account  of  his 
restless,  ax'bitrary  movements.  As  Cocceiushas 
truly  said :  "Satan  is  represented  as  transact- 
ing his  own  affairs  as  it  were  without  the  know- 
ledge, »'.  e.,  without  the  approbation  of  God." 
(Comp.  Seb.  Schmidt,  p.  25,  and  Ludw.  Schulze, 
in  the  Allff.  literar.  Anzeiger,  1870,  Oct.,  p.  270). 
From  going  to  and  fro  in  the  earth,  and 
from  v?alking  up  and  down  in  it. — Um- 
BREiT  is  right  in  calling  attention  to  the  curt 
brevity  of  this  reply  of  Satan's.  It  is  also  to  be 
noted,  however,  that  the  answer  is  of  necessity 
somewhat  general,  giving  rise  to  the  expectation 
that  Jehovah  will  follow  with  a  more  particular 
question  (comp.  Delitzsch).  3  tJIC'  describes 
the  more  rapid  passage  through  a  place,  scour- 
ing it  from  one  end  to  another  (comp.  Num.  xi. 
8)  [of  the  people  scattering  themselves  to  collect 
manna]  ;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  2  [of  the  census  taken 
when  David  numbered  the  people] ;  likewise 
the  Synon.  OtOiC?  (Amos  viii.  12 ;  Jerem.  v.  1 ; 
Zech.  iv.  10;  2  Chron.  xvi.  9) :  ^Hnnn  describes 
the  more  deliberate  movement  of  one  who  is 
traveling  for  observation  (Zech.  i.  10,  11;  vi.  7; 
comp.  Gen.  iii.  8;  also  the  TvepiTrnrelv  of  the  ad- 
versary, who  goes  about  espying  whom  he  may 
devour,  1  Pet.  v.  8).  [Ace.  to-  Ges.,  t2^U  is  a 
verb  denominative  from  Dity,  whip,  scourge ; 
and  is  used  in  Kal.  of  rowing  (Ezek.  xxvii.  8), 
i.  e.  lashing  the  sea  with  oars,  and  of  running 
to  and  fro  in  haste,  pr.  so  as  to  lash  the  air  with 
one's  arms  as  with  oars,  "happily  enough  de- 
scribing Satan's  functions,  'going  about,'  in- 
specting, tempting,  trepanning,  taking  up  evil 
reports  of  all  men"  (Dav.).  The  signification 
"to  compass"  (Sept.  nepielfluv)  is  not  exact. — • 
E.].  Here  belongs  the  Arabic  designation  of 
the  devil  as  El-Harith,  the  busy-body,  ever- 
active,  zealous  one.  ["  In  the  life  of  Zoroaster 
(see  Zend  Avesta,  by  J.  G.  Kleuker,  vol.  iii.,  p. 
11),  the  prince  of  the  evil  demons,  the  angel  of 
death,  whose  name  is  Engremeniosch,  is  said  to 
traverse  the   whole  earth  far  and  wide,  with 


intent  to  oppose  and   injure    in   every  possible 
way  all  good  men."  Hosenm.] 

Ver.  8.  Hast   thou  considered  my    ser- 
vant   Job? — Literally,    hast    thou    set    thine 

heart  on,  etc.  j1  U^V=aniviadvcrtere  \_^'  animum 
advertere,  for  2l_  is  animus,  K'SJ,  anima,"  Del.], 
construed  here  with  7j^  ["of  the  object  ou 
which  the  attention  falls,"  Del.],  as  in  Hag.  i. 
5,  7;  below,  ch.  ii.  3,  with  /X  ["of  the  object 
towards  which  it  is  directed,"  Del.].  For 
there  is  none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a  per- 
fect and  an  upright  man,  etc.  '3,  "lor," 
giving  the  reason  not  for  the  title,  "my  ser- 
vant" (lIiRZ.),  but  for  the  circumstance  that 
Jehovah  makes  special  inquiry  after  this  man. 
The  four  qualities  predicated  concerning  Job 
are  repeated  here  from  ver.  1  (with  the  omis- 
sion, however,  of  the  Vav  connective  between 
the  two  pairs).  In  this,  the  impress  of  the  epic- 
narrative  character  of  this  section  of  the  book 
is  visible,  audit  appears  again  in  the  refrain- 
like repetitions  of  vers.  16,  17,  18.  The  same 
may  be  observed  in  the  Mosaic  account  of  the 
creation.  Gen.  i.  ["The  Deity  reiterates  the 
description  of  Job  given  by  the  historian  ;  it  is, 
therefore,  a  first  principle  and  action  of  the 
drama  that  Job  was  sinless,  keeping  all  the 
commandments  with  a  perfect  heart,  and  in  spite 
of  this — which  Job  himself  knew,  and  which 
the  author  knew — nay,  because  of  this,  he  was 
grievously  tormented.  And  herein  just  lay  the 
problem  for  Job  and  the  overwhelming  strength 
of  the  temptation,  leading  him  in  the  madness 
of  despair,  both  physical  and  speculative,  to 
renounce  God  to  his  face,  and  assert  the  govern- 
ment of  the  world  to  be  hopelessly  chaotic  and 
unjust.  Spirits  like  that  of  Job  could  not  be 
reached  in  meaner  ways  ;  passion  has  long  been 
mastered;  there  is  nothing  but  his  very  strength 
and  calmness  and  faith  to  work  upon  ;  his  first 
principles,  the  laborious  deductions  of  a  reli- 
gious life,  and  the  deepest  experience  of  a  loving 
heart — confusion  must  be  introduced  there,  be- 
tween the  man's  notions  of  God  and  providence, 
and  his  necessary  ideas  of  right  on  the  one  side, 
and  on  the  other  the  actual  appearance  of  the 
universe  fearfully  contravening  them,  thus  laail- 
ing  him  into  atheism.  .  .  .  His  trial  was  not  for 
his  sin,  but  for  his  sinlessness,  to  prove  and 
establish  it.  .  .  .  Job's  sufferings  had  no  doubt 
relation  to  his  sin,  they  gave  him  deeper  views 
of  it,  and  of  God's  holiness;  but  that  is  not  the 
great  truth  the  book  teaches."  Day.  It  is  sig- 
nificant, as  Hengstenberg  observes,  that  in  these 
preliminary  transactions,  which  at  length  issued 
in  Job's  trial,  Jehovali  takes  the  initiative.  He 
directs  Satan's  attention  to  the  piety  of  Job;  it 
is  his  use  of  the  argument  whicli  Job's  character 
furnishes  in  favor  of  the  reality  of  godliness  in 
a  human  life  that  evokes  the  Adversary's  malig- 
nity in  the  challenge  which  fires  the  train  of 
Job's  calamities.  To  such  an  extent  is  the 
agency  of  Satan  secondary  ami  subordinate 
throughout,  that  not  only  must  he  receive  God's 
permission  before  he  can  proceed  one  step 
against  Job,  but  the  very  occasion  through 
wdiich  he  obtains  that  permission  is  gratuitously 
provided  for  him  by  God.     So  absolute  is  the 


196 


THE  EOOE  OF  JOB. 


Divine  Sovereignty.  Thus  completely  are  even 
tlie  occasions  of  evil  within  the  limitations  of 
the  Divine  will.  And  thus  is  our  confidence 
strengthened  at  the  outset  in  the  ultimate 
inevitable  triumph  of  the  Divine  purpose. — 
E.]. 

Ver.  9.  Doth  Job  fear  God  for  naught  ? 
[A  little  more  literally:  For  naught  hath  Job 
feared  God?  D^n,  emphatic  by  position;  N^\ 
which  above  in  vers.  1,  8  is  a  participle,  here 
a  Pret.  (Perf. )  of  that  which  has  been 
liitherto,  and  still  is. — E.].  D^n,  gratis,  from 
|n,  gratia,  here  equivalent  to  gratuitously, 
groundlessly,  without  good  reason  [LXX.  ^opedv 
comp.  the  dupE/iv  of  John  xv.  20)  without  reward, 
or  profit.  [••  Genuine  love  loves  God,  D^n  ;  it 
loves  Ilim  for  His  own  sake;  it  is  a  relation  of 
person  to  person,  without  any  actual  stipula- 
tions and  claim."  Del.  Satan  denies  this  of 
Job.  Compare  the  three-fold  use  of  D|n  in  this 
book  ;  by  Satan  of  Job  here  ;  by  God  of  Satan, 
ch.  ii.  3;  by  Job  of  God,  ch.  ix.  17.— E.]  The 
question,  which  is  asked  in  order  to  throw  sus- 
picion on  the  pure  and  disinterested  character 
of  Job's  piety,  is  thoroughly  characteristic  of 
Satan  in  his  character  of  Accuser  of  men  [naTrj- 
}up,  Piev.  xii.  10;  didl3o?i.og,  Matt.  iv.  1,  etc.). 
["This  question:  Does  Job  serve  God  for 
nauglit?  is  the  problem  of  the  book."  Day.]. 

Ver.  10.  Hast  thou  not  made  a  hedge 
about  him,  and  about  his  house,  and 
about  all  that  he  hath  on  every  side  ? — 
The  figure  used  here,  borrowed  from  the  enclo- 
sure of  a  garden  or  a  field  for  protection  against 
wild  beasts  (Matt.  xxi.  33),  is  somewhat  analo- 
gous to  the  modern  figurative  expression:  "to 
make  one's  bed  warm  and  soft  for  him.  [FIX 
(without  the  final  H )  emphatic:  Hast  not  Thoic 
made  a  hedge  about  him  ?  Thou — the  Almighty 
One,  whose  protection  is  all-sufficient.  Ought 
be  not  to  serve  Thee,  his  Defender  and  Benefac- 
tor? AVould  not  self-interest  prompt  him  to 
this? — E.].  '^ViJ',  sepire,  to  hedge  about,  as  in 
Hos.  ii.  8.  [Here  in  a  good  sense,  for  protec- 
tion; below,  iii.  23,  in  a  bad  sense,  to  straiten. 
Good  remarks  that  "to  give  the  original  verb 
the  full  force  of  its  meaning,  it  should  be  derived 
from  the  science  of  engineering,  and  rendered: 
'  Hast  thou  not  raised  a  palisade  about  liiin  ?' 
But  this  last  term  is  not  sufficiently  colloquial." 
Wcniyss  unnecessarily  assumes  the  hedge  liere 
to  be  a  guard  of  angels.  The  Arabic  has : 
"  Hast  thou  not  protected  him  with  thy  hand  ?" 
The  Chald.  Paraphrase  :  "  Hast  thou  not  covered 
him  with  thy  word  ?"  Tlie  Coptic  :  "Hast  thou 
not  been  a  fence  to  his  possessions?" — E]  The 
preposition  IJ^B  it  is  much  better  to  derive  from 
a  verb  "1J1^3,  synonymous  with  the  root  ^JI3,  to 
cover,  to  veil  [with  which  root  it  is  also  cognate: 
see  Ewald,  I  217,  m],  than  from  the  preposi- 
tions 3  and  1^,  of  which  most  regard  the  word 
us  compounded  (as  is  held  even  yet  by  Delitzsch. 
and  Dietrich  in  his  Ed.  of  Gesen.  Lex.).  There 
lies  in  the  three-fold  repetition  of  this  word  a 
special  emphasis,  which  is  still  further  strength- 
ened by  the  a<ldition,  at  the  close  of  the  ques- 
tion,   of  3OD0,    round   about,    on   every   side, 


"  without  leaving  a  gap  through  which  harm 
might  enter."  Dillm. — LXX.  :  "  Hast  thou  not 
hedged  round  the  parts  without  him,  and  the 
inner  parts  of  his  house,  and  that  which  is 
v.-itliout  all  his  possessions  round  about?"] 
Thou  hast  blessed  the  \vork  of  his  hands. 
TT  j"\vi';;D  (as  in  Ps.   xc.   17;  Deut.   ii.  7;  xiv. 

TT         ..    -;  -      \  ^ 

29,  etc.),  a  general  designation  of  all  a  man's 
enterprises  and  activities.  Compare  as  to  sense 
the  parallel  passage.  Gen.  xxxix.  3  (where  it  is 
paid  of  Joseph:  the  Lord  made  all  that  he  did 
to  prosper  in  his  hand"). — And  his  herds 
spread  in  the  land:  literally,  his  stock  of 
cattle,  1*^3,  breaks  through  in  the  land,  like  a 
flood  breaking  through  an  embankment  (D'O 
]*)^D3,  2  Sam.  v.  20),  or  like  a  herd  breaking 
out  of  a  fold.  Comp.  Gen.  xxviii.  14;  xxx.  30, 
43;  2  Chron.  ii.  23;  Isaiah  xlv.  2 — [So  the 
versions  of  Junius  and  Tremellius  and  Pis- 
cator:  And  his  cattle  for  multitude  have 
burst  forth  through  the  land.  Conant: 
"his  substance  is  spread  abroad  in  the 
earth,"  which,  he  thinks,  "is  better  than 
in  the  land,  as  it  is  the  Adversary's  object  to 
express,  in  the  strongest  terms,  the  extent  of 
Job's  possessions."  On  "Thou  hast  blessed," 
etc.,  Wordsworth  remarks:  "Even  Satan  con- 
fesses that  God's  benediction  is  the  source  of  all 
good  to  man." — E.] 

Ver.  11.  But   put   forth  thy  hand  now, 
and  touch  all  that  he  hath. — dSini,  never- 

T      : 
theless,  verum  enim  vero,  introducing  with  strong 

emphasis  the  direct  opposite  of  Jehovah's  eulogy 
on  Job  (comp.  ch.  xi.  6  ;  xii.  7  ;  xvii.  10 ;  xxxiii. 
1).  [XJ~n7U7,  Methegh  accompanying  Sheva. 
Green,  |  45,  4},—yii  with  3  (as  in  ch.  xix.  21), 
sometimes  with  7X  (as  in  ch.  ii.  5),  to  touch,  to 
lay  the  hand  on  anything,  with  intent  to  injure 
or  destroy.  ["  Touch,  or  as  it  may  be  trans- 
lated, smite,  as  below  in  ver.  19.  But  the  former 
sense  is  more  appropriate  here,  as  indicating 
how  easily  all  this  worldly  prosperity  would 
vanish  at  the  touch  of  the  Almighty."  Conant^ 
"j;jj  frequently  of  the  evil  touch  which  blasts; 
of  the  scattering  wind  (Ezek.  xvii.  10)  ;  of  the 
consuming  touch  of  God  (Job  xix.  21  ;  Isai.  liii. 
4;  Ps.  Ixxiii.  14)  ;  the  fiery  effect  of  the  divine 
touch  (and  look)  marvellously  told  Ps.  civ.  32." 
Dav.  "Satan  wishes  to  make  God  the  author 
of  evil ;  but  God  does  not  inflict  evil  on  Job  ; 
but  allows  Satan  to  put  forth  his  hand  (ver.  12), 
and  afliict  him."  Didymus,  quoted  by  Words- 
worth].— Verily  he  will  curse  Thee  to 
Thy  face. — ''U1  J<7~DX,  not,  "  will  he  not  curse, 
f/c.'"  (and  thus=ffn  von,  as  in  ch.  xvii.  2;  xxii. 
20),  but  the  formula  of  an  oath,  with  the  npodo- 
sis  omitted, ="  truly,  verily"  (LXX.:  el  /ir/v). 
It  is  more  suitable  to  Satan's  insolent,  reckless 
character  to  represent  him  as  swearing  that  God 
is  mistaken,  than  as  questioning  and  calling 
upon  God  to  watch  and  see,  whether  he  is  not 
mistaken  [as  e.  g.  Kenan's  version:  et  on  verra 
s'il  ne  te  renie  pas  en  face.l     '^7.1<   ^^^e  again= 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.  1-13. 


297 


valedicere,  fake  leave  of,  as  ia  ver.  5,  but 
streDgthened  here,  so  as  to  emphasize  tlie 
shameless  arrogance  of  the  deed  by  the  addition 

of -yJD'Sj;,  "to  thy  face,"  literally  "upon  thy 
face,"  as  in  ch.  vi.  28;  xxi.  31;  Isai.  Ixv.  3; 
corap.    D'JD'Sx,   ch.  ii.   5;  xiii.   15;   D'iDS,   ch. 

•^  •  T        V  ■  T  : 

xvi.  8.  [The  refusal  of  Good  and  Lee  to  enter- 
tain any  other  meaning  for  'i|^3  than  "  to  bless  " 
leads  them  here,  as  also  ia  ch.  ii  5,  to  forced 
arid  untenable  constructions.  Good's  rendering: 
"Will  he  then,  indeed,  bless  thee  to  thy  face?" 
is  entirely  against   the  usage   of  the  particles, 

N7~DX,  which  elsewhere  are  strongly  affirmative, 
not  negative,  and,  moreover,  leaves  the  qualify- 
ing clause,  "to  (hy  face,"  meaningless.  Lee's 
rendering  is  even  more  objectionable :  "  But 
put  forth  thine  hand  now,  and  touch  all  that  he 
hatb :  if  not  [i.  e.  if  thou  continue  thy  favors), 
then  in  thy  presence  vyill  he  bless  thee."  A 
forced  construction,  and  a  feeble  conclusion, 
entirely  unworthy  of  the  Satan  of  our  book. 
-E.]. 

Ver.  12.  Behold,  all  that  he  hath  ia  in 
thy  power:  literally,  is  in  thy  hand;  is  deli- 
vered to  thee.  The  divine  permission  appears 
here  at  the  same  time  as  a  divine  command;  for 
such  a  permissive  activity,  on  the  part  of  God, 
as  would  admit  of  his  remaining  purely  passive, 
is  altogether  unknown  to  the  Old  Testament 
(comp.  Isai.  xlv.  7).  Rather  do  we  find  that 
whenever  men  are  tempted,  it  is  because  they 
are  left,  by  God  to  be  tried,  because  He  forsakes 
them,  or  withdraws  His  hand  from  them  (2 
Chron.  xxxii.  31;  Ps.  xxvii.  9,  and  ofien) — 
simple  representations,  parallel  to  that  in  the 
passage  before  us,  and  substantially  equivalent 
to  it  (comp.  Vilmar,  Theol.  3Ior.,  1871,  I.,  p. 
163).  God,  indeed,  in  decreeing  that  Job  shall 
be  tempted,  has  altogether  other  ends  in  view 
than  those  which  are  sought  by  the  Adversary, 
who  is  commissioned  to  carry  on  the  work  of 
the  temptation.  While  the  latter  desires,  through 
his  art  as  tempter,  to  compass  the  fall  of  Job,  it 
is  God's  will  rather  that  he  should  endure  the 
test,  that  thereby  he  may  be  not  only  lifted  up 
by  purification  to  the  highest  degree  of  virtue 
and  piety,  but  also  proved  to  be  in  truth  a  man 
of  piety,  who  feared  God,  Satan  and  all  other 
doubters  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  That 
which  is  here  put  in  operation  is  thus,  on  the 
part  of  God,  a  trial  of  Job,  putting  him  to  the 
proof;  on  the  part  of  Satan,  a  veritable  tempta- 
tion to  lead  him  astray.  The  motive  from  which 
the  divine  decree  ordaining  the  trial  proceeds  is 
naught  else  than  love,  delivering  and  preserving 
the  soul ;  that  from  which  proceeds  the  action 
of  the  agent  for  the  fulfilment  of  that  decree  is 
hate,  the  spirit  which  would  murder  body  and 
soul,  a  diabolical  satisfaction  in  causing  a  poor 
man's  body  and  soul  to  be  destroyed  in  hell 
(Matt.  X.  28;  Luke  xii.  4  [where,  however,  God 
is  meant,  not  the  devil.— E.]).  Therefore  does 
God  annex  to  the  permission  which  He  here 
grants  Satan  the  warning  prohibition:  "only 
upon  himself  put  not  forth  thy  hand."  For  He 
well  knows  the  lust  of  murder  and  the  thirst  for 
destruction  which  possesses  him  who  is  a  mur- 


derer and  a  liar  from  the  beginning.  So 
Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord. — i^O'  literally,  "and  Satan  went 
out,"  i.  e.  out  of  the  hall  where  the  celestial 
assembly  was  convened.  Immediately  upon 
receiving  the  Divine  license,  he  left  the  place, 
to  begin  the  work  of  temptation  in  which  he 
longed  to  engage.  ["  He  went  forth  at  once, 
the  ardor  with  which  he  entered  on  his  work 
being  thus  set  forth."  Dillm.  "As  Cain  did 
(Gen.  iv.  IG),  and  as  Judas  did  from  the  pre- 
sence of  Christ  (John  xiii.  30)."   Words.] 

3.  (6)  Job's  actual  trial  in  the.  execution  of  the 
decree  on  his  possessions  and  faniili/,  vers.  13-10. 

["  In  the  opening  verses  the  author  gave  us 
a  glimpse  of  the  calm  sunshine  of  Job's  domestic 
life,  its  happy  unity  and  religious  simplicity. 
In  the  next  few  verses  he  took  us  elsewhere,  and 
showed  the  first  far-gatherings  of  the  storm; 
and  now  it  breaks  in  unheard-of  fury,  scatter- 
ing ruin  and  scathing  all  that  was  beautiful  in 
earth  and  man.  The  heavenly  and  the  earthly 
combine,  and  there  results  a  tumultuous  mixture 
absolutely  appalling  in  its  workings.  Heaven 
and  earth  unite  to  sow  destruction  around  Job; 
all  the  destructive  forces  in  nature,  meu's  evil 
[)assions  and  heaven's  lurking  fire,  are  drawn 
out  to  overwhelm  him.  Man  and  heaven  alter- 
nate in  their  eager  fury  for  his  ruin — first  the 
Sabean  horde,  then  the  lightnings,  then  the 
"hasty  and  bitter"  Chaldeans,  and  finally  the 
tempest.  Only  one  escapes  each  stroke,  and  yet 
one,  for  the  man  must  know  the  outside  of  his 
ruin,  and  he  must  know  it  at  once  ;  each  wave 
must  come  higher  than  the  foregoing — the  cattle, 
least  numerous;  the  flocks,  a  deeper  loss;  the 
camels,  more  precious  still ;  and,  crudest  of 
all,  a  loss  unlike  all  else — the  children — and 
each  wave  comes  up  before  the  preceding  has 
time  to  recede.-  All  antiquity  and  human  thought 
cannot  produce  three  such  scenes  as  these ;  the 
first  so  lovely  in  its  peace  and  righteousness; 
the  second  so  awful  in  its  far  sublimity,  unveil- 
ing to  our  eyes  the  hidden  powers  that  play  with 
and  for  us;  and  now  the  third,  so  wild  ia  its 
fury  and  frantic  in  its  malignant  outbursts — 
and  all  to  be  followed  by  one  so  dreadful  in  its 
calmness  and  iron  composure,  when  a  human 
spirit  stands  alone  in  its  own  conscious  great- 
ness, independent  of  earth,  and  defiant  of  hell." 
Dav.]  All  that  the  poet  in  vers.  2-4  has  de* 
scribed  as  the  property  of  his  hero,  lie  now  re- 
presents as  in  one  day  taken  away  from  him. 
This  is  done  in  four  stages,  or  by  four  strokes, 
following  each  other  in  immediate  succession 
[and  immediately  announced  to  him,  whence 
the  German  proverbial  expression  lliobsposten, 
"Job's  posts,"  applied  to  tidings  of  calamity. 
Compare  in  English  the  proverbial  expression: 
"Job's  comforters." — E.]  These  four  strokes 
are  :  (1)  The  loss  of  the  oxen  and  the  asses.  (2) 
The  los-j  of  the  sheep,  representing  the  smaller 
cattle.  (3)  The  loss  of  the  camels.  Each  of 
these  calamities  was  accompanied  by  the  slaying 
of  the  servants  in  charge  of  the  animals  speci- 
fied. (4)  The  loss  of  the  children.  In  so  far 
as  the  fourth  of  these  losses  was  by  far  the 
most  severe  and  painful,  a  gradation  of  woe  ap- 
pears in  the  series.     [Ewald,  followed  by  Dill- 


298 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


mann  and  others,  has  remarked  upon  the  pecu- 
liarity that  the  first  and  third  of  the  calamities 
are  ascribed  to  human,  the  second  and  fourth  to 
celestial  agencies. — E.  "It  is  not  accidental 
(says  Hengstenberg)  that  there  are  just  four 
catastrophes,  divided  into  two  pairs,  and  corres- 
ponding to  the  fourfold  particularization  of  the 
righteousness  of  Job.  In  them  may  be  seen  a 
sort  of  irony  of  destiny  touching  his  and  all 
human  righteousness."] 

Yer.  13.  And  there  w^as  a  day  [literally: 
Now  it  was  the  day,  or:  It  came  to  pass  on 
the  day,  viz.  :  when  Satan,  in  pursuance  of  his 
fell  purpose,  visited  on  Job  the  first  installment 
of  woe,  his  children  having  assembled  in  the 
house  of  their  eldest  brother  to  begin  their  fes- 
tivities. On  that  same  day,  the  first  and  bright- 
est of  the  festal  round,  the  fatal  stroke  fell. — E.] 
w^hen  his  sons  and  his  daughters  w^ere 
eating  and  drinking  ■wine  in  their  eldest 
brother's  house  [in  the  house  of  their 
brother,  the  first-born],  i.  e.,  according  to 
ver.  4,  were  celebrating  the  birth-day  of  this 
first-born,  on  a  day,  therefore,  which  was  one 
of  especial  joy  to  Job's  entire  household.  See 
above  on  vers.  4,  5. 

Vers.  14,  15.  The  first  loss:  that  of  the  oxen 
and  the  she-asses,  together  with  the  servants  in 
charge. 

Ver.  14.  Then  came  a  messenger  to  Job, 
etc.  Literally:  And  a  messenger  came,  e.'c. 
— The  1  introduces  the  conclusion  of  the  condi- 
tional sentence   -"IJI  VJ3?  in  ver.  13  [«'.  e.,  when 

TT  '- 

his  sons,  etc.,  then  it  was  that  a  messenger  came]. 
Comp.  ver.  19,  and  Ewald,  §  341  d.— The  oxen 
were  ploughing,  and  the  she-asses  feed- 
ing beside  them. — The  participial  construc- 
tion describes  the  condition  which  was  disturbed 
by  the  calamity  that  befell  them  (Del.,  comp. 
Ewald,  §  168  c).  [This  remark  includes  the 
construction  of  the  partic.  with  riTI,  which  is 
not  (with  Fiirst,  and  others)  to  be  regarded  as  a 
simple  periphrasis  for  the  narrative  tense,  as  is 
usual  in  Aramean;  DTI  on  the  contrary  has  its 
own  force,  defining  the  time  of  the  continuous 
condition  expressed  by  the  participle. — E.]     The 

partic.  stands  in  the  fern,  plur.,  mi^in,  because 
1p3  is  a  collective  noun,  and,  more  particularly, 
because  the  females  of  the  class,  cows,  are  in- 
tended.     Subsequently,  however,  and  referring 

back  to  this  mi-'^n,  we  find  the  masc.  suffix 
Dnn"'  in  use  as  the  more  general  or  primary 
gender  (Ewald,  ?  184  c.  [Green,  §  220,  1,  b], 
and  comp.  ch.  xxxix.  3,  4  ;  xlii.  15).  Dr)'"1]"7j;, 
literally  :  "on,  or  at,  their  hands."  The  mean- 
ing is  not  "  in  their  places,"  as  some  Rabbis  and 
Bottcher  explain  it,  referring  to  Num.  ii.  17  ; 
Deut.  xxiii.  13  [nor  "  according  to  their  cus- 
tom," more  solito,  Schult;  nor  "at  some  dis- 
tance," Wem.]  ;  but,  as  the  connection  shows, 
*' on  both  sides  of  them"  (comp.  Judg.  xi.  26), 

or  simply  "beside  them  "  (=D7yx,  comp.  Num. 
xxxiv.  3). 

Ver.  15.  And  the  Sabeans  fell  upon 
them;  literally:  And  Sabea  fell,  etc. — N^C?, 
as  the  name  of  a  people,  is  used  in  the  feminine 


(Ewald,  ^  174,  b)  ;  it  is  followed,  however,  by 
the  masc.  plur.  ^37}  [see  Green,  §  197,  d].  By 
ii2\y  here  is  meant  not  the  rich,  commercial  Sa- 

T  ; 

beans  of  Southern  Arabia,  referred  to  in  ch.  vi. 
19,  but  the  related  branch  of  the  same  people 
in  northeastern  Arabia,  who  lived  the  nomadic 
life  of  predatory  Bedouins,  ranging  from  the 
Persian  Gulf  to  Idumea,  neighbors  and  kindred 
of  the  tribe  of  Dedan,  who  also  lived  in  North 
Arabia;  Gen.  x.  7;  xxv.  3.  Genesis  still  fur- 
ther makes  mention  of  three  races  of  the  name, 
the  Cushite,  (ch.  x.  9),  the  Joktanite  (x.  28),  and 
the  Abrahamic,  or  Keturic  (xxv.  3),  which 
shows  in  general  the  mixed  character  of  this 
people.  [Schlottmann,  while  agreeing  with 
Zock.  as  to  the  branch  of  the  family  here  re- 
ferred to,  shows  on  the  authority  of  Pliny  and 
Strabo,  that  the  Sabeans  of  Southern  Arabia 
were  robbers  as  well  as  traders. — E.] — And 
they  have  slain  the  servants  with  the 
edge  of  the  sw^ord — The  servants  here  were 
the  young  herdsmen  in  charge  of  the  cattle  [lit. : 
"  the  young  men  ;"  LXX.,  roi'f  Tratdaf;  Jerome, 
pueros  ;  Luther,  "the  boys;"  so  in  slave  com- 
munities servants  are  called  boys. — E.]  With  the 
edge ;    literally :    according   to   the    [mouth,    i. 

e.,]  sharpness  of  the  sword  (3^.n  '37)>  «•  «•>  un- 
sparingly. [According  to  Ges.  and  Furst  /  here 
denotes  the  instrument.  "  The  objection  to  Ge- 
senius'  view  is  obviated  by  the  near  relation  be- 
tween the  ideas  of  agency  and  instrumentality  ; 
and  any  other  explanation  of  his  examples  is 
unnatural  and  forced."  Con. — And  only  I 
alone  escaped  to  tell  thee. — ["  Chrysostom 
(Hom.  2  et  3  de  patient.  Jobi)   fancies   that  the 

■^JX^O  was  Satan  himself,  who  indulged  himself 
in  the  gratification  of  bringing  the  ill  tidings  to 
Job."  DiLLM.]  The  D  paragogic  in  nDS:DX1 
does  not  mark  here  the  cohortative  use  of  the 
verb,  but  simply  makes  more  vivid  the  verbal 
notion,  in  order  to  show  the  haste  with  which 
he  escaped.  ["I  have  saved  myself  with  great 
difficulty."     Del.]      Comp.   Gesenius,    ^49,   2 ; 

Ewald,  2  232,  g.  The  clause  '^S  Tjnb  is  ob- 
jective: in  order  that,  in  accordance  with  the 
Divine  decree,  I  might  tell  thee. 

Ver.  16.  The  second  loss:  that  of  the  smaller 
cattle,  with  the  servants  in  charge. — While 
this  one  was  yet  speaking,  there 
came  another,  etc.  —  The  same  connection 
between  the  circumstantial  participial  clause 
and  the  principal  clause,  as  in  verse 
13.  (Ewald,  I  341,  d)  nrni,  "the  one— the 
other,"  and  so  again  in  ch.  xxi.  23,  26. — The 
fire  of  God  fell  from  heaven  and  burned 
up  the  sheep,  etc. — By  "  the  fire  of  God  "  the 
author  means  the  lightning  rapidly  repeating  it- 
self [see  Ex.  ix.  23],  wliich  might  be  particu- 
larly destructive  to  the  flocks  of  smaller  cattle 
(Ps.  Ixxviii.),  and  the  agency  of  which  in  sud- 
denly burning  and  devouring  is  certainly  de- 
scribed in  1  Kings  xviii.  38;  2  Kings  i.  12) 
(comp,  Luke  ix.  54).  [The  expression:  "fire 
of  God,"  indicates  the  poetic  character  of  the 
description  here  given;  and  the  entire  sentence: 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.  1-13, 


299 


"  the  fire  of  God  fell  from  heaven,"  is  manifestly 
designed  to  show  that  Satan  moved  heaven  and 
earth  to  combine  in  inflicting  disaster  on  Job, 
so  as  to  leave  him  without  hope  in  either  quar- 
ter.— E.]  It  is  less  natural  to  assume  a  rain  of 
fire  and  brimstone,  like  that  of  Sodom  (Del.); 
neither  does  the  language  used  suit  the  burning 
sulphurous  south  wind  called  the  Samiim 
(Schlott.),  as  a  comparison  with  Ps.  xi.  6  shows. 
[The  latter  theory  moreover  would  result  in 
making  too  little  distinction  between  this  cala- 
mify  and  the  fourth. — E.] 

Ver.  17.  The  third  loss  :  that  of  the  camels, 
with  their  keepers.  The  Chaldeans  formed 
three  bands;  lit.:  "  Made  three  heads"  (Lu- 
ther: drei  spitzen),  i.  e.,  three  army-bands  or 
divisions.  For  D't^X")  in  this  sense,  see  Judges 
vii.  16;  ix.  34;  1  Sam.  xi.  11.  As  substantially 
parallel,  comp.  also  Gen.  xiv.  15,  where  the 
same  primitive  tactics  and  strategy  are  de- 
scribed as  practiced  by  Chedorlaomer  and  his 
vassal-kings.  "Without  any  authority,  Ewald 
Bees  in  this  mention  of  the  Chaldeans  an  indica- 
tion of  the  composition  of  the  book  in  the 
seventh  century  B.  C,  when  the  Chaldeans  un- 
der Nabopolassar  began  to  inherit  the  Assyrian 
power.  Following  Ewald,  Renan  observes  that 
the  Chaldeans  first  appear  as  such  marauders 
about  the  time  of  Uzziah.  But  in  Genesis  we 
find  mention  of  early  Semitic  Chaldeans  among 
the  mountain  ranges  lying  to  the  north  of  As- 
syria and  Mesopotamia  (in  Arphaxad,  Gen.  x. 
22,  or  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  Gen.  xi.  28,  81 ;  comp. 
the  Charduchian  range  of  Xenophon;  and  later, 
of  Nahorite  Chaldeans  in  Mesopotamia,  whose 
existence  is  traced  back  to  patriarchal  times 
(Gen.  xxii.  22),  and  who  were  powerful  enough 
at  any  time  to  make  a  raid  into  Idumea."  Del. 
(Comp.  also  Dillmann,  who,  although  an  advo- 
cate of  the  later  period  to  which  the  composi- 
tion of  the  book  is  assigned,  is  careful  not  to  try 
to  make  capital  for  his  theory  out  of  this  pas- 
sage).— And  set  upon  the  camels. — Q^/D, 
literally:  to  strip,  to  pillage.  [According  to 
Gesenius  the  primary  meaning  is  to  spread  out; 
hence  of  an  invading  army,  in  Nah.  iii.  16,  of 
locusts.  This  sense  best  agrees  with  the  prepo- 
sitions with  which  it  is  construed:  here  7^,  and 
so  Judges  ix.  33;  elsewhere  7N,  1  Sam.  xxvii. 
8;  3,2  Chron.  XXV.  13.— E.]  The  technical  ex- 
pression for  such  marauding  invasions,  or  raids. 
Comp.  Judg.  ix.  33,  44;  1  Sam.  xxiii.  27;  xxx. 
14:  Hos.  vii.  1. 

Vers.  18, 19.  The  fourth  loss:  that  of  the  sons 
and  daughters. 

Ver.  18.  While  this  one  was  yet  speak- 
ing, etc.  Instead  of  Hlj;  (vers.  16,  17),  we  have 
here  1)1,  which  appears  in  connection  wiih  the 
participle,  in  the  sense  of  "  while,"  also  in 
■Nehem.  vii.  3. — The  supposition  of  Schlott. 
[also  of  Ilengst.],  that  "this  slight  change  of 
expression  is  made  to  distinguish  the  two  fol- 
lowing verses  from  the  preceding,  because  they 
relate  the  greatest  loss,"  is  disproved  by  the 
circumstance  that  the  change  is  too  insignificant, 
being  scarcely  noticeable.  The  conjecture  of 
Dillmann  and  some  of  the  earlier  commentators 


is  more  plausible,  that  instead  of  1^,  we  should 

read  "^jj,  defectively  written,   which  in  fact  is 
the  reading  of  some  MSS. 

Ver.  19.  Behold  there  came  a  great  vrind 
from  beyond  the  w^ilderness ;  ;.  e.  hither 
across  over  the  desert.  ["From  the  further 
side,  gathering  strength  and  violence  as  it  ap- 
proached from  far.  Is.  xxi.  1;  Jer.  iv.  11; 
Hos.  xiii.  15."  Day.]  As  the  land  of  Uz  in  our 
narrative  stands  west  of  the  great  North-Ara- 
bian desert  [see  on  ver.  1],  the  wind  spoken  of 
here  is  to  be  taken  as  a  storm  from  the  east,  or 
possibly  from  the  north-east  rather.  It  is, 
moreover,  evidently  a  whirlwind  that  is  intended, 
for  the  house  is  smitten  on  its  four  corners,  and 
is  thus  made  to  fall,  like  the  house  described  in 
Matt.  vii.  27.  ["The  violence  of  the  winds  of 
the  Arabian  desert  is  well  known.  When  Pietro 
della  Valle  travelled  through  this  desert  in  the 
year  1625,  the  wind  tore  to  pieces  the  tents  of 
his  caravan."  Hirzel.] — And  smote  the  four 
corners,  e(c.  [J-'I'I,  in  the  masc,  although  the 
subject,  nn,  is  first  construed  as  fem.  (nX3). 
The  use  of  the  masc.  belongs  probably  to  the 
poetic  vividness  of  the  description.  The  change 
would  be  the  more  readily  made  in  this  case,  as 
nn  is  sometimes,  though  rarely,  masc. ;  comp. 
ch.  xli.  8  (A.  V.  16).— E.]— And  it  fell  upon 
the  young  people ;  i.  e.  the  ten  children  of 
Job,  along  with  whom  no  special  mention  is 
made  here  of  the  servants  in  attendance,  who 
probably  perished  with  them,  for  the  reason 
that  their  loss,  in  comparison  with  the  far  more 
grievous  loss  of  his  children,  would  not  be  taken 
into  account  by  Job. — O'lr^O)  tiere,  and  ch. 
xxix.  5  (so  also  Ruth  ii.  21),  plur.  of  the  epicene 
noun  1J7J,  which  in  the  Pentateuch  also  is  used 
both  for  a  young  man  and  a  young  woman. 
[Conant  thinks,  "it  is  the  less  necessary  to 
assume  such  a  usage  here,  as  the  attention  of 
the  messenger  would  naturally  be  directed  to 
the  fate  of  the  sons  in  which  all  were  involved." 
The  view  of  Jarchi,  as  explained  by  Bernard: 
"  'There  was  no  occasion  to  mention  the  daugh- 
ters,' meaning  thereby  that  the  daughters  were 
of  little  consequence,"  would  meet  with  little 
favor  at  the  present  day.  Ewald,  speaking  of 
the  effect  of  this  calamity  on  Job,  remarks,  it 
would  add  to  the  stunning  force  of  the  blow, 
that  all  this  happened  during  the  first  day  of  a 
joyous  festival,  and  consequently  before  the 
children  could  have  incurred  much  guilt,  ac- 
cording to  the  father's  apprehension  as  expressed 
in  vers.  4,  5,  so  that  the  poet  can  furnish  no 
sufficient  occasion  for  their  destruction  in  the 
greatness  of  their  sin.  This  may  be  regarded 
as  an  additional  and  sufficient  reason  for  assign- 
ing these  calamities  to  the  day  when  the  enter- 
tainment took  place  in  the  house  of  the  first-born, 
without  having  recourse  to  the  theory  that  it 
was  a  birth-day  feast.  Wordsworth's  remark 
on  the  sweeping,  all-embracing  aspect  of  the 
destruction  wrought  is  striking:  "Satan  had 
said,  that  God  had  'hedged  in  Job  on  all  sides;' 
but  now  Job  is  attacked  on  all  sides;  from  the 
south  by  Sabeans;  from  the  east  by  Chaldeans; 
from  heaven  by  fire  and  whirlwind,  or  tornado, 
which  assailed  all  the  corners  of  the  house  of 


300 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Job's  eldest  son,  in  which  his  children  were 
gathered  together,  and  which  fell  upon  thera, 
and  buried  them  in  their  hour  of  feasting." 
-E.j 

4.   (y)  Job's  Constancy  and  Patience.    Vers.  20-22. 

Ver.  20.  Then  Job  arose,  and  rent  his 
mantle,  and  shaved  his  head:  both  well- 
known  oriental  gestures,  expressive  of  violent 
grief,    reading   the  mantle,  the  outer  garment, 

r'^P  ["an  exterior  tunic,  fuller  and  longer 
than  the  common  one,  but  without  sleeves;  worn 
by  men  of  birth  and  rank,  by  kings  and  princes, 
by  priests,  etc."  Ges. — Comp.  ch.  ii.  12;  xxix. 
14],  and  shaving  the  head,  including  the  beard 
["a  sign  of  mourning  among  other  nations,  but 
not  allowed  to  the  Hebrews  (Lev.  xxi.  5;  Dent, 
xiv.  1 ;  comp.  Ezek.  xliv.  20),  except  to  certain 
persons,  e.  g.  the  Nazarites.  See  Num.  vi.  9. 
This,  as  Professor  S.  Lee  observes,  is  another 
evidence  of  Job's  independence  of  the  Leviticil 
law:  see  ver.  5.  The  Hebrews  in  time  of 
mourning  sometimes  plucked  off  the  hair,  as 
well  as  rent  the  mantle:  see  Ezra  ix.  3." 
WouDS.]  Job's  rising  is  mentioned  simply  as  a 
preparatory  motion,  and  as  a  sign  of  strong 
mental  agitation,  not  as  an  independent  gesture 
of  grief.  So  also  the  clause  which  follows: 
"and  fell  down  upon  the  ground,"  is  to  be  re- 
garded not  as  an  attitude  of  sorrow,  but  rather 
as  preparatory  to  the  worship  of  God  in  the  im- 
mediate connection.  This  act  of  adoration 
(irpooKxivrjaiq)  accordingly  is  presented  in  a  two- 
fold manner :  first  by  the  circumstantial  prepa- 
ratory clause,  nif^X  vD^I,  then  by  the  exact 
terminus  technicus  for  adoration,  ^njTti'''1.  (Comp. 
Hoelemann,  Ucbcr  die  biblische  Gestalt  der  An- 
hetung,  in  his  Bibclstudien,  Part  I.,  1859.) 
['•Job's  recognition  of  the  quarter  whence  his 
sorrovvs  came,  and  bis  feeling  of  God's  right  to 
send  them,  and  their  ultimate  (after  some  rock- 
ings)  spiritual  effect  upon  him,  are  finely  exhi- 
bited in  this  verb.  Human  nature  and  grief 
has  its  rights  first — the  heart  must  utter  itself 
in  words  or  actions ;  but  the  paroxysm  over,  a 
deeper  calm  succeeds — a  closer  feeling  of  hea- 
ven, as  after  the  thunder  and  tempestuous  ob- 
scuration, the  heavens  are  deeper  and  more 
transparent."  D.w.] 

Ver.  21.  The  devout  expression  of  the  suffer- 
er's lament  and  resignation  is  put  in  poetic 
form,  in  parallel  members,  clearly  proving  tliat 
the  author  of  the  prologue  is  the  same  with 
the  author  of  ttie  poem.  Comp.  Introd.  §  8. 
— Naked  came  I  out  of  my  mother's 
"womb. — Tyi^,  defectively  written,  as  in  ch. 
xxxii.  18;  Num.  xi.  11. — And  naked  shall  I 
return     thither. — The    difficult  word,    nrSu^ 

T    T    * 

"thither"  meaning  "into  the  womb"  (not  as 
Bottcher  explains,  "  into  the  earth,"  as  though 
Job,  in  speaking,  pointed  with  his  finger  to  the 
ground),  may  be  explained  in  two  ways:  either 
with  Hahn  and  Hupfeld,  "thither,  whence  I 
came,  in  coming  out  of  my  mother's  womb,  to 
wit,  out  of  the  state  of  nonentity"  [So  Dav.: 
"  Mother's  womb  is  considered  synonymous  with 
non-existence,    and    death   is   a   return    thither 


again  into  such  a  state"];  comp.  ch.  xxx.  23; 
Ps.  ix.  18  (17  E.  v.);  or,  more  probably,  by 
assuming  a  slight  poetic  ambiguity,  by  virtue 
of  which  "womb"  in  the  second  instance  repre- 
sents its  counterpart,  the  bosom  of  mother  earth: 
comp.  Ps.  cxxxlx.  18,  15;  Sir.  xl.  1  ["A  heavy 
yoke  is  upon  the  sons  of  Adam  from  the  day 
that  they  go  out  of  their  mother's  womb  till  the 
day  that  they  return  to  the  mother  of  all  things." 
Cyprian,  quoting  our  passage,  has  it  thus : 
"Naked  came  I  out  of  my  mother's  womb,  and 
naked  shall  I  go  under  the  earth."  "Dans  le 
second  membre,"  says  Renan,  "I'auteur  passe  a 
I'idde  du  sein  de  la  terre,  m6re  de  tons  les  hom- 
mes." — E.]  The  thought  expressed  here  and 
elsewhere,  as  in  Ecclcs.  v.  14  (15  E.  V.  see 
Comment,  on  the  passage),  that  man  departs 
hence  as  naked  and  helpless  as  he  came  here,  is 
moreover  only  a  deduction  from  that  fundamen- 
tal truth  of  antiquity  announced  in  Gen.  ill.  19 
(Eccles.  xii.  7).  But  to  go  further,  and,  taking 
'px  1£03  in  the  sense  of  earth's  bosom,  the  inte- 
rior of  the  earth,  to  find  here  the  doctrine  of  the 
pre-existence  of  souls  (.J.  D.  Mlchaelis,  Knapp, 
etc.),  this  is  to  do  gross  violence  to  tlie  plain 
phraseology  of  the  passage,  and  is,  at  the  same 
time,  to  foist  surreptitiously  on  our  book  a  dog- 
ma of  later  times,  nowhere  to  be  met  with  in  the 
Old  Testament. — Blessed  be  the  name  of 
Jehovah  ']'^^p,  "blessed,  praised,"  in  a  sense 
exactly  opposite  to  that  of  ver.  11,  but  chosen 
by  the  poet  with  express  reference  to  the  use 
there  made  by  Satan  of  the  word.  Instead  of 
the  curse  he  wished  for,  the  Tempter  is  com- 
pelled to  hear  from  the  sorely  tried  man  God 
praised  in  benedictions.  Job  here  gives  evi- 
dence of  being  a  believer  in  Jehovah,  a  confessor 
of  the  only  true  and  eternal  God,  as  his  threefold 
use  of  the  name  niTI'  proves.  In  his  later  dis- 
courses, this  name  retires  before  the  name  of 
God  in  general  use  in  the  patriarchal  age,  and 
occurs  again  only  once  (ch.  xli.  9).  Comp. 
Introd.  §  5.  ["  Faith,  expressing  itself  in  the 
most  vivid  language,  seizes  on  the  moL4  elevated, 
joyous,  expressive  name.  As  in  regard  to  the 
matter,  so  also  in  regard  to  the  name.  Job  is 
here  raised  above  himself."   Hengst.] 

Ver.  22.    In   all   this  Job  sinned  not. — 
~r\X?~7D3,  not  "in  all  that  which  Job  said  and 

T  : 

did"  (Muntinghe,  Rosenm.,  etc.),  which  would 
be  a  very  flat  statement ;,  but  in  all  that  befell 
him,  in  all  these  dispensations.  The  LXX.  cor- 
rectly :  gy  TovToiq  Traai  Toiq  avf/fisjiT/Koaiv  avrij. 
The  expression  reaches  back  beyond  vers.  20, 
21,  although  without  excluding  that  which  is 
here  related  as  said  and  done  by  Job.  And 
showed  no  folly  toward  God :  lit.  and 
gave  forth  no  folly  toward  God ;  i.  e. 
uttered    against   Him  nothing   foolish,   nothing 

senseless  (H/iJn,  the  same  as  the  adj.  73n, 
meaning  stale,  insipid,  ch.  vi.  6;  comp.  ch. 
xxiv.  12;  Jer.  xxv.  18).  Comp.  Jerome:  neque 
stultum  quid  contra  Dcum  locutus  est :  and  among 
themoderns  more  especially  Rosenm.,  Rddiger  (in 
Ges.  Thesaurus,  p.  15,  Itj),  Oehl.,  Vaih.  [Noy. 
Bar.  app'y,  Con.];  DiUm.  also,  who  explains: 
"offered  to  God  nothing  unsavory,  i.  e.,  nothing 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.  1-13. 


301 


to  displease  him."  ["It  is  curious  to  ob- 
serve tliat  in  many  languages,  modern  as 
well  as  ancient,  wisdom  is  rep>esented  under 
tlie  character  oi  sapidity,  or  a  palatable  Ktitnulns, 
and  folly  under  that  of  insipidity,  or  anything 
devoid  of  stimulus.   .  .  .   8o  while   tlie   Hebrew 

term  here  employed  ( /3n)  means  equally  froth, 
insipidity,  folly,  or  obtusencss  of  intellect,  its 
opposite,  which  is  D>'£0,  means,  in  like  manner, 
taste,  poi'/iiancy,  discernment,  puperiorily  of  intel- 
lect;  terms  wliich  the  Arabs  yet  retain,  and  in 
both  senses."  Goon.  For  furtlier  illustration, 
G.  refers  to  the  proverbial  "Attic  salt"  of  tlic 
Greeks,  for  the  flavor  of  wit  and  wisdom. — To 
this  should  be  added,  that  in  Scripture  these 
terms  have  an  ethical,  as  well  as  an  intellectual 
significance,  so  that  as  "wisdom"  is  one  of  tlie 
most  important  equivalents  of  piety,  "folly" 
stands  in  the  same  relation  to  impiety.  And  so 
here.  Job,  in  his  trial,  uttered  nothing  which 
betrayed  a  heart  unsalted  by  wisdom  and  grace, 
no  spiritual  absurdity  which  betokened  a  spirit 
at  variance  with  the  Supreme  Wisdom. — E.] 
Altogether  too  inexact  and  free  are  the  render- 
ings, on  the  one  hand,  of  Umbreit:  "and  per- 
mitted himself  nothing  foolish  against  God ;" 
on  the  other  hand  of  Ewald  and  HaKn:  "and 
gave    God   no   offence."     Contrary  to  usage  is 

Olshauscn's  rendering  of  ri/iJn  as  equivalent  to 
"abuse,  reviling"  ("he  gave  God  no  abuse," 
i.  (?.,  reviled  him  not:  so  the  Pesh.)  [Renan : 
"he  uttered  no  blasphemy  against  God"].  The 
connection,  however,  forbids  the  explanation  of 
Hirz.,  Stick.,  Schlott.,  Del.  [Merx,  Dav.,  Rod., 
Elz.]:  "he  did  not  charge  God  with  folly,  attri- 
buted to  him  no  foolishness."  [So  substantially 
E.  v.:  "he  did  not  charge  God  foolishly."] 
For  at  first  Job  shows  himself  far  removed  from 
that  extreme  violence  of  feeling  which  later  in 
the  history  leads  him  once  and  again  to  the  very 
verge  of  blasphemy,  to  represent  God,  for 
instance,  as  his  cruel  tormentor  and  persecutor. 
It  would  be  very  strange  and  quite  premature 
for  the  poet  to  introduce  here  an  allusion  to 
those  later  aberrations. 

5.  (h)  The  severer  trial:  the  loss  of  health, 
(a).  Tlie  preparatory  scene  in  heaven,  oh.  ii. 
1-6.  Ver.  1.  Now  it  came  to  pass  on  a 
day. — Not,  of  course,  on  the  same  day  as  that 
mentioned  ch.  i.  13,  but  after  a  certain  interval, 
which  is  not  more  particularly  defined.  The 
art.  here,  DVn,  as  in  ch.  i.  6  q.v.  It  will  be 
observed  that  here  there  is  a  variation  from 
the  statement  in  ch.  i.  6  in  the  use  of  ^V'nn? 
with  Satan,  as  well  as  with  "  the  sons  of  God;" 
indicating,  as  Del.  and  Dillra.  have  shown,  that 
he,  as  well  as  they,  appeared  at  this  time  in  the 
heavenly  assembly  with  a  definite  object.  What 
that  object  was  is  made  to  appear  immediately 
iu  the  succeeding  dialogue  between  Jehovah  and 
Satan.— E.] 

Ver.  2.  Prom  whence  comest  thou  ? — 
Here  HTp  ''X,  instead  of  the  earlier  P.X^,  ch.  i. 
7  ;  the  only  variation,  and  a  slight  one,  of  the 
language  in  that  verse,  which  is  otherwise  re- 
peated here  word  for  word.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  following  verse,  at  least  of  the  first  and 


longer  part  of  it,  which  is  an  exact  repetition  of 
ch.  i.  8  with  one  slight  variation,  the  substitu- 
tion of  b«  for  hjl  before  nnjT. 

Ver.  3.  And  still  he  holdeth  fast  to  his 
piety,  i.  e.,  notwiihstanding  the  heavy  calami- 
ties which  have  visited  him,  he  still  maintains  a 
blameless  life.  T]'^i^,  the  quality  of  the  Qr\,  ch. 
i.  1.  Comp.  ch.  xxvii  6;  xxxi.  0;  Prov.  xi.  3 
[the  only  passage  wliere  the  word  occurs  out- 
side of  our  book. — E.] — Although  thou  didst 
move  me  against  him  to  destroy  him 
vyithout  cause. — Lit:  "And  so  thou  didst; 
move  me  against  him,"  etc.  ;  the  impcrf.  conscc. 
here  not  in  the  inferential  sense,  "so  that  thou," 
etc.  (Hirz.,  Stick.,  Halin,  Dillm.  [Hengst.]),  but 
adversative  rather:  "■  and  yet  thou  didst  move 
me,"  etc.  (Rosm.,  Ew  ,  Unibr.,  Vaih.,  Heilig. 
[Noy.,  Rod.,  Wem..  Bev.,  Con.,  Elz.]).  With 
this  construction  the  D3n,  "  without  cause,  un- 

T 

deservedly,"  is  by  no  means  at  variance  ;  for 
this  expression  only  enhances  the  reproachful- 
ness  of  Jehovah's  address. — With  3  ri'DH,  to  ex- 
cite, stir  up  against  any  one,  comp.  1  Sam.  xxvi. 
19;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  1  (but  diiferently  in  Josh.  xv. 
18;  1  Chron.  xxi.  1).  [It  "docs  not  signify,  as 
Umbreit  thinks,  to  lead  astray,  in  which  case  it 
were  almost  a  blasphemous  anthropomorphism  ; 
it  signifies  instigare,  and  indeed  generally  to 
evil,  as  e.  g.,  1  Chron.  xxi.  I ;  but  not  -always, 
e.  g.,  Josh.  xv.  18;  here  it  is  certainly  in  a 
strongly  anthropopathical  sense  of  the  impulse 
given   by  Satan  to  Jehovah  to  prove  Job  iu  so 

hurtful  a  manner."  Del.] — ^J^,  to  destroy,  to 
ruin  [literally,  to  swallow  up]  ;  sae  ch.  viii.  18  ; 
X.  8;  xxxvii.  20)  ;  applied  here  to  the  crushing 
destruction  of  Job"s  outward  prosperity.  Not 
without  reason   does   Jehovah   make   choice  of 

these  strong  expressions,  V'^  here,  D'On  just 
before;  for  "Satan's  aim  went  beyond  the 
limited  power  which  was  given  him  over  Job." 
Del.  Comp.  our  remarks  above  on  ch.  i.  12. 
[The  lofty  Divine  irony  of  Jehovah's  language 
should  not  be  overlooked,  contrasting  as  it  does 
BO  strongly  with  Satan's  baifled  malignity  and 
arrogant,  scoffing  unbelief.  Schultens  justly 
remarks :  Ut  in  verbis  Satanse  jaclantia,  ita  in 
Dei  response  irrisio  se  exerit. — E.] 

Ver.  4.  Skin  for  skin. — A  proverbial  expres- 
sion, the  independent  meaning  of  which  is  ob- 
scure, and  can  be  ascertained  onlj'  from  the  con- 
nection. Now  the  following  sentence,  "  all  that 
a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life,"  is  evidently 
parallel  in  sense,  as  appears  from  the  repe- 
tition of  n>^3,  "about,"  here  "for,  instead  of" 
(as  in  Is.  xxxii.  14;  comp.  the  same  use  of  r\nn 
in  Ex.  xxi.  23-25,  and  so  frequently).  It  is 
therefore  simply  the  application  of  the  proverb 
to  Job's  case.  The  meaning  of  the  phrase  there- 
fore, it  would  seem,  must  be  this:  A  man  will 
give  like  for  like ;  of  two  things  having  about 
equal  value  he  will  willingly  let  the  one  go,  that 
he  may  save  the  other;  and  this  in  fact,  Satan 
suggests.  Job  had  done;  he  had  willingly  given 
up  all  that  was  his,  in  order  to  save  his  own 
life  and  his  bodily  health.  Job's  property 
therefore  is  here  represented  as  a  skin,  with 
which   his  person  was  covered,  an  integument 


302 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


enveloping  Lira  for  protection  and  comfort 
(comp.  cli.  xviii.  13  ;  xix.  2G,  where  "^Ij^  desig- 
nates the  entire  body,  the  whole  person  corpo- 
really considered).  His  physical  life  is  repre- 
sented as  another  such  a  skin.  Of  these  two 
Bkins  or  integuments,  the  one  of  which  lies 
nearer  to  him  than  the  other,  and  is  therefore 
dearer  to  him  and  more  indispensable,  he  has 
surrendered  the  one,  to  wit,  the  outer,  remoter, 
least  necessary,  in  order  to  save  and  to  retain 
the  other.  ["As  is  said  in  the  proverb:  Like 
for  like  ;  so  it  is  with  man:  all  for  life."  Hirz. 
"A  proverbial  saying,  lu  the  effect:  A  man 
freely  parts  with  an  external  good,  if  he  may 
thereby  keep  possession  of  another.  So  Job 
can  well  bear  the  loss  of  children  and  property, 
since  the  dearest  earthly  good,  life  and  health, 
are  left  him."  Vaih.  So  Ges.,  Dillra.,  Hongst., 
Con.,  Dav.,  etc.']  This  interpretation  is  beyond 
question  the  one  best  suited  to  the  context,  and 
is  to  be  preferred  to  the  others  which  have  been 
proposed,  viz.:  a.  That  of  the  Targ.,  of  several 
liabbis,  Schlott.,  and  Del. — "  A  man  will  give  a 
part  of  the  skin,  or  a  member,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve another  part  of  the  skin,  or  member  ;  much 
more  will  a  man  give  up  all  that  he  has  to  keep 
his  life."  This  explanation  is  at  fault  in  taking 
"n>',  which  always  means  the  whole  skin  or  hide, 
for  a  member  or  a  part  of  the  skin. — b.  That  of 
Ephraem,  Rosenm.,  Hupf.,  in  which  "11^  is  used 
in  respect  of  the  lost  children  and  animals  to 
designate  their  life,  their  existence.  [According  to 
this  view  the  full  expresiiou  would  be :  skin  (of 
another)  for  skin  (of  oneself), as  "life  for  life" 
in  Ex.  xxi.  23;  skin  being  used  metaphorically 
for  the  body,  or  the  life.  The  thought  accord- 
ingly is:  The  bodies  or  the  lives  of  others  one 
will  part  with  for  his  own. — The  objection  to 
this  view  is  that  the  two  equivalents,  or  the  two 
things  compared  here,  are  not  so  much  what  is 
another's,  and  what  is  one's  own,  but  rather 
one's  own  property  and  one's  own  life,  or  per- 
son.— Good's  explanation  :  "'Skin  for  ski u  '  is, 
in  plain  English,  '  property  for  person,'  or  the 
'skin  forming  property  for  the  skin  forming 
person,'  "  is  correct  as  to  the  application,  but  as 
an  explanation  of  the  proveib  it  is  faulty  in  that 
it  injects  too  much  of  the  special  application 
into  the  body  of  the  proverb. — E.]  c.  The  in- 
terpretation of  Olshausen,  who  refers  to  ver  5, 
and  explains  "  skin  for  skin  "  to  mean  "as  thou 
treatest  him,  so  he  will  treat  thee  ;  so  long  as 
thou  leavest  his  (skin,  t.  e.,)  person  untouched, 
80  long  will  he  not  assail  (thy  skin,  i.  e.,)  thee 
in  person."  This,  however,  is  at  variance  alike 
with  the  connection  and  with  decorum. 
["Though  it  is  the  devil  who  speaks,  this  were 
nevertheless  too  unbecomingly  expressed."  Del. 
In  addition  to  the  above  explanations,  the  fol- 
lowing deserve  mention  :  d.  That  of  Parkhurst, 
SchuU.,  Wem.,  who  render  the  clause:  Skin  af- 
ter skin,  or  skin  upon  skin  ;  t.  e.,  to  save  his  life 
a  man  would  willingly  be  flayed  over  and  c«er. 
This  is  unnatural  in  itself,  a  doubtful  rendering 
of  the  preposition,  and  at  variance  with  the 
analogous  use  of  the  same  preposition  in  the 
following  clause.  Any  explanation  which  re- 
quires a  dififerent  use  of  the  preposition  in  both 
clauses  is  certainly  to  be  rejected,     e.   The  view 


of  Umbreit,  who  while  agreeing  with  the  expla- 
nation given  above  of  the  clause:  skin  for  skin, 
explains  differently  its  relation  to  the  following 
clause.  Tiie  proverb  he  regards  as  a  mercan- 
tile one,  meaning,  one  thing  for  another,  every- 
thing is  exchangeable  in  the  market,  any  external 
good  may  be  bartered  for  another;  but  life  is 
an  internal  good  of  such  value  that  nothing  will 
buy  it,  and  a  man  will  sacrifice  everything  for 
it.  His  translation  accordingly  is:  "Skin  for 
skin ;  but  all  that  a  man  hath  he  gives  for  his 
life."  This,  however,  is  much  less  simple  and 
natural  than  to  regard  the  ]  as  connective,  and 
the  second  clause  as  the  application  of  the  first. 
Especially  decisive  against  it  is  the  adversative 

D7lX  at  the  beginning  of  ver.  5,  which  on  Um- 
breit's  theory  would  be  deprived  of  all  force. 
/.  Merx  in  his  version  substitutes  for  tlie  ori- 
ental proverb  the  German:  Das  Hemd  sitzt 
nliher  als  der  Rock  (The  shirt  is  nearer  than  the 
coat),  and  explains:  "Pne  skin  envelopes  an- 
other skin;  the  first  (goods  and  children)  has 
been  taken  away  from  Job,  he  must  yet  be 
stripped  of  the  second  (health)."  He  main- 
tains that- 1>^3  never  signifies  "for,  instead;" 
but  he  is  condemned  out  of  his  own  mouth,  for 
in  the  very  next  clause  he  translates  IC'DJ  IJ^^S 
"/or  his  life  !  "  While  it  maybe  granted  that' 
"IjL^3  is  not  exactly  synonymous  with  rinn,  either 
may  be  appropriately  rendered  by  "for,"  the 
former  corresponding  rather  to  the  Greek  nepl, 
or  vTzep,  the  latter  to  civri.  "Although  it  does 
not  stand  for  the  2  of  price,  it  nevertheless  can, 
like  nnn  in  Ex.  xxi.  23-25,  be  used  with  the 
verb  1^3  in  the  sense  of  "  instead,"  especially 
when  the  accessory  notion  'for  the  protection 
of  is  retained  in  connection  with  it."     Dillm. 

The  use  of  skin  as  the  representative  of  value 
in  the  proverb  is  explained  by  the  extent  to 
which  it  was  used  as  an  article  of  utility  and 
traffic.  It  was  useful  in  itself  and  as  a  medium 
of  exchange.  Hence  "  skin  for  skin  "  would  na- 
turally mean  "  value  for  value." — E.] 

Ver.  5.  But  put  forth   now    Thy   hand, 

and  touch  his  bone  and  his  flesh. — DviN, 

T 

verum  enim  vero,  but  verily,  as  in  ch.  i.  11.  [The 
connection  of  the  two  verses  is  as  follows  :  Value 
for  value  ;  a  man's  life  is  worth  everything,  and 
all  that  he  has  he  will  give  up  to  save  his  life. 
But — touch  that,  put  his  life  in  peril,  so  that 
nothing  that  he  has,  or  can  do  will  save  it,  and 
assuredly  he  will  curse  thee.  A  simple  state- 
ment of  the  connection  is  all  that  is  necessary 
to  refute  some  of  the  erroneous  interpretations 
of  the  passage. — E.]     J^J],  to  touch  (in  ch.  i.  11 

construed  with  3)  is  here  followed  by  '7X.  It 
is  going  too  far,  however,  to  assume,  with  De- 
lltzsch,  that  this  "  expresses  increased  malig- 
nity: stretch  forth  Thy  hand  but  once  to  his 
very  bones,"  etc.  [Hengst.  agrees  with  Ilupfeld 
that  here  "the  bone"  is  specially  mentioned  as 
in  Tss.  vi.  3  (2);  xxxviii.  4  (3);  li.  10  (8)  as 
the  basis  of  the  body  and  of  its  condition,  as  the 
inmost  seat  and  source  of  vital  power  and  sensi- 
I  bility."  Note  the  peculiar  metaphorical  use  of 
I  DV^    in  Htbrew    for   self,  self-same. — Add  also 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.  1-13. 


803 


that  this  collocation  of  bone  and  flesh  in  Hebrew 
is  in  almost  every  instance  expressive  of  a  man's 
very  self,  his  essential  personality.  Comp.  Gen. 
ii. '23;  Judg.  ix.  2;  Job  x.  11;  Prov.  xiv.  30. 
Satan's  words  here  accordingly  mean  more  than : 
touch  his  body ;  they  mean :  touch  him  ;  strike 
him  in  the  vital  parts  of  his  being. — Verily, 
he  will  curse  Thee  to  Thy  face. — As  in  ch. 
i.  11.  Satan,  it  will  be  noted,  is  more  truly  Sa- 
tanic in  this  scene  than  in  the  former.  As  Dav. 
finely  observes:  "In  his  former  aspersion  of 
Job  he  had  only  hinted  that  Job's  religion  was 
not  very  genuine;  it  was  profitable,  and  there- 
fore carefully  attended  to.  Here  he  goes  a 
great  way  deeper,  and  maligns  human  nature  in 
its  very  humanity.  Man  is  not  only  irreligious 
(except  for  profit),  but  he  is  inhuman;  what  is 
usually  regarded  as  possessions  of  the  most  irre- 
ligious men,  love  of  kind  and  kindred,  the 
deeper  affections  of  family  on  which  so  much 
fine  sentiment  has  been  expended — they  are 
matters  of  profit  too.  Man  cares  little  for 
friend  or  family,  only  he  be  safe  himself :  put 
forth  Thy  hand  and  touch  his  own  bone  and 
flesh,  and  his  viperish  nature  will  rise  like  the 
trodden  serpent,  and  disown  Thee  to  Thy  face." 
The  essence  of  sin  in  its  ordinary  human  mani- 
festation is  to  be  unable  to  live  from  any  higher 
motive  than  self ;  its  essence  in  the  life  of  Sa- 
tan is  to  be  unable  to  conceive  of  any  higher  mo- 
tive than  self.  The  spirit  of  evil  in  man  often 
makes  virtue  tributary  to  self;  the  spirit  of  evil 
in  Satan  takes  the  very  constancy  of  virtue  as 
proof  only  of  more  intense  selfishness.  The 
devil's  logic  in  the  case  of  Job :  the  more  stead- 
fast Job  seems  to  be,  the  more  inhuman  must  he 
be.— E.] 

Ver.  6.  Behold  he  is  in  thy  hand,  only 
spare  his  life. — Comp.  ch.  i.  12.  ^3J  is  to  be 
distinguished  from  D^P);  it  denotes  not  the  life- 
function,  as  such,  which  belongs  to  man  as  a 
spiritual  and  corporeal  being,  but  its  seat  and 
medium,  the  soul  (  ■tpvxv,  anima).  But  as  above 
in  ver.  4,  so  here,  it  must  be  rendered  "life" 
[the  term  "soul"  with  us  not  being  the  exact 
equivalent  of  the  above  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  La- 
tin terms. — E.]  Comp.  the  like  use  of  -ipvxv  in 
Acts  XX.  10,  and  elsewhere   often  in   the  New 

Testament. — "^OUf,  lit.:  "beware  of,  abstain 
from  ;"  i.  e.,  take  cai-e  that  in  imperiling  his  life 
by  the  infliction  of  painful  disease,  thou  dost  not 
deprive  him  of  it. 

6.  (/3)  The  fulfillment  of  the  decree  in  Job's 
terrible  disease:  vers.  7,  8. 

Ver.  7.  Then  Satan  went  out  .  .  .  (comp. 
ch.  i.  12)  .  .  .  and  smote  Job  with  sore 
boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  unto  his 
crown ;  i.  e.,  over  his  whole  body. — Comp.  the 
description  of  the  same  frightful  disease  given 
in  almost  the  very  same  words  in  Deut.  xxviii. 
35. —  y^p  [singular  collective],  used  in  Lev. 
xiii.  18  sq.,  of  the  boils  of  a  leper,  and  else- 
where of  the  carbuncles  of  the  plague,  refers 
here,  as  its  use  with  the  strengthening  attribu- 
tive ^T  shows,  to  the  worst  form  of  leprosy,  the 
Lepra  Arabica,^'  or  Elephantiasis,  called  also  lepra 

*  According  to  the  author  of  the  art.  Medicine  in  Smith's 


nodosa,  or  tuberculosa,  on  account  of  the  fright- 
ful swollen  pustules,  or  boils,  which  make  the 
limbs  of  the  sufferer,  and  especially  the  lower 
extremities,  look  like  the  lumpy,  apparently 
jointless  limbs  of  the  elephant  [also  perliaps 
"from  its  rendering  the  skin,  like  that  of  the 
elephant's,  scabrous  and  dark-colored,  and  fur- 
rowed all  over  with  tubercles."  Goon].  By 
the  Arabians  it  is  named  gudhiim,  the  mutilating 
disease,  because  in  its  extreme  stages  entire 
members  gradually  fall  away,  such  as  fingers, 
teeth,  hands,  etc.  Once  in  the  Old  Testament  it 
is  described  as  D'^JfO  VV^'^t  "  *-^^  Egyptian  ul- 
cer "  (Deut.  xxviii.  27).  It  is  not  limited,  how- 
ever, to  Arabia  and  Egypt,  but  prevails  also  in 
the  East  Indies,  inclusive  of  the  Sunda  Islands, 
and  likewise  in  the  West  Indies,  and  even  in  the 
countries  of  Northern  Europe,  as  in  Norway, 
where  it  rages  at  times  with  fearful  violence,  of- 
ten seizing  on  entire  villages.  It  is  not  only 
contagious  (according  to  the  testimony  of  the 
ancients,  e.  g.,  of  Aretiius,  the  Cappadocian,  it 
might  be  communicated  by  the  mere  breathing 
of  the  person  diseased),  but  in  many  cases  it 
also  transmits  itself  from  parents  to  children. 
[Dillman  remarks  that  according  to  the  most  re- 
cent observations  it  does  not  seem  to  be  conta- 
gious. So  also  the  article  on  Medicine  in  Smith's 
Bible  Diet,  says  :  "  It  is  hereditary  and  may  be 
inoculated,  but  does  not  propagate  itself  by  the 
closest  contact." — E.]  Finally,  it  is,  as  a  rule, 
incurable  ;  or  at  all  events  one  of  the  most  te- 
dious diseases,  protracting  itself  through  twenty 
years  or  more.  The  identity  of  this  disease  witli 
Job's  affliction  was  maintained  long  ago  by  Ori- 
gen  (c.  Cels.  vi.  5),  and  is  held  by  all  modern 
expositors.  This  view  is  supported  by  the  symp- 
toms of  the  disease  as  they  are  further  given  in 
our  book:  the  insufferable  itching  of  the  skin 
(ch.  ii.  8);  the  skin  cracking,  and  covered  with 
boils  now  hard  and  crustated,  and  now  festering 
(ch.  vii.  5);  the  stinking  breath  (ch.  xix.  17)  ; 
the  blackened  and  chapped  appearance  of  the 
body  caused  by  inward  heat  in  the  bones  (ch. 
XXX.  30) ;  the  danger  of  the  limbs  falling  away 
(ch.  XXX.  17,  30) ;  the  extreme  emaciation  of  the 
body  (ch.  xix.  20 ;  xxx.  18)  ;  the  anguished 
frame,  made  restless  by  nightly  dreams,  gasp- 
ings  and  tortures  (ch.  vii.  4,  13-15;  xxx.  17), 
etc.  ["  It  first  appears  in  general,  but  not  al- 
ways, jibout  the  face,  as  an  indurated  nodule 
(hence  it  is  improperly  called  tubercular),  whicli 
gradually  enlarges,  inflames,  and  ulcerates. 
Sometimes  it  commences  in  the  neck  or  arms. 
The  ulcers  will  heal  spontaneously,  but  only  af- 
ter a  long  period,  and  after  destro^'ing  a  great 
deal  of  the  neighboring  parts.  If  a  joint  be 
attacked,  the  ulceration  will  go  on  till  its  de- 
struction is  complete,  the  joints  of  finger,  toe, 
etc.,  dropping  ofl"  one  by  one.  Frightful  dreams 
and  fetid  breath  are  symptoms  mentioned  by 
some  pathologists.  More  nodules  will  develop 
tlicraselves;  and  if  the  face  be  the  chief  seat 
of  the  disease,  it  assumes  a  leonine  aspect  (hence 
called  also  Lcontiasis),  loathsome  and  hideous  ; 
the  skin  becomes  thick,  rugose,  and  livid ;  the 
eyes  are  fierce  and  staring,  and  the  hair  gene- 
Bible  Diet,  there  is  still  another  diseuse  cnlled  Elcjjhantiasia 
Arabutn,  quit"  distinct  from  the  disease  whicli  afflicted  Joo, 
which  id  kuovvu  aa  the  Elephantiasis  Griecorum. 


804 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


rally  falls  off  from  all  tJie  parts  affected.  When 
the  throat,  is  attacked  the  voice  shares  the  affec- 
tion, and  sinks  to  a  hoarse,  husky  whisper." — 
Art.  Medicine  in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.  See  also  art. 
Lepcr'\.  Comp.  below  on  ch.  vii.  14  ;  also  the 
more  particular  description  of  the  disease  by 
Aretiius  the  Cappadocian  (translated  by  Mann, 
18-58,  p.  221  ;  comp.  also  Del.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  70.  n. 
Clark's  For.  The.  Lib.);  J.  D.  Michaelis,  i7/«- 
leitung  ins  A.  T.,  I.  57  sq.;  y^in^r,  Real-Wdrter- 
buch,  1. 115 sq.  (3d Ed.);  Friedrich,  Z.  Bihel,  1848, 
I.  193  sq.;  Hecker,  Elephantiasis,  oder  Lepra  Ara- 
bica,  Lahr,  1838;  Hcer,  De  elephantiasi  Gne- 
coriim  et  Arahum;  Danielson  and  Boeck,  Traiie 
de  la  Spedalskhed,  ou  Elephantiasis  des  Grecs,  a 
work  published  at  the  expense  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Norway,  Paris,  1848;  Virchow,  Diekrank- 
haflen  Geschwillste,  Vol.  II.  1,  Bei'lin,  1863  (which 
treats  with  especial  minuteness  of  the  distinction 
frequently  overlooked  between  the  Eleph.  Grse- 
corum  and  the  Eleph.  Arabum)  ;  also  the  nar- 
ratives of  travelers,  e.  g.,  Bruce,  and  recently  of 
Bickmore  (an  American  traveler  in  the  East 
Indies),  who,  after  giving  a  harrowing  descrip- 
tion of  a  village  in  northern  Sumatra  filled  wiih 
BuflFerers  from  elephantiasis,  declares  with  a 
shudder  that  one  who  has  never  seen  such  cases 
of  leprosy  can  form  no  conception  of  the  distor- 
tions which  the  human  body  can  assume,  and 
still  live. 

Ver.  8.  And  he  took  him  a  potsherd  to 
scrape  himself  ■withal. — The  modern  Orien- 
tals, when  suffering  from  the  same  disease, 
make  use  of  instruments  prepared  for  scraping, 
made  out  of  ivory  or  other  material  (comp. 
Cleric,  on  the  passage).  ["Scraping  with  a 
potsherd  will  not  only  relieve  the  intolerable 
itching  of  the  skin,  but  also  remove  the  matter." 
Del.]  And  he  sat  down  among  the  ashes : 
lit.:  "and  he  was  sitting  (at  the  time)  in  the 
midst  of  the  ashes;"  or  "while  be  sat  in  the 
midst  of  the  ashes."  [So  most  of  the  recent 
commentators.  The  participial  construction 
Dt!/'  Nini  describing  the  condition  of  the  subject 
at  the  time  of  the  affirmation  in  the  principal 
verb.  Comp.  Gen.  xix.  1;  Judg.  xiii.  9;  and 
see  Ewald,  Gr.  ^  1G8,  2  and  \  341,  a.  Schlott. 
finds  in  this  clause  evidence,  that  but  a  short 
time  intervened  between  the  former  trial  and 
the  present.  While  ho  was  yet  sitting  in  ashes, 
mourning  the  loss  of  his  children,  he  was  smit- 
ten in  his  own  person. — E.]  Sitting  in  the 
ashes  is  certainly  the  attitude  of  a  mourner 
(comp.  ch.  xlii.  6;  Jerem.  vi.  26;  Jon.  iii.  6); 
but  in  this  case,  the  attitude  is  occasioned  not 
only  by  the  loss  of  his  children,  but  more  espe- 
cially by  the  new  calamity  which  has  befallen 
the  sufferer.  The  LXX.  enlarges  upon  the  de- 
scription in  accordance  with  the  Levitical  law 
touching  leprosy,  as  well  as  such  passages  as 
Ps.  cxiii.  7:  Kai  ZKaQrjTQ  ekI  rijg  Kn-f)iag  tfu  r?/f 
■!r62.£(jg.  There  is  nothing  in  the  II eb.  text  here 
to  indicate  the  segregation  of  Job  in  his  leprosy. 
Still  it  cannot  be  doubted,  especially  in  view  of 
ver.  12  (see  notes),  that  even  as  a  non-Israelite, 
as  an  inhabitant  of  Ilauran  e.  g.,  he  was  required 
to  submit  to  such  separation  Comp.  the  infor- 
mation given  by  Wetstein  in  Del.  (ii.  152),  con- 
cerning the  dung-he;ips,  the  mczbele  before  the 


villages  of  Haui'an,  and  the  occupation  of  the 
same  by  lepers.  ["Tlie  dung  is  brought  in  a 
dry  state  in  baskets  to  the  place  before  the  vil- 
lage, and  is  generally  burnt  once  every  month. 
.  .  .  The  ashes  remain.  ...  If  a  village  has 
been  intiabited  for  a  century,  the  mezhele  readies 
a  height  which  far  surpasses  it.  The  winter 
rains  make  the  ash-heaps  into  a  compact  mass, 
and  gradually  change  the  mezbele  into  a  firm 
mound  of  earth.  .  .  .  The  mezbele  serves  the 
inhabitants  of  the  district  as  a  watch-tower,  and 
on  close,  oppressive  evenings  as  a  place  of 
assembly,  because  there  is  a  current  of  air  on 
the  height.  There  the  children  play  about  the 
whole  day  long;  there  the  forsaken  one  lies, 
who,  having  been  seized  by  some  horrible  mala- 
dy, is  not  allowed  to  enter  the  dwellings  of  men, 
by  day  asking  alms  of  the  passers-by,  and  at 
night  hiding  himself  among  the  ashes,  which 
the  sun  has  warmed.  There  the  dogs  of  the 
village  lie,  perhaps  gnawing  at  a  decaynig  car- 
case that  is  frequently  thrown  there.     Wetzst. 

7.   (}')  Job's  Steadfastness  in  Piety.     Vers.  9,  10. 
Ver.  9.  Then  said  his  wife  unto  him. — 

[The  Chald.  here  gives  the  name  of  Job's  wife 
as  Dinah,  a  trace  of  the  old  tradition  that  Job 
was  contemporary  with  Jacob.  The  Sept.  and 
Copt,  contain  a  considerable  addition  to  the  text 
in  the  form  of  a  lengthened  and  impassioned 
discourse  by  Job's  wife,  detailing  his  sorrows 
and  her  own. — E.]  In  place  of  Satan,  who, 
from  ver.  6  on,  disappears  from  the  book's  his- 
tory. Job's  own  wife  now  appears  against  him 
to  tempt  him,  to  be,  as  it  were,  an  adjutrix  dia- 
boli  (Augustine).  Dost  thou  still  hold  fast 
to  thine  integrity? — 0J1  '"ji^,  a  question  im- 
plying astonishment,  although  without  a  particle 
of  interrogation  (Ew.  ^  324,  a).  Compare  the 
question  which  Anna,  the  wife  of  Tobias,  that 
apocryphal  copy  of  Job's  wife,  addresses  to  her 
blinded  husband :  Trot;  Eialv  at  iXer/fioai'vai  cov 
Kal  al  diKaioa'vvai  cov,  idov  yfuara  nav-a  fiETa  aov 
["«'.  e.  as  Sengelmann  and  Fritzsche  correctly 
explain,  one  sees  from  thy  misfortunes  that  thy 
virtue   is    not   of  much    avail   to    thee."  Del.] 

— Renounce  God  and  die  ! — DTI  /X  "]13  evi- 
dently in  the  bad  sense  of  ch.  i.  11  ;  ii.  5 ;  and 
thus  equivalent  to :  "let  God  go,  renounce  tliy 
allegiance  to  Him,  give  up  at  last  praising  and 
trusting  Him,  since  verily  nothing  more  remains 
for  thee  but  to  die!"  Hahn  takes  "]"13  here  sensu 
bono:  "Praise  God  all  the  time,  thou  shall  pre- 
sently see  what  thy  reward  is,  even  death!" 
[So  Ges.  Lex.:  "Bless  and  pr£^ise  God  as  thou 
wilt,  yet  thou  must  now  die;  thy  piety  towards 
God  is  in  vain."  Carey,  Con. :  "The  import  of 
this  taunting  reproach  I  take  to  be:  Bless  God 
(if  you  will),  and  die!  for  that  is  all  it  will  pro- 
lit  you."]  But  to  this  stands  opposed  the  shai-p 
rejoinder  which  Job  makes  in  ver.  10  to  his 
wife,  from  which  it  m.ay  be  clearly  inferred, 
that  on  the  present  occasion  she  was  to  him,  if 
not  altogether  a  "Proserpina  et  Furia  infernalis' 
(Calv.),  still,  in  some  measure,  a  fidan^  tov  6ca- 
,:(o?iou  (Chrysost.),  to  scourge  him  severely,  an 
"instrument  of  the  Tempter"  (Ebr.)  [Another 
argument  against  taking  1"I3   in  the   sense   of 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.  1-13. 


S05 


"blessing"  is  brought  forward  by  Hengst.,  to 
■wit,  tliat  tlie  words  bear  an  unmistakable  rela- 
tion to  the  saying  of  Satan,  twice  repeated : 
Verily  he  will  renounce  Thee  to  Tiiy  face.  The 
wife  is  Satan's  instrument  in  the  endeavor  to 
secure  the  fulfilment  of  that  prediction.  It  may 
be  still  further  suggested,  that  the  spirit  which 
manifestly  prompted  the  first  words  of  the  wife 
seems  more  in  harmony  with  the  rendering 
"renounce."  She  begins  by  expressing  her 
astonishment,  an  astonishment  evidently  accom- 
panied by  deep  indignation,  that  after  such 
heavy  blows  Job  should  still  hold  fast  to  his 
integrity.  Nothing  could  be  more  natural  than 
to  find  her  in  the  same  breath  vehemently  urging 
Job  to  relinquish  his  integrity  by  "  bidding  fare- 
well" to  God.— E] 

Ver.  10.  Thou  speakest  as  one  of  the 
foolish  -women  speaketh. — Folly  here  in 
the  well-known  Old  Testament  sense  of  godless- 
ness,  impiousne.ss  (Ps.  xiv.  1),  or  in  the  sense 
of  that  saying  of  Luther's:  "All  those  who  are 
without  the  Holy  Ghost,  however  wise  they  may 
be  esteemed  by  the  world  in  temporal  aflFairs, 
power  or  business,  before  God  they  are  fools  or 
blind  men."  ["The  translation  'as  one  of  the 
foolish  women'  does  not  correspond  to  the  He- 
brew ;   73J  is  one  who  thinks  madly  and  acts 

impiously."  Del.  "m^J  means  not  simply  a 
woman  without  understanding,  but  one  who  is 
a  fool,  who  refuses  to  know  more  of  God,  who  is 
an  atheist,  or  a  heathen."  Dillm.]  The  reproof 
is  thus  a  severe  one ;  at  the  same  time,  the  T\T\^ 
"one,  any  one,"  has  that  in  it  which  somewhat 
softens  its  severity:  comp.  2  Sam.  xiii.  13. 
["Job  does  not  say  to  his  wife:  Thou  art  a 
foolish  woman;  but:  Thou  speakest  as  if  thou 
didst  belong  to  that  class ;  thou  art  become 
unlike  thyself."  IIengst.]  Shall -we  receive 
the  good  from  God,  and  shall  -we  not  also 
receive  the  evil? — The  question  consists  of 
two  members:  the  DJ,  standing  at  the  beginning 
(instead  of  which  we  might  have  expected  the 
more  exact  DJH),  "belongs  logically  to  the 
second  part,  towards  which  the  voice  should 
hurry  in  reading  the  first  part,  which  contains 
the  premise  of  the  other:  this  is  frequently  the 
case  after  interrogative  particles,  e.g.,  Num. 
xvi.  22;  Isa.  v.  46."  Del.  For  this  anticipa- 
tion of  the  DJ,  which  has  its  logical  connection 
with  a  later  clause,  comp.  below  ch.  xv.  10; 
Hos.  vi.  11;  Zech.  ix.  11;  also  the  analogous 
syntactical  construction  of  HN,  ^N,  p"}.  [Hence 
the  rendering  of  DJ  by  "What?"  (E.  V  )  is 
inaccurate.  "  The  first  division  of  the  verse  is 
translated  by  Ges.,  Ew.  (Hupf.,  Dillm.,  Ren  ), 
and  some  others  affirmatively,  and  the  second 
division  interrogatively.  Thes.  I  ,  p  294,  bonum 
acccpimus  a  Deo,  nonne  etiam  malum  suscipiamus? 
.  .  .  But  the  Heb.  has  the  same  form  in  both 
divisions  ;  and  the  interrogative  tone  in  both  is 
a  far  more  spirited  expression  of  the  thought." 

Con.]  The  word  73p,  "to  receive"  is  found 
elsewhere  in  prose  only  in  the  post-exilic  litera- 
ture, and  in  Aramaic.  Its  appearance  here, 
however,  should  not  greatly  surprise  us,  as  we 
meet  with  it  in  proverbial  poetry.  Prov.  xix.  20. 
20 


[It  is  worthy  of  note  as  a  fine  exhibition  of  the 
sympathetic  genius  of  the  author,  that  whereas 
in  ch.  i.  21  he  uses  the  name  Jehovah,  here  he 
uses  the  name  EJohim.  There  the  religious 
consciousness  of  Job,  deeply  stirred  by  his 
losses,  but  realizing  nevertheless  the  full  bless- 
edness of  uninterrupted  communion  with  God, 
ami  pouring  itself  forth  in  that  sublime  soliloquy 
which  is  for  all  ages  the  doxology  of  the  chas- 
tised believer,  seizes  on  that  name  which  to  the 
Old  Testament  saint  most  fully  expressed  in  his 
eternal  perfections  and  glory  on  the  one  side, 
and  in  his  personal  relations  to  man  on  the 
other.  Here  the  same  consciousness,  deep, 
genuine,  unfaltering  as  ever,  but  striving  on  the 
one  hand  to  maintain  itself  against  the  depres- 
sing influence  of  physical  ill,  on  the  other  hand 
to  repel  the  daring  suggestion  of  atheistical 
folly,  consecrated  as  the  suggestion  was  through 
Satanic  skill  by  all  the  associations  which  lovo 
had  sealed  upon  the  lips  that  spoke  it,  seizes  on 
that  name  of  the  Supreme  Being  which  most 
fully  expresses  his  power  over  the  forces  of  na- 
ture, and  which  most  effectually  silences  the 
sneer  of  the  godless  heart.  There  Job  speaks 
rather  as  the  chastised  child,  in  the  attitude  of 
hcnediclion,  blessing  the  name  of  Jehovah;  here 
he  speaks  rather  as  the  chastised  creature,  in  the 
attitude  of  resignation,  vindicating  the  wa^'s  of 
Elohim. — E.] — In  all  this  did  not  Job  sin 
with  his  lips. — Compare  the  similar  judgment 
rendered  by  the  poet  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
first  trial,  ch.  i.  22.  That  Job  has  thus  far 
escaped  all  sin  of  the  lips  (comp.  ch.  xxvii.  4  ; 
Pss.  xxxiv.  14  (13) ;  lix.  8  (7) ;  cxl.  4  (3)  ; 
Prov.  xxiv.  2,  etc.),  is  here  emphasized  indeed 
only  by  way  of  contrast  with  the  violent  expres- 
sions which  soon  follow,  which  he  was  provoked 
to  utter  by  the  three  friends,  and  in  which  he 
assuredly  did  sin.  The  intimation  that  he  had 
already  sinned  iii  his  thoughts  (Targ.,  Diedrich), 
is  scarcely  conveyed  by  the  VJlStJ'S,  however 
true  in  itself  the  remark  of  Delitzsch  :  "  The 
temptation  to  murmur  was  now  already  at  work 
within  him,  but  he  was  its  master,  so  that  no 
murmur  escaped  him." 

8.  The  visit  of  the  friends,  and  their  mute  sym- 
pathy,  as  an  immediate  preparation  for  the  action 
of  the  poem,  vers.  11-13. 

Ver.  11.  Then  Job's  three  friends  heard 
of  all  this  evil  that  -was  come  upon  him. 
—  [The  question  whether  the  article  should  bo 
used  with  "friends"  cannot  be  determined  with 
absolute  certainty,  the  form  of  expression  in  the 
Hebrew  being  ambiguous,  and  the  circumstances 
not  being  fully  known.  By  some  (Dav.,  Con., 
Ren.,  Elz.)  it  is  omitted,  although  by  most  it  is 
recognized  ;  and  this  on  the  whole  seems  best. 
Although  there  is  nothing  to  justify  tlie  Sept.  in 
describing  these  friends  as  kings,  there  is  good 
reason  for  regarding  them  as  persons  of  univer- 
sal consideration  by  virtue  of  their  station,  their 
age,  and  their  wisdom.  Comp.  ch.  xii.  3;  xiii. 
2  ;  XV.  17  sq. ;  xviii.  3  ;  and  Elihu's  remarks  iu 
ch.  xxxii.  See  also  below  on  Eliphaz.  And  the 
co7iccr<cfMemon8tration  which  they  here  make  of 
their  sympathy  with  Job  would  show  that  they 
were  his  friends  in  a  peculiar  sense.  For  these 
reasons  the  rendering  "</ie  three  friends  of  Job" 


30G 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


is  to  be  preferred. — E.l     nxSH,  as  accentuated, 

•^  T  T  - 

is  not  ihe partic.  fern.,  but  the  per/,  with  the  art. 
wbich  stands  in  place  of  the  rel.  pron.,  as  in 
Gen.  xviii.  21  ;  xlvi.  27.  [Ewald,  however, 
justly  criticizes  the  Masora  in  these  and  other 
passages  on  the  ground  that  the  partic.  can  just 
as  well  be  assumed  in  them,  and  is  besides  the 
more  obvious  construction.  See  Gr.,  p.  802,  n. 
1. — E.]  That  which  is  here  related  is  to  be  un- 
derstood as  taking  place  not  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  Job's  sickness,  but  some  months  later 
(comp.  ch.  vii.  3),  when  the  disease  had  made 
considerable  progress,  producing  loathsome  dis- 
figurement of  his  person  (comp.  ver.  12  ;  ch. 
vii.  4  seq.  ;  ch.  xix.  ch.  xxx.) — And  they 
came  each  from  his  o^wn  place. — These 
places  where  they  lived,  which  are  mentioned  in 
the  sequel  only  in  the  most  general  way  as  coun- 
tries, or  regions  of  country,  are  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  situated  in  each  other's  immediate  vi- 
cinity. The  place  where  they  came  to,  the  ob- 
ject of  ?X3"'1,  is  to  be  thought  of  as  some  other 
place  than  that  where  Job  lived.  From  this, 
their  appointed  rendezvous,  they  then  proceeded 
to  Job's  abode,  to  testify  to  him  their  sympathy 

(this  being  the  meaniug  of  H^J /,  comp.  ch.  xlii. 
11,  also  TJ,  sympathy,  ch.  xvi.  5),  and  to  com- 
fort him. — Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  etc. — Since 
Eliphaz  (tSw^l)  appears  also   in  Gen.  xxxvi.  4, 

10,  12,  as  an  old  Idumean  name  of  a  person, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  his  country,  Teman 
( lO^I^),  a  name  which  also  occurs  in  Gen.  xxxvi. 

11,  15,  in  close  connection  with  that  of  Eliphaz, 
is  to  be  identified  with  the  Idumean  region  of 
that  name,  whose  inhabitants,  not  only  accord- 
ing to  our  poem,  but  also  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  other  Scripture  writers,  such  as  Jere- 
miah (ch.  xlix.  7)  and  Baruch  (ch.  iii.  22  seq.), 
were  particularly  celebrated  for  their  wisdom 
comp.  also  Obad.  viii.  9  ;  also  the  ^'2  \J3,  i.  e., 
sons  of  knowledge,  of  wisdom,  in  (Mace.  v.  4). 
We  are  scarcely  to  understand  by  it  the  Tema 
of  East  Hauran  (which  indeed  may  possibly  be 
a  colony  of  the  Edomite  Theman).  As  for  the 
countries  of  the  two  other  friends,  Shuah  (n^iy), 
(lie  home  of  Bildad,  is  to  be  sought  for  some- 
where in  the  eastern  part  of  North  Arabia, 
among  the  settlements  of  the  Keturllites,  one  of 
whom  is  called  Shuah,  Gen.  xxv.  2.  The  appli- 
cation of  the  name  to  Schakka,  beyond  Hauran, 
the  'LaKKcda  of  Ptolem.,  ch.  v.  15,  is  doubtful  on 
account  of  the  diiference  in  sound  of  the  names. 
[According  to  Carey  it  is  identical  with  the 
baiace  of  Pliny  (vi.  32),  now  called  Sckiale,  or 
El  Saiak  about  midway  between  the  Elamitic 
Gulf  and  the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates].  Naamah, 
finally,  must  be  one  of  the  many  Syrian  regions 
of  that  name  ;  it  can  hardly  be  the  city  of  that 
name  in  the  Shefelah,  mentioned  Josh.  xv.  41. 
When  out  of  a  "TIO^'J  the  LXX.  makes  out  Zo- 
phar  a  'Mnaiog  (or  Mawaiof,  so  Aristgeus,  in 
Euseb.  Prrep.  Ev.  ix.  25),  it  probably  follows  a 
tradition  which  pointed  to  Maon  (now  Maan), 
lying  East  of  Petra,  as  his  home. — Again,  as  re- 
gards the  etymology  of  the  names  of  the  three 
friends,  it  may  be  conjectured  that  '3  ;X  means 


the  man  to  whom  "  God  is  his  joy  ; "  T^  ;3,  "the 

son  of  strife"  (T^7,  in  Arab,  to  strive,  to  wran- 
gle) ;  T3iV,  perhaps  "the  twitterer"  {i.  e., 
"nay,  from  132f,  to  pipe,  to  twitter).  So  Ge- 
senius — Dietrich  in  their  smaller  dictionary  5 
while   Delitzsch,  e.  t/.,  adopts   entirely   difi'erent 

definitions :  thus  \Q''/ii=cui  Deus  aurum  est, 
comp.  ch.  xxii.  25,  also  the  name  Phasael,  formed 
by  transposition  ;  so  also  Michaelis,  Suppl.  p. 
87.     Furst:   "El  is  dispenser  of  riches;"   Ges. 

in  Lex.:  "God  his  strength"]:  nS3=T1 ''S3, 
sine  mammis,  one  brought  up  without  his  mother's 
milk;  "IflliT^eZ — asfar,  "the  yellow,"  Jlavedo. 
Comp.  Abulfeda's  Hist,  ante-islamica,  Ed.  Fleis- 
cher, p.  1G8  [Fiirst :  "The  shaggy,  or  rough  "]. 
The  two  latter  names,  being  just  those  in  respect 
to  which  the  suspicion  that  they  are  a  poetic  in- 
vention could  be  in  some  measure  justified,  do 
not  appear  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament. 
[And  they  had  made  an  appointment  to- 
gether to  come,  etc. ;  or  more  correctly:  They 
met  together  by  appointment;  the  proper  mean- 
ing of  the  Niph.  Hj/lJ  being,  as  Del.  and  Dillm. 
point  out,  not  to  appoint  a  place  for  meeting 
(which  would  be  |X"'J  rather),  but  to  meet  in  an 
appointed  place  at  an  appointed  time. — E.] 

Ver.  12.  And  they  raised  their  eyes 
afar  off,  and  knew  him  not. — Two  things 
may  be  inferred  from  these  words:  (1)  That 
Job  was  now  staying  not  in  his  own  house,  but 
out  of  doors,  in  a  place  which  furnished  misera- 
ble shelter,  serving  as  a  retreat  for  lepers ; 
comp.  on  ver.  8  above  [and  especially  the  extract 
from  Wetst.  concerning  the  mezhcle']  ;  and  (2) 
that  the  disease  had  already  disfigured  him  so 
that  he  could  not  be  recognized  (comp.  notes  on 
ver.  7). — And  sprinkled  dust  upon  their 
heads  tow^ard  heaven. — la  addition  to  the 
weeping  and  the  rending  of  their  mantles,  these 
words  describe  a  third  and  a  particularly  violent 
symbol  and  expression  of  their  sympathizing 
grief.  Gathering  up  the  dust  they  fling  it  into 
the  air,  i.  e.,  "  toward  heaven,"  until  it  falls 
back  upon  their  heads  ;  thus  indicating  that  by 
a  heavenly,  a  Divine  dispensation,  they  felt 
themselves  to  be  bowed  down  to  the  dust  in  sor- 
row (comp.  Ezek.  xxvii.  30;  Lam.  ii.  10,  etc.) 

Ver.  13.  And  they  sat  down  with  him 
upon  the  earth  seven  days  and  seven 
nights ;  i.  e.  as  the  sequel  shows,  in  silence, 
and  also  without  donhi  fasting.  Tins  impressive 
demonstration  of  sympathizing  sorrow  reminds 
us,  not  of  the  seven  days'  lamentation  for  Saul 
(1  Sam.  xxxi.  13),  but  rather  of  Ezekiel's 
mourning,  when  he  sat  down  for  seven  days 
astonished  among  the  captives  by  the  river 
Chebar  (Ez.  iii.  15).  To  lay  stress  on  the  num- 
ber seven  as  rigidly  historical  is  inadmissible  in 
view  of  the  poetic  ideal  character  of  the  descrip- 
tion. At  the  same  time,  the  statement  contains 
nothing  impossible  or  improbable,  nothing  at 
variance  with  customs  and  modes  of  thought 
which  are  known  to  prevail  in  the  east,  espe- 
cially among  oriental  sages,  with  whom  more- 
over, ascetic  practices  are  always  to  be  asso- 
ciated.    Their  "sitting  down  upon  the  ground" 


CHAPS.  I.   1-22— II.   1-13. 


307 


still  further  characterizes  them  as  mourners  in 
all  they  did;  comp.  2  Sam.  xii.  IG;   Ezek.  xkvi. 
16;  Lam.  ii.  10. — And    none  spake  a  word 
unto  him:  lit.  "without  one  (-"Ul   J'NI)  speak- 
ing  to   hiin    a    word."     This  silence  is    to    be 
understood  as  absolute — not  as  interrupted  by 
occasional  speech   among    themselves.      ["This 
seven  days'  silence  has  been  thought  improba- 
ble, and  it  has  been  sought  in  various  ways  to 
modify  the  statement.     A  great  mistake.     For 
it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  what  is  observable 
in     the    well-known    phenomena    of    mystical 
absorption  in  the  East  is,  in  a  less  exaggerated 
form,    a   universal   characteristic    of   orientals. 
Rest   as  well  as  motion  has   with    them    more 
positive    power   than    with    us — a    trait   which 
llamann,  in  the  beginning   of  one   of  his   most 
genial  writings  (the  yEslhetica  innuce),  mentions 
as  characteristic  of  the  primeval  world  of  hu- 
manity:  "The  rest  of  our  ancestors  was  a  pro- 
founder  sleep ;  and  their  motion  a  reeling  dance. 
Seven  days  they  would    sit  in  the   stillness  of 
meditation ;  and   then    they   would    open    their 
mouth   for  winged   sayings.'"  Schlott.]     The 
reason  for  the  friends'  silence  is  given  by  the 
poet  in  the   explanatory  clause  which  follows : 
For  they  saw  that  the  affliction  w^as  very- 
great  ;  i.    e.   they  observed   that  Job's  painful 
condition,  including  the  disease  and  the  misery 
which  caused  it  (3X3  here  accordingly  not  in  a 
one-sided  subjective  sense,  but  also  the  objective 
sense  of  affliction,  malady),  was  far  too  great  to 
admit  of  their  endeavoring  to  comfort  him  sim- 
ply by  words.     It  is  therefore  the  overpowering 
sight  of  the  nameless  misery  which  has  seized 
upon    their    friend    that   closes    their    mouth ; 
although  to  this  must  be  added  the  influence  of 
the  erroneous  assumption,  which  controlled   all 
of  them,  that  Job's  terrible  suffering  had  been 
occasioned  by  certain  secret  sins,  the   existence 
of   which   they  had  not  before  suspected,    and 
which  they  had  never  deemed  him  capable  of 
committing.     And  the  fact  that  this  erroneous 
assumption,   which   led  them   to  look  on   their 
friend  not  only  as  one  who  was  sorely  afflicted, 
but  as  one  who  had  fallen,  lay  at  the  bottom  of 
their  persistent  mournful  silence,  and  was  even 
to  be  read  on   their   countenances,    must   have 
made  their  presence  to  the  sorely  tried  sufferer 
the  more  painful  the  longer  it  continued.     And 
so  their  visit,  which  was  undertaken  according 
to  ver.  11  with  the  most  loving  intent,  became, 
without  their  purposing  it,  a  severe  trial  of  his 
feelings  (comp.  vi.  14  sq.,  especially  ver.  24) — a 
trial  which  at  length  affected  him   more  power- 
fully, and  became  more  insupportable  to   him 
than  all  former   ones,  driving  him   at  last  into 
that  passionate  and  intemperate  outbreak,  which 
even  the  lamenting  and  doubting  challenge  of 
his  wife  had  failed  to  call  forth.     Comp.  Vilmar 
(Past.   Theol.   Bldtt.  xi.   G9) :    "The  temptation 
of  Job  becomes  efficient  by  means  of  his  friends. 
First  of  all,   by  their  presence  they  cause   his 
attention  to  be   drawn  exclusively  to   his   own 
misery,  and  then  by  their  reproaches  they  draw 
out  from  him,  one  after  the  other,  the  mainte- 
nance   of    his    own   innocence,    his    complaint 
because  of  the   cruel  misunderstanding   of  his 
friends,  his  dispute  with  them,  and  finally  his 


dispute  with  God."  ["  Thus  a  new  trial  awaits 
Job,  one  in  which  he  cannot  stand  aloof  from 
men,  and  go  through  in  the  sccrcsy  of  his  own 
soul — fighting  his  dark  adversaries  alone,  and 
conquering  and  becoming  strong  in  his  solitude: 
his  conflict  this  time  is  with  men,  with  the  best 
and  most  religious  of  men,  and  with  the  loftiest 
creed  his  time  has  heard  of.  It  is  a  tremendous 
conflict;  when  a  man  stands  alone,  with  all 
parties  and  forms  of  faith  and  thought,  and 
even  the  world,  or  outward  God,  against  him, 
and  only  himself  and  strong  conscience,  and  his 
necessary  thoughts  of  the  unseen  God  and  in- 
stinctive personal  faith  in  Him  as  his  helpers. 
It  does  not  appear  what  place,  if  any,  Satan 
holds  in  this  new  conflict;  his  name  disappears 
from  the  book.  We  cannot  say,  whether  he 
silently  acknowledged  himself  baffled  and  re- 
tired, having  done  his  worst  on  Job,  and  so  this 
new  trial,  not  of  his  contriving,  but  of  God's, 
who  will  by  its  means  bring  Job  to  fuller  know- 
ledge of  Himself  that  he  may  be  at  peace  ;  and 
if  so,  how  infinitely  deeper  is  God's  knowledge 
of  us  than  Satan's,  and  with  what  unspeakably 
profounder  skill  he  can  touch  the  deepest  springs 
of  our  nature,  and  so  get  behind,  do  what  Satan 
will,  all  his  possible  contrivances,  for  greater  is 
He  that  is  in  us  than  he  that  is  in  the  world — 
or  whether  we  are  to  understand  this  new  fire 
to  be  also  of  the  devil's  kindling.  We  prefer  to 
have  done  with  him,  and  view  the  remaining 
portion  of  Job's  exercise  as  between  him  and 
God  alone,  who,  though  the  devil  failed,  and 
retired  in  confusion,  will  yet  displ.ay  to  the  uni- 
verse more  wondrous  strength  and  more  mar- 
vellously the  talismanic  touch  of  the  divine  hand 
upon  the  human  heart.  It  seems  so;  much  of 
the  poem  is  monologue,  the  objections  and  inter- 
pellations of  the  friends  are  but  used  by  God  as 
spurs  to  stimulate  the  soul  to  exercise  itself  on 
him.  No  one  can  doubt  the  divine  wisdom  in 
using  the  friends  to  bring  Job  into  fuller  know- 
ledge of  itself;  the  violence  of  human  dialectic 
and  the  many-sidedness  of  several  minds  pre- 
sented before  Job  in  much  greater  completeness 
all  the  phases  of  his  relation  to  heaven  than 
could  have  been  accomplished  by  the  mere 
workings  of  his  own  mind."  Da  v.] 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

The  feature  of  the  preceding  Section  of  our 
book  of  greatest  interest  to  the  reader  who 
would  thoroughly  investigate  the  Scriptures 
both  from  the  speculative,  doctrinal  and  ethical 
point  of  view,  as  well  as  from  tlie  apologetic, 
centre  predominantly,  indeed  we  may  say  ex- 
clusively, is  the  enigmatic  figure  of  Satan. — 
The  "Satan  of  the  Prologue"  is  the  standing 
theme  of  certain  introductory  chapters,  or  of 
elaborate  dissertations  in  most  of  the  modern 
Commentaries  on  Job,  both  critical  and  apolo- 
getic. The  following  are  the  fundamental  ques- 
tions treated  in  this  connection:  Can  we  and 
should  we  assume  a  personal  intermediate  cause 
out  of  the  circle  of  the  highest  created  existences, 
that  is,  a  mighty  fallen  angel,  to  account  for 
that  which  is  sinful  in  the  actions  and  motives 
of  mankind  in  general?  Again:  Should  we  at- 
tribute to  this  evil  spirit,  even  within  the  sphere 


308 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


of  the  external  life  of  nature  and  humanity, 
operations  which  produce  ruin  and  destruction, 
thus  exhibiting  him  as  a  cause,  not  only  of  moral 
evil,  but,  in  a  qualified  sense,  also  of  physical 
evil  on  earth?  Again:  May  we  assume  that 
like  the  good  angels,  he  has  access  to  God's 
throne,  and  so  has,  as  it  were,  a  place  and  a 
voice,  or,  at  any  rate,  certain  ministerial  func- 
tions in  the  councils  of  heaven  ?  Finally — and 
this  is,  after  those  more  general  questions,  that 
which  specially  relates  to  the  peculiarities  of 
the  Satanology  of  the  Book  of  Job — Can  we 
assign  the  name,  the  functions,  the  whole 
appearance  of  Satan  as  the  personal  principle 
of  evil,  or,  in  a  word,  as  the  Adversary,  to  that 
more  remote  antiquity  of  the  theocratic  develop- 
ment, to  which  so  many  indications  point  as  the 
moat  probable  time  to  which  to  refer  the  compo- 
sition of  this  book?  Or  are  we  constrained  to 
regard  the  whole  conception  of  Satan  as  the 
product  only  of  a  later  development,  say  of  a 
biblico-theological  development  moulded  by  in- 
fluences proceeding  from  the  A?syrian  Babylon, 
or  the  Persians,  and  accordingly  to  bring  down 
the  composition,  if  not  of  the  entire  book,  at 
least  of  the  Prologue  (together  with  the  Epi- 
logue, comp.  Introd.  §  8),  into  a  later  age,  sub- 
sequent not  only  to  the  time  of  Moses,  but  even 
to  that  of  Solomon?  With  reference  to  the 
skeptical  element  which  resides  in  each  one  of 
those  questions,  and  at  the  same  time  with  a 
view  to  obtaining  a  more  concise  and  simple 
treatment  of  the  same,  the  question  may  be  put 
thus:  whether  the  Satan  of  the  Book  of  Job  is  to 
be  rejected — (1)  on  religious  and  moral  grounds, 
as  the  product  of  a  dualistic  mythology,  antago- 
nistic to  a  pure  monotheism,  or  (2)  on  physico- 
theological  grounds  as  a  superstition ;  or  (3j  on 
sesthelic  grounds  as  a  pure  poetic  fiction ;  or 
(4)  on  grounds  derived  from  the  history  of  reve- 
lation, as  a  scriptural  and  theological  anachron- 
ism. 

1.  The  theory  that  there  is  a  Satan  cannot  be 
rejected  on  religious  and  7noral  grounds,  for  the 
entire  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments demonstrate  the  existence  of  such  a  be- 
ing ;  never,  however,  in  the  dualistic  sense  of 
the  religion  of  the  Zend  [Avesta],  as  an  evil 
principle,  absolutely  and  from  eternity  opposing 
the  good  God,  but  always  as  a  relative  or  created 
evil  principle,  as  an  angel  or  spirit  which  had 
been  created  good  by  God,  but  which  had  after- 
wards fallen  through  its  own  criminal  wicked- 
ness. As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  created  evil  prin- 
ciple— to  the  actual  existence  of  which  no  one 
testifies  more  frequently,  strongly,  and  emphati- 
cally than  our  Lord  Himself  in  His  discourses 
as  recorded  in  the  Gospels  (the  synoptical  alike 
with  that  of  John) — meets  us  already  in  the  old- 
est book  of  the  Bible,  in  Genesis,  where  the  ac- 
count given  of  the  origin  of  sin  (ch.  iii.)  so  un- 
mistakably presents  the  evil  spirit,  disguised  as 
a  serpent,  as  the  author  of  sin  in  the  develop- 
ment of  humanity,  that  every  attempt  to  explain 
the  serpent  as  pure  "allegory,"  or  a  "mere 
hieroglyph,"  runs  off  into  absurdity.  Not  less 
do  we  find  this  same  evil  principle,  if  not  by 
name,  at  least  in  fact,  in  the  Azazel  of  Leviti- 
cus (ch.  xvi.  3  seq.,  27),  that  "  personification  of 
abstract  impurity  as  opposed    to  the  absolute 


purity  of  Jehovah,"  as  Roskoff  [Gesch.  dcs  Teu- 
fels,  Bd.  L,  Leipzig,  1869)  has  perhaps  not  un- 
suitably defined  him,  as  well  as  in  the  descrip- 
tion, resembling  our  Prologue,  given  by  tlie  pro- 
phet Micah  the  elder  in  1  Kings  xxii.  21  seq  , 
where  n'"in,  "  the  spirit"  simply,  is  used  to  de- 
signate the  evil  spirit  only  because  hitherto  hu- 
manity had  to  trace  everywhere  mainly  the 
operation  of  this  spirit,  the  liar  and  murderer 
from  the  beginning,  whereas  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
highest  and  truest  sense  of  the  word,  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  (Joel  iii.  1  [E.  V.,  ii.  28J,  John 
iii.  34,  etc.),  it  liad  learned  as  yet  little  or  no- 
thing. But  also  by  name  the  Old  Testament  more 
than  once  already  testifies  to  the  existence  of 
Satan,  certain  as  it  is  that  not  only  this  Pro- 
logue, but  also  1  Chron.  xxi.  1  and  Zech.  iii.  1, 
apply  this  designation  to  the  same  being  ;  in  the 
passage  in  1  Chron.  as  a  peculiar  proper  name 
without  the  article,  in  Zechariah,  as  in  our  pas- 
sage, as  an  appellative,  and  consequently  with 
the  article.  The  signification  attaching  to  the 
word  in  each  case,  whether  with  or  without  the 
article,  is  simply  "  the  Adversary  "  ( "iOV  from 
t£3'kI'z=D£0il',  to  be  hostile  to,  adversari;  Job  xvi. 

I  -  T  -    T 

9  ;  XXX.  21),  or  also  "  the  Accuser  "  (Ps.  cix.  6). 
Comp.  tlie  New  Testament  equivalents  6  6taj3o/Mc 
and  6  Kari/yuQ,  Rev.  xii.  10 ;  likewise  the  cases 
where  \l^Vf  denotes  a  human  adversary  or 
enemy,  such  as  1  Sam.  xxix.  4;  2  Sam.  xix.  23 
[22]  ;  1  Kings  v.  18  [4]  ;  xi.  14j^5;  also  Num. 
xxii.  22,  32,  where  a  gotd  angel  of  Jehovah,  in 
so  far  as  he  obstructs  Balaam  on  his  way,  is 
spoken  of  as  his  "  Satan."  This  same  significa- 
tion, however,  has  in  it  nothing  which  in  the 
slightest  degree  indicates  an  absolutely  dualistic 
antagonism  of  Satan  to  God,  and  hence  a  char- 
acter above  that  of  a  creature,  or,  in  any  sense, 
divine  and  eternal.  And  especially  in  this  Pro- 
logue, which  in  any  case,  even  if  written  after 
the  time  of  Solomon,  contains  the  earliest  Bibli- 
cal testimony  to  Satan's  invisible  agency  in 
tempting  men,  does  he  appear  as  distinctly  as 
possible  as  belonging  to  the  class  of  created 
spirits,  an  angel  like  the. angels  or  "sons  of 

God"  (Q'TlSxn  "'p3,  ch,  i.  6  seq.;  xxxviii.  4 
seq.  ;  Gen.  vi.  2  ;  comp.  Ps.  xxix.  1 ;  Ixxxix.  7 
[6],  although  indeed  an  angel  possessed  of  an 
evil  disposition,  and  guilty  of  evil  actions,  who 
in  any  case  belongs  to  the  same  side  with  the 
angels  who  bring  calamity  and  death  (ch.  xxxiii. 
22 ;  Ps.  Ixxviii.  49),  and  who,  as  an  accuser  of 
men,  is  engaged  in  doing  just  the  opposite  of 
that  which  is  attributed  to  those  who  are  spoken 
of  in  our  book  as  "interceding"  or  "media- 
ting" angels  (ch.  v.  1;  xxxiii.  23  seq.).  No- 
thing therefore  can  be  more  perverse  or  unhis- 
torical  than  the  attempt  to  represent  the  Satan 
of  the  Old  Testament  in  general,  and  of  our 
book  in  particular,  as  a  Hebrew  imitation,  either 
of  the  Angramunyas — .'Vhriman  of  the  Persians 
fso  many  of  the  earlier  exogetes,  also  Umbreit, 
Renan,  liilgenfeld,  Roskoff  in  the  work  cited 
above,  Alex.  Kohnt:  Ueber  die  jiidischc  Avgcologie 
und  Damonologie  in  ihrer  Abhiingigkeit  vom  Parsis- 
miis,  Leipzig,  18(JG),  or  of  the  Set-Typhon  of  the 
Egyptians  (so  Diestel  in  his  Treatise  concerning 
Set  Typhou,  Azazel,    and   Satan,  Stud.   u.  Krit., 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.  1-13. 


309 


18G0,  II.),  and  so  to  maintain  the  original  un- 
createdness  of  the  evil  spirit,  his  dualistic  co- 
existence with  God  from  eternity.*  It  is  cer- 
tainly impossible  to  see  how  the  theory  of  a 
tempter  of  men,  a  created  being,  coming  forth 
out  of  the  realm  of  evil  spirits,  the  theory,  i.  e., 
of  a  fallen  angel  as  a  personal  principle  of  evil, 
and  author  of  sin  in  humanity,  does  any  vio- 
lence to  the  purity  of  the  religious  consciousness, 
or  the  moral  earnestness  of  men ;  or  why  it 
should  be  necessary  to  deny  that  Satan  is  "  of 
purely  Israelitish  origin  and  a  natural  product 
of  primitive  Hebraism,"  and  with  Diestel  (in 
the  article  referred  to  above),  to  maintain  that 
♦'  it  would  be  no  particular  honor  even  for  Israel 
to  be  able  to  claim  him  as  its  own,  that  he  never 
had  a  proper  footing  in  the  Hebrew  conscious- 
ness." Comp.  Delitzsch,  I.  57:  "But  how 
should  it  be  no  honor  for  Israel,  the  people  to 
whom  the  revelation  of  redemption  was  made, 
and  in  whose  history  the  plan  of  redemption 
was  developed,  to  have  traced  the  poisonous 
stream  of  evil  up  to  the  fountain  of  its  first  free 
beginning  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  to  have 
more  than  superficially  understood  the  history 
of  the  fall  of  mankind  by  sin,  which  points  to  a 
disguised  superhuman  power,  opposed  to  the 
Divine  will?  This  perception  undoubtedly  only 
begins  gradually  to  dawn  in  the  Old  Testament; 
but  in  the  New  Testament  the  abyss  of  evil  is 
fully  disclosed,  and  Satan  has  so  far  a  hold  on 
the  consciousness  of  Jesus,  that  He  regards  His 
life's  vocation  as  a  conflict  with  Satan.  And 
the  Protevangelium  is  deciphered  in  facts,  when 
the  promised  seed  of  the  woman  crushed  the 
serpent's  head,  but  at  the  same  time  suffered 
the  bruising  of  its  own  heel." 

2.  Again,  the  physico-theological  ground,  that 
such  natural  phenomena  of  a  destructive  charac- 
ter, as  the  ravages  of  lightning,  storms,  dire 
diseases,  etc.,  are  to  be  referred  directly  to  the 
agency  of  God  as  Ruler  of  the  universe,  and 
that  we  ascribe  to  the  evil  spirit  far  too  wide  a 
sphere  for  the  exertion  of  his  power,  when  we 
attribute  such  results  to  him — this  position  does 
not  sustain  the  test  of  more  searching  inquiry 
in  the  light  of  God's  Word.  Not  only  does  our 
book  in  that  striking  description  which  it  gives 
of  Job's  calamities  in  ch.  i.  13-18,  and  ch.  ii.  7, 
introduce  a  whole  series  of  such  destructive  na- 
tural agencies  (two  of  which  indeed  are  works 
of  destruction  accomplished  by  wild,  godless 
men),  referring  the  same  to  Satan  as  the  inter- 
mediate instrument  of  a  Divine  decree,  but  the 
entire  Scripture  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
views  all  possible  events  of  nature  which  are 
connected  with  the  destinies  of  mankind,  and 
all  historical  catastrophes,  as  brought  about  by 
the  invisible  agency  of  angelic  powers,  now  of 
such  as  are  good,  and  now  of  such  as  are  evil. 
Whether  man  is  preserved  or  injured,  it  repre- 
sents either  result  in  so  far  as  man  with  his 
body  belongs  to  the  corporeal  world,  as  accom- 
plished by  the  agency  of  spirits  (comp.  v.  Hof- 


*  Comp.  that  which  has  been  advanced  against  this  theory 
even  by  such  liberally  disposed  investieators  as  Itillniaiin  (]>. 
8)  and  Davidson  (Introd.  II ,  p.  I'J'J,  230  seq.);  in  like  man- 
ner Max  Miiller's  objections  to  the  prevalent  assumption  of 
the  identity  of  most  of  the  religious  traditions  in  the  book 
of  Genesis  with  those  of  the  Zend  Avesta  (iu  his  Jissays, 
vol.  I.,  p.  129  seq.). 


mann,  Sckriftbew.,  I.  285  seq.).     And  iu   parti- 
cular does  it  introduce  angels  as  causing  desola- 
ting wars   and   defeats   (comp.   Dan.  x.  1  seq; 
Rev.  ix.  14  seq. ;  xx.   8),  also   as   letting  loose 
the  elements  of  destruction,  such  as  fire,  water, 
tempest,    etc.,   in    general,    therefore    as    active 
powers  engaged  in  furthering  the  manifestations 
of   Divine   wrath,   now    expressly  representing 
them  as  belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  now 
leaving  their  moral  character  undetermined.  This 
it  does  quite  often ;  our  passage  is  by  no  means 
the  only  one ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xxi.  1  sq. ;  Rev. 
xiv.  15  ;  xvi.  5,  and  often.     So   that  Luther  ac- 
cordingly expresses    no  absurdly  superstitious 
notion,  but  what  is   essentially  only  the  purely 
theistic  representation  of   the  Holy  Scriptures 
as  apprehended  by  faith,  when  in  the  exposi- 
tion of  the  fourth  petition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
in    bis    Greater   Catechism,    he    writes:     "The 
devil  causes  brawls,  murders,  sedition  and  war, 
also   thunderstorms,  hail,  to  destroy   grain  and 
cattle,  to  poison  the  air,  etc."     The   extent  of 
the   sphere  which  Luther  here,   and    in  many 
other   passages,   especially  in    his   "  Table-talk 
about  the  devil"  (  Werke,  Bd.,  CO),  assigns  to  the 
agency  of  Satan  in  injuring  and  destroying  life, 
may  be  altogether  too  wide;  even  as  in  like  man- 
ner the  Satanological  and  demonological  repre- 
sentations of  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Church  may 
need  in   many  ways  to  be  limited  and  corrected 
in  accordance  with  the  assured  results  of  the  mo- 
dern natural  sciences  and  philosophical  investi- 
gation.    But  on  the  whole  it  still  remains  indis- 
putable that  he  who  denies  to  Satan  any  agency 
whatever  in  the   sphere   of  nature,  aud  allows 
him  exclusively  a  moral  influence  upon  the  will, 
has  removed  himself  far  from  the  foundation  of 
revealed  truth,  and  for  the  Satan  of  the  Bible, 
the  "Prince  of  this  world,"  who  "has  the  power 
of  death"  (Ileb.  ii.  14),  substitutes  what  is  only 
a  semi-personal  Phantom-Satan,  an  abstraction 
of  modern  thought,    the  existence  of  which  is 
problematical.     Comp.   Delitzsch   (I.   Go)  :   "As 
among  men,  so  in  nature,  since  the  fall  two  dif- 
ferent powers   of  Divine  anger  and  Divine  love 
are  in  operation ;  the  mingling  of  these  is  the 
essence  of  the  present  Kosmos.     Everything  de- 
structive to  nature,  and  everything  arising  there- 
from which  is  dangerous  and  fatal  to  the  life  of 
man,  is  the  outward  manifestation  of  the  power 
of  anger.     In  this  power  Satan  has  fortified  him- 
self;  and  this,  which  undeilies  the  whole  course 
of  nature,  be  is  able  to  make  u.se   of,  so  far  as 
God  may  permit  it,  as  being  subservient  to  His 
chief  design  (comp.  Rev.  xiii.  13  with  2  Thess. 
ii.   9).     He  has  no  creative  power.     Fire  and 
storm,  by  means  of  which  he  works,  are  of  God  ; 
but  he  is  allowed  to  excite  these  forces  to  hos- 
tility against  man,  just  as  he  himself  is  become 
an  instrument  of  evil.     It  is  similar  with  human 
demonocracy,    whose    very    being    cousists    in 
placing  itself  en  ntpport  with  the  hidden  powers 
of  nature.     Satan  is  the  great  magician,  and  has 
already  manifested  hinistlf  as  such  even  in  para- 
dise,  and    in  the    temptation    of  Jesus   Christ. 
There  is  in  nature,  as  among   men.  an  entangle- 
ment of  contrary  forces,  which   he   knows  how 
to  unloose,  because  it  is  the  sphere  of  his  special 
dominion  ;  for  the  whole  course  of  nature  in  the 
change  of  its  phenomena,  is  subject  not  only  to 


310 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


abstract  laws,  but  also  to  concrete  supernatural 
powers,  both  bad  and  good." 

3.  Neither  is  the  Satan  of  our  book  to  be  as- 
sailed  on   xsthelic  grounds  ;  for  his  appearance 
before  God  in  the  midst  of  the  other  angels  has 
nothing  at  variance  with  the  position  which  all 
the  rest  of  the  Scriptures  assigns   to  the  fivil 
Spirit  in  the  administration  of  the  world,  or  the 
economy  of  the  Divine  kingdom,  nothing  which 
favors  the  suspicion   that  we  have  to   do   here 
with  the  arbitrary  product  of  an  inventive  fancy, 
without  objective  reality.      Herder,  Eichhorn, 
Ilgen,    and    others    in   a  former   age    [and   so 
Wemyss]    denied  that  the   Satan   of  these  two 
chapters  has  a  nature  decidedly  evil,  and  regarded 
him  as  being,  in  respect  to  his  moral  character, 
an  impartial,  judicial  agent  of  God,  a  divinely 
authorized  censor  nioruin,  who  exhibits  scarcely 
any  the  slightest  traces,  or  traits  of  a  personal 
evil  principle.     This  theory,  however,  must  be 
rejected,    not   only   on   account   of  the   unmis- 
takably evil  disposition  and  conduct  which  our 
poet  attributes  to  him,  but  also   on  account  of 
the  analogy  of  Zech.  iii.  1  seq.,  a  passage  which 
not  less  decidedly  than  this  in  Job  brings  into 
connection   these  two  facts :    on  the  one  hand 
that  Satan's  character  is  thoroughly  bad  and 
opposed  to  God,  ou  the  other  that  he  has  the 
right  to  appear  before  God  among  the  angels. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  Umbreit's  view:  that 
the  Satan  of  our  poem  is  a  creation  of  the  poet's 
imagination,  suggested  by  Ps.  cix.  6  {Die  Siinde 
im  Alien  Testament,  1853),    as  well  as  of   those 
modern  views  generally,  which  find  in  the  ap- 
pearance  of  Satan   among    the  holy   "  sons  of 
God"  in   heaven   anything    singular,  anything 
which  contradicts  what  the  Scripture   teaches 
elsewhere  concerning  Satan  (so  e.g.,  Ewald,  and 
Lutz    in    his    Bibl.    Dogmatik,     1847).       It    is 
enough   to   oppose   to   these   mythologizing  at- 
tempts of  a  biased  criticism  such  New  Testament 
passages  as  Luke  x.  18;  John  xii.  31  seq.;  Rev. 
xii.  9,  which  represent  Satan's  right  to  appear 
before  God  in  the  ranks  of  celestial  beings  as 
continuing  until  the  time  of  Christ  and  His  re- 
demptive work,  and  thus  show  the  identity  of 
the  character  of  Satan  in  our  book  with  that  of 
the  New  Testament  revelation,  and  in  general 
the  essential  unity  and  consistency  of  the  entire 
Satanology  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.     Conip.  what 
Schlottmann  observes  (p.  9  of  his  Commen.,  more 
particularly    against   Ewald)    in   favor   of   this 
identity   of  the  Satan   of  the    Prologue   to  our 
book  with  the  same  as  presented  in  the  remain- 
ing books  of  the  Bible:   "  Even  the  later  Hebrew 
representation  of  the  world    of  evil   spirits   is 
much  further   removed   from  all  dualism  than 
Ewald's  description  of  it  would  imply.     In  all 
the  Hebrew  conceptions  of  the  subject  the  evil 
spirits  never  appear  otherwise  than  as  originally 
pure,  but  fallen  through  their  own  sin.     They 
never  have  the  power  to  accomplish  more  than 
the  universal  plan  of  the  Almighty  God  permits 
to  them.     But  this  same   thought  the  Prologue 
expresses  in  bold,  poetic  fashion  when  it  relates 
that  Satan,  in  order  to  tempt  Job,  must  first  ob- 
tain permission  thereto  from  God  Himself.     In 
this  the   poet  certainly  does  not  intend  in  the 
least  to  lessen  the  gulf  fixed  between  good  and 
evil ;  rather  is  that  striking  contrast  which  is 


presented  in  the  appearance  of  the  unholy  one 
as  an  inferior  in  the  assembly  of  the  holy  alto- 
gether intentional,  precisely  as  in  the  masterly 
conception  of  Giotto's  celebrated  picture.  More- 
over, that  Satan  here  appears  not  at  the  head  of 
his  hosts,  but  alone,  is  a  peculiarity  that  is  re- 
quired by  the  simplicity  of  plan  in  the  poem  ; 
any  other  representation  would  be  a  superflaou'^ 
detail  of  ornamentation.  And  how  would  the 
s^'mbolic  significance  of  that  scene,  great  in  its 
simplicity  as  it  stands,  be  completely  distorted 
and  obscured,  if  Satan  should,  according  to 
Ewald's  supposition,  enter  the  assembly  of  the 
holy  ones  with  all  his  adherents,"  etc.  Even 
Goethe,  who,  according  to  his  own  published 
confession,  used  the  Satan  of  our  book  as  the 
original  of  one  of  his  most  powerful  spirit-crea- 
tions, of  Mephistopheles  in  Faust  (see  his  re- 
marks on  the  subject  in  Burkhardt's  Conversa- 
tions of  Goethe  with  the  Chancellor  v.  Miiller, 
Stuttgart,  1871,  p.  96:  "A  great  work  is  pro- 
duced only  by  the  appropriation  of  foreign  trea- 
sures. Have  I  not  in  Mephistopheles  appro- 
priated Job  and  a  song  of  Shakespeare?") — 
even  Goethe  was  evidently  far  removed  from  the 
disposition  to  pervert  or  to  obscure  the  truly 
and  decidedly  diabolical  character  of  this 
"  spirit  which  always  denies,"  great  as  is  the 
difl'erence  between  the  modern  creation  of  his 
muse,  and  the  tempter  of  this  venerable  poem 
in  the  volume  of  revelation. 

4.  Finally,  as  regards  the  arguments  derived 
from  the  history  of  religion  or  revelation,  by  which 
it  is  sought  to  prove  that  the  Satan  of  our  book 
is  a  Scriptural  and  theological  anachronism, 
they  resolve  themselves  as  to  their  substance 
into  arbitrary  assumptions.  The  Satanology  of 
Job  exhibits  precisely  that  conception  of  the  charac- 
ter which  we  are  justified  in  expecting  in  view  of  the 
probability  that  it  was  composed  between  the  patri- 
archal age  and  that  of  the  exile.  The  fact  that 
the  name  Satan,  i.  e.,  the  "Adversary,"  the 
"  Accuser,"  already  attaches  to  the  Evil  One  as 
a  proper  name  (or  at  all  events  as  an  appellative 
used  absolutely,  comp.  above,  No.  1),  exhibits, 
it  is  true,  a  certain  progress,  as  compared  with 
the  documents  of  the  Mosaic  age,  seeing  that  in 
them  his  dark  personality  is  either  symbolically 
veiled,  as  by  the  serpent  in  Gen.  iii.,  or  myste- 
riously kept  out  of  sight,  as  by  the  mystical 
name  Azazel,  Lev.  xvi.  But  this  progress  is  by 
no  means  of  such  a  sort  as  to  require  for  its  ex- 
planation the  assumption  of  transforming  influ- 
ences of  a  religious-historical  character  from 
without,  proceeding  from  the  East,  from  Baby- 
lonia, or  Persia ;  the  name  ]pv  being  most  as- 
suredly all  the  time  a  genuine  Hebrew  name, 
mocking  at  every  attempt  to  derive  it  from  non- 
Israelitish  heathen  names  of  divinities  !  For,  as 
has  been  already  remarked  above,  nothing  that 
is  essential  to  the  complete  Satanic  nature  is 
wanting  in  that  evil  spirit-nature  which  lies 
concealed  in  the  serpent  of  Paradise ;  as  a 
crawling,  crafty,  smooth-tongued  tempter  of  men, 
he  is  already  preparing  the  way  to  become  their 
accuser.  And  if  it  be  said  that  the  documents 
which  stand  nearest  to  the  patriarchal  and  Mo- 
saic ages  make  comparatively  little  mention  ot 
him,   if  on   any  given  occasion   they   introduce 


CHAPS.  I.  1-22— II.  1-13. 


311 


him  neither  as  tempter  nor  as  accuser,  if  e.  g.  in 
the  fearful  temptation  wliich  assailed  Abraham 
when  he  was  commanded  to  offer  his  son  Isaac 
(Gen.  xxii.),  they  leave  his  agency  entirely  out 
of  the  account,  the  simple  explanation  of  all 
this  is  that  the  recognition  of  the  mysterious 
co-operation  of  this  evil  spiritual  agency  with 
God's  activity  as  ruler  of  the  world  was  effected 
only  veri/  gradually  mnong  the  people  of  God.  It 
was  a  part  of  the  redemptive  plan  of  God  so  to 
lead  and  to  educate  them  that  at  first  every- 
thing, even  temptations  and  severe  moral  trials, 
was  to  be  referred  to  His  own  action  and  dispo- 
sition, and  only  afterwards  were  they  accustomed 
to  discriminate  between  the  asrency  of  angels 
and  demons  in  such  cases  and  that  of  God. 
Comp.  Delitzsch  and  Schlottmann  in  1.  c.  ;  also 
L.  Schulze  in  the  Ally,  liter.  Am.,  1870,  Oct.,  p 
270,  who  reduces  to  its  exact  value  Dillmaun's 
assertion  that  the  conception  of  Satan  in  our 
book  is  one  that  is  only  in  process  of  develop- 
ment, and  assigns  to  it  the  proper  limitations. 

On  the  question,  why  no  further  mention  is 
made  of  Satan  in  the  remainder  of  the  poem, 
and  especially  in  the  Epilogue,  Schlottmann  ex- 
presses himself  in  the  following  striking  lan- 
guage in  1.  c. :  "  How  the  power  granted  to  the 
Evil  One  is  everywhere  made  subservient  to  the 
Divine  plan  that  is  set  forth  in  the  clearest  light 
by  the  issue  of  the  poem;  not  only  does  Satan 
fail  of  his  own  end,  but  the  temptations  which 
he  brings  on  the  pious  hero  are  made  instru- 
mental in  raising  him  to  a  higher  stage  of  know- 
ledge and  union  with  God.  But  that  no  men- 
tion at  all  is  made  in  the  Epilogue  of  the  confu- 
sion brought  on  Satan  is  occasioned  by  the  high 
simplicity  of  the  poem,  which  everywhere  con- 
fines itself  to  that  which  is  most  essential,  and 
would  fain  leave  the  reader  to  divine  everything 
which  can  be  divined.  Any  scene  at  the  end  of 
the  book,  in  which  Satan  should  again  make  his 
appearance,  no  matter  how  the  same  might  be 
described,  would  be  insipid,  unworthy,  and  fatal 
to  the  quiet  grandeur  of  the  conclusion." 

HOMILETICAL  AND  PRACTICAL. 

The  element  of  Satanology  in  the  above  sec- 
tion, which  doctrinally  considered  is  the  most 
attractive,  cannot  of  course  have  too  much  pro- 
minence given  to  it  by  the  practical  expositor. 
For  him  the  principal  figure  in  the  Introduction 
of  the  poem  is  Job  himself,  the  pious  man  who 
was  at  first  abundantly  endowed  with  earthly 
comforts,  but  who  was  afterwards  plunged  at 
once  by  a  mysterious  Divine  decree  ordaining 
bis  trial  into  a  real  abyss  of  temporal  misery ; 
who,  however,  bore  this  trial  with  unshaken  pa- 
tience and  constancy,  without  allowing  himself, 
for  a  time  at  least,  to  indulge  in  the  slightest 
outbreak  of  complaining  despondency,  or  pas- 
sionate murmuring.  This  accordingly  must  be 
the  theme  of  the  practical  and  homiletic  annota- 
tor  on  these  introductory  chapters  of  the  book  : 
Job,  the  Old  Testament  saint,  an  example  of  that 
perfect  patience  in  suffering,  which  is  and  remains 
also  for  the  child  of  God  under  the  Neiv  Dispensa- 
tion one  of  the  highest  and  most  needful  virtues 
(comp.  Jas.  v.  11);  or  in  other  words:  Job,  the 
Old  Testament  Ideal  of  a  suffering  righteous  man, 


as  a  type  of  Christ,  the  Righteous  Man  in  the  high- 
est and  purest  sense  of  the  word,  who  by  Ilis  inno- 
cent suffering  is  become  the  founder  of  the  New  Cove- 
nant. In  so  far  as  any  intimation  is  conveyed 
of  a  want  of  similarity  between  the  comluct  in 
suffering  of  the  OKI  Testament  type  on  the  one 
side,  and  that  of  Christ  and  of  true  Cliristians 
(comp.  1  Pet.  iv.  12  seq.)  on  the  other,  the 
closing  verses  of  (he  Prologue  (ch.  ii.  11-13) 
may  be  included  in  the  text,  where  the  impend- 
ing outbreak  of  the  unregenerate  and  imperfect 
element  in  the  nature  of  the  Old  Testament 
saints,  is  suggested  and  anticipated.  We  may 
thus  point  out  how  the  sufferer,  after  victori- 
ously overcoming  so  many  preceding  tempta- 
tions, nevertheless  succumbed  to  that  last  trial 
which  visited  him  in  the  mute  yet  eloquent  con- 
duct of  Ills  friends,  now  become  the  accusers 
and  suspeeters  of  his  innocence,  when  they  sat 
down  beside  him.  Or,  in  other  words,  it  may 
be  shown  how  the  sufi"ering  saint,  before  the 
coming  of  Christ,  could  resht  indeed  all  other 
temptations,  but  was  stranded  at  last  on  the  rock  of 
self-riyhteousness  and  of  the  diseased  pride  of  vir- 
tue— in  contrast  with  which  the  conduct  beseem- 
ing the  Christian  sufferer  (the  true  naix^^v  wf 
Xpiariavog,  1  Peter  iv.  16)  is  at  once  suggested. 
If  however  we  decide  to  dwell  more  thoroughly 
and  exclusively  on  the  conduct  of  the  type,  we 
shall  then  omit  from  our  text  these  closing  verses, 
which  are  besides  in  close  connection  with  ch. 
iii.,  and  which  form  as  it  were  the  immediate 
basis  of  the  gloomy  picture  there  presented,  and 
we  shall  treat  simply  of  Job's  steadfast  endu- 
rance in  the  fire  of  sore  tribulations  which  came 
upon  him.  In  the  latter  case  again  we  can 
either  combine  into  one  whole  the  two  stages  of 
the  trial,  the  first — the  lighter,  consisting  of  the 
loss  of  his  property  and  family,  and  the  other — 
the  more  severe,  consisting  of  ihe  infliction  on 
him  of  the  most  frightful  of  all  bodily  plagues ; 
or  we  can  consider  the  subject  under  two  divi- 
sions, the  point  of  separation  being  ch.  i.  22. 
The  attempt  of  Delitzsch  to  establish  seven  temp- 
tations as  befalling  Job  in  succession  (the  first 
four  in  ch.  i.  13-18  ;  the  fifth  in  ch.  ii.  7,  8;  the 
sixth  in  ch.  ii.  9,  10;  and  the  seventh  in  ch.  ii. 
11-13),  could  be  appli<"d  of  course  only  in  case 
we  include  those  closing  verses,  narrating  the 
mute  visit  of  the  friends.  Much,  however,  may 
be  urged  against  this  division;  as,  e.g.,  that  no 
regular  gradation  can  be  observed  in  the  seven 
trials  thus  distinguished  ;  that  the  first  four  (ch. 
i.  13-18)  constitute  one  connected  trial,  ratlier 
than  four  distinct  trials,  etc.  On  this  account 
we  must  perhaps  waive  any  homiletic  use  of  this 
division,  especially  seeing  that  it  migiit  easily 
suggest  a  sensible  contradiction  to  ch.  v.  1-9: 
"in  the  seventh  [trouble]  no  evil  shall  befall 
thee." 

Particular  Passages. — Ch.  i.  1-5.  CocCEius  (ver. 
5) :  Scripture  selects  this  example  of  pious  soli- 
citude, in  order  to  show  that  this  holy  man  ex- 
ercised the  greatest  solicitude  at  a  time  when 
we  are  wont  to  exercise  it  the  least.  For  du- 
ring our  festivities  what  is  it  about  which  we 
mostly  occupy  our  mind  and  conversation,  but 
vanities  ?  It  is  showing  too  much  sourness,  we 
think,  to  speak  at  our  cups  about  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  or  His  fear,  or  the  hope  of  eternal  life. 


312 


THE  .BOOK  OF  JOB. 


....  Finally,  the  constancy  of  this  custom  of 
Job's  is  to  be  noted.  He  was  nevei-  free  from 
care.  However  well  instructed  and  obedient 
his  children  might  be,  he  by  no  means  laid  aside 
his  solicitude  in  their  behalf.  It  is  easy,  when 
we  think  that  we  stand,  to  stumble  and  fall. 
There  always  remains  in  men  a  proneness  to  sin, 
however  much  they  cultivate  piety. — Staeke: 
Job  gives  to  all  parents  an  example:  (1)  That 
they  should  keep  a  watchful  eye  on  their  chil- 
dren's conduct  and  life.  (2)  That  they  should 
pray  God  to  give  their  children  salvation  and 
blessing,  without  allowing  themselves,  however, 
to  be  prompted  by  their  errors  and  transgres- 
sions to  curse  them,  or  to  wish  them  evil.  (3) 
That  they  must  also  pray  in  behalf  of  their 
children  that  God  would  be  gracious  to  them 
and  forgive  their  sins. 

Ch.  i.  6-12.  Brentius:  Every  temptation 
proceeds  both  from  the  Lord  and  from  Satan. 
The  latter  seeks  to  destroy  and  to  betray,  the 
former  to  try  man,  and  to  teach  His  will.  Hence 
faith,  as  it  receives  the  good  from  the  Lord's 
hand,  so  also  it  receives  suffering.  For  he  who 
receives  the  cross  out  of  Satan's  hand,  receives 
it  for  his  destruction  (comp.  2  Cor.  vii.  10)  ;  but 
he  who  receives  it  from  the  Lord's  hand,  receives 
it  for  his  trial  (comp.  Heb.  xii.) — Staeke  :  God, 
in  accordance  with  His  hidden  counsel,  permis- 
sively  decrees  at  times  much  misery  even  to  the 
most  pious.  This  truth  has  always  been  a  great 
stumbling-block  to  the  reason.  ...  It  is  to  be 
observed,  however:  (a.)  That  these  sore  trials 
were  not  occasioned  in  the  first  instance  by  Sa- 
tan's calumnies  against  Job,  but  that  even  be- 
fore the  fouDilation  of  the  world  God  had  de- 
creed and  purposed  to  put  all  His  saints  to  the 
test,  each  one  in  his  measure.  (6)  That  God 
inwardly  sustained  and  strengthened  Job  so 
much  with  His  consolation  that  his  afflictions 
were  as  easily  supported  by  him  as  the  slight 
suflFering  of  another,  (c)  That  it  was  God's  will 
that  Job's  patience  should  be  made  known  to 
others  for  their  blessed  edification  and  imitation. 
(d)  That  God  caused  the  friends'  lack  of  know- 
ledge to  be  instrumental  in  putting  them  to 
shame,  ancJ  in  leading  them  to  be  better  in- 
structed in  the  mystery  of  the  cross,  (e)  That 
to  Job  himself  also  the  exercise  and  trial  of  his 
faith  was  in  the  highest  degree  advantageous 
and  necessary.  (/)  That  the  final  issue  decreed 
for  these  suflFerings  was  not  only  one  that  could 
be  borne,  but  also  one  to  be  desired,  and  in  the 
highest  degree  delightful  and  honorable  for  Job. 
— Seb.  Scii.MiDT  (on  ver.  12);  From  this  verse 
we  learn  clearl3'  that  the  power  of  the  Devil  is 
indeed  great,  so  that,  when  the  Divine  protec- 
tion is  withdrawn,  men  are  in  his  hand ;  that  it 
is  nevertheless  finite,  and  in  ways  without  num- 
ber weaker  than  the  Divine;  and  hence  that  he 
can  do  nothing  whatsoever  unless  the  Lord 
should  permit  it  to  him,  just  as  here  he  could 
not  destroy  even  a  single  sheep  of  .Job's  before 
he  had  received  permission. — Vict.  Andrea  : 
This  much  is  certain,  that  this  scene  in  heaven 
may  teach  us  that  the  destinies  of  men  on  earth 
have  their  ulterior  roots  and  determining  causes 
in  the  heavenly  world;  and  that  Satan,  who  is 
here  represented  as  taking  an  active  part  in  hu- 
man affairs,  notwithstanding  all  his  hostility, 


can  touch  us  only  just  so  far  as  the  Almighty 
God  in  His  wisdom  and  love  permits  him. 

Ch.  i.  13-18.  Zeyss  (in  Starke):  Afflictions 
seldom  come  singly,  but  each  joins  hand  with 
the  other,  and  before  one  has  passed  away,  an- 
other is  already  at  the  door,  Pa.  Ixii.  8.  Thus 
the  Christian  state  is  altogether  a  state  of  afflic- 
tion, for  which  the  best  of  all  provisions  is  an 
iron  front  and  a  strong  paternoster,  i.  e.,  an  in- 
trepid faith  and  earnest  prayer. 

Ch.  i.  19-22.  Beentius:  Thou  wilt  endure 
without  great  sorrow  the  loss  of  all  thy  pos- 
sessions, if  only  the  Lord,  the  treasury  of  all 
good  things,  remains.  Set  aside  the  Lord,  there 
being  only  the  cross  placed  before  thee,  and 
thou  shalt  see  what  blasphemies  will  arise  in  a 
man's  heart. — Osiandek:  In  adversity  we 
should  look  not  at  the  means  and  instruments 
by  which  God  sends  calamity  upon  us,  but  to 
God  only,  from  whom  comes  both  good  and  evil, 
prosperity  and  adversity  (Ruth  i.  13  ;  Sir.  ii. 
14). 

Ch.  ii.  1-8.  Zeyss:  God  sometimes  permits  Sa- 
tan to  have  power  over  the  pious,  to  torment 
them,  either  in  the  body,  by  this  or  that  painful 
casualty,  or  in  the  soul,  by  tempting  them,  in 
order  that  their  faith,  their  patience,  humility, 
devotion,  prayerfulness,  etc.,  may  be  tested,  and 
the  good  which  God  has  imparted  to  them,  may 
be  made  manifest  (Tob.  xii.  13). — Joach.  Lanqe  : 
If  any  man  is  a  brother  of  Job,  although  it  be 
only  in  the  sense  that  he  endures  a  severe  and 
long-continued  sickness,  produced,  not  by  any 
special  agency  of  Satan,  but  by  natural  causes 
— let  him  nevertheless  be  comforted,  seeing  that 
he  may  be  assured  that  such  a  decree  of  God  is 
by  no  means  a  token  of  Divine  displeasure — pro- 
vided only  that  the  sufferer  maintains  his  integ- 
rity, that  after  the  example  of  Job  his  mind  is 
upright  with  God,  and  he  adheres  loyally  to 
Him. — J.  H.  Jacobi  :  Job,  vindicating  his  vir- 
tue, justifying  his  Maker's  eulogy  of  him,  sits 
down  on  his  heap  of  ashes  as  the  glory  and 
boast  of  God.  God  and  His  whole  heavenly  host 
look  to  see  how  he  will  bear  his  calamity.  "He 
triumphs,  and  his  triumph  reaches  higher  than 
the  stars." 

Ch.  ii.  9-13.  Brentius  (on  vers.  9,  10):  You 
see  here  how  great  an  evil  is  a  wicked  wife ! 
For  a  wife  is  given  by  the  Lord  to  share  in  bear- 
ing life's  labors,  and,  as  Scripture  says,  for  a 
help-meet.  But  lo  !  Job's  wife  becomes  a  stum- 
bling-block, and  a  blaspheming  instrument  of 
Satan  ;  and  thus  she  is  a  preacher  of  the  irre- 
ligious flesh,  teaching  him  in  his  afflictions  to 
esteem  God  as  dead,  or  as  negligent  of  human 
affairs,  and  distrusting  Divine  succor,  to  rely  oa 
his  own  powers,  and  industry,  and  endeavors. 
— WoHLFARTH  :  A  true  friend  in  need  (Sir.  xl. 
23;  Rom.  xii.  15),  what  a  priceless  treasure! 
As  when  all  turned  away  from  Job,  and  even 
his  wife  forsook  him,  three  noble  friends  drew 
nigh  to  comfort  him ;  thus  it  is  that  true  friend- 
ship at  all  times  asserts  itself. — Staeke:  Even 
in  ministering  comfort  wo  must  use  discretion, 
in  order  that  the  wound  which  has  been  in- 
flicted may  not  be  torn  open  again.  .  .  Job,  who 
was  so  poorly  comforted  by  his  friends,  is  a  type 
of  Christ,  who  in  His  sufferings  was  also  de- 
prived  of  all  consolation. 


CHAP.  III.  1-26. 


313 


FIRST  CHIEF  DIVISION  OF  THE  POEM. 

THE    ENTANGLEMENT-OR    THE    CONTROVERSIAL    DISCOURSES    OF    JOB    AND    HIS 

FRIENDS. 

Chapters  III— XXVIII. 

The  Outbreak  of  Job's  Despair  as  the  Theme  and  Immediate  Occasion  of  the  Colloquy. 

Chap.  III. 

a.    Job  curses  his  existence. 

Chap.  III.  1-10. 

1,  2       After  this  opened  Job  his  mouth,  and  cursed  his  day.      And  Job  snake, 
and  said, 

3  Let  the  day  perish  wherein  I  was  born, 

and  the  night  in  which  it  was  said,  There  is  a  man-child  conceived! 

4  Let  that  day  be  darkness ; 

let  not  God  regard  it  from  above, 
neither  let  the  light  shine  upon  it ! 

5  Let  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death  stain  it ; 
let  a  cloud  dwell  upon  it ; 

let  the  blackness  of  the  day  terrify  it ! 

6  As  for  that  night,  let  darkness  seize  upon  it ; 
let  it  not  be  joined  unto  the  days  of  the  year, 
let  it  not  come  into  the  number  of  the  months ! 

7  Lo,  let  that  night  be  solitary ;_ 
let  no  joyful  voice  come  therein ! 

8  Let  them  curse  it  that  curse  the  day, 

who  are  ready  to  raise  up  their  mourning ! 

9  Let  the  stars  of  the  twilight  thereof  be  dark ; 
let  it  look  for  light  but  have  none ; 

neither  let  it  see  the  dawning  of  the  day  •        ,     ,  , 

10  —because  it  shut  not  up  the  doors  of  my  mother  s  womD, 
nor  hid  sorrow  from  mine  eyes. 

b.   He  ivishes  that  he  %vere  in  the  realm  of  the  dead  rather  than  in  this  life. 
Vers.  11-19. 

11  Why  died  I  not  from  the  womb  ?  u  n    9 
why  did  I  not  give  up  the  ghost  when  I  came  out  ot  the  belly  f 

12  Why  did  the  knees  prevent  me? 

or  why  the  breasts  that  I  should  suck? 

13  For  now  should  I  have  lain  still,  and  been  quiet ; 
I  should  have  slept,  then  had  I  been  at  rest, 

14  With  kings  and  counsellors  of  the  earth, 
which  built  desolate  places  for  themselves ; 


314 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


15  or  with  princes  that  had  gold, 
who  filled  their  houses  with  silver : 

16  or  as  a  hidden  untimely  birth  I  had  not  been, 
as  infants  which  never  saw  light. 


17  There  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling, 
and  there  the  weary  be  at  rest. 

18  There  the  prisoners  rest  together ; 

they  hear  not  the  voice  of  the  oppressor. 

19  The  small  and  great  are  there ; 

and  the  servant  is  free  from  his  master. 


20 


21 
22 


23 


24 
25 


26 


c.    He  asks  why  he,  being  weary  of  life,  must  still  live. 
Vers.  20-26. 
"Wherefore  is  light  given  to  him  that  is  in  misery, 
and  life  unto  the  bitter  in  soul ; 
which  long  for  death,  but  it  cometh  not ; 
and  dig  for  it  more  than  for  hid  treasures ; 
which  rejoice  exceedingly, 
and  are  glad,  when  they  can  find  the  grave  ? 

Why  is  light  given  to  a  man  whose  way  is  hid, 

and  whom  God  hath  hedged  in  ? 

For  my  sighing  cometh  before  I  eat, 

and  my  roarings  are  poured  out  like  the  waters. 

For  the  thing  which  I  greatly  feared  is  come  upon  me, 

and  that  which  I  was  afraid  of  is  come  unto  me. 

I  Avas  not  in  safety,  neither  had  I  rest,  neither  was  I 

yet  trouble  came ! 


quiet ; 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  The  caption  or  prose  introduction  of  Job's  out- 
gushing  lamentation.     Vers.  1-2. 

Ver.  1.  After  this  opened  Job  his  mouth 
and  cursed  his  day.  []?~''^nN:  after  the 
appearance  of  the  friends,  their  seven  days'  si- 
lence, and  after  their  conduct  had  wrought  its 
full  effect  on  the  mind  of  Job. — E.  "Opened 
his  mouth ;  nr\i3  in  conformity  to  the  sensuous 
and  poetic  nature  of  Hebrew  speech  and  thought, 
which  uses  the  physical  action  to  represent  the 
mental."  Da  v.].  "His  day,"  viz.:  his  birth- 
day— the  day  on  which  he  had  come  into  the 
world.     Comp.  ch.  i.  4. 

Ver.  2.  And  Job  began  and  spake. — The 
verse  consists  only  of  these  three  words :  |j;^ 
"iaN'1_3rN.  The  literal  meaning  of  }j;M_  is, 
"and  he  answered;"  for  TM^  is,  in  general,  to 
begin  to  speak  when  incited  to  it,  whether  the 
antecedent  occasion  consist  of  words  or  of 
actions;  precisely  the  same  as  the  New  Testa- 
ment aTTOKpiveaOai.  [See  Conant's  note  in  loco, 
proving  that  "in  most  of  the  cases  quoted  in 
support  of  the  signification  to  speak  up, .  to  begin 
speaking  (Ges.  Lex.  2,  and  others),  the  reference 
to  something  prior,  as  the  occasion  of  speaking, 
is  clear,  and  in  all  of  them  there  is  ground  for 
the  writer's  choice  of  this  form  of  expression."] 
Here  accordingly  it  is  the  persistent  and  expres- 
sive silence  of  the  friends  to  which  Job  replies, 


not  to  any  question,  nor  to  any  uttered  remark 
of  theirs. — "T^**'^,  with  Pattach  in  the  final  syl- 
lable, although  the  word  is  Milel,  is  found  only 
in  the  prose  captions  of  the  discourses  in  our 
book;  here,  however,  in  every  case:  comp.  ch. 
iv.  1  ;  vi.  1 ;  viii.  1,  etc. — After  these  brief  words 
of  introduction,  begins  the  poetic  part  of  the 
book,  distinguished  by  the  poetic  accentuation 
of  the  Masoretes.  Comp.  Introd.  §  3.  "  From 
this  point  on  the  epic  calmness  with  which  the 
hero  has  suffered,  and  the  poet  told  his  story, 
yields  to  the  pathos  of  the  drama."  Dilljiann. 
The  contents  of  this  first  tragic,  high-soaring, 
poetic  discourse  of  Job  are  expressly  given  in 
the  caption  in  ver.  1  as  being  the  cursing  of  the 
day  of  his  own  birth,  an  ardently  expressed  long- 
ing for  death.  Comp.  Jeremiah's  abbreviated 
imitation  in  chap.  xx.  14-18.  ["There  is  a  pas- 
sage of  Jeremiah  so  exactly  similar  that  it  might 
almost  be  imagined  a  direct  imitation :  the 
meaning  is  the  same,  nor  is  there  any  very  great 
difference  in  the  ijhraseology  ;  but  Jeremiah  fills 
up  the  ellipses,  smooths  and  harmonizes  the 
rough  and  uncouth  language  of  Job,  and  dilates 
a  short  distich  into  two  equal  distichs,  consist- 
ing of  somewhat  longer  verses.  .  .  .  The  impre- 
cation of  Jeremiah  has  more  in  it  of  complaint 
than  of  indignation ;  it  is  milder,  softer,  and 
more  plaintive,  peculiarly  calculated  to  excite 
pity,  in  moving  which  the  great  excellence  of 
this  prophet  consists :  while  that  of  Job  is  more 
adapted  to  strike  us  with  terror  than  to  excite 
our   compassion."    Lowth.     And  to   the  same 


CHAP.  III.  1-26. 


315 


effect  Michaelis :  Jobi  est  tragica  ilia  et  regia  tris- 
iitia,  dicarn,  an  desperatio :  Jeremiie  flebiles  elegi, 
miserkordiam,  provocantes,  nee  lacrimis  major  luc- 
tus."'\  In  respect  of  form,  this  mournful  lamen- 
tation, which  contains  the  theme  and  starting 
point  of  the  following  discussions,  falls  into 
three  strophes  of  about  equal  length  ;  vers.  3-10; 
vers.  11-19  ;  and  vers.  20-26,  of  which  the  last 
alone  gives  evidence  of  a  slight  abridgement  at 
the  end,  and  that  no  doubt  intentional,  as  the 
short,  blunt  breaking  off  of  the  second  member 
of  ver.  26,  which  consists  of  only  two  words, 
TJ*!  K3'1,  gives  us  to  understand.  That,  with 
the  majority  of  modern  expositors,  we  are  to 
adopt  this  three-fold  division  of  the  strophes, 
and  not,  with  Stickel  and  Delitzsch,  a  greater 
number  of  divisions,  longer  or  shorter,  is  made 

certain  by  the  TTOi,  which  recurs  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  2d  and  3d  strophes  (comp.  Introd. 
I.  c). 

2.  First  Long  Strophe  :  Job  curses  his  exist- 
ence;  vers.  3-10. — First  strophe :  vers.  3-5. 

Ver.  3.  Perish  the  day  wherein  I  was 
born. — l^X',  with  Pattahh  in  the  last  syllable, 
the  accent  having  been  retracted  on  account  of 
the  tone-syllable  following  (Ewald,  §  139,  b). — 

The  elliptical  relative  clause,  '13  v'X,  as  also 
the  like  clause  ("^^J^)  in  the  following  member, 
are  to  be  explained  by  the  excited,  rapid  move- 
ment of  the  poetic  style.  The  Imperf.  [alias 
Fut.J,  (instead  of  which  the  parallel  passage  in 
Jeremiah    xx.   14    exhibits   the   Perf.    [Prset.] 

'mT),  is  the  Imperf.  of  the  Past,  as  is  n^ON, 

•    :  -■•  T 

ver.  11.  Comp.  Ewald,  §  136,  b  [who  calls  it 
the  priese?is prieteriti, '^2^i^=nascendus  cram:  and 
see  Green,  Gr.  §  263,  5:  "the  speaker,  by  a 
bold  figure,  places  himself  before  his  birth,  and 
prays  that  the  day  which  was  to  give  him  exist- 
ence might  be  annihilated,  so  that  he  might  be 
saved  from  the  misery  of  living."] — And  the 
night  which  said:  A  man-child  is  con- 
ceived.— The  night  of  Job's  conception  is  poet- 
ically personified,  as  a  living  being,  endowed 
with  the  gift  of  speech  (comp.  Ps.  xix.  3).  It 
weakens  the  expression,  and  furthermore  is  by 

no  means  required  by  the  masc.  *10N  (for  n?'? 
is  masc),  to  supply  Tty^S  before  *1DX,  "the 
night  in  which  it  was  said"  (Pesh.,  Vulg.  [E. 
v.],  etc.).  In  the  deep  excitement  of  feeling 
which  now  possesses  him,  all  the  objects  of  his 
thought  become  living  powers,  concrete,  plastic 
forms.  This  is  the  case  here  with  the  night  of 
his  conception.  For  this  is  the  night  which  is 
meant — not  that  of  his  birth,  as  the  invariable 
usage  of  the  verb  mn,  "to  be  conceived," 
shows.  Had  the  second  member  been  intended 
to  be  synonymous  in  thought  and   expression 

with  the  first,  77in  would  have  been  used,  the 
usual  synonym  elsewhere  in  poetry  of  *l7lj.  It 
is  not  only  the  language,  however,  which  may 
be  urged  in  favor  of  the  literal  construction  of 
nin,  but  the  general  style  of  the  discourse, 
which  is  characterized  by  poetic  vividness  and 
restless  alternation.     To  this  add  that  in  what 


follows  each  of  these  two  epochs  of  the  life  ia 
made  the  object  of  a  separate  and  vehement 
curse ;  to  wit,  first,  in  vers.  4,  6,  the  day  of 
birth,  and  then,  in  vers.  6-10,  the  night  of  con- 
ception. For  this  sharp  and  obviously  inten- 
tional distinction  between  these  two  initial 
points  of  the  life,  comp.  Ps.  li.  7.  ["13 J,  "not  a 
man-child,  Eng.  Ver.,  but  a  man,  the  name  pro- 
per to  the  mature  state  being  applied  by  antici- 
pation to  the  infant  or  embryo.  The  emphasis 
is  not  upon  the  sex,  implying  greater  joy  at  the 
birth  of  a  son  than  a  daughter;  Job  says,  'a 
man,'  because  he  is  speaking  of  himself." 
Green.  Heb.  Chbest.] 

Vers.  4,  5.  A  special  curse  of  the  day  of  birth: 
an  expansion  of  ver.  3  a. 

Ver.  4.  That  day — let  it  be  darkness. — 
Let  it  be  a  dies  aier  s.  infaustus.  Whether  the 
thought  particularly  intended  is,  that  at  each 
annual  return  of  the  birth-day  darkness,  that  is 
to  say,  stormy  weather,  should  prevail  instead 
of  bright  and  clear  weather  (Hirz.,  Dillmann), 
may  well  be  doubted  in  view  of  the  indefinite 
brevity  of  the  language.  Moreover  such  a 
meteorological  interpretation  would  have  some- 
thing trivial  about  it. — Let  not  God  from 
above  ask  after  it :  i.  e.  let  not  God,  who  is 
throned  on  high  above  (chap.  xxxi.  2,  28),  inte- 
rest himself  in  it  from  thence  (comp.  lifM  in 
Deut.  xi.  12),  let  him  not  bring  it  forth  out  of 
its  dark  hiding-place.  ["  Let  it  pass  away  as  a 
thing  lost  and  unsought."  Con.]  And  let  not 
light  shine  forth  upon  it. — iTTlJ,  "radiance 
of  light,  brightness  of  day,"  found  only  here ; 
one  of  the  many  feminine  forms  of  nouns  pecu- 
liar to  our  book,  such  as  njJJ.%  ver.  5 ;  n7p3, 
chap.  iv.  6 ;  ri/nn,  chap.  iv.  18 ;  n"1in,  chap. 
V.  8  (Hirz.). 

Ver.  5.  Let  darkness  and  death-shade 
reclaim  it. —  /HJ,  to  redeem,  reclaim,  to  make 

-  T  ' 

good  one's  right  to  (not=^  7^J,  to  defile,  Targ.), 
["stain"  E.  V.  The  expression  seems  to  refer 
back  to  Gen.  i.  2,  which  mentions  the  primeval 
darkness,  out  of  which  by  the  Divine  Fiat  the 
light,  together  with  its  product,  the  day,  was 
evolved.  That  Darkness  was  thus  the  original 
proprietor  of  the  days,  and  is  here  called  on  to 
reclaim  Job's  birth-day.  E.  "  The  idea  being 
that  that  day  was  a  stray  portion  of  the  king- 
dom of  death  in  the  midst  of  light,  and  to  be 
reclaimed  again  by  death."  Day.]  The  concep- 
tions "darkness  and  death-shade"  form  a  sort 
of  hendiadys,  signifying  "  the  thickest  darkness, 
the  deepest  death-gloom:"  comp.   chap.  x.  21; 

xxxiv.  22,  etc.;  also  Luke  i.  79  (HIO  7}f  is,  with  Ew. 
§  270c,  and  with  Dillm.,  to  be  read  fllO/V,  and 
defined  "black  darkness").  Let  clouds  en- 
camp above  it:  continually  to  hide  it  [HJJJ^, 
collective:  IDttTl,  to  pitch  one's  tent;  fig.  for 
settling  or  spreading].  Comp.  73^^1_|JJ,'  UV, 
Joel  ii.  2. — Let  the  obscuration  of  the  day 
terrify  it:  or  literally  "the  obscurations  of  the 
day"  [2.  e.  all  that  makes  a  day  dark  and  dismal. 
E.].  Instead  of  the  '''  ^y^p^  of  the  Masora  (to 
which  reading  Ges.,   Schlott.,  Hahn,  adhere: 


316 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


l^'theChireq  is  a,n  attenuated  Pattach  from  the 
lessening  of  the  tone  in  the  construct  state:" 
Con.]),  we  are  to  read  •"  ^y^^^3,  and  take  the 
sing,  of  this  construct  plural  as  a  synonym  of 

'  /t"!?  ("duskiness  "),  a  noun  of  the  same  formal 
structure  (comp.  also  'T'"1i)t;',  "tapestry,"  and 
other  similar  words  of  like  structure  in  Ewald, 
§  157,  a) :  ["with  the  third  radical  repeated, 
as  is  customary  in  words  descriptive  of  color." 
Dillmann].  The  "  darkening,"  blackening  of 
the  day  (1''^p3  from  the  root  1M,  "to  be  burnt, 
blackened")  is  a  result  produced  in  a  specially 
marked  and  striking  manner  by  the  eclipse  of 
the  sun;  for  which  reason  we  are  here  to  asso- 
ciate solar  eclipses  with  the  dark  mass  of  clouds, 
thus  intensifying  the  effect  (Olsh.,  Dillm.,  Del., 
etc.).  If  we  adhere  to  the  Masoretic  reading 
we  should  have  to  follow  Aquila,  the  Targum, 
the  Vulgate,  in  translating:  terreant  eum  quasi 
amaritudines  diet  [Marg.  of  E.  V.:  "let  them 
terrify  it,  as  those  who  have  a  bitter  day." 
Hengst. :  "  May  whatever  is  bitter  to  a  day  ter- 
rify it :"  according  to  his  explanation,  Job  would 
have  retribution  overtake  that  day ;  and  as 
he  himself  had  been  filled  with  bitternesses,  he 
would  have  the  day  from  which  all  his  suffer- 
ings took  their  origin,  be  afflicted  with  whatever 
might  be  bitter  to  it.  E.].  But  this  instead  of 
a  strengthening,  would  be  a  weakening  of  the 
thought.  Umbreit's  explanation:  "let  it  be 
terrified  as  by  incantations  (comp.  Arab,  marir, 
incantamentum),  which  darken  the  day,"  antici- 
pates that  which  is  not  expressed  until  further 
on,  in  ver.  8,  and  is  furthermore  chargeable 
with  being  excessively  artificial.  [With  Um- 
breit's may  be  classified  the  rendering  of  Mers, 

who,  reading  DV '''^ob,  translates:  "May  the 
priests  of  day  frighten  it  away!"  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  rendering  "darkenings  of 
the  day  "  is  the  one  best  suited  to  the  context, 
and  this  whether  with  Ges.,  Con.,  etc.,  we  retain 
the  Masoretic  Chiriq,  or  with  Ewald,  Zockler, 
etc.,  change  it  to  Pattach. — E.] 

Second  Strophe :  vers.  6-10.  A  special  curse 
of  the  night  of  conception :  an  expansion  of  ver. 
3  b.  The  reason  why  this  expansion  is  twice 
as  long  as  that  of  ver.  3  a,  is  found  by  Hirzol 
and  Dillmann  to  lie  in  the  fact  that  it  was  in 
particular  the  night  of  his  conception  which 
gave  Job  his  existence  (see  ver.  10).  ["Twice 
as  many  verses,  for  it  was  twice  as  guilty,  and 
the  crime  of  his  existence  lay  chiefly  wiih  it." 
Dav.]  This,  however,  would  be  attributing  to 
the  author  altogether  too  much  premeditation 
and  systematic  deliberation. 

Ver.  6.  That  night— let  thick  darkness 
take  it ;  i.  e.  let  everlasting  darkness  seize  on 
it  and  hold  it  fast  as  its   possession,   so   that  it- 
can   never   come   forth  into  the   light   of  day. 

["73i<,  an  intenser  gloom  than  ^ti'n,  deepest 
primitive  darkness,  chaos  and  'old  night.'" 
Dav.]  Let  it  not  rejoice  among  the  days  of  the 
year.— nn;  Sx  (for  "in;  Sn,  with  an  auxiliary 
Pattach  [furtive] ;  comp.  Ewald,  §  224,  c. 
[Green,  §  109,  2],  from  mn,  gaudere  (Ex.  xviii. 
9),  is  evidently  equivalent  to:  "let  it  not  be 


glad  of  its  existence  among  the  days  of  the 
year."  ["The  night  is  not  considered  so  much 
to  rejoice  on  account  of  its  own  beauty — fingilur 
pulchra  nox  de  se  ipsa  gandcre,  Ges. — as  to  form 
one  of  the  joyous  and  triumphant  choral  troop 
of  nights,  that  come  in  harmonious  and  glitter- 
ing procession."  Dav.]  More  insipid  is  the 
sense    given   by    the    reading   followed   by   the 

Targum  and  Symmachus:  tn''. '7N,    "let  it  not 

be  joined  to  the  days  of  the  year,  let  it  not  be 
enrolled  among  them,"  Comp.  Ges.  xlix.  6.  [So 
E.  v.,  Ren.,  Merx].  ["Of  course  not  natural 
days,  as  in  vers.  3,  4,  but  civil  days,  embracing 
the  entire  diurnal  period,  in  which  sense  they 
include  the  night."  Green.  Chbest.]  Let  it 
not  come  into  the  number  of  the  months: 
i.  e.  let  it  not  be  numbered  among  the  days,  the 
sum  of  which  constitutes  the  twelve  months  of 
the  year  (LXX.  correctly:  ftr/de  dptdfiy/deiTi  etc 
7//.upag  htjvud).  Comp.  Wieseler,  Beitrage  zur 
richtigen  Wlirdigung  der  Evangelien  und  der  evan- 
gel. Geschichte,  Gotha,  1869,  p.  291 ;  which  cor- 
rectly finds  here  a  reference  to  the  fact  that 
the  ancient  Hebrews  reckoned  according  to  the 
lunar  year;  i.  e.  by  years  of  354  days  (consist- 
ing of  twelve  months,  alternating  in  length 
between  30  and  29  days,  and  equalized  with  the 
solar  year  by  an  intercalary  month  of  30  days 
about  every  three  years). 

Ver.  7.  Ha,  that  night !— let  it  be  barren. 

IWv^,  lit.  "stony  hard,",  here  and  also  in  Isaiah 
xlix.  21  (where  it  is  used  of  [Zion,  personified 
as]  a  woman),  the  same  as  "barren."  ["Sit- 
ting in  the  everlasting  darkness,  that  Night 
remains  barren.  It  utters  no  shout  of  joy  over 
the  children  born  to  it."  Schlott.  This  sense 
is  in  better  harmony  with  the  et^'mology,  and 
the  vivid  personification  of  the  passage,  as  well 
as  Job's  vindictive  feeling  over  the  fact  that  that 
night  had  conceived  him,  than  the  "solitary" 
of  the  Eng.  Ver.  (Vulg.  "desolate,"  Syr. — E.] 
Let  no  shout  of  joy  come  therein. — njji, 

TT  : 

not  "a  song  of  the  spheres"  (Fries),  [a  concep- 
tion and  expression  foreign  to  the  Ileb. :  see  the 
opposite  thought  expressed  Ps.  xix.  3. — E.] ; 
but  a  jubilant  shout  of  joy  over  the  birth  (or 
conception)  of  a  man. 

Ver.  8.  Let  them  curse  it  who  curse 
days,  they  who  are  skilled  to  rouse  up 
the  dragon  [leviathan].  ["He  wishes  every- 
thing dire  and  dreadful  to  be  heaped  upon  it,  or 
employed  against  it,  not  only  all  real  evils,  but 
even  such  as  are  imaginary  and  fictitious.  He 
therefore  invokes  the  aid  of  sorcerers,  who  curse 
the  dag,  who  claim  the  power  of  inflicting  curses 
on  it."  Geeen,  Chrest.]  DV-''^T{<,  "cursors 
of  the  day,"  i.  e.  sorcerers,  who,  according  to 
the  superstition  of  the  old  oriental  world,  knew 
how  by  their  ban  to  make  dies  infausti,  and  who, 
therefore,  had  the  power  so  to  bewitch  any  par- 
ticular day  as  to  make  it  a  day  of  misfortune. 
This  art  of  sorcery,  the  actual  existence  of  which 
the  poetic  style  of  the  discourse  concedes  and 
assumes  without  going  further,  is  characterized 
still  more  particularly,  and  with  vivid  grada- 
tion in  the  language,  by  the  following  clause: 


CHAP.  III.  1-26. 


317 


"they  who  are  skilled  (capable,  empowered)  to 
rouse  up  C^"}']^  in  poetry  for  ^|>i^7,  comp.  Ewald 
^  285,  c)  leviathan,"  i.  e.  the  great  dragon,  who 
is  the  enemy  of  the  sun  and  the  moon,  and  seeks 
accordingly  by  swallowing  them  up  to  create 
darkness.  That  there  is  here  an  allusion  to  this 
well-known  superstition  in  respect  to  solar  and 
lunar  eclipses,  which  is  found  among  several 
other  nationalities,  e.  g.  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  India  (see  Bohlen,  Das  alte  Indien,  I.  290), 
the  Chinese  (Kixuffer,  Das  chines.  Volk,  p. 
123),  \be  North-African  natives  of  Algeria 
(comp.  Delitzsch   i.  79)  appears:   (1)   From    the 

connection,  which  forbids  our  taking  jri']/  either 
as  in  chap.  xl.  25  seq. ;  Ps.  civ.  26,  in  its  usual 
sense,  of  the  crocodile,  or  again  of  terrestrial 
serpents  (dragons),  and  so,  with  Umbreit  and 
others,  to  think  of  snake-charmers  or  crocodile- 
tamers.  (2)  From  the  parallel  passage  in  chap, 
xxvi.  13,  where  the  mention  of  "the  fleeing  ser- 
pent" points  to  the  same  astronomical  supersti- 
tion. (3)  From  Isaiah  xxvii.  1,  where  the  col- 
location of  the  words  n'"^3  VTM  tjTI?  designate 

-     •  T        T  T    •   rr:  •  *^  ■ 

the  same  mythical  being  (the  dragon  rcihit  or 
ketu  of  the  Hindus).  The  poet  accordingly  in 
the  passage  before  us  gives  to  the  curse  that  is 
to  be  pronounced  on  the  day  this  highly  poetic 
turn,  by  wishing  that  the  sorcerers  might  secure 
the  consummation  of  the  curse  by  instigating 
the  celestial  dragon  against  the  sun  and  moon, 
thus  producing  an  eclipse  of  those  bodies.  To 
identify  that  dragon  here  (and  in  chap.  xxvi. 
13)  with  a  constellation,  by  a  reference  to  the 
dragon  whose  convolutions  lie  between  the 
Great  and  Little  Bear,  or  to  any  other  serpent- 
figure  among  the  stars  (Hirz.,  Hahn,  Schlott., 
etc.),  does  not  harmonize  well  with  the  unmis- 
takable meaning  ofT^i^,  "to  excite,  rouse  up." 
[The  explanation  of  Umbreit,  Rosenm.,  Noy., 
Bar.,  etc.,  a  little  more  fully  stated,  is  that  "the 
verse  probably  refers  to  a  class  of  persons  who 
were  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  making  any 
day  fortunate  or  unfortunate,  to  control  future 
events,  and  even  to  call  forth  the  most  terriiic 
monsters  from  impenetrable  forests,  or  from  the 
deep,  for  the  gratification  of  their  own  malice, 
or  that  of  others.  Balaam,  whom  Balak  sent 
for  to  curse  Israel,  affords  evidence  of  the  exist- 
ence of  a  class  of  persons  who  were  supposed  to 
be  capable  of  producing  evil  by  their  impreca- 
tions." Notes.  One  objection  to  this  view  is 
stated  above  by  Ziickler,  that  it  is  not  favored 
by  the  connection.  Another  objection  suggested 
by  Dav.  is  that  "  it  is  somewhat  flat.  The 
second  member,  instead  of  rising  in  significance, 
seems  to  fall,  for  to  curse  the  day  appears  a  much 
profounder  exercise  of  power,  reaching  much 
further,  and  laying  a  spell  much  deeper,  even 
on  the  hidden  principles  of  nature  and  time, 
than  any  mere  charming  of  an  animal,  however 
terrible."  According  to  the  Fathers  (whom  Lee 
and  Words,  follow).  Leviathan  here  is  typical 
of  Satan,  "the  great  spiritual  Leviathan." 
When  it  is  remembered  that  tlie  same  writers 
find  the  same  typical  significance  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  "leviathan"  in  chap,  xli.,  the  extrava- 
gance of  the  fancy  will  at  once  appear.     David- 


son objects  that  "it  cannot  be  shown  that  the 
superstition  [above  referred  to]  was  current  in 
Semitic  lands;  it  belongs  to  India."  It  is  true, 
however,  that  among  the  Egyptians,  with  whose 
institutions  tlie  author  of  this  book  was  well 
acquainted,  eclipses  were  attributed  to  the  vic- 
tory of  Typhon  over  the  sun-god,  tliat  the  croco- 
dile (the  leviathan  of  chap,  xli.)  was  a  repre- 
sentative of  Typlion,  and  moreover  that  Egypt 
was  celebrated  above  all  lands  for  her  sorcery. 
These  three  facts  taken  together  would  of  them- 
selves sufl5ce  to  account  for  and  to  explain  Job'a 
language  in  the  passage  before  us. — E.] 

Ver.  9.  Let  the  stars  of  the  twilight  be 
dark  ;  the  stars,  namely,  of  its  morning  twilight, 
the  precursors  of  approaching  day-light,  the 
meaning  accordingly  being :  Let  this  night  be 
followed  by  no  genuine  day's  radiance.  la 
favor  of  this  sense  of  "^tl^J,  to  wit,  morning  twi- 
light, crppusculnm,  may  be  urged,  apart  from  the 
two  following  members  of  the  verse,  the  analogy 
of  chap.  vii.  4;  Ps.  cxix.  147,  where  'Ili'J  has 
the  same  signification,  though  elsewhere  cer- 
tainly it  signifies  the  evening  twilight  [dilucu- 
lum),  as  e.g.  chap.  xxiv.  15;  Prov.  vii.  9;  2 
Kings  vii.  5.  And  let  it  not  gaze  upon  the 
eye. lashes  of  the  dawn.  Delitzsch :  "  let  it 
not  refresh  itself  with  the  eye-laehes  of  the 
dawn:"  correctly  as  to  the  sense;  for  here,  as 
always  3  HXT  denotes  beholding  with  the  feel- 
ing.of  pleasure,  enjoying  the  sight  of  anything. 
"The  eye-lashes  of  the  dawn"  (the  same 
expression  is  found  in  chap.  xli.  10)  are  the  first 
rays  of  the  rising  dawn,  opening  as  it  were  its 
eyes :  comp.  XP^'^^'?C  vuspag  ft7.E(l)apov,  Soph. 
Antiq.  103.  [To  be  noted  is  the  full  form  of 
the  fut.  nXT,  instead  of  the  apocopated.] 

Ver.  10.  The  "'3  with  which  the  verse  begins 
refers  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  period  in 
ver.  6,  and  thus  gives  the  ground  of  the  violent 
curse  just  pronounced  upon  the  night  of  hi3 
conception.  Because  it  shut  not  up  the 
doors  of  my  mother's  w^omb;  i.  e.  did  not 
make  the  same  barren,  did  not  prevent  his  con- 
ception: comp.  Gen.  xvi.  2;  xx.  18  ;  1  Sam.  i.  5. 
"'J£p3,  a  poetic  ellipsis  for  'QX  |D3.  [Comp. 
chap.  xix.  17,  where  the  expression  ''JCOD  'J3, 
ace.  to  Ges.,  means  brethren  born  out  of  the 
same  mother's  womb.  See,  however,  on  tlie 
passage.  "Juvenal  has  used  the  same  liberty 
of  expression.  Sat.  vi.  i.  124:  Ostenditquetuum, 
generose  Britannice,  ventrem."  Con.] — And 
so  hide  sorrow  from  my  eyes.  The  force 
of  the  negation  extends  out  of  the  first  over  this, 
the  second  member  of  the  verse,  as  is  the  case  also 
in  ver.  11.  Comp.  Gesen.  §  152  [^  149],  3.  [The 
influence  of  the  negative  extended  here  by 
means  of  Vav  consecutive.  See  Ewald  ^  351  «.] 
The  indefinite,  and,  so  to  speak,   absolute  term, 

vOJ,',  denotes  some  great  and  fearful  afl^liction 
which  Job  was  even  then  suffering. 

3.  Second  Long  Strophe:  Job  utters  his  choice 
to  be  in  the  realm  of  the  dead  rather  than  in 
this  life,  vers.  11-19.  The  strophe  embraces 
three  sub-divisions,  or  strophes,  of  equal  length, 
each  consisting  of  three  verses. 


318 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


a.  Vers.  11-18.  [The  wish  that  he  had  died 
at  birth.] 

Vcr.  11.  "Why  died  I  not  from  the  womb? 

i.  e.,  immediately  after  birth,  immediately  after 
I  saw  the  light  of  this  world. — So  should  On^D 
be  explained  here,  according  to  the  parallelism 
of  the  second  member  of  the  verse,  not  according 
to  Jerem.  xx.  17,  which  passage  speaks  rather 
of  dying  in  the  womb  ( jrp  being  used  there  in 
the  local,  not  the  temporal  sense),  of  dying, 
therefore,  as  an  embryo,  a  thought  which  is  fo- 
reign to  our  author.  (So  in  opposition  to  Schlott. 
and  Del.)  [The  view  of  Junius,  as  given  by 
Schlott.,  of  the  gradation  of  thought  in  this 
verse  and  the  following,  is  at  least  striking 
enough  to  be  stated  here.  It  represents  Job  as 
here  cursing  his  life  in  four  stages  of  its  deve- 
lopment: in  the  womb,  immediately  after  birth, 
when  taken  up  by  the  father,  and  finally  when 
put  to  the  mother's  breast.  It  may  be  doubted 
nevertheless  whether  Job's  impassioned  outburst 
is  characterized  by  such  careful  and  miuute  dis- 
crimination. The  future  rn?DX,  like  liMi  in 
ver.  3,  is  an  example  of  the  poet's  bold  idealiza- 
tion, which,  taking  its  position  back  of  the  mo- 
ment of  birth,  asks,  'Why  may  I  not  die  from 
the  womb?'  See  Green,  ^263,  5;  Ew.  §133,  6. 
— E.]  Come  forth  out  of  the  -womb  and 
expire? — Expire,  to  wit,  immediately  after 
coming  forth.  On  the  extension  of  the  negation 
over  the  second  member,  comp.  notes  on  ver.  10. 
[The  Fut.  (or  Imperf.)  }?)Jii_  expressing  that 
which  is  subsequent  to  the  Fret.  (Perf. )  TiX^f'.] 
Ver.  12.  Why  did  knees  anticipate  me  ? 
[Con.:  Why  were  the  knees  ready  for  me? — 
"Prevent,"  in  A.  V.,  in  the  obsolete  sense,  to 
come  before,  and  so  to  anticipate] :  i.  e.,  the 
knees  or  lap  of  the  father,  joyfully  saluting  the 
newly-born  child.  Comp.  Gen.  1.  23  ;  Is.  Ixvi. 
12.  It  is  less  natural  to  understand  the  knees 
of  a  woman  to  be  meant,  to  wit,  the  knees  of  an 
attendant  midwife  or  nurse.  Comp.  Gen.  xxx. 
3.  ["The  longing  and  anxious  desire  of  the 
yearning  mother  to  nurse  her  unborn  darling 
has  never  been  so  happily  expressed  elsewhere." 
Goon.]  There  is  certainly  nothing  in  the  pas- 
sage which  points  to  any  custom  of  heathen  an- 
tiquity, involving  the  formal  recognition  of  the 
child  by  the  father,  as  Hirzel  supposes.  [At  all 
events,  as  Dillm.  observes,  such  a  recognition  is 
not  the  leading  thought  of  the  passage. — E.] 
And  what  (=why)  the  breasts  that  I 
should  suck? — ["There  is  a  certain  impa- 
tience and  disgust  in  the  HD:  Why,  what  were 
the  breasts  that  I  should  suck  ?"  Dav.  The  dual 
forms  of  the  original,  "two  knees,"  "two 
breasts,"  are  preserved  in  the  translation  by 
Dav.  and  Renan,  perhaps  with  needless  lite- 
rality.]  ''2  consecutive,  as  in  chs.  vi.  11;  vii. 
12;  X.  6— and  often.  The  Imperf.  (Fut.)  pyii 
describing  an  action  immediately  following  after 
that  A-hich  is  previously  mentioned,  like  ^UX, 
ver.  11 ;  O'lpiyx  and  n^J\  ver.  13,  etc. 

I    :  V  -     T 

Ver.  13.  For  now  I  should  have  lain 
down  and  been  quiet.  A  reason  for  the  wish 
contained  in  the  questions  of  vers.  10  and  12; 
therefore  '2  here=^"for,"  not  "surely"  (Del.) 


— np;.',  like  TX  elsewhere,  "then,  by  this  time." 
Comp.  ch.  xiii.  19;  1  Sam.  xiii.  13.  I  should 
have  slept  (lit.:  "I  should  have  fallen  asleep  ;" 
and  so  also  in  the  first  member:  "I  should  have 
laid  myself  down"),  then  would  there  be 
rest  for  me,  viz.,  the  rest  of  the  dead  in  the 
under-world,  of  the  shades  in  Sheol,  which,  as 
compared  with  the  inexpressible  misery  of  this 
upper  world,  is  evermore  rest  and  repose.  For 
the  impersonal  use  of  n-1J  comp.  Isa.  xxiii.  12  ; 
Nehem.  ix.  28. 

b.  Vers.  14-lG.  A  more  particular  description 
of  the  rest  in  the  realms  of  the  dead,  M^hich  Job 
longs  for.  Vers.  14  and  15  are  still  dependent 
on  the  verbs  in  ver.  13. 

Ver.  14.  With  kings  and  counsellors  of 
the  land. — f'lX  '^jr;,  the  counsellors  of  a  land, 
i.  e.,  the  highest  officers  of  the  state,  royal  ad- 
visers, not  kings  themselves.  Who  built 
ruins  for  themselves.  —  If  the  reading 
niZl"in  is  correct,  then  the  passage  certainly 
speaks  of  the  building  of  ruins  (comp.  the  same 
word  in  Isa.  Iviii.  12  ;  Ixi.  4  ;  Mai.  i.  4).  The 
expression,  however,  can  scarcely  mean  the  re- 
building of  fallen  structures,  a  thought  which 
many  of  the  ancient  writers  found  in  it,  but 
which  is  obviously  far-fetched  and  foreign  to 
the  context,  especially  if  the  rebuilding  of  ruined 
edifices  is  taken  as  of  the  same  meaning  with  the 
expression,  "to  be  rich,  to  be  well  endowed, 
opibus  abundare."  Neither  can  it  refer  to  the 
building  of  mausoleums,  houses  for  the  dead, 
or,  in  particular,  pyramids ;  an  interpretation 
defended  by  Hirzel,  Ewald,  Fiirst,  Delitzsch, 
Dillmann  [Kamphausen,  Wemyss,  Bernard, 
Barnes,  Wordsworth,  Carey,  Renan,  Rodwell, 
Elzas,  Merx],  but  not  sufficiently  verified  ety- 
mologically.  The  Coptic  m — ,y/j«/«  cannot,  with- 
out further  evidence,  be  identified  with  m^TPI, 
even  admitting  that  the  interchange  of  2  and  0  is 
not  something  unheard  of.  In  any  case  it  could 
not  be  proved  that  the  author  had  in  mind  the 
pyramids  of  Egypt,  so  tliat  the  passage  cannot  be 
wrested  to  favor  the  theory  of  the  Egyptian  na- 
tionality of  the  poet ;  comp.  Introd.  \  7.  The 
simplest  and  most  obvious  way  of  explaining  it 
is,  with  Umbreit,  Hahn,  Schlottmann,  Vaihinger, 
Heiligstedt  [Gesenius,  Noyes,  Hengstrnberg, 
Green  in  Chrestom.'\,  to  recognize  in  the  m3in  an 
ironical  designation  of  great,  splendid  palaces, 
which,  notwithstanding  their  grandeur,  must  at 
last  fall  into  ruin — a  process  which,  in  the  East, 
as  every  where  in  hot  countries,  takes  place  with 
startling  rapidity  and  suddenness.  The  expres- 
sion is  thus  to  be  taken  in  a  catachrestic  sense, 
of  that  which  is  not  yet  indeed  a  ruin,  but  which 
will  inevitably  become  such  (comp.  "dust," 
"ashes,"  "grass,"  "a  worm,"  etc.,  used  to  de- 
signate man:  chap.  x.  9;  Ps.  ciii.  14,  15;  xc. 
5,  etc.).  The  difficulty  of  the  expression  has 
suggested  several  attempts  to  amend  the  text,  as, 
e.g.,  by  Bottcher  {do  inferis,  ?  298),  nnn^, 
"  streets,  courts  ;"  by  Olshausen,  inj^"|lX,  "pa- 
laces ;"  by  J.  D.  Michaelis  [Suppl.  p.  905), 
r\10"*n,  which,  according  to  the  Arabic,  would 
be  "  temples,  sanctuaries."  Comp.  also  the 
LXX.,  which  translates  by  kyavpicJvro  em  ^it'>eaiv, 


CHAP.  III.  1-26. 


319 


the  text  of  which  would  be  niann2  D'jrxJn. 
[The  expression  as  it  stands  in  the  text  is  cer- 
tainly a  difficult  one,  and  unquestioning  confi- 
dence in  regard  to  the  true  interpretation  is 
scarcely  to  be  looked  for.  The  rendering  adopted 
by  Zockler,  "who  have  built  themselves  ruins," 
is  indeed,  as  he  claims,  the  simplest  and  most 
obvious  rendering  of  the  words  as  they  now 
read.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  urged: 
(1)  This  proleptic  ironical  use  of  the  word 
"ruins"  in  the  connection  would  be  an  unlooked 
for  and  an  artificial  interruption  of  the  pathetic 
flow  of  thought — of  the  ardent,  plaintive  yearn- 
ing for  death,  or  for  the  condition  in  which 
death  would  place  him.  (2)  The  kind  of  irony 
which  would  thus  be  expressed  is  unsuited  (o 
the  state  of  Job's  feelings  in  this  discourse. 
Irony  there  is  in  the  passage  doubtless,  but  it  is 
the  irony  of  personal  feeling,  suggested  by  the 
contrast  between  his  present  misery  and  desti- 
fution,  and  the  rest  and  equality  of  the  grave. 
The  irony  which  would  have  led  him  to  see  ruins 
in  the  palaces  of  the  great  would  have  been  al- 
together alien  to  the  intense  subjectivity  of  his 
mood.  Job  is  here  thinking  of  himself — of  what 
he  would  have  been — of  the  rest,  and  the  equality 
with  earth's  greatest,  which  would  have  been 
his,  had  he  died  at  his  birth.  To  interject  here 
a  sudden  satire  on  the  destiny  awaiting  the  ex- 
ternal splendor  of  others  would  be  untrue  to  na- 
ture, and  so  unworthy  of  the  poet's  art.  (3) 
The  anticipation  of  ruin  seems  scarcely  in  har- 
mony with  the  particular  object  of  the  immediate 
context,  which  is  to  describe  the  greatness  of 
kings  and  counsellors,  as  of  men  high  in  rank 
and  rich  in  their  possessions.  As  Davidson  says 
of  this  interpretation,  it  is  "a  sense  which  does 
not  magnify,  but  minishes,  the  reputation  of 
the  great  dead."  On  the  other  hand,  the  inter- 
pretation "mausoleums"  or  "pyramids"  is  in 
harmony  with  the  particular  object  of  the  con- 
text, enhancing  the  greatness  of  the  persons 
spoken  of,  as  well  as  with  the  general  train  of 
tbought  and  feeling  in  this  strophe,  dwelling  as 
it  does  on  the  condition  and  surroundings  of  the 
dead.  It  does  not  seem  unreasonable,  there- 
fore, to  conclude  either  that  the  word  in  its  pre- 
sent form  may  be  thus  defined,  or  that  the  word 
in  its  original  form  being  an  unusual  one,  or  of 
foreign  origin,  it  was  afterwards  modified  under 
the  influence  of  the  familiar  Hebrew  phrase,  "  to 
build  ruins,"  nmn  nj3.— E.l 

tt:        tt  -■ 

Ver.  15.  Or  with  princes  that  had  gold, 
•who  filled  their  houses  with  silver. — If  the 

nOin  of  the  preceding  verse  are  not  "  pyra- 
mids," the  D'PS  of  this  verse  cannot  possibly  be 
understood  to  mean  "houses  of  the  dead,"  as 
Hirzel  explains.  But  even  if  that  construction 
of  the  former  verse  be  the  true  one,  it  would 
still  be  in  the  highest  degi-ee  unnatural,  artifi- 
cial, and  forced,  to  understand  the  expression  in 
the  passage  before  us  as  meaning  any  thing  else 
than  the  riches  which  princes  daring  life  heap 
up  in  their  palaces.     Comp.  ch.  xxii.  18. 

Ver.  16.  Or  like  a  hidden  untimely  birth 
I  should  not  be. — I  should  not  exist,  have  no 

being.  /3J,  lit.  a  "  falling  away  "  (e/crpu/ia),  an 
abortion,  as  in  Ps.  Iviii.  9 ;   Eccles.  vi.  3.     For 


TDD  iu  the  sense  of  "to  hide  in  the  ground,  to 
bury,"  comp.  Gen.  Xxxv.  4;  Ex.  ii.  12.  The 
second  member  more  particularly  describes  the 
condition  of  these  abortions,  as  of  those  who  ne- 
ver saw  the  light  ("the  light  of  life;"  comp.  ch. 
xxxiii.  30).  Furthermore,  as  to  its  contents,  the 
entire  verse,  although  varying  in  construction 
from  the  verse  preceding,  is  by  the  IX  at  the 
beginning  made  co-ordinate  with  it ;  and  thia 
immediate  juxtaposition  of  the  founders  of  great 
palaces  [or  pyramids],  of  rich  millionaires,  and 
— of  still-born  babes!  produces  a  contrast  most 
bizarre  and  startling  in  its  effect.  "All  these  are 
removed  from  the  sufl"erings  of  this  life  in  the 
quiet  of  their  grave — be  their  grave  a  'ruin' 
gazed  upon  by  their  descendants,  or  a  hole  dug 
out  in  the  earth,  and  again  filled  in  as  it  was  be- 
fore." Delitzsch. 

c.  Vers.  17-19.  Exhibiting  more  in  detail  the 
extent  to  which  death  equalizes  the  inequalities 
of  men's  lots  in  life. 

Ver.  17.  There  the  •wicked  have  ceased 
their  raging. — Dtl',  in  the  state  of  the  dead,  in 
the  under-world  ["conceived  of  after  the  ana- 
logy of  sepulchral  caves,  and  where  the  dead 
were  deemed  to  preserve  the  same  relations 
which  they  had  held  during  their  life."  Ren.]. 
Q'j;t!;i,  the  godless,  the  abandoned,  who  are 
ruled  by  evil  passions  and  lusts,  as  in  Isa.  xlviii. 
22  ;  Ivii.  21  ;  Ps.  i.  4,  etc.  Hence  IJT  is  the 
stormy  agitation,  or  inward  raging  of  such  mea 
["corresponds  to  the  radical  idea  of  looseness, 
broken  in  pieces,  want  of  restraint,  therefore 
of  Turba,  contained  etymologically  in  ^'^"1." — 
Del.];  comp.  Isa.  Ivii.  20;  Jer.  vi.  7.  Dillmann 
understands  by  the  "raging  of  the  wicked"  the 
furious  ravaging  of  insolent  tyrants,  with  which 
is  then  vividly  contrasted  in  the  second  member 
the  enfeebled,  powerless  condition  of  those  who 
are  "  exhausted  of  strength."  But  there  is  no- 
thing in  the  connection  to  show  that  any  such 
contrast  was  intended  between  tyrants  and  the 
oppressed,  between  persecutors  and  the  perse- 
cuted; and  even  the  mention  of  the  "taskmas- 
ter" in  ver.  18  has  nothing  in  it  to  confirm  this 
interpretation,  which  arbitrarily  attributes  to 
D'^t2^"1  the  sense  of  D'^f^;;.  Comp.  ch.  xv.  20 ; 
xxvii.  13;  Isa.  xiii.  11;  xxv.  3;  Ps.  xxxvii.  25, 
elc.  [in  most  of  which  passages,  however,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  parallelism  sustains  the  notion 
of  the  equivalence  of  the  two  terms,  and  of  the 
frequent  use  of  the  former  in  the  sense  assigned 
to  it  by  Dillmann.  Do  we  not  hear  in  these 
words  an  echo  of  Job's  own  calamities?  Were 
not  the  tui'bulent,  restless,  fierce  Chaldeans  and 
Sabeans  fit  types  of  the  D'^'li/I  with  their  ?JT  ?  and 
was  not  Job  himself  in  his  present  helplessness 

one  of  the  very  HD  X'i''.'— E-] 

Ver.  18.  Together  rest  the  prisoners. — 
nn%  all  together,  so  many  as  there  are  of  them, 
as  in  chap.  xxiv.  4.  ["The  Pilel  \^^p_  signifies 
perfect  freedom  from  care."  Del.] — They  hear 
not  the  taskmaster's  voice,  i.  e.,  the  voice 
of  the  overseer,  or  slave-driver,  issuing  his  or- 
ders, urging  to  work,  and  threatening  with 
blows.     Comp.  Gen.  iii.  7  ;  v.  6,  10 ;   Zechariah 


320 


THE  BOOK  OP  JOB. 


Ver.  19.  Small  and  great  are  there  the 
same. — D'd  NIH;  not  "are  there,  are  found 
tbere"  (LXX.,  Vulg.,  Hirz.,  Hahn,  Schl.  [Heng- 
Btenb.,  lieu.,  Good,  Lee,  Con.,  Dav.,  Rod.]),  but 
"are  there  the  same,  equal  in  rank  and  worth." 
Wn  here  accordingly  is  emphatic=6  avrd^,  idem, 
as  also  in  Isa.  xli.  4;  Ps.  cii.  28.  [So  Umbr., 
Ew.,  Del.,  Wem.,  Elz.  The  thought  is  substan- 
tially the  same,  according  to  either  view.  Ac- 
cording to  the  former,  N^H  refers  with  emphasis 
to  each  subject,  individually,  "  he,  each  is 
there,"  implying  equality  of  condition ;  accord- 
ing to  the  latter,  X^n  has  more  the  quality  of  a 
predicate,  expressing  equality  of  condition.  The 
former  is  preferable,  as  being  simpler,  more 
customary,  and  better  suited  to  the  double  sub- 
ject, "small"  and  "great."  Elsewhere  in  the 
sense  of  idem  it  is  used  of  a  single  subject. 
Comp.  ref  above. — E.]  Furthermore,  the  se- 
cond member:  "and  free  (is)  the  servant  from 
his  master,"  shows  in  a  special  manner  that  our 
verse  is  parallel  in  sense  to  the  preceding ;  as 
there  "prisoners"  and  "taskmasters"  are  con- 
trasted, so  here  in  the  first  member  "small" 
and  "great,"  in  the  second  "servant"  and 
"  master."  [Davidson,  perhaps,  finds  too  much 
in  these  words  when  he  says  (although  the  re- 
mark is  a  striking  one) :  "  It  is  this  last  that  fas- 
cinates Job  in  the  place  of  the  dead — the  slave  is 
free  from  his  master ;  and  Job  is  the  slave,  and 
one  whom  he  will  not  name  is  the  master — Has 
not  man  a  hard  service  on  the  earth,  and  as  the 
days  of  a  hireling  are  his  days?"  ch.  vii.  1.] 

4.  Third  Long  Strophe  (divided  into  two  shorter 
strophes  of  three  and  four  verses  respectively): 
Job  asks,  why  must  he,  who  ia  weary  of  life,  still 
live  ?  vers.  20-26. 

a.  Vers.  20-22.  [The  question  in  a  general 
form.] 

Ver.  20.  Wherefore  gives  He  light  to  the 
■wretched  one? — The  name  of  God,  who  is 
unmistakably  the  subject  of  the  clause,  is  not 
expressly  mentioned,  from  a  motive  of  reverential 
awe ;  it  is  presupposed  as  a  thing  self-evident 
that  he  who  gives  light  is  God,  and  none  other. 
Comp.  ch.  xxiv.  22.  [The  Eug.  Ver.  takes  the 
verb  impersonally:  "  Wherefore  is  light  given, 
etc.9"  And  so  Good,  Lee,  Wemyss,  Ren.,  etc. 
Schlottmann  and  Green  also  prefer  the  imper- 
sonal construction  on  the  ground  that  it  is  bet- 
ter suited  to  the  present  discourse  and  the  state 
of  feeling  from  which  it  proceeds,  and  that  sup- 
plying '  God '  as  the  subject  "  gives  an  uncalled- 
for  appearance  of  open  and  conscious  murmuring 
to  these  moanings  of  uncontrollable  anguish." 
It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  in  verse  23 
the  hedging  of  man  about  is  directly  ascribed  to 
God ;  and  that  although  God  is  not  formally 
challenged  by  name  as  yet,  there  is  through  the 
whole  discourse  an  audible  under- tone  of  sup- 
pressed defiance,  which  seems  all  the  time  on  the 
point  of  expressing  itself.  At  the  same  time,  one 
cannot  but  feel  that  this  Curse  is  a  cry  of  an- 
guish rather  than  a  cry  of  defiance,  and  that  the 
suppression  of  God's  name  in  this  connection  is 
a  most  natural  manifestation  of  Job's  feelings  in 
their  present  stage  of  development — although,  as 
Hirzel  has  shown,  it  is  quite  in  our  author's 
manner  thus  to  omit  the  name  of  God.     See  ch. 


viii.  18;  xii.  13;  xvi.  7;  xx.  23  ;  xxii.  21  ; 
XXV,  2  ;  xxvii.  22  ;  xxx.  19.  ^'Gives  he,  a  dis- 
tant fling  at  God,  though  a  certain  reverence  re- 
fuses to  utter  His  name,  but  He  is  at  the  base  of 
such  awful  entanglement  and  perverse  attitude 
of  things."   (Dav.).— E.] 

Parallel  with  /OIH,  "  to  the  wretched," 
stands  in  the  second  member,  CSJ  'ID/,  "to  the 
troubled  in  soul,"  those  whose  heart  is  troubled 
[lit.  "  the  bitter  in  soul,"  i.  e.,  those  whose  souls 
have  known  life's  bitterness. — E.]  The  same 
expression  is  found  in  Prov.  xxxi.  6  ;  1  Sam.  i. 
10  ;  xxii.  2. 

Vers.  21-22  contain  specifications  in  partici- 
pial form  of  the  phrase  t^SJ  '^D,  with  finite 
verbs  attached  in  the  second  member  of  each 
verse,  a  construction  which  elsewhere  also  is  not 
unfrequently  met  with  (see  Ew.  §  350,  b). 

Ver.  21.  Who  wait  long  for  death— and 
it  comes  not  (lit.  "and  it  is  not,"  ^^J'^^,  comp. 
verse  9),  and  dig  for  it  more  than  for  [hid- 
den] trea'sures. — The  Imperf.  consec.  '"ISITI 
is  used  here  in  the  sense  of  the  Present,  as  also 
elsewhere  occasionally  (see  Ew.  |  342,  a).  [The 
Vav.  consec.  would  indicate  that  the  digging  for 
death  is  consequent  upon  waiting  for  it — the 
passive  waiting  and  longing  being  succeeded  by 
the  more  active  digging  and  searching  for  it.  A 
terrible  picture  of  the  progress  of  human  mi- 
sery.— E.]  It  is  not  necessary  (with  Hahn  and 
Schlottmann)  to  translate  by  the  subjunctive 
form,  "who  would  dig"  (would  willingly  do 
so).  Delitzsch's  assumption,  that  the  fut.  consec. 
is  used  "because  the  sufferers  are  regarded  as 
now  at  last  dead,"  is  altogether  too  artificial. 
The  discourse  presents  rather  an  ardent  longing 
after  death  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  as  yet 
living — and  this  longing  is  described  so  as  to 
harmonize  with  the  figurative  representation  of 
a  "digging  after  pearls  or  treasures."  Comp. 
chap,  xxviii.  1  sq.,  9  sq.  [Ewald,  not  inaptly: 
"  for  death,  like  such  treasures,  seems  to  come 
out  of  earth's  most  secret  womb,  even  as  Pluto 
is  the  god  of  both."]  On  "ISH  with  accus.  of  the 
thing  which  is  dug  out,  comp.  Ex.  vii.  24  [show- 
ing the  incorrectness  of  the  assertion  that  in  the 
sense  of  digging,  the  verb  takes  only  the  accusa- 
tive of  the  cavity  produced  by  digging,  and  so 
justifying  the  rendering  "  to  dig  "  here. — E.] 

Ver.  22.  Who  are  joyful,  even  to  rap- 
ture— heightening  the  thought:  usgue  ad  exul- 
tationem,  exactly  as  in  Hos.  ix.  1.  In  like 
manner  the  following  W't!^  contains  a  still  fur- 
ther advance  in  the  strength  of  the  thought. 
["The  verse  is  a  climax,  (1)  rejoice,  (2)  to 'ex- 
ultation, (3)  dance  for  joy."  Dav. 

"  Who  rejoice,  even  to  exultation, 
Aud    aro    triumpliaut,  when  they  can  find  out  the 
grave."  — Good.] 

Vers.  23-26.  [The  individual  application  of 
Job's  question.] 

Ver.  23  resumes,  after  the  parenthesis  con- 
tained in  the  two  preceding  verses,  the  dative 
construction  begun  in  ver.  20,  and  governed  by 
the  verb  \r}\  of  that  verse.  To  a  man  whose 
w^ay   is   hidden:  viz.  to  me,   to  Job  himself; 


CHAP.  III.  1-2G. 


321 


comp.  the  following  verses,  in  which  the  speak- 
er's own  person  appears  as  the  prominent  theme 

of  discourse.  ["^.^-I/'  "'o  ^  man,"  a  general 
expression  as  yet,  although  evidently  the  speaker 
is  thinking  ot  himself.  The  verse  forms  the 
transition  from  the  general  description  of  the 
verses  preceding  to  the  direct  description  of  the 
verses  following. — E  ]  For  a  similar  use  of  the 
figurative  expressions  "  covering  and  hedging 
the  way"  to  represent  the  act  of  putting  a  man 
in  a  helpless,  forsaken,  inextricable  situation  ; 
comp.  chap.  xix.  8;  also  Lam.  iii.  6;  Is.  xl.  27. 
[Renan  translates: 

"To  the  man  whose  way  is  covered  with  darkness, 
And  whom  God  has  enviroued  with  a.  fatal  circle." 

"He  means,  by  having  his  way  hid,  being 
bewildered  and  lost:  the  world  and  thought  and 
providence  become  a  labyrinth  to  him,  out  of 
which  and  in  which  no  path  can  be  found,  his 
speculative  and  religious  belief  hopelessly  entan- 
gled, and  his  heart  palsied  and  paralyzed  by 
its  own  conflicting  emotions  and  memories,  so 
that  action  and  thought  were  impossible,  a  hedge 
being  about  him,  his  whole  life  and  condition 
being  contradiction  and  inexplication,  a  step  or 
two  leading  to  a  stand-still  in  any  direction." 
Dav.] 

Ver.  24.  For  ['3,  personal  confirmation  of 
the  preceding  statement]  instead  of  my  bread 
comes  my  sighing. — 'JS/  here  not  in  the 
local  sense,  "before"  ["in  presence  of  it,  and 
hence  in  etfect  along  with  it.  Meaning:  even 
at  that  season  of  enjoyment  and  thankfulness, 
when  food  is  partaken,  I  have  only  pain  and 
sorrow."  Con.],  but  as  also  in  chap.  iv.  19;  1 
Sam.  i.  16,  "for,  instead  of"  (comp.  the  Latin 
pro).  [Akin  to  this  is  the  definition  "like," 
from  the  idea  of  comparison  involved  in  that  of 
presence  or  nearness.  So  Schult.,  Dav.,  Ren.] 
Less  suitable  is  the  temporal  construction : 
"  before  my  food  [:=before  I  eat]  sighing  still 
comes  to  me."  ["My  groans  anticipate  my 
food."  Wem.]  (so  Ilahn,  Hirz.,  Schl.,  etc.,  after 
the  LXX.,  Vulgate,  etc.)  [The  temporal  sense 
is  somewhat  differently  given  by  Green,  direst., 
"  before,  sooner  than ;  perpetually  repeated, 
with  greater  frequency  than  his  regular  food." 
The  suggestion  found  in  Rosenm.,  Bar.,  etc., 
that  Jobs  disease  made  his  food  loathsome  in 
the  act  of  eating  gives  a  meaning  needlessly 
offensive,  and  is  not  suited  either  to  the  connec- 
tion or  to  the  terms  employed.  The  fut.  N^H 
is  used  in  the  frequentative  sense. — E.]  And 
my  groans  pour  themselves  forth  like 
■water:  t.  e.  as  incessantly  as  water,  which 
flows  ever  onward,  or  is  precipitated  from  a 
height.  As  is  evident,  a  strong  comparison, 
and  one  which  would  be  greatly  weakened  by 
the  explanation  of  Hirzel  and  others,  who  find 
in  it  an   allusion   to    the   water   of  Job's   daily 

drink,  parallel  with  DPI;,  his  daily  bread.  For 
the  masc,  OH]']  before  the' fem.  subj.  'flJ^iy, 
comp.  chap.  xvi.  22;  Ewald  §  191  b.  [Future 
frequentative  like  N^P].  For  njXt^,  lit.  roar- 
ing (chap.  iv.  10)  in  the  sense  of  groaning,  the 
21 


moaning  of  a  sufferer.  Comp.  Psalm  xxii.  2; 
xxxii.  3. 

Ver.  25.  For  if  I  trembled  brfore  any- 
thing, it  forthwith  came  upon  me.  Lit.; 
"For  a  fear  have  I  feared,  and  lortliwith  it  has 
overtaken  me."  ["Zf<  me  but  think  of  a  terror," 
"■^D  "MID  is  present  and  concessive,  DN  under- 
stood, suppose  me  to  fear  a  fear,  to  conceive  a 
terror;  it  is  no  sooner  conceived  than  realized  : 
and  not  past  and  positive,  I  feared  a  fear,  as  if 
Job,  in  the  height  of  his  felicity,  had  been 
haunted  by  the  presentiment  of  coming  calamity, 
a  meaning  which  is  opposed  to  the  wliole  con- 
victions of  antiquity,  and  contradicted  by  the 
anguii^li  and  despair  of  the  man  under  his  suf- 
fering, which  was  to  him  inexplicable  and  unex- 
pected. The  picture  refers  exclusively  to  the 
present  misery  of  the  man.  ...  7/  overtakes  me, 
'J'riX1%  vav  consec.  introduces  the  issue  of  the 
dread:  the  thing  dreaded  immediately  comes." 
Dav.  So  Green  in  Chrest. :  "  The  meaning  is 
not  that  he  had  apprehensions  in  his  former 
prosperity,  which  have  now  been  fulfilled :  but 
all  that  is  dreadful  in  his  esteem  has  been 
already,  or  is  likely  soon  to  be  (ND",  fut.),  real- 
ized in  his  experience.  He  endures  all  that  he 
has  ever  conceived  that  is  frightful."]  For  the 
poetic  full-sounding  form  'J'.J^i*";  comp.  chap, 
xii.  6;  xvi.  22;  xxx.  14  (Ew.  §  252,  a.  [Green, 
I  172,  3]). 

[Merx,  transposing  ver.  23,  introduces  it  here, 
as  immediately  following  ver.  25.  His  version 
accordingly  reads  as  follows : 

Fur  the  Terror,  of  which  I  was  afraid,  overtook  me; 
And  that  which  with  shuddering;  I  looked  for  came  to  me, 
To  the  man  whose  path  was  covered ; 
Whom  Eluah  hedged  in  round  about. 

He  thus  makes  the    /  before  *13J  a   repetition 

of  the  w,  end  of  ver.  25,  and  not  of  70^'/'  ''^^■ 
20,  according  to  the  old  position.  He  further 
would  make  the  verse  in  its  new  position  an 
ironical  echo  of  Satan's  words  in  chap.  i.  10. — 
Tlie  conjecture  is  certainly  highly  ingenious. 
But  there  are  decisive  objections  to  the  change. 
The  first  and  weightiest  is  that  the  irony  loses 
all  its  force,  and  the  words  themselves  become 
all  but  meaningless  in  Job's  mouth  when  it  is 
remembered  that  the  words  were  first  spoken  by 
Satan  in  the  heavenly  council,  where  Job  was 
not  present.  It  is  an  essential  part  of  the  mys- 
tery of  the  drama  here  unfolded  that  Job  knows 
nothing  whatever  of  the  transactions  between 
God  and  Satan.  Any  conscious  allusion  to  any- 
thing in  those  transactions  on  the  part  of  Job 
would  be  a  blunder  of  art  of  which  our  author 
is  incapable  ;  and  without  such  conscious  intent 
the  words  lose  all  their  pertinency.  Moreover, 
the  verse  in  its  old  position,  as  is  remarked  in 
the  notes  above,  furnishes  the  transition  from 
the  general  description  of  vers.  20-22  to  the 
more  personal  application  of  vers.  24-26. — E.] 

Ver.  20.  I  have  no  quiet,  no  repose,  uo 
rest;  and  still  trouble  comes.  On  the 
abrupt  brevity  of  the  second  member,  comp. 
above,  No.  1. — U*^,  here  certainly  more  in  the 
sense  of  grief,  pain,  trembling,  than  of  passion- 
ate excitement,  or  rage,  and  so  with  a  meaning 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


diflFerent  from  ver.  17:  but  always  (and  so  in 
Ter.  17,  as  well  as  here)  of  an  inward  afifection, 
not.  of  external  "distress"  (Sclilott. ),  or  of  a 
"storm"  (Halin),  etc.  Vaihinger's  rendering: 
•'restless  life,"  is  correct  as  to  sense,  but  fails 
of  doing  justice  to  the  pointed  brevity  of  the 
expression.  [The  Vulgate  reads  this  verse 
interrogatively:  "Was  I  not  in  safety?  had  I 
no  resi  ?  was  I  not  in  comfort?  Yet  trouble 
came."  So  also  the  Targ.  with  curious  amplifi- 
cations: "Did  I  not  dissimulate  when  it  was 
told  me  concerning  the  oxen  and  the  asses?  did 
T  not  sleep  when  it  was  told  me  concerning  the 
fire?"  etc.} 

DOCTRINAL  AND  ETHICAL. 
1.  In  so  far  as  we  may  be  disposed  to  find  the 
theme  of  the  following  discussion  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  it  behooves  us  in  any  case  to 
hold  for  certain  that  this  theme  is  expressed 
only  partially,  and  altogether  formally,  or  only, 
so  to  speak,  in  an  interrogative  form.  Job  cei*- 
lainly  does  not  come  across  the  question  in  this 
discourse.  To  curse  his  existence,  to  ask  again 
and  again  after  the  incomprehensible  Wherefore 
of  that  existence — this  constitutes  the  whole  of 
this  violent  outbreak  of  feeling,  with  which  Job 
initiates  the  discussion  which  follows.  He  does 
not  give  the  slightest  intimation  in  regard  to 
the  right  way  of  solving  the  problem  which  tor- 
ments him — the  problem  touching  the  enigma 
of  his  sorrowful  existence ;  indeed  he  makes  not 
the  slightest  attempt  at  such  a  solution.  He 
pours  forth  in  all  its  bitterness  and  harshness 
his  despairing  lamentation  concerning  the  help- 
less misery  of  man,  who  is  become  the  object  of 
the  divine  anger.  What  he  puts  forth  vividly 
reminds  us  from  beginning  to  end  of  those  well- 
known  utterances  of  the  Greek  poets,  which 
declare  it  best  never  to  have  been  born,  and 
next  best  to  die  as  quickly  as  possible.  Comp. 
Theognis: 

UnvTuv  /JFv  ui]  (pvvai  eTrix'^ovMLatv  apiarov 
fMTjd'  iaiihiv  ahya^  o^eoc  ysTiiov 
<l>vvTa  (5'  oTwf  Moara  nvT^aq  Al6ao  nepf/aai 
Kal  KELcdai  no7i7.fiv  -yyv  knafiTjaa/iiEvov, — 

also  the  similar  expressions  of  Bacchylides 
{Fragm.  3),  .Esop  {Anthol.  Gr.  x.  12-3),  Sopho- 
cles {^Oed,  Col.  Il225:  firj  (piwac  top  arravTa  viKa 
?L6yov  TO  6'  ETTjJv  (pavTJ,  ftf/vai  keIOev,  b&ev  rrep  t/ksi, 
TTO?.v  devTEpov,  ('.)(;  raxtora:  not  to  have  been  born 
surpasses  everything  which  can  be  said  :  or  if 
one  has  come  to  the  light,  to  descend  there 
whence  he  came  as  quickly  as  possible  is  by 
far  the  second  best  thing),  of  Alexis  (in  Athe- 
.naeus,  Deipno.i.  iii.  124,  G),  of  Pliny  {Hist.  Nat. 
vii.  1),  etc.  Especially  current  in  heathen  lite- 
rature, although  indeed  often  enough  hinted  at 
by  the  singers  of  the  Old  Testament,  especially 
in  the  Psalms  and  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah, 
is  this  manifoldly  uttered  lament  over  the  ruined 
estate,  the  bankruptcy  of  the  natural  man  in  his 
unredeemed  condition,  left  to  himself,  delivered 
■  over  without  remedy  to  the  consequences  of  sin 
— a  lament  which  here  falls  on  our  ears,  without 
a  single  ray  of  comfort  from  on  high  to  shine  on 
its  deep  gloom,  without  any  alleviating  influence 
whatever  from  the  hope  of  a  better  Hereafter, 
^oi  which  not  a  trace  is  as  yet  visible  here. 


2.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  however,  Job  doea 
not  altogether  fall  into  the  tone  of  those  heathen, 
of  those  iXnida  //;)  ex'^'"'''^?  kc-^  aii^eoz  ev  t<1)  Kdafjcj 
(Eph.  ii.  12;  comp.  1  Thess.  iv.  13).  He  doea 
indeed  ask:  Why  does  God  give  light  to  the  sor- 
rowful, and  life  to  the  bitter  in  soul  (ver.  20)? 
He  is  not  found  now,  as  aforetime  (chap.  i.  21 
scq.),  praising  God  in  the  midst  of  his  suffer- 
ings; in  so  far  as  with  all  earnestness  he  curses 
his  birth  and  conception,  he  is  palpably  guilty 
of  "sinning  with  his  lips"  (chap.  ii.  10),  instead 
of  exhibiting,  as  he  had  previously  done,  a 
childlike  pious  submission.  But  he  by  no  means 
goes  over  to  the  side  of  Satan,  that  enemy  of 
God,  who  is  the  author  of  his  temptation.  He 
does  not  go  so  far  astray  as  presumptuously  to 
"curse  God  to  His  face"  (chap.  i.  11;  ii.  7),  as 
Satan  had  purposed  that  he  should.  He  curses 
indeed  the  divine  act  of  creation  which  had  given 
him  being,  but  not  the  Creator  himself;  the 
curse  which  he  pronounces  on  his  day  does  not 
put  forth  that  wicked  blasphemous  sentiment 
which  H.  Heine  expresses  in  one  of  his  last 
poems: 

'"Tis  well  to  di«;  but  bettpr  still 
*   It  were  had  mother  never  liorue  us." 

Hia  words  are  words  of  lamentation  and 
despondency,  of  doubt  and  questioning,  but  not 
words  of  blasphemy,  nor  even  of  atheistic  doubt, 
renouncing  all  faith  in  a  living,  good  and  just 
God.  They  show,  indeed,  that  the  trust  which 
he  had  hitherto  exercised  in  God  had  been  vio- 
lently shaken,  that  there  was  a  wavering  and 
faltering  in  the  child-like  obedience  which,  with 
touching  loyalty,  he  had  hitherto  constantly 
yielded  to  God.  But  they  are  nevertheless  only 
preparatory  to  the  later,  au'l  far  more  passion- 
ate outbreaks  of  discontent  with  God's  dealings 
to  which  he  gives  way.  Even  when  he  mentions 
here  a  man  whose  way  God  has  "hidden  and 
hedged  about"  (ver.  23),  he  is  still  far  from 
indulging  in  nny  accusation  of  God  as  a  cruel 
and  unjust  persecutor;  it  is  as  yet  a  compara- 
tively harmless  complaint,  in  the  utterance  of 
which  the  bitter  accvsntion  of  his  later  discourses 
is  only  remotely  anticipated.  It  is  a  fact,  how- 
ever, that  he  who  has  hitherto  lived  blamelessly 
in  his  fidelity  to  God  does,  in  the  complaints 
which  in  this  discourse  gush  forth  from  his 
heart,  enter  on  that  downward  path  which,  in 
proportion  as  his  friends  prove  themselves  to  be 
unskilful  comforters,  and  as  physicians  accom- 
plished only  in  torturing,  not  in  healing,  leads 
him  ever  further  from  God  and  ever  deeper  into 
the  abyss  of  joyless  despair.  Comp.  Delitzsch 
(i.  84):  "Job  nowhere  says,  that  he  will  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  God;  he  does  not 
renounce  his  former  faithfulness.  In  the  mind 
of  the  writer,  however,  as  may  be  gathered  from 
chap.  ii.  10,  this  speech  is  to  be  regarded  as  the 
beginning  of  Job's  sinning.  If  a  man,  on  ac- 
count of  his  sufferings,  wishes  to  die  early,  or 
not  to  have  been  born  jit  all,  he  has  lost  his  con- 
fidence that  God,  even  in  the  severest  suffering, 
designs  his  highest  good  ;  and  this  want  of  con- 
fidence is  sin.  Tliere  is,  however,  a  great  dif- 
ference between  a  man  who  has  in  general  no 
trust  in  God,  and  in  whom  suffering  only  makes 
this  manifest  in  a  terrible  manner,  and  the  mnn 
with  whom  trust  in  God  is  a  habit  of  his  soul, 


CHAP.  III.  1-26. 


828 


and  is  only  momentarily  repressed,  and,  as  it 
were,  paralyzed.  Such  interruption  of  tlio 
habitual  state  may  result  from  the  first  pressure 
of  unaccustomed  suffering;  it  may  then  seem  as 
though  trust  in  God  were  overwhelmed,  whereas 
it  has  only  given  way  to  rally  itself  again.  It 
is,  however,  not  the  greatness  of  the  afHiction 
in  itself  which  shakes  his  sincere  trust  in  God, 
but  a  change  of  disposition  on  the  part  of  God, 
which  seems  to  be  at  work  in  the  >tffliction. 
The  sufferer  considers  himself  as  forgotten,  for- 
saken and  rejected  of  God;  therefore  he  sinks 
into  despair;  and  in  this  despair  expression  is 
given  to  the  profound  truth  (although  with 
regard  to  the  individual  that  expression  is  a 
sinful  weakness),  that  it  is  better  never  to  have 
been  born,  or  to  be  annihilated,  than  to  be 
rejected  of  God  (comp.  Matt.  xxvi.  24,  KnTibv  r/v 
avTcI)  St  o'vK  sysvvij&7]  6  av&puTvn^  knflpoq).  In  such 
a  condition  of  spiritual,  and,  as  we  know  from 
the  prologue,  of  Satanic  temptation  (Luke  xxii. 
31  ;  Eph.  vi.  16),  is  Job.  He  does  not  despair 
when  he  contemplates  his  afHiction,  but  when 
be  looks  at  God  through  it,  who,  as  though  He 
were  become  his  enemy,  has  surrounded  him 
with  his  affliction  as  with  a  rampart.  ...  It  is 
indeed  inconceivable  thit  a  New  Testament 
believer,  even  under  the  strongest  temptation, 
should  utter  such  imprecations,  or  especially 
such  a  question  of  doubt  as  in  ver.  20:  Where- 
fore is  light  given  to  the  miserable  ?  But  that 
an  Old  Testament  believer  might  very  easily 
become  involved  in  such  conflicts  of  belief  may 
be  accounted  for  by  the  absence  of  any  express 
divine  revelation  to  carry  his  mind  beyond  the 
bounds  of  the  present."* 

HOMILETICAL  AND   PRACTICAL. 

The  above  chapter  presents  as  a  whole  but 
little  material  for  homiletic  use.  The  descrip- 
tion of  human  misery,  as  here  elaborated  by 
Job,  before  the  coming  of  the  Redeemer,  is  too 
much  pervaded  by  a  passionate  one-sidedness, 
to  be  susceptible  of  practical  application  in  the 
way  of  exhortation  or  encouragement.  Unless, 
as  with  many  of  the  ancient  and  most  of  the 
Romish  commentators,  the  discourse  of  Job  be 
idealized,  and  that  which  is  objectionable  in  it 
be  set  aside,  after  the  fashion  of  an  artificial, 
moralistic  and  allegoristic  exegesis,  it  presents 
more  which  from  the  Christian  point  of  view  is 
to  be  censured  than  to  be  accepted  as  sound  and 
authoritative  teaching.  It  behooves  us  at  all 
events  to  treat  it  critically,  and  from  the  stand- 
point of  a  higher  and  maturer  evangelical  per- 
ception of  the  truth  to  discriminate  in  Job's 
complaints  and  doubtful  questionings  that  which 
belongs  wliolly  to  the  Old  Testament  era,  before 
Christ,  and  to  an  imperfectly  regenerated 
humanity,   and  which  is  incompatible  with  the 


*  On  the  relation  of  Jeremiah's  outlmrst  of  despair  (chap. 
XX.  14-18),  in  which  th«  prophet  partiiilly  imitates  in  ex- 
pression th«  passapo  before  us,  to  Job's  similar  lament, 
comp.  Delitzsch  (i.  86  seq  ,  who  is  certainly  right  in  calling 
attention  to  the  greater  brevity  of  the  passage  in  Jeremiab, 
and  wlio  is  fo  that  reason  not  disinclined,  with  Hitzig,  to 
attribnto  to  the  prophet  a  momentary  paroxysm  of  excite- 
ment, OC'  asioned  by  the  extremely  disconsolate  condition 
of  his  nation  at  that  time);  also  Nagelsbach  on  Jeremiah 
I.  c. ;  as  also  Ilengstenberg.  Dus  Buck  Jliob,  p.  120  [see  also 
Lowth's  remarks  in  the  £xegetical  Notes]. 


spirit  and  belief  of  a  suffering  saint  under  the 
New  Dispensation.  It  behooves  us,  in  a  word, 
to  set  beside  each  other  the  impatient  sufferer, 
Job,  with  (he  7nost  patient  of  all  sufferers,  Christ. 
It  bcliooves  us  to  show  the  contrast  between 
him,  who,  oppressed  by  the  weight  of  liis  suf- 
ferings, cursed  the  day  of  his  birth,  and  Ilim, 
who,  when  confronted  by  a  yet  more  bitter  and 
terrible  cup  of  sufiFering,  prayed:  "0  my  Father, 
if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me: 
nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  jjs  Tliou  wilt!" 
It  must  be  noted  that  Job,  in  cursing  his  exist- 
ence, and  tliereby  (at  least  indirectly)  calling  ia 
question  God's  goodness  and  justice,  departs 
from  the  stand-point  of  the  pious  sufferers  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  seemingly  betakes  him- 
self to  that  of  tlie  heathen  in  their  disconsolate 
and  hopeless  estate  (comp.  Doctrinal  Remarks, 
No.  1),  whereas  the  strongest  utterance  of 
lamentation  and  anguish  which  Christ  puts  forth 
is  that  exclamation  from  the  Psalms:  "My  God, 
my  God,  why  hast  Tiiou  forsaken  me?"  Let 
this  question  of  the  Crucified  One  accordingly 
be  taken,  and  put  alongside  of  the  two  questions 
of  Job  beginning  with  the  interrogative  "why" 
(ver.  II  seq.  and  ver.  20  seq.),  and  this  compa- 
rison be  formulated  thus:  The  "  Why''  of  the 
suffering  Job,  and  that  of  Christ;  or:  Job  and 
Christ,  the  sorely  tried  sufferers,  and  the  different 
questions  addressed  by  them  to  God.  Comp.  Dren- 
Tius  in  his  introductory  Meditation  on  the 
Chap.:  Christ  exclaims  that  He  is  forsaken, 
because  the  Lord  appears  solely  in  the  character 
of  Judge,  inflicting  sentence  of  death,  thus 
hiding  in  the  meanwhile  His  paternal  aropy^. 
Tliis  the  Scriptures  call  sometimes  forsaking, 
sometimes  being  asleep.  Tliere  is  the  same 
judicial  character  in  the  treatment  of  Job.  For 
during  his  first  trials  (chap.  1-2)  he  feels  the 
Lord  to  be  as  yet  his  Father,  and  His  hand  to 
be  supporting  him;  ami  so  he  stands  without 
difEculiy,  being  founded  on  a  firm  rock.  But 
now,  the  Father  being  hidden  from  him,  a  hor- 
rible sentence  of  death  is  set  before  him.  No 
longer  therefore  do  you  hear  thanksgivings 
from  him,  but  blasphemies  and  curses,  so  that 
you  may  say,  that  the  Lord  alone  is  good  and 
true,  but  that  every  man,  however  just  and 
pious,  is  a  liar. 

Particular  Passages.  Vers.  3-10:  Osiander: 
If  a  man's  heart  be  not  ruled  and  curbed  by  the 
grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  fumes  and  rages 
under  the  cross,  instead  of  bearing  it  patiently. 
— WoHLFARTii:  This  saying  ("Cursed  be  the 
day  wherein  I  was  born,"  etc.)  is  rightly  im- 
puted to  the  tried  suflFerer  as  a  great  sin  by  the 
Holy  Scripture,  and  by  himself,  because  the  day 
of  our  birth  comes  to  us  from  God,  the  best 
Father,  and  makes  us  witnesses  of  so  many 
instances  of  His  grace.  .  .  .  Job's  case  may 
warn  you  against  incurring  such  guilt,  as  to 
murmur  against  your  Lord,  and  teach  you,  so 
far  from  cursing  the  day  of  your  birth,  much 
rather  to  thank  God  foe  it.  Psalm  cxxxiv. 
14  sq. 

Vers.  11-19.  Brenttus:  The  godly  and  the 
ungodly  alike  declare  that  death  is  the  last  limit 
of  earthly  affairs,  that  it  is  a  quiet  deliverance 
from  life's  ills.  But  the  one  class  declare  this 
in  unbelief,  the  other  in  faith.     For  the  godly 


824 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


man  .  .  .  wishes  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
seeing  that  he  has  no  other  release  from  the 
sinfulness  of  the  flesh  than  death,  which  never- 
theless is  not  his  death,  but  his  redemption. 
But  the  ungodly,  feeling  in  himself  the  heavy 
scourgings  of  Divine  judgment,  desires  death  as 
rest  and  deliverance  from  these  scourgings.  It 
is  unbelief,  however,  that  produces  this  wish, 
which  longs  after  death,  not  because  of  the  sin- 
fulness of  the  flesh,  but  on  account  of  the  scourg- 
ings.— V.  Gerl.\ch.  Death  seems  in  this  and 
in  similar  sections  of  the  book  (as  is  so  often 
the  case  also  in  the  Psalms)  as  a  state  of  peace 
and  quiet,  it  is  true,  but  as  being  at  the  same 
time  a  pale,  empty,  shadowy  existence,  such  as 
it  was  conceived  to  be  among  the  heathen,  as 
e.  g.  in  the  Eleventh  Book  of  the  Odyssey.  .  .  . 
These  and  similar  descriptions  we  are  not  to 
esteem  as  the  human  representations  appropri- 
ate to  a  crude  superstitious  age;  rather  is  this 
to  be  regarded  as  the  actual  condition  of  the 
departed  without  the  redemption  which  is 
through  Christ.  It  was  in  this  condition  that 
Christ  found  them  after  completing  His  redemp- 
tive work  on  earth,  when  He  preached  to  the 
"spirits  in  prison"  (1  Pet.  iii.  I8sq.).  . 
The  awful  truth  of  these  descriptions  of  the 
realm  of  the  dead  in  our  book  and  in  the  Psalms 
should  accordingly  fill  even  the  Christian,  who 
still  lives  in  the  body  and  in  the  world  with 
holy  earnestness,  when  he  remembers  the  cha- 
racter of  that  state  which  follows  a  life  out  of 
Christ;  and  how  with  these  descriptions  the 
narrative  which  Jesus  gives  of  the  rich  man  in 
the  place  of  torment  links  itself. 


Vers.  20-26.  Cocceius:  Under  the  yoke  of 
the  law,  before  the  revelation  of  the  Gospel,  a 
burden  lay  upon  our  fathers,  such  as  they  could 
neither  bear  nor  lay  aside.  And  although  they 
panted  after  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God,  there 
were  still  so  many  hindrances  in  the  way,  that 
they  could  never  enjoy  the  full  blessedness  which 
results  from  a  conscience  TETi/ietufiepj;,  and  in- 
wardly absolved.  .  .  .  Whoever,  therefore,  of 
them  cursed  his  life  should  be  regarded  by  us 
not  so  much  as  resisting  the  ordinance  of  God, 
or  spurning  His  kindness,  but  rather  as  panting 
after  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel,  while  struggling 
with  the  yoke  of  the  law. — Zeyss  (on  vers.  23- 
24):  God  often  shuts  up  the  way  of  His  children 
with  the  thorns  of  affliction,  in  order  that  they 
may  never  turn  aside  out  of  it ;  He  knows,  how- 
ever, how  easily  to  open  it  again,  after  He  has 
tried  them  first.  .  .  .  The  bread  of  tears  is  the 
most  common  food  of  pious  Christians  in  this 
world ;  it  is  their  comfort,  however,  that  the 
true  bread  of  joy  will  certainly  follow  hereafter; 
Ps.  Ixxx.  6;  cii.  10;  cxxvi.  5,  6;  John  xvi.  20. 
Hengstenbero:  The  answer  to  Job's  questions 
is  this:  God  chastises  the  pious  in  rigliteous 
retribution,  and  for  their  good,  but  He  does 
not  deliver  them  over  to  death.  There  is  no 
"wretched  one"  (ver.  21)  in  Job's  sense  of  the 
term,  understanding  by  it,  as  he  does,  one  who 
is  absolutely  miserable.  The  man  who  should 
be  permanently  miserable  would  be  so  in  conse- 
quence of  his  sin,  as  the  penalty  of  his  delin- 
quency, the  suttering  which  should  lead  him  to 
God,  and  put  him  in  spiritual  union  with  Him, 
having  driven  him  away  from  God. 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  CONTROVERSIAL  DISCOURSES. 


THE  ENTANGLEMENT   IN   ITS   BEGINNING. 
Chapter  IV— XIV. 

I.  Eliphaz  and  Job  :   Chap.  IV—  VII. 

A. — The  Accusation  of  Eliphaz :  Man  must  not  speak  against  God  like  Job. 

Chapter  IV — V. 

L,  Introductory  reproof  of  Job  on  account  of  his  unmanly  complaint,   by  which  he  could  only 
incur  God's  wrath: 

Chapter  IV.  2—11, 

1  Then  Eliphaz  the  Teraanite  answered  and  said : 

2  If  we  assay  to  commune  with  thee,  wilt  thou  be  grieved  ? 
but  who  can  withhold  himself  from  speaking  ? 

8     Behold,  thou  hast  instructed  many, 

and  thou  hast  strengthened  the  weak  hands. 

4  Thy  words  have  upholden  him  that  was  falling, 
and  thou  hast  strengthened  the  feeble  knees. 

5  But  now  it  is  come  upon  thee,  and  thou  faintest ; 
it  touch eth  thee,  and  thou  art  troubled. 


CHAPS.  IV.  1-21— V.  1-27.  325 


6  Is  not  this  thy  fear,  thy  confidence, 

thy  hope,  and  the  uprightness  of  thy  ways  ? 

7  Remember,  I  pray  thee,  who  ever  perished,  being  innocent  ? 
or  where  were  the  righteous  cut  off  ? 

8  Even  as  I  have  seen,  they  that  plough  iniquity, 
and  sow  wickedness,  reap  the  same. 

9  By  the  blast  of  God  they  perish, 

and  by  the  breath  of  His  nostrils  are  they  consumed. 

10  The  roaring  of  the  lion,  and  the  voice  of  the  fierce  lion, 
and  the  teeth  of  the  young  lions  are  broken. 

11  The  old  lion  perisheth  for  lack  of  prey, 

and  the  stout  lion's  whelps  are  scattered  abroad. 

2.  An  account  of  a  heavenly  revelation,  which  declared  to  him  the  wrongfulness  and  foolishness 
of  weak  sinful  man's  raving  against  God  : 

Chap.  IV.  12— V.  7. 

12  Now  a  thing  was  secretly  brought  to  me, 
and  mine  ear  received  a  little  thereof, 

13  in  thoughts  from  the  visions  of  the  night, 
when  deep  sleep  falleth  on  men — 

14  fear  came  upon  me,  and  trembling, 
which  made  all  my  bones  to  shake. 

15  Then  a  spirit  passed  before  my  face ; 
the  hair  of  my  flesh  stood  up ! 

16  It  stood,  but  I  could  not  discern  the  form  thereof: 
an  image  was  before  mine  eyes ; 

there  was  silence,  and  I  heard  a  voice,  saying, 

17  "Shall  mortal  man  be  more  just  than  God? 

shall  a  man  be  more  pure  than  his  Maker? 

18  Behold,  He  put  no  trust  in  His  servants ; 
and  His  angels  He  charged  with  folly : 

19  how  much  less  in  them  that  dwell  in  houses  of  clay, 
whose  foundation  is  in  the  dust, 

which  are  crushed  before  the  moth  ? 

20  They  are  destroyed  from  morning  to  evening; 
they  perish  forever  without  any  regarding  it. 

21  Doth  not  their  excellency  which  is  in  them  go  away? 
they  die,  even  without  wisdom." 

Chap.  V.    1     Call  noAv,  if  there  be  any  that  will  answer  thee ; 
and  to  which  of  the  saints  will  thou  turn  ? 

2  For  wrath  killeth  the  foolish  man, 
and  envy  slayeth  the  silly  one. 

3  I  have  seen  the  foolish  taking  root ; 
but  suddenly  I  cursed  his  habitation. 

4  His  children  are  far  from  safety, 

and  they  are  crushed  in  the  gate,  neither  is  there  any  to  deliver  them: 

5  whose  harvest  the  hungry  eateth  up, 
and  taketh  it  even  out  of  the  thorns, 

and  the  robber  swalloweth  up  their  substance. 

6  Although  affliction  cometh  not  forth  of  the  dust, 
neither  doth  trouble  spring  out  of  the  ground ; 

7  yet  man  is  born  unto  trouble, 
as  the  sparks  fly  upward. 


326 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


3.  Admonition  to  repentance,  as  the  only  means  by  which  Job  can  recover  God's  favor  and   hia 
former  happy  estate  : 

Chap.  V.  8—27. 

8  I  would  seek  unto  God, 

and  unto  God  would  I  commit  my  cause ; 

9  which  doeth  great  things  and  unsearchable, 
marvellous  things  without  number; 

10  who  giveth  rain  upon  the  earth, 

and  sendeth  waters  upon  the  fields ; — 

11  to  set  up  on  high  those  that  be  low, 

that  those  which  mourn  may  be  exalted  to  safety, 

12  He  disappointeth  the  devices  of  the  crafty, 

so  that  their  hands  cannot  perform  their  enterprise. 

13  He  taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness, 

and  the  counsel  of  the  froward  is  carried  headlong. 

14  They  meet  with  darkness  in  the  day-time, 
and  grope  in  the  noonday  as  in  the  night. 

15  But  He  saveth  the  poor  from  the  sword,  from  their  mouth, 
and  from  the  hand  of  the  mighty. 

16  So  the  poor  hath  hope, 

and  iniquity  stoppeth  her  mouth. 

17  Behold,  happy  is  the  man  whom  God  correcteth  ; 
therefore  despise  not  thou  the  chastening  of  the  Almighty. 

18  For  He  maketh  sore,  and  bindeth  up ; 
He  woundeth,  and  His  hands  make  whole. 

19  He  shall  deliver  thee  in  six  troubles; 
yea,  in  seven  there  shall  no  evil  touch  thee. 

20  In  famine  He  shall  redeem  thee  from  death, 
and  in  war  from  the  power  of  the  sword. 

21  Thou  shalt  be  hid  from   the  scourge  of  the  tongue, 
neither  shalt  thou  be  afraid  of  destruction  when  it  cometh. 

22  At  destruction  and  famine  thou  shalt  laugh  ; 

neither  shalt  thou  be  afraid  of  the  beasts  of  the  earth. 

23  For  thou  shalt  be  in  league  with  the  stones  of  the  field, 
and  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall  be  at  peace  with  thee. 

24  And  thou  shalt  know  that  thy  tabernacle  shall  be 
and  thou  shalt  visit  thy  habitation,  and  shalt  not  sin. 

25  Thou  shalt  know  also  that  thy  seed  shall  be  great, 
and  thine  offspring  as  the  grass  of  the  earth. 

26  Thou  shalt  come  to  thy  grave  in  a  full  age, 
like  as  a  shock  of  corn  cometh  in  his  season. 

27  Lo  this,  we  have  searched  it,  so  it  is : 
hear  it,  and  know  thou  it  for  thy  good. 


in  peace; 


EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 

1. — Ver.  1.  Then  answered  Eliphaz,  .  .  . 
and  said. — It  is  beyond  question  the  poet's 
aim  in  this  first  discourse  of  Eliphaz  to  put  for- 
ward as  the  fi^rst  arraigner  of  Job  a  man  vene- 
rable through  age  and  experience,  calm  and 
dispassionate,  godly  after  his  manner,  tfut  at 
the  same  ti^e  entangled  in  a  one-sided  eudemo- 
nism  and  theory  of  work-righteousness.  It  is  a 
genuine  sage  who  discourses  here:  not  indeed 
another  Job,  but  still  a   character   of  marked 


superiority  over  his  two  associates,  Bildad  and 
Zophar,  in  experimental  insight  and  sterling 
personal  worth,  who  here  "with  the  self-confi- 
dent pathos  of  age  and  the  mien  of  a  prophet" 
communicates  his  experiences,  annexing  thereto 
warnings,  exhortations  and  admonitions.  ["He, 
the  oldest  and  most  illustrious,  the  leader  and 
spokesman,  appears  here  at  once  in  his  greatest 
brilliancy.  What  a  fullness  in  the  argument, 
which  at  first  sight  seems  unanswerable!  How 
well  he  knows  how  to  produce  illustrations  and 
proofs  from  revelation  and  from  experience, 
from  among  the  inhabitants  of  heaven   and  of 


CHAPS.  IV.  1-21— V.   1-27. 


827 


earth !  And  what  poetic  beauty  irradiates  it 
all !  How  he  strikes  with  equal  skill  each 
various  chord  of  mild  reproach,  of  seU"  assured 
conviction,  of  the  awful,  of  the  elevated,  of  calm 
instruction,  of  friendly  appeal !  How  clearly 
and  sharply  marked  are  its  divisions,  alike  as 
to  thought  and  poetic  form  !  Every  strophe  is 
a  rounded  completed  whole  in  itself:  and  with 
what  freedom,  and,  at  the  same  time,  with  what 
internal  necessity  does  one  strophe  link  itself  to 
another!  One  might  say  that  as  an  artistic  dis- 
course this  part  is  the  conipletest  in  the  whole 
book  of  Job,  that  it  seems  as  though  the  poet 
■wished  to  show  at  the  very  beginning  the  per- 
fection of  his  art."  ScHLOTTMANN.  "  The spccch 
is  wonderfully  artistic  and  exhaustive,  unmis- 
takably manifesting  the  speaker's  high  standing 
and  self-conscious  superiority,  and  his  convic- 
tion of  Job's  guilt,  yet  showing  a  desire  to  spare 
him,  even  while  being  faithful  with  him,  and  to 
lead  him  back  to  rectitude  and  humility  rather 
by  an  exhibition  of  the  goodness  of  God  than  of 
his  own  sin.  The  speech  is  exquisitely  climac- 
tic, rising,  as  Ewald  says,  from  the  faint  whis- 
per and  tune  of  the  summer  wind  to  the  loud 
and  irresistible  thunder  of  the  wintry  storm." 
Dav.] 

The  discourse  opens  with  a  sharp  attack  on 
Job's  comfortless  and  hopeless  lamentation,  as 
something  which  was  adapted  to  bring  down  on 
him  God's  wrath,  which,  as  experience  shows, 
is  visited  on  every  ungodly  man  (chap.  iv.  2-11). 
He  strengthens  this  admonition  by  describing  a 
heavenly  vision  which  had  appeared  to  him 
during  the  night,  and  which  had  spoken  to  him, 
teaching  him  how  foolish  and  how  wrong  it  is 
for  man  to  rebel  against  God  (chap.  iv.  12 — v. 
7).  The  close  of  his  discourse  consists  of  a 
kindly  admonition  to  Job  to  return  accordingly 
to  God  in  a  spirit  of  prayer  and  penitent  humi- 
lity, in  which  case  God  would  certainly  deliver 
him  out  of  his  misery,  and  exalt  him  out  of  his 
present  low  estate  (chap.  v.  8-27).*  The  first 
and  shortest  of  these  three  divisions  forms  at  the 
same  time  the  first  of  the  five  double  strophes, 
into  which  the  entire  discourse  falls.  The  two 
following  divisions  are  subdivided  each  into  two 
double  strophes  of  almost  equal  length,  as  fol- 
lows: Div.  II.:  a.  chap.  iv.  12-21;  b.  chap.  v. 
1-7. — Div.  III.:  a.  chap.  v.  8-lG;  b.  chap.  v. 
17-27. 

2.  First  Diimion  and  Double  Strophe :  Intro- 
ductory reproof  of  Job's  faint-hearted  lamenta- 
tion, whereby  he  could  only  call  down  on  him- 
self God's  anger:  chap.  iv.  2-11. 

First  Strophe:  vers.  2-6.  Retrospective  refer- 
etice  to  Job's  former  godly  and  righteous  life. 

Ver.  2.  Should  one  venture  a  word  to 
thee,  vrilt  thou  be  grieved  ? — [The  friendly 
courtesy  of  these  opening  words  of  Eliphaz  is 
worthy  of  note.  They  are  at  once  dignified, 
sympathetic  and  considerate.  At  the  same  time, 
as  Dillmana  observes,  tliere  is  a  certain  "cold- 
ness and  measured  deliberation"  about  them, 
which  not  improbably  grated  somewhat  on  Job's 
sensibilities,  yearning,  as  his  heart  now  did,  for 


*  In  all  essentials  Cocceius  had  already  recognized  these 
three  division*  in  the  discourse  of  EliphttZ,  l>oih  a«  regards 
the  lines  of  separation  between  them  and  the  Bignificance 
of  their  contents. 


more  tangible  and  soulfuU  sympathy.  Eliphaz 
speaks  less  as  a  sympathizing  friend,  than  as  a 
fatherly  adviser,  and  a  benevolent  but  critical 
sage. — E.]  The  interrogative  particle  H,  refer- 
ring to  the  principal  verb  nX/P,  is  prefixed  to 
the  first  word  of  the  sentence.  [See  Green,  Gr. 
^  283,  a]      It   is    immediately    loUowed    by    an 

elliptical     conditional    clause,     T^X    "^31    HDJ 

1  ''•.■••  T    T  T  • 

(comp.  the  same  construction  in  ver.  21;  also 
iu  Num.  xvi.  22  ;  Jer.  viii.  4),  forming  an  ante- 
cedent clause  to  the  principal  verb.  To  be  ren- 
dered accordingly :  "Wilt  thou  find  it  iricsome, 
take  it  hard,  will  it  offend  thee,  if  one  attempts 
a  word  to  thee?"  HDJ  is  most  simply  regarded 
as  third  pers.  sing.  Piel  of  HDJ,  tentare,  after 
Eccles.  vii.  2e3.  It  is  less  natural,  with  Umbreit, 
etc.,  to  take  it  as  I'ret.  Niph.  in  the  same  sense, 
or  following  the  old  versions,  to  see  in  it  a 
variant  form  of  HUfi  (comp.  Ps.  iv.  7),  as  though 
it  were  131  Niyj,  "to  speak  a  word:"  chap, 
xxvii.  1;  Ps.  xv.  3:  Ixxxi.  3.  In  the  latter  case 
the  word  must  be  taken  either  as  3d  sing.  Niph. 
in  the  passive  sense  ("should  a  word  be  spoken") 
or,  more  probably,  as  1st  plur.  Imperf.  Kal 
("should  we  speak"),  in  which  latter  case  again 
two  interpretations  are  possible,  namely  either: 
"  wilt  thou,  should  we  speak  a  word  against 
thee,  take  oflFence "  (Rosenm.,  etc.,  comp.  the 
Ancient  Versions)  ?  or:  "shall  we  fpeak  a  word 
against  thee,  with  which  thou  wilt  be  ofl'ended" 
(Ewald,  J^ib.  Jahrb.  ix.  37;  Biittclier)?  Against 
the  first  rendering  may  be  urged  the  unusual 
construction  of  an  Imperf.  in  an  elliptical  con- 
ditional sentence ;  against  the  latter  the  unheard 
of  transitive  rendering  which  it  assumes  for 
nX7.  [In  favor  of  taking  HDJ  here  in  the  sense 
of:  "to  attempt,  to  venture,"  it  may  be  said: 
(1)  This  meaning  is  entirely  legitimate.  (2)  It 
is  more  expressive.  (3)  It  is  more  in  harmony 
with  the  courtesy  which  marks  these  opening 
words  of  Eliphaz.  Hengstenberg's  rendering  is 
somewhat  dilferent  from  any  of  those  given 
above:  "  Shall  one  venture  a  word  to  thee,  who 
art  wearied?"  But  the  elliptical  construction 
thus  assumed  seems  less  simple  and  natural  than 
the  one  adopted  above. — E.]  And  yet  to 
hold  back  from  ■words  [or  speaking]  ■who 
is  able  ?  For  the  use  of  "ii">'  with  3,  "to  hold 
back  from  [or,  in  respect  to]  anything,"  comp. 
chap.  xii.  15;  xxix.  9.  For  the  sharpened 
form  i:;;;] instead  of  "iV^M,  see  Ew.  §  245,  b.— 
pbp,  Aram.  plur.  ending  (comp.  chap.  xii.  11 ; 
XV.  13)  of  nbo,  which  occurs  iu  our  book  thirty 
times,  whereas  D'bo  occurs  but  ten  times  in  all. 
Ver.  3.  Behold,  thou  hast  admonished 
man^v. — mD\   lit.   thou    hast  chastised,   disci- 

•'  T  :  -  ■ 

plined,  namely,  with  words  of  reproof  and  loving 
admonition.  The  Perf.  here  points  back  to  Job's 
normal  conduct  in  former  days  when  revered 
by  all,  and  thus  furnishes  the  standard  by  which 
the  time  of  the  following  Imperf.  verb  is  to  bo 
determined.  The  general  sense  of  vers.  3-4  is: 
"Thou  wast  wont  formerly  to  conduct  thyself  in 
regard  to  the  sufferings  of  others  so  correctly 
j  and  blamelessly,  to  show  such  a  proper  under- 


328 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


standing  of  the  cause  and  aim  of  beavy  judg- 
ments inflicted  by  God,  to  deal  with  sufferings 
in  a  way  so  wise  and  godlike!  But  now  when 
suffering  lias  overtaken  thyself,  etc.  .  .  .  And 
slack  hands  hast  thou  strengthened. — 
"Slack  hanJs:"  a  sensuous  ligure  representing 
faint-heartedness  and  despondency,  as  al.so  in 
2  Sam.  iv.  1 ;  Is.  xxxv.  3.  In  the  last  member 
of  ver.  4  the  expression  "  stumbling  [lit.  bow- 
ing, i.  e.  sinking]  knees"  is  used  in  essentially 
the  same  sorise  (and  so  in  Heb.  xii.  12). 

Ver.  5.  Because  it  is  novr  come  to  thee, 
to  wit,  suffering,  misfortune.  This  construction 
of  the  impersonal  or  neutral.  NHjI  is  suggested 
by  the  context,  [and  this  indefinite  statement  of 
the  subject  is  at  once  more  considerate  and  im- 
pressive than  if  it  had  been  expressed. — E.] 
'3  is  construed  by  Ilirzel,  Hahn,  Schlottmann, 
Delitzsch,  etc.,  as  a  particle  of  time:  "Now 
when  it  is  come  to  thee."  .But  the  position, 
npj,^  '3  favors  rather  the  causal  rendering  of 
the  first  particle,  '^because  now,"  etc.  Comp. 
Dillmann.  [Others  explain  by  supplying  an 
omitted  clause:  e.  g.  "I  say  these  things  be- 
cause," etc.  Ewald  :  "  How  strange  that  thou 
now  faintest."  The  adversative  use  of  ^2,  [^'■but 
now"),  except  after  a  negative  clause,  is  too 
doubtful  to  be  relied  on  here. — E.]  It  touch- 
eth  thee  (^7^  V^^,  comp.  Is.  xvi.  8;  Jer.  iv. 
10;  Mic.  i.  9),  and  thou  art  confounded. 
7n3PJ,  lit.  "art  seized  with  terror,  and  thereby 
put  out  of  countenance ;"  comp.  chap.  xxi.  6 ; 
xxiii.  15.  [-'It  is  unfair  to  Eliphaz  to  suppose 
that  he  utters  his  wonder  with  any  sinister  tone 
— as  if  he  would  hint  that  Job  found  it  some- 
what easier  to  counsel  others  than  console  him- 
self; his  astonishment  is  honest  and  honestly 
expressed  that  a  man  who  could  say  such  deep 
things  on  affliction,  and  things  that  reached  so 
far  into  the  heart  of  the  afllicted,  that  could  lay 
bare  such  views  of  providence  and  the  uses  of 
adversity,  and  thus  invigorate  the  weak,  should 
himself  be  so  feeble  and  desponding  when  suf- 
fering came  to  his  own  door."  Dav.  Doubtless 
the  words  express  surprise  on  the  part  of  Eli- 
phaz, and  were  spoken  with  a  kind  intent ;  but 
also  with  a  certain  severity,  a  purpose  to  probe 
Job's  conscience,  to  lead  him  to  self-examina- 
tion, and  to  the  discovery  of  the  hidden  evil 
within,  of  the  existence  of  which  Eliphaz,  with 
his  theodicy,  could  have  no  doubt. — E.] 

Ver.  G.  Is  not  thy  godly  fear  thy  confi- 
dence ?  thy  hope — the  uprightness  of 
thy  Aways  ?  The  order  of  the  words  is  chiastic 
[decussated,  inverted]  :  in  the  first  member  the 
subject,  '"IP**7!'  stands  at  the  beginning;  in   the 

second  member  it  is  found  at  the  end,  'lOIT  DP, 

'  V  T  : 
evidently    synonymous    with    HX"^'.     A   similar 

case  is  found  in  chap,  xxxvi.  2ti.  Altogether 
too  artificial  and  forced,  and  too  much  at 
variance  with  the  principles  which  govern  the 
structure  of  Hebrew  verse,  is  the  explanation 
attempted  by  Delitzsch :  "Is  not  thy  piety  thy 
confidence,  thy  hope?  And  the  uprightness  of 
thy  ways?"  [viz.  and  is  not  the  uprightness  of 
thy  ways  thy  confidence  and  thy  hope?)  Eli- 
phaz twice  again  makes  use  of  the  ellipsis  HX^] 


for  D'mX  riN"!'  in  his  discourses  (chap.  xv.  4 
and  xxii.   4:  and   comp.   i^J^^n,    IIos.  iv.  G   for 

DH/X  n>n).  ["  The  word /car  is  the  most  com- 
prehensive term  for  that  mixed  feeling  called 
piety,  the  contradictory  reverence  and  confi- 
dence, awe  and  familiarity,  which,  like  the  cen- 
tripetal and  centrifugal  forces,   keep  man  in  his 

orbit   around   God."  Dav.I     71703,    confidence, 
J  t:  • 

assurance  (the  same  which  elsewhere=:7p3, 
chap.  viii.  14;  xxxi.  24),  not  "folly"  (LXX. )'. 
[The  Vav  iu  the  second  member  is  the  Vav  of 
the  apodosis,  or  of  relation.  See  Green,  Gr.  ^ 
287,  3.— The  rendering  of  E.  V.:  "Is  not  this 
thy  fear,  thy  confidence,  thy  hope,  and  the 
uprightness  of  thy  ways?"  overlooks  the  paral- 
lelism, and  is  unintelligible.  Some  (Ilupfeld, 
Merx)  cut  the  knot  by  transposing  -"jnipn  to  the 
end  of  the  verse.  The  construction  as  it  stands 
is  certainly  peculiar,  yet  not  enough  so  to  justify 
any  change.  Moreover  it  seems  to  have  escaped 
all  the  commentators  that  the  very  harshness  and 
siny/ularity  of  the  construction  is  intentional,  having 
for  its  object  to  arrest  more  forcibly  the  atten- 
tion of  Job,  to  stir  up  his  consciousness  on  the 
subject  of  his  piety  and  rectitude,  and  tlius  to 
further  the  process  of  probing  his  soul  on  which 
Eliphaz  is  in  this  part  of  his  discourse  engaged. 
-E.] 

Vers.  7-11.  Second  Strophe  :  More  explicit  ex- 
pansion of  ver.  6,  wherein  it  is  shown  as  the 
conclusion  of  experience  that  the  pious  7\ever  fall 
into  dire  afiliction,  whereas  on  the  contrary  the 
ungodly  and  the  wicked  do  so  often  and  inevi- 
tably. 

Ver.  7.  Remember  now!  ■who  that  w^as 
innocent  has  perished?  ["It  would  be 
unfair  to  Eliphaz  (as  well  as  quite  beside  his 
argument,  the  purpose  of  whi-ch  is  to  reprove 
Job's  impatience,  and  lead  him  back  by  repent- 
ance to  God),  to  suppose  that  he  argued  in  this 
way:  Who  ever  perished  being  innocent?  Thou 
hast  perished;  therefore  thy  piety  and  the 
integrity  of  thy  ways  have  been  a  delusion. 
On  the  contrary  his  argument  is:  Where  were 
the  pious  ever  cut  off?  Thou  art  pious:  why 
is  not  thy  piety  thy  hope  ?  Why  fall,  being  a 
pious  man,  and  as  such  of  necessity  to  be  finally 
prospered  by  God,  into  such  irreligious  and 
wild  despair?  Eliphaz  acknowledges  Job's 
piety,  and  makes  it  the  very  basis  of  his  exhor- 
tation ;  of  course,  though  pious,  he  had  been 
guilty  (as  David  was)  of  particular  heinous  sins, 
which  explained  and  caused  his  calamities.  The 
fundamental  axiom  of  the  friends  produced  here 
both  positively  and  negatively  as  was  meet  for 
the  first  announcement  of  it  by  Eliphaz  is,  that 
whatever  appearance  to  the  contrary  and  for  a 
time,  yet  ultimately  and  always  the  pious  were 
saved  and  the  wicked  destroyed."  Dav.]  The 
X-in  annexed  to  the  "O  gives  greater  vivacity  to 
the  question;  comp.  chap.  xiii.  19:  xvii.  3; 
also  the  similar  piirase  T\}  ^0  (Gesen.  g  122,  2). 

Ver.  8.  So  far  as  I  have  seen,  they  ■who 
plough  mischief  and  sow^  ruin  reap  the 
same. — "jT?^"^  "'?!'?!'.?'  °ot  "when  (or  if)  I  saw'' 
(Vaih.,  Del.),  for  this  construction  of  "IIS'XO  does 
not  allow  the  omission  of  the  Vav  Consec.  before 


CHAPS.  IV.  1-21— V.  1-27. 


329 


the  apodosis.  But  either  the  whole  sentence  is 
to  be  taken  as  a  statement  of  the  comparison 
with  that  wliich  precedes,  to  which  it  is  an- 
nexed, thus:  "As  I  have  seen  :  they  who  plough 
.  .  .  reap  the  same"  (Hirz.,  Schlott.  [Con.]). 
Or  we  are  to  explain  with  most  of  the  later  com- 
mentators;" "So  far  as  I  have  seen,"  {.  e.  so 
far  as  my  experience  goes  (llosenm.,  Arnli., 
Stick.,  Welte,  Ileiligst.,  Ew.,  Dillm.  [Dav.,  Merx], 
etc.).  |1X,  lit.  "nothingness,"  then  "sin,  wick- 
edness, mischief." — ^'^^  as  in  chap.  iii.  10. 
The  agricultural  figure  of  sowing  (or  ploughing) 
and  reaping,  emphatically  representing  the 
organically  necessary  connection  of  cause  and 
effect  in  tlie  domain  of  the  moral  life  ;  to  be 
found  also  in  Hos.  viii.  7;  x.  13;  Prov.  xxii.  8; 
Gal.  vi.  7seq.;  2  Cor.  ix.  G,  and  often. 

Ver.  9.  By  the  breath  of  Eloah  they 
perish:  like  plants,  which  a  burning  hot  wind 
scorches  (Gen.  xli.  6).  The  discourse  thus  car- 
ries forward  the  preceding  figure.     On  the  use 

of  the  divine  name  HwX  in  our  poem,  see  Introd. 
I  5.  The  r)1'?N  T\^m  is  in  b.  still  more  specifi- 
cally defined  as  liJX  nn,  lit.  "breath  of  his  nos- 
tril," i.  e.  blast  of  his  anger.  Both  synonyms 
are  still  more  closely  bound  together  in  Ps.  xviii. 
10.  ["As  the  previous  verse  describes  retribu- 
tion us  a  natural  necessity  founded  in  the  order 
of  the  world,  so  does  this  verse  trace  back  this 
same  order  of  the  world  to  the  divine  causality." 
Schlott.  Lee,  criticising  the  A.  V.'s  rendering 
of  noiyj  in  the  first  member  by  "blast,"  says: 
"I  know  of  no  instance  in  which  the  word  will 
bear  this  sense.  It  rather  means  a  slight  or  gen- 
tle breathing The  sentiment  seems  to  be: 

they  perish  from  the  gentlest  breathing  of  the 
Almighty  .  .  It  is  added  :  and  from  the  blast  of 
his  nostril,  or  wrath,  they  come  to  an  end.  From 
the  construction  here,  blast  or  storm  is  probably 
meant.  See  Ps.  xi.  6  ;  Hos.  xiii.  15,  etc.,  and  if 
BO,  we  shall  have  a  sort  of  climax  here."] 

Vers.  10,  11.  From  the  vegetable  kingdom  the 
figurative  representation  of  the  discourse  passes 
over  to  that  of  animal  life,  in  order  to  show,  by 
the  destruction  of  a  family  of  lions,  how  the  in- 
solent pride  of  the  wicked  is  crushed  by  the 
judgment  of  God. — The  cry  of  the  lion,  and 
the  voice  of  the  roaring  lion,  and  the 
teeth  of  the  young  lions  are  broken;  the 
strong  [lion]  perishes  for  lack  of  prey, 
and  the  whelps  of  the  lioness  are  scat- 
tered.— -[Merx  rejects  these  two  verses  as  spuri- 
ous; but  their  appropriateness  in  the  connection 
will  appear  from  what  is  said  below. — E.]  Not 
less  than  five  different  names  of  the  lion  are 
used  in  this  description,  showing;  the  extent  to 
which  the  lion  abounded  in  the  lands  of  the  Bi- 
ble, and  especially  in  theSyro-Arabian  country, 
which  was  the  scene  of  our  poem.  The  usual 
name  n'"iN  stands  first ;  next  follows  the  purely 

poetic  designation,  i'^^,  "  the  roarer  "  (Vaih.), 
comp.  ch.  X.  16  ;  xxviii.  8  ;  Ps.  xci.  13  ;  Prov. 
xxvi.  13;  Hos.  V.  14;  xiii.  7;  then  in  ver.  10  b 
comes  the  standard  expression  for  young  lions, 
D'''^'33,  comp.  Judg.  xiv.  5;  Ps.  xvii.  12;  civ. 
21 ;  then  follows  in  ver.  11  a  K^w,  <'the  strong 


one,"  from  B'w,  "to  be  strong,"  found  again  in 
Prov.  XXX.  30,  and  being  thus  limited  to  the 
diction  of  poetry,  and  finally  in  ver.  11  b  the  no 

less  poetic  X'iS?,  which  here,  as  well  as  in  ch. 
xxxviii  29;  Gen.  xlix.  9;  Num.  xxiv.  9,  denotes 
the  lioness,  for  which,  however,  we  have  also  the 

distinctive  feminine  form  X'J/  in  Ezek.  xix.  2. 
["The  young  lions  are  mentioned  along  with 
the  old  in  order  to  exemplify  the  destruction  of 
the  haughty  sinner  with  all  his  household." 
Schlott.]  1>'nj  (from  J^r\J,  frangere,  conterere, 
an  Aramaiging  alternate  form  of  Vi^J,  comp.  Ps. 
Iviii.  7)  signifies:  "are  siiattered,  are  dashed 
out;  '  an  expression  which,  strictly  taken,  suits 
only  tlie  last  subject  2  ^h}l},  but  may  by  zeugma 
be  referred  to  both  the  preceding  subjects,  to 
which  such  a  verb  as  "  are  silenced  "  would  pro- 
perly correspond.  Observe  the  use  of  the  perf. 
'>'Pp  in  making  vividly  present  the  sudden  de- 
struction of  the  rapacious  lions,  which  is  tht-n 
followed  in  ver.  11,  first  by  a  present  partic. 
(IDN),  then  by  a  present  Imperf.  (ilT^an'),  de- 
scribing them  in  their  present  condition,  shat- 
tered, broken  in  strength,  and  restraine<l  in 
their  rage.  [Delitzsch  remarks  that  "  the  par- 
tic.  l^X  is  a  stereotype  expression  for  wander- 
ing about  prospectless  and  helpless,"  a  defini- 
tion which  here,  as  well  as  in  the  passages  to 
which  he  refers,  would  considerably  wtaken  the 

sense.  See  Hengsten.  in  loco. — E.]  '7^??,  "for 
the  lack  of;"  the  same  as  "without;"  comp. 
ver.  20;  ch.  vi.  6  ;  xxiv.  7,  8;  xxxi.  19.  ["From 
wicked  man  his  imagination  .^iuddenly  shifis  to 
his  analogue  among  beasts,  the  lion,  and  there 
appears  before  him  one  old  and  helpless,  his 
teeth  dashed  out,  his  roar  silenced,  dying  for 
lack  of  prey,  and  being  abandoned  by  all  his 
kind ;  a  marvellous  picture  of  a  sinner  once 
powerful  and  bloody,  but  now  destitute  of  power, 
and  with  only  his  bloody  instincts  remaining  to 
torture  and  mock  his  impotency."  D.vv.] 

3.  Second  Division:  describing  a  heavenly'  re- 
velation which  declared  to  him  the  wrongfulness 
and  the  folly  of  frail,  sinful  man's  anger  against 
God. — a.  Second  Double  Strophe:  the  heavenly 
revelation  itself,  introduced  by  a  description  of 
the  awful  nocturnal  vision  through  which  it  was 
communicated:  vers.  12-21. 

First  Strophe:  Vers.  12-lG.    The  night-vfsion. 

Ver.  12.  And  to  me  there  stole  a  ■word. — 
Lit.  "and  to  me  there  was  stolen,  there  was 
brought  in  a  stealthy,  mysterious  manner." 
The  imperf.  35r  is  ruled  by  the  following  im- 
perf. consec.  ["The  speaker  is  thrown  back 
again  by  the  imagination  into  the  imposing  cir- 
cumstances of  the  eventful  night.  .  .  .  The  Pual 
implies  that  the  oracle  was  sent."  Day.]  The 
separation  of  the  1,  which  properly  belongs  to 
the  verb  3iJ\  but  which  is  placed  here,  at  the 

beginning  of  the  verse,  before  wX  ["because  he 
desires,  with  pathos,  to  put  himself  prominent," 
Del.]  rests  on  the  fact  that  that  which  is  now 
about  to  be  related,  and  especially  the  "^131  which 
came  to  Eliphaz,  is  hereby  designated  as  some- 


330 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


thing  new,  as  something  additional  to  that  which 
has  already  been  observed.  [This  separation  is 
quite  often  met  with  in  poetry.  Comp.  Ps.  Ixix. 
22;  Ixxviii.  15,  26,  29,  etc.  See  Ew.  Gr.^Uiib.] 
And  mine  ear  caught  a  whisper  there- 
from: i.e.,  procee<Hng  therefrom,  occasioned  by 
that  communication  of  a  mysterious  "13n.  The 
p  in  inn  (poetic  form,  for  15^30,  Ew.  g2G3i)  is 
therefore  causative,  not  partitive,  as  Hahn  and 
Delitzsch  regard  it,  |*I^t^  signifies  here,  as  in 
chap.  xxvi.  14,  a  faint  whisper,  or  lisp  [or  mur- 
mur], ipidvpiiTfioi;,  susurrus,  not  "a  little,  a  mini- 
mum," as  the  Targ.,  Pesli.,  the  Rabbis  [and  the 
Eng.  Ver.]  render  it.  The  word  is  to  be  derived 
either  from  }?'^U,  thus  denoting  a  faint,  indis- 
tinct impression  on  the  ear  (Arnheini,  Delitzsch), 
or  from  the  primitive  root,  Dty,  DH,  to  which, 
according  to  Dillmann,  who  produces  its  ^Eihio- 
pic  cognate,  the  idea  attaches  of  "lip-closing, 
dumbness,  and  low-speaking."  [Here  the  word 
"  is  designed  to  show  the  value  of  such  a  solemn 
communication,  and  to  arouse  curiosity."  Del. 
"  The  whole  description  of  the  way  in  which  the 
communication  was  made  imlicates,  perhaps,  the 
naturalness  and  calmness  an  I  peace  of  the  inter- 
course of  man's  spirit  and  God's — how  there  is 
nothing  forced  or  strained  in  God's  communica- 
tion to  man — it  droppeth  as  the  gentle  rain  from 
heaven  upon  the  place  beneath — and  at  the  same 
time  man's  impaired  capacity  and  receptiveness 
and  dullness  of  spiritual  hearing."  Dav.  "The 
word  was  too  sacred  and  holy  to  coma  loudly 
and  directly  to  his  ear."   Del. 

Vers.  13-16  present  a  more  specific  description 
of  that  which  is  stated  generally  in  ver.  12. 

Ver.  13.  In  the  confused  thoughts  from 
visions  of  the  night,  when  deep  sleep  falls 
on  men. — Whether  with  most  expositors  we 
connect  these  words  with  the  verse  preceding,  as 
a  supplementary  determination  of  the  time,  or  as 
a  preliminary  statement  of  time  connected  with 
what  follows  (Umbreit,  Dillmann,  Conant,  e/c. ), 
matters  not  as  to  the  sense. — U^D^p  are  here,  as 
also  in  ch.  xx.  2,  "thoughts  proceeding  like 
branches  from  the  heart  as  their  root,  and  inter- 
twining themselves  "  (Delitzsch).  [The  root, 
according  to  Del.  and  Fiirst,  is  "^jj^y  to  bind ; 
according  to  Ges.,  Dav.,  etc.,  it  is  for  ^i^D,  to 
split;  hence  here  and  ch.  xx.  2  "fissures,  divi- 
sions, divided  counsels  (1  Kings  xviii.  21), 
thoughts  running  away  into  opposite  ramifica- 
tions, distracting  doubts."  D.vv.]  The  follow- 
ing TO  indicates  that  these  thoughts  proceed 
from  visions  of  the  night,  i.  e.,  dream-visions  ; 
from  which,  however,  it  does  not  follow  that  Eli- 
phaz  intends  to  refer  what  he  is  about  to  nar- 
rate purely  to  the  sphere  of  the  life  of  dreams. 
For  the  determination  of  the  time  in  our  verse 
is  altogether  general,  as  the  second  member  in 
particular  shows.  Hengstenberg's  position  that 
Eliphaz  includes  himself  among  the  "men  "  de- 
signated here  as  those  on  whom  deep  sleep  falls, 
and  that  he  accordingly  represents  his  vision  as 
literally  a  dream-vision,  has  no  foundation  in 
the  context.  (Comp.  still  further  Passavant's 
remark  on  ver.  13  under  the  head  "  Homiletical 
and  Practical").  ["  There  are  three  things  con- 
tained in  the  genetic  process  or  progress  towards 


this  oracle.  First,  visions  of  the  night,  raising 
deep  questions  of  man's  relation  to  God,  but 
leaving  them  unsolved,  short  flights  of  the  spi- 
rit into  superhuman  realms,  catching  glimpses 
of  mysteries,  too  short  to  be  self-revealing — 
these  are  the  visions.  Second,  the  perturbed, 
perplexed,  and  meditative  condition  of  the  spi- 
rit following  these,  when  it  presses  into  the 
darkness  of  the  visions  for  a  solution,  and  is 
rocked  and  tossed  with  fear  or  longing — the 
thoughts  from  the  visions.  And  third,  there  is 
the  new  revelation  clearing  away  the  doubts  and 
calming  the  perturbation  of  the  soul,  a  revela- 
tion attained  either  by  the  spirit  rising  convul- 
sively out  of  its  trouble,  and  piercing  by  a  new 
divinely-given  energy  the  heart  of  things  before 
hidden ;  or  by  the  truth  being  communicated 
to  it  by  some  Divine  messenger  or  word."  Dav. 
The  oracle  was  conveyed  by  a  dream,  "  because 
in  the  patriarchal  age  such  oracles  were  of  most 
frequent  occurrence,  as  may  be  seen,  e.ff.  in  the 
book  of  Genesis."  Ewald].  For  no'l^r)?  "deep 
sleep,"  such  as  is  wont  to  be  experienced  about 
the  hour  of  midnight,  in  contrast  to  ordinary 
sleep,  njt^,  and  to  the  light,  wakeful  slumber 
of  morning,  no-ljr*'  comp.  Gen.  ii.  21;  xv.  12; 
1  Sam.  xxvi.  12  ;  also  below,  ch.  xxxiii.  15,  where 
Elihu  has  a  description  imitative  of  the  passage 
before  us.  ["nol"ir)  is  the  deep  sleep  related 
to  death  and  ecstasy,  in  which  man  sinks  back 
from  outward  life  into  the  remotest  ground  of 
his  inner  life."  Del.  Per  contra  Davidson  ssija: 
"  nonn  is  used  generally  of  ecstatic,  divinely- 
induced  sleep,  yet  not  exclusively  (Prov.  xix.  15, 
and  verb,  Jon.  i.  5),  and  not  here.  The  mean- 
ing is  that  the  vision  came,  not  at  the  hour  when 
prophetic  slumber  is  wont  to  fall  on  men  (and 
that  El.  was  under  such),  but  simply  at  the  hour 
when  men  were  naturally  under  deep  sleep.  El. 
was  thus  alone  with  the  vision,  and  the  solitary 
encounter  accounts  for  the  indelible  impression 
its  words  and  itself  left  on  him."] 

Ver.  14.  Shuddering  [fear]  came  upon 
me  ('J^'^p,  from  X1p=^'^p,  to  meet,  befall,  come 
upon,  comp.  Gen.  xlii.  38),  and  trembling, 
and  sent  a  shudder  through  the  multitude 
of  my  bones:  the  subject  of  Tnari  being  the 
"shuddering"  and  the  "trembling,"  not  "  the 
ghostlike  something"  (as  Delitzsch  says),  of 
which  Eliphaz  first  proceeds  to  speak  in  the  fol- 
lowing verse.  [The  perf.  vbs.  in  this  verse  are 
pluperf.  "  A  terror  had  fallen  upon  me,  like  a 
certain  vague  lull  which  precedes  the  storm,  as 
if  nature  were  uneasily  listening  and  holding  in 
her  breath  for  the  coming  calamity."  So  David- 
son.— 3'l  in  poetry  is  often  used  for  73,  all.  The 
terror  striking  through  his  bones  indicates  how 
deeply  and  thoroughly  he  was  agitated.  Bones, 
as  elsewhere  in  similar  passages,  for  the  sub- 
stratum of  the  bodily  frame. — E.] 

Ver,  15.  And  a  spirit  passed  before  me  ; 

lit. :  passes  before  me  C] 'HI,  "glides,  flits") ; 
for  the  description  as  it  grows  more  vivid  intro- 
duces in  this  and  the  following  verse  the  imperf. 
in  place  of  the  introductory  perf.  For  nil  in 
the  sense  of  "  a  spirit,"  the  apparition  of  a  spi- 
rit or  an  angel,  comp.  1  Kings  xxii.  21.     So  cor- 


CHAPS.  IV.  1-21— V.  1-27. 


831 


rectly  the  ancient  Versions,  Umbreit,  Ewald, 
Heiligstedt,  Hahn  [Good,  Lee,  Wem.,  Ber.,  Noy., 
Bar.,  Carey],  elc.  On  the  other  hand  [Schult.], 
Rosenm.,  Ilirzel,  Bottcher,  Stickel,  Delitzsch, 
Dillmann  [Schlott.,  Ren.,  Rod.,  Merx]  render: 
•■and  a  breath  [of  wind]  passed  over  me,"  a 
current  of  air,  such  as  is  wont  to  accompany 
spirit-communications  from  the  other  world 
(comp.  ch.  xxxviii.  1  ;  1  Kings  xix.  11  ;  Acts  ii. 
2,  e'c).  The  description  in  the  following  verse, 
however,  does   not   agree  with  this   rendering, 

especially  the  "lb;",  which  is  unmistakably  pre- 
dicated of  the  nn  in  the  sense  of  "an  angel,  a 
personal  spirit."  [It  needs  no  argument  to 
prove  that  the  "  spirit"  here  introduced  is  a  good 
spirit,  although  it  may  be  mentioned  in  passing 
that  Codurcus,  the  .Jesuit  commentator,  followed 
by  some  others,  regards  him  as  an  evil  spirit. 
This  notion  is  advanced  in  the  interest  of  the 
theory  that  Job's  friends  are  throughout  to  be 
condemned. — E.] — The  hairs  of  my  body- 
bristled  up. — TDDP,  Piel  intensive,  "  to  rise  up 
mightily,  to  bristle  up."  T]'^&,  elsewhere  the 
individual  hair  [capillus),  here  a  collective  word 
(coma,  crines),  of  the  same  structure  as  njjy,  ch. 
iii.  5.  [The  expression  "'"^.1^3  *^1-^}^j  l'^-  •  "the 
hair  of  my  fle.sh,'  shows  that  the  terror,  which 
in  ver.  14  thrilled  through  all  his  bones,  here 
creeps  over  his  whole  body. — E.] 

Ver.  16.  It  stood  there,  I  discerned  not 
its  appearance  — The  subj.  of  lOJT  is  not  the 
•'unknown  something"  of  the  preceding  verse 
(Rosenm.,  etc.),  but  the  spirit,  as  it  is  already 
known  to  be,  which  has  hitherto  flitted  before 
Eliphaz,  but  which  now  stands  still  to  speak 
(comp.  1  Sam.  iii.  10). — An  image  before 
mine  eyes  ;  nj^or\,  the  word  which  in  respect 
to  spiritual  phenomena  is  most  nearly  expressive 
of  "form."  In  Num.  xii.  8;  Ps.  xvii.  15  it  is 
used  of  the  fiop(p7/  or  66^a  of  God.  Here  it  is 
very  suitably  used  to  describe  the  spiritual  or 
angelic  apparition,  fading  into  indefiniteness ; 
for   it  refers  back  to  nil,  the  true  subject  of 

■iO^'2>  being  placed  after  it  in  apposition  to  it. 
— A  murmur  and  a  voice  I  heard. — HDOI 

TT  : 

7p1,  a  "  lisping  murmur  and  a  voice,"  a  hen- 
diadys,  signifying  a  murmur  uttering  itself  in 
articulate  tones,  a  "murmuring  or  whispering 
voice"  (Hahn).  [So  Ges.,  Fiirst,  Words.,  Dillm., 
Del.,  Dav.].  Umbreit  (1st  Ed.),  Schlottmann 
[Eng.  Ver.,  Good,  Lee,  Con.,  Carey,  Ren.]  take 
noo'n,  but  unsuitably,  in  the  sense  of  "silence." 

T  T  :  " 

For  the  true  sense  comp.  1  Kings  xix.  12.  [Of 
those  who  take  HOOT  in  the  sense  of  silence 
there  are  two  classes,  the  one,  represented  by 
the  English  Version  and  commentators,  sepa- 
rates between  the  "  silence  "  and  the  "  voice:  " 
first  the  silence,  then  the  voice,  as  Renan:  "in 
the  midst  of  the  silence  I  heard  a  voice  ;  "  the 
other,  represented  by  Schlottmann  and  Heng- 
stenberg,  combine  the  two  terms  as  a  hendiadys, 
"a  commingling  of  both,  a  faint,  muflBed  voice  " 
(Hengst.)  Schlottmann  quotes  from  Gersonides 
as  follows  :   "And  I  heard  his  wonderful  words 


as  though  they  were  compounded  of  the  voice 
and  of  silence."  Burke  in  his  Treatise  on  the 
Sublime  and  Beautiful  has  the  following  remarks 
on  this  vision :  "  There  is  a  passage  in  the  book 
of  Job  amazingly  sublime,  and  this  sublimity  is 
principally  due  to  the  terrible  uncertainty  of  the 
thing  described.  .  .  .  We  are  first  prepared  with 
the  utmost  solemnity  for  the  vision;  we  are  first 
terrified  before  we  are  let  even  into  the  obscure 
cause  of  our  emotion;  but  when  this  grand 
cause  of  terror  makes  its  appearance,  what  is  it? 
is  it  not  wrapt  up  in  the  shades  of  its  own  in- 
comprehensible darkness,  more  awful,  more 
striking,  more  terrible  than  the  liveliest  descrip- 
tion, than  the  clearest  painting,  could  possibly 
represent  it  ?" — E.] 

Second  strophe,  vers.  17-21.  The  contents  of 
the  revelation  communicated  through  the  vision. 

Ver.  17.  Is  a  mortal  just  before  Eloah, 
or  before  his  Maker  is  a  man  pure  ? — Al- 
ready in  this  question  is  contained  the  substance 
of  the  revelation  ;  vers.  18-21  only  furnish  the 
proof  of  this  proposition  from  the  universal  sin- 
fulness of  men.  jO  here  is  not  comparative, 
"more  just  than"  (Vulg.,  Luth.  [E.  V.],  etc.), 
but  "  from  the  side  of  any  one  "  [Gesenius  : 
"  marking  the  author  of  a  judgment  or  estimate: 
here  in  the  judgment  or  sight  of  God."]  Hence 
"  is  a  man  just  from  the  side  of  God?"  i.  e.,  from 
God's  stand-point ;  or,  more  briefly:  "before 
God"  (LXX.  :  kvairiov  mv  -^euh).  In  the  same 
sense  with  this  |0=coraw  (for  which  comp.  Num. 
xvi.  9 ;  xxxii.  22),  we  find  DJ7  in  ch.  ix.  2  ;  xxv, 
4;  and  ''^^2  in  ch.  xv.  15;  xxv.  5.  [Accord- 
ing to  the  other  (the  comparative)  rendering, 
the  sentiment  is  :  "Whoever  censures  the  course 
of  Providence,  by  complaining  of  his  own  lot 
(as  Job  had  done),  claims  to  he  more  just  than 
God,  the  equity  of  whose  government  he  thus 
arraigns."     See  Conant,  Davidson,  etc.'] 

Ver.  18.  Lo,  in  His  servants  He  trusteth 
not;  and  to  His  angels  He  imputes  error. 

— "  Servants  "  (DnDj*)  and  "angels"  (D'DNSro) 
are  only  different  designations  of  the  same  su- 
perhuman beings,  who  in  ch.  i.  6  are  called 
"  sons  of  God."  Eliphaz  refers  to  them  here  in 
order  to  introduce  a  conclusion  amajori  adminus. 

2  W^,  lit.:  "  to  place  anything  in  one,"  i.  e.,  to 
ascribe  anything  to  one,  imputare.  Comp.  1  Sam. 
xxii.  15. — ri/nn  is  most  correctly  explained  by 
Dillmann,  after  the  Ethiopic,  as  signifying 
"error,  imperfection"  (so  also  Ewald  [Fiirst, 
Delitzsch],  and  still  earlier  Schnurrer,  after  the 

Arabic).  The  derivation  from  77(1,  according 
to  which  it  would  mean  "folly,  presumption" 
(Kimchi,  Gesenius  [Schlottmann,  Renan],  etc.), 
is  etymologically  scarcely  to  be  admitted  [on 
account  of  the  half  vowel,  and  still  more  the  ab- 
sence of  the  Daghesh.  Del.]  The  ancient  ver- 
sions seem  only  to  have  guessed  at  the  sense 
(Vulg.,  ^rawf^w  quid;  IL'S.X.,  aKo?u6v  rt  ;  Chald., 
iniqiiita.H ;  I'esch  ,  stupor).  Hupfeld  needlessly 
attempts  to  amend  after  ch.  xxiv.  12,  where  the 

parallel  word  n/flil  is  given   as  the  object  of 

3  D'ty.  ["  It  is  not  meant  that  the  good  spirits 
positively  sin,  as  if  sin  were  a  natural  necesary 


332 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


consequence  of  their  creature-sliip  and  finite  ex- 
istence, but  that  even  the  holiness  of  the  good 
spirits  is  never  equal  to  the  absolute  holiness  of 
God,  and  that  this  deficiency  is  still  greater  in 
man,  who  is  both  spiritual  and  corporeal,  who 
has  earthiness  as  the  basis  of  his  original  na- 
ture." Del.] 

Ver.  18.  How  much  more  they  who 
dwell  in  houses  of  clay. — HX  here  introdu- 
cing the  conclusion  of  the  syllogism  a  majori  ad 
minus,  begun  in  ver.  18,  and  so='3  ^N  (ch.  ix. 
14  ;  XV.  IG  ;  xxv.  6) ;  here,  as  in  2  Sam.  xvi.  11, 
to  be  translated  by  quanio  magis,  because  a  posi- 
tive premise  (ver.  18  6.)  precedes;  comp.  Ewald, 
§  354,  c.  Those  "who  dwell  in  houses  of  clay" 
are  men  generally.  There  is  no  particular  re- 
ference to  those  who  are  poor  and  miserable. 
For  the  expression  10n~'i^3  does  not  point  to 
men's  habitations,  but  to  the  material,  earthly, 
frail  bodies  with  which  they  are  clothed,  their 
c^Oapra  adiyara  (comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  6  ;  Wisd.  ix. 
15 ;  2  Cor.  v.  1,  as  well  as  the  Mosaic  account 
of  creation  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all 
these  representations;  see  Gen.  ii.  7;  iii.  19). 
It  may  be  said  further  that  the  figurative  and  in- 
definite character  of  the  language  here  justifies 
no  particular  deductions  either  in  respect  to  the 
nature  and  constitution  of  angels  (to  wit, 
whether  in  Eliphaz's  conception  they  are  alto- 
gether incorporeal,  or  whether  they  are  endowed 
with  supra-terrestrial  corporeality),  nor  in  re- 
spect to  the  doctrine  which  he  may  have  enter- 
tained concerning  the  causal  nexus  between 
man's  sensuous  nature  (corporeity)  and  sin. — 
The  foundation  of  which  is  in  the  dust; 
viz. :  of  the  houses  of  clay,  for  it  is  to  these  that 
the  sufQx  points  in  DTiO]  "^Uii ;  comp.  Gen.  iii. 
19. — Which  are  crushed  as  though  they 
were  moths. — The  sutfix  in  DINJll'  again  re- 
fers back  to  the  "houses  of  clay,"  only  that  here 
those  who  dwell  in  them,  men,  are  included  with 
them  in  one  notion.  The  subj.  of  DIXDT  is  inde- 
finite;  it  embraces   "everything   that  operates 

destructively  on  the  life  of  man."  U'J'~'JD7>  ^^t 
"sooner  than  the  moth  is  destroyed  "  (Ilahn), 
nor:  "sooner  than  that  which  is  devoured  by 
the  moth  "  (Kamphsn.),  nor:  "more  rapidly 
than  a  moth  destroys"  (Oeliler,  Fries),  nor: 
'•  set  before  the  moth  [or  '  worm,'  after  Jarchi] 
to  be  crushed"  (Schlottmann),  but:  "like  moths, 
as    though    they    were    moths"    (LXX :     cr/rug 

rp6~nv).  \J3  7  accordingly  means  the  same  here 
as  in  ch.  iii.  24,  and  the  tertium  comparationis  is 
the  moth's  frailty  and  powerlcssness  to  resist, 
and  not  its  agency  in  slowly  but  surely  destroy- 
ing and  corroding,  to  wliich  allusion  is  made  in 
Hos.  V.  12  ;  Is.  1.  9 ;  li.  8;  also  below  in  ch.  xiii. 
28  of  our  book.  [To  the  latter  idea  the  verb 
N3T  used  here  is  altogether  unsuited,  the  mean- 
ing being  to  crush,  not  to  consume  in  the  manner 
of  the  moth.] 

Ver.  20.  From  morning  to  evening  are 
they  destroyed  ;  i.  e.,  in  so  short  a  space  of 
time  as  the  interval  between  morning  and  even- 
ing they  can  be  destroyed,  one  can  destroy 
them  (^J^p!>  potential  and  impersonal,  like  D1NJT 


in  ver.  19).  For  the  use  of  this  phrase,  "from 
morning  till  evening,"  as  equivalent  to  "in  the 
shortest  time,"  comp.  Is  xxxviii.  12  ;  also  our 
proverbial  saying:  "well  at  morning,  dead  at 
niglit,"  as  well  as  the  name  "  day-fly  "  [comp. 
"  day-lily,"  "  ephemeron."] — Before  any  one 
marks  it  they  perish  forever. — U't/0  "'730, 
scil.  ^'7.  (comp.  ch.  i.  8;  xxiii.  G;  xxiv.  12), 
"  without  there  being  any  one  who  gives  heed  to 
it,  who  regards  it,"  and  hence  the  same  as  "un- 
observed, unawares;"  not  "  in  folly,"  "  without 
understanding"  (Ewald). 

Ver.  21.  Is  it  not  so : — if  their  cord  in 
them  is  torn  away,  they  die,  and  not  in 
wisdom  ? — The  construction  is  the  same  as  in 
ver.  2;  the  words  D3  Din'  ^01  are  an  elliptical 
conditional  clause,  intercalated  in  the  principal 
interrogative  sentence.  0"^^]  (wliich  Olshausen 
needlessly  proposes  to  amend  to  D"ir)\  "  their 
tent-pin  "),  is  neither  "  their  residue"  (Vulgate, 
R,abb.,  Luther,  elc.) ;  nor  "their  best,  their  chief 
excellence"  (De  Wette,  Amheim,  Schlottmann 
[Davidson,  Barnes,  Noyes,  E.  V.].  etc.)  ;  nor 
their  bow-string  ("tiie  string  which  is  drawn 
out  in  them  as  in  a  bow,"  and  which  is  unloosed 
to  make  the  bow  useless;  Umbreit) ;  [nor  "their 
abundance,  excess,  whether  of  wealth  or  ty- 
ranny," and  which  passes  away  with  them  (Lee), 
which  does  not  suit  the  universality/  of  the  de- 
scription ;  nor   "  their  fluttering  round  is  over 

with  them"  (Good,  Wemyss  ;  taking  N/H  as  a 
verb,  "  to  pass  away,"  and  ^DJ  as  a  noun,  "flut- 
tering ;  "  two  forced  interpretations) — E]  ;  but 
— the  only  interpretation  with  which  the  verb 
i/D2,  "  to  be  torn  away,"  agrees  (comp.  Judges 
xvi.  3,  14;  Is.  xxxiii.  20) — "their  tent-cord," 
the  thread  of  their  life,  here  conceived  as  a  cord 
stretched  out  and  holding  up  the  tent  of  the 
body;  comp  ch.  xxx.  11;  Is  xxxviii.  12;  also 
ch.  vi.  9  ;  xxvii.  8  ;  and  especially  Ecclcs.  xii. 
6,  where  this  inward  hidden  thread  of  life  is  re- 
presented as  the  silver  cord,  which  holds  up  the 
lamp  suspended  from  the  tent-canvass  (see  com- 
ment on  the  passage).  This,  the  only  correct 
construction  of  the  passage  (according  to  which 
in;=:ir\'D,  tent-cord),  is  adopted  by  J.  D.  Mi- 
chaelis,  Ilirzcl,  Ilahn,  Delitzsch,  Kamphsn.,  Dill- 
mann  [Wordsworth,  Renan,  Rodwell,  Gesenius, 
Fiirst].  ["  D3  is  neither  superfluous  nor  awk- 
ward (against  Olsh.),  since  it  is  intended  to  say 
that  their  duration  of  life  falls  in  all  at  once  like 
a  tent  when  that  which  in  tliein  corresponds  to 
the  cord  of  a  tent  (t.  e.,  the  ^21)  is  drawn  away 
from  it."  Del.] — And  not  in  wisdom  ;  with, 
out  having  found  true  wisdom  during  their  life, 
living  in  short-sightedness  and  folly  to  the  end 
of  their  days ;  comp.  xxxvi.  12 ;  Prov.  x.  21 
(Dillmann). 

6.  Third  Double  Strophe.  Application  of  the 
contents  of  the  heavenly  revelation  to  Job's  case, 
ch.  V.  1-7. 

First  Strophe.  Vers.  1-5,  [The  folly  of  mur- 
muring against  God  asserted  and  illustrated]. 

Ver.  1.  Call  now^ !  is  there  any  one  w^ho 
w^ill  anaw^er  thee  ?  and  to  w^hom  of  the 
holy  ones  wilt  thou  turn  ? — That  is  to  say  : 
forasmuch    as,  according    to  the  interpretation 


CHAPS.  IV.  1-21— V.  1-27. 


333 


of  tbat  Voice  from  God  in  the  night,  neither  men 
nor  angels  are  ju^t  and  pure  before  God,  all  thy 
complaining  against  God  will  be  of  no  avail  to 
thee  ;  not  one  of  the  heavenly  servants  of  God 
in  heaven,  to  whom  thou  niightest  turn  thyself, 
will  regard  thy  cry  for  help,  not  one  of  them 
will  intercede  with  God  for  thee,  and  spare  thee 
the  necessity  of  humbling  thyself  uncondition- 
ally and  penitently  beneath  the  chastening  hand 
of  God.  [The  question  is  somewhat  ironical  in 
its  tone.  If  thou  art  disposed  to  challenge  God's 
dealings  with  thee,  make  the  attempt;  enter  thy 
protest ;  but  before  whom?  the  angels,  the  holy 
ones  of  heaven  ?  Behold  they  are  not  pure  be- 
fore God,  and  being  holy,  they  are  conscious  of 
their  inferiority ;  will  they  entertain  thy  appeal  ? 
Where  then  is  thy  plea  to  find  a  hearing?  "Here 
as  elsewhere  in  this  book,  call  and  answer  seem 
to  be  law  terms,  the  former  denoting  the  action 
of  the  complainant,  the  latter  that  of  the  de- 
fendant." Notes  ;  and  so  Umbreit. — E.]  D'ti'Tp. 
♦'  holy  ones  "  ["  saints,"  E.  V.,  is  misleading,  on 
account  of  its  association  with  "  the  holy " 
among  men],  here  for  angels  (as  in  ch.  xv.  15  ; 
Ps.  Ixxxix.  6  (5),  8  (7);  Dan.  iv.  14  (17);  Zach. 
xiv.  5) ;  thus  called  with  a  purpose,  because 
their  very  holiness,  which  causes  them  to  subor- 
dinate themselves  unconditionally  to  God  (comp. 
ch.  iv.  IS),  prevents  them  from  entertaining  such 
complaints  as  those  of  Job.  "How  little  the 
Roman  Catholic  commentators  are  justified  in 
finding  in  this  verse  a  locus  classicus  in  favor  of 
the  invocation  of  angels  and  saints  under  the 
Old  Dispensation  needs  no  proof."  Schlott.] 

Ver.  2.  For  grief  slayetli  a  fool. — O  fur- 
nishes a  reason  for  the  negative  thought  con- 
tained in  the  preceding  verse  [complaints  against 
God's  administration  will  meet  with  no  favorable 
response  from  the  holy  ones  of  his  court,  for 
they  are  of  a  character  to  destroy  the  fool  who 
utters  them — E.];  hence  it  may  be  properly 
rendered  "  rather  "  [so  far  from  calling  forth 
sympathy,  they  will  much  rather  destroy  the 
complainer — E.]  ;  comp.    ch.   xxii.  2  ;  xxxi.  18. 

The  7  before  7'1X  is  after  the  Aramaic  usage, 
introilucing  the  object  which  is  emphatically 
placed  first :  quod  attinet  ad  stultum  [  "  as  for 
the  fool  "],  etc.  ;  so  also  in  ch.  xxi.  22  ;  Isa.  xi. 
9  (comp.  Evvald,  §  292,  e  ;  310,  a).  [Denied  by 
Hengstenberg,  who  explains  it  as  a  poetic  modi- 
fication of  the  sense  of  the  verb  :  slulto  mortem 
affert,  but  favored  by  the  position  and  the  ac- 
counts.— E.]  The  7''1X  here  is  naturally  one  who 
impatiently  murmurs  against  God  because  of  his 
destiny,  and  presumptuously  censures  Him;  such 
a  one  as  Job  must  have  seemed  to  Eliphaz  to  be 
in  view  of  his  lamentations  and  curses  in  ch.  iii. 

As  synonymous  with  7'1X  we  have  in  the  second 

member  T\r\D,  "  the  simple  one,  without  under- 
standing" ["open  to  evil  influences,  a  moral 
weakling."  Dav.],  while  to  K'il^,  "grief"[=un- 
manly  repining]  in  the  first  member,  we  find  to 
correspond  in  the  second  HXJp,  properly  "  zeal," 
here  in  the  bad  sense,  insolent  murmuring,  a 
rancorous  feeling  toward  God.  For  the  form 
E/J-'D  [peculiar  to  Job],  instead  of  the  usual  form, 


D^O,  comp.  ch.  vi.  2 ;  x.  17.  [Some  (c  g. 
Barnes)  refer  ly^'D  and  HXJp  here  to  the  "  wrath  ' 
and  "jealousy"  of  God  against  the  sinner.  But 
"  it  is  certainly  better  to  apply  the  words  hero 
to  tlie  emot  ions  of  the  fool ;  his  own  passion  and 
jealousy  ruin  him.  (1)  We  have  then  the  pro- 
per autonemesis  of  sin;  its  violence  brings  no 
help  but  only  destruction  to  itself,  which  is  the 
nerve  of  all  Eliphaz  is  saying  (vers.  6,  7).  (2) 
Job  refers  to  these  bitter  words  of  Eliiihaz  with 
evident  pain  in  the  very  opening  of  his  rujily 
(ch  vi.  2) :  would  God  that  my  b>'3  were  but 
weighed  !  (3)  The  words  fit  well  Job's  state  of 
mind."  Dav.] 

Vers.  8-5.  An  example  in  proof  of  the  state- 
ment just  made  about  the  destruction  of  him 
who  murmurs  against  God. 

Ver.  3.  I  myself  have  seen  a  fool  taking 
root,  to  wit,  like  a  thriving  plant,  growing  in 
fruitful  soil,  and  hence  in  a  state  of  prosperity 
which  promised  to  endure  and  to  increase;  com- 
pare Ps.  i.  3  ;  Is.  xxvii.  6,  etc. — Then  I  cursed 
his  habitation  suddenly,  i.  e.,  when  I  per- 
ceived how  altogether  unstable  and  superficial 
was  his  prosperity,  and  what  a  fearful  judgment 
all  at  once  burst  over  his  head  by  the  decree  of 
God.  It  is  to  the  moment  of  the  descent  of  this 
judgment  that  DHHS  refers,  and  3p3.  "to 
curse,"  is  not  to  be  understood  as  a  prophetic 
prediction  of  the  ruin  which  is  hereafter  to  over- 
take one  in  prosperity  (Ewald,  Schlottmann,  etc.), 
but  as  a  recognition  accompanying  the  event,  a 
subjective  human  echo,  so  to  speak,  of  God's 
curse,  which  has  already  actually  overtaken  its 
object.  ["The  word  'suddenly'  points  as  wiih 
the  finger  to  the  catastrophe  by  which  at  one 
stroke  Job's  prosperity  was  laid  in  the  dust,  to 
the  Chaldeans  and  Sabeans,  to  the  lightning  and 
the  storm."  Hengst.  "  I  cursed  his  habitation 
suddenly,"  means  accordingly ;  when  sudden 
destruction  smote  his  habitation,  I  felt  and  de- 
clared that  it  was  cursed  of  God. — E.]  mj, 
habitation,  abode  ["homestead,"  Carey],  in- 
cluding the  pasture-land  belonging  to  it,  not  sim- 
ply the  pasturage,  or  grazing-place  of  the  herds. 
Comp.  ch.  v.  24;  xviii.  15;  also  HI  J,  ch.  viii.  6. 

Ver.  4.  His  sons  were  far  from  help,  and 
■were  qrushed  in  the  gate  without  deli- 
verance.— The  Presents  (Imperfects)  in  this  and 
the  following  verse,  describe  the  consequences 
of  the  judgment  on  the  fool  as  they  extend  info 
the  present,  i^'^^,,  "help,  deliverance,"  as  in 
ver.  II.  1X3T..  iniperf.  Hithp.;  lit.:  "they 
must  allow  themselves  to  be  crushed,"  viz.  :  by 
their  unjust  accusers  and  persecutors  in  the 
court  of  justice,  before  the  tribunal ;  for  it  is  to 
this  that  reference  is  made  in  "^H^^  ;  comp.  ch. 
xxix.  7  ;  xxxi.  21  ;  also  the  same  exact  form  of 
expression,  excepting  the  Piel  instead  of  the 
Hithp.  in  Prov.  xxii.  22  :  "  oppress  not  the  poor 
in  the  gate."  See  Com.  in  loco.  [Davidson  and 
Rodwell  take  the  verb  in  the  reflex  sense:  "And 
crushed  each  other  in  the  gate."  On  the  uses  of 
the  "gate"  of  an  oriental  city,  see  Smith's  Bib. 
Diet.,  art.  "Gate."] 

Ver.  6.  He  whose  harvest  the  hungry 
devour. — "^tr^^,  not    a  conjunction,  "  because,' 


334 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


or  "while"  (Delitzscb),  but  a  relative  pronoun, 
"whose;"  comp.  ch.  xx.  '22;  xxxi.  8.  The  de- 
scription of  the  judgment,  begun  in  the  prece- 
ding verse,  is  here  accordingly  continued,  with 
special  reference  to  the  property  of  him  who  is 
cast  down  from  the  height  of  his  prosperity. — 
And  take  it  away  even  out  of  a  thorn- 
hedge,  i.  e.,  they  are  not  kept  oif  even  by  hedges 
of  thorn,  hence  they  carry  on  their  plundering 

in  the  most  daring  and  systematic  manner.  /X 
before  D'^if'3  is  here  the  same  as  n>?:  adeo  e 
spinis  (comp.  ch.  iii.  22)  [and  see  Ewald,  |  219, 
c] — And  the  thirsty  swallow  up  his 
wealth  [lit.  :  "their  wealth;"  the  plural  suffix 
indicating  that  the  children  are  here  included]. 
Instead  of  D'Hlf,  it  is  better,  following  out  the 
hint  which  lies  in  3j;p  in  the  first  member,  as 
well  as  following  the  IcaJ  of  almost  all  the  an- 
cient versions,  to  read  D^O^,  or  D'XDlf,  perhaps 
even  the  singular  ND^.  So  Rosenm.,  Umbrcit, 
Etvald  [who  in  his  Gram.,  §73,  c-  suggests  that 
the  omission  of  the  N  may  be  due  to  its  location 
between  two  vowel  sounds],  Hirzel,  Vaihinger, 
Stickel,  Welte,  Ezra  [Dillmann,  Renan,  Words- 
worth, Barnes,  Elzas,  Merx],  etc.  To  this  sub- 
ject, moreover,  the  verb  ^Xty  is  best  suited, 
which  signifies  to  snap,  greedily  to  drain,  to  lap, 
or  sip  up  anything  [Ges.  and  Fiirst:  to  pant; 
Renan  :  to  look  on  with  longing,  couve  des  ycux 
ses  richessesl.  According  to  the  Masoretic  text, 
D'I33f,  the  translation  should  be:  "and  a  snare 
catches  their  wealth  "  [Dav.  and  Con. :  "a  snare 
gapeth  for  their  substance  "].  C?^,  from  DOV, 
n(?c?ere=snare,  gin,  might  indeed  be  used  here 
tropically  for  fraud,  robbery  (not,  however,  for 
"robbers,"  as  the  Targ.  and  some  of  the  Rabbis 
[also  E.  v.,  sing,  "robber"]  take  it,  nor  for 
"intriguer,"  as  Delitzsch  [Carey,  Wemyss]  have 
it).  [The  meaning  "  snare  "  is  adopted  by  Ges., 
Fiirst,  Noyes,  Con.,  Dav.,  Schlottm.,  Hengsten.] 
This  rendering,  however,  would  be  rather  harsh, 
especially  in  connection  with  the  verb  ^i^^< 
which  favors  rather  the  interpretation  we  have 
given  above. 

Second  Strophe.  Vers.  6,  7.  [Human  suffering 
founded  on  a  Divine  ordinance]. 

Ver.  6.  For  evil  goes  not  forth  from  the 
dust,  and  trouble  does  not  sprout  up  out 
of  the  ground  ;  i.  e.,  the  misfortune  of  men 
does  not  grow  like  weeds  out  of  the  earth ;  it  is 
no  mere  product  of  nature,  no  accidental  physi- 
cal and  external  ingredient  of  this  earthly  life ; 
but  it  has  its  sufficient  cause,  it  originates  in 
human  sin;  God  decrees  and  ordains  it  for  the 
punishment  of  sin ;  whence  it  follows  that  the 
proper  remedy  against  it  is  the  renunciation  of 
sin,  and  not  a  gloomy  frowardness  and  mourn- 

fulness.     |\X  and  /OJ?  precisely  as  in  ch.  iv.  8. 

Ver.  7.  But  ['3  adversative,  and  so  Schlott., 
Dillm.,  Dav.,  Del.,  Ren.,  Hengst.,  e(c.'\  man  is 
born  to  trouble  ;  i.  e.,it  lies  in  human  nature, 
through  sin  to  bring  forth  misery  (Mirzel,  Dill- 
mann, etc.)  ;  as  man  he  is  now  not  pure,  but  im- 
pure, not  righteous,  but  unrighteous  (eomp.  ch. 
iv.  17),  and  for  that  very  reason  he  cannot  avoid 
manifold  suffering  and  hardship,  the  divinely 


ordained  consequence  of  sin.  Observe  how 
gently  Eliphaz  seeks  to  bring  home  to  Job  the 
truth   that  his  suffering  is  also  the  consequence 

of  his  sin.  [nvr  is  by  some  regarded  as  Pual 
Perf.,  the  short  shureq  written  with  Vav  (Green, 
Gr.,  §  43,  b)  ;  by  others  as  Hoph.  Imperf. 
(Ewald,  §  131,  c.)  ;  while  others  would  point  it 

n^V,  as  Niph.  Imperf.  (Merx)]. — As  the  sparks 
of  the  flame  fly  upw^ard  ;  lit.  :  "  and  the 
sparks,"  etc.  1  comparationis,  as  in  Prov.  xxv.- 
xxix.  often;  comp.  Job  xxii.  11;  xiv.  12,  19 
[otherwise  also  called  Vav  adsequalionis ;  see 
Green,  Gr.  |  287,  1].  ^t^T  '"J3,  "  sons  of  the 
fire,  children  of  the  flame  "  (comp.  Cant.  viii.  6), 
are  naturally  neither  "  birds  of  prey  "  (veoaaol 
yvrrojv,  LXX.  ;  comp.  the  aves  of  the  Vulg.  So 
also  J.  D.  Michaelis,  Gesenius  [Fiirst],  Vaih- 
inger, Heiligstedt  [Umbreit,  Good,  Wemyss,  Co- 
nant,  Noyes,  Renan,  Rodwell],  etc.;  nor  "an- 
gels" (Schlottmann,  who  refers  to  Judg.  xiii.  20; 
Ps.  civ.  4);  nor  "angry  passions"  (Bb'itcher, 
and  similarly  Stickel) ;  but  simply  "fire-sparks" 
(Ewald,  Hirzel,  Hahn,  Ebrard,  Delitzsch,  Dill- 
mann [Wemyss,  Conant,  Davidson,  Barnes,  Carey, 
Merx]).  Only  of  these  can  it  be  properly  said 
that  they  fly  upwards  by  a  law  of  necessity, 
which  constitutes  here  the  tertium  comparationis. 
^i;;  in'3J',  nt. :  "they  make  high  their  flight," 
they  fly  far  up  on  high,  fly  unceasingly  upwards 

C^i;?  for  t)i;'^'  Ewald,  §  285,  a.)  [It  has  been 
objected  to  the  rendering  "sparks"  that  the  ex- 
pression "  make  high  their  flight  "  is  too  strong 
to  be  applied  to  them,  being  more  suitable  to  the 
lofty  soaring  of  "birds,"  or  "angels,"  or  "  ar- 
rows." But  an  appeal  may  confidently  be  taken 
on  this  point  to  the  poetic  sensibility  of  the 
reader  who  has  ever  watched  the  upward  flight 
of  sparks  by  night,  when  relative  altitudes  are 
but  vaguely  determined,  and  when  these  "  sons 
of  the  flame  "  seem  literally  to  soar  and  vanish 
among  the  stars. — E.] 

[The  central  thought  of  the  above  strophe  is 
that  the  connection  between  sin  and  suffering  is 
a  Divine  ordinance.  In  vers.  1,  2  tliis  is  pre- 
sented in  the  way  of  warning  to  Job  as  a  truth 
against  which  he  can  take  no  appeal  to  any 
higher  court,  and  as  one  of  which  he  is  in  dan- 
ger of  realizing  in  his  own  case  the  extreme 
consequences;  for  the  special  sin  of  murmur- 
ing against  God  would  infallibly  bring  about 
his  ruin.  In  vers.  3-5  the  same  truth  is  vividly 
enforced  by  an  illustration  drawn  from  actual 
life.  In  vers.  6,  7  it  is  presented  in  the  form  of 
a  general  law,  which,  in  the  statement  here 
given  of  it  is  a  binary  law,  consisting  of  two 
parts,  or  propositions,  which  are  complementary 
of  each  other ;  the  first  (ver.  6),  negative,  the 
second  (ver.  7),  positive.  The  misery  which 
follows  sin  in  general,  and  in  particular  the  spe- 
cial example  of  misery  following  sin  mentioned 
in  vers.  3-5  is  a  Divine  Ordinance  :  because  ('3. 
ver.  6)  evil  is  not  from  without,  not  from  the 
earth,  not  from  the  material  constitution  of 
things, /or  {"2,  ver.  7)  Man  (D^X  emphatic  by 
position)  is  the  cause  of  his  own  trouble,  being 
born  to  it,  a  sufferer  by  an  internal,  not  an  ex- 
ternal necessity,  by  a  law  of  his  own  existence ; 


CHAPS.  IV.  1-21— V.  1-27. 


336 


a  law  as  necessari/,  too,  as  that  which  com- 
pels the  sparks  to  fly  upward.  According  to 
this  view  of  the  connection  the  ^3  in  ver.  7  is 
argumentative  as  well  as  that  in  ver.  6.  The 
source  of  misery  is  not  without, /or  Mak  him- 
self is  the  source  of  it.  As  regards  the  tense 
of  "rlV  it  follows  that  if  Imperf.  (Niph.,  or  more 
probably  Hoph.)  the  two  propositions  are  co-or- 
dinated in  time;  evil  is  not  wont  to  spring  from 
the  earth,  for  man  is  wont  to  be  born  to  trouble. 
If  Perf.  (Pual),  which  seems  preferable,  the  in- 
ternal necessity  of -suffering  in  man  himself  is 
conceived  as  logically  antecedent  to  the  relation 
of  man  to  the  external  world.  His  afflictions 
came  not  from  without,  for  he  was  born  under  a 
law  which  subjects  him  to  it. 

Elzas  renders  ver.  7a:  "  For  then  man  would 
be  born  to  trouble."  But  this  is  to  miss  the 
point  of  ver.  6,  which  is  to  deny  not  the  natural 
and  necessary  character  of  suffering  (for  that  is 
implied  in  ver.  7),  but  the  internality  and  ma- 
teriality of  its  cause. — E.] 

4.  Third  Division.  Exhortation  to  repentance, 
as  the  only  means  whereby  Job  could  be  re- 
stored to  the  Divine  favor,  and  to  the  enjoyment 
of  his  former  prosperity,  ch.  v.  8-27. 

a.  Fourth  Double  Strophe.  Job  should  trust- 
fully turn  to  God,  the  helper  in  every  time  of 
need,  and  the  righteous  Judge,  vers.  8-16. 

First  Strophe.  [Job  encouraged  to  turn  trust- 
fully to  God  by  a  description  of  the  beneficent 
operations  of  God  in  nature  and  among  men], 
vers.  8-11. 

Ver.  8.  Nevertheless  I— I  would  turn  to 
God. — ['-Now  comes  a  new  turn  in  this  magni- 
ficent discourse  of  Eliphaz — the  hortatory  part. 
....  El.  for  the  first  time  fully  conceives  as  a 
whole  Job's  attitude.  Job's  complaints  and  mur- 
murs against  God  terrify  and  distress  him,  and 
with  the  recoil  and  emotion  of  horror  he  cries  : 
But  I  would  have  recourse  unto  God!  .  .  .  The 
antithetic  transition  here  is  as  strong  as  possi- 
ble, being  made  by  three  elements,  the  particle 
of  opposition  (D7=IX,  ch.  i.  11  ;  ii.  5),  the  addi- 
tion by  the  pronoun  /,  and  these  two  intensified 
and  made  to  stand  out  with  solemn  emphasis  in 
utterance,  by  being  loaded  with  distinctive  ac- 
cents." Dav.]  For  the  conditional  sense  of 
i:/T|N,  comp.  Ges.  §  127    [Conant's  Ed.,  §  125], 

6  [Green,  Gr.  §  263,  1].  t'TT  with  "?«,  sedulo 
adire  aliquem,  to  turn  to  any  one  with  entreaty, 
supplicating  help  ;  corap.  Deut.  xii.  5  ;  also  ch. 
viii.  5  of  our  book. — To  the  Most  High 
would  I  commit  my  cause. — As  in  the  pre- 
ceding part  of  the  verse  God  is  called  7X  (the 
strong,  the  mighty  one),  as  here  He  is  called 
DTl/X,  for  the  first  time  by  Eliphaz.  In  regard 
to  the  significance  of  this  change,  comp.  Del.  : 
"  7X  is  God  as  the  mighty  one ;  D'H/X  is  God  in 
the  totality  of  His  variously  manifested  nature." 
rri^l,  causa,  plea,  as  elsewhere   "131   (comp.  on 

T  :    •  ■»   r  '  TT      ^  '■ 

ch.  iii.  4). 

Vers.  9-11.  A  description  of  the  wondrous 
greatness  of  God,  as  a  ground  of  encouragement 
for  the  exhortation  contained  in  ver.  8. 

Ver.  9.  Who  doeth  great  things  which 


are  unsearchable. — ["  El.'s  object  is  now  to 
present  God  under  such  aspects  as  to  win  Job, 
and  his  descriptioa  of  Him  is  Infinite  power  di- 
rected by  Infinite  goodness."  Dav.]  Tpn.  j'XI 
in  which  there  is  no  searching,  i.  e.,  which  are 
not  to  be  searched  out;   comp.  TXO    pxi,  ver.  4. 

Ver.  4.  "Who  giveth  rain  on  the  face  of 
the  land  [and  sendeth  -water  on  the  face 
of  the  fields]. — ]*'n,  lit.  ;  all  that  is  without, 
the  open  air  [colloquial  English:  "out  of 
doors  "],  in  contrast  with  that  which  is  covered, 
enclosed.  Hence  it  means  cither  a  street,  court, 
market-place,  when  the  stand-point  of  the  speaker 
is  within  a  house,  or  the  open  country,  field, 
plain,  when  the  stand-point  is  within  a  city  or  a 
camp.  The  latter  is  the  case  here,  as  also  inch, 
xviii.  17.  [According  to  Ges.  (Lex.  1,  b)  the 
contrast  between  j*"lX  and  r\iyin  is  that  of 
"  tilled  land  "  and  "  the  deserts."  To  this  Co- 
nant  makes  two  valid  objections  :  "  (1)  There  is 
nothing  to  indicate  such  a  limitation  of  |*1X 
(filled  land)  ;  (2)  the  distinctive  meaning  of 
hiyin  is  obscured."  Hence  it  is  best  to  take  ]*"1X 
generally,  of  the  earth  at  large,  m^in  in  a  more 
limited  sense,  "  the  fields."]  The  agency  of 
rain-showers  and  of  spring-water  (D'O,  comp. 
Ps.  civ.  10)  in  making  the  earth  fruitful  is  an 
image  of  frequent  occurrence  with  Oriental 
writers  in  general,  and  with  the  writers  of  Scrip- 
ture in  particular,  to  illustrate  the  wonderful 
exercise  of  God's  power  and  grace  in  helping, 
delivering,  and  restoring  life  ;  comp.  Ps.  Ixv.  10 
seq.  ;  cxlvii.  9  seq.  ;  Jer.  xiv.  22,  as  also  the 
more  comprehensive  description  in  Jehovah's 
discourse,  ch.  xxxviii.  25.  ["  He  who  mukea 
the  barren  places  fruitful  can  also  change  sufi"er- 
ing  into  joy."  Del.] 

Ver.  11.  To  set  the  low  in  a  high  place, 
and  the  mourning  raise  up  to  prosperity. — 
This  being  the  moral  purpose  of  those  mighty 
beneficent  activities  of  God;    comp.   Ps.   Ixxiv. 

15^;  Luke  i.  52,  etc.  DV\i>'i  is  not  simply  a  varia- 
tion for  UWT),  as  the  LXX.,  Vulg,  and  several 
modern  commentators,  e.  g.,  Heiligstedt,  Del. 
[Con.],  explain  ;  at  the  same  time  it  does  not 
need  to  be  resolved  (as  by  Ewald  and  Hahn) 
into:  "  inasmuch  as  he  sets;"  it  is  simply  de- 
clarative of  purpose,  like  the  examples  of  ihe 
telic  infinitive  several  times  occurring  in  the 
Hebraistic  Greek  of  Zacharias's  song  of  praise, 
Luke  i.  72,  73,  77,  79  [rov  Sovvnt,  tov  Karsvdivai, 
etc.)  ["The  issue  of  all  the  Divine  proceeding 
in  nature,  unsearchable,  uncountable  though 
its  wonders  were,  was  ever  to  elevate  the  hum- 
ble and  save  the  wretched."  D.w.]  In  the  se- 
cond member  this  infinitive  coustruction  with  7 
is  continued  by  the  Perf.  precisely  as  in  ch. 
xxviii.  25  (Dillniann  ["  Because  the  purpose  is 
not  merely  one  that  is  to  be  realized,  but  one 
that  has  often  been  realized  already,  the  Inf.  is 
continued  in  the  Perf."  Dillm.],  comp.  Ewald, 
§  346  b.)  "  To  set  in  a  high  place,"  to  exalt  to 
a   high   position,  as  in  1  Sam.  ii.  8;   Luke  i.  52. 

D''"T1p,  lit.  :  "dirty,"  squalidi,  sordidi,  i.  e., 
mouruers;  comp.  ch.  xxx.  28;  Ps.  xxxv.  14 
[13]  ;  xxxviii.  7  [6].      V^^_  13Jii^,  lit.,  to  mount, 


336 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


or  climb  up  to  prosperity,  a  bold  poetic  con- 
struction of  a  verb  in  itself  intransitive  with  an 
accusative  of  motion. 

Second  Strophe.  Vers.  12-16.  Continuation  of 
the  description  of  the  exalted  activity  of  God  as 
a  helper  of  the  needy,  and  a  righteous  avenger. 

Ver.  12.  Who  brings  to  nought  the  de- 
vices of  the  crafty. — 130  (Partic.  without 
the  art.,  as  in  ver.  9),  lit.,  who  breaks  to  pieces, 
D'pnj^,  as  in  ch.  xv.  5,  "  the  crafty,  cunning, 
twisted"  (from  D^^,  "to  twist,  to  wind"). — 
So  that  their  hands  cannot  do  the  thing 

to  be  accomplished. — vCl],  "so  that  not" 
(comp.  Ewald,  §  345,  a.).  [^J'^iV'^,  with  vowel 
written  defectively  in  the  tone-syllable.  Comp. 
Ewald,  g  198,  a;  and  Ges.,  g  74,  Kal.,  Rem,  6]. 
n't^'n,  lit.,  essentiality,  subsistence,  firmness 
(from  i^'),  hence  the  opposite  of  PX,  well-being 
and  wisdom  in  one;  a  favorite  notion  of  the  au- 
thors of  the  Old  Testament  Chokmah-Literature; 
comp.  my  Com.  on  Proverbs,  Introd.,  p.  5,  also 
on  ch.  ii.  7  (p.  54).  As  may  be  seen  from  the 
translation  of  the  Sept.,  which  is  essentially 
correct,  oh  jifj  TToifjoovGtv  a2,T]-&i^,  the  passage  may 
be  translated  :  "  so  that  their  hands  shall  bring 
about  nothing  real,  nothing  solid"  (comp.  Hahn, 
Delitzsch,  Dillmann  [Carey,  Merx]). 

Ver.  13.  Who  captures  the  vyise  in  their 
craftiness. — D'DDn  denotes  here  those  who  are 

•  T  -: 

wise  in  a  purely  worldly  sense,  who  are  wise 
only  in  their  own  and  in  others'  estimation,  who 
are  therefore  aoipol  tov  a'luvog  tovtov,  1  Cor.  i.  20; 
comp.  ch.  iii.  19,  where  the  idea  conveyed  by 
the  expression  Gn(pla  rov  k6giiov  tovtov  is  explained 
by  a  special  reference  to  the  passage  under  con- 
sideration. The  translation  of  the  passage  there 
presented  is  more  correct  than  that  of  the  LXX., 
especially  in  the  rendering  of  D0"1J^3  by  ip 
Trai'ovpyia  avTuv.  For  nO")i^  (comp.  Ex.  xxi.  24; 
Prov.  i.  4  ;  viii.  5),  or  even  the  masculine  form 
D^>*,  which  is  found  indeed  only  in  the  passage 
before  us,  unmistakably  signifies  "  cunning, 
shrewdness,"  in  the  bad  sense,  not  simply  "  sa- 
gacity" [(ppovTjGi.^,  LXX.)  ["  'lie  captures  them 
in  their  craltiness'  means  according  to  most: 
'  He  brings  it  to  pass,  that  the  plans,  which  they 
have  devised  for  the  ruin  of  others,  result  in 
ruin  to  themselves.'  So  Grotius:  suis  eos  retibus 
cnpit,  suis  jiigulat  gladiis.  According  to  this  view 
3  is  3  of  the  instrument.  Better,  however,  is: 
in  their  craft,  or  in  the  exercise  of  their  crafti- 
ness. He  captures  the  wise  not  when  tlieir  wis- 
dom has  forsaken  them,  and  they  make  a  false 
step,  but  at  the__very  point  where  they  m^ike  the 
highest  use  of  it."  Hengst.] — And  the  coun- 
sel of  the  cunning  is  overset ;  lit.,  is  pre- 
cipitated, pushed  over  (mnoj,  3  Perf.  Niph.), 
and  so  made  void,  to  wit,  by  God's  judicial  in- 
tervention. 

Ver.  14.  By  day  they  run  against  dark- 
ness, and  as  in  the  night  they  grope  at 
noonday.  —  [';ji^n-1t:'J3',  they  strike  upon, 
stumble  on,  run  into,  i.  e.,  they  encounter  dark 
ness].  nVbs,  "  as  in  the  night,  i.  e.,  as  though 
it  were   night.     Similar  descriptions  of  a  blind- 


ness, judicially  inflicted  by  God,  of  an  obscura- 
tion of  tlie  soul  in  ungodly  men  may  bo  seen  in 
ch.  xii.  24  seq.  ;  Is.  xix.  13  seq.  ;  lix.  10;  Deut. 
xxviii.  29  (comp.  the  typical  fundamental  pas- 
sage in  Gen.  xix.  11  ;  also  2  Kings  vi.  18 ;  Wisd. 
xix.  16). 

Ver.  15.  And  so  He  saveth  the  needy 
from  the  svyord  out  of  their  mouth,  and 
from  the  hand  of  the  strong. — J^i^J],  Im- 
perf.  consec,  as  in  ch.  iii.  21.  ["  Vav  consec. 
introducing  the  ultimate  residuum  of  all  this 
commotion  and  confusion,  the  result  of  the  whole 
combined  Divine  efficiency,  when  the  Divine  ten- 
dency .  .  .  has  reached  its  object;  so  He  saves." 
Dav.]  DH't'?  ^?.r!?  (instead  of  which  some 
MSS.  read':  DPl'D  Jino,  "  from  the  sword  of 
their  mouth")  is  equivalent  to:  "from  the 
sword  which  goes  forth  out  of  their  mouth;" 
comp.  P,s.  Ivii.  5  (4) ;  lix.  8  (7) ;  Ixiv.  4  (3)  ;  and 
other  passages  in  which  swords,  or  spears,  or 
arrows  of  tlie  mouth  appear  as  a  figurative  ex- 
pression for  maliciously  wicked  slanders  or  in- 
jurious assaults  on  the  good  name  of  others 
[and  comp.  ver.  21  below,  showing  that  Eliphaz 
regards  this  as  one  of  the  evils  most  to  be 
dreaded.  The  explanation  here  given  is  adopted 
by  Umhreit,  Delitzsch,  Hengstenberg.  Merx,  Re- 
nan,  Bernard,  Barnes,  Wordsworth,  Noyes,  Rod- 
well,  although  there  is  some  variation  in  regard 
to  the  relation  of  the  two  expressions  ;  some 
taking  the  second  in  apposition  to  the  first,  "from 
the  sword,  even  from  their  mouth,"  others,  like 
Zockler,  regarding  the  second  as  qualifying  the 
first:  "the  sword  which  goeth  out  of  their 
mouth."  Others  view  the  second  as  explanatory 
of  the  first,  which  is  taken  as  the  leading  term  : 
"from  the  sword,  which  is  their  mouth,  .  .  which 
is  their  organ  of  devouring,  is  to  them  what  his 
mouth  is  to  a  wild  beast,"  Davidson,  and  so  sub- 
stantially Schloitmann  and  Lee.  Oihers,  e.  g., 
Ilirzel,  take  "sword,"  "mouth,"  "hand,"  as 
three  independent  terms,  designating  the  instru- 
ments and  organs  of  the  wicked. — E]  In  addi- 
tion to  the  violation  of  the  ninth  commandment 
referred  to  in  the  first  member,  the  second  mem- 
ber of  the  verse  mentions  acts  of  violent  oppres- 
sion, or  assaults  on  the  liberty  and  life  of  men, 
violations,  therefore,  of  the  sixth  commandment, 
as  that  from  which  God  would  deliver.  The  |p 
before  3^n  seems  to  be  superfluous,  and  produ- 
cing as  it  iloes  a  harsh  construction,  it  has  led  to 
various  attempts  at  emendation,  e.g.,  3"inO.  "de- 
solated, ravaged  by  misfortune  "  (L.  Csipellus, 
Ewald  [Good,  Carey,  Conant,  Elzasand  Dillmann 
favorably  inclined.  Delitzsch  argues  against  it 
that  it  is  "  un-Hebraic  according  to  our  present 
knowledge  of  the  usage  of  the  language,  for  the 
passives  of  3in  are  used  of  cities,  countries, 
and  peoples,  but  not  of  individual  men"]). 
Others  would  read  y^X\  instead  of  ^^.HD  (so 
some  MSS. ;  also  the  Targ.  and  Vulg.).  These 
suggestions,  however,  are  unnecessary  ;  and  the 
same  may  be  said  of  Bottcher  s  explanation: 
"without  a  sword,"  i.  e.,  without  violence  or 
bloodshed  [will  God  save]. 

Ver.  16.  Thus  there  is  hope  (again)  to  the 
poor  [St  from  77n,  to  hang  down,  and  so  to  be 


CHAPS.  IV.  1-21— V.  1-27. 


lax,  languid,  feeble,  according  to  Gesenius :  to 
wave,  to  totter,  and  so  to  be  tottering  loose, 
wretched,  according  to  Fiirst],  but  iniquity 
shuts  her  mouth. — For  the  absolute  construc- 
tion of  "  hope,"  to  wit,  to  hope  for  deliverance 
and  exaltation  through  God's  assisting  power 
and  grace,  comp.  ch.  xiv.  7 :  xix.  10.  In  re- 
gard to  the  etymology  of  Hlpn,  the  standard  word 
for  hope  in  the  Old  Testament,  comp.  my  Dis- 
sert. :   De  vi  ac  notione  voc.  kTiiri^  in  N.  To.  (1856), 

p.  5  seq. —  T\T\ny,  the  full-toned  form,  with 
double  fem.  ending,  for  H/l^,  which  also  stands 
for  nSl^  (Ps.  xcii.  16).  Comp.  Ewald,  §  173  g. 
[also  \  186.  c,  Ges.,  g  79,  f.,  Green,  ^  61,  6,  a.] 
For  the  phrase  T\B  ]'3p,  to  be  dumb,  i.  c,  to  be 
ashamed,  to  own  oneself  vanquished,  comp.  the 
repetition  of  the  present  passage  in  Ps.  cvii.  42; 
also  Is.  lii.  15,  and  .Job  xxi.  5. 

[Schlottjiann:  "  The  beginning  of  this  stro- 
phe :  'But  1  would  turn  to  God,'  is  again  in  ap- 
pearance courteous,  friendly,  mild.  But  even 
here  we  see  lurking  in  the  background  that  self- 
sufficient  hardness  of  Eliphaz  which  has  already 
been  noticed.  Baldly  and  sharply  expressed  the 
relation  of  this  strophe  to  the  one  which  pre- 
cedes and  the  one  which  follows  is  this:  Third 
Strophe — Thy  way  is  wrong  ;  Fourth  Strophe — 
My  way  is  right ;  Fifth  Strophe — It  will  be  well 
for  thee  if  thou  foUowest  me."] 

b.  Fifth  Double  Strophe.  Job  will  have  occasion 
to  regard  his  present  suffering  as  a  blessing,  if, 
being  accepted  as  wholesome  chastisement,  it 
should  result  in  his  repentance,  and  thus  in  the 
restoration  even  of  his  external  prosperity,  vers. 
17-27. 

First  Strophe.  Vers.  17-21.  [The  happy  results 
of  submission  to  the  Divine  chastisement,  prin- 
cipally on  the  negative  side,  as  restoration  and 
immunity  from  evil]. 

Ver.  17.  Lo,  happy  the  man  whom  God 
correcteth. — The  same  thought  expressed,  and 
derived  perhaps  from  this  passage,  in  Prov.  iii. 
11  seq.  (Heb.  xii.  5  seq.),  and  Ps.  xciv.  12. 
Comp.  Elihu's  further  expansion  of  the  same 
thought  of  the  wholesomeness  of  the  Divine  chas- 
tisements in  ch.  xxxiii.  and  seq.  nOIH,  to  re- 
prove, admonish,  to  wit,  through  the  discipline 
of  actual  events,  through  suffering  and  provi- 
dential   dispensations:     comp.    ch.    xiii.    10 

Therefore  despise  not  the  chastening  of 
the  Almighty,  of  which  one  may  be  guilty  by 
perverse  moroseness  and  rebelliousness,  by  re- 
fusing to  accept  the  needed  and  salutary  teach- 
ing of  the  Divine  dispensation,  and  in  general 
by  a  want  of  submission  to  God's  will.  """Td  by 
poetic  abbreviation  for  Ht^  Sx,  Gen.  xvii.  1. 
Comp.  the  remarks  of  the  editor  on  the  passage. 

Ver.  18.  For  He  woundeth  and  also 
bindeth  up,  etc. — Comp.  the  similar  passages 
in  Hos.  vi.  I  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  39 ;  Lam.  iii.  31  seq. 
— X=in  he,  i.  e.,  one  and  the  same  The  form 
nrS'ir^  is  made  as  though  it  were  derived  from 
a  verb,  nD"i=XD1 ;  comp.  Ges,  |  75  [§  74], 
Rem.  21  c.  [Green,  g  165,  3]. 

Ver.  19.  In  six  troubles  He  will  deliver 
thee,  and  in  seven  no  evil  shall  befall 
22 


thee  ;  i.  e.,  of  course  provided  thou  wilt  really 
be  njade  better  by  thy  chastisement.  Th?  fur- 
ther promises  of  Divine  help,  ver.  20  seq.,  are 
also  subject  to  the  same  condition.  To  the  num- 
ber six  seven  is  added  in  order  to  remove  the 
dctiniteness  of  the  former,  and  to  make  promi- 
nent only  the  general  idea  of  multiplicity.  Simi- 
lar enumerative  forms  of  expression  are  to  be 
found  in  Amos  i  and  ii. ;  also  in  Prov.  vi.  16; 
XXX.  16,  18,  21;  comp.  also  Mic.  v.  6;  Eccles. 
xi.  2. 

Ver.  20.  In  famine  He  redeems  thee  from 
death. — ']7p,  lit.,  "he  has  redeemed  thee." 
Perf.  of  certainty  (Gesen.,  §  126  [124],  4),  which 
is  immediately  followed  by  verbs  in  the  Imperf., 
as  in  ch.  xi.  20 ;  xviii.  6,  etc.  In  the  second 
member,  "  out  of  the  hands  of  the  sword"  ('T? 
^^n.)  is  equivalent  to  "out  of  the  power  of  the 
sword,"  or  "from  its  stroke"  (Delitzsch).  Com- 
pare Is.  xlvii.  14;  Jer.  xviii.  21  ;  Ps.  Ixiii.  11. 
["The  word  'hands*  should  not  be  left  out. 
Poetry  personifies  everything,  invests  everything 
witli  form  and  life  As  here  '  hands '  are  attri- 
buted to  the  sword,  so  elsewhere  are  a  mouth, 
Ex.  xvii.  3,  a  face,  Lev.  xxvi.  37.  Hands  are  in 
the  Old  Testament  assigned  to  the  grave,  to  lions, 
bears,  to  the  dog,  the  snare,  the  flame."  Henq- 
stenberg]. 

Ver.  21.  In  the  scourging  of  the  tongue 
thou  art  hidden;  i.  e.,  when  thou  art  slan- 
dered and  reviled  (comp.  ver.  15;  Jer.  xviii.  18; 
Ps.  xxxi.  21  (20).  Instead  of  avJD,  which  we 
might  certainly  expect  here  (with  Hirzel),  the 
poet,  anticipating  the  mt^O  of  the  second  mem- 
ber, which  would  resemble  it  altogether  too 
much  in  sound,  has  written  t2)lL!2,  "in  the 
scourge,"  i.  e.,  "in  the  stroke  of  the  scourge." 
[_13W  might  be  taken  as  the  Infinitive  of  the  verb, 
as  is  done  apparently  by  Ewald,  who  translates: 
"  when  the  tongue  scourges." — "The  tongue  is 
here  compared  with  a  scourge,  as  elsewhere  with 
a  knife,  a  sword,  arrows,  or  burning  coals  (Ps. 
cxx.  4),  because  evil  speaking  hurts,  wounds, 
and  works  harm."  Henust.  "  We  believe  that 
in  introducing  this  expression  the  poet  has  a  de- 
finite purpose.  There  lies  a  certain  irony  in  the 
fact  that  Eliphaz  should  mention  as  one  of  the 
chief  evils  from  which  his  friend  is  one  day  to 
be  preserved  that  same  calamity  which  he  is 
now  inflicting  on  him."  Schlott.] — And  thou 
fearest  not  destruction  w^hen  it  cometh. 
— niy,  which  in  the  following  verse  is  written 
iiy,  a  form  etymologically  more  correct,  from 
"nty,  signifies  any  catastrophe,  or  devastation, 
whether  by  flood,  or  hail,  or  storm,  etc.  The 
word  forms  an  assonance  with  Dliy,  as  in  Isaiah 
xxviii.  15,  a  passage  which  is  perhaps  an  imita- 
tion of  the  one  before  us.  Substantially  the 
same  thought  is  expressed  in  Ps.  xxxii.  6. 

Second  Strophe.  [The  happy  results  of  submis- 
sion to  chastisement  still  further  described,  prin- 
cipally on  the  positive  side,  as  involving  secu- 
rity, prosperity,  peace,  e?c.].  Vers.  22-26  (ver. 
27  being  subjoined  as  a  conclusion,  standing  pro- 
perlj'  outside  of  the  strophe). 

Ver.  22.  At  destruction  and  at  famine 
thou  Shalt   laugh. — ["The   promises   of  El. 


838 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


now  continue  to  rise  higher,  and  sound  more 
delightful  jind  more  glorious."  Del.]  A  con- 
tinuation of  the  description  of  the  new  state  of 
happiness  to  which  the  sufferer  will  be  promoted 
on  condition  of  a  contrite  submission  to  the  Di- 
vine chastisement.  pnb  with  7,  to  laugh,  or 
mock  at  anything,  as  in  ch.  xxxix.  7,  18  ;  xli. 
21. — 133,  Aram,  equivalent  to  3^'"*,  famine, 
dearth  ;  comp.  ch.  xxx.  3. — And  thou  shalt 
not  be  afraid  before  the  wild  beasts  of 
the    land.       ["  J'Aou    needest    not    be    afraid,'^ 

7N,  different  from  nS  (ver.  21),  the  latter  is  ob- 
jective, merely  stating  a  fact,  the  former  sub- 
jective, throwing  always  over  the  clause  the 
state  of  mind  of  the  speaker  as  an  explanation 
of  it — expressing  both  the  statement  and  the 
mental  state  of  feeling  or  thought  out  of  which 
the  statement  issued.     As  Ew.  (Lehrb.  320, 1,  a.) 

accurately  puts  it,  '  7X,  like  //?),  denies  only  ac- 
cording to  the  feeling  or  thought  of  the  speaker,' 
thou  shalt  have  no  reason  to,  needest  not  (Con.) 
fear."  Dav.]  Wild  beasts  were  in  ancient  times 
the  object  of  far  graver  terror  in  the  east,  and  a 
scourge  of  far  more  frequent  occurrence  than 
to-day.  Comp.  Gen.  xxxvii.  20,  33  ;  xliv.  28 ; 
Lev.  xxvi.  6;  Prov.  xxii.  13  ;  xxvi.  13,  etc.;  also 
Ezekiel's  well-known  combination  of  the  four 
judgments:  the  sword,  famine,  wild  beasts,  and 
the  pestilence  (Ezek.  v.  17;  xiv.  21). 

Ver.  23.  For  with  the  stones  of  the  field 
thou  hast  a  league,  and  the  w^ild  beasts 
of  the  field  are  become  friends  to  thee. — 
The  first  half  of  the  verse  is  a  reason  for  the 
first  member  of  ver.  22  ;  the  second  half  in  like 
manner  a  reason  for  the  second  member.  "Thou 
hast  a  league  with  the  stones  of  the  field"  (lit., 
"  thy  league  is   with   the  stones,"  etc. ;     ^^l""^? 

equivalent  to  ^7  r\'''^3),  /.  e.,  storms  cannot  in- 
jure thy  tillage  of  the  soil,  they  shall  be  far  re- 
moved from  thy  fields  (comp.  Is.  v.  2  ;  2  Kings 
iii.  19,25).  ["The  stones  are  personified;  they 
conclude  a  treaty  with  the  reformed  Job,  and 
promise  not  to  injure  him,  not  to  be  found  stray- 
ing over  his  tilled  land."  Hengst.]  As  regards 
the  contents  of  the  entire  strophe,  compare  tlie 
similar  ideal  descriptions  of  the  paradisaical  har- 
mony that  is  one  day  to  exist  between  men  and 
the  animate  and  inanimate  creation,  ITos.  ii.  20 
[18],  23  [21]  seq.  ;  Is.  xi.  6  seq.  [The  view, 
entertained  among  others  by  Barnes,  that  the 
verse  describes  security  in  travelling  ("  it  is  to 
be  remembered  that  this  was  spoken  in  Arabia 
where  rocks  and  stones  abounded,  and  where 
travelling  from  that  cause  was  difficult  and  dan- 
gerous "),  is  at  variance  with  the  picture  here 
given,  which  is  that  of  security  and  happiness 
in  a  settled,  stationary  condition  ;  the  picture  of 
a  prosperous  proprietor  of  fields,  pastures,  flocks, 
not  of  a  travelling  Bedouin  chief — E.] 

Ver.  24.  And  thou  knowest  (findest  out 
by  experience)  that  thy  tent  is  peace. — 
r\>TV  Perf.   conscc.  with    the    tone    on    the    last 

T    :  -t: 

.syllable,  connected  with  ver.  22.  "  Thy  tent  is 
jieace,"  i.  e.,  the  state  of  all  thy  possessions  and 
household  (comp.  ch.  viii.  22  ;  xi.  14;  xii.  6, 
and  often)  is  one  of  peace. — Dl/ty  is   predicate, 


emphatic  by  position  (comp.  Mic.  v.  4,  ni  PIM' 
Duty),  and  for  that  reason  a  substantive.  It  is 
weakening  the  beautiful,  rounded,  complete  idea 
to  take  the  word  either  as  an  adjective,  or  as  an 
adverbial  accusative  in  the  sense  of  "  well,  safe, 
uninjured,"  as,  e.  g.,  Ewald,  Dillmann,  and  Hahn, 
e/c,  do.  [The  same  remark  applies  to  the  use 
of  the  preposition,  "  in  peace,"  E.  V.,  Con.,  etc. 
The  simple  rendering  "is  peace"  is  more  forci- 
ble and  expressive. — E.] — And  w^hen  thou  re- 
view^est  thy  estate  thou  missest  nothing. 
— mj  as  in  ver.  3  [Zockler:  Stiitte,  "place," 
the  habitation  of  himself  and  his  flocks ;  by 
most,  however,  HIJ  is  taken  here  rather  of  the 

7  VT 

pasture  of  the  flocks].  N£3nn  nSi,  lit.,  "  and 
thou  wilt  not  miss  thy  way,"  i.  e.,  thou  wilt  miss 
nothing  (Prov.  viii.  36).  At  variance  with  the 
usage  of  the  words,  and  against  the  connection, 
is  Luther's  translation  :  "  and  thou  wilt  care  for 
thy  household,  and  not  sin,"  following  the  Vulg. : 
et  visitans  speciem  tuam  non  peccabis  [Eng.  Ver. : 
"  and  thou  shalt  visit  thy  habitation,  and  shalt 
not  sin."  Hengstenberg,  adopting  this  render- 
ing, explains:  in  looking  over  thy  possessions 
thou  shalt  find  thou  art  not  treated  by  God  as  a 
sinnei',  but  as  a  friend,  being  richly  blessed  by 
Him;  an  explanation  which  involves  a  needless 
constraint  of  the  expression. — E.]  The  thought 
is  rather  the  same  with  that  expressed  in  Schil- 
ler's fine  lines: 

Er  z/ahlt  die  H'lupter  spiner  Lipben, 

Und  sieh,  ihm  fohlt  kein  theures  Haupt.* 

[In  negative  sentences,  where  the  object  of  the 
verb  is  wanting,  X7  may  be  rendered  "nothing." 
See  Ewald,  I  303,  c] 

Ver.  25.  .  .  .  And  thine  offspring  as  the 
green  herb  of  the  earth  — D'XVNi*,  used  here 
of  the  issue  of  the  body,  as  in  ch.  xxi.  8  ;  xxvii. 
14.  Comp.  the  like  promise  in  Ps.  Ixxii.  16  b. 
[The  word  found  only  in  Isaiah  and  Job]. 

Ver.  26.  Thou  shalt  go  into  the  grave  in 
a  ripe  old  age. — n^^,  etymologically  related  to 

7x12,  "to  be  full,  to  be  completed"  (to  which  it 
stands  related  as  a  variation,  with  a  somewhat 
harsher  pronunciation,  just  as  Hi^p,  in  ch.  xxxix. 
16,  stands  related  to  nC'p),  signifies,  according 
to  the  parallel  expression  in^J3  in  the  second 
member,  the  full  ripeness  of  the  life-period,  the 
complete  maturity  of  age.  It  is  used  somewhat 
differently  in  ch.  xxx.  2,  where  it  denotes  the 
full  maturity  of  strength,  complete  unbroken 
vigor — a  sense  which  Fleischer  in  Delitzsch  (II. 
138,  n.)  quite  inappropriately  assigns  to  it  here 
also.     [So  FUrst.     Merx  gives  the  same  sense  to 

the  passage,  but  reads  n73. — E.] — As  sheaves 
are  gathered  in  their  season. — V^'\}  ril7^'3, 
lit.,  "  as  the  heap  of  sheaves  mounts  up,  is  ga- 
thered up,"  to  wit,  into  the  threshing-floor, 
which  was  an  elevated  place  ;  comp.  2  Sam. 
xxiv.  16;  Ps.  i.  4,  etc.     The  rendering   of  Um- 

*  The  liQads  he  mimbers  of  his  darlings. 
And,  1j  1  no  pregiuua  head  is  missed. 


CHAPS.  IV.  1-21— V.  1-27. 


339 


breit  and  Hahn :  "as  the  sheaves  are  heaped 
up,"  is  unsuitable,  and  at  variance  with  the  true 
meaning  of  the  figure,  as  describing  the  inga- 
thering of  ripe  sheaves.  1i^j/3,  "in  its  season," 
i.  e.y  when  the  ears  are  fully  ripened,  a  most 
striking  simile  to  iUustrate  old  age  when  satiated 
with  life  :  comp.  ch.  xlii.  17  ;  Gen.  xv.  15;  xxv. 
8  ;  XXXV.  39. 

Ver.  27.  Lo.  this  we  have  searched  out ; 
so  it  is :  hear  it,  and  mark  it  well  for  thy- 
self! — A  closing  verse  of  warning,  which,  be- 
cause it  refers  back  to  all  that  has  been  said  hy 
Eliphaz,  stands  outside  of  the  last  strophe. 
Comp.  the  similar  short  epiphonemas,  or  epi- 
mythions  in  ch.  xviii.  21  ;  xx.  29  ;  xxvi.  14;  also 
the  short  injunctions  of  the  Ne<v  Testament,  en- 
joining men  to  mark  and  ponder  that  which  is 
said,  such  as  Matt.  xi.  15;  xiii.  9;  Rev.  ii.  7; 
xiii.  18  ;  xxii.  2,  etc.  The  Plur.  nijlpn,  because 
Eliphaz  speaks  not  in  bis  own  name  alone,  but 
also  in  that  of  his  two  friends,  younger  indeed 
than  himself,  but  of  whom  he  knows  that  their 
experience  has  been  the  same  with  his  own. 

DOCTRINAL   AND    ETHICAL. 

The  writer  is  certainly  far  from  being  disposed 
to  put  forth  Eliphaz  in  the  preceding  discourse 
as  an  advocate  of  views  which  are  decidedly  un- 
true, and  opposed  to  God,  or  as  a  propounder 
of  diabolical  wisdom  (co^/'a  ^wxiki)  6a/.fwvi66?jc, 
Jas.  iii.  15  ;  comp.  1  Tioa.  iv.  1 ).  If  it  had  been 
his  purpose  to  represent  him  as  one  who  made 
common  cause  with  Satan,  as  an  advocatus  dia- 
boli,  or  the  Evil  One's  armor-bearer,  he  would 
certainly  have  made  some  such  sentiment  as  that 
of  ch.  ii.  9 — "renounce  God  and  die" — the  fun- 
damental theme  of  his  remarks.  But  this  tone 
of  remark  is  limited  to  Job's  wife  (and  the  fact 
is  strongly  indicative  of  the  attitude  of  an  unre- 
generate  woman,  who  simply  follows  the  impres- 
sions of  her  own  nature),  who  had  lost  alike  her 
patience  and  resignation  to  the  will  of  God. 
The  poet  does  not  introduce  any  one  of  Job's 
friends  as  sympathizing  with  it — least  of  all  Eli- 
phaz. whose  superiority  to  the  experimental 
stand-point  of  the  other  two  friends,  and  to  the 
entire  circle  of  their  ethical  and  intellectual  in- 
sight, is  so  definitely  and  significantly  apparent. 
Even  in  respect  of  its  formal  aesthetic  structure 
he  has  impressed  on  the  discourse  the  character- 
istics which  mark  it  as  the  product  of  a  genuine 
devout  oriental  sage,  a  Chakam  of  the  same  cate- 
gory with  Solomon,  Heman,  Ethan,  Chalcol, 
Darda,  etc.  This  is  shown  by  the  numerous  cor- 
respondences of  expression  between  this  dis- 
course and  the  noblest  products  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament Chokman-literature  as  elsewhere  to  be 
met  with — correspondences  which  appear  in 
part  in  the  subject-matter,  such  as  the  emphasis 
laid  on  the  fear  of  God  and  God's  remedial  dis- 
cipline (ch.  iv.  6;  v.  8  ;  v.  17)  as  fundamental 
conditions  of  true  prosperity,  the  use  of  the 
term  "fools"  (ch.  v.  2  seq.)  in  characterizing 
the  Avicked :  in  part  in  the  language,  as  in  the 
use    of  such   expressions   as  HTDDn  (ch.  iv.  21), 

'  T  :  T     *■  '" 

iT'^/iT^  (ch.  v.  12),  or  of  such  poetic  forms  as  the 
numeral  expressions  in  ch.  v.  19,  or  of  such 
figures  and  similes  as  sowing  and  reaping,  taking 


root  and  growing,  the  soaring  sparks,  the  "  in- 
ward cord"  (ch.  v.  21),  the  sword  of  the  mouth, 
and  the  scourge  of  the  tongue,  etc.  In  gener.al 
it  may  be  said  that  all  that  profound,  pliysiolo- 
gical,  or  rather  physico-theological  Wisdom 
which  forms  the  background  of  the  discourse, 
and  which  accounts  for  the  brilliant  tints  and 
fragrant  aroma  which  are  spread  over  the  whole 
of  it,  evince  the  writer's  purpose  to  represent 
the  speaker  as  intellectually  akin  to  Solomon, 
the  student  of  nature  among  the  sages  (1  Kings 
iv.  29  seq.  ;  v.  12),  and  as  possessing  a  know- 
ledge of  God  which  if  not  accurate,  such  as  be- 
longed to  the  theocracy,  was  nevertheless  truly 
monotheistic,  such  as  belonged  to  the  pious  of 
the  patriarchal  world. 

2.  As  regards  the  theological  contents  of  this 
first  discourse  of  Eliphaz,  there  is  really  scarcely 
anything  to  be  pointed  out  in  it  whicli  contra- 
dicts tlie  true  Old  Testament  religion  of  Jeho- 
vah, and  the  purity  of  the  moral  principles 
which  rest  on  it.*  A  confessor  of  Eloah,  of 
Shaddai,  he  speaks  altogether  like  a  member  of 
the  theocracy,  like  a  pious  man  belonging  to  Je- 
hovah's commonwealth.  "  He  is  apparenth/  right 
in  everything  ;  and  it  is  certainly  with  full,  con- 
scious purpose  that  the  poet  introduces  him  into 
the  discussion  with  precisely  such  a  discourse 
as  the  present ;  for  only  thus  could  a  real  en- 
tanglement arise  with  Job,  and  only  thus  could 
the  attention  of  readers  be  secured  for  Job's  op- 
ponents" (Dillm.)  What  Eliphaz  holds  up  be- 
fore Job,  who,  although  indeed  he  does  not  blas- 
pheme, does  nevertheless  utter  imprecations, 
and,  in  a  state  of  extreme  dejection,  curses  him- 
self, consists  almost  without  exception  of  beau- 
tiful and  profound  religious  and  ethical  truths, 
to  which  Job  can  successfully  oppose  only  one 
thing — that  they  do  not  touch  him,  who  is  just 
as  firmly  convinced  of  their  correctness  as  his 
opponents,  that  they  cannot  apply  to  his  pecu- 
liar condition.  So  e-  g.  the  position  that  God's 
sentence  of  destruction  falls  not  on  the  innocent 
but  only  on  the  wicked :  a  general  fundamental 
truth  of  religion,  which  is  not  onl^'  most  stri- 
kingly confirmed  by  the  issue  of  Job's  owq  his- 
tory, but  is  also  often  enough  emphasized  by 
him  in  his  subsequent  discourses,  and  is  ex- 
pressed in  a  manner  altogether  similar  to  what 
we  find  in  so  many  of  the  holy  songs  of  the 
Psalter,  beginning  with  the  first  Psalm,  the 
"  Motto  "  of  the  entire  collection.  The  same  is 
no  less  true  of  the  proposition  concerning  the 
universal  sinfulness  of  all  men,  and  indeed  con- 
cerning the  impurity  even  of  the  angels,  whea 
compared  with  the  absolute  holiness  of  God  ;  a 
proposition  which,  presuppo-ing,  as  it  certainly 
does,  the  influences  of  a  revolution  from  above 
(comp.  ch.  iv.  12  seq.),  was  the  common  pro- 
perty of  all  the  pious  and  the  wise  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  is  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
marks  distinguishing  the  religious  and  mo- 
ral knowledge,  thought,  and  activity  of  those 
men   from  what  is  found  in  the  heathen  world. 

*  Comp.  CoccEtus :  "  The  first  discourse  of  Eliphaz,  if  yon 
except  tlio  charfie  ot  impatience  brought  asraiiwt  Job  (al- 
tliougli  that  is  stated  mildly,  and  is  not  altogether  without 
cause),  and  the  offensive  intorpreta'ion  put  on  the  words  of 
Job,  has  in  it  nothing  that  is  not  holy,  true,  and  excellent, 
and  which  is  not  most  admirably  adapted  to  strengthen  pa- 
tience," etc. 


840 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


So  again  the  jifBrination  of  the  necessity  of  dis- 
ciplinary and  purifying  suffering  for  every  man  ; 
the  stern  rebulce  of  the  presumptuous  discontent 
of  him  who  will  not  submit  to  this  rigid  and  yet 
loving,  mild  law  of  the  Divine  administration  ; 
the  friendly  counsel  to  the  sorely  tried  Job  to 
turn  to  God,  and  to  take  refuge  only  with  Him 
(ch.  v.  8  seq.) ;  finally  the  promise  that  his  hap- 
piness would  be  gloriously  renewed  if  ho  should 
rightly  improve  his  calamities,  and  derive  from 
them  the  benefits  properly  connected  with  them, 
which  agtiin  seems  to  indicate  tlie  complete  har- 
mony of  the  speaker's  views  with  those  of  the 
poet,  and  to  have  a  strictly  prophetic  relation  to 
the  final  account  of  Job's  restoration  and  glori- 
ous vindication  in  the  Epilogue. 

3.  Notwithstanding  this  it  is  hardly  correct  to 
say  with  Delitzsch  (I.  105)  that  "there  is  no  doc- 
trinal error  to  be  discovered  in  the  speech  of 
Eliphaz."  A  certain  work-righteousness  may  be 
found  in  it,  notwithstanding  the  solemn  empha- 
sis with  which  it  makes  the  universal  sinfulness 
of  all  mankind  the  central  point  of  the  discus- 
sion. The  way  in  which  Job  is  exhorted,  as  in 
ch.  iv.  6,  to  trust  in  his  fear  of  God,  and  in  the 
uprightness  of  his  ways,  and  on  account  of  the 
same  to  cherish  hope  in  God,  has  doubtless  some- 
thing analogous  in  many  expressions  found  in 
the  I'salms  (comp.  Ps.  xviii.  20  seq. ;  cxix.  1G8)  ; 
but  the  connection  of  the  passage,  especially 
that  which  immediately  follows,  shows  distinctly 
that  the  fundamental  proposition — if  pious,  then 
prosperous ;  if  unfortunate,  then  wicked — is 
here  handled  with  a  certain  harsh  one-sidedness 
and  superficiality,  which  might  easily  develop 
into  unjust  judgments  concerning  the  sorely 
tried  sufferer,  and  in  which  accordingly  was  con- 
tained the  germ  of  that  difference  which  subse- 
quently waxed  more  and  more  violent  between 
the  friends  and  Job.  Still  more  doubtful  than 
this  tendency  towards  an  external  conception  of 
the  doctrine  of  retribution,  a  tendency  which 
manifests  itself  but  slightly  and  timidly,  is  the 
absolute  silence  of  Eliphaz  in  respect  to  the  possi- 
bility that  Job's  extraordinarily  severe  suffer- 
ings might  nevertheless  have  another  cause  than 
particular  sins  of  corresponding  magnitude. 
Herein  he  shows  his  ignorance  in  regard  to  those 
deeper  spiritual  perceptions  and  experiences,  by 
virtue  of  which  pious  persona,  even  before  the 
coming  of  Christ,  were  able  to  recognize,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  suffering  inflicted  for  chastisement, 
and  to  that  inflicted  for  purification,  a  suffering 
inflicted  simply  to  try  men.  Such  suffering  they 
recognized  as  possible,  and  as  sometimes  decreed 
by  God  in  His  wisdom,  as  is  sufBciently  evident 
from  sucli  passages  as  Deut.  viii.  2,  16  ;  Prov. 
xvii.  3;  P«.  Ixvi.  10;  Jer.  vi.  27  seq.  ;  Ezekiel 
xxii.  22;  Zech.  xiii.  9;  also  Sir.  ii.  1  seq.  (Of 
suffering  borne  as  testimony,  martyrdom,  no- 
thing needs  to  be  said  here,  its  necessity  being 
first  clearly  recognized  in  the  New  Testament, 
after  Christ  had  suffered  on  the  cross).  Finally, 
there  lies  a  departure  from  the  doctrine,  which 
is  clearly  taught  everywhere  else  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament Revelation,  in  the  statements  of  ch.  v.  G, 
7,  where  not  only  man's  punishment  for  sin,  but 
sinning  itself  is  represented  as  something  which 
attaches  necessarily  to  human  nature  as  such. 
In  other  words,  it  is  here   implied  that  to  be  a 


man  and  to  commit  sin  are  two  things  which  are  bi/ 
no  means  to  be  separated  from  each  other,  being  thus 
regarded,  as  in  the  doctrinal  system  of  Schleier- 
macher  and  the  majority  of  the  critical  ration- 
alistic theologians  of  to-day  as  something  that 
attaches  to  man's  sensuous  nature  (see  exeg.  re- 
marks on  the  passage). — From  what  has  been 
said  it  follows  that  Eliphaz  cannot  indeed  be  re- 
garded as  a  "Pelagian  before  Pelagius ; "  the 
poet  has,  however,  unmistakably  intended  to  set 
forth  a  certain  theory  of  the  holiness  of  works, 
and  a  legal  narrowness  in  the  circle  of  his  ethi- 
cal and  religious  perception,  as  lying  at  the 
foundation  of  his  views.  He  has  purposed  to 
present  him  as  a  representative — one  of  the  no- 
blest, most  thoughtful  and  profound  indeed — 
but  still  a  representative  of  the  doctrine  of  ex- 
ternal retribution,  which  was  the  popular  opinion 
of  antiquity  before  the  coming  of  Christ,  and 
has  succeeded  in  expressing  with  a  masterly 
skill  which  no  one  can  question  the  fine  shading 
by  which  that  which  is  erroneous  in  his  views, 
as  compared  with  the  profounder  truth  which  af- 
terwards comes  gradually  into  prominence,  is 
outlined  forth.  If  we  were  to  compare  his  Eli- 
phaz with  any  ecclesiastical  representative  of 
one-sided  theories,  and  more  particularly  of 
those  in  the  department  of  anthropologic  soterio- 
logy,  which  teach  a  legal  righteousness  of  works, 
instead  of  turning  our  attention  to  Pelagius  and 
Pelagianism,  it  would  be  decidedly  more  correct 
to  think  of  such  fathers  as  Jerome,  the  Grego- 
ries,  Cassianus,  etc.  Especially  does  Jerome,  the 
zealous  champion  of  the  proposition  of  universal 
sinfulness  in  opposition  to  Pelagius,  who,  how- 
ever, had  sunk  almost  as  deeply  as  that  heresi- 
arch  into  an  external  self-righteousness  and  le- 
gality, give  evident  tokens  of  intellectual  affinity 
with  our  sage.  A  point  which,  it  would  seem, 
would  tend  to  lend  special  interest  to  any  at- 
tempt to  elaborate  more  fully  the  parallel  be- 
tween Eliphaz  and  Jerome,  is  the  remarkable 
similarity  which  the  description  of  the  nocturnal 
spirit-vision  (ch.  iv.  12  seq.)  with  its  emotional 
vividness  and  presentative  power,  bears  to  the 
celebrated  "  Anti-Ciceronian  Vision  "  of  Jerome 
in  the  Epistle  to  Eustachius  (comp.  my  "Je- 
rome," p.  45  seq.),  a  similarity  whicli  is  more 
than  simply  external,  or  accidental,  as  the 
closely  related  ethical  tendencies  of  both  visions 
show. 

4.  That  which  injures  the  religious  and  moral 
value  of  tlie  speech  of  Eliphaz  more  than  all 
these  weak  and  one-sided  doctrinal  features, 
which  emerge  into  but  slight  prominence,  and 
which  would  be  scarcely  noticed  by  an  untrained 
ej  e,  is  a  series  of  defects  which  lead  us  to  infer 
in  tlie  speaker  a  defective  character  rather  than 
an  erroneous  theory.  The  discourse,  with  all  the 
beauty  and  truth  of  tlie  greater  part  of  its 
thoughts,  is  nevertheless  "heartless,  haughty, 
stiff  and  cold."  It  dwells  self-complacently  on 
general  truths,  known  as  weil  to  Job  and  ac- 
knowledged by  him,  which  are  presented  not 
witliout  rhetorical  pathos,  but  which  are  not 
brouglit  into  anything  like  a  tenderly  conside- 
rate, or  profo  indly  apprehended  relation  to  tlie 
special  circumstances  of  him  who  is  addressed. 
(1)  It  exhibits  not  a  trace  of  genuine  sympathy 
with  the  extraordin  irily  high  measure  of  misery 


CHAPS.  IV.  1-21— V.  1-27. 


341 


which  bas  overwhelmed  the  unhappy  sufferer ; 
instead  of  consoling  him,  it  goes  off  into  moral- 
izing reflections,  which  bring  hiiu  no  comfort, 
which  serve  rather  to  embitter  him.  (2)  It  un- 
qualifiedly identifies  his  complaint  with  that  of 
a  "  fool,"  /.  <*.,  of  a  man  of  abandoned  wicked- 
ness and  ungodliness  (ch.  v.  2  seq  ;  comp.  ch. 
iv.  8  seq.),  without  the  slightest  effort  to  make  a 
critical  examination  of  the  question,  whether 
his  essential  character  is  not  incomparably  purer 
and  more  godly  than  that  of  a  despairing  blas- 
phemer. (3)  It  assumes  on  his  part  hypocrisy, 
defective  self-knowledge,  entanglement  in  a  self- 
ri<»hteous  delusion,  and  seeks  to  cure  these  de- 
fects by  bringing  forward  that  night-oracle,  but 
by  this  very  course  he  betrays  a  serious  defi- 
ciency in  knowledge  of  men,  and  in  the  power 
of  a  finer  psychological  observation.  (4)  It 
takes  no  account  whatever  of  the  great  fact  of 
the  former  purity  of  his  life,  and  of  his  uncom- 
plaining patience,  and  thus  coarsely  (not  to  say 
maliciously)  makes  no  distinction  between  Job 
and  the  great  mass  of  men.  (5)  Worst  of  all,  it 
is  not  free  from  disingenuousness  and  deception  ; 
back  of  what  it  openly  says,  it  suggests  the  ex- 
istence of  something  worse  yet,  of  which  it  re- 
gards Job  as  capable,  if  not  as  being  already 
guilty,  and  thus  deprives  even  that  in  it  which 
seems  adapted  really  to  minister  comfort,  re- 
freshment, and  a  wholesome  stimulus  (c  g.,  the 
description  in  ch.  v.  17  seq.  of  the  blissful  blos- 
soming anew  of  the  prosperity  of  him  who  re- 
pents and  is  reconciled  with  God),  of  its  benefi- 
cent influence  on  the  feelings  of  the  sorely 
tempted  sufferer.  These  indirect  suggestions  of 
certain  defects  in  the  disposition  and  character 
of  Eliphaz  (which,  like  those  one-sided,  doc- 
trinal peculiarities,  present  a  striking  parallel 
with  Jerome  ;  comp.  the  work  cited  above,  p. 
332  seq.,  391  seq.)  are  what — chiefly  at  least — 
according  to  the  poet's  purpose,  furnish  the  oc- 
casion for  farther  controversy,  and  incite  Job  to 
the  comparatively  passionate  reply  which  he 
makes. 

HOMILETICAL   AND    PRACTICAL. 

The  homiletic  expositor,  especially  if  he  treats 
the  discourse  of  Eliphaz  not  as  a  unit,  as  the 
theme  of  one  sermon,  but  only  in  detached  pas- 
sages (and  it  is  scare. ly  possible  that  he  should 
treat  it  otherwise),  need  not  have  the  enjoyment, 
which  its  many  glorious  passages  minister, 
marred  Vjy  the  manifold  features  which  tend  to 
quench  and  disturb  it,  and  which  indicate  the 
one-sidedness  of  the  stand-point  occupied  by  the 
speaker.  As  opportunity  offers  it  maybe  shown 
that  Eliphaz  is  not  a  representative  of  the  com- 
plete truth  of  Scripture,  but  is  the  champion  of 
a  party-doctrine,  which  later  is  expressly  con- 
demned by  God  as  one-sided  and  erroneous  ; 
especially  might  it  be  indispensable  to  call  atten- 
tion to  this  in  the  passages  found  in  ch.  iv.  6, 
and  V.  6  seq  ,  according  to  what  has  been  said 
above  (Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks,  No.  S). 
But  why  it  should  be  necessary  to  make  anxious 
mention  of  the  heterodoxy  of  the  speaker  in  con- 
nection with  all  that  Eliphaz  says  in  harmony 
with  all  the  other  wise  men  of  God  under  the 
Old  Testament,  all  which  does  not  contradict  the 
analogia  fidei  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  which 


immediately  commends  itself  by  its  truth,  beauty, 
and  inward  power — why  this  should  bo  neces- 
sary is  certainly  not  apparent.  All  requirements 
of  this  sort  will  be  sutliciently  satisfied  if  it  be 
shown  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Sermon,  or 
Meditation,  that  the  text  under  consideration  be- 
longs to  a  discourse  by  a  man  who,  ns  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  he  is  finally  rebuked  and  cen- 
sured by  God,  does  not  present  the  truth  of 
Scripture  in  its  fulness  and  entireness,  but  who 
none  the  less  belongs  to  the  class  of  divinely-en- 
lightened sages  and  saints  of  tlieOhl  Testament, 
and  whose  utterances,  in  so  far  as  they  accord 
with  those  of  other  representatives  of  this  class, 
such  as  Solomon,  Asaph,  the  author  of  Eccle- 
siastes,  elc,  must  be  recognized  as  equally  im- 
portant and  valuable  with  those;  nay,  more, 
whoso  words,  in  so  far  as  they  express  (if  not 
directly,  still  indirectly)  the  pool's  objective 
opinion,  have  the  same  right  to  be  regarded  as 
inspired  as  those  of  his  counterpart,  Job,  who 
in  truth  falls  often  enough  into  oae-sided  views 
and  grievous  errors. 

In  a  detached  treatment  of  the  text  the  Second 
Division  (ch.  iv.  12-v.  7)  and  the  Third  (ch.  v. 
7-2G)  stand  forth  as  pericopes  of  some  length, 
which  are  suitably  defined  as  to  their  limits.  In 
view  of  the  richness  of  their  contents,  however, 
the  division  of  both  into  smaller  sections  may 
be  recommended,  in  which  case  it  will  be  most 
natural,  or  indeed  unavoidable,  to  be  governed 
by  the  preceding  division  into  strophes. — As  re- 
spects the  formal  statement  of  themes  and  the 
more  specific  arrangement,  the  following  remarks 
on  particular  passages,  taken  from  the  older  homi- 
letic treatments  of  the  book,  will  supply  sugges- 
tive hints  : 

Ch.  IV.  2  seq.  Starke:  A  friend  can  indeed 
reprove  another,  if  he  has  seen  or  heard  any- 
thing wrong  on  his  part  (Sir.  xx.  2)  ;  but  he 
must  not  put  the  worst  construction  on  every- 
thing. We  should  hear  the  admonitions  and  re- 
proofs of  our  neighbor  patiently,  and  take  them 
for  our  improvement  (Ps.  cxli.  5). 

Ch.  IV.  7  seq.  Brextius  :  It  is  not  so  much 
absurd,  as  impious,  for  human  reason  to  infer 
from  aiflictions  that  God  is  angry.  Rather,  as 
a  father  chastises  his  son  whom  he  loves,  and 
spares  not  the  rod,  so  God  crucifies  those  whom 
lie  elects  together  with  His  Son,  Je.sus  Christ, 
our  Lord.  .  .  Eliphaz  discourses  truly,  but  he  in- 
terprets the  case  according  to  his  own  carnal 
judgment  of  it;  for  the  innocent,  although  they 
do  not  perish,  are  nevertheless  afflicted  ;  they 
are  not  destroyed,  but  they  are  oppressed. — 
Hengstenberg  :  The  proposition  which  Eliphaz 
puts  at  the  foundation  of  his  argument:  that 
true  spiritual  rectitude  and  complete  destruction 
cannot  accompany  each  other,  is  true.  Instead, 
however,  of  taking  for  granted  what  he  does  in 
regard  to  Job,  he  ought  to  have  done  him  the 
friendly  service  of  controverting  the  assumption. 
He  should  have  set  out  before  liim  that  often 
when  the  need  is  greatest,  succor  is  nearest. 
He  should  have  furnished  him  the  right  clue  to 
his  suffering  by  propounding  the  proposition  : 
Whom  God  loveth  He  chasteneth.  He  was  not, 
however,  prepared  to  do  this,  as  long  as  he,  in 
common  with  Job,  was  wanting  in  the  right  per- 
ception of  sin. 


342 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Ch.  IV.  12  scq.  Zetss:  God  taught  the  an- 
cients His  will  by  visions  and  dreams,  and  by 
such  a  revelation  did  for  them  that  which  He  has 
since  done  by  His  word,  written  and  preached 
(Gen.  xxviii.  12 ;  Num.  xii.  ti).  He  has  re- 
vealed Himself  thus  even  to  the  heathen  (Gen. 
XX.  3).  Hence  they  are  without  excuse  (Rom.  i. 
20). — Passavant  (in  his  work  on  Vital  Magnet- 
ism, 2d  Ed.,  p.  131):  In  the  dreams  of  a  deep, 
sound  sleep  (comp.  ver.  13)  the  soul  seems  to 
put  forth  a  higher  form  of  activity,  and  it.  may 
he  that  all  significant  dreams  belong  to  this  very 
condition,  which  seems  furthest  removed  from 
the  working  consciousness. 

Ch.  IV.  17  seq.  Cramer:  God  has  concluded 
all  under  sin,  in  order  that  He  might  have  mercy 
upon  all,  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped,  and 
the  whole  world  be  guilty  before  God,  in  order 
that  by  the  works  of  the  law  no  flesh  should  be 
justified  in  His  sight  (Rom.  iii.  20). — Wohl- 
FARTH  :  Erroneous  as  was  the  opinion  of  Eli- 
phaz,  that  sinners  only  are  punished  here  on  ac- 
count of  their  sins,  no  less  true  is  the  commni- 
cation  here  made  to  him  by  a  Divine  revelation, 
that  no  man  is  pure  before  God,  Gen.  viii.  21  ; 
Ezek.  iv.  18;  Matt.  xv.  19;   1  Cor.  ii.  14,  etc. 

Ch.  IV.  19  seq.  Beentius  :  This  thought 
should  be  treasured  up  in  the  depth  of  our  minds, 
in  order  that  by  it  we  may  cast  down  the  arro- 
gance of  our  flesh.  For  why  should  you  be 
proud  of  your  noble  lineage,  your  wealth,  power, 
royal  majesty  ?  Consider,  I  pray  you,  what  you 
were,  what  you  are,  and  what  you  will  be,  and 
cease  to  stick  up  your  crest;  you  were  clay,  you 
are  a  dung-hill,  you  will  be  corruption  and  the 
food  of  worms — why  then  should  you  boast  (1 
Cor.  i.  31)  ? — Cramer  :  Death  sends  no  messen- 
ger, but  when  men  least  expect  him,  he  enters 
all  doors,  even  those  of  palaces  (Jer.  ix.  21  ; 
Luke  xii.  20). 

Ch.  V.  3  seq.  Brentius:  This  passage  teaches 
parents  the  fear  of  God,  for  who  does  not  desire 
for  his  children  everything  that  is  best,  and  the 
most  ample  inheritance  ?  Take  care,  therefore, 
to  live  piously,  and  to  bring  up  your  children  in 
piety  and  in  the  admonition  of  the  Lord.  You 
cannot  leave  them  a  more  ample  patrimony  than 
this  ;  whereas  if  you  live  wickedly,  and  your 
children  fill  up  the  measure  of  the  iniquity  which 
they  have  derived  from  you,  not  only  will  you 
be  cursed,  but  your  children  also  will  inherit 
their  father's  curse. 

Ch.  V.  6,  7.  See.  Schmidt  :  This  remarkable 
passage  contradicts  the  notion  of  man's  free  will 
in  spiritual  matters,  and  not  only  proves  origi- 
nal sin,  but  also  that  by  virtue  of  it  there  is  no 
man  who  does  not  sin. — Hengstenberg  :  To  sin 
is  just  as  much  a  property  of  human  nature  as 
it  is  of  sparks  to  fly  upward.  The  doctrine  of 
innate  corruption,  which  rests  on  Gen.  iii.  4  and 
v.  3  is  already  expressed  here.  (Is  the  state- 
ment here  given  of  it,  however,  absolutely  cor- 
rect, and    free  from  all   one-sided  admixture  ? 


Zu>kler. — See  above  in  the  Critical  and  Doctrinal 
Remarks). 

Ch.  V.  8  seq.  Seb.  Schmtdt:  TVhen  we  com- 
mend anything  to  God  we  do  it  by  prayer,  and 
hope  or  trust  in  God  :  so  that  although  prayer 
is  not  expressly  mentioned  here,  it  is  neverthe- 
less implied  in  the  words,  and  must  not  be  ne- 
glected (1  Peter  v.  7). 

Ch.  V.  10.  Starke  :  Although  the  rain  has  its 
own  purely  natural  causes,  we  must  still  look  up 
in  connection  with  it  to  God,  as  the  One  who  has 
so  established  nature,  that  the  rain  can  fall,  the 
sun  shine,  etc.  (Jer.  xiv.  22). 

Ch.  V.  17  seq.  Cramer:  The  dear  cross  \_das 
Hebe  Krcuz,  the  affliction,  adversty,  whose  uses 
are  sweet]  has  great  benefits  connected  with  it 
(Rom.  V.  3  seq. ;  James  i.  2  seq.)  ;  we  come  by 
means  of  it  to  the  knowledge  of  our  sins  (Ps, 
cxix.  67);  we  stop  sinning  (1  Peter  iv.  1),  we 
learn  to  give  heed  to  the  Word,  and  to  pray  dili- 
gently (Is.  xxviii.  19),  we  become  satiated  with 
the  world  (Phil.  i.  23),  and  are  made  conformable 
to  the  example  of  Christ  (Rom.  viii.  29). — Com- 
pare Fr.  de  la  Motte.  Fouqu^'s  poem — "  God's 
Chastisements"  (especially 3d  and  4th  stanzas). 

Ch.  V.  19.  Brentius:  The  Lord  delivers  in 
six  afflictions  {i.  e.,  in  every  time  of  trouble),  not 
by  taking  away  the  cross  from  our  shoulders, 
but  by  ministering  strength  and  patience  to  bear 
it.  But  in  the  seventh  affliction  (i.  «.,  when  the 
season  of  trial  is  over)  He  gives  deliverance  both 
by  taking  away  the  cross,  and  by  giving  pure 
and  unalloyed  happiness  (comp.  1  Cor.  x.  13). — 
Zeyss:  There  is  no  distress  so  great,  so  strange,  so 
manifold,  but  God  can  deliver  His  people  out  of 
it  (Ps.  xci.  14  seq.  ;  Is.  xliii.  2;  Dan.  iii.  17  ; 
vL  16,  22). 

Ch.  V.  20  seq.  Brentius:  He  enumerates  the 
blessings  of  the  godly  man,  who  lakes  hold  by 
faith  of  the  Lord's  hand.  For  the  godly  man, 
possessing  the  Lord  by  faith,  remains  perfectly 
serene  in  the  face  of  all  calamities,  fearing 
neither  famine,  nor  sword,  nor  rumors  of  war, 
nor  desolation,  nor  the  beasts  of  the  earth.  Yea, 
even  though  the  heavens  should  fall,  and  the 
earth  be  wrecked,  the  ruins  would  smite  him  un- 
dismayed.— CoccEius  :  If  any  one  should  think 
that  Eliphaz  said  these  things  in  the  spirit  of 
prophecy  about  Job,  as  the  type  of  Christ  in  obe- 
dience, afflictions,  patience  and  exaltation,  I 
should  not  be  disposed  to  blame  him.  He  who 
should  maintain  this  would  say  that  the  present 
and  the  future  are  blended  ami  treated  as  pre- 
sent; seeing  them  in  the  Spirit  he  depicts  them 
as  present. — For  the  limitation  and  partial  cor- 
rection of  this  typical  and  Messianic  interpreta- 
tion, comp.  further  Seb.  Schmidt's  remarks  on 
the  passage:  "But  who  can  believe  that  Eliphaz 
with  all  Jiis  recriminations  against  Job,  would 
have  prophesied  good  concerning  him,  nay,  have 
made  him  even  a  type  of  Christ  ?  "  (The  passage 
could  thus  be  regarded  only  as  an  involuntary 
prophecy,  like  that  of  Balaam,  or  of  Caiapbas). 


CHAPS.  VI.  1— VII.  21.  343 


B.— Job's  Reply :  Instead  of  Comfort,  the  Friends  bring  him  only  increased 

Sorrow. 

Chapters  VI.  1— VII.  21. 

1.  Justification  of  his  complaint  by  pointing  out  the  greatness  and  incomprehensibleness   of  his 
sufiFering. 

Chapter  VI.  1-10. 

1  But  Job  answered  and  said  : 

2  Oh  that  my  grief  were  thoroughly  weighed, 
and  my  calamity  laid  in  the  balance  together  ! 

3  For  now  it  would  be  heavier  than  the  sand  of  the  sea  ; 
therefore  my  words  are  swallowed  up. 

4  For  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty  are  within  me, 
the  poison  whereof  drinketh  up  my  spirit ; 

the  terrors  of  God  do  set  themselves  in  array  against  me. 

5  Doth  the  wild  ass  bray  when  he  hath  grass  ? 
or  loweth  the  ox  over  his  fodder  ? 

6  Can  that  which  is  unsavory  be  eaten  Avithout  salt  ? 
or  is  there  any  taste  in  the  white  of  an  egg? 

7  The  things  that  my  soul  refuseth  to  touch 
are  as  my  sorrowful  meat. 

8  Oh  that  I  might  have  my  request, 

and  that  God  would  grant  me  the  thing  that  I  long  for ! 

9  Even  that  it  would  please  God  to  destroy  me ; 
that  He  would  let  loose  His  hand,  and  cut  me  off! 

10  Then  should  I  yet  have  comfort : 

yea,  I  would  harden  myself  in  sorrow ;  let  Him  not  spare ; 
for  I  have  not  concealed  the  words  of  the  Holy  One. 

2.    Complaint  over  the  bitter   disappointment  which  he  had  experienced  at  the  hands  of  his 
friends. 

Vers.  11-30. 

11  What  is  my  strength  that  I  should  hope  ? 

and  what  is  mine  end  that  I  should  prolong  my  life  ? 

12  Is  my  strength  the  strength  of  stones? 
or  is  my  flesh  of  brass  ? 

13  Is  not  my  help  in  me? 

and  is  wisdom  driven  quite  from  me  ? 

14  To  him  that  is  afl[licted  pity  should  be  shewed  from  his  friend ; 
but  he  forsaketh  the  fear  of  the  Almighty. 

15  My  brethren  have  dealt  deceitfully  as  a  brook, 
and  as  the  stream  of  brooks  they  pass  away  ; 

16  which  are  blackish  by  reason  of  the  ice, 
and  wherein  the  snow  is  hid. 

17  What  time  they  wax  warm,  they  vanish  ; 

when  it  is  hot,  they  are  consumed  out  of  their  place. 


344  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


18  The  paths  of  their  way  are  turned  aside  ; 
they  go  to  nothing,  and  perish. 

19  The  troops  of  Tema  looked, 

the  companies  of  Sheba  waited  for  them. 

20  They  were  confounded  because  they  had  hoped  ; 
they  came  thither  and  were  ashamed. 

21  For  now  ye  are  nothing  ; 

ye  see  my  casting  down,  and  are  afraid ! 

22  Did  I  say,  Bring  unto  me? 

or,  Give  a  reward  for  me  of  your  substance  ? 

23  Or,  Deliver  me  from  the  enemy's  hand  ? 

or,  Kedeem  me  from  the  hand  of  the  mighty  ? 

24  Teach  me,  and  I  will  hold  my  tongue  ; 

and  cause  me  to  understand  wherein  I  have  erred. 

25  How  forcible  are  right  words  ! 

but  what  doth  your  arguing  reprove  ? 

26  Do  ye  imagine  to  reprove  words, 

and  the  speeches  of  one  that  is  desperate,  which  are  as  wind  ? 

27  Yea,  ye  overwhelm  the  fatherless, 
and  ye  dig  a  pit  for  your  friend. 

28  Now  therefore  be  content,  look  upon  me ; 
for  it  is  evident  unto  you  if  I  lie. 

29  Return,  I  pray  you,  let  it  not  be  iniquity; 
yea,  return  again,  my  righteousness  is  in  it. 

30  Is  there  iniquity  in  my  tongue  ? 
cannot  my  taste  discern  perverse  things  ? 

3.  Recurrence  to  his  former  complaint  on  account  of  his  lot,  and  accusation  of  God. 

Chapter  VII.  1-21. 

1  Is  there  not  an  appointed  time  to  man  upon  earth  ? 
are  not  his  days  also  like  the  days  of  an  hireling  ? 

2  As  a  servant  earnestly  desireth  the  shadow, 

and  as  an  hireling  looketh  for  the  reward  of  his  work  ; 

3  So  am  I  made  to  possess  months  of  vanity, 
and  wearisome  nights  are  appointed  to  me. 

4  When  I  lie  down,  I  say, 

When  shall  I  arise  and  the  night  be  gone? 

and  I  am  full  of  tossings  to  and  fro  unto  the  dawning  of  the  day. 

5  My  flesh  is  clothed  with  worms,  and  clods  of  dust ; 
my  skin  is  broken,  and  become  loathsome. 

6  My  days  are  swifter  than  a  weaver's  shuttle, 
and  are  spent  without  hope. 

7  O  remember  that  my  life  is  wind  ! 
mine  eye  shall  no  more  see  good. 

8  The  eye  of  him  that  hath  seen  me  shall  see  me  no  more ; 
Thine  eyes  are  upon  me,  and  I  am  not. 

9  As  the  cloud  is  consumed,  and  vanisheth  away, 

so  he  that  goeth  down  to  the  grave  shall  come  up  no  more. 

10  He  shall  return  no  more  to  his  house, 
neither  shall  his  place  know  him  any  more.' 

11  Therefore  I  will  not  refrain  my  mouth  ; 

I  will  speak  in  the  anguish  of  my  spirit ; 
I  will  complain  in  the  bitterness  of  my  soul. 


CHAP.  VI.   1-30— VII.  1-21. 


346 


12  Am  I  a  sea,  or  a  whale, 

that  Thou  settest  a  watch  over  me  ? 

13  "When  I  say.  My  bed  shall  comfort  me, 
my  couch  shall  ease  my  complaint ; 

14  then  Thou  scarest  me  with  dreams, 
and  terrifiest  me  through  visions  ; 

15  So  that  my  soul  chooseth  strangling, 
and  death  rather  than  my  life. 

16  I  loathe  it,  I  would  not  live  alway ; 
let  me  alone  ;  for  my  days  are  vanity. 

17  What  is  man,  that  Thou  shouldest  magnify  him? 
and  that  Thou  shouldest  set  Thine  heart  upon  him  ? 

18  And  that  Thou  shouldest  visit  him  every  morning  ? 
and  try  him  every  moment  ? 

19  How  long  wilt  Thou  not  depart  from  me, 

nor  let  me  alone  till  I  swallow  down  my  spittle  ? 

20  I  have  sinned  ;  what  shall  I  do  unto  Thee,  O  Thou  preserver  of  men  ? 
why  hast  Thou  set  me  as  a  mark  against  Thee, 

so  that  I  am  a  burden  to  myself? 

21  And  why  dost  Thou  not  pardon  my  transgression, 
and  take  away  mine  iniquity  ? 

for  now  shall  I  sleep  in  the  dust ; 

and  Thou  shalt  seek  me  in  the  morning,  but  I  shall  not  be. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1,  This  discourse  of  Job,  ihe  first  formal  re- 
ply which  proceeded  from  him,  attaches  itself 
immediately  to  that  which  was  one-sided,  erro- 
neous, and  unjust  in  the  discourse  of  Eliphaz 
(comp.  above,  page  327.  It  rebukes  these  defects, 
and  justifies  the  complaints  which  Job  had  pre- 
viously uttered  in  regard  to  his  miserable  con- 
dition, in  part  repeating  with  increased  empha- 
sis the  reproaches  which  in  his  despair  he  had 
brouglit  against  God.  The  tone  of  his  discourse 
however  is  so  far  changed  that  instead  of  the 
wild  and  doubting  agony  of  his  former  utterance 
he  exhibits  rather  a  spirit  which  may  be  charac- 
terized as  mild,  plaintive,  and  in  some  measure 
composed. 

The  discourse  falls  into  three  divisions:  (1) 
A  justification  of  the  previous  lamentation,  as 
entirely  corresponding  to  the  fearful  greatness 
of  Job's  suffering,  ch.  vi.  2-10.  (2)  A  sharp 
criticism  of  the  friends'  conduct  as  unreason- 
ably hard,  as  demonstrating  indeed  the  decep- 
tiveness  of  their  friendship,  ch.  vi.  11-30.  (3) 
Renewed  lamentation  over  his  inconsolable  and 
helpless  condition,  together  with  an  arraignment 
of  God,  ch.  vii.  1-21.  These  three  principal  di- 
visions have  the  same  relative  proportions,  both 
as  to  the  length  and  sub-divisions  of  each,  as 
the  three  divisions  of  the  discourse  of  Eliphaz; 
the  first  consisting  of  one,  the  two  following  con- 
sisting each  of  two  long  strophes.  It  is  only  in 
the  last  two,  however,  of  these  five  long  strophes 
(to  wit,  ch.  vii.  1-11  and  vii.  12-21)  that  we  find 
double-strophes  composed  of  the  longer  strophes 
extending  over  5-7  verses.  The  first  three  dou- 
ble-strophes on   the  contrary   are  composed  of 


shorter  strophes,  including  now  three,  and  now 
four  masoretic  verses. 

2.  First  Division  {n.ndi  Long  Strophe).  Justifica- 
tion of  his  former  lamentation  by  a  reference  to 
the  greatness  and  incomprehensibility  of  his  suf- 
fering, ch.  vi.  2-10. 

First  Strophe.  Vers.  2-4.  [His  grief  was  not 
excessive  when  compared  with  his  sufi"ering]. 

Ver.  2.  Oh  that  my  grief  might  be  but 
•weighed,  and  my  calamity  be  laid  up 
over  against  it  in  the  balances —[The  use 
of  the  Inf.  Absol.  7l"pty  with  the  Fut.  bpt^;  (used 

optatively  after  \1)  shows  the  emphasis  which 
Job's  mind  laid  on  the  complete  exact  balancing 
of  his  vexation  against  his  suffering. — E.]  tyj^3> 
grief,  discontent,  despondency,  is  that  with 
which  Eliphaz  had  reproached  him  [see  ch.  v. 
2.  "Vexation,  impatience,  either  the  inner  irri- 
tation, or  outward  exhibition  of  it,  or  both." 
Dav.]     'r^"n  (for  which  the   K'ri   has   'r^'H,  as 

also  in  ch.  xxx.  18  Tl^nS  for  "TITl)  "my  cala- 
mity,  my  ruin;"  comp.  the  plur.  ^\'\V!^  used  else- 
where in  the  same  sense,  ch.  vi.  30;  Ps.  Ivii,  2 
[1];  xci.  3;  xciv.  20;  Prov.  xix.  13.  The  two 
expressions  are  not  synonymous  (Kamph.),  but 
are  related  to  each  other  as  subjective  and  ob- 
jective, or  as  an  eifect  produced  in  Job's  emo- 
tional experience,  and  the  cause  of  the  same. 
Accordingly  HHl 'J<k^'  can  not  signify:  "that  it 
might  be  laid  up  (weighed)  all  at  once,  altoge- 
ther," i.  c,  my  entire  woe,  in  which  case  indeed 
we  should  also  expect  the  plur.  Tirri  (Tllin). 
But  in'  Niyj  denotes  a  simultaneous  weighing 
of  the  despondency  and  the  calamity,  a  balanc- 
ing of  either  over  against  the  other  (comp.  ch. 
'.  xvii.  16;  Ps.  cxli.  10;  Is.  xlv.  8).     The  whole  is 


846 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


a  wish  or  a  yearning  prayer  to  God,  to  show 
clearly  to  his  friends  that  his  violent  grief  was 
most  assuredly  proportioned  to  the  severity  of 
his  suflf^erings.  [Conant  objects  to  the  view  here 
given  :  "  that  it  is  not  an  appropriate  answer  to 
Eliphaz,  whose  admonitions  were  not  based  on 
the  disproportion  of  the  sufferer's  grief  to  its 
cause."  To  which  Davidson  replies :  "  Job  is 
not  here  replying  to  Eliphaz's  whole  charge,  but 
only  to  the  beginning  of  it  (as  was  fit  in  the  be- 
ginning of  his  reply),  the  charge  o{  unmanliness, 
to  which  the  words  are  an  appropriate  answer  "]. 
Ver.  3.  For  no^w  is  it  heavier  than  the 
sand  of  the  seas,  i.  e.,  heavy  beyond  measure. 
For  the  use  of  the  expression  "  sand  of  the  sea," 
as  a  figure  to  set  forth  a  weight  or  burden  of  ex- 
treme heaviness  (as  elsewhere  it  is  used  to  set 
forth  an  innumerable  multitude),  comp.  Prov. 
xxvii.  3  ;  Sir.  xxii.  15. — D'^l,  "seas,"  poetic 
plural,  used  like  the  sing.  D'  in  Gen.  xlix.  13. — 
Tir\^  '■?  is  rendered  by  Delitzsch,  "for  then" 
(as  in  ch.  iii.  13),  and  the  whole  sentence  he 
takes  to  be  an  inference  from  ver.  2:  "then 
would  it  be  found  heavier  than  the  sand,  etc." 
But  this  "it  would  be  found"  is  simply  interpo- 
lated into  the  text.  Most  modern  expositors 
rightly  render  it :  "For  now,  as  the  case  now 
stands,  especially  in  consequence  of  your  un- 
friendly   conduct,"    etc. — Therefore    do    my 

•words  rave. — -"IJ^S,  with  the  tone  on  the  pe- 
nult, cannot  be  derived  from  njT  ?  [Ges.],  but 
either  from  J^^7,  or  ^'n,  but  not  in  the  sense 
of  sucking  down,  or  swallowing,  but  in  the  sense, 
for  which  we  have  the  warrant  of  the  Arabic,  of 
stammering,  raving,  [Fiirst].  Job  therefore  ad- 
mits that  he  has  heretofore  "  spoken  foolishly" 
(comp.  2  Cor.  xi.  17,  21,  23),  but  he  justifies  him- 
self by  appealing  to  his  insupportable  sorrow. 
[The  translation  of  the  Eng.  Ver.  "my  words 
are  swallowed  up,"  implying  that  he  had  been 
unable  to  speak  from  grief,  is  less  significant, 
and  less  suitable  to  the  connection  than  the  con- 
fession that  he  had  spoken  madly:  neither  is  it 
consistent  with  the  usage  of  the  verb  elsewhere 
in  an  active  sense;  Obad.  16. — E.] 

Ver.  4.  For  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty 
are  in  me,  whose  poison  my  spirit  drinks 

up. — More  specifically  giving  the  reason  for  3 
a.  By  "  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty  "  are  meant 
the  sickness,  pains,  and  plagues  which  God  in- 
flicts on  men  :  ["the  emphasis  lies  on  Almighty, 
the  arrows  of  the  Almighty  ;  there  was  enough 
in  that  fact,  in  the  awful  nature  of  his  adversary, 
to  account  and  more  than  apologize  for  all  his 
madness."  Dav.]  comp.  Ps.  xxxviii.  8  [2]  ;  Deut. 
xxxii.  23  ;  Ezek.  v.  16 ;  also  below  in  our  book, 
ch.  xvi.  12  seq. — HDj^  i.  e.,  lit.  "  with  me,"  not 
"in  my  body  "  (ev  rib  cr6p.aTi  fiov,  LXX.  Pesh.). 
The  form  of  expression  is  chosen  to  represent 
the  arrows  of  God  as  something  which  has  hurt 
and  wounded  not  only  his  body,  but  also  his 
Boul,  and  which  accordingly  is  ever  "  with  him," 
continually  present  to  him  (comp.  ch.  ix.  35 ;  x. 
13).— Onon  "ll?X,  not  the  subj.  of  the  relative 
clause  (LXX.,"Pesh.,  Vulg.,  Rosenm.  [E.  V., 
Noy.,  Lee,  Con.,  Carey],  but  its  object,  the  subj. 


of  which  is  rather  'Pn  "my  spirit."  HDn' 
"heat,"  here  equivalent  to  "poison;"  comp. 
ch.  xxi.  20;  Ps.  vii.  14  [13];  Iviii.  5;  Deut. 
xxxii.  24,  33.  ["Some  prefer:  the  poison  of 
which  drinketh  up  my  spirit,  a  meaning  that 
would  account  for  Job's  prostration,  the  poison 
of  God's  arrows  was  like  a  burning  heat  that 
dried  up  and  drank  in  his  spirit.  It  was  rather, 
however,  his  violence  and  vehement  recrimina- 
tion against  God  which  he  has  to  excuse  ;  impe- 
tuosity, not  impotence,  has  to  be  accounted  for. 
It  is  thus  better  to  make  spirit  nom.,  the  spirit 
drinks  in  the  Divine  virus,  which  works  potently, 
as  Divine  poison  will,  excites,  inflames,  maddens 
the  spirit."  Dav.]. — The  terrors  of  Eloah 
storm   me.     ^?^J'^P^,    an   elliptical   expression 

for  'hi;  n-Dnbo  1:DV%  tliey  set  themselves  in 
battle  array  against  me,  they  assail  me  like  an 
army:  comp.  Judg.  xx.  30,  33;  1  Sam.  iv.  2. 
Biittcher  singularly  attempts  to  render  it  [Neue 
Excffet.  ^hrenlese,  'No.  1S27):  "the  terrors  of 
God  cause  me  to  arm  myself — compel  me  to  put 
■myself  in  the  right."  Against  this  it  may  be 
urged  that  the  "terrors  of  God"  signify  not 
Job's  sufi"erings  and  distresses  in  themselves,  and 
objectively  considered,  but  his  subjective  expe- 
riences of  the  same,  his  consciousness  of  the  fact 
that  his  sufl"ering  proceeds  from  the  attacks  and 
persecutions  which  God  in  His  wrath  directs 
against  his  life  and  his  happiness  in  life  (comp. 
ch.  xxiii.  16  seq.).  [They  are  "the  conscious 
voluntary  terrors  which  He  actively  originates, 
which  He  gathers  from  the  ends  of  His  dominion 
and  the  outlying  posts  of  His  power,  and  mar- 
shals like  a  sable  infinite  host  against  Job." 
Dav.]. 

Second  Strophe:  Vers.  5-7.  [The  demand  that 
he  should  submit  without  a  murmur  unnatural]. 

Ver.  5.  Does  the  wild  ass  bray  by  the 
fresh  grass,  or  doth  an  ox  low  at  his  fod- 
der ?  i.  e.,  I  would  certainly  not  lament  without 
sufficient  cause ;  far  less  would  I  be  disposed  to 
complain  than  an  irrational  beast,  which  is  con- 
tentedly provided  with  fodder.  The  form  of  the 
comparison  vividly  reminds  us  of  Amos  iii.  4-6. 
— For  VTM,  to  moan,  to  groan,  to  utter  doleful 
cries,  comp.  ch.  xxx.  7.  Concerning  the  wild 
ass  see  the  fuller  description  in  ch.  xxxix.  5-8. — 

ri^,  maslin,  farrago,  a  compound  of  various 
kinds  of  grain. 

Ver.  6.  Is  that  which  is  tasteless  eaten 
■without  salt,  or  is  there  flavor  in  the 
white  of  an  egg  ?  i.  e.,  can  it  be  expected  of 
me  that  I  shoulil  freely  and  joyously  relish  the 
unsavory  food  of  suffering,  and  especially  of  that 
loathsome  disease,  which  has  seized  upon  me  ? 
That  Job  uses  tasteless,  loathsome  food  as  a 
figure  for  the  sutt'erings  which  afflict  him,  ap- 
pears both  from  vers.  2-4,  and  from  vers.  8-10, 
where  the  burden  of  these  self-same  sufferings 
prompts  him  to  desire  death.  The  interpreta- 
tion which  refers  the  figure  to  the  discourses  of 
the  friends  (LXX.  and  other  ancient  expositors, 
also  Riietschi,  Stud,  itrid  Krit.,  1867)  is  at  vari- 
ance with  the  connection.     It  suits  indeed  the 

expression  in  the  first  member  of  the  verse  (/Sn 
tasteless;  comp.  rem.  on  ch.  i.  22),  but  not  the 


CHAP.  VI.  1-30— VII.  1-21. 


347 


expression  "  slime  of  the  yolk  of  an  egg,"  which 
is  <altogether  too  strong  for  unsuitable  and  harsh 
discourses,  and  which  is  most  naturally  referred 
to  the  nauseous  filth,  dust,  and  ulcerous  matter 
of  the  leprosy  (comp.  oh.  vii.  6).  [Observe  that 
the  point  of  the  illustration  lies  in  the  tendency 
of  an  agreeable  quality,  or  the  opposite,  to  pro- 
duce content  or  discontent.  Now  as  that  which 
occasioned  Job's  discontent  was  his  suffering,  it- 
is  doubtless  this  suffering  which  in  this  verse  he 
describes  negatively  as  tasteless,  and  therefore  to 
be  complained  of  in  the  next  verse  as  positively 
loathsome,  and  therefore  to  be  refused. — More- 
over, it  is  not  until  later  (ver.  25  sq.)  that  Job 
comes  to  speak  of  the  nature  of  his  friends'  re- 
marks. He  is  here  justifying  his  complaint  which 
had  been  uttered  before  his  friends  had  spoken  at 
all,  and  which  had  been  prompted  by  their  si- 
lence, of  which  silence,  as  indicating  a  failure 
of  sympathy,  he  again  complains   (vers.  15-21). 

— E.].— nioHn  T-],  "the  slime  of  the  yolk," 
i.  e.,  the  liquid  saliva  which  encloses  the  solid 
part,  the  yellow  yolk  of  an  egg,  hence  the  white 
of  an  egg,  which  was  esteemed  by  the  Hebrews 
to  be  particularly  nauseating,  or  at  least  as  alto- 
gether insipid.  So,  following  the  Targ.  and 
some  of  the  Rabbis,  Rosenm.,  Umbreit,  Ewald, 
Stickel,  Del.,  Dillmann,  [E.  V.,  Hengst.,  Dav., 
Fiirst,  Schlottmann,  Good],  etc.,  and  in  general 
most  modern  writers,  while  the  Pesh.,  Arab., 
Gesen.,  Heiligst.,  Biittcher,  [Renan,  Merx], 
translate  Tl  T")  "  portulacca-broth,  purslain- 
slime,"  a  rendering,  however,  which  assigns  to 
1'"1  the  sense,  elsewhere  unknown,  of  slime, 
broth,  or  soup. 

Ver.  7.  My  soul  refuses  to  touch,  such 
things  are  to  me  as  putrid  food. — Rosenm., 
Welte,  Delitzsch,  (as  before  them  the  Vulg.,  Lu- 
ther) [so  also  E.  v.,  Noy.,  Ren.,  Elz.],  take  the 
first  member  as  an  antecedent  relative  clause 
without  "^'dH,  «'  that  which  my  soul  refuses  to 
touch,  e^c."  But  such  an  antecedent  position 
for  the  relative  clause  when  ^ti/X  is  wanting,  is 
a  rare  construction,  and  in  order  to  obtain  for 
the  consequent  clause  a  tolerable  sense  we  should 
be  obliged  to  amend  ''HD  to  '''}3  (as  Rosenm. 
and  Welte  do  in  opposition  to  all  the  MSS.  and 
Vsns.).  Such  a  construction,  moreover,  destroys 
the  progression  of  thought  from  a  to  b.  The  ob- 
ject of  ^UJ7  is  supplied  of  itself  in  that  which 
from  ver.  2  on  stands  forth  as  the  prominent  con- 
ception, to  wit,  the  suffering  or  calamity  of  Job, 
to  which  also  the  TTSn,  which  stands  at  the  head 
of  the  second  member,  points  back,  "  they,"  i.  e., 
things  of  that  sort,  such  things. — 'pH?  ''HD,  lit. 
"  as  the  disease  of  my  bread;"  i.  e.,  as  though 
my  food  were  diseased,  putrid,  loathsome  :  \n 
constr.  state  of  "'H,  "  sickness,  disease,"  comp. 
Ps.  xli.  4  [8]  (so  rightly  Gesenius,  [Furst], 
Ewald,  Olsh.,  Hahn,  Schlottmann,  Dillmann, 
etc.).  Others  (Cocceius,  Schultens,  Heiligstedt, 
Delitzsch)  take  "'H  as  constr.  st.  plur.  of  Hl^, 
"sick,  unclean"  (comp.  Isa.  xxx.  22),  accord- 
ing to  which  derivation,  however,  we  should  ex- 
pect to  read  r\''\)1_.     Umbreit  and  Hirzel  (2d  Ed.) 


explain  "the  disease  of  my  bread  "  as  meaning, 
"  the  disease  which  is  my  daily  bread  "  [so  also 
Wordsworth  and  Renan]  ;  Bottcher  would  read 
^"13:  "they  are  according  to  the  disease  of  my 
food  ;"  Hitzig,  after  the  Arabic,  explains  :  "  the 
crumbs  of  my  food  " — purely  arbitrary  evasions, 
and  less  natural  than  the  construction  followed 
by  us. 

Third  Strophe:  vers.  8-10.  [He  longs  for 
death,  and  even  in  death  would  rejoice  in  his 
integrity.] 

Ver.  8.  Oh  that  my  request  might  be 
fulfilled  [lit.  might  come],  and  that  Eloah 
would  grant  my  longing !  This  prayer  and 
longing  are  for  death,  as  that  which  would 
bring  release  from  his  misery,  which  is  all  that 
he  desires:  see  the  verse  which  follows.  IP'  ''D 
the  well-known  optative  formula,  governing  also 
the  verbs  of  the  following  verse.  ["It  occurs 
quite  frequently  in  the  Book  of  Job,  almost  alto- 
gether, however,  in  Job's  discourses,  in  the 
friends'  discourses  only  in  oh.  xi.  5,  not  once  in 
those  of  Elihu  and  God.  This  indicates  purpose 
in  the  linguistic  structure  of  the  argument. 
Job's  destiny  gives  him  much  to  icixh  for." 
Henost.]  Hupfeld'a  emendation,  ''ni^^.n]  for 
■"nipni,  is  uncalled  for. 

Ver.  9.  That  it  might  please  Eloah  to 
destroy  me,  that  He  would  let  down  His 
hand  to  cut  me  off:  lit.  "that  He  wuull  let 
loose  His  hand,  and  cut  me  off ;'"  for  "TiilH,  Hiph. 
of  "MM,  "  to  spring,"  signifies  "  to  cause  to 
spring,  to  unbind,  set  loose"  (comp.  Is.  Iviii.  G; 
Ps.  cv.  20 ;  cxlvi.  7)  ;  the  hand  of  God  is  thus 
conceived  of  as  having  been  hitherto  bound — 
bound,  that  is,  by  His  own  will. — "'JJ;'^^'},  "and 
cut  me  off,"  (not:  "and  crush  me,"  Luther, 
comp.  the  LXX. :  aveXhu  fxe).  Job's  soul,  his 
Ugo  or  his  life,  is,  after  the  analogy  of  ch.  iv. 
21,  regarded  as  an  internal  cord,  a  string,  or 
thread,  the  cutting  off  of  which  is  synonymous 
with  death:  comp.  also  ch.  xxvii.  8;  Ps.  Ixxvi. 
13,  also  the  well-known  Greek  representation  of 
the  Parc£e. 

Ver.  10.  So  would  it  ever  be  my  comfort. 
.  .  .  Delitzsch  rightly :  "  With  'HHI  begins  the 
conclusion,  exactly  as  in  ch.  xiii.  5."  Most 
expositors  extend  the  influence  of  the  jn''  'D. 
ver.  8,  over  this  sentence,  and  construe  the 
verbs  here  also  as  optatives:  "and  that  so  my 
comfort  may  still  be  to  me,"  etc.  The  comfort, 
according  to  this  latter  construction,  would  be 
Job's  speedy  death.  But  how  a  speedy  death 
could  in  and  of  itself  bring  any  comfort  is  not 
made  to  appear  in  this  connection.  It  is  more 
natural  with  Hupf.,  Schlottmann,  Delitzsch 
[Bernard,  Conant,  Rodwell,  Hengst.,  Renan], 
especially  on  comparing  this  with  the  analogous 
passage  in  Ps.  cxix.  50,  to  find  the  statement  of 
that  which  would  bring  comfort  in  the  words  of 
the  last  member :  "that  I  have  not  denied  the 
words  of  the  Holy  One,"  thus  treating  the  second 

member,  -'U1  rnboxi,  as  a  parenthesis. — I 
would  leap  in  unsparing  pain.  For  the 
use  of  the  cohortative  (HlyDNI)  in  a  subjunctive 
sense  in   a   parenthesis,   comp.  e.g.  Ps.  xl.  6; 


348 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


li.  18. — n^D  is  to  be  explained  after  the  Arab, 
zalada  ("  to  stamp  the  ground,  tripudiare")  [to 
beat  hard;  hence  the  E.  V.:  "I  would  harden 
myself  in  sorrow,"  and  so  Lee,  who  explains: 
"Because  there  still  is,  or  remains  consolation, 
...  I  will  not  give  way,  whatever  may  be  laid 
on  me:  or  even  though  lie  cut  me  entirely  off"], 
as  also  after  the  r(kl6in}v  of  the  LXX.  and  the 

;20sS("Iwill  exult")  of  the  Targum.  It  is 
accordingly  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  a  jubi- 
lant expression  of  joy,  not  in  the  sense  of 
»' being  tormented"  (Rosenm.  after  some  of  the 
Rabbis  [who  explain  the  verb  to  mean  "burn- 
ing;" and  so  Bernard]),  nor:  "to  spring  up 
through  pain"  (Schlottmann,  who  accordingly 
takes  the   parenthesis   in   a   concessive    sense : 

"although  I  leap  up  for  pain").— SlOH^  *<'^ 
(comp.  Is.  XXX.  14  seq.),  a  relative  clause,  with 
the  omission  of  the  adverbial  "Ill/N :  "  where- 
with he  spares  me  not,"  namely,  God,  who  is  to 
be  understood  as  the  subject  here  (Rosenm., 
Ewald  [who  makes  the  omitted  relative  the 
direct  object  of  the  verb — "  pain  which  he  spares 
not;"  a  construction,  however,  which  does  not 

harmonize  so  well  with  the  usage  of  /OPI,  which 
generally  has  a  personal  object.  E.],  Hirzel, 
Heiligstedt,  Hahn,  Schlottmann,  Dillmann) 
[Renan,  Hengst.].  Possibly  T\1''X\  might  be 
taken  as  the  subject  (so  Umbreit,  Vaih.,  Stickel) 
[Gesen.,  Rodwell,  Conant]  :  "in  pain  which 
spares  not,"  against  which,  however,  it  may  be 

urged  that,  while  Jl/'n  is  most  simply  treated 

as  fem.,  the  verbal  form  used,  7Dn%  is  masc. 
In  any  case,  the  translation;  "in  unsparing 
pain,"  corresponds  to  the  sense  of  the  poet. — 
That  I  have  not  denied  the  •words  of  the 
Holy  One.  This  fact — that  he  had  been  guilty 
of  no  denial  (comp.  ch.  i.  22;  ii.  10) — constitutes 
the  firm  confidence  which  Job  possessed  in  the 
midst  of  all  his  distress  and  misery,  and  which 
he  felt  assured  would  show  itself,  even  in  death. 
The  meaning  is  not  essentially  different  which 
results  from  the  other  and  more  common  con- 
struction of  our  verse,  according  to  which  the 
second  member  is  not  treated  as  a  parenthesis, 
and  '3  is  regarded  as  introducing  a  reason  for 
that  which  precedes:  "/or  I  have  not  denied," 
etc. 

3.  Second  Division :  A  lament  over  the  bitter 
disappointment  which  he  had  experienced  from 
his  friends:  ch.  vi.  11-30. 

First  Long  Strophe:  vers.  11-20  (consisting  of 
three  short  strophes,  of  3,  4,  and  three  verses 
respectively).  ["  In  view  of  his  broken  strength 
and  hopele.'is  condition,  he  must  reject  their 
advice  to  trust  in  the  future,  and  openly  declare 
to  them  that  he  is  completely  disappointed  in 
his  expectations  as  to  their  friendship."  Dill- 
mann.] 

a.  Vers.  11-13.  [His  helplessness,  and  conse- 
quent hopelessness.  Ewald  and  Ilengstenberg 
put  this  strophe  in  the  First  Division,  to  which, 
however,  as  Schlottmann  has  shown,  there  are 
two  objections.  First,  it  mars  the  complete, 
ness   which  the   preceding   long    strophe    pos- 


sesses, when  regarded  as  closing  the  triumphant 
declaration  by  Job  of  his  integrity  and  confi- 
dence in  God  contained  in  ver.  10. — Secondly, 
the  picture  which  this  short  strophe  gives  of  his 
helplessness  and  hopelessness  is  preparatory  to 
the  picture  which  immediately  follows  of  the 
deceptiveness  of  his  friends,  and  in  that  position 
adds  greatly  to  the  pathos  and  effectiveness  of 
his  complaint.  E.] 

Ver.  11.  What  is  my  strength  that  I 
should  persevere  [wait],  and  w^hat  mine 
end  that  I  should  be  patient?  The  answer 
to  this  question  which  Job's  meaning  would 
require  is  of  course  a  pure  negative :  my  strength 
is  completely  gone,  and  death  is  the  only  end 
which  I  look  for,  in  all  its  nearness,  nay  more, 
with  impatience.  ["  Two  things  are  necessary 
that  one  may  bear  misfortune  patiently ;  first, 
that  the  strength  of  the  sufferer  is  in  some  pro- 
portion to  the  power  of  the  suffering;  and, 
secondly,  that  he  sees  before  him  an  end,  which, 
when  reached,  will  reward  the  present  struggle. 
.Job  denies  both  these  things  of  himself,  the  first 
in  ver.  12,  the  second  in  ver.  13."  Schlott- 
mann.] For  t!/3J  '^''^Sn,  "  to  prolong  the  soul, 
to  lengthen  it,"  i.  e.  to  be  patient,  comp.  Prov. 
xix.  11;  Is.  xlviii.  9.  [The  rendering  of  E.  V., 
"  prolong  my  life,"  would  rather  require  ^"IXX 

Ver.  12.  Or  is  the  strength  of  stones  my 
strength,  or  is  my  flesh  of  brass? — [The 
first  "or"  tends  rather  to  mar  tlie  connection. 
E.]  A  poetic  illustrative  expansion  of  the 
thought  in  ver.  11  a.  [According  to  Ilengsten- 
berg, "stones"  and  "brass"  are  mentioned 
here  because  of  their  invulnerability.  Rather, 
according  to  the  connection,  because  of  their 
power  of  endurance.  Schlottmann  says:  "K'lnj 
is  properly  always  'copper,'  wlilcli  the  ancients, 
however,  as  is  known,  had  learned  to  harden, 
so  that  in  firmness  it  resembled  iron."   E.] 

Ver.  13.  Verily,  is  not  my  help  in  me 
brought  to  nought  ?  lit. :  "  Is  not  the  nothing- 
ness of  my  help  with  me?"  ^^\},,  which  occurs 
elsewhere  only  in  Num.  xvii.  28  [13],  is  neither 
a  strengthened  interrogative  DX  (Schlottmann), 
nor  an  inversion  for  H  DX  (Delitzsch),  nor  a 
collocation  of  the  interrogative  particle  H  with 
the  conditional  particle  DX  (whether,  if  my  help 
is  destroyed,  etc.,  Ktister),  but  simply  equivalent 
to  i<7n,  in  the  sense  of  vivid  interrogation  or 
asseveration:  "verily  not"  (Ewald,  Dillmann). 
And  ■well-being  diiven  aw^ay  from  me  ? 
n"i!'-'in  essentially  the  same  as  in  ch.  v.  12,  well- 
being,  enduring  prosperity.  The  sense  of  the 
verse  as  a  whole  is:  My  condition  is  hopeless, 
and  all  promises  for  the  future  are  therefore 
useless  and  null.  [It  is  doubtless  best  to  give 
to  rctyin  here  the  sense  which,  as  Ziiekler  has 
elsewhere  shovvn,  belongs  to  it  in  the  Chokma- 
Literature.  Other  interpretations  are  partial, 
and  so  far  enfeebling:  e.g.  "wisdom,"  E.  V., 
or  "insight"  (Hengst.),  "deliverance"  (Noyes), 
"solace"  (Rosenm.),  "restoration"  (Conant). 
What  .Job  says  is  that  every  element  of  real  and 
substantial  good  had  been  driven  away  from 
him.     Davidson  is  more  nearly  right  when  iie 


CHAPS.  Vr.  1-30— VII.  1-21. 


349 


says,  that  not  only  was  recovery  driven  away 
from  him,  "but  that  the  possibility  of  it,  any- 
thing which  could  spring,  and  be  matured  into 
health  again,  all  inner  strength  and  resource — 
the  very  base  of  recovery — was  driven  away  or 
out  of  him."  The  word,  however,  is  broader 
even  than  this,  including  all  external  as  well  as 
internal  resources,  a  man's  entire  establishment 
of  good. — E.] 

b.  Vers.  14-17:  [He  has  been  disappointed  in 
the  friendly  sympathy  which  is  accorded  to 
every  one  in  misery,  but  which,  in  his  case,  has 
proved  as  deceptive  as  a  summer  brook.] 

Ver.  14.  To  the  despairing  gentleness 
(is  due)  from  his  friends  (or,  is  .sliown  by  his 
friends),  and  [or,  even]  should  he  have 
forsaken  the  fear  of  the  Almighty. — ["  The 

prep,  in  DO?  does  not  express  so  much  what  is 
due  ...  as  what  is  actually  given  in  affliction, 
.lob's  friends  failed,  not  in  giving  what  was  due, 
the  world  and  even  friendship  often  does,  but 
in  giving  what  was  actually  and  always  given." 
Dav.]  do  from  DDO,  liquefieri,  denotes  literally 
one  "who  is  inwardly  melted,  disheartened" 
(Delitzsch) — a  term  strikingly  descriptive  of 
Job's  condition  as  one  of  complete  depression, 
helpless  prostration  to  the  very  ground. — "Ipri, 
"gentleness,  friendliness,  kindness"  (comp.  the 
Tzvevjia  TV  pavTTjTog  of  G&\.  vi.  1),  not  "reproach," 
as  Seb.  Schmidt,  Hitzig,  and  others  would 
explain  it,  after  Prov.  xiv.  34;  for  in  ch.  x.  12 
our  poet  again  uses  "IDH  in  its  ordinary  sense, 
and  the  translation:  "If  reproach  from  his 
friends  falls  on  one  who  is  despairing,  he  will 
then  give  up  the  fear  of  God,"  gives  a  thought 
which  is  foreign  to  the  context,  and  withal 
incorrect  in  itself.  Equally  untenable  on 
grammatical  grounds  is  the  translation  of  Lu- 
ther [and  Wemyss  ;  also  of  Merx,  who  however 

alters  the  text  from  DoS  to  jt'JO]  :  "  He  who 
withholds  mercy  from  his  neighbor,  he  forsakes 
the  fear  of  the  Almighty." — This  rendering, 
however,  although  resting  on  the  authority  of 
the  Targ.,  Vulg.,  and  Pesh.,  is  to  be  rejected  on 
account  of  the  singularly  harsh  construction  of 

the  7  fis  a  designation  of  the  absol.  case,  as  well 
as  on  account  of  its  giving  to  the  Partic.  DO  the 
unheard-of  signiiication  :  "  he  who  withholds,  or 
refuses."  The  second  member  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  the  conclusion  of  the  first, — not  even 
by  taking  1  in  the  sense  of  alioqui,  and  so  trans- 
lating with  Schnurrer,  Delitzsch  [Noy.,  Words., 
Rod.,  Hengst.],  "  otherwise  he  miglit  forsake 
the  fear  of  the  Almighty  "  [alioqui hie  reverentiam 
Deiexuit).  Rather,  if  no  corruption  of  the  text 
be  assumed,  it  will  be  found  most  simple  and  na- 
tural to  regard  the  first  member  as  an  ardently 
expressed  formula  of  desire,  with  an  omitted  jus- 
sive from  the  verb  TTTI,  or  to  supply  "  is  due  to, 
belongs  to."  [or  "  is  given  to  "],  and  to  find  in 
the  second  member  simply  the  continuation  of 
the  principal  notion  DO,  introduced  by  a  con- 
cessive ]:  "and  even  if  he  should  have  for- 
saken" [Schlott.,  Dill.,  Ren.,  Lee,  Dav.]  (comp. 
Ges.,  §  1S4  [Con.-Roed.,  §  131]  Rem.  2;  Ewald, 
§  850,  b). — Ewald,  without  necessity,  would  sup- 


ply between  a  and  b  lines  which,  he  assumes, 
had  fallen  out.* — The  whole  verse  is  evidently 
an  expression  of  resentment  at  the  fact  that  Eli- 
phaz  had  exhibited  no  trace  of  gentle  forbear- 
ance or  sympathy  for  Job;  he  claims  tliis  sym- 
pathy for  himself,  even  in  case  he  had  in  his 
snflTering  departed  from  the  fear  of  God,  which 
case,  however,  he  presents  only  as  possible,  not 
as  actual.  [Conant  translates:  "  ready  to  for- 
sake the  fear  of  the  Almighty  ;"  Davidson:  "to 
one  losing  hold  of  the  fear  of  the  Almighty." 
"Job,"  s.ays  the  latter,  "  would  not  admit  that 
he  had  forsaken,  rather  that  he  was  forsaking, 
in  danger  of  forsaking  the  fear  of  the  Almighty." 
And  again :  "in  iiis  terrible  collision  in  dark- 
ness and  doubt  with  the  unspeaking  naraeles3 
(Gen.  xxxii.  25)  Being  he  was  alone — abso- 
lutely— for  the  Father  was  against  him,  and 
when  one  is  losing  hold  {2V^l)  of  God,  he  sorely 
enough  needs  a  human  hand  to  grasp,  and  the 
sufferer's  pathos  is  overwhelming,  when  he  sees 
God  and  man  alike  estranged." — The  continua- 
tion of  the  participial  construction  by  tlie  Im- 
perfect, with  omitted  relative  (see  Ewald,  §  338, 
b),  fully  justifies  this  construction,  which  is  at 
once  most  simple  and  expressive.  "  To  one 
whose  inner  man  is  dissolving,  whose  faith  and 
life  are  giving  way,  and  who  in  that  fearful  dis- 
solution is  in  danger  of  losing  hold  on  God,  to 
him  surely  sympathy  from  friends  is  meet." — E.J 
Vers.  15-17.  The  conduct  of  Job's  three  friends 
in  disappointing  his  hopes,  illustrated  by  the 
comparison  of  a  torrent,  which  in  spring  rushes 
along  full  and  strong,  but  in  summer  is  entirely 
dried  up,  an  JIDX,  or  "lying  stream,"  as  the 
same  is  described  in  Jer.  xv.  18  (comp.  the  pa- 
ronomasia in  Mic.  i.  14,  nOxS   TIDX  '^3,   "the 

T  :  -  :  •  :  -        "  t 

houses  of  Achzih  are  become  a  lying  stream  to 
the  kings  of  Israel  "). 

Ver.  15.  My  brethren  have  been  false  as 
a  torrent,  i.  e.,  my  friends,  whom  I  have  loved 
as  brothers  ['nx,  placed  first  with  special  em- 
phasis],— he  mentions  them  all,  because  Eliphaz 
had  spoken  iu  the  name  of  all  (ch.  v.  27) — have 
borne  themselves  treacherously  towards  me, 
have  ministered  to  me  an  empty  semblance  of 
comfort,  like  the  dried-up  water  of  a  xvndi. — 
As  the  bed  of  torrents  V7hich  overflow. 

^"^-^1  °ot,  "which  vanish  away"  (Hirzel,  De- 
litzsch [Hengst.,  E.  V.,  Con.,  Dav.,  Noy.,  Carey, 
Ren.]),  for  while  "passing  away,"  or  "vanish- 
ing," may  indeed  be  predicated  of  the  water  of 
a  brook,  it  cannot  be  used  of  the  brook  itself. 
Moreover,  the  continuation  of  the  description 
given  in  the  following  verse,  assumes  the  tor- 
rents to  be  full,  not  as  yet  in  course  of  disap- 
pearing [and  so  Ewald,  Dillmann,  Schlott. 
Wemyss]. 

Ver.  16.  Turbid  are  they  from  ice  :  D'"^"'p 
black,  foul,  dark;  here  in  the  literal  or  physical 
sense,  different  from  ch.  v.  11. — The  snow 
hides  itself  in  them;  or:   "down  upon  which 

*  "To  him  whi  despairs  there  is  lovo  from  a  friend  {from 
a  brnlher  nynipdlhy  for  liita  who  is  bowed  down  by  God.  in  order 
that  he  mny  not  nuccvmh  to  the  grief  of  hii  heart],  and  forsake 
the  tear  of  tliu  Almighty." 


360 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


('lO'^^')  the  snow  hides  itself;"  a  constr.  prgeg- 
nans,  corap.  Gesen.,  §  141  [§  138]. 

Ver.  17.  At  the  time  when  heat  comes 
to  them  they  are  cut  ofif  [lit.,  made  silent]. 

— DIP  P^3  at  the  time  when,  or  so  soon  as 
they  are  warmed.  [Hj;  in  the  constr.  state,  at 
the  beginning  of  a  temporal  clause,  with  omis- 
sion of  the  relative:  see  Ewald,  §  286,  i;  332 
rf].  3;iT,  Pual  of  31T,  a  poetic  variant  of  3"»lf 
(Ezek.  xxi.  3;  Prov.  xvi.  27),  "to  burn,  to 
parch,  to  glow;"  [and  so  E.  V.,  Ew.,  Schlott., 
Del.,  Dillm.,  Dav.,  Carey,  Hengst.— According 
to  Ges.,  Fiirst.  Con.,  the  meaning  is:  "at  the 
time  they  are  poured  off,"  or  "flow  off;"  i.  e., 
when  the  heat  begins  to  melt  the  snow  on  the 
mountains.  But  as  the  first  result  of  that  is  fill- 
ing up  the  channels,  the  sense  would  be  some- 
wluit  strained.— E.].  When  it  is  hot,  they 
are  dried  up  [lit.,  extinguished]  from  their 
place:  IDflS,  in  its  becoming  hot;  i.e.,  when 
it  is  hot.  ihe  suffix  is  to  be  taken  as  neuter,  not 
(with  Hirzel)  to  be  referred  to  an  nj;  that  is  un- 
derstood; ("  when  it,  the  time  of  the  year,  be- 
comes hot  ") ;  comp.  Ewald,  §  295,  a. 

c, Vers.  18-20.  A  further  description  of  the 

disappointment  he  had  met  with  from  his  friends 
by  a  continuation  of  the  simile  of  the  treacherous 
torrents. 

Ver.  18.  The  paths  of  their  course  ■wind 
about,  they  go  up  into  the  waste  and  va- 
nish.— If,  with  the  Masor.  text,  we  read  mn"'**' 
the  rendering  here  given  is  the  only  one  that  is 
admissible;  the  "ways"  or  "paths  of  their 
course  "  are  in  that  case  the  beds  of  the  tor- 
rents, which  go  winding  about,  and  thus  favor 
the  rapid  extinction  of  the  torrent;  their  "go- 
ing up  into  the  waste  "  (^rln^  ^ /J,')  is  their 
gradual  evaporation  into  the  air,  their  ascent  in 
vapors  and  clouds ;  comp.  Isa.  xl.  23  ;  so  cor- 
rectly Mercerus:  in  auras  abeunt,  in  nihilum  re- 
diguntur;  so  also  Arnh.,  Delitzsch  [Good,  Barnes, 
Bernard,  Words.,  Elzas].  Most  modern  exposi- 
tors, however,  correct  ihe  text  here,  and  in  the 
following  verse  to  nin"'X,  plur.  of  nn"^S  (or 
also  nirr^N,  plur.  of  rr^X,   way,    caravan),   and 

tt:      *  ~ 

translate  either:  "the  caravans  of  their  way 
turn  aside"  [a  rendering,  however,  which  is 
founded  on  the  Masoretic  text,  regarding  mrTIX 
as  constr.,  and  the  meaning  being  "  the  caravans 
along  their  way ;"  so  Conant,  Davidson,  Heng- 
stenberg, — E.],  or:  "  caravans  turn  aside  their 
course,  they  go  up  into  the  wastes,  and  perish," 
[so  Ewald,  Schlottmann,  Dillmann,  Wemyss, 
Noyes,    Carey,    Rodwell,    Renan,    Merx].     The 

phrase  -171^3   nSv  seems  indeed    to   harmonize 

-  T    T 

well  with  this  explanation.  But  in  that  case 
ver.  18  would  anticipate  vers.  19,  20  in  an  un- 
precedented manner;  after  the  stat  ment  of  this 
verse,  which  by  the  expression  ^1^i<"'1  has  al- 
ready carried  us  forward  to  the  complete  de- 
struction of  the  deceived  caravans,  what  is  said 
in  those  verses  would  drag  along  as  a  flat  tauto- 
logy.    According  to  our  interpretation  ver.  18 


completes  the  description  of  the  treacherous  tor- 
rents begun  in  ver.  15,  while  the  two  verses  fol- 
lowing dwell,  with  that  epic  repose  and  breadth 
which  characterize  the  whole  description,  on  the 
impression  which   such  dried  up  torrents  make 
on  the  thirsty  caravans   of  the  desert.      [These 
reasons  are  certainly   not  wanting  in  force,  still 
they  are  not  conclusive.     For    (1)   It  is  agreed 
by  all  that  in  the  next  verse  r>in")X  means  cara- 
vans, and  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  improbable 
that   in  two    verses,    so    closely  connected,    de- 
scribing the  same  general  idea,  and  belonging  to 
the  same  figure,  the  same  word  should  be  used  in 
two  different  senses.      (2).     The   language  used, 
while  most  graphically  appropriate  according  to 
one  interpretation,  can  be  adapted  to  the  other 
only  by  strained    constructions.     This  is  espe- 
cially true  of  the  second  member.     "  Going  up 
into  the  waste,"  and  "perishing,"  are  surely  far- 
fetched expressions  for  the  evaporation  and  dis- 
appearance of  water.     On  the  other  hand   they 
are,  as  Zockler   admits,   in  admirable   harmony 
with  the  other   interpretation.     Nothing  indeed 
can  be  more  exquisite  in  its  pathos  than  the  pic- 
ture which  they  bring  before  the  mind  of  a  ca- 
ravan,   weary  with  travel   and   thirst,  and  still 
more  weary  with  disappointment,  winding  along 
the  channel  of  the   torrent,   wistfully  exploring 
its  dry  bed  for   water,  following  its  course  up- 
ward, hoping  that  in   the  uplands,   nearer  the 
river's  sources,  some  little  pool  may  be  found ; 
hoping  thus  from  day  to  day,  but  in, vain,  and 
so  wasting   away  into   a  caravan  of  skeletons, 
until  at  last  in  the  far  off  wastes  it  perishes.   (3). 
The  objection  that  this  interpretation  anticipates 
what    follows,   and    thus  produces   a  tame   and 
dragging  tautology,   is  answered  by  observing 
that  the  chief  motive    of   the    description  just 
given  is  not  to  excite  pity  for  the  fate  of  such  a 
caravan,    but  to  justify   Job's  resentment  at  the 
treachery  of   which    the    dry   wady  is   the    type. 
Hence  in   the  verses   following  Job  emphasizes 
the  disappointment  which  the  caravan   of  Tema 
and  Sheba  (named  by  way  of  vivid   individuali- 
zation) would  feel  in  such  a  plight.     This  is  the 
burden  of  his  accusation  of  his  friends,  they  had 
disappointed,  deceived  him.     This  was   to   him,  at 
this  time,  a  more  bitter  fate  than  his  destruction 
would  have  been  ;   so  that  from  his  point  of  view, 
vers.  19,  20,  so  far  from  being  an  anti-climax, 
contain  the  very  climax  of  his  sorrow. — The  sug- 
gestions to  change  'rip7'  either   to    Kal,  ^i137'. 
(Fiirst),  or  to  Piel,  ^HpT   (Ewald)  are   unfortu- 
nate.    No  species  could    express  more   happily 
than  the  Niphal  the  helpless,  semi-passive  con- 
dition of  an  exhausted  caravan,  such  as  is  here 
described,  winding  around,  hither  and  thither, 
ledhy  the  channel  in  the  search  for  water. — E.] 
Ver.  19.   The  caravans  of  Tema  looked  : 
to   wit,   caravans    of  the    Ishmaelitish    Arabian 
tribe  of  NOn  (Gen.  xxv.  15),  in   northern  Ara- 
bia (Is.  xxi.   14;  Jer.  xxv.  23),   which  is  men- 
tioned here  by  way  of  example;  so  likewise  in 
the  next  clause  ii2U,  as  to  which  see  ch.  i.  15. — 
[The  companies  of  Sheba  hoped  for  them. 
loS   is    by    most   referred   to    the    torrents;  by 
Schlottmann,  however,  it  is  regarded  as   Dat. 


CHAPS.  VI.  1-SO— VII.  1-21. 


commodi,  and  so  suggesting  the  eagerness  of  their 
search.  E  ]  The  Perfects  in  this  and  the  fol- 
lowing verse  give  to  the  whole  description  the 
appearance  of  a  concrete  historical  occurrence. 

Ver.  20.  They  were  put  to  shame  by 
their  trust:  lit.  "  because  one  trusted  ;"  comp. 
Ewald,  I  294,  b.  The  phrase  n;p3  '3  describes 
by  individualization,  wherefore  it  is  unneces- 
sary, with  Olsh.,  to  amend  to  the  plur.  ?nC33,  or 
with    Bottcher    to    read    n£03     fa    form    which 

"•.  T  T  ^ 

nowhere  occurs).  They  came  thither  (the 
fem.  suffix  in  nny  in  the  neuter  sense;  comp. 

T     V  T  * 

ver.  29),  and   became  red  vyith  shame ;  as 

the  result,  namely,  of  their  having  been  disap- 
pointed.— Observe  the  wonderful  beauty  of  this 
whole  illustration,  which  terminates  with  this 
verse.  It  is  no  less  striking  than  clear  and 
intelligible.  The  friendship  of  the  three  visitors 
was  once  great,  like  that  rusliing  torrent  of 
melting  snow ;  now,  however,  in  the  heat  of 
temptation,  it  has  utterly  vanished,  so  that  the 
sufferer,  thirsting  for  comfort,  but  meeting 
instead,  first  with  silence,  and  afterwards  with 
sharp  and  heartless  censure,  finds  himself  igno- 
miniously  deceived,  like  a  company  of  travellers 
betrayed  by  a  lying  brook. 

4.  Second  Division. -^Second  Long  Strophe  (sub- 
divided like  the  first  into  shorter  strophes  of  3, 
4,  and  3  verses  respectively);  vers.  21-30.  The 
complaint  concerning  the  faithlessness  of  the 
friends  is  continued  [in  simple,  non-figurative 
language],  passing  over,  however,  near  the 
close  (in  strophe  c:  ver.  28seq.)  into  an  appeal 
for  the  renewal  of  their  former  friendliness. 

a.  Vers.  21-23.  [The  illustration  applied,  and 
the  unfaithfulness  of  the  friends  shown  from 
the  unselfishness  of  the  demands  which  Job  had 
made  on  their  friendship]. 

Ver.  21.  Verily,  so  are  ye  now  become 
nothing. — nnj,^  ^3  introduces  the  ground  of 
the  preceding  comparison  of  the  friends  to  the 
treacherous  torrents  :  "  for  now  (for  as  you  now 
conduct  yourselves  towards  me)  you  are  become 
a  nothing,  a  nullity,"  to  wit,  for  me;  I  have 
nothing  at  all  in  you,  neither  comfort  nor  sup- 
port.    Such  is  the  explanation  according  to  the 

Masoretic  reading :  X'S  Dn'^n  T\r\]l  ''3 ;  here  X7 
"not"  means  "nothing,"  as  in  one  instance  the 
Chald.  nS  (=i<S):  Dan.  iv.  32.  [Comp.  nS 
NtDnn,  ch.  V.  24  ;  also  the  similar  use  of  bx, 
ch.  xxiv.  25].  According  to  the  regular  Hebrew 
usage,  we  should  certainly  expect:  TN?  '•H  or 
D3X7  ;  still  the  Targ.  justifies  our  construction 
(adopted  among  modern  expositors  by  Umbreit, 
Vaih.,  Schlottm.,  Hahn,  Delitzsch  [E.  V.,  Furst, 
Davidson,  Noyes,  Wordsworth,  Rodwell,  Renan], 

etc.).  According  to  the  K'ri  17,  which  in  many 
AJSS.  is  the  reading  even  of  the  text,  inbtead  of 

X7,  the  explanation  would  be:  "ye  are  become 
that"  [the  same]  ;  {.  e.  ye  are  become  a  deceit- 
ful 7nj,  ver.  15,  which,  however,  hardly  gives 
a  tolerable  sense.  Still  more  unsatisfactory  is 
the  rendering  favored  by  the  LXX.,  Vulg , 
Pesh.,  Luth.,  etc,  according  to  which  the  read- 


ing should  be  "h,  instead  of  w,  "Ye  are  become 
to  mo."  J.  D.  Michaolis,  Ewald,  Olshausen, 
Dillmann,  also  read  w  for  17  (X7),  and  in  addi- 
tion amend  '3  to  |3  at  the  beginning  of  the 
verse:  "so  are  ye  become  to  me."  This  con- 
jecture certainly  yields  a  complete  satisfactory 

sense;  but  the  sentence  as  it  stands  with  K/ 
commends  itself  by  its  bolder  and  more  compre- 
hensive form  of  expression. — You  see  a  ter- 
ror, and  are  dismayed. — The  words  ^X'^H 
and  ^XTm  form  a  paronomasia  which  cannot 
well  be  reproduced  in  a  translation :  the  same 
paronomasia  between  DNI  and  XT  occurs  also 
in  ch.  xxxvii.  24;  Ps.  Vl.  4  [3]  I  lii.  8  [6]; 
Zech.  ix.  5.  By  finn  [E.  V.  "casting  down," 
but  rather  from  nnn  to  be  broken,  crushed, 
metaphorically  with  fear :  hence  that  which 
causes  terror. — E.]  Job  means  the  fearful 
calamity  which  has  come  upon  him,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  which  his  friends  stand  astonished  and 
dismayed,  thinking  they  had  to  do  with  one  who 
was,  in  some  extraordinary  sense,  an  enemy  of 
God. 

Vers.  22-23.  ["Their  cowardice  in  now 
renouncing  their  friendship  is  all  the  more 
striking,  forasmuch  as  he  has  required  of  them 
no  sacrifice,  or  heroic  achievement  in  his  behalf, 
a  test  before  which  a  false  friendship  commonly 
fails,  but — for  such  is  his  thought— only  the 
comfort  of  words,  and  the  aid  of  sympathy." — 
Dillmann.] 

Ver.  22.  Did  I  ever  say  then.  Give  to 
me,  and  bring  presents  to  me  from  your 
wealth? — \_^'^i},,  "is  it  that? — was  your  failure 
because  I  ever 'said?"  nm,  Ewald  §  226,  d. 
Green.  ^  119:  4].  The  question  is  in  a  vein  of 
derision :  Did  I  ever  require  any  special  sacrifice 
of  you?  [and  in  ver.  23]  did  I  ever  demand  of 
you  anything  else,  any  other  effort  or  achieve- 
ment, than  the  exhibition  of  genuine  compas- 
sion, of  true  brotherly  sympathy  ?  ri3  here 
means  wealth  {opes),  as  in  Prov.  v.  10 ;  Lev. 
xxvi.  10.     Elsewhere  we  find   7'n   used  in  this 

sense. 

Ver.  23.  [And  deliver  me  out  of  the  ene- 
my's hand,  and  redeem  me  from  the  hand 
of  the  oppressor  (Ren.an:  brigands)?]  We 
are  not  specially  to  think  here  of  a  deliverance, 
or  a  redemption  by  means  of  a  ransom^not, 
therefore,  of  a  pecuniary  ransom,  although  this 
thought  is  not  to  be  excluded  altogether. 

b.  Vers.  24-27.  [A  challenge  to  be  convicted 
of  wrong-doing,  and  a  bitter  upbraiding  of  the 
cruelty  which  had  fastened  on  words  spoken  in 
agony.] 

Ver.  24.  Teach  me,  then  will  I  be  silent 
(i.  e.  I  will  cease  my  complaint) ;  and  wherein 
I  have  erred  show^  me.  From  this  urgent, 
request,  that  he  be  openly  instructed  and 
admonished  in  regard  to  that  of  which  he  is 
assumed  to  be  guilty,  it  is  abundantly  evident, 
that  the  conduct  of  his  friends,  when  for  seven 
days  they  sat  with  him  in  silence,  had  been  felt 
by  him  as  a  mute  accusation  on  their  part,  and 
a  sore  mortification  to  himself. 


352 


THE  BOOK  OP  JOB. 


Ver.  25.  How  sw^eet  are  worda  of  recti- 
tude [e.  e.  right  words]  !     1i'"|p^-np   it  is  best 

to  take  as  synonymous  with  ^y7pi|-n|p  (comp. 
Ps  cxix.  ]03),  "how  sweet,  how  pleasant  are," 
etc.  According  to  tliis  rendering,  which  is 
favored  by  the  Targ.  (also  by  Kaschi,  Schultens, 
Rosenm.,  Ewald,  Schlottmanu,  Dillmann  [Flirst, 
Renan,  Wordsworth],  etc.),  the  question  in  the 
second  member  of  the  verse,  being  introduced 
■with  an  adversative  1>  expresses  a  contrast  with 
the  first  member:  "  but  what  does  reproof  from 
you  reprove  ?"  i.  e.  what  does  it  avail  or  accom- 
plish ?  n^in,  a  substantive  Inf.  Absol.  [used 
as  subj.,  a  very  rare  construction  ;  comp.  Prov. 
XXV.  27].  The  construction  adopted  by  the 
LXX.,  Aq.,  apparently  also  by  the  Pesh.  and 
Vulg.,  is  etymologically  admissible.  According 
to  this,   V"l*3  means:   "to  be  sick,   weak,    in  a 

I     -  T 

bad  condition,"  the  sense  of  the  passage  being: 
"Why  are  the  words  of  rectitude  [i.  e.  my 
words]  poorly  esteemed  by  you?  why  do  they 
seem  to  you  worthy  of  blame  ?"  This  explana- 
tion, however,  which  is  that  essentially  followed 
by  Luther,  Hahn,  Ebrard  [Umbreit,  Hengst., 
Merx,    who,    instead  of  11!'%   reads   TI-'\    "  the 

T  T 

righteous  man"],  etc.,  is  made  less  probable  in 
that  it  renders  DO  by  "wherefore."  Others 
(Kimchi,  Delitzsch,  v.  Gerl.),  [so  also  E.  V., 
Ges.,  Good,  Noyes,  Barnes,  Conant,  Davidson, 
Carey,  Rod  well,  Elzas],  render:  "How  forcible, 
how  penetrative,  are  words  of  rectitude!" 
Whereas  ]'"li3,  however,  can  scarcely  be  the 
same  with  V13,  this  rendering  lacks  the  neces- 
sary etymological  justification.  The  same  is 
true  of  Hupfeld's  combination  of  the  verb  VTD 
with  TfOi  niO,  accrhwn  acrem  esse:  "how  bitter 
words  of  uprightness  can  be!"  Here,  moreover, 
the  rendering  of  HO  by  quantumvis  is  doubtful. 
[The  word  is  used  elsewhere  twice  in  Niphal, 
as  here :  1  Kings  ii.  8,  of  a  grievous  curse,  or 
"a  curse  inevitably  carried  out  "  (Del.);  Micah 
ii.  10,  of  sore,  unsparing  destruction;  and  once 
in  Hiphil :  .Job  xvi.  3,  in  the  sense  of  goading, 
provoking,  and  so  stirring  up  to  speak.  Tlie 
analogy  of  these  passages  favors  the  rendering: 
"  How  forcible !"  To  this  add:  (1)  It  agrees 
better  with  the  subject,  "upright,  honest,  sin- 
cere words."  "Words  which  keep  the  straight 
way  of  truth,  go  to  the  heart." — Del.  Comp. 
what  is  said  of  the  word  of  God  in  Heb.  iv.  12. 
(2)  The  parallelism  favors  it,  as  thus:  Words 
which  proceed  from  sincerity  are  effective:  they 
have  force  and  jTungency  ;  but  the  words  which 
have  proceeded  from  you  (030) — what  force, 
what  pungency,  what  reproving  power,  have 
they?— E.] 

Ver.  26.  Do  you  think  to  reprove  (mere) 
■words?  i.  e.  will  you,  to  justify  your  censo- 
rious treatment  of  me,  fasten  on  my  words — on 
words  spoken  by  me  without  reflection  in  the 
excitement  of  passion  (ch.  iii.),  instead  of  on 
the  fact  of  my  blameless  conduct?  The  whole 
question  attaches  itself  closely  to  ver.  25  h,  and 
defines  more  closely  the  sense  of  that  interroga- 
tive sentence:  Do  you  think  to  make  your 
reproof  eSicacious  and  profitable   [exactly   so : 


a  good  definition  of  ^i'^DJ  :  see  above. — E.]  in 
this  way,  by  directing  attention  only  to  those 
words  of  mine  ?  [H^IH  vH,  Inf.  constr.  Hiph.  with 
Pattach:  Grn.  §  126, 1].  Notwithstanding  the 
■words  of  a  despairing  man  go  to  the  wind, 
i.  e.,  notwithstanding  you  should  know  that  the 
words  of  one  in  despair  (U^NU)  are  necessarily  in- 
considerate and  spoken  at  random,  are  therefore 
to  be  judged  leniently,  and  not  pressed  to  the 
quick.     The  same  sense  is  also  obtained  if  (with 

Delitzsch,  etc.)  OJI  V\\'r'!\  be  treated  as  a  circum- 
stantial clause,  and  translated:  "while  never- 
theless the  words,"  etc.  Our  adversative  render- 
ing   of    the   1   however   makes    the    expression 

stronger.  [The  preposition  7  in  n^ly  is  ren- 
dered with  slight  variations.  Evvald,  Dillmann, 
Hengstenberg,  Merx,  like  Zockler,  render  it, 
"speaking  to  the  wind."  E.  V.,  Con.,  Dav., 
Elz.,  Rod.:  "as  the  wind."  And  so  Carey:  "for 
wind."  Schlott.,  Noyes,  Wem.:  "but  wind." 
Delitzsch  and  Renan:  "belong  to  the  wind" 
("that  they  may  be  carried  away  by  it,  not  to 
the  judgment,  which  retains  and  analyzes  them." 
Del.).] 

Ver.  27.  Ye  w^ould  even  cast  lots  for  the 
orphan,  and  ye  ■would  traflBc  for  your 
friend. — The  severest  reproach  which  Job  pro- 
nounces on  his  opponents  in  this  discourse. 
[Renan  introduces  the  verse  with  the  objurga- 
tion, "Traitors!"]  The  two  Imperfects  express 
what  they  would  do  in  a  given  case,  and  are  thus 
conditional  or  subjunctive,  as  in  ch.  iii.  13,  16. 

With  6'£in  is  to  be  supplied  *7l'U,  after  1  Sam. 
xiv.  42.  [Some  suppose  the  figure  in  both 
clauses  to  be  taken  from  hunting,  and  supply 
accordingly  r\W'},  net,  in  the  first :  "  You  spread 
a  net,  and  dig  a  pitfall  for  your  friend."  Heng- 
stenberg would  supply  "stones:"  "you  would 
stone  your  friend."  E.  V.,  Good,  Elz.:  "cause 
to  fall,"  i.  e.,  overwhelm,  fall  upon.  But  as 
Zockler  proceeds  to  say] :  A  casting  of  lots  for 
an  orphan  might  take  place  when  unrelenting 
creditors  appropriated  the  children  of  their  de- 
ceased debtors  as  slaves  by  way  of  payment. 
Comp.  2  Kings  iv.  1.  With  n"*3  in  the  second 
member,  Rosenm.,  Gesenius,  Heiligstedt,  supply 
r\nty,  "a  grave"  [so  also  E.  V.,  Good,  Noyes, 
Wem.,  Carey,  Rod.,  Elz.,  Hengst.].  But  partly 
the  context,  partly  the  similar  expression  in  ch. 
xl.  80,  as  also  passages  like  Hos.  iii.  2,  Deut.  ii. 

6,  assure  the  signification  of  ^j^  n'13  to  be:  "to 
conclude  a  bargain  for  any  one,  to  sell,  to  trafiic 
in  any  one,"  viz.,  as  slaves.  Comp.  Gen.  xxxvii. 
27  sq.  [So  Ewald,  Dillmann,  Delitzsch,  Words- 
worth, and  Schlottmann,  who  argues  that  the  el- 
lipsis of  nti'l  in  the  first  member  is  without  any 
analogy:  that  for  the  ellipsis  of  I^Wd  in  the  se- 
cond the  use  of  1£)n  in  Ps  xxxv.  7  cannot  be 
cited,  seeing  that  there  DUU  occurs  in  the  first 

member,  and  that  the  construction  with  />',  "to 
dig  a  pit  against  one,"  would  be  harsh  and  un- 
precedented.] 

Vers.  28-30.  [An  urgent  appeal  to  consider 
the  righteousness  of  his  cause.      Observe   the 


CHAPS.  VI.  1-30— VIT.  1-21. 


358 


Budden  and  touching  transition  from  the  bitter 
outbreak  of  ver.  27,  as  though  himself  alarmed 
at  the  violent  expression  of  his  feelings,  the  re- 
action bringing  back  with  it  something  of  the  old 
trust  in  his  friends. — E.] 

Ver.  28.  And  now  be  pleased  to  look  on 
me. — Immediately  following  upon  the  severest 
reproof  the  discourse  changes  its  tone  to  that 
of  mild  entreaty  and  adjuration.  ^  nJ3,  to  turn 
the  face  to  one,  to  consider  attentively.  Comp. 
Eccles.  ii.  11.  And  of  a  truth  I  vT-ill  not  lie 
to  your  face:  i.e.,  in  maintaining  unright- 
eously and  untruthfully  my  innocence.  DX  is 
the  particle  used  in  a  negative  oath,  or  a  solemn 
asseveration  that  this  or  that  is  not  the  case 
(Gesen.  §  155  [g  152],  2  f.).  [The  rendering  of 
E.  v.:  "for  it  is  evident  unto  you,  if  I  lie,"  is 
unfortunate  in  its  use  of  the  present,  "is;"  for 
as  Conant  says:  "though  it  was  so  clear  to  Job 
himself,  he  could  not  assert  that  it  was  so  evident 
to  them."  This  objection,  however,  is  obviated, 
if,  with  Gesenius,  we  supply  the  future :  "it  will 
be  before  your  face  [i.  e.,  evident)  if  I  lie;"  or 
if,  with  Hengstenberg,  we  supply  the  optative : 
"let  it  lie  before  your  face  (?'.  e.,  let  it  be  deter- 
mined by  you,  be  ye  judges)  whether  I  lie."  In 
favor  of  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  construc- 
tions, which  are  substantially  the  same,  it  may 
be  said  :  (1)  It  establishes  a  better  connection 
of  the  first  and  second  members  of  this  verse. 
Having  entreated  them  to  give  earnest  attention 
to  his  case,  he  assures  them  that  they  will  be  sa- 
tisfied with  his  truth.  (2)  It  is  in  better  har- 
mony with  the  suddenly  subdued  and  almost 
plaintive  tone  which  characterizes  this  strophe 
than  the  strenuous  asseveration  that  he  would  not 
lie  to  their  faces.  (3)  It  brings  the  structure 
of  the  verse  into  conformity  with  that  of  the 
verse  following,  where  we  have  the  same  earnest 
entreaty,  followed  by  the  same  assurance  of  a 
satisfactory  conclusion.  (4)  Ver.  30  seems  to 
be  the  expansion  of  the  same  thought.  (5)  The 
construction  is  much  simpler  and  less  harsh. 
-E.] 

Ver.  29.  Return,  I  pray — i.e.,  not:  "come 
hither,  in  order  to  hear  my  complaint"  (Schlott., 
Kamph.),  which  would  be  trivial  and  inexpres- 
sive; nor:  "begin  again  "  (;'.  e.,  try  it  again,  v. 
Gerl.,  Del.), — a  sense  which  cannot  be  referred 
to  the  simple  objectless  O-ll^.  But  the  meaning 
is  rather:  "Return  from  the  path  of  hostility 
and  unfriendly  suspicion  towards  me,  on  which 
you  have  entered."  For  the  absolute  use  of 
S-IU/,  to  be  converted,  to  return  (to  Jehovah), 
comp.  Jer.  iii.  12.  14,  22  ;  2  Chron.  vi.  24,  etc. 
Let  there  be  no  wrong — viz.:  on  your  side, 
through  your  continuing  to  torture  me,  etc. 
Yea,  return,  I  am  still  right  therein. — 
With  the  K'ri  we  are  to  read  Ov^l,  a  reiterated 
urgent  request  that  they  should  hear  him  with- 
out prejudice.  The  K'thibh,  'IDJi/l,  admits  of  no 
satisfactory  explanation.  [One  commentator, 
e.  g.,  supposes  that  Job  is  here  addressing  his 
wife!  Some  {e.g.,  Hengstenberg)  that  he  is  ad- 
dressing his  cause  (personified),  which  his 
friends  had  dismissed  as  adjudicated.  Others, 
as  Schultens,  regard  the  word  as  Inf.  with  suf- 
fix; "  my  return,"  i.e.,  I  will  return,  or  again 
go  over  my  case,  and  establish  its  righteousness. 
23 


But,  as  Schlottmann  remarks,  this  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  few  cases  where  the  K'ri  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred. Renan,  following,  perhaps,  a  hint  al- 
ready furnished  by  the  LXX.:  KaOiaare  (probably 
reading  ^2p),  supposes  that,  stung  by  Job's  re- 
proaches, especially  in  v.  27,  the  friends  had 
made  a  movement  to  depart.  An  ingenious  but 
a  needless  conjecture,  which  weakens  the  impor- 
tunity of  Job's  appeal  for  an  impartial  trial  of 
his  cause. — E.]  "I  am  still  right  therein,  [or 
lit.]  my  righteousness  is  still  in  it,"  i.  e.,  in  the 
matter  which  we  are  considering  [in  my  cause]; 
I  still  stand  innocent  and  unconvicted  in  this 
business. 

Ver.  30.  Is  there  wrong  on  my  tongue? 
i.  e  ,  have  I  really  thus  far  (in  that  coniplainc, 
ch.  iii.)  spoken  wrong?  He  does  not  therefore 
admit  that  in  his  vehement  murmuring  and 
cursing  and  lamenting  he  has  erred ;  he  will 
only  acknowledge  that  his  words  have  been 
"  spoken  to  the  wind,"  i.  e.,  thoughtlessly  (v.  26), 
not  that  they  are  blameworthy  or  godless.  Or 
does  not  my  palate  (^n  here,  as  in  chap.  xii. 
11,  as  the  organ  of  taste)  [here  of  course  in  the 
figurative  sense  of  moral  discrimination]  dis- 
cern calamities?  t.  e.,  do  I  not  possess  so 
much  of  a  right  judgment  and  understanding 
that  I  can  discern  the  true  import  of  my  misfor- 
tune, that  I  can  know  whether  my  suffering  is  or 
is  not  deserved  ?  To  assign  to  Dlin  another 
sense  than  that  which  belongs  to  the  sing,  in  v. 
2,  is  not  suitable.  Schlottmann,  Dillmann,  etc, 
interpret  it  rightly  in  the  sense  of  "calamities, 
misfoi'tunes,"  while  most  expositors  adopt  the 
signification,  "wickedness,  iniquity"  ("the 
wickedness  which  completely  contaminates  feel- 
ing and  utterance."  Del.),  a  eignification  which 
is  scarcely  supported  by  its  use  in  other  passages. 
[Besides  its  correspondence  with  the  sing,  in  v. 
2,  the  sense  here  given  for  HVIH  is  favored  by  the 
comparison  of  suffering  with  food  in  vers.  6,  7, 
and  also  by  the  circumstantial  and  painful  de- 
scription of  liis  sufferings,  into  which  he  plunges 
in  the  following  chapter.  This  view,  moreover, 
results  in  less  tautology  than  the  other. — E.] 
For  the  sense  of  the  passage,  as  a  whole,  it  mat- 
ters not  whether  we  translate  as  above,  or: 
"does  not  my  palate  discern  iniquity?"  In  any 
case.  Job  by  this  question  gives  evidence  of  his 
entanglement  in  Pelagian  notions,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  which  he  will  plead  guilty  neither  to 
error  nor  to  wrong. 

5.  Third  Division:  A  return  to  the  previous  la- 
mentation because  of  his  fate,  and  an  accusation 
of  God:  ch.  vii.  1-21. 

First  Long  Strophe:  Vers.  1-11,  (subdivided 
into  two  strophes  of  G  and  5  verses) :  A  lamenta- 
tion over  the  wearisomeness  of  life  on  earth  in 
general,  and  over  his  own  hopeless  condition  iu 
particular. 

a. — Vers.  10.  [Job's  weariness  of  life  on  ac- 
count of  its  misery  and  brevity.  "  In  antago- 
nism to  Eliphaz's  fascinating  picture  of  the  Su- 
preme, the  Father  directing  all  the  currents  of 
creation's  influence  for  mercy  and  good,  Job's 
inflamed  eye  throws  up  against  the  sky  in  gi- 
gantic outline  an  omnipotent  slave  driver,  and 
fills  the  earth  with  miserable  wretches  over- 
worked by  day,,  and  shaken  by  feverish   weari- 


354 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


ness  and  dreams  of  torture  by  night." — David- 
son]. 

Ver.  1.  Has  not  man  a  warfare  on  earth, 
and  are  not  his  days  like  the  days  of  a 
hireling  ? — ["  The  fact  that  Job  in  ver  1  brings 
his  suffering  into  connection  with  the  misery  of 
the  whole  human  race,  indicates  progress  in  re- 
lation to  ch.  3,  where,  predominantly  at  least, 
he  limited  himself  to  the  representation  of  his 
individual  condition.  By  this  advance  the  ques- 
tion concerning  God's  righteousness  and  love 
receives  a  much  more  forcible  significance.  The 
question  is  no  longer  about  a  solitary  exception, 
which  may  have  a  secret  personal  reason  for  its 
existence.  Job  now  stands  forth  as  representa- 
tive of  the  whole  of  suffering,  oppressed  huma- 
nity, arraigning  God  because  of  His  injustice." 
Hengstenberg.  t-'lJ.'*,  used  continually  in  Job,  as 
in  the  Psalms,  of  man  in  his  weakness  and  mor- 
tality; comp.  ch.  V.  17;  vii.  17;  xiii.  9;  xiv.  19; 
sv.  14 ;  XXV.  6  ;  or  of  man  in  his  insignificance 
and  impurity  as  contrasted  with  God;  comp.  ch. 
iv.  17  ;  ix.  2  ;  x,  4,  5;  xxv.  4. — E.].  By  many 
the  verse  is  translated :  "  Has  not  man  a  service 
[the  service,  viz.,  of  a  vassal]  on  earth,  and  are 
not  his  days  as  the  days  of  a  hireling  ?"  (so  e.  g. 
Hahn,  Vaih.,  etc.').  But  in  the  original  text  the 
figure  first  presented  is  rather  the  military  one 
(NUlf,  military  service,  soldiering,  as  in  ch.  xiv. 
14;  Is.  xl.  2;  Dan.  x.  1)  ["in  §ilent  antithesis 
to  Eliphaz's  fascinating  picture,  ch.  v.,"  Dav.], 
while  the  figure  taken  from  the  peaceful  life  of  a 
tiller  of  the  soil  ("T'^K/,  hireling,  one  who  works 
for  wages,  comp.  ch.  xiv.  6)  follows  in  the  second 
member.  This  latter  comparison,  belonging  to 
the  sphere  of  agricultural  life,  is  continued  in 
the  more  detailed  description  of  the  following 
verse. 

Ver.  2.  Like  a  slave,  who  pants  after 
the  shadow  [sell,  of  evening  ;  see  Gesenius], 
and  like  a  hireling  w^ho  w^aits  for  his 
wages.  The  2  used  in  each  member  is  not  the 
continuation  of  the  3  in  "XyV'^TT^,  ver.  1,  buf 
stands  in  cor-relation  to  the  |2)  which  begins 
ver.  3,  that  verse  being  the  apodosis  to  this. 
[For  the  reason  just  given  the  translation  should 
not  be:  "  as  a  slave  he  pants,  e^c."  Neither: 
"as  a  slave  pants,"   which   would  be    '^li'^^]. 

7j?b  that  which  is  earned  by  working,  wages  : 
comp.  Prov.  xxi.  6  ;  Jer.  xxii.  13;  also  the  sy- 
nonymous n^J^p,  Lev.  xix.  13;  Is.  xl.  10,  e<c. 
[The  reward  of  the  day's  labor  is  to  be  under- 
stood as  being  looked  forward  to  by  the  laborer 
here  not  so  much  for  its  own  sake,  as  because  it 
marks  the  close  of  the  day's  work,  because 
having  received  his  wages  he  rents. — E.] 

Ver.  3.  So  months  of  wretchedness  are 
allotted  to  me,  and  nights  of  distress  are 
appointed  for  me. — ^I'^'-HT  '^^  translated  by 
Delitzsch  [Schlott.,  Hengst.,  Davidson,  E.  V.]  : 
"months  of  disappointment,"  which  certainly 
corresponds  more  nearly  to  the  literal  significa- 
tion of  V!\p  (vanity,  nothingness,  falsehood,  the 
opposite  of  rr'il'jTl),  but  furnishes  no  point  of 
comparison  that  is  altogether  suitable  in  connec- 


tion with  what  precedes.  Moreover  the  signifi- 
cation: "  wretchedness,  misfortune  is  sufficiently 
assured  for  XltJ/  by  ch.  xv.  31 ;  Is.  xxx.  28  [and 
so  Umbr.,  Ew.,  Dil.,  Noy.,  Con.],  ''n'^njn,  lit., 
"I  am  made  to  inherit,  are  appointed  to  me  as 

my  lot"  (H/nj),  with  accus.  of  the  object. 
The  Passive  expresses  "the  compulsoriness  of 
the  lot"  (Hirzel).  ["Apathetic  word,  made  to 
inherit,  through  no  cause  or  fault  of 'mine,  it  is 
the  mere  arbitrary  effect  ...  of  the  will  of  him 

whose  slave  I  am.  '7  adds  force  to  the  passive* 
both  show  the  non-participation  of  Jobin  causing 
his  troubles,  and  his  helplessness  to  dispose  of 
them."  Davidson].  From  the  months  of  wretch- 
edness to  the  nights  of  distress,  there  is  a  pro- 
gression in  the  thought;  the  latter  are  related  to 
the  former  as  the  sharp  and  sudden  destruction 
effected  by  a  bombardment  to  the  preceding  and 
accompanying  sufferings  which  a  protracted 
siege  produces  among  those  who  are  beleaguered. 
[Dillmann  states  the  progression  thus:  "in  con- 
trast with  the  days  of  the  hireling  are  the  months 
and  even  the  nights  of  the  misery."  It  seems 
scarcely  necessary,  however,  to  assume  a  pro- 
gression here.  The  term  "months"  indicates 
the  long  duration,  of  the  suffering,  the  term 
^^  nights"  indicates  its  incessant  reciirrence,  and 
is  chosen,  moreover,  because  it  is  in  the  night 
that  the  pressure  of  pain  is  most  keenly  felt. — 
E.].  Our  verse  is,  however,  one  of  the  most  de- 
cisive evidences  that  our  poet  imagined  a  wide 
interval  to  have  elapsed  between  the  outbreak 
of  Job's  disease  and  the  beginning  of  the  con- 
troversy; comp.  above,  or  ch.  ii.  11. — [On  \itp, 
3d  plur.,  used  indefinitely  "without  any  thought 
of  the  real  agency  concerned  in  the  action  spoken 
of,  and  where  the  English  would  require  a  pas- 
sive construction,"  see  Green,  g  243,  2,  i]. 

Ver.  4.  When  I  lie  dow^n,  then  I  think, 
[lit,,  say]:  "When  shall  I  arise,  and  the 
night  be  gone  ?  ^71^  Ijipi  is  commonly 
translated:  "and  the  night  lengthens  itself,  the 
night  stretches  itself  out  long "  (l^p,  Piel  of 
niO,  written  with  Pattach :  comp.  Gesenius,  § 
52  [51],  Rem.  1).  The  accents,  however,  favor 
rather  the  rendering  adopted  by  Raschi,  Merce- 
rus,  Rosenm.,  Delitzsch,  [and  so  E.  V.,  Noyea, 
Con.,  Dav.,  Carey],  according  to  which  H^P  ^3 
the  const,  st.  of  a  verbal  noun  from  HIJ,  the 
meaning  of  the  noun  HID  being  "  flight,  depart- 
ure," and  the  sense  of  the  entire  clause  being: 
"  when  will  the  flight  of  the  evening  be?  when 
will  the  evening  come  to  an  end  ?"  That  ^^J.' 
is  by  this  interpretation  regarded  as  synonymous 
with  n 7'7  furnishes  no  valid  reasoning  against 
(his  rendering;  for  the  word  hnsthis  meaning  no 
less  according  to  the  other  rendering,  and  in  ge- 
neral means  this  quite  often  in  Hebrew;  comp. 
Gen.  i.  5  seq.  ["  The  night  is  described  by  its 
commencement,  the  late  evening,  to  make  the 
long  interval  of  the  sleepiness  and  restlessness 
of  the  invalid  prominent."  Delitzsch]. — And  I 
became  weary  with  restlessness  until  the 
dawn. — ^tl^J,  here  as  in  ch.  iii.  9,  the  morning 
dawn.     D'^^J,  lit.,  the  rolling  around,  tossing 


CHAPS.  VI.  1-30— VII.  1-21. 


856 


to  and  fro  on  the  bed.  The  word  forms  a  paro- 
nomasia with  "l^ip,  as  Ebr.  and  Delitzsch  rightly 
remark.  [Thus  in  English:  "When  will  the 
night  toss  itself  away?  And  I  am  weary  with 
tossings  until  the  dawn."  And  this  paronoma- 
sia is  not  without  weight  as  an  argument  in  fa- 
vor of  the  interpretation  given  above  to  1^0  in 
ver.  4. — E.]. 

Ver.  5.  My  flesh  is  clothed  Twith  worms 
and  crusts  of  earth.  n?3"),  decay,  rottenness, 
which  passes  over  into  worms,  vermin ;  comp. 
oh.  xvii.  14 ;  xxi.  26. — l^'J,  for  which  the  K'ri 
substitutes  the  common  reading  of  the  Talmud, 
C^^J,  is  elsewhere  "clods  of  earth  ;"  here  crusts, 
scabs,  sucli  as  cover  indurated  ulcers  [used  here, 
fays  Delitzsch,  because  of  the  cracked,  scaly, 
earth-colored  skin  of  one  suffering  with  elephan- 
tiasis].— My  skin  heals  (J^J"^,  shrinks  toge- 
ther, contracts,  becomes  hard  and  stilF)  and 
breaks  out  again,  lit.,  "is  again  melted," 
[festers  again],  0^*3',  a  variant  of  DB]  (comp, 
Ewald,  §  114  i)  [Green,  §  139,  3],  Ps.  Iviii.  8. 

Ver.  6.  My  days  pass  a^way  more  svriftly 
than  a  weaver's  shuttle.  J"IX  not  the 
"web  "  itself,  as  the  Posh,  and  Vulg.  render  it, 
but  the  shuttle,  KepKcg,  radius;  comp.  ch.  ix.  25, 
where  precisely,  as  here,  swift  motion  forms  the 
point  of  comparison. — And  vanish  without 
hope,  i.  e..  without  hope  of  deliverance  (comp. 
ch.  ix.  25,  26),  not:  without  hope  of  a  better  lot 
after  death,  as  Hirzel,  Hahn,  Delitzsch,  etc.,  ex- 
plain, with  a  reference  to  ch.  xiv.  12,  19.  The 
reference  to  the  life  beyond  is  as  yet  altogether 
foreign  to  the  connection.  [The  rendering  of 
Good,  Wemyss,  Elzas  assumes  J^X  to  mean  yarn 

for  the  web,  the  verb  7 7p  "  to  be  slight,"  and 
nipJJl  thread;  and  so  they  translate: 

"  My  days  are  slighter  than  yarn, 
They  are  finished  by  the  breaking  of  the  thread." 

What  is  thus  gained,  however,  in  the  symme- 
trical completeness  of  the  figure,  is  lost  in  depth 
of  feeling.     There  is  inexpressible  pathos  in  the 

sentiment  that  his  days  arc  wasting  away  073') 
without  hope  ;  the  use  of  the  preposition  D3N3' 
lit.  in  the  extreme  end,  at  the  vanishing  point, 
being  also  exquisitely  appropriate. — E.] 

b.  Vers.  7-11:  A  plaintive  plea  for  God's  com- 
passion, out  of  which,  however,  the  suppliant 
sinks  back  into  hopeless  lamentation. 

Ver.  7.  Remember  that  my  days  are  a 
breath   (H^T,   wind,  breath  of  air,  the  same   as 

7371,  ver.  17),  that  mine  eye  shall  never 
behold  prosperity.  Lit.  "will  not  return  to 
see;"  or  mine  eye  will  nevermore  see  good, — 
when  it  is  broken  oif,  that  is,  in  death,  when, 
therefore,  this  earthly  life  of  mine  shall  reach 
its  end.  It  is  not  the  absolute  cessation  of  all 
sight,  observation,  consciousness,  life  in  general, 
that  Job  here  affirms  of  the  Hereafter,  but  only 
that  he  will  cease  to  behold  happiness  and  well- 
being  (2)0,  as  in  ch.  ii.  10;  xxi.  13;  xxxvi.  11  ; 
Ps.  iv.  7  (6) ;  XXV.  13 ;  xxxiv.  13  (12),  etc.),  that 


days  of  prosperity  will  never  return :  and  so 
in  the  three  verses  following. 

Vers.  8,  9.  The  eye  of  him  who  looketh 
after  me  shall  see  me  no  more.  'XT  p;?, 
the  eye  of  my  beholder,  my  visitor,  and  so  of 
my  friend,  who  comes  to  see  me  and  to  comfort 
me.  So  according  to  the  reading  ''NT,  with  the 
tone  on  the  last  syllable,  while  the  accentuation 
'N'^  for  "'XT,  preferred  by  Arnheim,  Stickel, 
Vaihinger,  etc.,  pausal  form,  would  give  the 
sense,  which  here  is  less  suitable  [and  which 
Schlottmann  justly  characterizes  as  insipid]  : 
"an  eye  of  seeing^a  seeing  eye."  [Comp.  HNT 
in  2  Sara.  xiii.  5;  2  Kings  viii.  29]. — Thine 
eyes  (supply:  look,  are  turned)  towards  me: 
I  am  no  more.  The  address,  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding verso,  is  directed  to  God  :  If  Thou  seekest 
me  there,  I  shall  be  no  more  ;  Thou  wilt  there- 
fore be  able  to  show  me  no  manner  of  kindness. 
[The  anthropomorphism  of  a  heart  stung  by 
pangs  of  the  bitterest  disappointment:  I  have 
been  deceived  in  my  fondest  hopes,  when  I 
looked  for  sympathy  and  help,  they  were  not  to 
be  found.  So  be  it!  The  day  will  come  when 
perhaps  Thou  wilt  feel  moved  to  show  me  some 
kindness,  but — too  late.  Thou  wilt  look  for  me 
among  the  living — but  I  shall  not  be. — E.]  That 
the  "  being  no  more  "  is  to  be  understood,  not 
absolutely,  but  only  relatively,  is  evident  from 
the  following  verse,  which,  through  the  simile 
of  the  cloud  which  vanishes  without  leaving  a 
trace  of  it  behind,  illustrates  the  hopelossne's 
of  the  return  of  the  departed  from  Sheol,  not, 
however,  their  complete  annihilation.  Concern- 
ing ^iXK/,  Hell,  )'.  e.  the  underworld,  the  realm 
of  the  dead  (to  be  derived,  indeed,  from  IHV' 
"  to  demand,"  rather  than  from  iXP>  "  *o  t)e 
hollow");  comp.  notes  on  Prov.  i.  ll!;  ii.  18; 
vii.  27 ;  Cant.  viii.  6.  ["/IX^  is  now  almost 
universally  derived  from  ii<jy=l}l'C},  to  be  hol- 
low, to  be  deepened ;  and  aptly  so,  for  they 
imagined  the  Sheol  as  under  ground,  as  Num. 
xvi.  30,  33,  alone  shows,  on  which  account  even 
here;    as   from   Gen.    xxxvii.    35    onwards    T]' 

nblXty  is  everywhere  used.  It  is,  however, 
open  to  question,  whether  this  derivation  is  cor- 
rect: at  least  passages  like  Is.  v.  14;  Hab.  ii. 
5 ;  Prov.  xxx.  15  seq.   show  that  in  the   later 

usage  of  the  language,  7X1:/,  to  demand,  was 
thought  of  in  connection  with  it:  derived  from 
which  SheOl  signifies  (1)  the  inevitable  and  inex- 
orable demand  made  on  everything  earthly   (an 

infinitive  noun  like  "O/X,  nip3  ;  (2)  conceived 
of  ns  space,  the  place  of  shadowy  duration, 
whither  everything  on  earth  is  demanded;  (3) 
conceived  of  according  to  its  nature,  the  divinely 
appointed  fury  which  gathers  in  and  engulfs 
everything  on  the  earth." — Del.] 

[Ver.  9.  The  cloud  is  vanished  [or  con- 
sumes away),  and  is  gone  (a  figure  particu- 
larly expressive  in  the  East);  so  he  that  goes 
dow^n  to  the  underworld  cometh  not  up. 
See  on  vei-.  8.] 


356 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Ver.  10.  He  returns  no  more  to  his 
house,  his  place  know^s  him  not  again ; 

i.  e.  bisbome  (DIPO,  as  in  ch.  viii.  18;  xx.  9; 
Ps.  ciii.  IG  [with  which  the  second  member  cor- 
responds literatim^),  which  formerly  on  his 
return  from  a  journey  rejoiced  and  greeted  him 
as  it  were,  will  not  recognize  him  again  (n\i'), 
even  because  he  will  not  return.  Of  any  hope 
of  a  resurrection  to  new  life  and  prosperity  in 
life  Job  manifestly  exhibits  here  no  trace:  no 
more  is  it  the  case  in  ch.  x.  21;  xiv.  10  seq. ; 
xvi.  22. — It  is  otherwise  on  the  contrary  in  ch. 
xix.  25  seq. 

Ver.  11.  [This  verse  Schlottmann,  Conant, 
Wemyss,  Davidson,  Carey,  Renan,  connect  with 
the  next  strophe :  while  Noyes,  Dillmann,  Del., 
agree  with  Zbckler  in  placing  it  at  the  end  of 
the  present  strophe.  Ewald  and  Hengstenberg 
treat  it  as  an  independent  verse,  a  passionate 
convulsive  outcry  of  rebellious  discontent  in  the 
midst  of  the  plaintive  moaning  of  a  crashed  and 
helpless  heart,  which  pervades  the  rest  of  the 
chapter. — E.]  —  Therefore  •will  I  also  not 
restrain  my  mouth,  I  -will  speak  in  the 
anguish  of  my  spirit:  i.  e.  since  God  hears 
me  so  little,  since  He  abandons  me  so  pitilessly 
to  the  lot  of  those  who  dwell  in  the  realm  of  the 
dead,  therefore  neither  will  I  on  my  part  ('JX  DJ 
for  this  so-called  DJ  talionis,  compare  Ezek.  xvi 
43  ;  Ps.  lii.  7  (5) ;  Hab.  ii.  9,  etc.)  give  any  heed 
to  Him,  rather  will  I  let  my  grief  and  anguish 
have  free  course.  I  ■will  complain  in  the 
anguish  of  my  soul:  lit.  in  the  bitterness  of 
my  soul;  comp.  ch.  x.  1,  as  also  the  adjective 
phrase  K'Sjl  ID,  disturbed,  troubled  in  soul : 
1  Sam.  i.  10;  xxii.  2,  etc. 

6.  Third  Division.  Second  Long  Strophe :  vers. 
12-21  (consisting  of  two  strophes  of  five  verses 
each):  A  vehemently  passionate  arraignment 
of  God  on  account  of  the  unrelenting  severity 
with  which  He  persecutes  and  oppresses  him. 

a.  Vers.  12-16.  ["  The  first  conceivable  cause 
of  Job's  troubles — he  might  be  a  menace  to  hea- 
ven." Dav.] 

Ver.  12.  Am  I  a  sea,  or  a  monster  [of  the 
deep],  that  Thou  ('3  as  in  ch.  iii.  12;  vi.  llj 
settesta  watch  upon  me  ?  IDK'p,  "guard, 
watch-post,"  an  expression  which  strictly  be- 
longs only  to  the  second  element  in  the  compari- 
son, the  I'iin  (sea-monster,  dragon,  whale), 
being  less  suited  to  the  first.  A  watch  is  set, 
however,  on  the  raging  and  tossing  sea  by  means 
of  dams  and  dikes  (comp.  ch.  xxxviii.  8  seq.; 
Jer.  V.  22;  xxxi.  35).  [Schultens  quotes  from 
an  Arabic  poet,  who  calls  Tamei-lane  "a  vast 
sea,  swallowing  up  everything."]  According 
to  Hirzel,  Delitzsch,  etc.,  we  are  to  understand 
by  D'  the  Nile,  and  by  V^P}  the  crocodile.  This 
interpretation,  however,  rests  on  grounds  equally 
insufficient  with  the  specifically  Egyptian  refer- 
ence which  is  fancied  to  lie  in  various  other 
figures  and  descriptions  of  our  book  ;  comp. 
Introduction,  §  7.  ["  The  image  must  be  left 
in  all  its  magnitude  and  generality;  if  there  is 
any  particular  reference,  it  is  in  D^  to  the 
tumultuous  primitive  abyss  which  God  watched 
and  confined,    and  still  watches   and   enchains 


(Ps.  civ.  9)  lest  it  overwhelm  the  world ;  and  ia 
I'iin  to  those  vast  creatures  with  which  the  early 
waters  of  creation  teemed,  Gen.  i.  21." — Dav. 
and  so  Schlottmann.] 

Ver.  13.  When  I  think,  my  bed  shall 
comfort  me. — '3,  when,  so  often  as  ;  as  in  ch. 
V.  21  b.  [There  is  no  good  reason  for  rendering 
"i^l'^O^  "I  think,"  rather  than  "I  say."  Aa 
Hengstenberg  says:  In  violent  grief  thought 
passes  easily  into  words.]  The  whole  verse  is 
the  protasis,  to  which  vers.  14,  15  form  the  apo- 
dosis.  My  couch  shall  help  to  bear  my 
complaint. — [33i^0,  the  general  word,  place 
of  lying;  iS'^.T.,  canopied  couch].  3  Xt:^],  to 
help  to  bear  anything  [3  partitive]  sublevare,  as 
in  Num.  ii.  17;  comp.  Neh.  iv.  4,  11.  ["The 
vast  images  called  up  by  the  terms  '  sea  '  and 
'sea-monster'  are  very  significantly  followed 
by  those  of  the  'bed'  and  'couch,'  as  com- 
forters and  helpers  sought  in  vain,  bringing 
before  our  minds  the  littleness  of  man's  lot." 
ScHLOTT.]  For  n'B',  complaint,  comp.  ch.  ix. 
27 ;  X.  1.  xxi.  4. 

Vers.  14,  15.  Then  Thou  scarest  me 
['jni^ni,  liter.  "Thou  shakest  me"]  with 
dreams,  and  makest  me  to  tremble 
through  visions  of  the  night. — nuvino, 
'■out  of  visions,"  and  so  through  them,  in  conse- 
quence of  them. — So  that  my  soul  chooseth 
strangling. — 1  in  IH^ril  introduces  a  conse- 
quent to  that  which  precedes,  "and  so  then,  in 
consequence  of  those  terrifying  dreams  and 
visions,  my  soul  chooseth  strangling."  Death 
rather  than  these  my  bones :  i.  e.  rather 
than  this  body  reduced  to  a  skeleton;  comp.  ch. 
xix.  20.  The  JD  in  TIID^J^rp  is  comparative,  not 
causal — "death  which  is  produced  from  these 
bones"  (Stickel,  Riietschi),  or  again — "death 
from  my  own  bones,"  i.  e.  by  my  own  hand,  sui- 
cide (Merx,  Umbreit,  Schlottmann,  [Carey]). 
The  last  interpretation  is  by  no  means  supported 
by  pJniD,  which  signifies  only  strangling,  not 
self-strangulation  (comp.  words  of  analogous 
structure  like  DO"}?,  pi*-1D,  and  Ewald,  ^  106,  c). 
[Although  the  sing  D!^^  is  used  of  self,  it  would 
be  forced  and  against  all  usnge  to  take  the  plur. 
in  that  sense,  or  in  the  sense  of  members,  hands. 
Moreover,  the  usual  force  of  jp  after  in3  is 
comparative.  To  this  add  what  is  said  in  the 
following  extract  from  Avicenna  of  the  sen- 
sation of  suffocation  in  elephantiasis.  This 
description  of  himself  as  "  bones  '  is  most 
strikingly  suggestive  when  compared  with  the 
conception  of  himself  as  a  "sea"  or  a  leviathan 
in  ver.  12,  capable  of  vexing  and  obstructing  the 
Almighty.  "  There  is  fearful  irony  in  the  compa- 
rison of  this  skeleton,  impotent  and  helpless,  his 
very  weakness  a  terror  to  himself  and  his  on- 
lookers, to  the  great  heaven-assaulting  ocean, 
lifting  itself  up  in  the  consciousness  of  infinite 
power,  or  to  some  dragon  of  the  prime  in  which 
the  whole  energy  of  creation  in  its  youth  lay 
compressed"  (Davidson). — E.]  With  the  de- 
scription here  given  of  the  symptoms  of  elephan- 
tiasis in  its  advanced  stages,  comp.  what  Avi- 


CHAPS.  VI.  1-30— VII.  1-21. 


357 


cenna  says  in  his  description  of  the  same: 
"Durinij  sleep  there  come  frequent  atrabilious 
dreams The  breathing  becomes  exces- 
sively hard  and  labored.  There  is  severe  con- 
striction of  the  chest,  ami  extreme  hoarseness. 
The  lips  become  thick  and  black,  and  the  body 
is  covered  with  lumps,  and  becomes  entirely 
black.  It  often  becomes  necessary  to  open  the 
jugular  vein  to  relieve  the  hoarseness  and  the 
tendency  to  suffocation,"  etc. 

Ver.  16.  I  loathe  it— 'nOXD— not :  "  I  pass 
[waste]  away"  (Rosenm.,  Stick.)  [Conant,  Re- 
nan],  but  "I  despise,"  viz.,  life — I  am  disgusted 
•with  life.  That  this  is  to  be  supplied  as  the  ob- 
ject of  the  verb,  which  is  used  absolutely,  is 
made  apparent  by  the  clause  immediately  follow- 
ing: "I  would  not  live  always."  [Those  who 
render  ^'^p><^  "disappear,"  take  the  remainder 
of  the  line  as  in  like  manner  affirming  Job's 
mortality.  Thus  Conant:  "I  waste  away,  I 
shall  not  live  always."]  Let  me  alone — i.  e., 
desist  from  continually  assailing  and  besiegingme, 
from  the  IDti/O  of  ver.  12.  The  request  is  ad- 
dressed to  God  (not  to  Job's  own  life,  as  Hahn 
thinks),  and  expresses  not  a  humble  modest  de- 
sire, but  a  stormy  demand  on  the  part  of  Job, 
sorely  distressed  as  he  was,  and  so  weary  of  life. 
[Hence  Davidson  renders  it:  "Away  from  me  !'] 
On  the  reason  given  for  this  request:    "for  my 

days  are  a  breath,"  comp.  v.  7  a  (  vH'^O'''"')- 

b.  Vers.  17-21.  ["The  other  conceivable  cause 
of  Job's  sufferings,  sm."  Dav.  "  The  discourse 
in  these  verses  assuming  a  calmer  tone,  as  if  to 
justify  the  vehemence  of  his  doubt."   Ew.] 

Ver.  17.  "What  is  man  that  Thou  magni- 
fiest  him,  and  that  Thou  settest  thy  mind 
on  him? — These  questions  (in  this  and  the  fol- 
lowing verse)  parody  in  deliberate  form  and 
with  bitter  irony  the  words  of  Ps.  viii.  5  sq. 
(comp.  Ps.  cxliv.  3;  Lam.  iii.  28).  "  There  it  is 
said  that  God  exalts  puny  man  to  a  kingly  and 
divine  position  among  His  creatures,  and  distin- 
guishes him  continually  with  new  tokens  of  His 
favor;  here,  that  instead  of  ignoring  him,  He 
makes  too  much  of  him,  by  selecting  him,  insig- 
nificant as  he  is,  as  the  object  of  ever  new  and 
ceaseless  sufferings."  Del.  ["David's  'What  is 
man  that  thou  shouldst  think  of  him  to  bless 
him?'  is  turned  into  'What  is  man  that  thou 
shouldst  think  of  him  to  curse  him?'"  Dav. 
Herein  lies  the  wonderful  irony  of  the  passage. 
Wordsworth:  "Why  shouldst  thou  break  a  fly 
upon  a  wheel?"] 

Ver.  18.  And  that  thou  visitest  him 
every  morning  ? — On  np£3,  to  visit,  inspect, 
comp.  above  on  ch.  v.  24,  also  Ps.  viii.  5.  And 
every  moment  triest  him? — ^Jnpi"p,  i.e., 
puttest  his  patience  and  power  to  the  test  conti- 
nually, and  by  sufferings  which  are  ever  re- 
newed. 

Ver.  19.  How  long  dost  Thou  not  look 
away  from  me  ? — n33,  lit.:  how  much  ?  how 
often  ?  here  in  the  sense  of  quamdiu,  construed 
■with  the  Imperf.  in  the  sense  of  a  Future,  as  in 
Ps.  XXXV.  17.  n^ty  with  |0,  to  look  away  from, 
as  in  Isa.  xxii.  4 ;  here  in  the  special  sense  of 
turning  away  from  any  one  a  look  expressive  of 


displeasure  and  punishment,  exactly  as  in  chap, 
xiv.  G,  where  moreover  Hi^'d  is  connected  with 
7j.^;o.  Nor  lettest  me  alone  till  I  swallow 
my  spittle — i.  e.,  for  one  little  instant — a  jiro- 
Vi'rbiaL  expression  for  a  minimum  of  time,  in  use 
also  among  the  Arabians  and  Persians  ;  comp. 
Schultens  and  Umbreit  on  the  passage. 

Ver.  20.  If  I  have  sinned  ('nXDH,  an  el- 
liptical conditional  clause,  comp.  Ewald,  g357i), 

what  could  I  do  (thereby)  to  Thee  ? [the 

fut.  7j.»3K  in  the  potential  sense] :  i.  <?.,  what 
harm  would  I  thereby  occasion  to  thee  ?  what 
detriment  would  I  cause  to  Thy  self-sufficient 
greatness  and  glory  ?  (comp.  chap.  xxxv.  3-8, 
especially  ver.  G).     Ewald  and  Olshausen  coni 

strue  ■]7-7>'£)N  HO  as  a  relative  clause  of  more 
precise  specification,  dependent  on  TINiOn,  and 
so  equivalent  to  an  accus.  of  this  verb:  "If  I 
have  sinned  in  what  I  do  to  thee."  Grammati- 
cally possible,  but  much  tamer  and  less  emphatic 
than  our  rendering.  ["If  I  have  sinned  in  what 
I  do  unto  thee,  why  bast  thou  made  me  thy 
mark?"  would  be,  says  Conant,  "a  challenge 
without  any  pretence  of  justification."  It  would 
certainly  involve  a  meaningless  nonsequitur.  If 
Job  had  sinned,  that  certainly  was  a  reason  why 
God  should  set  Himself  against  him.  The  clause 
"^ilX-nra  is  thus  needed  to  mediate  between 
'nxton  and  ''^iJ  HoS.- E.J  Thou  watcher  of 
men! — This  appellation,  which  of  itself  is  one 
that  conveys  praise  of  God  and  comfort  to  men 
(comp.  Ps.  cxxi.  3;  Isa.  xxvii.  3),  is  used  here 
not  sensu  bono,  but  with  bitter  irony,  in  the  sense 
of  an  austere  pitiless  scrutinizer  of  men,  without 
giving  it,  however,  the  shamefully  frivolous 
sense  given  in  Renan's  rendering :  0  cspion  de 
Vhomme.  ["This  sense  of  being  continually 
tracked,  of  having  the  Divine  shadow  ever  at  his 
heels,  following  him  about  with  evil  eye,  speech- 
less but  malevolent,  puts  the  sufferer  out  of  him- 
self. How  long  wilt  thou  not  look  away  from 
me  ?  AVhat  is  the  meaning  of  this  horrible  es- 
pionage? '  Davidson.]  Wherefore  dost  Thou 
make  me  thy  point  of  attack?— r^?,  the 
object  against  which  one  rushes,  or  impinges 
(3  >'J3),  an  expression  of  not  exactly  the  same, 
but  yet  of  similar  signification  with  H'^U'D,  "  tar- 

TT- 

get,"  in  ch.  xvi.  12;  Lam.  iii.  12.  ["Such  an 
obstacle  the  Deity  had  made  to  Himself  of  Job. 
Job  was  in  His  way.  He  was  perpetually  striving 
against  Him — a  tremendous  figure."  Dav.  This 
is  vividly  put:  the  conception  of  a  perpetual 
stumbling-block  in  God's  way,  however,  is 
scarcely  the  one  conveyed  by  the  term.  The 
idea  here  and  in  chap.  xvi.  12  is  that  Job  was  a 
mark,  against  which  God  deliberately  directed 
His  power.  There  the  figure  is  drawn  from 
archery;  here  from  war.  —  E]  So  that  I  am 
become  a  burden  to  myself:  (1  conscc.  as 
in  ver.  \b  a ;  the  whole  expression  as  in  2  Sam. 

XV.  33).  The  LXX.  read  here  '"["S^'  {c'liil  6e  cttI 
nol  (^Of>r!nv),  and  moreover  the  Ma-oretic  tradi- 
tion affirms  that  one  of  the  eighteen  correctiona 


858 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


of  the  consonantal  text  of  the  Hebrew  Bible 
(D'"1£)D  \J'"lp>'^)  obtains  here,  the  original  'l'/..^' 
having  been  set  aside  on  account  of  its  objec- 
tionable meaning  [being  too  bold  orblaspliemous] 
— "wherefore  became  1  a  burden  to  Thee?" — 

and  exchanged  for  the  less  objectionable  "7;^.  In 
any  case,  this  latter  reading  gives  a  striking 
sense. 

Ver.  21.  And  -why  dost  Thou  not  pardon 
my  transgression? — no=l  (with  the  vowel  e, 
according  to  Ewald,  ^152^)  [Green,  §75,  1], 
here=n07l.  The  question  expresses  what  was 
to  be  expected,  instead  of  the  incessant  hostile 
assaults  of  God  on  him,  the  presumed  sinner,  if 
he  had  really  transgressed, — namely,  the  pardon 
of  his  guilt,  since  verily  his  end  was  now  nigh. 
[And  put  a^way  my  iniquity. — According  to 
Hengstenberg,  there  lies  a  certain  irony  in  the 
use  by  Job  of  the  strong  expressions  piifEi  and  JIJT 
to  designate  the  sins  which  to  his  consciousness 
proceeded  only  from  infirmity.]  For  "1'3^.n  (to 
pass  over,  to  overlook,  ayvoeiv)  as  a  synonym  of 
NC'J,  to  bear,  to  forgive,  comp.  2  Sam.  xii.  13; 
xxiv.  10.  For  now  shall  I  lie  in  the  dust, 
and  if  Thou  seekest  after  me,  I  am  no 
more — /.  e.,  death  will  soon  iiurry  me  away,  and 
Thou  wilt  then  have  no  further  opportunity  to 
show  me  favor  ;  unless  therefore  Thou  doest  this 
immediately,  Thy  character  will  be  seen  to  be 
that  of  a  cruel  being,  who  unnecessarily  torments 
men.  This  reason  for  the  question :  why  will 
not  God  forgive  without  further  question  or  de- 
lay? is  akin  to  the  thought  in  vers.  7  a,  86,  and 
16  6. 

DOCTRINAL  AND   ETHICAL. 

1.  In  poetic  elevation  of  thought,  nervous 
strength  of  expression,  and  in  wealth  of  figura- 
tive ornamentation,  this  first  discourse  of  Job  is 
not  inferior  to  that  of  Eliphaz.  It  resembles 
the  same  also  in  that  it  conducts  the  argument 
more  upon  the  basis  of  that  Divine  wisdom  which 
belongs  to  mankind  universally  than  of  that 
which  is  specifically  theocratic,  and  serves  to 
express  a  religious  consciousness  which  is  firmly 
rooted  in  faith  in  a  personal  God  (Eloah,  Shad- 
dai).  That,  however,  which  it  sets  forth  as  the 
contents  and  voice  of  this  consciousness,  with 
its  faith  in  Jehovah,  is  no  less  obnoxious  to  the 
charge  of  one-sidedness,  of  beclouding  the  truth 
by  many  wrong  representations  and  religiously 
impure  sentiments,  and  indeed  of  partially 
eclipsing  the  same  by  grave  errors,  than  the 
contents  and  tendency  of  tliat  discourse  of  Eli- 
phaz. Tliere  are  one-sided  representations, 
partly  related  and  partly  opposed  to  tho-^e  of  Eli- 
phaz, to  which  we  see  Job  here  giving  his  adhe- 
rence. Like  him  he  is  inclined  to  regard  being 
a  man  and  committing  sin,  or  sensuousness  and 
sinfulness,  as  inseparably  connected  together, 
and  accordingly  to  look  on  the  forgiveness  of  sin 
by  God  as  a  matter  of  course — as  something 
vehich  is  to  be  expected  on  the  part  of  man  with- 
out giving  himself  any  further  concern  on  the 
subject  (ch.  vii.  21  ;  comp.  vi.  14 ;  vii.  7,  8,  16). 
But  in  the  disposition  which  he  shows  to  make 


his  sin  as  small  as  possible,  to  represent  himself 
as  in  the  main  guiltless,  and  his  friends  as  un- 
justly suspecting  his  innocence  (chap.  vi.  10, 
24,  26,  29  sq.;  vii.  20),  he  in  turn  conies  in  con- 
flict with  Eliphaz,  the  zealous  champion  of  the 
universal  sinfulness  of  all  men.  In  consequence 
of  tlie  unqualified  way  in  which  he  rejects  the 
conjectures  of  the  latter  respecting  his  moral 
guiltiness  in  the  matter  of  his  suffering,  he  exhi- 
bits a  stronger  pelagian  bias,  greater  self-right- 
eousness, and  more  of  the  conceited  arrogance 
of  virtue,  than  his  opponent.  And  when  he  up- 
braids him,  and  the  two  other  friends  who  are 
like-minded  with  him,  with  a  want  of  love,  with 
a  lack  of  gentleness,  and  even  with  a  faithless 
neglect  of  their  duty  to  comfort  him  (ch.  vi.  11- 
20;  especially  ver.  14  sq.),  this  reproach  seems — 
even  quite  apart  from  the  bitter  satirical  tone  in 
which  it  is  clothed — in  so  far  intemperate  and 
exaggerated,  in  that  he  most  decidedly  declines 
to  allow  himself  to  be  charged  by  them  with  any 
crime  whatsoever,  and  so  finds  in  their  conduct 
only  unfriendliness,  hostility,  and  bitterness,  and 
on  the  other  hand  wholly  misapprehends  the  par- 
tial truth  of  that  which  is  said  by  Eliphaz  in 
their  name.  So  far  is  he  from  submitting  to  be- 
ing exhorted  by  them  to  penitence,  that  he  seems 
rather  to  think  he  must  preach  repentance  and 
conversion  to  them  (chap.  vi.  29) — like  so  many 
church-goers  of  our  day,  who,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  pelagian  prejudice  and  rationalistic 
blindness,  complain  of  their  preacher  that,  in- 
stead of  ministering  to  them  the  consolation  of 
the  Gospel,  he  does  nothing  but  exhort  them  to 
repent,  thereby  showing  his  own  need  of  repent- 
ance (on  account  of  "fanaticism,  intolerance, 
hypocrisy,  muckerism,  obscurantism  [puritanical 
bigotry],"  €<c.).  Comp.  Hengstenberg,  p.  202: 
"  It  should  not  be  overlooked  that  sufi'ering 
would  not  have  inflicted  its  crushing  power  on 
Job  to  such  a  degree  if  he  had  possessed  the 
foundation  of  a  theodicy  in  a  deeper  knowledge 
of  human,  and  especially  of  his  own,  sinfulness. 
It  is  the  lack  of  this  that  first  gives  to  his  sufi'er- 
ing its  real  sting.  .  .  .  For  the  sufferings  of 
this  life  sometimes  wax  so  great  that  a  moderate 
knowledge  of  what  sinfulness  is  will  be  found 
altogether  inadequate.  Job's  description  in  this 
section  shows  that  very  clearly.  Its  lesson  is 
that  even  the  mildest  and  most  moderate  pela- 
gianism,  or  semi-pelagianism,  must  inevitably 
lead  in  its  consequences  to  blasphemy." 

The  most  doubtful  point  of  antagonism  to  Eli- 
phaz into  which  Job  is  led  is  when,  instead  of 
complying  with  his  repeated  exhortations  to 
humble  himself  beneath  the  mighty  hand  of  God, 
he  falls  rather  into  the  tone  of  bitter,  angry  con- 
tention and  litigation  with  God,  and  goes  so  far 
as  to  accuse  Him  of  injustice  and  want  of  com- 
passion, speaking  of  the  poisoned  arrows  of  the 
Almighty  which  are  in  him  (ch.  vi.  4),  attribut- 
ing to  God  the  purpose,  or  at  least  the  disposi- 
tion, to  crush  and  destroy  him,  even  though  he 
had  in  no  wise  sinned  against  Him  (ch.  vi.  U,  10), 
charging  Him  with  making  ceaseless  hostile  as- 
saults upon  him,  and  decreeing  wanton  tortures 
for  him  (ch.  vii.  12  sq.),  and  with  reference  to 
this  giving  Him  in  bitter  sarcasm  the  name  of  a 
"watcher  of  men"  (in  the  unfavorable  sense  of 
the  expression),  a  hostile  sentinel  or  jailer  of  men 


CHAPS.  VI.  1-30— YII.  1-21. 


859 


(ch.  vii.  20).  And  these  harsh  anJ  presumptu- 
ous speeches  against  God  are  accompanied  by 
no  qualifications,  or  partial  retractions,  such  as 
we  find  in  nearly  all  the  lamentations  of  the 
Psalmists,  or  of  the  Prophet  Jeremiah,  where 
they  make  use  of  similar  expressions,  and  rep- 
resent God  now  by  this,  and  now  by  that  figura- 
tive expression,  as  their  unsparing  persecutor, 
and  their  stern  unpitying  judge.  Job  persists 
in  all  that  he  says  in  this  direction  of  a  doubtful 
chiiracter ;  he  takes  nothing  of  it  back  ;  he  con- 
cludes his  discourse  immediately  afier  the  most 
passionate  and  presumptuous  of  these  sayings  has 
passed  from  his  lips.  Comp.  Delifzsch  (i.  131 
seq.):  "We  should  bo  mistaken  if  there  were 
sin  in  the  expressions  in  themselves  considered 
by  which  Job  describes  God's  hostility  against 
himself.  We  may  compare,  e.g.  Lam.  iii.  9,  10: 
•'  He  hath  inclosed  my  ways  with  hewn  stone ; 
He  hath  made  my  paths  crooked ;  He  is  to  me 
as  a  bear  lying  in  wait,  as  a  lion  in  the  thicket." 
It  is,  moreover,  not  Job's  peculiar  sin  that  he 
thinks  God  has  changed  to  an  enemy  against 
Mm;  that  is  the  view  which  comes  from  his 
vision  being  beclouded  by  the  conflict  through 
which  he  is  passing,  as  is  frequently  the  case  in 
the  Psalms.  His  sin  does  not  even  consist  in 
the  inquiries,  How  long?  and  Wherefore?  The 
Psalms,  in  that  case,  would  abound  in  sin.  But 
the  sin  is  that  he  hangs  on  to  these  doubting  ques- 
tions, and  thus  attributes  apparent  mercilessness  and 
injustice  to  God.  And  the  friends  constantly 
urge  him  on  still  deeper  in  this  sin,  the  more 
persistently  they  attribute  his  sulFering  to  his 
own  unrighteousness.  Jeremiah  (in  ch.  iii.  of 
the  Lamentations),  after  similar  complaints, 
adds:  Then  I  repeated  this  to  my  heart,  and 
took  courage  from  it:  the  mercies  of  Jehovah, 
they  have  no  end ;  His  compassions  do  not  cease, 
etc.  Many  of  the  Psalms  that  begin  sorrowfully 
end  in  the  same  way;  faith  at  length  breaks 
through  the  clouds  of  doubt.  But  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  change  of  spiritual  condi- 
tion which,  e.  g.  in  Ps.  vi.,  is  condensed  to  the 
narrow  limits  of  a  lyric  composition  of  eleven 
verses,  is  here  in  Job  worked  out  with  drama- 
tic detail  as  a  passage  of  his  life's  history :  his 
faith,  once  so  heroic,  only  smoulders  under 
ashes ;  the  friends,  instead  of  fanning  it  to  a 
flame,  bury  it  still  deeper,  until  at  last  it  is  set 
free  from  its  bondage  by  Jehovah  Himself,  '*  Who 
appears  in  the  whirlwind." 

2.  Notwithstanding  these  manifold  tokens  of  a 
profound  and  grievous  darkening  of  soul  from 
which  Job  sufi^ered  during  this  discourse,  it  pre- 
sents scattered  through  it  much  that  is  true, 
much  that  is  directly  conducive  to  the  know- 
ledge and  appropriation  of  revealed  truth.  To 
these  points  of  light,  in  which  is  comprised 
whatever  in  the  two  chapters  is  really  signifi- 
cant in  a  doctrinal  and  ethical  respect,  belong  : 

(a)  The  beautiful  sentiment:  "  ?b  one  that  is 
despairing  gentleness  is  due  from  his  friends,  even 
though  he  should  have  forsaken  the  fear  of  the 
Almighty^'  (ch.  vi.  14);  a  genuine  pearl  of  ethi- 
cal-theological wisdom,  an  unconscious  prophetic 
saying,  anticipating  from  afar  such  New  Testa- 
ment utterances  as:  "They  that  be  whole  need 
not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick"  (Matt. 
ix.  12);  or:  "Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken 


in  a  fault,  ye  which  are  spiritual  restore  such 
an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness"  (Gal.  vi.  1); 
or:  "Brethren,  if  any  of  you  do  err  from  the 
truth,  and  one  convert  him ;  let  him  know,  that 
he  which  converteth  the  sinner  from  the  error 
of  his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and 
shall  hide  a  multitude  of  sins"  (James  v.  19-20; 
comp.  1  Pet.  iv.  8). 

b.  The  sorrowful  lamentation  over  the  misery  of 
human  life  at  the  beginning  of  ch.  vii.  (vii.  1-6), 
which,  even  in  those  parts  of  it  that  have  special 
reference  to  Job's  fearful  sufi'erings  as  a  leper, 
admits  of  a  measure  of  generalization,  and  ana- 
logical extension  to  the  condition  of  all  men  as 
sinners,  and  as  sufi"ering  in  consequence  of  their 
sins.  For  not  only  that  which  in  this  earthly 
life,  with  its  thousand  troubles  and  hardships, 
resembles  the  service  of  the  soldier  and  of  the 
hireling,  but  also  the  months  of  evil  which  are 
to  be  lived  through,  and  the  nights  of  misery 
which  are  to  be  watched  through,  likewise  the 
many  harbingers  of  death  and  of  decay,  swal- 
lowing up  the  bodily  life  corroded  and  disinte- 
grated by  diseases  of  all  kinds  (comp.  vers.  3-5) 
— all  this  even  suits  more  or  less  the  experience 
which  all  men  have  of  life,  inasmuch  as  there  is 
no  one,  under  the  present  order  of  existence, 
who  is  absolutely  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and 
death,  which  through  our  first  parents  has  de- 
scended upon  all  the  race;  comp.  Rom.  vii.  24, 
25;  viii.  10;  2  Cor.  iv.  IG,  etc. 

c.  Connected  with  this  lamentation  is  the 
reflection  upon  the  evanescence  and  vanity  of  the 
days  of  man  on  earth,  as  well  as  upon  the  injus- 
tice and  cruelty  which  would  be  exercised,  if 
God  should  treat  a  being  so  weak  and  frail,  so 
much  like  a  breath  in  his  nothingness,  only 
according  to  the  severity  of  His  justice,  and  not 
rather  according  to  the  gracious  fulness  of  His 
love  and  mercy  (ch.  vii.  7  seq. — especially  ver. 
21).  In  Job's  sense,  indeed,  who  does  not  ade- 
quately appreciate  the  bitter  malignity  and  ill- 
desert  of  sin,  and  who  is  inclined,  in  view  of 
the  helpless  moral  misery  of  mankind,  to  rest 
his  appeal  for  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins  by 
God,  not  on  the  ground  of  its  being  fitting,  but 
on  a  ground  of  formal  right,  this  reflection  is 
inadmissible  before  God,  proceeding  equally 
from  the  pride  of  the  natural  man,  and  from 
moral  levity.  It  sounds  almost  like  the  frivo- 
lous remark  of  a  Voltaire,  or  a  Heine,  like  the 
notorious  saying:  ^^Dieume  pardonncra,  c  est  son 
metier  !"  At  least  it  enables  us  to  forebode  how 
frivolous  men  might  gradually  reach  such  an 
abyss  of  wicked  principles  and  of  outrageous 
continued  sinning  against  God's  grace! — But 
even  this  reflection  exhibits  a  certain  relation- 
ship to  those  deep  and  undeniable  truths  in 
respect  to  the  weakness  of  the  natural  man,  and 
the  necessity  of  pointing  him  to  the  power  of 
divine  grace  which  alone  can  deliver  him,  and 
which  the  Old  Testament  embodies  in  such  ex- 
pressions as  those  of  Ps.  Ixxxix.  48;  xc.  5  seq. ; 
cii.  12  (11);  ciii.  14,  but  the  New  Testament  in 
its  testimonies,  infinitely  more  consoling,  to  the 
salvation  which  is  found  only  in  Christ,  such  as 
Acts  iv.  12;  Rom  iii.  23  seq. ;  viii.  34  seq  ;  xi. 
30  seq. ;  Gal.  iii.  22;  Eph.  ii.  8  seq.,  as  well  as 
in  the  not  less  comforting  assurances  of  the  gra- 
cious hearing  which  our  Heavenly  Father  will 


S60 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


grant  to  all  prayers  aJdressed  to  Ilira  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  and  in  trust  exercised  only  in  Ilis 
grace  (Luke  xi.  5-13;  xviii.  1-8;  John  xiv.  13 
seq.  ;  xvi.  23  seq.).  Comp.  Hengstenbarg,  p. 
215:  "Job  cannot  once  give  up  the  thought  that 
God  is  a  God  of  love,  and  so  it  seems  to  him  to 
contradict  His  nature  if,  through  the  immediate 
prospect  of  death,  the  opportunity  is  taken  away 
from  Him  of  making  amends  for  His  severity  by 
love." 

d.  Finally,  the  way  in  which  Job,  ia  oh.  vii. 
7-10,  expresses  himself  concerning  his  desiintj  after 
death,  though  not  properly  belonging  to  the  lumi- 
nous side  of  his  discourse,  should  still  be  reckoned 
among  those  expressions  in  it  which  contain 
positive  instruction,  and  which  are  important  in 
the  development  of  the  Old  Testament  Revela- 
tion. In  this  gloomy  description  of  the  dismal 
prospect  beyond  the  grave,  Job  is  as  far  as  pos- 
sible from  exhibiting  any  hope  of  a  resurrection, 
especially  such  as  is  so  distinctly  and  gloriously 
revealed  in  Christianity.  He  knows  nothing  of 
sicch  a  hope.  Just  as  little,  however,  does  he 
know  anything  of  any  annihilation  of  his  exist- 
ence, of  its  total  extinction  after  death.  His 
disconsolateness  in  view  of  certain  and  near 
death  is  not  that  of  the  materialistic  atheist,  or 
of  the  heathen  sage,  who,  with  the  hope  of  a 
resurrection,  abandons  also  all  hope  of  immor- 
tality. "When  in  ver.  8,  and  in  like  manner,  in 
ver.  21,  he  speaks  of  soon  "being  no  more," 
this  strong  expression  explains  itself  by  means 
of  the  parallel  passages  which  surround  it,  as 
meaning  that  he  shall  be  no  more  on  this  earth, 
that  this  earthly  life  and  earthly  happiness  will 
never  again  return  (see  ver.  lb;  8b;  21  c), 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  he  anticipates  a  cheer- 
less and  prospectless  confinement  in  Hades.  He 
recognizes  an  existence  after  death,  but  one  that 
is  necessarily  devoid  of  happiness,  unilluminated 
by  a  single  ray  of  the  Messianic  grace  of  salva- 
tion glimmering  from  afar.  His  outlook  into 
the  Hereafter  is  essentially  one  with  his  dread 
of  Hades,  the  "king  of  terrors,"  the  realm  of  a 
never-ending  death-gloom,  a  desolate  and  horri- 
ble darkness  relieved  by  no  liglit  (comp.  ch,  x. 
20  sq. ;  xx.  0  sq. ;  also  the  similar  gloomy  de- 
scriptions of  the  condition  of  being  in  Hades  in 
the  Psalms  :  Ps.  vi.  6  [5]  ;  xxx.  10  [9]  ;  Ixxxviii. 
11  [10]  sq. ;  cxv.  17;  in  the  Proverbs,  in  Eccle- 
siastes,  etc.).  He  evidently  belongs  as  yet  to 
those  who  are  groaning  under  the  yoke  of  bond- 
age to  death,  which  preceded  the  coming  of 
Christ,  those  whom  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
designates  as  ruijTovr;,  boot  <p6ji(^  -davaTov  6ia  nav- 
Tug  rov  i,fii>  EvoxoL  fjaav  dov?i.F.iag  (ch.  ii.  15).  He 
stands,  at  least  in  the  preceding  discourse  (it  is 
otherwise  later  in  ch.  xix.  25  sq.),  decidedly  on 
the  stand-point  of  those  who,  being  as  yet  subject 
to  the  osconomia  Legis,  had  not  learned  to  view 
the  destiny  of  the  dead  in  the  mild  light  of  the 
grace  of  Jesus  Christ.  Comp.  Brentius:  "The 
condition  of  death  or  of  Hades  is  such  that  by 
its  own  nature  it  holds  all  Whom  it  embraces, 
and  releases  them  not  until  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  shnll  by  death  descend  into  Hades,  i.  e. 
until  He  shall  have  died;  for  through  Him, 
death  ami  Hades  being  conquered,  as  many  as 
have  been  renewed  by  faith  are  set  free."  Also 
Delitzsch  (i.  130  sq.):  "From  this  chaotic  con- 


ception of  the  other  side  of  the  grave,  against 
which  even  the  psalmists  still  struggle,  the  doc- 
ti-iae  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  had  not 
been  set  forth  at  the  time  of  Job,  and  of  the 
author  of  the  book  of  Job.  The  restoration  of 
Israel  buried  in  exile  (Ezek.  xxxvii.)  first  gave 
the  impulse  to  it;  and  the  resurrection  of  the 
Prince  of  Life,  who  was  laid  in  the  grave,  set  the 
seal  upon  it.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
was  first  of  all  the  actual  overthrow  of  Hades. 
.  .  .  We  shall  see  by  and  by  how  the  more  his 
friends  torment  him,  the  more  he  is  urged  on  to 
the  longing  for  a  future  life  (*'  e.  a  bright  Here- 
after, full  of  life  and  being,  a  Hereafter  worthy 
of  the  name);  but  the  word  of  revelation,  which 
could  alone  change  desire  into  hope,  is  wanting. 
The  more  tragic  and  heart-rending  Job's  desire 
to  be  freed  by  death  from  his  unbearable  suffer- 
ing is,  the  more  touching  and  importunate  is  his 
prayer  that  God  may  consider  that  now  soon  he 
can  no  longer  be  an  object  of  His  mercy." 

HOMILETICAL  AND   PRACTICAL. 

A  sermon  on  the  whole  of  the  preceding  dis- 
course of  Job  must  have  two  chief  divisions:  L 
Job's  complaint  concerning  his  friends  as  poor 
comforters,  ch.  vi.  XL  Job'sarraignment  of  God 
as  his  cruel,  merciless  persecutor.  In  both  di- 
visions it  would  be  necessary  to  set  forth  so 
much  of  Job's  utterances  as  is  blameworthy,  per- 
verted, and  one-sided,  along  with  that  which  is 
of  a  higher  character  (such  as,  in  the  First  Divi- 
sion ,  that  passage  particularly,  which,  from 
Job's  stand-point,  is  comparatively  justifiable,  in 
which  he  claims  gentle  treatment,  chap.  vi.  14 ; 
and  in  the  Second  Division,  more  particularly 
the  opening  and  closing  verses  of  chap.  vii.). — 
In  view  of  the  length  of  the  whole  discourse,  it 
will  be  better,  for  the  most  part,  to  divide  it  into 
two  texts,  corresponding  to  the  usual  division  by 
chapters,  having  in  view  a  final  consideration  of 
both  chapters.  The  following  thoughts  from  an- 
cient and  modern  practical  commentators  may 
serve  as  hints  for  the  homiletic  treatment  of 
particular  passages. 

Chap.  vi.  2sq.  Starke:  The  cross  must  be 
weighed  not  according  to  reason,  but  in  compa- 
rison with  the  future  glory,  2  Cor.  iv.  17. — 
Zeyss:  That  which  the  much  afilictcd  Job  said 
of  the  greatness,  heaviness,  and  severity  of  his 
suffering,  might  with  much  more  justice  and  in 
the  truest  sense  be  said  of  the  suffering  of  our 
Redeemer. 

Chap.  vi.  11  sq.  Brbntius  :  Most  truly,  and 
at  the  same  time  most  impatiently.  Job  confesses 
that  he  cannot  endure  patiently  such  torments 
of  hell.  .  .  .  Verily,  although  it  is  impossible  for 
the  flesh  to  stand  in  judgment,  in  Christ  all  things 
are  possible,  and  by  His  virtue  even  hell  is  con- 
quered. When,  therefore,  you  hear  it  said  that 
no  amount  of  fortitude  will  suffice  to  bear  the 
wrath  of  God,  you  may  learn  to  fear  the  Lord 
and  to  commit  yourself  to  His  hands,  so  that  you 
may  be  delivered  ;  for  He  says :  Be  of  good 
cheer,  for  I  have  overcome  the  world. 

Chap.  vi.  14  sq.  Idem:  Ungodly  hypocrites — 
if  at  any  time  they  see  one  in  affliction,  they 
presently  revile  him  with  much  chiding  and  up- 
braiding, and  seeking  out  every  thing  about  him 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-22. 


361 


from  infancy  up  that  is  most  disgraceful,  if  they 

do  not  report  it,  they  at  least  suspect  it 

On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  nature  of  piety  to 
plead,  to  reprove,  to  be  urgent,  t'vKaipuQ  aKulpui;, 
so  long  as  the  Lord  spares,  and  grants  time  for 
repentance.  For  He  Himself  also  bears  the  wicked 
with  the  utmost  long-sulfering,  to  the  end  that 
He  might  in  the  meanwhile  by  doctrine,  exhor- 
tation ami  reproof  persuade  them  to  repentance. 

Ch.  vi.  22  sq.:  Osiander:  Our  flesh  is  alto- 
gether restive  under  the  cross,  and  is  wont  to 
show  particular  resentment  toward  friends  if 
they  do  not  immediately  come  to  our  relief. — 
Starke  (on  ver.  24):  A  wise  man  is  glad  to  be 
admonished  when  he  has  erred  ;  James  iii.  17. 

Chap.  vii.  1  sq.  Seb.  Schmidt:  Each  of  these 
(the  servant  and  the  hireling)  continues  in  per- 
petual toils  and  miseries.  Every  man  may 
rightly  be  compared  with  either,  seeing  that 
throughout  his  life  he  is  overwhelmed  with  toils 
and  miseries,  looks  in  vain  for  rest  before  death. 
— Starke  :  Our  present  life  is  nothing  else  than 
a  service.  Well  for  us  if  therein  we  serve  God  ; 
but  woe  be  to  us  if  we  yiehl  ourselves  to  the  ser- 
vice of  sin  ;  Rom.  vi.  13. — Wohlfarth  :  Human 
life  is  a  continuous  strife  and  conflict ;  a  conflict 
with  the  infirmities  of  the  body,  with  the  sufi'er- 
ings  of  this  life,  with  sin  !  But  why  does  thine 
eye  look  sad  ?  Where  there  is  strife,  there  is 
victory  ;  and  more  than  all,  a  noble  prize  is  put 
before  the  Christian  to  strive  for,  both  in  this 
life  and  in  the  life  beyond. 

Chap.  vii.  5,  6.  Weim.  Bib.  :  Our  life  is  empty 
and  fleeting,  and  all  human  beauty  is  perishable  ; 
Ps.  cii.  4;  cxliv.  4;  ciii.  15. — Wohlfarth: 
How  swift  the  ceaseless  flight  of  time  !  How  ra- 
pidly the  moments  resolve  themselves  into  hours, 
the  hours  into  days,  the  days  into  months,  the 
months  into  years!  How  much  even  the  longest 
human  life  resembles  a  short  dream  of  the  morn- 
ing! Yes,  our  life  hastes  away  like  a  weaver's 
shuttle,  like  a  breath,  like  a  cloud  ! 

Chap.  vii.  8-10.  Brentius  (on  ver.  9) :  A  beau- 
tiful comparison.  As  a  cloud  passes  away,  va- 
nishes, and  returns  not,  so  he  who  goes  down 
into  the  under-world,  and  never  returns  from 


thence,  ...  In  Hades  there  is  no  redemption 
through  the  feeling  of  despair,  or  by  one's  own 
strength  or  virtues,  but  there  is  abundant  re- 
demption even  in  hades  through  the  Lord's  com- 
passion and  restoring  grace.  (Comp.  also  the 
words  of  this  expositor  quoted  above  near  the 
end  of  the  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks.) 

Chap.  vii.  12-16  :  To  those  who  are  tried  it 
seems  as  though  God  had  shut  them  up  in  a  dark 
prison,  or  had  even  thrust  them  from  Him,  while 
they  are  still  in  His  hand  ! — It  is  not  an  uncom- 
mon thing  for  tiiose  who  are  tried  to  be  haunted 
by  the  purpose  of  taking  their  own  life  ;  these 
persons  must  not  be  allowed  to  go  unwatched. 
— Wohlfarth  :  How  sha  1  we  overcome  the 
temptation  to  suicide  ? 

Chap.  vii.  19-21  (on  ver.  19) :  Co(;ceius  :  One 
of  two  things  is  to  be  desired  by  the  godly  : 
either  that  they  may  live  without  fear,  that  they 
may  enjoy  some  good  in  this  life,  by  which  they 
may  understand  that  God  is  at  peace  with  them, 
and  does  not  wish  to  show  forth  His  wrath  and 
justice  towards  them  ;  or  that  they  may  die 
speedily.  Now  the  godly  live  in  perpetual  af- 
flictions and  trials,  or  at  least  they  are  always 
troubled  with  anxiety  and  fear  concerning  them. 
Hence  nothing  is  more  natural  than  that  they 
should  desire  to  die  at  once  For  truly  to  live 
without  comfort  is  harder  than  to  die.  And  so 
human  nature  is  not  able  to  bear  even  the  least 
pressure  of  God's  wrath.  Hence  it  is  plain  to 
see  what  every  discourse  of  Job's  aims  at,  to  wit, 
to  possess  the  comfort  of  the  Gospel. — JoACir. 
Lange  :  We  must  truly  humble  ourselves  under 
the  mighty  and  heavy  hand  of  God  (1  Pet.  v.  6). 
Only  then  do  we  come  to  know  ourselves,  and 
become  poor  in  spirit,  when  we  become  a  real 
burden  to  ourselves  (ver.  20  c).  And  that  is  then 
the  right  way  of  becoming  rich  towards  God 
(Matth.  xi.  28;  Luke  xii.  21).— Starke:  All 
saints  should  with  Job  pray  God  for  the  forgive- 
ness of  their  sins  (Ps.  xxxii.  6).  .  .  .  He  who 
is  assured  of  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins  can  die 
peacefully  and  joyfully,  Luke  ii.  29. — See  Re- 
marks by  Hengstenberg  and  DelitzscU  above, 
under  "Doctrinal  and  EthicaL" 


II.   Bildad  and  Job:   Chaps.  VIII—X. 

A. — Bildad's  rebuke  :  Man  must  not  charge  God  with  unrighteousness  as  Job  has 

done,  for  God  never  does  that  which  is  unjust : 

Chapter   VIII. 

1.  Censure  of  Job  on  account  of  his  unjust  accusation  against  God: 

Vers.  2-7. 

1  Then  answered  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  said : 

2  How  long  wilt  thou  speak  these  things  ? 

and  how  long  shall  the  words  of  thy  mouth  be  like  a  strong  wind  ? 

3  Doth  Grod  pervert  judgment  ? 

or  doth  the  Almighty  pervert  justice  ? 


362 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


4  If  thy  children  have  smned  against  Him, 

and  He  have  cast  them  away  for  their  transgression ; 

5  If  thou  wouldest  seek  unto  God  betimes, 
and  make  thy  supplication  to  the  Almighty  ; 

6  if  thou  wert  pure  and  upright, 
surely  now  He  would  awake  for  thee, 

and  make  the  habitation  of  thy  righteousness  prosperous. 

7  Though  thy  beginning  was  small, 

yet  thy  latter  end  should  greatly  increase. 

2.  Reference  to  the  wise  teachings  of  the  ancients  in  respect  to  the  merited  end  of  those  who  for- 
get God : 

Verses  8-19. 

8  For  inquire,  I  pray  thee,  of  the  former  age, 

and  prepare  thyself  to  the  search  of  their  fathers : 

9  (For  we  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  know  nothing, 
because  our  days  upon  earth  are  a  shadow) : 

10  Shall  not  they  teach  thee,  and  tell  thee, 
and  utter  words  out  of  their  heart  ? 

11  "  Can  the  rush  grow  up  without  mire? 
can  the  flag  grow  without  water  ? 

12  Whilst  it  is  yet  in  his  greenness,  and  not  cut  down, 
it  withereth  before  any  other  herb. 

13  So  are  the  paths  of  all  that  forget  God, 
and  the  hypocrite's  hope  shall  perish : 

14  Whose  hope  shall  be  cut  off, 

and  whose  trust  shall  be  a  spider's  web. 

15  He  shall  lean  upon  his  house,  but  it  shall  not  stand; 
he  shall  hold  it  fast,  but  it  shall  not  endure. 

16  He  is  green  before  the  sun, 

and  his  branch  shooteth  forth  in  his  garden. 

17  His  roots  are  wrapt  about  the  heap, 
and  seeth  the  place  of  stones. 

18  If  He  destroy  him  from  his  place, 

then  it  shall  deny  him,  saying,  I  have  not  seen  thee. 

19  Behold,  this  is  the  joy  of  his  way, 

and  out  of  the  earth  shall  others  grow." 


3.  A  softened  application  of  these  teachings  to  the  case  of  Job : 

Veeses  20-22. 

20  Behold,  God  will  not  cast  away  a  perfect  man, 
neither  will  He  help  the  evil  doers  : 

21  Till  He  fill  thy  mouth  with  laughing, 
and  thy  lips  with  rejoicing. 

22  They  that  hate  thee  shall  be  clothed  with  shame  ; 

and  the  dwelling-place  of  the  wicked  shall  come  to  nought. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

The  aspect  which  this  first  discourse  of  Bil- 
dad's  presents  to  us  is  far  from  being  particu- 
larly controversial  or  violent,  such  as  would  cor- 
respond to  the  conjectural  signification  of  the 


name  "llSs,  =  "son  of  strife"  (see  on  ch.  ii. 
11).  It  attaches  itself  to  the  conclusion  of  the 
preceding  discourse  of  Job,  in  that  it  at  once 
proceeds  to  show  how  entirely  unjust  is  Job's 
conduct  in  accusing  God  of  a  want  of  compas- 
sion, and  of  despotic  harshness,  whereas  God  in 
determining  the  lot  of  mankind  never  acts  other- 


CHAP.  VIIL  1-22. 


363 


•wise  than  justly  (vers.  2-7).  He  then  illustrates 
and  supports  the  proposition  that  God  causes  an 
evil  and  sudden  end  to  overtake  those  who  apos- 
tatize from  him  by  certain  wise  proverbial  say- 
ings of  the  ancients  (vers.  8-19).  He  closes  by 
prominently  setting  forth  the  twofold  activity 
of  the  retributive  justice  of  God  (vers.  20-22),  a 
conclusion  which  is  so  far  conciliatory  in  its  ten- 
dency in  that  it  gives  stronger  expression  to  the 
hope  that  Job,  through  repenting  of  his  sin, 
would  experience  the  justice  of  God  rewarding 
him,  than  to  the  fear  of  the  opposite,  or  a  warn- 
ing of  the  consequences  of  his  impenitence. 
["  It  is  to  be  specially  noted  in  this  connection 
B.  makes  no  reply  to  the  harsh  personal  re- 
proaches of  ch.  vi,  14:-27,  but  confines  himself  to 
the  subject-matter."  Dillmann].  Of  the  three 
divisions  of  the  discourse,  which  are  somewhat 
unequal  in  length,  the  first  comprises  2  strophes, 
the  second  4,  the  third  1,  each  of  three  verses. 

2.  First  Division :  Rebuke  of  Job's  unjust  ac- 
cusation of  God,  as  though  He  were  unmerciful 
and  unjust  towards  him,  vers.  2-7. 

First  Strophe:  Vers.  2-4.  [The  certainty  that 
retributive  justice  will  punish  the  sinner]. 

Ver.  2.  How  long  wilt  thou  speak  such 
things?  {^""Ij^,  as  elsewhere  nJX-nj;  (ch. 
xviii.  2 ;  xix.  2) :  lit.  until  when,  quousque  tan- 
dem ["An  exclamation  of  impatience."  Dav. 
"  The  friends  had  expected  that  after  so  tho- 
rough and  unanswerable  an  argument  as  that 
which  Eliphaz  had  delivered  in  their  name.  Job 
would  at  once  acknowledge  himself  convinced, 
an  expectation  which  Eliphaz  himself  had  con- 
fidently announced  at  the  close  of  his  discourse. 
— The  fact  proves  to  be  just  the  reverse:  Job 
speaks  more  defiantly  than  at  first.  And  so  Bil- 
dad  introduces  his  discourse  with  his  exclama- 
tory   t5<~"1J.',  a  veritable  Quousque  tandem  abutere 

patientia  nostra."   Schlottm.]     HpX,  these  things, 

i.  e.,  such  things  as  thou  hast  spoken.  [Said 
contemptuously,  as  also  HIT  in  the  next  mem- 
ber]. And  the  words  of  thy  mouth  are  a 
boisterous  w^ind?  Properly  a  continuation 
of  the  preceding  interrogative  construction: 
"  how  long  shall  the  words  of  thy  mouth  be  a 
boisterous  wind?"  i.e.,  like  such  a  wind  in  re- 
spect of  their  emptiness  [and  bluster],  as  well  as 
of  their  sweepingly  destructive  tendency  (comp. 
ch.  XV.  2  ;  xvi.  3  ;  1  Kings  xix.  11).     For  T3|!, 

poetic  synonym  of  7IIJ  (ch.  i.  19)  comp.  ch.  xv. 
10;  xxxi.  25;  xxxiv.  17,  24;  Isa.  xvii.  12. 
[The  word  is  peculiar  to  the  book  of  Job  and 
Isaiah]. 

Ver.  3.  Will  God  pervert  the  right,  or  the 
Almighty  pervert  justice  ?  i.  e.,  canst  thou 
think  for  thy  part  that,  etc.?  Canst  thou  in  sober 
earnest  accuse  God  of  injustice  ?  "  Observe  the 
repetition  of  the  verb  ri^Jl],  on  which  there  rests 
an  emphasis  which  for  Job  was  particularly 
stinging."  Umbreit.  [Davidson, e.^.,  more  cor- 
rectly on  the  whole  perhaps :  "  the  repetition  of 
pervert  shows  that  it  is  not  the  emphatic  word, 
while  the  variation  of  the  divine  names,  as  well 
as  their  position  at  the  head  of  the  clauses, 
throws  the  emphasis  on  the  Divine  Being — will 
Cfod,  etc."     The  distinction  between  tOSC^D  and 


^"ty  is  substantially  that  already  given  by  Schul- 
tens :  the  former  designates  the  justice  of  God 
as  embodied  in  act,  actio  judicandi ;  the  latter  as 
a  principle  or  rule  in  the  Divine  mind. — E.]. 

Ver.  4.  If  thy  children  have  sinned 
against  him. — Only  to  spare  Job's  feelings  Bil- 
dad  avoids  saying:  "  iecawse  thy  children  have 
sinned,"  and  so  leaves  it  apparently  uncertain 
whether  this  formed  the  ground  of  the  Divine 
decree  concerning  their  fate — but  only  appa- 
rently, since  he  clearly  regarded  this  decree  as 
a  punishment  for  their  sins,  as  the  conclusion 
proves.  [Conant  thinks  this  hypothetical  use  of 
DX  to  be  "  not  at  all  in  the  spirit  of  Bildad." 
He  takes  it  to  be  concessive — "though  thy  sons 
have  sinned  against  Ilim,  and  He  hath  given 
them,  etc.,  if  thou  thyself  wouldest  seek  God, 
«/c."  To  which  it  may  be  objected:  (1)  This 
makes  the  protasis  needlessly  long.  (2)  It  de- 
stroys the  evident  contrast  between  verses  4 
and  5:  between  the  hypothetical  proposition 
concerning  the  childi'cn's  sin  in  the  former,  and 
the  conclusion  therefrom,  and  the  similar  hypo- 
thetical proposition  concerning  Job's  repentance 
in  the  latter,  and  the  conclusion  therefrom  in 
vers.  6,  7. — DN  is  undoubtedly  used  in  the  same 
way  in  both  propositions,  and  if  conditional  in 
the  latter,  is  conditional  also  in  the  former.  At 
the  same  time  it  does  not  seem  that  Bildad  uses 
DN  in  the  former  case  out  of  any  particular  con- 
sideration for  Job's  feelings.  He  uses  it  appa- 
rently in  its  purely  logical  sense,  and  this,  too, 
with  an  assumption  of  the  truth  of  the  supposi- 
tion which  makes  itself  felt  throughout  the  en- 
tire verse. — E.] — Then  hath  he  given  them 
over  into  the  hand  of  their  transgression. 

Dnb^'l,  lit.,  "  then  hath  He  let  them  go  into  the 
hand,  (/.  e.,  into  the  power)  of  their  transgres- 
sion," subjected  them  to  the  influence  of  their 
guilt.  ["  An  expression  of  fearful  energy " 
(Dav.)  implying  the  self-retaliatory  power  of 
sin,  the  certainty  that  the  moral  order  of  the 
universe,  enforced  by  the  Divine  will,  will  punish 
the  transgressor. — E.]  Coifip.  ch.  ix.  24;  Judg. 
iv.  9 ;  1  Sam.  xxiii.  20. — Concerning  the  retro- 
spective reference  of  the  verse  to  ch.  i.  19,  comp. 
Introd.,  §  8,  No.  3. 

Second  Strophe:  Vers.  5-7.  [The  certainty 
that  retributive  justice  will  reward  Job,  if  pure.] 

Ver.  5.  But  if  thou  seekest  earnestly 
unto  God. — 7X"7N  inK',  constr.  prosgnans, 
as  above  ch.  v.  8 :  7X~7N  lif'2'^,  to  sue  God  for 
anything,  to  turn  oneself  to  Him  with  earnest 
entreaty.  riPN,  thou,  puts  Job  in  emphatic  con- 
trast with  his  children  (ver.  4  a),  as  one  who 
still  has  time  to  repent  and  to  be  reconciled,  as 
the  condition  of  the  restoration  of  his  prosperity. 
[And  makest  supplication  to  the  Al- 
mighty.— Davidson  calls  attention  to  the  "  fine 
force  of  reflex  Hithp.,  seek  to  make  God  gracious 
to  oneself."  Observe  also  in  this  verse  as  in 
ver.  3  the  use  in  parallel  clauses  of  El  and  Shad- 
dai,  the  names  most  suggestive  of  God's  power 
to  uphold  the  moral  order  of  the  universe,  thus 
using  the  terror  of  the  Lord  to  persuade  Job. 
-E.] 

Ver.  6.  If  thou  art  pure   and  upright. — 


364 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


This  new  conditional  clause  is  not  co  ordinate 
■with  the  preceding,  but  subordinate  to  it:  "pro- 
vided, namely,  thou  art  really  pure  and  upright, 
if  it  be  really  the  case  that  tliou,"  etc.  Surely 
then  He  will  awake  for  thee. — nr>J7  'J, 
"  surely  then,  verily  then,"  emphatic  introduc- 
tion of  the  conclusion,  as  in  ch.  xiii.  18. — T^l^' 

^'7^,  He  will  awake,  arouse  Himself  for  thee 
(comp.  Ps.  XXXV.  23),  namely,  for  thy  protec- 
tion and  deliverance;  not:  He  will  watch  over 
thee,  take  thee  under  His  care  (Hirzel,  Delitzsch 
[Dav.,  Renan,  Merx]  etc.),  which  would  be  alto- 
gether at  variance  with  the  usual  signification 

of  the  verb  Tj^H.  And  restore  U^p\,  in  in- 
tegram  restiluet ;  the  LXX.  correctly:  kol  a-joKa- 
TaoTijCEi)  the  habitation  of  thy  righteous- 
ness, i.  e.,  the  habitation  where  thou,  as  a 
righteous  man,  dost  dwell  and  enjoy  the  fruits 
of  thy  righteousness  (Dillmann). — On  HU  see  on 
ch.  V.  3. 

Ver.  7.  And  if  thy  beginning  w^as  small 
thy  end  shall  be  exceeding  great. — In  ad- 
dition to  the  restoration  of  his  former  prosperity 
he  promises  him  something  new  and  yet  more 
glorious,  an  unconscious  prophecy  of  that  which 
in  the  end  actually  came  to  pass  (ch.  xlii.  12), 
exactly  like  the  promise  of  prosperity  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  Eliphaz's  discourse :  ch.  v.  8  sq. 
n«p  nr^;  '>T"?nX1,  lit.,  "  and  thy  last  end  (thy 
latter  estate,  in  contrast  with  '"(r\''lI'X1,  thy  for- 
mer estate,  thy  prosperity  in  the  beginning)  will 
flourish  greatly."  ^"'"^HN  is  here  exceptionally 
and  ad  sensum  construed  as  masculine ;  hence  the 
form  T^^}^]  (comp.  Ewald,  §  174  e),  instead  of 
which  Olshausen  unnecessarily  proposes  to  read 
T\i^^,  with  7X  as  subject. 

3.  Second  Division:  A  reference  to  the  wise 
teachings  of  the  ancients  touching  the  merited 
end  of  those  who  forget  God.  [«'  In  respect  of 
its  artistic,  flowery,  and  yet  concise  style  "  (as 
well  as  in  respect  of  the  searching  practical  cha- 
racter of  its  contents),  *'  this  passage  forms  the 
climax  of  the  whole  discourse."  Ewald.] 

First  Strophe:  Vers.  8-10.  Praise  of  the  wis- 
dom of  the  ancients,  by  way  of  introduction  to 
the  express  testimonies  of  that  wisdom  which 
follows. 

Ver.  8.  Inquire,  I  pray,  of  the  former  ge- 
neration.— As  to  the  challenge  in  general,  com- 
pare Deut.  xxxii.  7.  For  '7X1!/  with  7,  see  2 
Kings  viii.  G;  for  the  orthographical  form  VW^'\ 
instead  of  |1iyj<*^,  see  below,  ch.  xxxix.  9  (D'T 
instead  of  DXT).  Whether  the  indefinite  ex- 
pression {it^'T  "in  be  rendered  by  the  singu- 
lar, as  above,  or  by  the  plural — "  former  gene- 
rations " — is  a  matter  of  indiff'erence.  In  any 
case  no  particular  generation  of  the  past  is  in- 
tended, as  appears  also  from  the  following  ex- 
pression— "their  fathers,"  (i.  e.,  the  fathers  of 
those  former  generations). — And  give  heed  to 
the  research  of  their  fathers:  i.  e.,  to  that 
which  their  fathers  had  investigated  and  learned, 
to  the  experimental  wisdom  therefore  of  the 
fathers   reaching  back  into  the  remotest  anti- 


quity.— "^pn,  research  (ch.  v.  9  ;  ix.  10  ;  xxxiv. 
24),  here  in  the  sense  of  the  object,  or  the  re- 
sults of  research,  that  which   is  searched  out. 

With  |yiD1  supply  '"j^^)  which  is  elsewhere  put 
in  connection  with  the  Hiphil.  Olshausen's 
emendation  W2,  suggested  by  Deut.  xxxii.  10, 
is  unnecessary. 

Ver.  9.  For  we  are  of  yesterday,  and 
know  nothing. — This  is  the  reason  why  we 
should  hold  to  the  tradition  of  the  ancients. 
Lit.,  "  we  are  yesterday,"  i.  e.,  of,  or  belonging 
to  yesterday  (Sion  =  Vlor\  \i^JX,  Ewald,  ^296, 
d).  The  stress  here  laid  on  the  ephemeral  cha- 
racter of  the  present  generation  is  then  in  the 
second  member  illustrated  and   strengthened  by 

the  figure  of  a  shadow  (Ti') ;  comp.  ch.  xiv.  2; 
Ps.  cii.  12(11);  cix.  23;  Eccles.  vi.  12;  viii.  18, 
also  the  Greek  phrase  CKi-iic,  bvar  avdpuKoq  (Pin- 
dar, Pyth.  8,  99;  comp.  Sophocles,  Aj.  126, 
1236;  Ant.  1155;  Euripides,  Med.  1224,  etc.) 
This  fact,  that  the  life  of  men  is  so  perishable 
and  short  is  the  reason  for  the  demand  here 
mude  that  we  should  apply  ourselves  to  the  wis- 
dom of  the  ancients,  the  term  of  a  single  human 
life  being  insuflBcient  to  fathom  the  eternal  laws 
which  rule  the  universe ;  to  ascertain  these  we 
must  consult  the  collective  experience  of  huma- 
nity throughout  the  past.  There  is  no  specific 
proof  that  the  author  here  had  in  mind  the  re- 
mote generations  of  the  primeval  world,  to  wit, 
the  macrobiotic  races  of  the  ante-diluvian  pe- 
riod. 

Ver.  10.  "Will  not  they  teach  thee  [Ori 
emphatic],  say  to  thee  [10^*'  "say,"  rather 
than  '^2'^  "speak,"  because  their  words  are 
cited  in  the  verses  following],  and  bring  forth 
w^ords  out  of  their  heart  ? — The  heart  is  men- 
tioned  here  as  the  seat  of  understanding  and  re- 
flection, in  contrast  with  Job's  expressions,  as 
the  mere  empty  products  of  the  lips  (ver.  2;  ch. 
xi.  2  ;  XV.  3,  etc. ;  comp.  3^7  tJ^'N  (ch.  xxxiv. 
10,  34),  *'  a  man  of  heart,"  i.  e.,  of  understand- 
ing. In  regard  to  IN'^fV,  proment,  proferent 
(Vulg.),  comp.  Matth.  xiii.  52. 

Second  Strophe  :  Vers.  11-13.  First  specimen, 
as  reported  by  Bildad,  of  the  wise  teachings  of 
the  ancients,  not  indeed  cited  verbally,  but  still 
reproduced  freely,  and  in  exact  accordance  with 
the  sense.  [This  introduction  of  tlie  proverbial 
wisdom  of  antiquity  in  Bildads  discourse  is  a 
masterly  stroke  of  art,  worthy  of  especial  note 
(1)  Because  of  the  new  and  interesting  element 
which  it  contributes  to  the  rhetorical  variety  of 
the  book.  (2).  Because  of  its  significance  as  a 
feature  in  our  author's  dramatic  portraiture  of 
character,  Bildad  being  here  presented  to  us  as 
the  disciple  of  tradition,  the  "  proverbial  philo- 
sopher," in  contrast  with  the  more  mystically 
inclined  Eliphaz,  and  the  more  dogmatic  and 
self-assertive  Zophar.  (3).  Because  of  the  con- 
tribution thus  furnished  to  the  material  of  the 
book,  to  the  discussion  of  its  great  problem,  Bil- 
dad here  furnishing  to  this  discussion  the  voice 
of  tradition,  even  as  Eliphaz  had  furnished  the 
voice  of  the  supernatural  world.  See  below 
Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks,  No.  1. — E.]. 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-22. 


365 


Ver.  11.  Does  the  rush  grow  up  without 
mire  [or,  except  in  the  marsh]  ? — J<oi,  ac- 
cording to  the  Ilebr.  etymology  from  ><3J,  to 
swallow,  absorb,  fistula  hibere  (comp.  oh.  xxxix. 
24;  Gen.  xxiv.  17),  but  also  at  the  same  time 
an  Egyptian  word  (Copt,  kam,  cham,  reed), 
denotes  here,  as  in  Ex.  ii.  3 ;  Is.  xviii.  2 ;  xxxv. 
7,  the  Egyptian  papyrus  reed,  which  grows  in 
the  marshes  of  the  Nile,  but  which,  according 
to  Theophrast,  grows  also  in  Palestine,  the 
papyrus-shrub  [Cyperus papyrus  L.).  The  men- 
tion of  this  Egyptian  product  does  not  constitute 
a  conclusive  argument  for  the  composition  of 
the  poem  in  Egypt,  or  by  a  poet  of  Egyptian 
origin,  and  all  the  less  that  Bildad  is  here  only 
quoting  the  words  of  another  and  an  older  sage. 
Comp.  Introd.  |  7,  c.  ["  Bildad  likens  the  de- 
ceitful ground  on  which  tlie  prosperity  of  the 
godless  stands  to  the  dry  ground  on  which,  only 
for  a  time,  the  papyrus  or  reed  finds  water,  and 
grows  up  rapidly ;  shooting  up  quickly,  it  with- 
ers as  quickly;  as  the  papyrus  plant,  if  it  has 
no  perpetual  water,  though  the  finest  of  grasses, 
withers  oft"  when  most  luxuriantly  green,  before 
it  attains  maturity."  Dehtzscii;  see  also  Smith's 
Bib.  Die,  Art.  "Reed"].  Does  the  reed- 
grass  thrive  without  water  ?  inx  reads  in 
the  Egyptian  Greek  of  the  LXX.  (Is.  xix.  7), 
and  of  the  Book  of  Sirach  (ch.  xl.  16)  a^i,  and, 
as  Jerome  learned  from  the  Egyptians,  signifies 
in  their  language  or?ine  quod  in  palude  virens  nas- 
citur,  hence  the  grass  of  the  Nile-marshes,  seed- 
grass,  Nile-grass  (Copt,  ake,  okc=calamus,  jun- 

cus).  Instead  of  N73  of  the  first  member,  we 
have  here  ''{2,  in  the  sense  of  "without;"  for 
the  former  comp.  ch.  xxx.  28  ;  for  the  latter  ch. 

xxiv.  10;  xxxi.  39;  xxxiii.  9,  etc.  [' u  is  pro- 
perly constr,  St.  of  noun,  failure,  lack.]  Of  the 
two  synonymous  verbs,  HNr  in  the  first  member 
signifies  a  "shooting  up  on  high,"  an  expression 
suitable  to  the  size  of  the  papyrus,  which  grows 
to  the  height  of  ten  feet ;  NJti'1  (another  form 
of  r\lp\,  ver.  7 ;  comp.  Gesen.  §  75,  Rem.  21 
[§  74,  Rem.  22]),  in  the  second  member,  a  luxu- 
riant out-spreading  growth,  an  expression  suita- 
ble to  the  nature  of  the  marsh-grass. 

Ver.  12.  "While  yet  (it  is)  in  its  greenness 
(Cant.  vi.  11)  is  not  cut  down:  lit.  "is  not 
to  be  mowed  down,  not  to  be  cut  down,"  a  cir- 
cumstantial clause  ["a  proper  Imperf.,  in  a 
state  of  not  cut,  wra-cut."  D.w.]  comp.  Ewald, 
^  841,  f>. — Then,  sooner  than  all  grass  must 
it  dry  up :  because,  namely,  the  condition  of 
its  existence,  water,  is  all  at  once  withdrawn,  so 
that  now  it  decays  and  withers  sooner  than 
common  grass.  As  parallels  in  thought,  comp. 
ch.  V.  3;    IMatth.  vi.  30. 

Ver.  13.  So  are  the  ways  of  all  w^ho  for- 
get God. — A  closing  application  of  the  compa- 
rison precisely  similar  to  that  in  Prov.  i.  19, 
where  also  the  expression  "ways"  is  used  of 
what  happens  to  men,  their  fate  (comp.  also  Ps. 
i.    6;  Job    xxiii.    10;    Wisd.   v.    7,    and    often). 

For  Sx  "ViDl^  as  a  synonym  of  D'';'tJ'1,  the  un- 
godly, comp.  e.  g.  Ps.  is   18  (17) ;  1.  22.     And 


the  hope  cf  the  ungodly  perisheth:  comp. 
Prov.  I.  2S.  ^Jn  as  in  ch.  xiii.  16;  xv.  34 ;  xx. 
6,  and  often.  [In  all  these  passages,  and  wliere- 
ever  the  word  occurs,  the  Eng.  Ver.  renders 
"^pn  "  hypocrite,"  which  is  altogether  incorrect, 
the  idea  of  dissimulation  not  belonging  to  the 
word  at  all.  This  rendering  is  the  more  strange, 
seeing  that  the  cognate  verb  is  always  correcily 
rendered  to  be  polluted,  profane,  corrupt,  etc. 
— E.]  Dillmann  correctly  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  figure  of  the  reeds  and  grass  of  the 
marshes  perishing  by  the  sudden  drying  up  of 
the  water  is  intended  to  illustrate,  not  ttie  judg- 
ment which  will  visit  those  who  have  always 
been  ungodly,  but  only  those  who  were  at  one 
time  righteous,  and  therefore  prosperous,  but 
who  afterwards  fall  away  from  God.  In  so  far 
the  description  conveys  a  somewhat  different 
thought  from  that  in  ch.  v.  3. 

Third  and  Fourth  Strophes:  vers.  14-19.  A 
further  description  of  the  judgment  of  God  upon 
the  wicked,  founded  on  the  proverbial  wisdom 
of  the  ancients. 

Ver.  14.  He  whose  confidence  is  cut 
asunder. — "It^X  as  in  ch.  v.  5,  an  independent 
rel.  pron.,  connecting  the  verse  with  what  goes 
before ;  not  a  causal  particle :  guipj^e,  quoniam 
(Del.).  tOlp^  is  hardly  a  substantive,  either  of 
the  signification  "gourd"  (Reiske,  Hahn)  or 
"gossamer"  (Saadia,  in  Ewald-Dukes,  Bcitrdje 
zur  Gesch.  der  alt.  Auslegumj,  I.,  89).  [Fiirst 
and  Hengstenberg  prefer  regarding  it  as  a  noun, 
meaning  "  that  which  is  to  be  rejected."]  Both 
as  to  the  form  and  substance  of  the  word,  the 
only  justifiable  construction  of  it  is  as  a  Kal  Im- 
perf., deriving  it  either  from  £D1p=]'1p,  fastidire 
(Vulg.  and  many  of  the  ancients,  also  Schultens), 
or  with  the  Pesh.,  Chald.,  Kimchi,  Rosenm., 
Gesen.,  and  most  of  the  moderns,  from  a  verb 
D^Dp  (— pp),  "to  cut  oft"  (he,  whose  hope  is 
cut  off,  cujus  spes  succidltur) ;  or,  which  may  be 
still  more  correct,  from  L31p,  not  elsewhere  to  be 
met  with,  and  meaning  "to  cut,  to  be  brittle,  to 
break  asunder,"  and  so  treating  it  as  an  intran- 
sitive verb,  rather  than  as  Kal  Imperf.  with  .i, 
passive  signification  [comp.  Ewald,  ^  138,  i]. — 
And  his  trust  is  a  spider's  house :  i.  e.  that 
in  which  he  trusts  (•iniD.30,  sensu  obj.,  of  the 
object  of  the  trust),  proves  itself  to  be  as  perish- 
able as  a  spider's  web,  which  the  slightest  touch, 
or  a  mere  puff  of  wind  can  destroy.  For  this 
figure  comp.  Is.  lix.  5,  also  the  Koran,  Sur. 
xxix.  40,  and  the  Arabic  proverb  quoted  by 
Schultens,  Umbreit,  etc.  :  "  Time  destroys  the 
wall  of  the  skillfully  built  castle,  even  as  the 
house  of  the  spider  is  destroyed." 

Ver.  15.  More  specific  expansion  of  ver.  14  b. 
He  leaneth  on  his  house — as  the  object  of 
his  confidence,  like  the  man  spoken  of  in  Schil- 
ler's Jiell :  '^Fcst  zcie  der  Erde  Griind,"  etc. 
Comp.  on  Dan.  iv.  26.  [But  it  stands  not; 
he  holds  fast  to  it,  but  it  endures  not. 
There  is  a  certain  gradation  of  thought  in  the 
verse.  The  ungodly  first  leans,  stays  himself 
on  his  house,  but  it  gives  way  beneath  him; 
finding  this  to  be  the  case,  feeling  his  trust 
giving   way   beneath  him,   he   strengthens   his 


366 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


hold  on  it  (P'jn^),  grasps  it  with  all  his  might, 
as  a  sinking  man  seizes  violently  on  anything 
within  his  reach;  but  in  vain  I  He  and  his 
hope  all  tumble  to  ruin  together. — E.] 

Ver.  16  sq.  After  thus  dwelling  briefly  (vers. 
14,  15)  on  the  comparison  of  a  falling  house, 
the  description  now  returns  to  the  previous 
figure  derived  from  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
For  the  marsh-reed,  however,  there  is  substi- 
tuted the  climbing  plant,  with  its  high  and  luxu- 
riant growth ;  and  the  comparison  is  so  pre- 
sented that  between  the  figure  and  the  thing 
figured  there  is  no  sharp  line  of  distinction 
observed,  but  each  blends  with  the  other. 

Ver.  16.  Green  is  he  (the  ^jn  of  ver.  13, 
who  is  here  conceived  of  as  a  climbing  plant) 
in  the  sunshine :  in  the  same  heat  which 
causes  other  plants  to  wither.; — And  his 
sprouts  run  over  his  garden  (li^pJI"'  ["his 
suckers"]  as  in  ch.  xiv.  7;  xv.  30):  i.  e.  the 
whole  garden  in  which  he,  this  luxuriantly 
growing,  creeping  plant,  is  placed,  is  filled  and 
over-run  with  his  root-sprouts  which  cling  to 
all  about  them. 

Ver.  17.  His  roots  entwine  themselves 
(lit.  are  entwined)  over  heaps  of  stone;  he 
looks  upon  a  house  of  stone :  in  the  sense, 
that  is,  that  having  grown  up  on  it,  he  eagerly 
clings  to  it,  as  to  a  firm  support.  ['<0n  nin'' 
Cocceius  remarks :  non  timet  locum  lapidosum,  sed 
imperterritus  videt.  He  gazes  on  it  boldly  and 
confidently,  with  the  purpose  of  making  his 
home  in  it."  Henqst.]  By  this  is  naturally  to 
be  understood  a  real  stone  house,  its  walls  being 
of  this  material  (comp.  Gen.  xlix.  22,  according 
to  the  correct  explanation  of  modern  commen- 
tators), not  anything  figurative:  e.g.  the  solid 
structure  of  his  fortune,  as  Delitzsch  explains  it. 
Several  modern  commentators  (Bottcher,  Ewald, 
Stickel,  Fiirst,  Dillmann)  take  n''3=r2  (as  in 
Prov.  viii.  2),  hence  in  the  sense  of  "between, 
in  the  midst  of,"  and  ntn,  according  to  its  pri- 
mary signification,  in  the  sense  of:  "to  pierce 
through,  to  split  between;"  hence:  "to  pierce 
through  between  the  stones,"  viz.  with  its  roots. 
Possible,  but  perhaps  too  artificial.  [The  LXX. 
translate  :  iv  fxeaoi  xa^'^^f^v  ^r/aerai,  taking  iT'Il  in 
the  sense  of  |'3,  and  evidently  reading  or  sub- 
stituting nTT'  for  nirr.  Gesenius  regards  HTn 
here  as  a  bold  metaphor,  seeing  the  stones,  for 
feeling  them  with  the  roots.  Noyes  and  Renan 
regard  the  expression  as  describing  the  depth 
at  which  the  plant  takes  root.  The  latter's  ren- 
dering is :  "  His  roots  are  intertwined  at  the 
rock;  he  touches  the  region  of  the  granite." 
Wordsworth's  comment  is  interesting  :  "  He  sur- 
veyeth  a  house  of  stones  ;  he  is  like  a  tree  which 
seems  firmly  rooted  in  a  heap  of  stones,  and 
looks  dozen,  as  it  were,  with  a  domineering 
aspect,  and  a  proud  consciousness  of  strength 
on  a  house  of  stone,  in  which  he  appears  to  be 
firmly  built,  as  in  a  marble  palace  ;  and  yet  be 
will  soon  be  withered  and  rooted  up,  and  vanish 
from  the  face  of  the  earth. — Observe  the  order 
of  the  comparison.  The  sinner  had  been  first 
likened  to  a  plant  of  papyrus  or  reed-grass,  with 
its  tall  green  stem  and  flowery  tuft  flourishing 
in  the  watery  slime,  but  suddenly  withered, 
when  the  soil  in  which  it  is  set  is  dried  up :  he 


is  next  compared  to  a  shrub  sprouting  with 
fresh  leaves,  and  shooting  forth  its  luxuriant 
branches,  mantling  over  the  wall  of  the  garden ; 
and  lastly  he  is  likened  to  something  still  more 
robust,  to  a  tree  striking  its  roots  downwards 
into  a  cairn  of  stones,  and  looking  down  with 
proud  confidence  on  its  house  of  rock,  and  seem- 
ing to  defy  the  storm."  We  scarcely  seem  jus- 
tified, however,  in  assuming  a  different  plant  or 
free  to  be  intended  in  ver.  17  from  that  described 
in  ver.  IG. — Conant  thinks  that  "the  explana- 
tion long  ago  given  by  Olympiodorus  is  the  true 
one;  viz.  that  the  wicked  is  here  likened  to  a 
plant  springing  up  in  a  stony  soil,  and  perishing 
for  lack  of  depth  of  earth  :"  to  which  Davidsou 
justly  replies  that  "the  stones  assist,  not  impede 
the  growth  of  this  kind  of  plants,  and  ver.  17  is 
still  occupied  with  the  detail  of  the  luxuriance 
of  the  plant." — We  are  thus  led  back  to  the 
view  of  Zockler,  Schlottm.,  Hengst.,  etc.,  as  on 
the  whole  the  simplest  and  best;  that  both 
verses  describe  the  same  plant,  ver.  16  as  over- 
running the  garden  with  its  creepers,  ver.  17  as 
clinging  stoutly  to  its  house  of  stone. — E.] 

Ver.  18.  If  He  destroys  it  from  its  place. 
— The  subj.  in  ^ilj^.v?^.  (comp.  the  same  verb  in 
ch.  ii.  3)  is  either  to  be  left  indefinite:  "if  one 
destroys  him  from  his  place  [as  if  he  is  de- 
stroyed]," Umbreit,  etc.;  or,  which  is  better 
suited  to  the  poet's  whole  style  and  mode  of 
thought,  God  is  to  be  understood  as  the  subject. 
On  the  contrary,  in  the  second  member :  It 
shall  deny  him :  I  have  never  seen  thee], 
the  subject  to  be  supplied  with  the  verb  is  un. 

questionably:  "his  place"  (IDIpD).  It  is  a 
highly  poetical  conception  which  is  here  pre- 
sented: the  native  ground,  or  the  place  of 
growth  of  an  uprooted  tree,  i.  e.  of  a  transgressor 
cast  down  from  the  height  of  his  prosperity, 
being,  as  it  were,  ashamed  of  him,  denying  him 
and  refusing  to  know  anything  more  of  him. 

Ver.  19.  Behold  this  is  the  joy  [ironically 
said]  of  his  way :  i.  e.  so  does  it  end,  his  pre- 
tended joyful  way  of  living  (comp.  on  ver.  13) ; 
so  sudden,  calamitous  is  the  end  of  his  course. 
And  out  of  the  dust  shall  others  sprout 
up.  —  "Others"  ("inx  collect.,  comp.  Ewald, 
§  319,  a),  i.  e.  other  men  blessed  with  external 
prosperity,  whose  happiness  will  either  prove 
more  enduring,  or,  in  case  they  too  fall  away 
from  God,  will  as  surely  crumble  away  as  his. 

Third  Division  and  Fifth  Strophe:  Application 
of  the  wisdom  of  the  ancients,  as  just  cited,  to 
the  case  of  Job  :  vers.  20-22.  [The  picture  just 
given  suggested  a  solemn  warning  to  Job  to 
beware  of  incurring  such  a  fate.  Bildad,  how- 
ever, instead  of  giving  to  the  application  this 
minatory  turn,  uses  a  milder  and  more  concilia- 
tory tone,  encouraging  Job  to  repentance,  by 
promises  of  the  divine  favor. — E.] 

Ver.  20.  Behold,  God  despiseth  net  the 
pious  man,  and  grasps  not  the  hand  of 
evil-doers :  i.  e.  in  order  to  help  and  support 
them;  comp  Is.  xli.  13;  xlii.  6;  Ps.  Ixxiii.  23; 
as  also  the  figurative  expansion  of  this  truth  just 
given  ver.  12  sq. 

Ver.  21.  [Expanding,  with  personal  applica- 
tion,   the    thought  of  ver.  20  a]. — While    He 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-22. 


367 


will  fill  thy  mouth  with  laughter,  and 
thy  lips  with  rejoicing. — Delitzaoh  (refer- 
ring to  ch.  i.  18;  Ps.  cxli.  10)  rightly  interprets 
n;?  at  the  beginning  of  this  verae  in  the  sense 
of  "while,"  and  takes  the  whole  verse  as  the 
protasis  of  which  ver.  22  is  the  apodosis. 
Others  take  "^H  ia  the  less  suitable  sense  of 
"yea  even"  (Umbreit),  or  amend  to  i^^,  "yet," 
comparing  the  passage  with  Ps.  xlii.  6  (Cocceius, 
Houbigant,  Bottcher,  Ewald.  Stickel,  Dillmann). 
For  the  expression:  "to  fill  any  one's  mouth 
with  laughter,"  comp.  Ps.  cxxvi.  2;  for  the  text 

nb^'',  instead  of  N7O'  (the  case  being  accord- 
ingly the  reverse  of  that  in  ver.  11,  b),  comp. 
Geseni.is.  §  75  [?  74],  21,  b. 

Ver.  22.  [Expansion  of  20  b,  with  personal 
application  to  Job's  enemies.] — They  that 
hate  thee  shall  be  clothed  in  shame  :  the 
same  comparison  in  Ps.  xxxv.  26;  cix.  29; 
cxxxii.  18.  Observe  how  persuasive  and  con- 
ciliatory is  this  conclusion  of  Bildad's  discourse, 
in  that  he  wishes  for  the  "haters"  of  .Tob 
the  worst  fate,  the  portion  of  the  ungodly  ;  thus 
unmistakably  separating  himself  and  his  friends 
from  that  class,  and  placing  himself  decidedly 
on  the  side  of  Job. — And  the  tent  of  the 
wicked — it  is  no  more. — For  the  use  of  the 
term  "tent"  as  a  concrete  expression  for  the 
totality  of  well-being,  comp.  v.  24.  Altogether 
too  artificial  is  the  explanation  of  Dillmann  and 
others,  denying  the  identity  of  the  "wicked" 
with  the  "haters"  in  the  first  member,  thus 
rendering  the  1  at  the  beginning  of  this  member 
adversatively :  "but  the  tent  of  the  wicked  is  no 
more,"  as  though  Ps.  i.  6  were  a  par^Jlel  pas- 
sage, and  the  whole  discourse  of  Bildad,  not- 
withstanding the  milder  tone  assumed  in  the 
last  strophe,  should  still  close  with  a  warning 
or  a  threat.  That  this  is  in  truth  the  case,  only 
indirectly  (i.  e.  in  so  far  as  the  whole  of  ver.  22 
dwells  on  the  miserable  lot  of  the  wicked,  with- 
out recurring  to  the  description  of  Job's  pros- 
perity, and  closing  with  that),  see  in  the  Doc- 
trinal and  Ethical  Remarks,  No.  3, 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

The  similarity  of  this  first  discourse  of  Bildad  to 
that  of  Eliphaz  is  so  marked  that  it  can  almost 
be  termed  an  abbreviated  repetition,  differing 
considerably  in  the  application  of  several  parti- 
culars, of  that  with  which  Eliphaz  had  already 
charged  .Job.  The  same  censorious  introduction 
and  the  same  mitigating  and  conciliatory  close! 
And  in  the  body  of  the  discourse  the  same  ex- 
hortation to  betake  himself  to  God  in  penitence 
and  in  prayer  for  help,  with  the  accompanying 
promise  of  salvation  (comp.  ver.  5seq.  with  chap. 
V.  8  seq.) ;  the  same  figurative  vesture  frequently 
for  one  and  the  same  truth,  as,  in  particular,  the 
description,  twice  occurring  (ver.  12  and  ver. 
18),  of  tlie  sudden  withering  and  perishing  of  a 
plant  of  luxuriant  gro^vth,  an  unmistakable  copy 
of  the  description  first  given  by  Eliphaz  in  chap. 
V.  3  seq.  Another  noteworthy  point  of  similarity 
between  the  two  discourses  is  that  Eliphaz,  in 
order  more  vividly  to  set  forth  and  more  forcibly 
to  emphasize  the  central  thought  which  he  incul- 
cates, presents  the  same  in  the  form  of  a  divine 


revelation  brought  to  him  mysteriously  by  night, 
while  Bildad  seeks  to  accomplish  the  same  result 
by  introducing  the  ancient  teachers  of  wisdom 
as  speaking,  in  place  of  himself  (comp.  ver.  8  seq. 
with  chap.  iv.  12  seq.).  In  this  citation  from  the 
traditional  Chokmah  he  gives  a  free  reproduction 
of  the  same,  in  like  manner  as  Eliphaz  in  his 
account  of  the  vision  had  furnished  an  ideal,  po- 
etic picture.  ["It  was  a  hard  stroke  on  Job  to 
see  not  only  his  friends  of  the  present,  but  all 
good  and  wise  men  of  the  past,  marshalled 
against  him;  and  tremendous  must  have  been 
his  force  of  conscience  to  resist  and  drive  from 
the  field  such  outnumbering  odds."  Davidson. 
"It  is  a  very  important  point  which  Bildad  hera 
makes.  There  is  no  surer  way  of  falling  into 
error  than  for  one  individual  or  one  age  wilfully 
and  proudly  to  cut  loose  from  its  connection  with 
the  whole,  and  to  resolve  to  be  wise  indepen- 
dently and  alone.  That  is  historical  rational- 
ism, of  which  that  which  is  commonly  called  ra- 
tionalism is  but  one  species.  The  witness  of 
tradition  indeed  is  to  be  received  cum  grano  sa- 
ils— and  at  this  point  the  friends  arc  at  fault. 
Something  more  is  required  than  a  correct  un- 
derstanding; the  truth  transmitted  by  historic 
tradition  always  has  aspects  which  have  not  yet 
been  completely  developed  ;  it  is  not  enough  to 
bring  forward  the  whole — we  must  also,  when 
new  problems  present  themselves,  be  prepared 
to  build  up  the  New  on  the  basis  of  the  Old. 
That  was  the  point  where  Elihu  had  the  advan- 
tage  over  the  friends."  Hengstenbkro.]  It 
seems  accordingly  as  though  the  poet  had  pur- 
posed to  put  Bildad  forward  as  simply  an  imita- 
tor of  Eliphaz,  destitute  of  independence,  and  to 
present  his  continuation  of  the  discussion  of  the 
latter  as  a  weaker  reproduction  of  the  same,  his 
object  being  thus  to  cast  into  the  shade  and  to 
subordinate  the  spiritual  significance  of  tho 
friends  and  their  position  as  compared  with  that 
of  Job. 

2.  At  the  same  time,  however,  this  discourse 
is  not  wanting  in  new  thoughts,  which  show 
that  it  aims  to  attack  Job  from  another  side  than 
that  chosen  by  his  former  critic.  Eliphaz  had 
argued  against  Job  from  the  doctrine,  derived 
from  experience,  of  the  absolute  universality  of 
human  sinfulness.  Bildad  strenuously  maintains 
against  him  the  inexorable  justice  of  God,  who  does 
not  let  the  sinner  go  unpunished,  nor  the  right- 
eous unrewarded.  His  fundanieiital  thought  is 
presented  in  ver.  3:  "Will  God  pervert  the 
right,  or  the  Almighty  pervert  justice?"  or,  as 
it  is  somewhat  differently  conceived,  and  witli  a 
particular  application  to  Job's  case  in  ver.  20: 
"Behold,  God  does  not  spurn  the  godly,  nor 
take  fast  hold  of  (lend  support  to)  the  hand  of 
evil-doers."  The  entire  discourse  is  devoted  to 
the  discussion  of  this  proposition,  that  the  im- 
mutability of  God's  justice  [\\\s  Juslitia  judicialis, 
tamremuneratoria  quam  punitiva)  is  demonstrated 
alike  in  its  treatment  of  the  evil  and  of  the  god- 
ly. Every  part  of  the  discourse  aims  to  establish 
this — the  admonitory  reference  to  the  punish- 
ment inflicted  on  Job's  children  (ver.  4),  the  ex- 
hortation to  him  to  beseech  God  for  help  and  re- 
conciliation (ver.  5seq.),  the  striking  illustrations 
given  of  the  perishableness  of  the  prosperity  of 
him  who  forgets  God  (ver.  11  seq.),  and  the  con- 


368 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


eluding  promise  of  happiness  to  him,  if  (as  Bil- 
dad  hopefully  assumes  he  will  do)  he  will  repent 
and  return  to  God  (ver.  21  seq.).  Like  Eliphaz, 
or  indeed  in  still  higher  measure  than  he,  Bildad 
seems,  in  all  that  he  says  on  these  points,  to  es- 
tablish himself  entirely  on  the  truth.  There 
seems  to  be  scarcely  any  thing  in  his  words  un- 
scriptural,  partial,  or  at  all  censurable.  On  the 
objective  side,  that  which  relates  to  the  right- 
eousness of  God's  treatment,  his  words  seem  as 
little  liable  to  the  charge  of  a  one-sided  narrow- 
ness, as  on  the  subjective  side,  or  that  which 
sums  up  the  case  for  Job,  they  are  liable  to 
that  of  inconsiderateness  or  unloving  harsh- 
ness. 

3.  That  this,  however,  is  only  on  the  surface 
is  evident  from  the  painful  venomous  dart  which 
at  the  very  beginning  almost  of  his  discourse  he 
aims  at  the  heart  of  Job  in  the  harsh  judgment 
which  he  pronounces  on  his  children,  in  the  as- 
sertion, hypothetic  indeed  in  form,  but  direct  in 
its  application,  that  their  sudden  death  was  the 
consequence  of  their  sin,  the  merited  punishment 
of  their  crime.  At  the  bottom  of  this  assertion 
there  lies  nnquesVionahly  a.  one-sidedli/  harsh,  ffross 
and  external  representation  of  the  nature  and  opera- 
tions of  God's  retrihutive  justice.  He  is  evidently 
entangled  in  the  short-sighted  doctrine  of  retri- 
bution which  prevailed  in  antiquity,  both  within 
the  theocracy,  and  in  general  in  the  monotheistic 
oriental  world.  He  imagines  that  he  is  able,  by 
means  of  the  common-places  formally  stated  in 
vers.  2  and  20  to  solve  all  the  riddles  of  life. 
Hence  the  self-righteous,  Pharisaic  condition  to 
which  he  subjects  the  saving  efficacy  of  Job's 
penitent  supplication  to  God:  "z/ thou  [i.e., 
provided  thou)  art  pure  and  righteous"  (ver.  6) 
— back  of  which  we  see  clearly  enough  the  im- 
plied thought :  if  thou  art  not  righteous,  all  thy 
prnying  and  beseeching  is  of  no  avail  1  Hence 
still  further  the  malicious  indirect  attack  on 
Job  which  is  conveyed  by  the  wise  teachings  of 
the  ancients  (ver.  11  seq.)  respecting  the  sudden 
destruction  of  the  man  who  forgets  God!  It 
would  seem  as  though  by  these  descriptions  of 
the  sudden  withering  and  perishing  of  the  Nile- 
reed,  and  of  the  destruction  and  uprooting  of  the 
thriving  climbing-plant,  Job's  fall  from  the 
height  of  his  former  prosperity  was  pictured. 
We  can  imagine  that  it  is  in  Bildid's  thought  to 
exclaim  to  his  friend,  like  Daniel  to  king  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, "The  tree  ...  it  is  thou,  0  king!" 
(Dan.  iv.  17  [20]  seq.).  Even  the  practical  ap- 
plication at  the  close  of  the  discourse,  with  its 
prediction  of  prosperity,  has  imparted  to  it  by 
all  this  a  tlavor  of  bitterness  to  him  who  is  ad- 
dressed, especially  seeing  that  the  last  words  of 
the  speaker  dwell  on  the  certain  destruction,  and 
the  inevitable  punishment,  which  the  wicked  in- 
cur, as  though  the  stern  moralizer  must  perforce 
repeatedly  relapse  out  of  the  tone  of  promise  in- 
fo that  of  censure  and  menace  (comp.  on  ver.  22). 
The  fundamental  error  in  Bildad's  argument  lies 
in  a  rigidly  legal  interpretation  of  the  idea  of 
justice,  unmodified  by  a  single  softening  ray 
from  an  evangelical  experience  of  saltation  and 
of  the  merciful  love  of  God  as  Father — a  repre- 
sentation of  the  nature  of  divine  justice  which  is 
directly  opposed  to  the  proper  sense  of  p7.X'  ^P"'V 
(terms  which  denote  the  divine  activity  only  as 


conditioned  and  ruled  by  God's  holiness,  or  holy 
love).  It  is  by  this  error  that  all  that  is  harsh 
and  one-sided  in  his  discourse  is  to  be  explained. 
He  knows  nothing  of  a  God  disciplining  and 
proving  men  in  love,  as  a  father  his  chil- 
dren. All  human  suflfering  he  regards  as  simply 
and  solely  an  infliction  of  God's  retributive  jus- 
tice, which  begins  to  punish  when  man  turns 
away  from  God,  and  abates  the  suffering  only 
when  he  returns  to  him  again.  "If  Bildad  had 
represented  Job's  suffering  as  a  chastisement  of 
divine  love,  which  was  to  humble  him  in  order 
the  more  to  exalt  him.  Job  would  then  have  been 
constrained  to  humble  himself,  although  Bildad 
might  not  have  been  altogether  in  the  right. 
But  Bildad,  still  further  than  Eliphaz  from  weak- 
ening the  erroneous  supposition  of  a  hostile  God 
which  had  taken  possession  of  Job's  mind,  repre- 
sents God's  justice,  to  which  he  attributes  the 
death  of  his  children,  instead  of  His  love,  as  the 
hand  under  which  Job  is  to  humble  himself. 
Thereby  the  comfort  which  Job's  friend  oflFers  to 
him  becomes  a  torture,  and  his  trial  is  made  still 
greater;  for  his  conscience  does  not  accuse  him 
of  any  sins  for  which  he  should  now  have  an 
angry  instead  of  a  gracious  God."   (Del.) 

4.  Notwithstanding  these  one-sided  and  erro- 
neous characteristics,  the  present  discourse  fur- 
nishes to  the  practical  expositors  something  more 
than  material  for  criticism  from  the  stand-point 
of  the  New  Testament  faith  and  religious  con- 
sciousness. What  it  says  in  vindication  of  the 
righteous  dealings  of  God,  is  in  itself  considered, 
and  especially  in  contrast  with  Job's  unseemly 
and  passionate  complaints,  well  grounded  and 
unassailable.  We  might  just  as  well  find  a  dif- 
ficulty with  descriptions  of  the  righteous  admi- 
nistration of  the  world  similar  to  this,  such  as 
are  found  in  the  Psalms  (Ps.  i.  ;  Ps.  vii.  ;  Ps. 
xviii.  21  [20]  seq.;  Ps.  xxxiv.  13  [12]  seq.),  and 
find  in  them  nothing  but  expressions  of  religious 
peiversity,  and  of  an  unevangelical  w'ay  of 
thinking  and  acting;  and  yet  such  a  view  of 
those  expressions,  occurring  as  they  do  in  quite 
another  connection,  would  be  entirely  without 
foundation.  The  poetic  beauty,  moreover,  of 
the  illustrations  of  the  miserable  lot  of  the 
wicked  in  ver.  11  seq.  would  lose  all  value  if  we 
were  to  apply  this  one-sided  critical  standard 
to  the  discourse,  and  to  consider  it  07ily  as  the 
expression  of  a  disposition  of  hypocritical  work- 
righteousness.  This  the  homiletic  expositor  is 
evidently  not  bound  to  do.  Besides  those  one- 
sided and  harsh  features  of  the  discourse,  he 
may  and  should  give  prominence  also  to  that 
which  is  eternally  true  and  beautiful  in  it,  as  an 
inspired  eulogy  of  the  righteous  intervention  of 
the  Godhead  in  the  destinies  of  mankind.  And 
— a  point  which  in  particular  is  not  to  be  over- 
looked— he  must  baar  in  mind  that,  as  is  shown 
by  the  wise  sayings  of  the  ancients,  quoted  by 
Bildad  from  a  gray  antiquity,  the  knowledge 
which  experience  brings  of  God's  retributive 
justice  as  visibly  exercised  in  this  world  was 
possessed  by  the  pious  of  our  race  even  in  the 
earliest  times ;  and  still  further — that  for  this 
knowledge  of  God's  holy  and  righteous  ordering 
of  the  world — a  knowledge  which  is  deeply  im- 
pressed on  the  universal  consciousness  of  man- 
kind, and  which  is  kept  fresh  and  vivid  by  great 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-22. 


360 


historical  examples,  such  as  the  liistoriea  of 
Noah  anci  his  contemporaries,  of  Abraham  and 
Lot,  of  Joseph,  Moses,  Korah,  Balaam,  elc. — the 
only  foundation  which  can  be  assumed  as  under- 
lying all  else  is  a  positive  original  revelation  in 
the  beginning  of  humanity's  history. — And  this 
is  what  determines  the  value  and  applicability 
of  the  following  selections  from  practical  exe- 
getes  of  the  past,  which  are  here  given  as 

Homiletic  and  Practical  Remarks  on  Single  Pas- 
sages. 

Vers.  3,  4.  Brentitts  :  Such  as  do  not  under- 
stand the  glory  of  God's  Gospel,  but  are  unwisely 
carried  away  by  zeal  for  the  Law,  say:  the  way 
of  the  Lord  is  not  just,  because  He  forgets  the 
wickedness  of  him  who  repents,  and  the  good- 
ness of  him  who  relapses  into  sin — whereas, 
according  to  what  is  decreed  in  the  Law,  evil  is 
to  be  punished  and  good  rewarded.  But  they 
hear  it  said  again:  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the 
death  of  the  wicked,  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  return 
ye,  and  live,  and  all  your  sins  f  hall  be  forgotten. 
— Zeltner:  Nothing  is  easier  or  more  common 
■with  the  world  than  by  a  precipitate  judgment 
to  sin  against  one's  neighbor  in  respect  to  his 
misfortunes,  especially  when  believers  are  con- 
cerned  Although  God  visits  the  iniquity 

of  fathers  on  their  children,  the  calamities  which 
befall  pious  children  are  nevertheless  no  proof 
that  they  or  their  parents  have  sinned  (John 
is.  3). 

Ver.  8  seq.  Cocceius  :  There  is  no  doubt  but 
that  fathers  ought  to  transmit  the  revelations 
which  they  have  received  from  God  to  their 
children  and  to  other  men ;  and  that,  moreover, 
through  God's  blessing,  the  truth  has  been  pre- 
served for  a  time  among  some  through  such  tra- 
dition ;  although  the  conjecture  is  not  improba- 
ble that  our  fathers  (from  the  time  of  Moses  on) 
delivered  much  to  writing. — Brentius:  Our 
life,  as  its  origin  was  most  recent,  so  is  its  end 
most  swift;  so  that  some  one  has  well  said: 
Man  is  a  bubble,  which  having  suddenly  arisen 
on  the  face  of  the  water,  soon  perishes.  Seeing 
then  that  our  life  is  most  short,  prudence  in  the 
management  of  affairs  should  be  learned  from 
those  who  are  older,  and  from  our  ancestors; 
for  the  authority  of  the  aged  is  sacred  and  vene- 
rable. 

Vers.  11-19.  Starke  (according  to  the  Wcim. 
Bib.):  The  hopeofhypocrites  is  perishable;  for  it 
24 


is  founded  not  on  God.  but  only  on  that  which  is 
temporal  and  perishable  (Ps.  xxxvii.  3-''>seq.;  xlix. 
12;  ICor.  vii.  31;  IJohnii.  17).  —  Woulfautii  : 
The  prosperity  of  the  ungodly  is  o-  ly  upixirent : 
so  teaches  the  wisdom  of  ttie  ancients,  so  preaches 
tlie  Holy  Scripture,  so  testifies  experience,  so 
proves  the  nature  of  things.  For  the  happiness 
of  sin  is  neither  real,  nor  satisfactory,  nor  en- 
during. The  peace  which  makes  us  truly  happy 
is  not  dependent  on  external  posses.sions. — Vicr. 
Andreae:  The  wise  proverbs  of  antiquity,  to 
which  Bildad  (with  affected  humility)  refers 
Job,  are  intended  to  teach  the  latter  tiia'  as 
there  are  no  reeds  without  a  marsh,  so  also  Job's 
calamity  in  strict  propriety  could  proceed  only 
out  of  his  great  wickedness;  wlierefore  Job 
must  not  wonder  at  it;  nay,  his  confidence  in 
his  good  conscience  would  be  a  treacherous 
support,  as  he  will  soon  enough  find  to  his  cost. 
Ver.  20  seq.  Brentius:  Altliough  the  ungodly 
may  seem  to  flourish  and  to  be  blessed  in  this 
world,  they  are  nevertheless  exposed  to  the 
curse,  which  in  its  own  time  is  revealed.  And 
as  the  ungodly  now  behold  the  afflictions  of  the 
godly  in  this  world  with  the  greatest  rejoicing 
of  soul,  so  again  in  God's  judgment  day  they 
will  be  the  laughing-stock  of  all  creatures,  and 
will  be  confounded  before  them  :  Is.  Ixvi. — Coc- 
ceius (on  ver.  20):  From  hence  it  is  apparent 
that  it  happens  to  the  ungodly  as  to  tlie  papyrus 
and  sedge  ;  to  tlie  godly  as  to  an  herb  that  is 
transplanted.  The  justice  of  God  cannot  tliere- 
fore  be  accused,  as  though  it  would  not  reward 
each  one  according  to  his  way  of  living.  For 
although  the  papyrus  and  the  grass  are  attached 
to  the  water,  they  do  nevertheless  dry  up.  And 
although  a  good  herb  may  be  dug  out,  it  is 
nevertheless  planted  anew  elsewhere  with  a 
great  increase  of  fertility  and  utility.  A  mea- 
sure of  happiness  for  the  ungodly  does  not  dis- 
honor God's  justice  ;  trusting  in  their  happiness 
they  are  brought  to  shame  and  confusion;  nei- 
ther is  it  dishonored  by  the  affliction  of  the 
righteous,  which  is  for  their  good. — Zeltner: 
Just  as  the  suffering  of  the  godly  is  no  proof 
that  they  have  been  rejected  by  God,  so  also  the 
brilliant  prosperity  of  the  ungodly  is  no  proof 
that  they  are  in  God's  favor.  But  God  permits 
such  things  to  happen  in  order  to  test  lli.s  peo- 
ple's patience,  faith  and  hope,  and,  at  the  right 
time,  to  save  them  and  make  them  happy  for- 
ever. Therefore,  my  Christian  brother,  conti- 
nue pious,  and  keep  in  the  right  (Ps.  xxxvii.  37). 


370  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


B. — Job's  reply:  Assertion  of  his  innocence  and  a  monrnful  description  of  the  in- 
comprehensibleness  of  his  suffering  as  a  dark  horrible  destiny. 

Chapters  IX — X. 

1.  God  is  certainly  the  Almighty  and  Ever-Righteous  One,  who  ia  to  be  feared;  but  His  power 

is  too  terrible  for  mortal  man: 

Ch.  IX.  2-12. 

1  Then  Job  answered  and  said, 

2  I  know  it  is  so  of  a  truth  : 

but  how  should  man  be  just  with  God  ? 

3  If  he  will  contend  with  Him, 

he  cannot  answer  Him  one  of  a  thousand, 

4  He  is  wise  in  heart,  and  mighty  in  strength  ; 

who  hath  hardened  himself  against  Him,  and  hath  prospered? 

5  Which  removeth  the  mountains,  and  they  know  not: 
which  overturneth  them  in  His  anger ; 

6  which  shaketh  the  earth  out  of  her  place, 
and  the  pillars  thereof  tremble ; 

7  which  commandeth  the  sun,  and  it  riseth  not ; 
and  sealeth  up  the  stars ; 

8  Which  alone  spreadeth  out  the  heaven, 
and  treadeth  upon  the  waves  of  the  sea  ; 

9  which  maketh  Arcturus,  Orion,  and  Pleiades, 
and  the  chambers  of  the  South  ; 

10  which  doeth  great  things,  past  finding  out ; 
yea,  and  wonders  without  number. 

1 1  Lo,  He  goeth  by  me,  and  I  see  Him  not ; 
He  passeth  on  also,  but  I  perceive  Him  not. 

12  Behold,  He  taketh  away,  who  can  hinder  Him? 
who  will  say  unto  Him,  What  doest  Thou  ? 

2.  The  oppressive  effect  of  this  Omnipotence  and  Arbitrariness  of  God  impels  him,  as  an  innocent 

sufferer,  to  presumptuous  speeches  against  God: 

Verses  13-35. 

13  If  God  will  not  withdraw  His  anger, 
the  proud  helpers  do  stoop  under  Him. 

14  How  much  less  shall  I  answer  Him, 

and  choose  out  my  words  to  reason  with  Him  ? 

15  Whom,  though  I  were  righteous,  yet  would  I  not  answer, 
but  I  would  make  supplication  to  my  judge. 

16  If  I  had  called,  and  He  had  answered  me, 

yet  would  I  not  believe  that  He  had  hearkened  to  my  voice. 

17  For  He  breaketh  me  with  a  tempest, 

and  multiplieth  ray  wounds  without  cause. 

18  He  will  not  suffer  me  to  take  my  breath, 
but  filleth  me  with  bitterness. 

19  If  I  speak  of  strength — lo,  He  is  strong ! 

and  if  of  judgment,  who  shall  set  me  a  time  to  plead? 


CHAPS.  IX.  1-35— X.  1-22.  371 


20  If  I  justify  myself,  mine  own  mouth  shall  condemn  me  ; 
If  I  say,  I  am  perfect,  it  shall  also  prove  me  perverse. 

21  Though  I  were  perfect,  yet  would  I  not  know  ray  soul ; 
I  would  despise  my  life. 

22  This  is  one  thing,  therefore  I  said  it,^ 

He  destroyeth  the  perfect  and  the  wicked. 

23  If  the  scourge  slay  suddenly, 

He  will  laugh  at  the  trial  of  the  innocent. 

24  The  earth  is  given  into  the  hand  of  the  wicked: 
He  covereth  the  faces  of  the  judges  thereof; 

if  not,  where,  and  who  is  He  ? 

25  Now  my  days  are  swifter  than  a  post ; 
they  flee  away,  they  see  no  good. 

26  They  are  past  away  as  the  swift  ships  ; 
as  the  eagle  that  hasteth  to  the  prey. 

27  If  I  say,  I  will  forget  my  complaint, 

I  will  leave  off  my  heaviness,  and  comfort  myself; 

28  I  am  afraid  of  all  ray  sorrows, 

I  know  that  Thou  wilt  not  hold  rae  innocent. 

29  If  I  be  wicked, 

Why  then  labor  I  in  vain  ? 

30  If  I  wash  myself  with  snow  water, 
and  make  my  hands  never  so  clean, 

31  yet  shalt  Thou  plunge  me  in  the  ditch, 
and  mine  own  clothes  shall  abhor  me. 

32  For  He  is  not  a  man,  as  I  am,  that  I  should  answer  Him, 
and  we  should  come  together  in  judgment. 

33  Neither  is  there  any  daysman  betwixt  us, 
that  might  lay  his  hand  upon  us  both. 

34  Let  Him  take  His  rod  away  from  me, 
and  let  not  His  fear  terrify  me ; 

35  then  would  I  speak,  and  not  fear  Him ; 
but  it  is  not  so  with  me. 

3.  A  plaintive  description  of  tlie  merciless  severity  with  which  God  rages  against  him,  although 
as  an  Omniscient  Being,  He  knows  that  he  is  innocent : 

Chapter  X.  1-22. 

1  My  soul  is  weary  of  my  life ; 

I  will  leave  my  complaint  upon  myself; 
I  will  speak  in  the  bitterness  of  ray  soul. 

2  I  will  say  unto  God,  Do  not  conderan  me ; 
show  me  wherefore  Thou  contendest  with  rae. 

3  Is  it  good  unto  Thee,  that  Thou  shouldest  oppress, 
that  thou  shouldest  despise  the  work  of  Thine  hands, 
and  shine  upon  the  counsel  of  the  wicked  ? 

4  Hast  Thou  eyes  of  flesh  ? 

or  seest  Thou  as  man  seeth  ? 

5  Are  Thy  days  as  the  days  of  man  ? 
are  Thy  years  as  man's  days, 

6  that  Thou  inquirest  after  mine  iniquity, 
and  searchest  after  ray  sin  ? 

7  Thou  knowest  that  I  am  not  wicked ; 

and  there  is  none  that  can  deliver  out  of  Thy  hand. 


372 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


8  Thine  hands  have  made  me  and  fashioned  me 
together  round  about — yet  Thou  dost  destroy  me  ! 

9  Remember,  I  beseech  Thee,  that  Thou  hast  made  me  as  the  clay  ; 
and  wilt  Tbou  bring  me  into  dust  again  ? 

10  Hast  Thou  not  poured  me  out  as  milk, 
and  curdled  me  as  cheese  ? 

11  Thou  hast  clothed  me  with  skin  and  flesh, 
and  hast  fenced  me  with  bones  and  sinews. 

12  Thou  hast  granted  me  life  and  favor, 

and  Thy  visitation  hath  preserved  my  spirit. 

13  And  these  things  hast  Thou  hid  in  Thine  heart ; 
I  know  that  this  is  with  Thee. 

14  If  I  sin,  then  Thou  markest  me, 

and  Thou  wilt  not  acquit  me  from  mine  iniquity. 

15  If  I  be  wicked,  woe  unto  me ! 

and  if  I  be  righteous,  yet  will  I  not  lift  up  my  head  : 

I  am  full  of  confusion  ;  therefore  see  Thou  mine  affliction. 

16  For  it  increaseth.     Thou  hauntest  me  as  a  fierce  lion  : 
and  again  Thou  shewest  Thyself  marvellous  upon  me. 

17  Thou  renewest  Thy  witnesses  against  me, 
and  increasest  Thine  indignation  upon  me ; 
changes  and  war  ai'e  against  me. 

18  Wherefore  then  hast  Thou  brought  me  forth  out  of  the  womb  ? 
Oh  that  I  had  given  up  the  ghost,  and  no  eye  had  seen  me  ! 

19  I  should  have  been  as  though  I  had  not  been  ; 

I  should  have  been  carried  from  the  womb  to  the  grave. 

20  Are  not  ray  days  few  ?     Cease  then, 

and  let  me  alone,  that  I  may  take  comfort  a  little, 

21  before  I  go  whence  I  shall  not  return, 

even  to  the  land  of  darkness,  and  the  shadow  of  death  ; 

22  a  land  of  darkness,  as  darkness  itself; 

and  of  the  shadow  of  death,  without  any  order,' 
and  where  the  light  is  as  darkness ! 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  As  we  have  seen,  Eliphaz  and  Bildatl  had 
alike  made  the  attempt,  on  the  basis  of  their 
common  places,  such  as  the  fact  of  the  universal 
sinfulness  of  men,  and  that  of  the  invariable  jus- 
tice of  God's  dealings,  to  extort  from  .Job  the 
confession  of  His  own  ill-desert  as  tlie  cause  of 
his  suffering.  Neither  of  them  had  heeded  his 
request  to  render  a  more  reasonable  and  just  de- 
cision concerning  his  case  (ch.  vi.  28-30).  Tn 
this  new  reply  accordingly  he  addresses  himself 
to  both  at  once,  and  maintains  most  emphatically, 
and  even  with  impassioned  vehemence  that  their 
propositions,  true  as  they  were  in  general,  were 
not  applicable  to  his  case.  These  propositions 
which  they  advanced  concerning  God's  unap- 
proachable purity,  and  inexorable  justice  he  ad- 
mits, but  only  in  order  "satirically  to  twist 
them  into  a  recognition  of  that  which  is  for  mor- 
tal man  a  crushing,  overpowering  omnipo'ence 
in  God,  disposing  of  him  with  an  arbitrariness 
which  admits  of  no  reply  "  (ch.  ix.  2-12).  He 
then,  in  daring  and  presumptuous  lansruago.  ar- 
raigns this  terrible  Being,  this  arbitrary  Divine 
disposer,    who,    as  he  thinks,   notwithstanding 


his  innocence,  is  resolved  to  hold  and  treat  him 
as  guilty  (ch  ix..  13-35).  And  finally,  under  the 
influence  of  these  gloomy  reflection*  he  falls  back 
into  his  former  strain  of  doubt  «nd  lamentation 
(in  ch.  3),  closing  with  a  sentiment  repeated  ver- 
bally from  that  lamentation,  although  in  a  con- 
densed form,  and  casting  a  gloomy  look  toward 
that  Hereafter,  which  promises  him  nothing  bet- 
ter, nothing  but  an  endless  prolongation  of  his 
present  misery  (ch,  x.  1-22).  [Dil'mann  calls 
attention  to  the  f^act  that  while  in  the  former  dis- 
course Job  had  directed  one  entire  section  against 
his  friends,  here  he  says  nothing  formally  against 
them,  but  soliloquizes,  as  it  were  in  their  hear- 
ing, leaving  them  to  infer  whither  their  assaults 
are  driving  him].  The  first  of  these  three  tole- 
rably long  divisions  embraces  four  short  stro- 
phes (the  first  three  consisting  of  three  verses 
each,  the  last  of  two) ;  the  second  division  con- 
sists of  two  equal  sub-divisions  (vers.  13-24  and 
vers.  25-35)  each  of  three  strophes,  and  each 
strophe  of  four  verses;  the  third  division  com- 
prises, after  an  exordium  of  three  lines  (ch  x. 
1)  two  double-strophes  (vers.  2-12  and  13-22) 
the  first  formed  of  one  strophe  of  6,  and  one  of 
5  verses,  the  second  of  two  strophes,  each  of  five 
verses. 


CHAPS.  IX.  1-35— X.  1-22. 


373 


2.  First  Division:  Job  concedes  the  proposi- 
tions of  his  opponents  regarding  God's  immu- 
table justice  and  absolute  purity,  but  shows  that 
for  that  very  reason  His  power  is  all  the  more  to 
be  dreaded  by  mortals;  eh.  ix.  2  12. 

First  Strophe :  Vers.  2-4.  [Impossibility  of 
maintainin<2;  one's  cause  before  God]. 

Ver.  2.  Of  a  truth  [ironical  as  also  in  xii.  2] 
I  know^  that  it  is  so,  viz.,  that  what  Bildad 
has  set  forth  is  quite  (rue :  that  God  ever  does 
only  that  which  is  right,  and  that  whatever  pro- 
ceeds from  him  must  for  tliat  very  reason  be 
right.  It  is  only  to  this  leading  proposition  of 
Bildad's  discourse  (ch.  viii.  .3)  that  Job's  remark 
here  can  refer,  and  not  also  to  the  discourse  of 
Eliphaz,  to  which  reference  is  first  made  in  the 
following  member:  [It  seems  hardly  worth 
while  to  make  this  distinction  between  two  mem- 
bers of  the  same  verse.  Formally  it  is  more  na- 
tural indeed  to  suppose  the  opening  remark  to 
be  addressed  to  Bildad,  viateriaUij  it  doubtless 
refers  to  both.  "In  his  former  reply  to  Eli- 
phaz," says  Ilengstenberg,  "  he  had  sought  to 
work  rather  on  the  feelings  of  his  friends. 
Having  failed  in  this,  as  the  discourse  of  Bildad 
shows,  he  now  makes  all  that  the  friends  had 
spoken   the    subject    of  his    criticism."] — And 

how^  should  a  mortal  [I^1J5^,  man  in  his  weak- 
ness and  mortality]  be  right  before  God  ?  i. 
e.,  how  should  it  be  otherwise  than  as  Elipbaz 
has  declared  in  his  fundamental  proposition  (ch. 
iv.  17).  to  wit,  that  "  no  man  is  just  before  God;" 
■which  proposition  moreover  Job  here  changes 
into  one  somewhat  differing  in  sense :  "  no  man 
is  right  before  God." 

Ver.  3.  Should  he  desire  to  contend 
■with  Him,  he  could  not  ans-wer  Him  one 
of  a  thousand. — The  subject  in  both  members 
of  the  verse  is  man,  not  God,  as  Schlottman,  De- 
litzsch,  Kamphausen,  explain.  By  "  contend- 
ing "  is  meant  seeking  to  establish  by  contro- 
versy or  discussion  the  right  of  man  which  is 
denied.  The  meaning  of  the  second  member  of 
the  verse  is,  that  God,  as  infinitely  man's  supe- 
rior, would  overwhelm  him  with  such  a  multi- 
tude of  questions  that  he  must  stand  before  Him 
in  mute  embarrassment  and  shame,  as  was  actu- 
ally the  case  at  last  with  Job,  when  God  began 
to  speak  (ch.  xxxviii.  1  sq.). 

Ver.  4.  The  ■wise  of  heart  and  mighty  in 
strength — who  has  braved  Him  and  re- 
mained unhurt  ? — The  absolute  cases  3/  DDH 
and  riD  yOX  are  resumed  in  V7X,  and  refer 
accordingly  to  God,  and  not  to  'D  (as  Olshausen 
thinks).  With  HK'pn  is  to  be  supplied  ']'^y  ■■ 
"  who  has  hardened  his  neck  against  Him," 
(Deut.  X.  16  ;  2  Kings,  xvii.  14),  i.  e.,  bid  Him 
defiance  ? 

Second  Strophe:  Vss.  5-7.  A  lofty  poetic  de- 
scription of  the  irresistibleness  of  God's  omni- 
potence, beginning  with  its  rffs^rMC^ife  manifesta- 
tions in  nature.  ["Job  having  once  conceived 
the  power  of  God  'becomes  fascinated  by  the  very 
tremendousness  of  it — the  invincible  might  of 
his  and  man's  adversary  charms  his  eye  and 
compels  him  to  gaze  and  shudder,  and  run  over 
it  feature  after  feature,  unable  to  withdraw  his 
look  from  it.     This  alone,  and  not  any  superfi- 


cial desire  (Ewald)  to  emulate  Eliphaz  (to  whom 
there  is  no  particular  reference  in  the  speech  as 
most  coram,  think),  accounts  for  this  jjiece  of 
sublime  picturing  Ewald  has  however  finely 
remarked  that  the  features  Job  fastens  on  are 
the  dark  and  terror  inspiring,  as  was  natural 
from  the  attitude  in  whicli  he  conceived  God  to 
stand  to  him."  Davidson]. 

Ver.  5.  Who  removeth  mountains,  and 
they  are  not  aware  that  ("it^>5  as  in  Ex.  xi. 
7  ;  Ezek.  xx.  26)  He  hath  overturned  them 
in  His  ■wrath. — [In  favor  of  thus  regarding 
Tiyx  as  a  conjunction  ratlier  than  a  relative,  may 
be  urged  (1)  The  Perf.  "j^ri,  which  would  other- 
wise be  Imperf.  ;  comp.  Di^H^  "^^^^  ''•  (-)•  The 
introduction  of  a  relative  construction  in  a  co- 
ordinate clause,  and  1  being  absent  would  be  a 
violation  of  the  present  participial  construction  of 
the  strophe.  The  use  of  the  Impei-f.  in  0  b  ,ind  7  b 
is  diflFerent :  those  clauses  being  introduceil  by  1 
and  subordinate. — E.].  The  activity  of  the  Divine 
wrath  bursts  upon  them  so  quickly  and  suddenly 
that  they  are  quite  unconscious  of  the  mighty 
change  which  has  been  effected  in  th-ra. 

Ver.  6.  Who  maketh  the  earth  to  trem- 
ble out  of  her  place:  viz.,  by  earthquakes, 
comp.  Isa.  xiii.  18;  Ps.  xlvi.  3  [2],  4  [.3]  ;  and 
touching  the  climactic  advance  from  the  moun- 
tains to  the  earth,  see  Ps.  xc.  2. — And  her  pil- 
lars are   shaken  [lit.,  rock  themselves-     The 

fundamental   meaning  of  Y'S,  which  is  akin  to 

D^i3  and  WiD,  is  as  Dillmann  says,  to  waver,  to 
rock,  not  to  break,  as  Ges.  and  Fiirst  explain, 
connecting  it  with  ys].  The  pillars  of  the 
earth  (comp.  Ps.  Ixxv.  4  [3]  ;  civ.  5),  are,  ac- 
cording to  the  poetic  representation  prevalent  in 
the  0.  T.  the  subterranean  roots  of  her  moun- 
tains [or  according  to  Schlottmann  the  founda- 
tions on  which  the  earth  rests  suspended  over 
nothing:  ch.  xxvi.  7;  xxxviii.  6],  not  their 
summits,  lifted  above  the  earth,  which  are  rather 
(according  to  ch.  xxvi.  11  ;  comp.  xxxviii.  6)  to 
be  thought  of  as  the  pillars  of  the  heavenly 
vault,  like  Atlas  in  the  Greek  mythology. 

Ver.  7.  Who  bids  the  sun  (D"pn,  a  rare 
poetic  term  for  the  sun,  as  in  Isa.  xix.  18  ;  comp. 
710*111,  Judg.  xiv.  18)  ["perhaps  (says  Delitz.), 
from  the  same  root  as  y^^n,  one  of  the  poetical 
names  of  gold,"  seeing  that  in  Isaiah  1.  c.  'Ir  ha- 
Heres  is  a  play  upon  D^HH  Tj*,  *Il?uov~o?ug'], 
and  it  riseth  not,  i.  e.,  so  that  it  does  not  shine 
forth  (comp.  Isa.  Iviii.  10),  and  so  appears 
eclipsed. — And  setteth  a  seal  round  about 
the  stars,  seals  them,  i.  e.,  veils  them  behind 
thick  clouds,  so  that  through  their  obscuration 
the  night  is  darkened  in  the  same  measure  as 
the  day  by  an  eclipse  of  the  sun.  In  regard  to 
obscurations  of  the  heavenly  bodies  in  general 
as  indications  of  the  Divine  Power  manifesting 
itself  in  destruction  and  punishment,  comp.  Ex. 
X.  21  ;  Joel  iii.  4  (ii.  31)  ;  Ezek.  xxxii.  7  seq. ; 
Rev.  vi.  12  ;  xvi.  10. 

Third  Strophe :  Vers.  8-10.  The  description 
of  the  Divine  Omnipotence  continued,  more  es- 
pecially in  respect  to  its  creative  operations  in 
nature.     [To  be  noted  is  the  absence  of  the  ar- 


374 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


tide  with  the  participles  in  each  of  these  three 
verses,  which  alike  with  its  presence  in  each  of 
the  three  preceding  verses,  is  clearly  a  sign  of 
the  strophic  arrangement. — E.] 
Ver.  8.  Who  spreadeth  out  the  heavens 

alone.  ntOJ  according  to  parallel  passages, 
Buch  as  Isa.  xl.  22 ;  xliv.  24  ;  Ps.  civ.  2,  where 
the  heavenly  vault  is  represented  as  an  immense 
tent — canvass,  is  to  be  explained  :  "  who  stretch- 
eth  out,  spreadeth  out,"  not  with  Jerome,  Ewald 
[Noyes,  Davidson],  etc.,  "  who  bows  down,  lets 
down."  With  the  latter  interpretation  the  clause 

n^?  would  not  agree;  nor  again  the  contents 
of  ver.  9,  where  clearly  God's  activity  as  Crea- 
tor, not  as  Destroyer,  or  as  one  shaking  the  fir- 
mament and  the  stars,  is  more  fully  set  forth. — 
And  treads  upon  the  heights  of  the  sea, 
t.  e.,  upon  the  high-dashing  waves  of  the  sea 
agitated  by  a  storm,  over  which  God  marches  as 
its  ruler  and  controller  (oh.  xxxviii.  10  sq.)  with 
sure  and  majestic  tread,  as  upon  the  heights  of 
the  earth,  according  to  Amos  iv.  13  ;  Mic.  i.  3  ; 
Comp.  Hab.  iii.  15,  also  the  excellent  translation 
of  the  passage  before  us  in  the  Sept. :  nepinaTuv 
Inl  T^aMaoT/g  c)r  e7T'l6d(povg.  Hirzel  and  Schlott- 
mann  [Merx]  understand  the  reference  to  be  to 
the  waters  of  the  firmament,  the  heavenly  cloud- 
vessels,  or  thunder-clouds  (Gen.  i.  6  sq.  ;  Ps.  civ. 
3 ;  Ps.  xviii.  12  (10) ;  xxix.  3  ;  Nah.  i.  3).  But 
these  cloud- waters  of  the  heavens  are  never  else- 
where in  the  Holy  Scripture  called  "  sea  "  (D"'); 
also  not  in  ch.  xxxvi.  30  (see  on  the  passage), 
and  still  less  in  Rev.  iv.  6;  xv.  22;  xxii.  1, 
where  the  ^alaaaa  of  glass  in  the  heavenly  world 
signifies  something  quite  difi^erent  from  a  sea  of 
rain-clouds.  ["  The  objection  that  this  view  of 
sea  interferes  with  the  harmony  of  description, 
mixing  earth  and  heaven,  is  obviated  by  the  con- 
sideration that  the  passage  is  a  description  of  a 
storm  where  earth  (sea)  and  heaven  are  mixed." 
Davidson]. 

Ver.  9.  Whocreateth  the  Bear  and  Orion 
and  Pleiades.— niy^  is  taken  by  Umbreit  and 

Ewald  as  synonymous  with  Htpj?;  «'  who  darkens 
the  Bear,  e/c",  against  which  however  may  be 
urged  the  use  of  T\W]J  in  ver.  10,  likewise  the 
description  flowing  out  of  the  present  passage  in 
Am.  V.  8,  and  finally  the  lack  of  evidence  that 
T\Vfy  means  tegere  (which  remark  holds  true  also 
of  ch.  XV.  27  ;  and  xxiii.  9).  Moreover  the  con- 
nection decidedly  requires  a  verb  of  creating  or 
making.  ["  This  as  well  as  all  the  other  parti- 
ciples from  ver.  5  on  to  be  construed  in  the  pre- 
sent, for  the  act  of  creation  is  conceived  as  con- 
tinuous, renewing  itself  day  by  day."  Dillmann. 
— "Job  next  describes  God  as  the  Creator  of 
the  stars,  by  introducing  a  constellation  of  the 
northern  (the  Bear),  one  of  the  southern  (Orion), 
and  one  of  the  eastern  sky  (the  Pleiades)."  De- 
litzsch].  Of  the  three  names  of  northern  con- 
stellations, which  occur  together  in  ch.  xxxviii. 
31,  32,  E'J^,  or  as  it  is  written  in  thatlater  passage 
^\)i,  denotes  unmistakably  the  Great  Bear,  or 
Charles's  Wain,  the  Septentrio  of  the  Romans,  and 
the  n'ash  {W}!^),  i.  e.,  "bier"  of  the  Arabians. 
Whether  the  word  is  etymologically  related  to 


this  Arabic  term,  which  is  suggested  by  the  re- 
semblance of  the  square  part  of  the  constellation 
to  a  bier,  the  three  trailing  stars,  the  benath 
no' ash,  "  daughters  of  the  bier,"  being  imagined 
to  be  the  mourners,  is  doubtful.  [The  current 
form  tyj,*  decisively  contradicts  the  derivation 

from  ty;?J]  — VpD  in  that  case,  lit.  "  the  fool," 
is  certainly  Orion,  who,  according  to  the  almost 
universal  representation  of  the  ancient  world, 
was  conceived  of  as  a  presumptuous  and  fool- 
hardy giant,  chained  to  the  sky;  comp.  the  men- 
tion of  the  nijtr^irD,  L  e.,  the  "bands,"  or  "fet- 
ters "  of  Orion  in  ch.  xxxviii.  31,  as  well  as  the 
accordant  testimony  of  the  ancient  versions 
(LXX. :  'Qpiuv,  at  least  in  the  parallel  passages 
ch.  xxxviii.  31  and  Isa.  xiii.  10;  similarly  the 
Pesh.,  Targ.,  etc.).  Against  the  reference  to  the 
star  Canopus  (Saad.  Abulwalid,  etc.),  may  be 
urged,  apart  from  the  high  antiquity  of  the  tra- 
dition which  points  to  Orion,  the  context  of  the 
present  passage  as  well  as  of  ch.  xxxviii.  31,  and 
Am.  V.  8,  which  indicates  groups  of  stars,  and 
not  a  single  star. — The  third  constellation  HOO 

T     ■ 

i.  e.,  the  heap,  is  rendered  "the  Hyades  "  only 
in  the  Vulgate  ;  the  remaining  ancient  versions 
however  (also  Saadia),  and  the  Vulg.  itself  ia 
the  parallel  passage,  xxxviii.  31,  render  by 
7r?i,eid^,  Pleiades,  so  that  beyond  doubt  it  is  to  be 
understood  of  the  group  of  seven  stars  in  the 
neck  of  Taurus  (known  in  German  as  the  "  cluck- 
ing hen  ") ;  comp.  Am.  v.  8. — And  the  cham- 
bers of  the  South;  i.  e.,  the  secret  rooms  or 
spaces  (penetralia)  of  the  constellations  of  the 
southern  heavens,  which  to  the  inhabitant  of  the 
northern  zones  are  visible  only  in  part,  or  not  at 
all.  In  any  case  ?ori  (defectively  written  for 
p'n)  points  to  the  southern  heavens,  and  since 
D'^in  predominantly  signifies  "apartments, 
chambers,  halls,"  less  frequently  "  store-rooms, 
reservoirs,"  the  reference  to  the  "  reservoirs  of, 
the  south  wind"  (LXX  :  ra/icia  vdrou  \  some 
modern  interpreters  also,  as  Ges.,  etc.)  is  less 
natural,  e&pecially  as  the  description  continues 
to  treat  of  the  objects  of  the  southern  skies. 
[Dillmann,  after  recognizing  the  rendering  of 
the  LXX.  as  admissible,  remarks:  "On  the 
other  side  the  author  certainly  knew  nothing  of 
the  constellations  of  the  southern  hemisphere  ; 
at  the  same  time  as  one  who  had  travelled  (or 
at  least:  as  one  familiar  with  the  results  at- 
tained in  his  day  by  tlie  observation  of  physical 
phenomena, — E.)  he  might  well  be  acquainted 
with  the  fact  that  the  further  South  men  travel, 
the  more  stars  and  constellations  are  visible  in 
the  heavens  ;  these  are  to  the  man  who  lives  ia 
the  North,  secluded  as  it  were  in  the  inmost 
chambers  of  the  heavenly  pavilion,  and  are  for 
that  reason  invisible ;  it  is  of  these  '  hidden 
spaces'  (Hirzel)  of  the  South,  with  their  stars, 
that  we  are  here  to  think  "]. 

Ver.  10.  Who  doeth  great  things,  past 
finding  out,  and  marvelous  things  with- 
out number:  agreeing  almost  verbniim  with 
what  Eliphaz  had  said  previously,  ch.  v.  9,  in 
describing  the  wondrous  greatness  of  the  Divine 
Power — an  agreement,  indeed,  which  is  inten- 
tional, Job  being  determined  to  concede  as  fully 


CHAPS.  IX.  1-35— X.  1-22. 


375 


as  possible  the  affirmations  of  his  friends  re- 
specting this  point. 

Fourth  Strophe:  vers.  11,  12.  God  puts  forth 
this  irresistible  omnipotence  not  only  in  nature, 
both  in  earth  and  in  heaven,  but  also  in  that 
which  befalls  individual  human  lives,  as  Job 
himself  had  experienced. — ["  There  is  great 
skill  in  making  Job  touch  merely  the  outstand- 
ing points,  illuminate  only  with  a  single  ray  the 
heaven-reaching  heights  of  the  Divine  power ; 
that  in  itself  is  not  his  immediate  theme — it  is 
the  crushing  effect  this  power  has  on  feeble 
man  ;  and  to  this  he  hastens  on  with  sudden 
strides."  Dav.  "  After  the  extended  descrip- 
tion [just  given]  of  the  Divine  omnipotence 
(which  Ewald  wrongly  characterizes  as  "  alto- 
gether too  much  of  a  digression,"  whereas  it  is 
entirely  pertinent  to  the  subject,  and  all  that 
follows  proceeds  out  of  it),  the  short  hasty 
glance  which  in  this  and  the  following  verse  is 
cast  on  miserable  mortal  man,  makes  an  impres- 
sion so  much  the  more  pointed."   Schlottman.] 

Ver.  11.  Lo!  [jH  in  this  and  the  following 
verse,  vividly  descriptive,  and  also  strongly 
individualizing  hhnself  a,s  the  victim  of  the  irre- 
sistible omnipotence  just  described]  He  passes 
by  me  [and  I  see  Him  not ;  He  sw^eeps 
before  me,  and  I  perceive  Him  not. — The 
imperfect  verb  for  present,  "being  an  exclama- 
tion of  felt,  though  unseen,  nearness   of  God." 

Dav. — ^IW  in  ch.  iv.  15  of  "a  spirit;"  here 
of  the  Infinite  Spirit,  sweeping  past  him  on  His 
career  of  destruction. — E.]  ^ /PI,  synonymous 
with  "13^  as  in  ch.  iv.  15,  forms  an  assonance 
with  the  parallel  ^r\r\  of  the  following  verse. 

Ver.  12.  [Lo!  He  snatches  away  (soil. 
His  prey)],  who  will  hold  Him  back ;  or : 
"  turn  Him  back  "  (1il!3''iy'),  viz.  from  His  course  : 
hence  equivalent  to:  "who  will  put  himself  as 
an  obstacle  in  His  way  ?"  (comp.  ch.  xi.  10 ; 
xxiii.  13). 

3.  Second  Division :  The  oppressive  thought 
of  God's  overwhelming  and  arbitrary  power 
incites  him,  the  innocent  sufferer,  to  speak  defi- 
antlj'  against  God :  vers.  13-35. 

First  Section:  vers.  13-24:  A  general  com- 
plaint of  the  severity  and  arbitrariness  with 
which  God  abuses  the  exercise  of  His  illimitable 
omnipotence  towards  man. 

First  Strophe:  vers.  13-16.  [The  mightiest 
cannot  withstand  Him,  how  much  less  I  ?] 

Ver.  13.  [By  some  put  in  strophic  connection 
with  the  verses  preceding ;  but  ver.  12  appro- 
priately closes  the  first  division,  while  ver.  13  is 
the  basis  of  what  follows.  Observe  especially 
the  contrast  between  the  "  helpers  of  Rahab  " 
in  13  6,  and  "I"  in  14a. — E.] — Eloah  ceases 
not  from  His  wrath  [Eng.  Ver.  incorrectly 
begins  with  "if"]:  lit.  "does  not  cause  it  to 
return,"  /.  e.  does  not  recall  it  ["  it  is  as  a  storm 
wind  sweeping  all  before  it,  or  a  mounting  tide 
bearing  down  all  resistance  and  strewing  itself 
with  wrecks."  Dav.]. — An  affirmation  the  de- 
cided one-sidedness  of  which  sufficiently  appears 
from  other  passages,  e.g.,  from  Ps.  Ixxviii.  38. — 
The  helpers  of  Rahab  stoop  under  Him. — 
So  far  as  2Ty\  in  and  of  itself  denotes  only   "a 


violent,  insolent  and  stormy  nature"  (comp.  ch. 
xxvi.  12),  ^"^'^^TJ?  may  be  simply  rendered,  as 
by  Luther,  Umbreit,  and  most  of  the  older 
expositors:  "insolent,"  or  "proud  helpers" 
[and  so  E.  V.,  Con.,  Dav.,  Hengst.].  Bui  apart 
from  the  colorless,  tame  signification  which  thus 
results  [to  which  add  the  vague  generality  of 
the  description,  weakening  the  contrast  between 
13  6  and  14  a;  and  the  incompleteness  of  the 
expression,  whether  we  translate,  "proud  help- 
ers," which  suggests  the  query — helpers  of 
what?  or  "  helpers  of  pride." — E.],  the  Perf. 
innu/,  lit.  "  have  stooped,"  leads  us  to  conjecture 
a  definite  historical  case  ["a  case  of  signal  ven- 
geance on  some  daring  foe,  who  drew  around 
him  many  daring  helpers,  would  be  more  telling 
in  this  connection."  Dav.]  Moreover  3m  in 
fact  appears  elsewhere  in  a  more  concrete  sense 
than  that  of  "violent,  presumptuous  raging" 
(so  also  in  ch.  xxvi.  12,  where  see  Com.).  It 
signifies,  to  wit,  as  Is.  li.  9;  Ps.  Ixxxix.  11  [10] 
show,  essentially  the  same  with  |'Jn,  hence  a 
sea-monster  (K/jrog),  and  by  virtue  of  this  signifi- 
cation is  used  as  a  mythological  and  symbolical 
designation  of  Egypt  (as  well  in  the  two  pas- 
sages just  mentioned,  as  also  in  Is.  xxx.  7  and 
Ps.  Ixxxvii.  4),  the  same  country  which  else- 
where also  is  symbolically   designated   as   VHn 

or  jj^'w*  ^^^  ^^®  thus  left  to  one  of  two  signi- 
fications for  3m  in  the  present  passage.  We 
may,  on  the  one  hand,  find  in  the  passage  a  spe- 
cial reference  to  Egypt,  and  an  allusion  to  some 
extraordinary  event  in  the  history  of  tiiat  coun- 
try, whereby  its  rulers  or  allies  were  over- 
whelmed with  defeat.  In  this  case,  it  would  bo 
more  natural  with  Hahn  to  think  of  the  over- 
throw of  Pharaoh  and  his  mighty  ones  in  the 
time  of  Moses  [so  Jarchi  who  understands  by 
the  "helpers"  the  guardian  angels  of  the  Egypt- 
ians, who  came  to  their  assistance,  but  were 
restrained  by  God],  than  with  Olshausen  to 
think  of  some  unknown  event  in  the  history  of 
Ancient  Egypt,  or  even  with  Bottcher  of  the 
reign  of  Psammetich.  Or,  on  the  other  hand, 
setting  aside  any  special  reference  to  Egypt,  we 
can  (with  Ewald,  Hirzel,  Schlottmann,  Delitzsch, 
Dillmann)  regard  it  as  an  allusion  to  some 
legend,  current  among  the  nations  of  the  East, 
according  to  which  some  gigantic  sea-monster 
with  its  helpers  was  subdued  by  the  Deity 
(comp.  the  Hindu  myth  of  Indra's  victory  over 
the  dusky  demon  Britras).  In  favor  of  this 
interpretation  may  be  urged  the  parallel  pas- 
sage in  ch.  xxvi.  12,  which  certainly  contains 
no  reference  to  Egypt,  as  well  as  the  rendering 
of  the  LXX.,  K^r?/  rd  vt:'  ohpavov,  which  evidently 
points  to  an  old  tradition  of  the  correct  inter- 
pretation. ["Jerome  translates  qui  portant 
orbem,  probably  following  a  Jewish  tradition 
concerning  giants  which  had  been  overcome  by 
God  and  sentenced  to  bear  the  pillars  of  the 
earth."  ScHLOTr.  Dillmann  argues  forcibly, 
that  the  common  application  of  these  three  terms, 
3m,  j'jn,  and  tn'w,  to  Egypt  can  be  explained 
only  by  supposing  that  the  first  was  related  in 
signification  to  the  other  two  names,  being  used 


376 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


like  them  of  a  sea-monster.  He  further  remarks: 
"that  the  legend  was  widely  known  and  pos- 
sessed great  vitality  among  the  people  is  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that  poets  and  prophets  used 
it  as  a  symbol  of  the  imperial  power  of  Egypt. 
It  is  not  strange,  accordingly,  to  find  such  a 
popular  legend  used  for  his  purpose  by  a  poet 
■who  elsewhere  also  derives  his  material  on  all 
sides  from  popular  conceptions."]  Add  that 
it  is  more  natural  to  seek  the  basis  of  this 
legend  of  Rahab  either  in  obscure  reminiscences 
which  lingered  among  the  ancients  touching  the 
gigantic  sea-monsters  of  the  primitive  world 
(plesiosauri,  ichthyosauri,  etc.),  or  in  a  symbol- 
ical representation  of  the  billowy  swelling  of  the 
raging  ocean,  resembling  an  infuriated  monster, 
than  to  assign  to  it  an  astronomical  basis,  and 
to  take  3m  to  be  at  the  same  time  the  name  of 
a  constellation  such  as  K/;rof  or  Jlpiarig  [Balsena 
Pislrix);  for  the  context  by  no  means  points  of 
necessity  to  such  an  astronomical  application  of 
the  term  (the  mention  of  the  constellations  in 
ver.  9  being  too  remote),  and  moreover  in  ch. 
xxvi.  12  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind  indicated, 
as  Dillmann  correctly  observes,  against  Ewald, 
Hirzel,  Delitzsch. 

Ver.  14.  How  should  I  ans^wer  Him? — 

I,  an  impotent,  weak,  sorely  suffering  mortal. 
On  ''2  ^X  comp.  ch.  iv.  19;  on  DJi^,  "to  answer, 
respond,"  see  above  on  ver.  3. — Choose  out 
my  ■words  against  Him  ?  i.  e.  weigh  my 
words  against  Him  (DJ.^  as  in  ch.  x.  17  ;  xi.  5; 
xvi.  21)  with  such  care  and  skill  [the  H  in 
mnSN  indicating  the  mental  effort  involved], 
that  I  should  always  hit  on  the  right  expression, 
and  thus  escape  all  censure  from  Him. 

Ver.  15.  Whom  I  (even)  if  I  -were  in  the 
right  ('iT^P^^f,  sensu  Jforensi)  ["  innocent,  judi- 
cially free  from  blame"],  could  not  answer, 
I  must  make  supplication  to  Him  as  my 

judge,  viz.  for  mercy  (|Jnnn  with  7  as  in  Esth. 
iv.  8).  The  Par  tic.  Poel  DSC'O  is  not  essentially 
different  in  signification  from  the  Partic.  Kal 
JOSE',  although  it  does  differ  somewhat  from  it, 
in  so  far  as  it  denotes  lit.  an  "assailant"  or 
"adversary"  (judicial  opponent:  ODi;/,  [Poel, 
expressing  aim,  endeavor],  judicando  vel  litigando 
aiiquem  petere,  comp.  Ewald,  §  125,  a).  ["So 
overpowering  is  God's  might  that  Job  would  be 
brought  in  litigating  with  Him  to  the  humilia- 
tion of  beseeching  His  very  adversary — an  idea 
which  sufiiciently  answers  Conant's  charge, 
that  to  render  USb'O  assailant  has  very  little 
point."  Dav] 

Ver.  16.  Should  I  summon  Him,  and  He 
ansTwered  me  (if  accordingly  the  case  sup- 
posed to  be  necessary  in  15  b  should  actually 
happen,  and  be  followed  with  results  favorable 
to  the  suppliant),  I  would  not  believe  that 
He  ■would  listen  to  me :  i.  e.  I  should  not  be 
able  to  repress  the  painful  and  awful  thought 
that  He,  the  heavenly  and  all-powerful  Judge 
of  the  world,  would  grant  me  no  hearing  at  all. 
["The  answer  of  God  when  summoned  is  repre- 
sented in  ver.  16  a  as  an  actual  result  {prmt. 
followed  hy/ut.  consec),  therefore  ver.  16  6  can- 


not be  intended  to  express:  I  could  not  believe 
that  he  answers  me,  but:  I  could  not  believe 
that  He,  the  answerer,  would  hearken  to  me; 
His  infinite  exaltation  would  not  permit  such 
exaltation."  Delitzsch.]  The  whole  verse  is 
thus  an  advance  in  thought  upon  the  preceding. 
Second  Strophe  :  Vers.  17-20.  Continuing  the 
description  of  Job's  utter  hopelessness  of  victory 
in  his  controversy  with  God,  clothed  in  purely 
hypothetical  statements. 

Ver.  17.  He  ■who  ■would  overw^helm  me 
in  a  tempest,  and  multiply  my  wounds 
without  cause;  i.e.,  who  would  pur.sue  me 
with  assaults  and  calamities,  even  if  I  were  in- 
nocent. [_'^P^  may  be  taken  either  as  relative, 
or  as  conj.  "for,"  (E.  V.  Con.)  the  one  meaning 
really  blends  with  the  other,  as  in  ver.  15  = 
quippe  qui'\.  With  the  rendering  of  "'^3'!^.''  here 
adopted,  "  would  overwhelm  me  "  (so  also  Yaih. ) 
we  can  leave  unsolved  the  question,  so  difficult 
of  decision,  whether,  following  the  Aram.  {<3i!', 
and  the  testimony  of  the  Ancient  Versions  (LXX. 
fKrp/i/i?7;  Vulg.  conteret),  we  render  ^\if  "  to 
crush,  to  grind ;"  or,  following  the  Arab,  safa, 
and  the  Hebr.  ^X^;  we  render  it  "  to  snatch 
up,  seize,"  [inhiare).  Hirzel,  Ewald,  Umbreit, 
Dillmann,  favor  the  latter  rendering;  but  on  the 
other  side  Delitzsch  successfully  demonstrates 
that  neither  Gen.  iii.  15  nor  Ps.  cxxxix.  11  (the 
only  passages  outside  of  the  present  in  which 
^'lU^  appears)  necessarily  requires  the  sense  of 
"  snatching,"  certainly  not  that  of  "  sniffing." 

Ver.  18.  Would  not  suffer  me  to  dra^w 
my  breath  (comp.  ch.  vii.  19),  but  ■would 
surfeit  me  ■with  bitterness  [lit.  plur.  "  bit- 
ternesses"]. For  "^  in  the  sense  of  "but,  ra- 
ther," comp.  ch.  V.  7 ;  for  the  form.  D'^'^'lGD, 
with  Ddffh.  dirimens  ["which  gives  the  word  a 
more  pathetic  expression,"  Del.],  comp.  Ges.,  ^ 
20,  2,  b. 

Ver.  19.  If  it  be  a  question  of  the  strength 
of  the  strong  [others  (E.  V.  Conant,  Carey, 
Schlott.)  connect  ^^'QX  with  the  following  D^n ; 
but  as  the  latter  is  &\\\n,yB  followed  by  the  predi- 
cate, and  such  an  exclamation  in  the  mouth  of 
God  (see  below)  would  be  less  natural  than  the 
simple  interjection,  the  connection  given  in  the 
text  is  to  be  preferred.  The  accents  are  not  tle- 
cisive,— E.]— lo,  here  (am  I):  [nJH  for  "Jin, 
as  n^X  ch.  XV.  23,  is  for  i'X] — /.  e  ,  "  would  He 
say":  He  would  immediately  present  Himself, 
whenever  challenged  to  a  trial  of  strength  with 
His  human  antagonist.  Similar  is  the  sense  of 
the  second  member  : — Is  it  a  question  of  right 
■who  >will  cite  me  (before  the  tribunal)  ;  viz., 
"  would  He  say."  [Whichever  test  of  strength 
should  be  chosen,  whether  of  physical  strength 
in  a  trial-at-arms,  or  of  moral  strength,  in  a 
trial-at-law,  what  hope  for  weak  and  mortal  man? 
— E.]  The  whole  verse,  consisting  of  two  ellip- 
tical conditional  clauses,  with  two  still  shorter 
concluding  cl.auses  (also  hypothetical),  reminds 
us  in  a  measure  by  its  structure  of  Rom.  viii. 
33-34. 


CHAPS.  IX.  1-35— X.  1-22. 


377 


Yer.  20.  Were  I  (even)  right,  my  mouth 
■would  condemn  me:  i.  e.,  from  simple  con- 
fusion I  slioulcl  not  know  how  to  make  the  right 
.answer,  so  that  my  own  mouth  CS,  with  logical 
accent  on  suiEx,  as  in  ch.  xv.  6)  would  confess 
me  guilty,  though  I  should  still  bo  innocent — 
(pi:f,  as  in  ver.  15). — Were  I  innocent— He 
■would  prove  me  perverse  [''J^I'PJ^lb  with 
Chiriq  of  Tliphil  shortened  to  Sheva  :  coinp.  Ges. 
^  53  [^  52]  Rem.  4].  The  subject  is  "God,"  not 
'•my  mouth"  (Schlottmann)  [Wordsworth,  Da- 
vidson, Carey]  ;  God  would,  even  in  case  of  my 
innocence,  put  me  down  as  one  i^PJ;',  one  mo- 
rally corrupt,  and  to  be  rejected.  "  Thus  brood- 
ing over  the  thought,  true  in  itself,  that  the 
creature  when  opposed  to  the  heavenly  Ruler  of 
the  Universe  must  always  be  in  the  wrong.  Job 
forgets  the  still  higher  and  more  important  truth 
that  God's  right  in  opposition  to  the  creature  is 
always  the  true  objective  right."  Delitzsch. 

Third  Strophe:  Vers.  21-24.  Open  arraign- 
ment of  God  as  an  unrighteous  Judge,  condemn- 
ing alike  the  innocent  and  the  guilty. 

Ver.  21.  lam  innocent!  In  thus  repeat- 
ing the  expression  'JX  ur\.  Job  asserts  solemnly 
and  peremptorily  that  which  in  ver.  20  b  he  had 
in  the  same  words  stated  only  conditionally. — I 
value  not  my  soul:  i.  e.,  I  give  myself  no 
concern  about  the  security  of  my  life,  I  will  give 
free  utterance  to  that  confession,  cost  what  it 
may.  So  rightly  most  commentators,  while  De- 
litzsch, against  the  connection  (see  especially  the 
2d  member)  explains:  "I  know  not  myself,  I 
am  a  mystery  to  myself,  and  therefore  have  no 
desire  to  live  longer."  [Ilengstenberg:  "We 
might  explain  :  '  I  should  not  know  my  soul,'  if 
I  were  to  confess  to  transgressions,  of  which  I 
know  myself  to  be  innocent ;  'I  should  despise 
my  life,'  seeing  I  have  nothing  with  which  to 
reproach  myself.  Better  however:  'I  know  not 
my  soul,'  so  low  is  it  sunk,  I  am  become  alto- 
gether alius  a  vie  ipso  ;  '  I  must  despise  my  life,' 
I  am  so  unspeakably  wretched,  that  I  must  wish 
to  die"]. 

Ver.  22.  It  is  all  one  :  thus  beyond  question 
must  the  expression  X'n~r\nx  be  rendered;  not: 
"  there  is  one  measure  with  which  God  rewards 
the  good  and  the  wicked  "  (Targ.,  Rosenm.,  Hir- 
zel)  ;  nor  :  "it  is  all  the  same  whether  man  is 
guilty  or  innocent  "  (Delitzsch). — Therefore  I 
•will  say  it  out:  [Dav.  "I  will  out  with  it"]. 
He  destroys  the  innocent  and  the  ■wicked : 
viz.^  God,  whom  Job  intentionally  avoids  naming; 
comp.  ch.  iii.  20. 

Vers.  23,  24.  Two  illustrations  confirming  the 
terrible  accusation  just  brought  against  God  (ver. 
22  h)  that  He  destroys  alike  the  innocent  and 
the  guilty. 

Ver.  23.  If  (His)  scourge  slays  suddenly, 
viz.,  men.  By  £011!/  "scourge"  is  meant  here 
not  of  course  the  scourge  of  the  tongue  (ch.  v. 
21)  but  a  general  calamity,  such  as  pestilence, 
war,  famine,  etc.  (Isa.  xxviii.  15). — Then  He 
mocks  at  the  despair  of  the  innocent :  i.  c. 
He  does  not  allow  Himself  to  be  disturbed  in  His 
blessed  repose  when  those  who  are  afflicted  with 
those  calamities  faint  away  from  despondency 
and  despair :  comp.  Ps,  ii.  4 ;  lix.  9. — HDO,  from 


DD"3,  ch.  vi.  14.  TE.  V.,  Conant,  Dav,  Re  la-i, 
Heugst.,  Carey,  Rod.,  etc.,  give  to  HOD  here  its 
customary  sense  of  "  trial,"  from  HDJ.  Jerome 
remarks  that  in  the  wliole  book  Job  says  nothing 
more  bitter  than  tliis. ]  The  interpretation  of 
Hirzel  and  Delitzsch,  founded  on  cli.  xxii.  I'.J  : 
"  His  desire  and  deliglu  are  in  tlie  suiferiug  of 
the  innocent,"  gives  a  meaniui;  altogetlier  too 
strong,  and  not  intended  by  the  poet  here. 

Ver.  24.  ["  In  this  second  illustration  there  is 
an  advance  in  the  thouglit,  in  so  far  as  here  a 
part  at  least  of  the  wicked  are  excepted  from  the 
general  ruin,  nav,  appear  even  as  threatening 
the  same  to  the  pious."  Schlott] — A  land  [or 
better,  because  more  in  harmony  with  the  sweep- 
ing and  strong  expressions  here  assigned  to  Job  : 
the  earth]  is  given  over  to  [lit.,  into  the 
hand  of]  the  wicked,  and  the  face  of  its 
judges  He  veileth  :  viz.,  while  that  continues, 
while  the  land  is  delivered  to  the  wicked,  so  that 
they  are  able  to  play  their  wicked  game  wiili  ab- 
solute impunity. — If  (it  is)  not  (so)  nov7,  -who 
then  does  it?  135?  (so  written  also  ch.  xvii. 
15;  xix.  6,  23;  xxiv.  25,  but  outside  of  the  book 
of  Job  generally  N13X)  belongs  according  to  the 
accents  to  the  preceding  conditional  particles 
X^'DX  (comp.  ch.  xxiv.  25  and  Gen.  xxvii.  37) ; 
lit.,  therefore,  "  now  then  if  not,  who  docs  it  ?" 
[Ilirz.jCon.  and  apparently  Ew.  connect  ISX  with 
the  interrogative  following — "who  then?"  qu.s 
quseso  (Heiligst  ).  Davidson  also  takes  this  view, 
although  admitting  thai  "  the  accentuation  is 
decidedly  the  other  way,"  X13X  being  used,  as 
he  says,  "  in  impatient  questions  (Ew.,  ^  105,  d) 
Gen.  xxvii.  33;  Job  xvii.  15;  xix.  23  "].  That 
the  present  illustration  of  a  land  ill-governed  ami 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  wicked  had,  as 
Dillmann  saj^s,  "its  justification  in  the  historic 
background  of  the  composition,"  cannot  be  af- 
firmed with  certainty  in  our  ignorance  of  the  de- 
tails of  this  "  liistoric  background  :"  though  in- 
deed it  is  equally  true  that  we  can  no  more 
affirm  the  contrary. 

4.  Second  Division. — Second  Section  :  Vers.  25- 
35.  Special  application  of  that  which  is  aflirmcd 
ia  the  preceding  section  concerning  God's  arbi- 
trary severity  to  his  (Job's)  condition. 

First  Strophe:  Vers.  25-28.  [Tlie  swift  flight 
of  his  days,  and  the  unremitting  pressure  of  his 
woes,  make  him  despair  of  a  release]. 

Ver.  25.  For  my  days  are  swifter  than  a 
runner.  ["}  introducing  a  particular  case  of 
the  previous  general:  in  this  infinite  wrong  un- 
der which  earth  and  tlie  righteous  writhe  and 
moan,  I  also  suffer."  Dav. — "  Days  "  here  poeti- 
cally personified,  'vp,  Perf.,  a  deduction  from 
past  experience  continuing  in  the  present. — E.]. 
yi  might,  apparently,  comparing  this  with  the 
similar  description  in  ch.  vii.  6,  denote  a  part  of 
the  weaver's  loom,  possibly  tlie  threads  of  the 
woof  wliicti  are  wound  round  the  bobbin,  (whicli 
the  Coptic  language  actually  calls  "  runners"). 
This  signification  however  is  by  no  means  fa- 
vored by  tlie  usage  elsewhere  in  Hebrew  of  the 
word  ]'"^:    this   rather   yields   the   signification 


378 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


"  swift  runner,  courier"  (/'/uepoSpS/uog)  compare 
Jer.  li.  31 ;  2  Sam.  xv.  1  ;  2  Kings  xi.  13  ;  Estb. 
iii.  13,  15. — They  are  fled  away,  without 
having  seen  good  (HDiD,  prosperity,  happi- 
ness, as  in  ch.  xxi.  25).  .Job  thiuks  here  natu- 
rally of  the  same  "  good,"  which  he  (according 
to  ch.  vii.  7)  would  willingly  enjoy  before  his 
end,  but  which  would  not  come  to  him  before 
then.  He  has  thus  entirely  forgotten  his  former 
prosperity  in  view  of  liis  present  state  of  suffer- 
ing, or  rather,  he  does  not  regard  it  as  prospe- 
rity, seeing  that  he  had  to  exchange  it  for  such 
severe  suffering.  Quite  otherwise  had  he  for- 
merly expressed  himself  to  his  wife,  ch.  ii.  10. 

Vcr.  26.  They  have  swept  past  like  skiffs 
of  reed;  lit.,  "with  [DJ7J  skiffs  of  reed,"  i.  e., 
being  comparable  with  them  (ch.  xxxvii.  18; 
xl.  15).  ilDX  riTJX  are  most  probably  cano'es 
of  rushes  or  reeds,  the  same  therefore  as  the 
KOJ  w3  ("  vessels  of  bulrush  ")  mentioned  Isa. 
xviii.  2,  whose  great  lightness  and  swiftness  are 
in  that  passage  also  made  prominent.  n3X  is 
accordingly  a  synonym,  which  does  not  else- 
where appear,  of  XOJ,  reed ;  for  which  defini- 
tion analogy  may  also  be  produced  out  of  the 
Arabic.  It  has  however  no'hing  to  do  with  3X 
(so  the  Vulg.,  Targ.  :  naves  poma  portantes) 
["  fruit  ships  hurrying  on  lest  the  fruit  should 
injure"];  nor  with  riDX,,  to  desire,  ["ships 
eagerly  desiring  to  reach  the  haven  "].  (Symm. 
vijeg  cTTsi'fiovaai)  comp.  Gekatilia  in  Gesenius, 
Thes.  Suppl.,  p.  62;  nor  with  riD'N,  "enmity" 
(Pesh.,  "  ships  of  hostility,"  comp.  Luther:  "the 
strong  ships,"  by  which  are  meant  pirate  ships) ; 
nor  with  the  Abyssin.  abai,  the  name  of  the  Nile ; 
nor  with  a  supposed  Babylonian  name  of  a  river, 
having  the  same  sound,  and  denoting  perhaps 
the  Euphrates  (so  Abulwalid,  Rashi,  etc.,  who 
make  the  name  denote  a  great  river  near  the  re- 
gion where  the  scene  of  our  book  is  laid).  The 
correct  signification  was  given  by  Hiller,  Hiero- 
phi/t.  II.,  p.  302,  whom  mo?t  modern  critics  have 
followed. — Like  the  eagle,  which  darts 
doT?7n  on  its  prey  (comp.  ch.  xxxix.  29;  Prov. 
XXX.  19;  Hab.  i.  8,  etc.).  This  third  compari- 
son adds  to  that  which  is  swiftest  on  the  earth, 
and  that  whiclx  is  swiftest  in  the  water,  that 
which  is  swiftest  in  the  air,  in  order  to  illustrate 
the  hasty  fliglit  of  Job's  dnys. 

Vers.  27,  28.  If  I  think  (lit.,  if  my  snyingbe; 
comp.  ch.  vii.  13):  I  ■will  forget  my  com- 
plaint (see  on  the  same  passage),  will  leave 
off  my  countenance  [i.  c.  give  up  my  look  of 
pain,  my  morose  gloomy-looking  aspect,    comp. 

1  Sam.  i.  18),  and  look  cheerful  (J'''72n,  as 
in  ch.  X.  20;  Ps.  xxxix.  14  (13)  [the  tlirec 
cohortative  futures  here  are,  as  Davidson  says, 
"finely  expressive — If  I  sai/ — rousing  myself 
from  my  stupor  and  prostration — /  iriU.,  etc."']  ; 
then  I  shudder  at  all  my  pains,  I  know^ 
that  Thou  "wilt  not  declare  me  innocent. 
— These  words  are  addressed  to  God,  not  to  Bil- 
dad.  Although  Job  felt  himself  to  be  forsaken 
and  rejected  by  God,  he  nevertheless  turns  to 
Him  ;  he  does  not  speak  of  Him  and  about  Him, 
without  at  the  same  time  prayerfully  looking  up 
to  Him. 


Second  Strophe:  vers.  29-31.  [He  must  be 
guilty,  and  all  liis  strivings  to  free  himself  from 
his  guilt  are  in  vain.] 

Ver.  29.  I  am  to  be  guilty :  i.  e.  according 

to  God's  arbitrary  decree  ['^J^,  emphatic — /,  / 
am  accounted  guilty,  singled  out  for  this  treat- 
ment. The  fut.  i'tyiN  here  expressing  that 
which  must  be,  from  which  there  is  no  escape. 
— E.]  yd^  here  not  "to  act  as  a  wicked  or  a 
guilty  person"  (ch.  x.  15),  but  "  to  be  esteemed, 
to  appear"  such,  as  in  ch.  x.  7  (comp.  the  Hiph. 
^'JK^TH,  to  treat  any  one  as  guilty,  to  condemn, 
above  in  ver.  20). — "Wherefore  then  weary 
myself  in  vain,  viz.  to  appear  innocent,  to  be 
acquitted  by  God.  This  wearying  of  himself  is 
given  as  an  actual  fact,  consisting  in  humbly 
supplicating  for  mercy,  as  he  had  been  repeat- 
edly exhorted  to  do  by  Eliphaz  and  Bildad  ;  ch. 

V.  8,  17 ;  viii.  5. —  /DH,  adverbially,  as  in  ch. 
xxi.  34;  XXXV.  16;  lit.  like  a  breath,  evanes- 
cent, here — "fruitlessly,  for  naught,  in  vain." 
[That  notwithstanding  his  present  mood,  he 
does  subsequently  renew  his  exertions,  "im- 
pelled by  an  irresistible  inward  necessity,  is 
psychologically    perfectly   natural." — Schlott- 

MAN.] 

Vers.  30,  31.  If  I  should  wash  myself  in 
snow-water  (read  with  the  K'ri  ""03   instead 

of  with  the  K'thibh  J/K/^IDS ;  bathing  imme- 
diately in  undissolved  snow  is  scarcely  to  be 
thought  of  here)  [an  unnecessary  refinement: 
for  washing  the  hands,  which  is  what  the  verse 
speaks  of,  snow  can  be  used,  and  is  scarcely  less 
efficacious  for  cleansing  than  lye.  The  K'thibh 
is  to  be  preferred. — E.],  and  cleanse  my 
hands  with  lye  ("113  fully  written  for  "i3,  Is. 
i.  25,  signifies  precisely  as  in  this  parallel  pas- 
sage lye,  a  vegetable  alkali,  not:  purity  [as  E. 
v.:  "make  my  hands  never  so  clean,'  for 
"make  clean  in  purity"],  which  rendering 
would  give  a  much  tamer  signification  [besides 
"destroying  the  literality  of  the  parallelism"]), 
then  Thou  w^ouldest  plunge  me  into  the 
ditch  (r^ni^,  here  a  sink,  sewer),  so  that  my 
clothes  w^ould  abhor  me. — In  these  latter 
words,  it  is  naturally  presupposed  that  tlie  one 
M'ho  has  been  bathed  and  thoroughly  clean-ed 
as  to  the  entire  body  while  still  naked  is  again 
plunged  into  a  filthy  ditch,  and  that  in  conse- 
quence of  tills,  he  becomes  a  terror  to  his  own 
clothes,  which  are  personified,  so  that  they  as  it 
were  start  back  and  resist,  when  it  is  souglit  to 
put  them  on  him.  So  correctly  most  modern 
expositors.  On  the  contrary,  Ewald  and  Gese- 
nius— Rodiger  take  the  Piel  Jj-'ri  in  a  causative 
sense:  "so  that  my  clothes  would  cause  me  to 
be  abhorred," — a  rendering  in  favor  of  which, 
indeed,  Ezck.  xvi.  25  can  be  brought  forward,  .^| 
but  not  the  usus  loquendi  o{  our  book  (comp.  ch.  ^U 
xix.  19;  XXX.  10)  wliich  knows  no  causative 
sense  for  3^'J?'  [The  thought  expressed  by  the 
two  verses  is  that  'not  even  the  best-grounded 
self-justification  can  avail  him,  for  God  would 
still  bring  it  to  pass  that  his  clearly  proved 
innocence  should  change  to  the  most  horrible 
impurity."  Dehtzsch.J 


CHAP.  IX.  1-35— X.  1-22. 


379 


Third  Strophe :  vers.  82-35.  ["The  cause  of 
Job's  inability  to  make  out  his  innocence — not 
his  guilt,  but  the  character  and  conrlitions  of 
his  accuser,"  who  has  no  superior  to  overrule 
Him,  to  mediate  between  Him  and  Job.  Let 
Him  lay  aside  His  terrors,  and  Job  would  plead 
his  cause  without  fear.] 

Ver.  32,  For  [He  is]  not  a  man  like  me, 
that  I  should  answer  Him :  viz,  before  a 
tribunal,  with  a  view  to  the  settlement  of  the 
controversy.  Hirzel  translates  "JOS  CX  as 
though  it  were  accusative  to  '^Jl^.i^:  "for  I  can- 
not answer  Him  as  a  man  who  is  my  equal;  ' 
but  this  is  altogether  too  artificial.  ["God  is 
not  his  equal  standing  on  the  same  level  witli 
him.  He,  the  Absolute  Being,  is  accuser  and 
judge  in  one  person ;  there  is  between  them  no 
arbitrator,  etc."  Delitzsch.] 

Ver.  33.  There  is  no  arbiter  betiween  us 
•who  might  lay  his  hand  on  us  both:  so 
that  accordingly  we  should  both  have  to  betake 
ourselves  to  him,  and  accept  his  decision.  H'^IO 
is  one  who  gives  a  decision,  an  arbitrator  who 
weighs  the  pleas  put  in  by  both  the  contending 
parties,  and  pronounces  the  award.  Not  inaptly 
John  Pye  Smith,  Four  Discourses  on  the  Sacri- 
fice and  priesthood  of  Jesus  Christ,  5th  Ed.  p. 
98 :  "  There  is  between  us  no  arguer,  who  might 
fully  represent  the  cause,  and  state,  judge  and 
arbitrate  fairly  for  each  party."  Observe  how 
emphatically  is  expressed  here,  although  indeed 
only  indirectly  and  negatively,  the  postulate  of 
a  true  mediator  and  priestly  proprietor  between 
God  and  sinful  humanity!  ["It  is  singular 
how  often  Job  gives  utterance  to  wants  and 
aspirations  which  under  the  Christian  economy 
are  supplied  and  gratified.  It  was  the  purpose 
of  the  writer  to  let  us  hear  these  voices  crying 
in  the  wilderness,  forerunning  the  complete 
manifestation  of  the  Messiah,  and  therefore  the 
Church  is  well  authorized  in  using  this  language 
of  Christ.  Job  out  of  his  religious  entanglement 
proclaimed  the  necessity  of  a  mediator  to  hu- 
manize God  two  thousand  years  before  he  came." 
Dav.]  The  optative  form  ["Would  that  there 
might  be"]  which  the  LXX.  atd  the  Pesh.  give 

to  the  verse  by  changing  X7  to  -w  (X/),  is  unne- 
cessary and  disturbs  the  connection  with  the 
preceding  verse  [the  thought  of  which  is  com- 
pleted only  in  this  verse.  This  rendering  is, 
moreover,  not  suited  to  the  ^\  following.  The 
jussive  form  Htl''  does  however  reflect  the  yearn- 
ing which  breathes  through  his  pathetic  declara- 
tion of  the  fact  that  there  is  no  arbiter. — E.]. 

Vers.  34,  35  are  related  to  each  other  ns  ante- 
cedent and  consequent.  The  two  optatives  in 
ver.  34  are  followed  by  the  cohortative  n"^3^X 
without  ]  as  the  apodosis  (comp.  Ewald,   ^  347, 

b,  357,  h). — Let  Him  take  away  from  me 
His  rod  (with  which  He  smites  me,  comp.  ch. 
xiii.  21,  equivalent  therefore  to  t31C',  scourge, 
calamity,  cump.  ver.  23),  and  let  not  His 
terror  overawe  [or  stupefy]  me  (ij^^X  in  the 
objective  sense,  that  which  is  awful  in  His  ap- 
pearance, the  terror  which  proceeds  from  His 
majestic  presence):  then  will  I  speak  with- 


out fear  before  Him ;  for  not  thus  am  I 
■with  myself:  i.  e.  for  not  thus  does  it  stand 
with  me  in  my  inwaril  man,  I  am  not  conscious 
of  anything  within  me  of  such  a  character  tliat 
I  must  be  afraid  before  Him.  D^  therefore 
points  to  that  which  is  witliin,  the  consciousness 
or  conscience,  as  in  ch.  x.  13;  xv.  9;  xxiii.  14, 

etc.  That  tZl  Xv  here  expresses  so  much  as: 
"not  so  small,  not  so  contemptible,"  is  a  con- 
jecture of  Uelitzsch's,  whicli  is  supported  neither 
by  the  connection,  nor  by  Hebrew  usage  else- 
where. [Delitzs^h  imagines  the  expression  to 
be  "accompanied  by  a  gesture  expressive  of  the 
denial  of  sucii  contempt."  Not  dissimilar  in 
this  respect  is  Kenan's  explanation:  "'For  in 
the  depths  of  my  heart  I  am  not  sucli  as  I  seem.' 
Tlie  conscience  of  Job  is  tranquil:  the  cause  of 
his  trouble  is  without  himself.  It  is  God,  who 
by  a  treacherous  maneuvre  has  arrayed  against 
him  His  terrors,  in  order  to  take  away  from 
him  the  freedom  of  spirit  necessary  for  his  de- 
fense."] 

5.  Third  Division  :  ch.  x.  —  A  plaintive  descrip- 
tion of  the  pitiless  severity  with  which  God 
rages  against  him,  although  by  virtue  of  His 
omniscience  He  knows  liis  innocence. 

Vers.  1-12:  Exordium  (ver.  1)  und  First  Dou- 
ble Strophe  (Vers.  2-12) :  developing  the  motive 
to  this  new  complaint. 

Ver.  1.  ["With  brief  preface  of  words  which 
force  themselves  from  the  heart  in  three  convul- 
sive sobs  (I  a  b  c),  like  the  sparse  large  drops 
before  the  storm  .  .  .  the  patriarch  opens  his 
cause  in  the  ear  of  heaven."  Day.] — My  soul 
is  weary  of  my  life. — ntODJ,  equivalent  to 
HiSpJ.  Ezek.  vi.  9,  Perf.  Niph.  of  l2Qp,  which  is 
synonymous  with  £3^p  or  ]*^p,  to  feel  disgust. 
[Ges.  and  Fiirst  give  a  root  t3pj,  from  which 
Delitzsch  also  says  it  may  be  derived  as  a 
secondary  verb  formed  from  the  Niph.  £3pJ — a 
form  which  is  also  supported  by  the  Aramaic] 
For  the  thought  comp.  ch.  vii.  15,  IG;  ix.  21. — 
Therefore  will  I  give  free  course  to  my 

complaint:  w>',  lit.  "  with  me,  in  me  "  (comp. 
ch.  XXX.  16;  Ps.^lii.  6  [5],  12  [11];  Jer.  viii. 
18),  not  "over  me."  [The  cohortative  futures 
are  to  be  noted  as  expressive  of  the  strength  of 
Job's  feeling  and  purpose.]  In  regard  to  the 
rest  of  the  verse  [I  will  speak  in  the  bitter- 
ness of  my  soul],  comp.  ch.  vii.  11;  Ps.  Iv. 
18  [17].  ["Job  continues  to  beli-'vc  that  the 
boldness  of  his  speech  will  be  punished  with 
death."  Renan.] 

First  Strophe :  vers.  2-11.  An  appeal  to  God 
not  to  deal  so  severely  with  him,  seeing  that  his 
innocence  is  already  well  known  to  II im. 

Vers.  2,  3.  ["God's  dealing  with  Job  was  dero- 
gatory to  the  divine  c'^aracter,  and  d.mgeroiis 
and  confounding  to  the  interests  of  religion, 
and  the  first  principles  of  religious  men." — 
Dav.] 

Ver.  2.  I  w^ill  say  to  Eloah:  condemn 
(comp.  ch  ix.  20)  me  not.  Observe  that  Job 
addresses  this  complaint  also  to  God,  like  that 
in  ch.  ix.  28.  Let  me  know^  w^herefore 
Thou   contendest  with   me   (as  adversary 


880 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


and  judge  (^"^  with  Accus.  as  in  Is.  xxvii.  8 ; 
xlix.  25. 

Vcr.  3.  Doth  it  please  Thee  that  Thou 
oppressest,  that  Thou  rejectest  the  w^ork 
of  Thy  hands? — In  this  question  Job  touches 
on  a  first  possibility  which  might  be  supposed 
to  determine  God  to  treat  him  as  guilty.  He 
inquires  whether  it  may  perchance  "please" 
God,  be  agreeable  to  Him,  give  Him  joy,  thus  to 
deal  with  himself.  For  17  31t3n  in  this  sense, 
comp.  ch.  xiii.  9;  Deut.  xxiii.  17  [16].  The 
interpretation  adopted  by  Dillmann  and  others 
is  also  possible :  "  is  it  becoming  for  Thee,"  etc., 
for  which  comp.  Ex.  xiv.  12;  Judg.  ix.  2. — [So 
besides  Dillmann  (who  argues  that  this  sense  is 
better  suited  to  the  remonstrance  with  God), 
Ewald,  Schlottmanu,  and  Davidson,  who  says: 
"31£0  decet,  not  as  others  juvat.  The  argument 
is  that  God's  treatment  of  Job,  a  righteous  man, 
with  such  severity,  was  unbecoming  a  righteous 
God,  and  that  the  world  expected  other  things, 
and  that  such  things  tended  to  the  consternation 
of  religious  men,  and  the  confusion  of  all  fixed 
religious  principles  "].  Job  here  calls  himself 
"the  work  of  God's  hands,"  not  in  order  to  ex- 
cite sympathy  in  God,  nor  in  order  to  touch,  as 
it  were,  the  honor  of  Him  who  had  so  elaborately 
and  carefully  formed  him  in  his  mother's  womb 
(Ps.  cxxxix.  15),  but  principally  in  order  to  call 
attention  to  his  innocence,  in  order  to  indicate 
that  he  had  essentially  persevered  in  that  status 
integritatis  in  wiiich  God  had  created  him.  [Job 
seems  in  this  designation  of  himself  to  have  had 
two  things  in  view,  closely  associated  in  his 
mind,  as  the  connection  shows:  first,  the  elabo- 
rate workmanship  of  his  body  (conveyed  by  the 
term  j^'T,  lit.  the  product  of  toilsome  labor), 
which  God  had  dishonored  by  the  loathsome 
disease  which  He  had  sent  upon  him ;  and  next 
the  moral  perfection,  which  he  claimed  still  to 
possess,  but  which  God  had  likewise  dishonored 
by  treating  him  as  a  sinner. — E.]  This  view  is 
favored,  not  only  by  vers.  7,  8,  but  also  by  the 
circumstantial  clause  which  immediately  follows 
[shown  to  be  a  circumstantial  clause  by  the  fact 
tliat  the  verses  following  are  the  expansion  of 
the  preceding  part  of  the  verse]  :  While  Thou 
shinest  on  the  counsel  of  the  -wicked ; 
i.  e.  favorest  it,  and  causest  it  to  succeed,  comp. 
Ps.  xxxi.  17  [10]  ;  Ixvii.  2  [1]  ;  Num.  vi.  25. 

Ver.  4.  Hast  Thou  eyes  of  flesh  {i.  e.,  eyes 
limited  to  objects  of  sense,  perceiving  only  the 
surface  of  things  ;  comp.  Isa.  xxxi.  3),  or  seest 
Thou  as  man  seeth?  i.  e.,  with  a  vision  short- 
sighted and  superficial  as  man's  (comp.  1  Sam. 
xvi.  7).  By  this  question  a  second  possible  rea- 
son why  God  might  be  supposed  to  treat  Job  as 
guilty  is  indicated  as  being  in  reality  out  of  the 
question  ;  or,  in  other  words :  an  appeal  is  taken 
to  His  omniscience,  to  His  infallible  knowledge 
of  that  which  lies  before  Him  in  men's  hearts. 

Ver.  5.  Are  Thy  days  as  the  days  of  a 
mortal,  or  Thy  years  as  the  days  of  a  man  ? 
— A  third  possibility  is  here  indicated  :  that  God 
might  be,  like  men,  short-lived;  that  in  general 
He  might  be,  like  them,  a  mortal,  a  limited, 
changeable  creature.  This  third  and  last  possi- 
ble reason  is  obviously  related  to  both  the  pre- 
ceding  (not  simply  to  that  which  immediately 


precedes,  as  Welte  and  Hahn  think)  as  cause  to 
eft'ect,  or  as  that  which  is  deepest  and  most  fun- 
damental to  that  which  belongs  rather  to  the 
outward  appearance. 

Ver.  G.  That  Thou  (so  zealously)  seekest 
after  my  guilt,  and  searchest  after  my 
sins  ?  i.  e.,  that  Thou  doest  what  short-sighted 
men  would  do,  seekest  to  extort  from  me  the  con- 
fession of  a  guilt  which  has  esciiped  Thy  vision, 
by  the  application  of  inquisitorial  tortures,  viz., 
by  decreeing  that  I  should  suffer.  [''Such  a 
mode  of  proceeding  may  be  conceived  of  in  a 
mortal  ruler,  who,  on  account  of  his  short-sight- 
edness, seeks  to  bring  about  by  severe  measures 
that  which  was  at  first  only  conjecture,  and  who, 
from  the  apprehension  that  he  inay  not  witness 
that  vengeance  in  which  he  delights,  hastens  for- 
ward the  criminal  process  as  much  as  possible, 
in  order  that  his  victim  may  not  escape  him. 
God,  however,  to  whom  belongs  absolute  know- 
ledge and  absolute  power,  would  act  thus,  al- 
though," etc.  (see  next  verse).  Delitzsch.  And 
Schlottmann  (after  Wolfssohn)  quotes  the  follow- 
ing from  the  Sifri  on  Deut.  xxxii.  40 :  "And  I 
say,  I  live  for  ever.  It  is  in  my  power  at  once 
to  recompense  the  wicked,  but  I  live  for  ever, 
and  hasten  not  the  retribution.  A  king  of  flesh 
and  blood  hastens  the  retribution,  for  he  fears 
that  he  or  his  enemy  may  die,  but  I  live  for 
ever."] 

Ver.  7.  Although  Thou  knowest  ( /j;  here 
equivalent  to  "notwithstanding,  although" 
["lit.  upon,  or  over  and  above,  in  addition  to,  in 
spite  of"'],  as  in  chap.  xvi.  17;  xxxiv.  6;  Isa. 
liii.  9)  that  I  am  not  guilty  (comp.  chap.  ix. 
29)  and  there  is  no  one  vsrho  delivers  out 
of  Thy  hand — ('.  e.,  that  Thou,  in  any  case, 
whether  we  men  are  guilty  or  not,  hast  us  com- 
pletely in  Thy  power,  and  canst  do  with  us  what 
Thou  wilt:  hence  Thou  actest  strangely  in  seek- 
ing so  zealously  for  reasons  why  Thou  shouldst 
condemn  us. 

Second  Strophe.  Vers.  8-12.  The  severe  treat- 
ment which  God  inflicts  on  Job  stands  in  cruel 
contradiction  not  only  to  His  omniscience,  but 
also  to  His  paternal  goodness  and  love.  ["The 
feeling  of  contradiction  between  the  Deity's  past 
and  present  rises  ever  in  intensity  in  Job's 
breast,  and  in  amazement  he  sets  the  two  in 
blank  opposition  to  each  other  before  God  Him- 
self— let  Ilim  reconcile  Himself  with  Himself  if 
He  may.  While  there  is  fearful  keenness  of  dia- 
lectic here,  there  is  also  irresistible  tenderness 
of  expostulation.  The  appeal  is  from  God  to 
God :  Thy  hands  have  made  me,  and  Thou  de- 
stroyest  me."   Dav.] 

Ver.  8.  Thy  hands  have  carefully  formed 
and  perfected  me.  —  [••The  liinge  of  connec- 
tion with  the  last  strophe  is  '"jl"?,  nor  can  deli- 
ver from  Thy  hand — Thy  hands  have  made  me." 
D.w.].  The  thought  conveyed  by  the  phrase 
'T^-  ■i?  •?!  ^^  ^^^®  again  resumed  from  ver.  3  and 
expanded  in  a  description  in  which  there  are 
several  points  of  agreement  with  Ps.  cxxxix.  13- 
16.— 'JOi*^,  lit.  "have  carved  me"  (:35f;;,aPiel 
intensive,  cognate  with  DVp,  3i*n),  i.  e.,  elabo- 
rately formed  ["  especially  appropriate  as  de- 


CHAPS.  IX.  1-35— X.  1-22. 


381 


scribing  the  fashioning  of  the  co'nplicatoJ  na- 
ture of  man."  Del.].  The  following  ntyj^  beara 
the  same  relation  to  this  3i|j^  as  perficere,  consum- 
mare  bears  to  tho  simple  fingcre.  The  clause 
added  in  b,  H'llD  nn^,  "  altogether  round  about" 
(Vulg.:  me  tot  urn  in  circuitu)  represents  the  fash- 
ioning and  perfecting  activity  of  God  as  con- 
cerned with  man's  entire  organism,  including  all 
his  limbs  and  parts.  [And  yet  (1  consec.  with 
strong  adversative  sense)  Thou  destroyest 
me ! — An  exclamation  of  amazement  and  re- 
proach.] 

Ver.  9.  Remember  now^  [the  particle  XJ  is 
expressive  of  a  yearning  plaintiveness  here — ■ 
Oh,  remember  !'\  that  as  clay  Thou  hast  per- 
fected me  :  to  wit,  formed  me  out  of  the  crude 
earth-material  with  the  same  skill  and  care  as 
the  potter  a  vessel  of  clay.  For  the  use  of  this 
favorite  figure  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  especially 
of  the  Old  Testament,  comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  6;  Isa, 
xxix.  16;  xlv.  9;  .Ter.  xviii.  6;  Rom.  ix.  20,  21. 
That  the  same  figure  serves  to  illustrate  not 
merely  the  wise  skill  and  the  loving  care  of  the 
Creator,  but  also  and  above  all  His  arbitrary 
fullness  of  power,  and  His  unconditional  right  in 
His  creatures  (the  jus  absolution  Creatoris  in 
creaturas),  is  evident  from  the  second  member: 
**  and  wilt  Thou  turn  me  again  into  dust  ?"  which 
at  the  same  time  reminds  us  of  Gen.  ii.  7  ;  iii. 
19  and  of  Jer.  xviii.  [That  the  Divine  Arbitrari- 
ness, which  is  the  conception  held  by  a  perverted 
mind  of  the  Divine  Sovereignty,  enters  into  Job's 
train  of  thought  hero  is  plain  enough.  But  that 
it  is  the  prominent  notion  may  certainly  be 
doubted.  This  is  scarcely  consistent  with  the 
urgent  pathos  of  the  plea:  "Oh!  remember  that 
thou  hast  formed  me  as  the  clay  !"  The  central 
thought  as  expressed  by  the  verbs  in  ver.  8,  espe- 
cially 3i*i^,  by  the  adverbial  clause  30D  Ifl',  and 
by  the  detailed  description  of  vers.  10-11,  is  that 
of  the  exquisite  elaborate  workmansliip  involved 
in  his  creation,  and  the  wonder  that  the  Divine 
Artist  should  be  so  regardless  of  His  work  as 
wantonly  to  ruin  it. — E.] 

Ver.  10.  Didst  Thou  not  pour  me  out  as 
milk — viz.:  in  the  act  of  conception,  when  my 
body  received  its  development  out  of  a  purely  li- 
quid material. — [The  Imperfects  in  this  verse 
and  the  following  have  their  time  determined  by 
the  Perfects  of  vers.  8,  9.  The  use  of  the  Im- 
perf.  maybe  explained  with  Ewald:  "because 
the  wonder  is  so  vividly  present  to  Job's  mind  ;" 
or,  as  Davidson  expresses  it:  "Job  again  foels 
the  Divine  hand  upon  him." — E.]  And  curdled 
me  like  cheese? — to  wit,  into  the  formless 
mass  of  the  embryo,  which  in  Ps.  cxxxix.  16  is 

called  D /i,  but  here  is  compared  with  My^J,  i.  e., 

T    ■  :  ' 

cheese  (lit.  curd,  the  pap-like  material  of  cheese 
not  yet  hardened,  not  "cream"  (Schlott.)  nor 
"whey"  (Ilahn  and  Ewald)  [neither  of  these 
definitions  being  suitable  for  the  reason  that  the 

material  is  not  coagulated]).  For '^'jT*'?)  to  pour 
out,  comp.  2  Kings  xxii.  9  (likewise  the  Kal 
above  in  chap.  iii.  24).  "  To  pour  into  a  mould  " 
is  a  signification  which  belongs  to  the  word  nei- 
ther here  nor  in  the  parallel  passage  just  given 
(against  Seb.  Schmidt  and  Delitzsch):  this  would 


be  rather  "iJOJ  or  pi'\  ["The  development  of 
the  embryo  was  regarded  by  the  Israelitish 
Chokma  as  one  of  the  greatest  mysteries."  Ec- 
cles.  xi.  5  ;  2  Mace.  vii.  22  sq.     Del.] 

Ver.  11.  "With  skin  and  flesh  Thou  didst 
clothe  me,  and  V7ith  bones  and  sinews 
Thou  didst  interweave  me. — (pity  from 
■^^ty,  chap.  i.  10,  synonymous  with  "j^D  in  the 
parallel  passage,  Ps.  cxxxix.  1.3.)  [The  verse 
may  be  regarded  as  a  continuation  of  the  ques- 
tion in  ver.  10.  So  Con.,  Dav.,  etc.'\  Grotiu-j 
rightly  observes  that  the  description  here  given 
of  the  development  of  the  foetus  is  in  general 
true  to  nature,  and  corresponds  to  the  actual 
process  [hie  ordo  in  genitura  est :  primum  pellicula 
fit,  deinde  in  ea  caro,  duriora  paulatim  accedant). 
With  equal  correctness  most  modern  expositors 
remark  that  this  agreement  of  the  description 
with  the  natural  processes  of  conception  and  de- 
velopment is  only  of  a  general  sort,  and  that  the 
passage  must  not  be  pressed,  as  is  done  by 
Scheuchzer,  Oetinger,  etc.  [as  "  including  and 
going  beyond  all  systemnia  generationis"'\.  seeing 
that  this  is  to  attribute  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  a 
purpose  which  is  foreign  to  it. 

Ver.  12.  Life  and  favor  ["this  combination 
does  not  occur  elsewhere."  Del.]  hast  Thou 
shown  me  (lit.  "done  to  me  " — 'H'X^iJ,  referring 
at  the  same  time  by  zeugma  to  the  first  object, 
"life"),  and  Thy  oversight  (Thy  provi- 
dence, rrpdvoia)  has  preserved  my  breath:  has 
done  this,  to  wit,  not  only  during  the  embryonic 
state,  but  through  the  whole  time  from  my  birth 
to  the  present.  By  Pill  are  designated  at  the 
same  time  both  the  breath  as  the  outward  sign 
of  life,  and  the  spirit  as  its  inward  principle; 
comp.  chap.  xvii.  1 ;  Eccles.  iii.  19. 

Third  Division.  Second  Half  {Double  Strophe). 
Vers.  13-22.  Continuation  of  the  complaint,  and 
a  further  advance  in  the  same  to  the  point  of 
wishing  that  he  had  never  been  born. 

First  Strophe.  Vers.  13-17.  [God's  goodness  in 
the  past  simulated,  his  secret  purpose  having 
from  the  first  contemplated  the  infliction  of  suf- 
fering on  Job,  whether  guilty  or  innocent. — E.] 

Ver.  13.  And  (nevertheless)  Thou  didat 
hide  these  thingsin  Thy  heart. — [1  strongly 
adversative  :  yet,  notwithstanding  all  Thy  care  in 
my  creation,  and  all  Thy  apparent  kindness  in 
the  past.  Thy  hidden  purpose  all  the  time  con- 
temjDlated  my  destruction.  The  connecti&n  of 
this  verse  is  evidently  with  what  follows,  and  its 
place  is  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  strophe. 

rivX  and  nXT  cannot  refer  to  the  care  and  favor 
bestowed  on  him  in  his  creation  and  preserva- 
tion, for  it  could  not  be  said  of  these  that  God 
had  "hidden  them  in  His  heart;"  they  must  re- 
fer to  the  present  and  coming  manifestations  of 
the  Divine  displeasure,  whicii  are  about  to  be 
detailed,  and  which  Job  here  charges  as  the  con- 
summation of  Jaod's  secret  eternal  plan. — E.] 
Since  the  discourse,  after  the  mild  conciliatory 
turn  which  it  had  taken  in  the  last  division, 
especially  in  ver.  12,  here  evidently  falls  back 
into  the  bitter  tone  of  complaint,  it  follows  that 
the  1  at  the  beginning  of  this  verse  is  to  be  taken 
advcrsatively.    I  know  that  this  was  in  Thy 


382 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


mind — /.  f.,  that  this  determination  had  long 
been  formed  by  Thee  {']'2]?  i"»XI  as  in  chap,  xxiii. 
14;  xxvii.  11),  viz.,  to  assail  me,  and  visit  me 
with  the  direst  calamities,  in  the  manner  de- 
ecribed  in  the  following  verses,  14-17. 

Ver.  14.  If  I  should  sin,  Thou  wouldest 
"watch  me. — 'jnioti'l,  lit.,  custodies  me,  here 
cusfodiiurus  eras  me,  as  these  verses  in  general 
exhibit  that  which,  in  Job's  opinion,  God  had 
long  since  determined,  and  had  the  disposition 
to  do.  "lots'  here  moreover  is  not  "to  keep  in 
remembrance,  to  bear  anything  in  mind"  (Stic- 
kel,  Hirzel,  Delitzsch,  for  then  the  accus.  of  the 
thing  kept  ought  to  have  been  expressed  (corap. 
Prov.  iv.  21  ;  vii.  1). — The  meaning  is  rather  to 
watch  one  carefully,  to  hold  under  observation, 
rigide  ohservare  s.  custodire  aliquem  ;  comp.  ch.  vii. 
12;  xiii.  27. 

Ver.  15.  If  I  should  be  wicked— woe 
unto  me! — As  is  evident  from  this  exclamation 

'^7  '^bx,  "  woe  unto  me  !"  which  takes  the  place 
of  a  clause  expressing  the  consequence  in  the 
future,    "TlJ^tJ'l    is    a   stronger   expression    than 

"TINDn  in  the  verse  preceding.  ["  w  7X  very 
strongly  expressive  of  terror  or  pain,  Mic.  vii. 
1 ;  words  would  fail  to  describe  the  violence  of 
the  punishment."  Dav.  As  much  stronger  there- 
fore as  'bSf^  is  than  "lOty,  so  much  stronger,  it 
may  be  inferred,  is  ^'^'\  here  than  NtJn. — E.]. 
It  must  not  therefore  be  weakened  by  rendering 
it  (with  Schlottmann  and  Olshausen)  "being 
found  guilty;"  it  expresses  the  ideaof  gross,  pre- 
sumptuous sinning,  deserving  of  a  punishment 
indescribably  severe  (here  indicated  only  by  an 
exclamation  of  woe). — And  were  I  righteous 
(tlie  opposite  case  of  the  two  hitherto  mentioned) 
I  should  not  then  (according  to  God's  plan 
and  purpose)  lift  up  my  head:  i.  e.,  I  should 
not  dare  to  enjoy  my  righteousness,  nor  to  profit 
by  my  good  conscience  so  as  to  look  up  with 
freedom  and  confidence:  comp.  ch.  xi.  15;  xxii. 
26 ;  Luke  xxi.  28.  Rather  would  he  even  then 
go  I'.is  wny  like  one  who  had  an  evil  conscience: 
filled  with  shame,  and  in  sight  of  my  mi- 
sery.— HiO  is  either  to  be  taken  as  constr.  state 
of  an  adj.  HXI,  not  elsewhere  occurring  (of  a 
like  structure  with  n3\  H^/j^,  etc.,  so  Gesenius, 
Furst,  Welte,  Hahn,  Del.  [S'chult.,  Schlot.,  Dav.] 
etc.),  or  we  are  to  read  nx'l  (Piscator,  Ewald, 
Hirz.,  Bottch.,  Dillm.  [Ren.,  Hengst.]  etc.):  for 
to  take  it  as  Imper.  [E.  V.,  "  therefore  see  thou 
mine  affliction"]  (De  Wette),  or  as  Infin.  (Um- 
breit,  llosenm.)  [Carey]  makes  the  construction 
altogether  too  hard. 

Ver.  16.  And  should  it  (my  head)  lift  it- 
self up  :  i.  e.,  should  I,  although  condemned  by 
Thee,  still  exhibit  a  cheerful  courage  and  a  proud 
self-consciousness.  This  accordingly  is  not  a 
new  case,  but  an  expansion  of  that  just  supposed 
in  ver.  15  b.  On  PlXr  comp.  ch.  viii.  11 ;  on  the 
omission  of  DX  see  Ewald,  §  357,  h.  As  a 
lion  Thou  wouldest  (then)  hunt  me  and 
again  show  Thy  w^ondrous  pow^er  in 
me :  to  wit,  by  means  of  the  most  exquisite 
tortures,  and  the  most  violent  persecutions,  with 


which  Thou  wouldest  then  visit  me.  ["  Thou 
wast  wonderful  in  my  creation  (vers.  8-12);  and 
now  Thou  art  wonderful  in  inventing  new  means 

of  destroying  me."  Words.].  /nC'3  certainly 
belongs  to  God  as  the  .«ubj.  addressed,  not  to. Job 
as  obj.  (as  Schlottmann  [and  Davidson]  think). 
We  find  God  in  His  anger  compared  to  a  beast  of 
prey  also  in  ch.  xvi.  9;  He  is  in  particular  de- 
scribed as  a  lion  tearing  His  prey  in  IIos.  v.  14  ; 
xiii.  7;  comp.  Isa.  xxxi.  4;  xxxviii.  13;  Jer. 
XXV.  38;  Lam.  iii.  10;  Am.  iii.  12.  On  the  use 
of  "^W  with  a  finite  verb  following  to  express 
the  adverbial  notion  "again,  repeatedly" — a 
construction  similar  to  that  above  inch,  vl   28 — 

comp.  Ewald,  g  285,  b.  On  xSiinn,  with  final 
vowel  <J,  although  not  in  pause  (as  also  in  Num. 
xix.  12),  see  Ewald,  I  141,  c.  [Ewald.  who  is 
followed  by  Davidson,  finds  in  the  details  of  the 
Divine  Plan  against  Job  as  here  unfolded  "a 
cruel  tetralemma,  a  fearful  fourfold  net,"  to 
compass  the  ruin  of  Job  whichever  way  he 
sliould  turn.  (1)  Were  he  to  err — and  to  err  is 
liuman — God  would  watch  him  with  the  keen- 
est eye,  and  punish  him  without  pity.  (2). 
Should  he  sin  heinously,  his  punishment  would 
be  commensurate  with  his  guilt,  transcending  all 
description.  (3).  Should  he  however  be  inno- 
cent he  must  still  be  doomed  to  bear  about  with 
him  a  guilty  look,  and  seem  and  feel  like  a  cri- 
minal. (4).  Should  he  be  unable  from  pride,  or 
conscious  innocence  thus  to  belie  his  integrity, 
and  dare  to  hold  up  his  head,  God  would  in  His 
wrath  hunt  him  like  a  lion. — The  scheme  is  in- 
genious and  plausible,  and  has  not  yet  been  suc- 
cessfully disproved.  Schlottmann  argues  against 
it:  (1).  That  the  di'itinction  it  makes  between 
i'tyi  and  XDPI  is  forced,  to  which  what  has  been 
said  above  is  a  sufficient  answer.  (2).  That  the 
mention  in  ver.  15  of  the  possibility  of  being 
righteous  along  with  that  of  being  wicked  is 
wtiolly  superfluous!  a  remark  which  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  understand.  Job  is  enumerating  all  the 
moral  possibilities  of  his  condition,  and  showing 
that  whichever  course  he  takes  his  Omnipotent 
Adversai-y  is  there  to  meet  him  with  a  flaming 
sword  of  vengeance.  Assuming  therefore  Ewald's 
view  to  be  not  unfounded,  the  following  addi- 
tional remarks  suggest  themselves  concerning  it. 
1.  In  the  first  two  hypotheses,  in  which  the  guilt 
of  Job  is  assumed,  the  hypothetical  element  is 
made  distinct  and  strong  by  the  use  of  DN  ;  in 
the  last  two,  which  assume  his  innocence  the  DX 
is  omitted.  2.  Each  pair  of  hypotheses  presents 
a  climax,  the  second  hypothesis  being  an  ad- 
vance upon  the  first,  both  in  the  protasis  and 
apodosis;  the  fourth  upon  the  third,  especially 
in  the  apodosis. — E.]. 

Ver.  17.  Thou  wouldest  renew  Thy  wit- 
nesses against  me  :  i.  e.,  ever  cause  new  wit- 
nesses to  appear  against  me,  viz.,  ever  new  sk/- 
fcrings  Tin(\  calamities:  comp.  ch.  xvi.  8,  where 
may  be  found  the  same  personification  of  suflTer- 
ings  as  witnesses  which,  in  the  eyes  of  men.  ever 
rise  up  to  testify  against  him  and  his  innocence. 
— And  increase  Thy  displeasure  against 
me  (DjL.*  here  the  same  as  contra ;  comp.  ch. 
xiii.  19;  xxiii.  6;  xxxi.  13);  ever  new  troops 


CHAPS.  IX.  1-35— X.  1-22. 


383 


and  an  army  against  me.  The  phrase  n'lD'Sn, 
NDV1  is  not  to  be  understood  as  a  hendiadys,  as 
if  it  denoted  "  ever  new  hosts,  alternating  hosts  " 
["  with  host  succeeding  host  against  me"  :  Con., 
Dav.,  Ren.,  Words.,  Schlott.,  Ges.,  Noy.,  etc.], 
for  this  idea  would  be  more  simply  expressed  by 

N3V  jID'/n  (against  Hirzel  and  most  moderns). 
Bather  does  ND]^  denote  the  main  body  of  the 
army,  while  J^^^'^n,  lit.,  "exchanges"  are  fresh 
advancing  reserves,  or  reinforcements.  With 
the  former,  the  original  main  army,  are  compared 
Job's  principal  sufferings,  while  the  latter  the  re- 
serve troops,  denote  the  new  species  of  pains  and 
tortures  with  which  God  continually  afflicts  and 
vexes  him  (Job  being  represented  as  a  fortress, 
the  object  of  God's  hostile  attack  ;  comp.  ch.  xix. 

12;  XXX.  12).  [mDwn  stands  first  as  being  the 
prominent  element.  Job's  mind  dwelling  princi- 
pally, though  not  altogether,  on  the  neiv  tortures 
with  which  God  assailed  him,  as  is  evident  also 
from  E'nnn  and  2')Pi  just  before. — E.].  More- 
over it  will  be  seen  that  every  verse — member 
from  ver.  14  to  ver.  18  inclusive  ends  in  the 
vowel  i,  a  fact  already  noted  by  Bdttcher,  which 
can  scarcely  be  accidental.  The  impression  that 
the  Divine  wrath  has  especial  reference  to  the 
single  individuality  (the  one  1)  of  the  lamenting 
Job  is  strongly  intensified  by  this  continuous  re- 
petition of  the  rhyme  from  the  pronominal  in- 
flection (Delitzsch). 

Second  Strophe:  Vers.  18-22,  consisting  of  two 
thoughts:  a.  Curse  of  his  own  existence — vers. 
18,  19  (a  condensed  repetition  of  ch.  iii.  11-16)  ; 
b.  Prayer  for  a  short  respite  before  going  down 
into  the  dark  realm  of  the  dead  (repeated  out  of 
ch.  vii.  16-19). 

Ver.  18.  "Why  then  didst  Thou  bring  me 
forth  out  of  the   womb  ?     I  should   have 

died,  etc.  "  The  Imperfects  J^UN,  n-pX,  SjJilN 
have  a  hypothetic  coloring,  being  strictly  the 
conclusion  of  a  pre-supposition  indicated  by  the 
preceding  question.  They  indicate  what  would 
have  happened,  if  God  had  not  called  him  into 
being  out  of  his  mother's  womb,  in  his  opinion, 
which  he,  as  a  wise  man,  here  puts  in  opposition 
to  the  Divine  treatment"  (Dillmann).  [The 
Eng.  Ver.  "Oh  that  I  had  given  up  the  ghost, 
and  no  eye  had  seen  me  !"  is  feeble,  and  de- 
stroys the  unity  of  the  passage  formed  by  this 
member,  and  the  verse  following,  represented  as 
above  indicated  by  the  three  conditional  Imper- 
fects.—E.]. 

Ver.  19.  12^T\  expresses  the  idea  of  being 
borne  in  slow  solemn  procession,  as  is  customary 
in  burial ;  so  also  in  ch.  xxi.  32. 

Ver.  20.  Are  not  my  days  fe-w?  Let 
Him  cease  then, — let  Him  let  me  alone. — 
Thus  are  the  words  to  be  rendered  according  to 

the  K'thibh    /'in''  and  r\^U\   not  as  a  petition 

T    :  V  ■   T  '■ 

addressed  to  God,  but  as  a  request  expressed 
concerning  Him  in  the  third  person,  as  one  who 
had  withdrawn.     The  K'ri,  in  giving  instead  the 

Imperf.  /'ini  and  n'p?1 :  "cease,"  and  "let  me 
alone  "  (so  also  most  of  the  Ancient  Versions), 
[E.  v.],  is  a  change  of  the  original  text,  sug- 


'  gested  by  ch.  vii.  16,  which  passage  is  here  imi- 
tated, although  indeed  only  freely.  [Tliis  use 
of  the  3d  person  here,  following  the  K'thibh 
which  undoubtedly  is  the  correct  reading,  is  a 
noticeable  and  masterly  stroke,  expressing  the 
helpless,  exhausted  prostration  of  Job's  spirit  at 
the  close  of  his  discourse. — The  vehement  Tita- 
nic energy  of  his  previous  defiance  has  expended 
itself:  he  no  more  ventures  to  stand  up  fice  to 
face  with  God,  and  with  head  uplifted  pour  forth 
his  bitter  remonstrances:  he  now  lies  low  in  the 
dust,  panting  with  the  weary  strife,  with  no  hope 
but  in  death,  and  with  averted,  down-cast  eye, 
exclaims  of  God — "  Let  Him  cease  for  a  little 
while!"  Another  indication  of  his  mental  ex- 
haustion is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  remainder 
of  his  discourse  is  made  to  consist  of  a  repetition 
of  phrases  from  ch.  vii. — He  can  only  repeat, 
mechanically  almost,  what  he  has  said,  although 
even  in  this  there  is  inimitable  pathos. — E.]. 
|P  r\'V,  to  turn  away  the  attention  from  any 
one,  like  D^'t!?  with  |0,  ch.  vii.  19;  Ps.  xxxix. 
14  [13]  ;  to  supply  2h,  or  D;rj;,  or  T  (after 
ch.  xiii.  21)  is  not  really  necessary. — That  I 
may  be  cheerful  a  little  while,  lit.,  look  up 
brightly,  as  in  ch.  ix.  27  ;  Ps.  xxxix.  14  [13]. 

Ver.  21.  Before  I  go  hence  and  return 
not :   [second  clause  2Wii  N7l  adverbial,  =:  not 

to  return].  Comp.  ch.  vii.  7-10.  An  moS:f, 
comp.  on  ch.  iii.  5. 

Ver.  22.  Into  the  land  of  darkness,  like 
to  midnight. — So  Ewald,  Dillmann,  etc.,  in  or- 
der to  express  the  idea  of  an  intensijied  degree  of 

darkness,  indicated  by  73X  (lit.,  "covering": 
see  ch.  iii.  6;  xxiii.  17;  xxviii.  8  ;  Ps.  xci.  6). 
— Of  the  shadow  of  death,  and  of  confu- 
sion.—D''"i'lip  N'b  [Dmo  aw.  Aey.  in  the  Old 
Testament,  but  a  common  word  in  the  later  He- 
brew, Del.],  lit.,  "  no  ranks,"  i.e.,  disorder, 
chaotic  confusion  (Tohuvabohu,  Gen.  i.  2).    For 

this  use  of  X7,  as  a  terse  negation  of  the  con- 
ception of  a  noun,  like  our  prefix  un-,  or  dis-, 
comp.  ch.  viii.  11  ;  xxvi.  2,  3. — "Where  it  is 
bright  like  midnight.  J}2r\),  lit.,  "so  that  it 
shines  forth,  is  bright  (comp.  ch.  iii.  4 ;  x.  3J. 
The  subj.  of  this  verb  is  certainly  'J'^X  (Hirzel, 
Delitzsch,  etc.) ;  the  neuter  use  of  the  fem.  >'3n 
is  less  probable.  vSX  here  again  signifying  the 
most  intense  darkness,  the  most  sunless  gloom, 
[ipsum  medullitium  umbrae  mortis,  ejiisquc  intensissi- 
mum,  Oetinger).  "  To  be  bright  like  midnight " 
(the  direct  opposite  of  Ps.  cxxxix.  12)  is  a  strong 
terribly  vivid  description  of  superlative  dark- 
ness, as  it  rules  in  the  under-world.  Compare 
Milton's:  "  not  light,  but  darkness  visible,"  in 
his  description  of  hell. 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

1.  The  fundamental  thought,  around  which  all 
the  discussions  of  this  new  discourse  of  Job  re- 
solve, is  that  of  absolute  power  in  God,  and  of 


384 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


that  power  acting  in  a  merciless  arbitrary  man- 
ner, entirely  regardless  of  all  human  right  an3 
innocence.  "  He  dcstroi/s  the  in7ioc€Hl  as  well  as 
the  gitilly  ;" — such  is  the  harsh  utterance  against 
God  as  a  tyrant,  raging  in  auger,  trampling 
down  all  right  under  His  feet  (ch.  ix.  22),  to 
which  Job  advances  from  the  concession  which 
he  has  previously  made  to  both  his  opponents, 
that  God's  action  is  always  and  uniformly  just 
(comp.  Exeget.  and  Crit.  Rem's.,  No.  1).  He 
concedes  to  them,  especially  to  Bildad,  without 
further  question  :  "  what  God  does  must  be  right, 
just  because  God,  the  Righteous  One,  does  it." 
But  with  bitter  sarcasm  he  resolves  this  into  the 
proposition:  "God  does  just  what  He  pleases, 
whether  it  is  really  righteous  or  not!"  Thus, 
instead  of  the  God  of  absolute  justice,  whom  the 
friends  had  held  up  before  him  and  defended  (in 
a  way  that  was  one-sided  and  narrow  enough,  to 
be  sure),  he  formsfor  himself  a  gloomy,  horrible 
representation  of  a  God  of  absolute  power,  who 
rules  and  directs  not  according  to  objective 
standards  of  right,  but  according  to  the  prompt- 
inas  of  an  arbitrary  will,  subject  to  no  restraint. 
It  is  the  T?Eof  dinaiog  of  Marcion,  who  is  abso- 
lutely and  in  essence  disjoined  from  all  kindness 
and  love ;  nay,  more,  it  is  the  God  of  the  pre- 
destinatianists  and  extreme  (supra-lapsarian) 
Calvinists,  disposing  of  the  destinies  of  men  in 
accordance  with  an  unconditionil,  arbitrary  de- 
cree (decretum  absolutum),  irrespective  of  all  mo- 
ral worthiness  or  unworthiness — such  is  the  Be- 
ing whom  Job  here  delineates,  and  before  whose 
hostile  assaults  on  his  person,  guiltless  as  he 
knows  himself  to  be,  he  recoils  in  shuddering 
anguish.  Instead  of  dwelling  as  he  had  formerly 
doue  (ch.  ii.  10)  on  the  remembrance  of  the  ma- 
nifold goodness  which  he  had  experienced  from 
God,  and  bowing  in  patience  beneath  His  hand, 
and  confidently  awaiting  the  explanation  in  the 
near  or  remote  future  of  the  dark  destiny  which 
according  to  an  inscrutable  decree  oversliadowed 
him,  he  here  thrusts  away  from  himself  all  such 
comfort,  writhes  like  a  worm  under  the  crushing 
pressure  of  that  horrible  spectre  into  which  his 
perverted  imagination  had  transformed  the  only 
just  and  holy  God,  imputes  to  Him  the  severe 
treatment  which  although  innocent  he  had  en- 
dured as  a  long-cherished  and  well-contrived 
plan  (ch.  X.  13-17),  and  finally  relapses  into  that 
tone  of  deepest  despair  and  most  disconsolate 
woe  which  he  had  heretofore  struck  upon,  by 
cursing  his  existence  (ch.  x.  18seq.)  and  be- 
seeching God  for  just  one  tiling — that  before  he 
should  depart  hence  into  the  eternally  dark  and 
joyless  Hereafter,  He  would  once  again  let  him 
alone,  that  he  might  have  one  short  last  respite 
in  this  life.  In  short  it  is  the  sorely  tried  suf- 
ferer, who  is  not  indeed  really  forsaken  by  God, 
but  who  has  nevertheless  given  himself  up,  who 
here  pours  out  his  grief  without  restraint  in  a 
lamentation  which  is  at  the  same  time  through- 
out an  arraignment  of  God.  Comp.  Luther  in 
his  Preface  to  our  book:  "For  before  that  Job 
Cometh  into  the  pangs  of  death,  he  praiseth 
God  concerning  the  spoiling  of  his  goods,  and 
the  death  of  his  children.  But  when  death  is 
before  his  eyes,  and  God  withdraweth  Himself, 
then  do  his  words  show  what  manner  of  thoughts 
a  man,  however  holy  he  be,  may  have  against 


God  ;  how  it  seemeth  to  him  that  God  is  not  God, 
but  a  mere  judge  and  an  angry  tyrant,  who  ex- 
erciseth  His  power,  and  careth  for  no  man's 
well-being.  This  is  the  most  extreme  part  of 
this  book.  Only  those  can  understand  it,  who 
also  feel  and  know  what  it  is  to  endure  God  s 
wrath  and  judgment,  and  to  have  His  mercy  hid 
from  them." 

2.  Under  the  rough  shell  of  this  abstract  pre- 
destinatianist  way  of  thinking,  the  discourse  con- 
ceals a  rich  store  of  glorious  religious  truths, 
and  powerful  testimonies  in  behalf  of  a  living 
saving  faith,  which  show  to  us  that  Job  has  been 
sorely  afflicted  indeed,  but  not  rejected  ;  nay, 
more,  that  bright  beams  of  Divine  light  pierce 
the  thick  darkness,  and  line  with  glory  the  edges 
of  the  black  clouds  of  doubt  which  have  come  be- 
tween him  and  the  gracious  face  of  his  Heavenly 
Father.  As  Brentius  beautifully  says  :  "  Here 
you  have  the  blasphemies  of  hell,  into  which 
those  are  tempted  who  are  for  any  time  judi- 
cially forsaken  by  the  Lord  ;  .  .  .  but  Job  ar- 
gues his  cause  according  to  his  feelings:  for  in 
such  dread  of  the  judgment  as  possesses  him  he 
feels  God  to  be  not  a  Father,  but  an  executioner. 
.  .  .  But  mark,  at  this  point  the  faith  of  Job 
lifts  up  its  head  even  in  the  midst  of  judgment ! 
For  as  Christ,  our  Lord,  when  cast  into  the  midst 
of  hell,  cries  out  that  He  is  forsaken,  yet  at  the 
same  time  acknowledges  God  to  be  His  God — for 
He  says :  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me  ? 
so  Job,  overwhelmed  with  all  evils,  wondering 
how  God,  who  was  before  so  generous,  can  now 
be  so  cruel  a  Judge,  recounts  in  the  spirit  of 
faith  the  mercies  of  the  past  from  the  time  be- 
fore his  birth  until  his  growth  to  manhood ;  for 
unless  a  spark  of  faith  had  been  left  in  him,  he 
would  not  have  been  able  to  recognize  the  mer- 
cies which  he  enumerates  (ch.  X.  8-12)."  Among 
these  testimonies  to  tlie  fact  that  in  the  midst  of 
all  the  darkness  and  judicial  terrors  which 
assailed  him  he  still  maintained  his  faith,  may 
be  mentioned : 

a.  The  glorious  descriptioTi  which  he  gives  in  ch. 
ix.  5-12  of  the  Omnipotence  and  greatness  of  God, 
as  the  same  is  manifested  in  the  works  of  His 
creation,  both  on  earth  and  in  heaven — one  of 
the  most  elevated  descriptions  which  the  poetic 
literature  of  the  Old  Testament  has  anywhere 
produced  on  this  topic. 

b.  The  strikingly  beautiful  description  which 
he  gives  of  the  special  care  and  the  infinite  skill  and 
wisdom  exercised  by  the  providence  of  God  in  its 
influence  on  man's  generation,  on  the  earliest 
development  of  the  individual  human  life  in  the 
womb,  and  on  every  subsequent  stage  of  that 
development  up  to  mature  manhood  :  ch.  x.  8-12. 
— This,  too,  like  the  former,  is  one  of  the  noblest 
contributions  of  this  book  to  physico-theology, 
and  to  the  Bible  doctrine  of  the  creation  of  the 
individual  human  life,  and  of  the  origin  of  the 
soul.  Like  the  parallel  passage  in  Ps.  cxxxix. 
13-16,  this  description  seems  decidedly  to  favor 
the  theory  of  creationism,  according  to  which  the 
generation  of  each  individual  man  presupposes 
a  concurrent  act  of  immediate  creation  on  the 
part  of  the  Divine  omnipotence  (comp.  Lactan- 
tiuo,  De  opif  Dei,  c.  19).  At  the  same  time  it  is 
evident,  especially  from  ver.  10,  with  the  strong 
emphasis  which  it  lays  on  the  participation  of 


CHAPS.  IX.  1-35— X.  1-22. 


385 


the  parents  in  the  origination  of  the  human  or- 
ganism, that  the  fundamental  idea  of  traducian- 
ism,  or  geuerationism,  is  not  foreign  to  the  wri- 
ter's thought,  but  is  to  be  included  in  it  as 
a  presupposition  which  is  not  to  be  ignored.  So 
then  these  two  methods  of  representation,  that 
of  creationism  and  that  of  geuerationism,  must 
always  and  everywhere  go  hand  in  hand,  mutu- 
ally supplementing  and  rectifying  one  another, 
(comp.  Nitzsch,  Si/st.  of  Christ.  Doct.  §107,  Rem. 
2:  Rothe,  iti'^A.  ^  124,  Rem.  1;  Frohschammer, 
Ueber  JJrsprung  der  menschlichen  Seele,  1854). 

c.  Again,  the  absolute  superiority  of  the  Divine 
inlellifjpnce  to  the  human,  and  hence  the  infinite 
knowledge  and  unapproachable  wisdom  of  God, 
are  described  in  ch.  ix.  3,  4  (comp.  ver.  14  seq.  ; 
ch.  X.  4)  with  an  impressive  power  and  beauty, 
rivalling  the  most  important  of  those  Old  Testa- 
ment passages  [e.  g.  Ps.  cxxxix.)  where  this 
theme  is  unfolded. 

d.  When  in  contrast  with  all  this  Job  comes 
to  speak  of  the  weakness,  vanity,  and  transitoriness 
of  human  existence,  his  words  are  not  less  impres- 
sive and  eloquent.  They  resemble  (especially 
ch.  ix.  25  seq.  "  For  my  days  are  swifter  than 
a  runner,  etc.''',  comp.  ch.  x.  20.  "Are  not  my 
days  few,"  etc.)  those  passages  in  Job's  earlier 
lament,  at  the  beginning  of  ch.  vii.,  where  he 
describes  the  transiency  and  vanity  of  man's  life 
on  earth;  but  they  also  resemble  similar  pas- 
sages in  the  preceding  discourses  of  Eliphaz  and 
Bildad.  Thus  it  is  that  this  complaint  over  the 
hasty  flight  and  the  misery  of  human  life,  pre- 
sents itself  as  a  constant  theme  with  all  the 
speakers  of  this  book,  and  is  indeed  a  character- 
istic property  of  all  the  Chokmah  poets  and  teach- 
ers of  the  Old  Testament  generally. 

e.  With  this  repeated  emphasizing  of  human 
weakness  is  closely  connected  the  prominence 
given  to  the  consciousness,  characteristic  of  the 
Old  Testament  stand-point  of  faith  and  life,  of 
such  superiority  in  God  over  man  as  makes  it 
absolutely  impossible  for  the  latter  to  contend, 
or  to  come  into  comparison  with  Him,  there 
being  no  arbiter  or  judicial  mediator  between 
both  (ch.  ix,  32seq.).  The  recognition  of  this 
both  indirectly  postulates  such  a  mediator  and 
prompts  to  an  expression  of  the  yearning  felt 
for  him ;  comp.  above  on  ch.  ix.  33. 

/.  Finally,  it  is  a  noticeable  trait  of  .Tob's 
profound  piety  that  repeatedly,  in  the  midst  of 
his  sorrowful  complaint,  he  addresses  himself 
directly  to  God.  Indeed,  from  ch.  ix.  28  on,  he 
no  longer  speaks  in  the  third  person  o/God,  but 
in  the  second  person  to  Him.  This  tone  of 
entreaty,  which  the  sorely  afflicted  sufferer  main- 
tains, even  where  he  utters  the  bitterest  com- 
plaints and  accusations  against  God,  is  instruc- 
tive in  regard  to  that  which  should  be  regarded 
as  in  general  the  fundamental  frame  of  his  soul 
(comp.  on  ch.  ix.  28,  and  on  ch.  x.  2).  Accord- 
ing to  this,  he  appears  as  one  whom  God  had 
in  truth  not  forsaken,  but  only  afflicted  for  the 
sake  of  proving  him.  Indeed,  far  from  being 
objectively  forsaken  of  God,  he  is  not  once  guilty 
of  forsaking  God  in  the  subjective  sense  (t.  e.  in 
a  spirit  of  self-will,  through  doubt,  disobedience 
or  open  apostasy).  In  the  inmost  depths  of  his 
praying  heart,  he  does  not  once  believe  that  he 
is  forsaken  or  rejected  by  God;  he  only  fears 
26 


such  a  doom  in  passing,  but  every  time  springs 
shuddering  back  with  hope,  or  at  least  with 
longing  to  God,  and  (like  a  child,  severely  chas- 
tised, which  nevertheless  knows  no  other  refuge 
and  no  other  comfort  than  may  be  found  with 
its  father)  does  not  stop  clinging  to  tlie  Hea- 
venly Author  of  his  being,  ever  renewing  his 
complaints  and  petitions  to  Ilim  for  help.  "It 
is  true  that  Job,  so  long  as  he  regards  his  suf- 
ferings as  a  dispensation  of  divine  judgment,  is 
as  unjust  towards  God  as  he  believes  God  to  be 
unjust  towards  him;  but  if  we  bear  in  mind 
that  this  state  of  conflict  and  temptation  does 
not  preclude  the  idea  of  a  temporal  withdrawal 
of  faith,  and  that,  as  Baumgarten  [Pentat.  i. 
209)  aptly  expresses  it,  the  profound  secret  of 
prayer  is  this,  that  man  can  prevail  with  the  Di- 
vine Being,  then  we  shall  understand  that  this 
dark  cloud  need  only  be  removed,  and  Job  again 
standsbefore  the  God  of  love  as  His  saint"  (Del.). 

HOMILETICAL  AND   PRACTICAL. 

The  survey  given  above  (No.  2  a-f)  of  those 
portions  of  the  preceding  section  having  the 
greatest  doctrinal  and  ethical  value  will  show 
where  the  most  fruitful  themes  for  homiletic 
discussion  may  be  found.  In  any  case  the 
separate  treatment  of  these  themes  commends 
itself  in  proportion  to  the  richness  of  their  con- 
tents and  their  high  significance,  in  preference 
to  the  homiletic  treatment  of  the  whole  discourse 
through  all  its  length  as  a  unit.  If  a  compre- 
hensive text  is  sought  for,  either  one  of  the  three 
sections,  into  which  the  whole  discourse  is  di- 
vided, may  be  chosen.  Or  combining  the  first 
two  sections  into  one  of  greater  length,  the  divi- 
sion by  chapters  may  be  followed.  In  this  case 
the  theme  of  a  homily  on  ch.  ix.  might  run  : 
"  The  saint  of  the  Old  Testament  groaning  under 
the  pressure  of  the  Divine  omnipotence,  not 
having  as  yet  the  consciousness  of  an  atonement." 
The  theme  for  ch.  x.  might  be  slated:  "The 
pious  sufferer  of  the  Old  Testament  on  the  brink 
of  despair,"  or  "  wavering  between  a  child-like, 
thankful,  trustful  recognition  of  the  Fatber-love 
of  God  (vers.  8-12)  and  disconsolate  coniplaint 
because  of  His  apparent  merciless  severity." — 
As  shorter  texts  the  following  present  them- 
selves: ch.  ix.  2-12 — God's  Omnipotence;  ch. 
ix.  13-24 — The  apparent  injustice  of  the  Divine 
government  of  the  world  ;  ch.  ix.  25-35 — The 
cheerless  and  helpless  condition  of  the  suff"erii>g 
righteous  under  the  Old  Dispensation,  who  as 
yet  knew  no  mediator  between  God  and  men  ; 
ch.  X.  1-7 — The  contradiction  which  shows  itself 
between  the  fact  of  God's  omniscience,  and  that 
of  the  innocent  suffering  of  the  godly ;  ch.  x. 
8-12. — God's  fatherly  love,  and  His  merciful  all- 
including  care  as  exhibited  in  the  creation  and 
preservation  of  human  life;  ch.  x.  13-22. — God 
as  the  hostile  persecutor  of  the  sufferer,  who 
fancies  himself  to  be  forsaken  by  Him,  and  who 
is  deprived  of  all  earthly  comfort. 

Particular  Passages. 

Ch.  ix.   5  sq. :  Oecolampauius:   The  levelling 

of  mountains,  the  shakings  of  the  earth,  eclipses 

of  the  sun  and  of  the  stars,   and   in  short  the 

movements  of  the  universe  are  testimonies  to 


386 


THE  COOK  OF  JOB. 


the  power  of  God.  It  must  needs  be  that  He  is 
mighty  who  hurls  mountains  into  the  sea  with 
such  ease,  that  it  is  scarcely  noticed.  .  .  .  Hence 
believers  derive  the  hope  that  nothing  is  so  ter- 
rible or  so  grievous  but  God  can  alleviate  it, 
especially  when  He  says:  "If  ye  have  faith  as 
a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say  unto  this 
mountain,  Remove  hence  to  yonder  place,  and  it 
shall  remove"  (Matt.  xvii.  20).  By  which  saying 
it  is  testified  that  the  highest  power  belongs  to 
those  who  believe. — Starke  :  If  God  has  the 
power  to  remove  mountains,  He  certainly  has 
the  power  to  deliver  out  of  all  troubles  (Ps.  1. 
25). — The  heavens  are  a  mirror  of  the  infinite 
and  incomprehensible  Wisdom,  Goodness  and 
Omnipotence  of  God.  Even  the  heathen  have 
learned  from  their  reflections,  that  there  must 
be  a  supreme  intelligent  Being,  who  rules  over 
all.  Every  star  is  our  schoolmaster,  and  testi- 
fies to  us  that  there  is  a  God. 

Ch.  ix.  10  sq.  Brentius  :  God's  judgments 
are  hidden:  at  first  sight  they  seem  to  men 
either  unjust  or  foolish,  but  in  the  end  His 
counsel  is  understood,  and  His  back  is  seen, 
though  not  His  face  (.ler.  xviii.  17).  .  .  .  Hence 
if  God  should  pass  before  thee,  /.  e.  if  He  should 
carry  on  some  wondrous  work  before  thine  eyes, 
although  at  first  thou  shouldst  be  ignorant  what 
it  is,  or  what  He  wills  by  His  wonderful  work, 
nevertheless  thou  canst  not  doubt  in  the  least 
that  He  is  good  and  wise  and  just. — Tubbing. 
Bible:  God  as  omnipresent  is  continually 
around  us  and  with  us,  although  we  see  Him 
not. — Osiander:  Although  God  is  without  the 
least  varying  disposed  towards  us  as  a  Father, 
it  may  nevertheless  seem  to  us  in  trouble  as 
though  He  had  changed  towards  us  (Ps.  Ixvii.  10; 
Is.  Ixiv.  16). 

Ch.  ix.  21  sq.  Zeyss  :  Although  it  seems  to 
pious  believers  when  in  deep  aftliciion  and  trial, 
as  though  God  observed  no  measure  and  no  dis- 
crimination in  the  infliction  of  punishment,  it  is 
nevertheless  not  so  with  Him  ;  but  such  thoughts 
proceed  from  flesh  and  blood,  yea,  they  are 
temptations  of  Satan  (comp.  Brentius  above. 
Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks,  No.  2). — Heng- 
ktexberg:  To  this  result  (viz.  of  regarding  God 
as  the  author  of  evil  and  as  absolutely  unjust) 
we  must  come  in  our  investigation  of  evil,  if  we 
look  at  the  subject  with  carnal  eyes.  The  mat- 
ter looks  differently,  however,  to  him  who  is 
capable  of  spiritual  discernment,  which  is  true 
only  of  him  who  can  bring  his  own  processes 
and  experiences  into  accord  with  God's  justice. 
He  sees  that  the  triumph  of  evil  is  always  only 
apparent  and  transient,  only  the  means  of  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  triunipli  of  the  good. 
He  sees  that  the  righteous  need  suff'ering  for 
temptation  and  purification,  that  so  long  as  sin 
dwells  in  them,  they  cannot  yet  be  exalted  to 
glory,  but  that,  as  the  Apostle  says  of  himself, 
they  must  be  "troubled  on  every  side,  yet  not 
distressed"  (2  Cor.  iv.  8) ;  otherwise  they  would 
soon  be  a  dead  reed.  "  The  staff"  of  afl[liction 
beats  our  loins  down  to  the  grave,''  etc.,  etc. 

Ch.  ix.  30seq.  CEcolampadius:  The  most  po- 
tent kind  of  comfort  is  that  which  comes  from  a 
pure  conscience,  which  is  as  it  were  a  perpetual 
outcry.  But  neither  from  that  do  we  derive  any 
benefit,  if  we  look  back  at  our  works.     For  we 


shall  never  thus  be  purified,  who  in  the  strict 
judgment  of  God  would  be  pronounced  abomi- 
nable, and  defiled  .with  filth. — Zeyss  :  The  guilt 
of  sin  can  be  washed  away  by  no  snow-water, 
lye,  or  soap,  {.  e.,  by  no  outward  works,  or  self- 
elected  service  of  God,  or  papistic  holy  water. 
It  is  quite  another  washing  that  serves  for  that, 
to  wit,  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ ;   1  John  i.  7. 

Ch.  ix.  33.  CEcolampadius:  Without  Christ 
we  are  such  creatures  as  Job  has  described 
above.  If  however  Christ  is  our  arbiter  and  me- 
diator (1  Tim.  ii.  5)  He  Himself  will  remove  the 
rod. 

Ch.  X.  2  seq.  Henqstenberq  :  The  needless 
and  aimless  cruelty  towards  an  innocent  person, 
of  which  Job  accuses  God,  seems  all  the  more 
inexcusable  if  this  innocent  one  is  at  tlie  same 
time  wholly  helpless.  It  would  be  revolting  to 
see  omnipotence  sporting  with  impotence. — To 
such  cheerless  results  are  we  driven,  when,  like 
Job,  we  look  into  ourselves  as  into  a  golden  cup. 
If  in  severe  suff'ering  we  fail  to  recognize  our 
own  darkness,  the  Father  of  Lights  must  change 
into  darkness. 

Ch.  X.  8  seq.  Cramer:  In  affliction  there  is 
no  better  comfort  than  to  remember  that  we  are 
sprung  from  God  (Ps.  xxii.  10). — Chr.  Scriver 
(in  the  hymn :   "  Jesu,  meiner  Seele  Leben  ") : 

"  Thy  loving-kindnesa  was  around  me  flung, 
Ere  yet  the  world  did  lie  around  my  way; 
On  Thee  in  my  weak  infancy  I  hung. 

While  helpless  on  my  mother's  breast  I  lay. 


Along  the  wayward  paths  of  early  youth 
Thy  loving-kindness  ever  followed  me. 


It  is  in  Thee  each  moment  I  do  live, 
Tliy  Spirit  ever  with  me  doth  abide  ; 

All  that  I  have  is  but  wh*t  Thou  dost  give. 

Thy  light  has  ever  been  my  journey's  guide." 

Hengstenberg  :  It  is  worthy  of  note,  what  a 
fund  of  knowledge  of  God  Job  still  possesses, 
even  when  he  seems  to  have  completely  forsaken 
God.  With  one  who  is  penetrated,  as  he  is,  by 
the  consciousness  that  every  whifiF  of  breath  be- 
longs to  God,  faith  must,  sooner  or  later,  fight 
its  way  through  all  temptations  and  darkclomls. 

Ch.  X.  13  seq.  Cramer:  God  does  not  afflict 
and  trouble  men  willingly  (Lam.  iii.  33),  and  al- 
though in  affliction  He  seems  to  frown.  He  yet 
smiles  on  us  in  His  heart.  He  stands  behind  the 
wall,  and  looks  through  the  lattice ;  Cant.  ii.  0. 
— Hengstenberg:  Nothing  tends  more  strongly 
to  lead  human  nature  astray,  than  the  discovery 
that  one  whom  you  have  been  accustomed  to  love 
and  to  honor  as  your  benefactor,  has  used  his 
beneficence  only  as  means  to  gratify  the  deepest 
malignity.  Job  thinks  that  his  experience  in 
relation  to  God  is  of  this  character.  How  under 
such  circumstances  must  the  Fountain  of  all  con- 
solation be  changed  into  a  poisonous  spring ! 

Ch.  X.  18  seq.  Osiander:  It  is  great  ingrati- 
tude if  we  do  not  thank  God  for  the  use  of  light 
in  this  life ;  and  it  is  a  heathenish  speech  to  say 
— it  were  best  never  to  have  been  born,  or  to 
have  died  immediately  after  birth. —  Zeyss  (on 
vei\  20  seq.):  Terrible  as  are  death  and  the 
grave  to  natural  eyes,  they  are  no  less  sweet  and 
comforting   to  the   eyes  of  faith  (Luke  ii.   29  ; 


CHAP.  XI.  1-20.  387 


Phii.  i.  21). — Stakke:  Those  who  are  tried  are 
wont  to  long  greatly  that  God,  if  He  will  not  al- 
together remove  their  siiflfering,  would  yet  send 
some  relief  ( Isa.  xxxviii.  14). — Vict.  Andreak  : 


Do  we  not  see  in  these  two  chapters  (ix.  and  x.) 
how  the  human  heart  in  truth  wavers  to  and  fro 
between  the  proudest  presumptioa  and  the  most 
pusillanimous  despair  ? 


III.    Zophar  and  Job  :  Chaps.  XI— XIV. 

A. — Zophar's  violent  arraignment  of  Job,  as  one  'who  needs  in  penitence  to  submit 
himself  to  the  all-seeing  and  righteous  God  : 

Chapter  XI. 
1.  Expression  of  the  desire  that  the  Omniscient  One  would  appear  to  connnce  Job  of  his  guilt. 

Vers.  2-6. 

1  Then  answered  Zophar  the  Naamathite,  and  said : 

2  Should  not  the  multitude  of  words  be  answered  ? 
and  should  a  man  full  of  talk  be  justified? 

3  Should  thy  lies  make  men  hold  their  peace  ? 

and  when  thou  mockest,  shall  no  man  make  thee  ashamed  ? 

4  For  thou  hast  said,  My  doctrine  is  pure, 
and  I  am  clean  in  Thine  eyes. 

5  But  oh  that  God  Avould  speak, 
and  open  His  lips  against  thee  ; 

6  and  that  He  would  show  thee  the  secrets  of  wisdom, 
that  they  are  double  to  that  which  is  ! 

Know  therefore  that  God  exacteth  of  thee  less  than  thine  iniquity  deserveth. 

2.  Admonitory  description  of  the  impossibility  of  contending  against  God's  omniscience,  which 
charges  every  man  with  sin  : 

Verses  7-12. 

7  Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God  ? 

canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto  perfection  ?   • 

8  It  is  as  high  as  heaven,  what  canst  thou  do  ? 
deeper  than  hell,  what  canst  thou  know? 

9  The  measure  thereof  is  longer  than  the  earth, 
and  broader  than  the  sea. 

10  If  He  cut  off,  and  shut  up, 

or  gather  together,  then  who  can  hinder  Him  ? 

11  For  He  knoweth  vain  men  ; 

He  seeth  wickedness  also ;  will  He  not  then  consider  it  ? 

12  For  vain  man  would  be  wise, 

though  man  be  born  like  a  wild  ass's  colt. 

8.  The  truly  penitent  has  in  prospect  the  restoration  of  his  prosperity  ;  for  the  wicked,  however, 
there  remains  no  hope  : 

Verses  13-20. 

1 3  If  thou  prepare  thine  heart, 

and  stretch  out  thine  hands  toward  Him  ; 
1-i  if  iniquity  be  in  thine  hand,  put  it  far  away, 
and  let  not  wickedness  dwell  in  thy  tabernacles. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


15  For  then  shalt  thou  lift  up  thy  face  without  spot ; 
yea,  thou  shalt  be  steadfast,  and  shalt  not  fear. 

16  Because  thou  shalt  forget  thy  misery, 
and  remember  it  as  waters  that  pass  away  ; 

17  and  thine  age  shall  be  clearer  than  the  noonday; 
thou  shalt  shine  forth,  thou  shalt  be  as  the  morning. 

18  And  thou  shalt  be  secure,  because  there  is  hope  ; 

yea,  thou  shalt  dig  about  thee,  and  thou  shalt  take  thy  rest  in  safety. 

19  Also  thou  shalt  lie  down,  and  none  shall  make  thee  afraid ; 
yea,  many  shall  make  suit  unto  thee. 

20  But  the  eyes  of  the  wicked  shall  fail, 
and  they  shall  not  escape, 

and  their  hope  shall  be  as  the  giving  up  of  the  ghost. 


EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 

The  comparative  violence  of  this  new  arraigu- 
ment  of  Job  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that 
he  in  his  last  discourse  had  positively  maintained 
his  innocence,  and  had  accused  God  quite  openly 
and  directly  of  injustice.  Zophar,  the  youngest 
and  the  least  considerate  of  the  three  friends, 
opposes  him  on  this  head  with  the  declaration 
that  God  the  All-wise  and  All-seeing,  would  ob- 
serve in  him,  as  in  all  men,  enough  of  sin  to  jus- 
tify the  stern  infliction  of  punishment  on  him 
(ver.  6).  He  indeed  gives  direct  expression  to 
the  thought  that  the  sufl'ering  which  Job  endured 
was  well-deserved  punishment  for  sin  (ver.  11), 
that  sincere  repentance  was  required  of  him  (ver. 
14),  and  that  on  condition  of  such  repentance 
could  he  hope  for  restoration  to  his  former  pros- 
perity, that  in  any  other  case  the  sad  doom  of 
the  wicked  would  surely  be  before  him  (ver.  20). 
["In  his  first  appearance  he  is  hot,  and  eager, 
and  peremptory,  but  widely  more  gentle  and  less 
coarse  than  hereafter.  Eliphaz  brings  forward 
his  earnest  exhortation,  overawed  by  its  divine 
majesty,  and  trembling  when  lie  recollects  how 
he  received  from  heaven  the  truth  which  he  ut- 
ters for  Job's  advantage.  Bildad  reposes  not  on 
revelation,  but  on  the  human  consciousness. 
Zophar,  tlie  private  dogmatist,  and  as  such — 
having  nothing  to  fall  back  on  with  dignity — the 
hottest  and  most  intolerant,  has  only  his  own 
'of  course,'  'it  cannot  but  be,'  with  which  to  si- 
lence his  obstinate  adversary."  Davidson.]  His 
discourse  falls  into  three  divisions:  1.  The  ex- 
pression of  a  desire  for  such  a  declaration  from 
the  All-wise  God  as  would  convince  Job  of  his 
guilt  (vers.  2-6);  2.  A  description  intended  to 
warn  Job  of  God's  exalted  knowledge,  by  virtue 
of  which  He  charges  on  every  man  his  sins  (vers. 
7-12) ;  3.  An  inculcation  of  the  necessity  of  re- 
pentance as  the  only  condition  of  recovering  his 
former  prosperity  (vers.  13-20).  Parts  1  and  2 
are  Double  Strophes,  consisting  of  small  strophes 
of  three  or  two  verses  each.  Part  3  contains 
three  such  shorter  strophes  or  groups  of  verses. 

2.  First  Division,  or  Double  Strophe.  The  ex- 
press on  of  the  desire  that  the  Omniscient  One 
would  appear  to  convince  Job  of  his  guilt  (vers. 
2-6). 

First  Strophe:  Vers.  2-4.  A  censure  of  the 
high-flown  and  impenitent  discourse  of  Job. 


Ver.  2.    Shall  the   multitude   of  words 

(D"'"I3T  2\  as  in  Prov.  x.  19;   Eccles.  v.  2)  re- 

•  T  :  ' 

main  unanswered,  or  shall  a  babbler  (lit. 
"  man  of  lips,"  D'J[]DE'  K^'N,  to  be  distinguished 
from  D'")3"l  l^"^,  "a  man  of  words,"  i.  e.,  an  elo- 
quent speaker,  Ex.  iv.  10)  be  in  the  right? — 
p^^f,  literally  "to  be  justified,  to  be  declared  in 
the  right,"  to  wit,  by  allowing  him  the  last  word. 
The  beginning  of  the  discourse  resembles  that 
of  Bildad,  chap.  viii.  2.  At  the  same  time  there 
may  be  detected  a  slight  tone  of  apology,  that 
the  speaker  undertakes  to  say  any  thing,  not- 
withstanding his  youth.  ["If  Zophar's  name, 
which  signifies  chirper  or  chatterer,  was  expres- 
sive of  his  character,  these  words  might  have 
been  applied  to  himself."  Wordsworth  ] 

Ver.  3.  Shall  thy  vain  talk  (D'n|  from  113, 
PaTToTioyelv)  [E.  V  :  too  strong,  "li<.s,"  rather 
chatter,  idle  babbling]  put  men  (D'^lp,  archaic 
expression  for  DIX  or  D'lyjN  ["like  other  ar- 
chaisms, e.g.,  /JP,  always  without  the  article." 
Del.],  comp.  ver.  11;  chap.  xix.  19;  xxii.  15, 
etc.)  to  silence,  so  that  thou  mockest 
["God  (Hirzel);  better  Rosenmiiller:  7ios  et 
Dcum."  Del.],  without  any  one  putting 
thee  to  shame?  viz.,  by  refuting  thee. — The 

fut.  comec.  J^^i^l,  as  also  IDNfll  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  following  verse,  denotes  that  into 
which  Job  might  be  betrayed  by  men's  silence. 
It  bears,  therefore,  since  the  principal  verb 
1B?''in2  continues  the  question  of  the  preceding 
verse,  a  modal  impress  :  "  so  that  thou  darest  to 
mock  and  to  say,"  etc.  (so  correctly  Umbreit, 
Hirzel,  Vaihinger,  Hahn,  Delitzsch,  etc.,  while 
Ewald,  Stickel,  Dillmann  [Carey],  etc.  remove 
altogether  the  interrogative  character  of  our 
verse,  and  make  it  to  consist  of  two  co-ordinate 
affirmative  clauses. 

Ver.  4.  My  doctrine  is  pure. — Hp/,  in  the 
Book  of  Job  occurring  only  here,  very  common, 
however,  in  Proverbs  (comp.  also  Deut.  xxxii. 
2  ;  Isa.  xxix.  24),  signifies  not  a  mere  "  assump- 
tion," or  "opinion"  (Hahn),  but  something  ap- 
propriated from  tradition,  a  trutli  taught  in  ac- 
I  ordance  with  tradition,  especially  in  respect  to 
moral  conduct,  therefore,  in  brief,  moral  teach- 
ing, or  doctrine  in  general.     With  regard,  there- 


CHAP.  XL  1-20. 


389 


fore,  to  this  liis  ioctrinc,  the  substance  of  his 
moral  axioms  and  rules  of  living,  Zophar  re- 
proaches Job  with  maintaining  (or  rather  he 
says  that  he  xconld  maintain,  if  encouraged  by 
the  silence  of  others):  "it  is  pure,"  i.e.,  it  is 
immaculate  and  infallible  C^T^  as  in  chap.  viii.  G  ; 
xxxiii.  9  ;  Prov.  xvi.  2,  edc. ).  And  yet  more  than 
this :  even  against  God  would  he  maintain  that 
"  he  was  pure  in  His  eyes"  (comp.  chap.  ix.  21 ; 
X.  7).  He  would  thei-efore,  in  addition  to  the 
purity  of  his  principles,  maintain  also  that  of  his 
life,  a  result  which  seems  to  Zophar  the  height 
of  absurdity,  and  which  seems  to  him  to  mock 
every  holy  ordinance  of  God. 

Second  Strophe:  Vers.  5-6.  Expression  of  the 
wish  that  God  Himself  might  personally  inter- 
pose to  punish  Job's  arrogant  falsehoods. 

Ver.  5.  But  oh  that  Eloah  "would  speak 
and  open  His  lips  against  thee. — After 
jf)]  ''0  here  follows  first  the  Infinitive  (as  in  Ex. 
xvi.  3) ;  then,  however,  in  b,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing verse  Imperfects:  comp.  Gesen.  ^  13G,  2. 
[The  subject  of  the  Inf.  is  emphatically  placed 
before  it.  "Oh,  that  ^ZoaA  would  speak!"  See 
EwALD,  I  329,  c]  A  forcible  D7^N1  (^verum  enim 
vero)  introduces  the  whole  optative  clause  and 
puts  it,  in  a  measure,  in  opposition  to  the  wish 
that  God  might  come,  previously  uttered  by  Job 
himself  (chap.  ix.  34  8eq.),  thus:  verily,  would 
He  but  come,  there  would  be  au  immediate  end 
to  thy  boasting. 

Ver.  G.  And  make  known  to  thee  the 
secrets  of  His  ^wisdom,  that  it  is  tw^ofold 
in  true  knowledge. — ri'iyiil  in  a  somewhat 
different  sense  from  that  found  above  in  chap.  v. 
12  ;  vi.  13  ;  here  in  a  more  theoretic  (scientific) 

sense.  D]7£32,  lit.  that  which  is  doubled,  i.  e.,  in 
general  that  which  is  much  greater  than  some- 
thing else,  which  far  surpasses  it  [hence  "  mani- 
fold "  would,  according  to  our  mode  of  expres- 
sion, be  more  exact  than  "twofold."  The  ex- 
planation of  some  that  the  word  is  used  here  by 
way  of  comparison,  as  though  the  meaning  were 
that  ••  God's  wisdom  is  double  thine,"  or  "twice 
as  great  as  thou  canst  imagine,"  is  inadequate. 
The  word  is  absolute,  and  although  dual  in 
form,  is  to  us  plural,  or  intensive  in  meaning= 
God's  wisdom  is  fold  upon  fold!  how  then  canst 
thou  presume  to  judge  it,  as  though  able  to  see 
through  it?  For  this  intensive  use  of  the  dual 
comp.  D"2nV,  ver.  17,  lit.  "  double  brightness," 
I.  e.,  the  superlative  brightness  of  noonday. — E.]. 

Comp.  Isa.  xl.  2.  The  subj.  of  D'SiSD,  viz.,  N'H 
referring  back  to  nD3n,  is  here  omitted,  be- 
cause it  is  identical  with  the  obj.  of  the  principal 
clause;  comp.  Gen.  ii.  4;  Isa.  iii.  10  (Ewald, 
I  336,  h).  [E.  V.  here— "that  they  are  double  to 
that  which  is" — is  scarcely  intelligible.]  So 
must  thou  know  [y^,,  Imperat.  consec,  pre- 
senting the  necessary  consequence  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  that  wish  ;  comp.  Ewald,  ^  347,  a)  [De- 
litzsch  :  "Instead  of  saying:  then  thou  wouldst 
perceive,  Zophar,  realizing  in  his  mind  that 
which   he   has    just   wished,   says   imperiously 


;?^1"]  that  Eloah  remits  to  thee  of  thy 
guilt — i.  e.,  leaves  much  of  it  out  of  the  account 
against  thee,  lets  it  go  unpunished.  The  |0  in 
•"IJI^'O  is  accordingly  partitive,  to  be  expressed 
by  "somewhat  of,  much  of,"  nt^n,  lit.  to  bring 
into  forgetfulness,  oblivioni  dare,  a  causative 
Hiphil,  occurring  elsewhere  in  the  0.  T.  only  in 
chap,  xxxix.  17. 

3.  Second  Division,  or  Double  Strophe:  De- 
scribing, with  an  admonitory  purpose,  the  im- 
possibility of  contending  against  God's  omnis- 
cience, which  charges  every  man  with  sin,  vers. 
7-12. 

First  Strophe :  Vers.  7-9.  [God's  wisdom  un- 
searchable.] 

Ver.  7.  Canst  thou  reach  the  depths  [in 
the  Germ.:  den  Grand  erreichen:  lit.  to  reach  the 
bottom]  in  Eloah,  or  penetrate  to  the  ut- 
termost parts  \_zum  Aeussersten  ]dnandringen'\ 
in  the  Almighty? — IP.n,  "search"  (chap, 
viii.  8),  is  used  here  sensxi  objecfivo^ihat  which 
is  to  be  searched,  the  ground  of  any  thing  (so  in 
chap,  xxxviii.  16) ;  here,  therefore,  the  hidden 
depth    [ground,    basis]    of    the    divine   nature. 

H'yDr^,  on  the  contrary,  denotes  "the  finishing, 
the  terminus,"  i.  e.,  the  end,  the  extremity  of  the 
same  divine  nature  [Wordsworth:  "canst  thou 
arrive  at  the  limit  of  God  ?  Canst  thou  attain  to 
the  horizon  of  the  Almighty  ?"]  (comp.  ch.  xxvi. 
10;  xxviii.  3;  Ps.  cxxxix.  22;  Nehem.  iii.  21). 
The  first  question  accordingly  describes  God  as 
unfathomable,  the  second  as  illimitable  or  im- 
measurable ;  the  former  conveys  the  notion  of 
absolute  mystery,  the  latter  that  of  absolute 
greatness  and  incomprehensibility.  ["The  na- 
ture of  God  may  be  sought  after,  but  cannot  be 
found  out  ;  and  the  end  of  God  is  unattainable, 
for  He  is  both :  the  Perfect  One,  absolutus  ;  and 
the  Endless  One,  itijinitus."  Del.]  Many  mo- 
derns, after  Eichhorn  {e.  ff.,  John  Pye  Smith: 
The  Scripture  Testimony  of  the  Messiah,  G  Ed.,  Vol. 
I.  11 ;  Vol,  II.  240)  [also  E.  V.]  take  IpH  in  the 
active  sense  of  searching  or  discovering,  and 
riwDn  in  the  sense  of  perfection.  This,  how- 
ever, yields  for  both  members  a  less  suitable 
sense,  and  assigns  to  nvJi"!  a  signification  which 
it  can  nowhere  be  proved  to  have.      [Conant  and 

others  (so  also  E.  V.)  regard  the  clause  TV72T^~'\j? 
as  adverbial:  "Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty 
to  a  perfection  ?"  i.  e.,  to  a  perfect  comprehen- 
sion of  Him.  Neither  of  Conant's  reasons  for 
this   rendering   is  valid.       (1)  The  parallelism 

does  not  favor  it,  but  contrariwise.  "^  7X  "^PJ]  finds 
its  parallel  in  ''d  OH ;  the  former  belonging  to 
the  category  of  depth,  the  latter  to  that  of  length, 
which  accounts  for  the  preposition  nj^.  (2)  The 
accentuation  does  not  favor  it,  but  the  reverse. 
Munach  puts  "'^B'  in  precisely  the  same  connec- 
tion with  the  final  verb  in  this  member,  as  H  wX 
in  the  former  member. — E.] 

Ver.  8.  Heights  of  heaven  :  to  wit,  are  the 
distances  which  lie  between  our  perception  and 


390 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


the  "  extremity  "  of  the  Almighty,  the  dimensions 
with  wliich  we  seek  to  measure  His  infinitude. 
Hence  the  question,  vividly  annexed  to  this  ex- 
clamation— T)7hat  canst  thou  do  ? — empha- 
sizing the  helplessness  and  powerlessness  of 
man  over  against  that  which  is  immeasurable. 
To  this  corresponds  the  second  member : — 
deeper  than  the  underworld  (are  the  hid- 
den depths,  the  grounds  of  the  Godhead,  or  of 
the  Divine  Wisdom) — what  knowest  thou  ? 
what  can  thy  knowledge  do  in  view  of  such 
depths?     In  so  far  as  the  phrase  "heights  of 

heaven"  points  back  to  the  idea  of  the  D'/OD, 
while  the  phrase  "  deeper  than  the  underworld" 
points  to  that  of  the  TPH,  the  position  of  the 
two  members  of  this  verse  seems  to  be  inverted 
as  regards  those  of  the  ver.  preceding.  It  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  ruling  idea  here,  as  well  as 
in  the  following  verse,  is  throughout  that  of  the 
Divine  ivisdom  (omniscience),  or  the  Divine  na- 
ture on  the  side  of  wisdom  and  inteUeclual  perfec- 
tion, as  the  connection  of  the  passage  with  ver. 
6  clearly  shows. 

Ver.  9.  Longer  than  the  earth  is  its  mea- 
sure, and  broader  is  it  than  the  sea:  viz. 
the  Divine  wisdom,  the  immeasurableness  of 
which  is  here  described  according  to  all  the  four 
dimensions,  according  to  the  height  and  depth, 
and  also  according  to  the  length  and  breadth, 
as  in  Eph.  iii.  18  these  same  four  dimensions 
are  used  in  describing  the  absoluteness  of  the 
love  of  God  in  Christ.  Our  translation:  "longer 
than  the  earth  is  its  [lit.  her]  measure,"  rests 
on  the  reading  nIO  with  He  mappiq,  which  is 
to  be  regarded  as  an  abbreviated  feminine  form 
for  nmo    (eomp.  ch.  v.  13,   DO^;;  for   Onoi;' : 

T  T  •         ^  ^  '  T    :    T  T  T    :     T 

also  Zech.  iv.  2,  etc.).  The  Masorah,  indeed, 
favors   mo,    with    He    raphatum,    with    which 

T    • 

reading  the  word  would  be  the  Accus.  of  nearer 
definition  ("according  to  its  measure,  in  mea- 
sure"). But  the  separation  between  the  Accus. 
of  relation  and  its  ruling  word  produced  by  a 
word  intervening,  would  give  here,  where  NTI 
is  omitted,  a  somewhat  harsh  construction,  to 
whicb  the  simpler  rendering  given  above  is  to  be 
preferred. 

Second  Strophe:  vers.  10-12.  [The  judicial 
intervention  of  God  supposed.] 

Ver.  10.  If  He  passes  by  [^7n\  as  in  ch. 
ix.  11;  E.  V.  incorrectly  "cut  off"],  and 
arrests,  and  calls  to  judgment  (lit.  summons 
an  assembly,  implying  that  the  process  of  a  trial 
was  public,  and  the  verdict  rendered  and  exe- 
cuted by  the  assembled  people:  comp.  Ezek. 
xvi.  40;  xxiii.  46  ;  1  Kings  xxi.  9).  ["One  might 
almost  imagine  that  Zophar  looks  upon  himself 
and  the  other  two  friends  as  forming  such  an 
♦assembly:'  they  cannot  justify  him  in  opposi- 
tion to  God,  since  He  accounts  him  guilty." 
Del.] — Who  will  oppose  Him?  present  a 
protest  in  behalf  of  the  accused  as  though  he 
were  not  guilty.  Comp.  in  general  ch.  ix.  11, 
12,  which  description  of  Job's  Zophar  here 
reproduces  in  part  word  for  word,  but  with 
quite  another  purpose,  viz.  to  defend,  not  to  con- 
demn or  assail  God's  justice  ["'?'  vav  apod, 
with  fine  effect — irho,  as  you  say  (ix.  12)  would?" 
Dav.]. 


Ver.  11.  For  He  [emphatic,  XIH ;  whether 
others  know  it,  or  not]  knows  evil  men 
{^yp  ■'jHTp,  lit.  "men  of  vanity,  of  falsehood," 
["people  who  hypocritically  disguise  their 
moral  nothingness."  Del.],  as  in  Ps.  xxvi.  4; 
comp.  also  Job  xxii.  15),  and  sees  •wicked- 
ness w^ithout  considering  it:  i.  e.  without 
watching  it  with  strenuous  and  anxious  strict- 
ness (comp.  ch.  xxxiv.  23),  the  moral  qualities 
of  His  creatures  being  at  every  moment  unveiled 
to  His  omniscience.  ["  Finely  magnif^'ing  the 
Divine  Insight,  which  is  omniscient,  and  is  so 
without  effort."  Dav.]  This  is  the  only  render- 
ing of  pisri"  vh\  which  accords  with  the  con- 
text (comp.  already  Aben  Ezra ;  non  opus  habet, 
ut  dill  consideret ;  among  moderns  Hirzel,  Dillm., 
Del.,  etc.).  Far  less  natural  are  the  explana- 
tions of  Ewald:  "without  his  (the  wicked) 
observing  it;"  of  Umbreit,  Stickel,  Hahn: 
"without  his  (the  wicked)  being  observed;" 
of  Schlottman:  "and  (sees)  him  who  observes 
not,  who  is  without  understanding." 

Ver.  12.  So  must  (even)  a  witless  man 
acquire  w^isdom,  and  a  wild  ass's  foal  be 
born  over  a  man. — This  interpretation,  which 
is  the  one  substantially  adopted  by  Piscator, 
Umbreit,  Ewald,  Schlottm.,  Vaih.,  Heiligst. , 
Dillmann  [Renan,  Hengst.,  Wordsworth],  and 
generally  by  most  moderns,  is  the  most  suitable 
among  the  numerous  interpretations  of  this  dif- 
ficult verse.  The  connection  by  the  1  with  the 
verse  preceding,  shows  that  this  verse  should 
indicate  what  effect  the  judicial  intervention  of 
the  Omniscient  God  ought  to  have  on  man,  even 
though  he  be  a  stubborn  sinner  and  devoid  of 
understanding. — 30J  t^'N,  lit.  a  man  bored 
through,  i.  e.  a  hollow  man,  hence  one  void  of 
understanding,  a  man  without  intellectual  and 
mcral  substance ;  comp.  the  phrase  5<1t-'  'H? — 
Again,  N")£)  1'^  (of  which  X^B  is  in  apposition, 
not  in  the  genitive),  signifies  lit.  "a  foal,  a  wild 
ass,  i.  e.,  a  wild-ass-foal  (comp.  the  phrase  N)13 
D1X,  used  in  almost  the  same  sense  of  untamed 

TT 

wildness  in  Gen.  xvi.  12). — Both  these  expres- 
sions, as  well  as  those  of  the  preceding  verse, 
are  chosen  not  without  reference  to  the  conduct 
of  Job,  who  seems  to  Zophar  to  be  an  obstinate 
fool  (comp.  ch.  ii.  10);  although  not  pointed 
directly  at  him,  they  inflict  on  him  a  sensible 
cut  [see  ch.  xii.  3,  where  with  evident  reference 

to  the  337'  of  this  passage,  Job  with  indignant 
scorn  says  '2  337  ''/~'0i — E.],  and  they  at  the 
same  time  facilitate  the  transition  to  the  follow- 
ing admonitions.  Observe  also  the  intentional 
and  witty  paronomasia  [both  of  sound  and  sense] 

between  30J  and  33T :  the  empty  man  is  to  be 
made  a  man  of  substance  [der  Ilohlkopf  soil  be- 
herzt  ffeviacht},  the  void  in  his  head  is  to  be  filled 
up  as  it  were  by  a  new  heart.  [Observe  in 
addition  the  assonance  of  the  closing  words  of 
each  member,  33^''  and  iSv. — Davidson  adopts 
essentially  the  same  construction  of  terms  and 
clauses  as  that  given  here,  but  gives  to  the  verse 
a  different  tone.     Instead  of  regarding  it  as  a 


CHAP.  XI.  1-20. 


391 


grave  declaration  of  what  should  be  the  result 
of  the  judicial  intervention  of  God,  he  regards 
it  as  a  sarcastic  denial  of  wisdom  to  man:  — 
''But  a  witless  man  would  be  ivise,  and  a  wild  ass 
coll  be  a  born  man!  a  man  who  is  a  fool  would 
arronrate  wisdom  to  himself,  and  though  a  wild 
ass  colt,  he  would  claim  humanity."  This,  how- 
ever, would  be  a  tone  of  remark  entirely  out  of 
harmony  with  what  precedes,  and  with  what  fol- 
lows. Davidson  characterizes  the  interpretation 
adopted  above  as  "  excessively  artificial  and  un- 
hobraistic  in  construction :"  a  strange  charge 
surely  to  come  from  one  who  adopts  the  very 
same  construction,  except  that  he  gives  it  a  differ- 
ent coloring.  Equally  wide  of  the  mark  is  the 
objection  that  Job  himself  did  not  exhibit  the 
result  which  Zophar  here  says  ought  or  might 
be  expected  to  follow. — Hengstenberg  remarks 
on  the  contents  of  the  verse  according  to  our 
interpretation  :  "  We  have  here  the  first  passage 
of  Scripture  which  speaks  of  a  regeneration."  — 
E.]  The  following  varying  explanations  are  to 
be  rejected  as  being  in  part  against  the  connec- 
tion, in  part  too  harsh,  or  grammatically  inad- 
missible. 1.  "  An  empty  man  is  without  heart," 
i.  e.  without  understanding,  etc.  (Gesenius,  01s- 
hausen),  [Conant,  Noyes,  Merx,  Rodwell. — 
Against  this  it  may  be  argued  that  such  a  pri- 
vative use  of  Niphal  is  unexampled  in  Hebrew, 
and  especially  as  Dillmann  urges,  that  the  sen- 
timent thus  expressed  is  self-evident  and  trite, 
and  takes  away  the  whole  force  of  the  parono- 
masia].— 2.  "But  man,  like  a  hollow  pate,  has 
he  understanding,"  etc.  (Hirzel).  ['-Violates  the 
accentuation,  and  produces  an  affected  witti- 
cism." Del.] — 3.  "Man  is — at  his  birth — as 
one  empty  furnished  with  a  heart,"  i.  e.  he 
receives  an  empty  undiscerning  heart  (Hupfeld). 
[Opposed  to  the  future  verbs,  and  to  the  corre- 
lation of  313J  and  337']. — 4.  "Ignorant  man 
flares  up,  or  becomes  insolent,  c/c."  (Vulgate, 
Stickel,   Welte   [Carey],  etc.     [Does  not  bring 

out  the  proper  antithesis  between  D13J  and  337'. 
Why  should  the  man  of  whom  it  is  aflSrmcd  that 
he  has  a  bold  defiant  heart  be  described  as 
30J  ?     This  meaning  is,  moreover,  less   suitable 

T 

to  the  connection.  See  remarks  below  at  the 
end  of  the  verse. — The  same  objections  apply 
to]  5.  "An  empty  man  becomes  stubborn" 
(Bottcher). — 6.  "Before  an  empty  head  gains 
a  heart  (understanding),  a  wild  ass's  foal  will 
be  born  again  a  man"  (Rosenm.,  Hahu,  Del., 
Kamphausen,  etc.) 

[In  determining  the  meaning  of  this  difficult 
expression  the  following  considerations  should 
have  controlling  weight.  (1)  The  evident  anti- 
thesis of  3133  and  33/'.  Now  as  313J  can  be 
referred  only  to  man  in  his  sinful  hollowness, 

emptiness,  337'  must  describe  the  opposite,  or 
man  as  endowed  with  a  heart  to  understand, 
appreciate,  and  profit  by  God's  dealings.     (2) 

The  assonance  of  337'  and  l'?',  as  well  as  the 

■•T-  "T- 

striking  homogeneousness  of  thought  between 
the  two   terms,  the  one  describing  the  process 

of  endowing  man  with  37,  the  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  manhood,  the  other  the  process 


of  becoming  a  man,  being  born,  here  being  born 
again  a  man,  suggests  that  the  verse  is  most 
probably  a  synonymous  parallelism,  the  same 
essential  thought  being  repeated  in  both  mem- 
bers. (3)  The  gravity  of  the  connection  forbids 
our  regarding  the  verse  as  simply  a  piece  of 
witty  irony.  The  verses  preceding  are  a  sol- 
emn description  of  God's  procedure  against 
man  in  judgment;  the  verses  following  a 
solemn  appeal  to  Job  to  repent  and  return  to 
God.  This  verse  in  like  manner  is  far  more 
likely  to  be  a  grave  earnest  affirmation  of 
truth  than  the  opposite.  (4)  The  practical  drift 
of  the  connection  makes  it  probable  that  the  verse 
ii  not  a  description  of  the  sinner  in  his  perver- 
sity, but  in  the  possibilities  of  his  restoration. 
As  the  result  of  God's  severe  disciplinary  pro- 
cesses "empty  mfin  mag  or  should  be  filled  witli 
a  heart,  and  a  wild  ass's  foal  may  or  should  be 
born  over  a  man."  This  being  the  case,  if  thou 
direct  thine  heart,  etc.,  thou  shalt  lift  up  thy 
face  without  spot,  etc.  Thus  understood,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  verse  furnishes  a  suitable  sequel 
to  vers.  10,  11,  and  a  suitable  preparation  to 
ver.  13seq. — (5)  It  seems  exceedingly  probable 
to  say  the  least,  that  Job's  language  in  cli.  xii. 
3  a  is  his  direct  reply  to  the  implied  reproach  in 

this  verse.  There  he  claims  that  he  has  337  as 
well  as  the  friends,  a  claim  which  is  most  satis- 
factorily explained  by  supposing  that  he  was 
stung  to  make  it  by  understanding  Zophar's  lan- 
guage here  to  imply  that  he  needed  to  be  put  in 

po.«session  of  337. — E.]. 

4.  Third  Division :  An  admonition  to  repent- 
ance and  conversion  as  the  only  means  by  which 
Job  can  recover  his  former  prosperity,  and  es- 
cape the  terrible  doom  of  the  wicked :  vers. 
13-20. 

First  Strophe :  Vers.  13-15.  A  period,  con- 
sisting of  ver.  13  as  hypothetical  antecedent, 
ver.  15  as  consequent,  and  ver.  14  as  a  regularly 
constructed  parenthesis. 

Ver.  13.  (But)  if  thou  direct  thy  heart 
(prepare  it,  bring  it  into  a  proper  condition,  not : 
"give  it  the  right  direction  toward.^  God,"  Del. 
and  others;  nor  again:  "  establish  it,"  Ilirzel 
["not  pertinent,  because  Zophar  lias  not  in  his 
miad  so  much  perseverance  in  godliness  as  a  re- 
turn to  it,"  Dav.]),  and  spread  forth  thy 
hands  unto  Him,  viz.,  in  prayer  and  penitent 
supplication  for  mercy;  comp.  ch.  viii.  5,  and 
for  the  same  phrase  D'33  t!'1i3.  manus  supinas 
(paimas)  extendere,  comp.  Ex.  ix.  29,  33  ;  1  Kings 
viii.  22  ;  Isa.  i.  15. 

Ver.  14.  If  iniquity  is  in  thy  hand,  put 
it  far  away,  and  let  not  evil  d-well  in  thy 
tents  (comp.  ch.  v.  24) ;  this  being  the  antece- ' 
dent  condition  of  the  success  of  Job's  prayer  ac- 
cording to  Zophar's  mode  of  thinking,  which 
indeed  is  not  in  itself  a  theory  of  legality  or 
work-righteousness  (comp.  Ps.  xxxiv.  13  (12) 
seq.  ;  1  Pet.  iii.  10;  Isa.  i.  loseq.),  but  which 
in  the  present  case  does  nevertheless  proceed 
from  a  narrow  judgment,  and  is  excessively  of- 
fensive to  Job. 

Ver.  15.  Surely,  then  thou  shalt  lift  up 
thy  face  (comp.  on  ch.  x.  15)  without  spot: 
i.  e.,  "  without  consciousne'is  of  guilt,  and  with- 
out any  outward  sign  of  the  same  cleaving  to 


392 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


thee,"  (Dillm.)  JO  lit.  "  away  from,"  here  equi- 
valent to  "without,"  comp.  ch.  xix.  20;  xxi.  9  ; 
2  Sam.  i.  22;  Prov.  xx.  3;  and  shalt  be  stead- 
fast Tvithout  fearing;  shalt  be  firmly  fixed  in 
thy  new  prosperity,  without  having  to  fear  any 
further  judgments  of  God. — plfO,  Part.  Hoph. 
of  p]^'',  lit.  fused  into  solidity,  quasi  ex  lerefusus 

(comp.  1  Kings  vii.  16.  ["  We  must  not  lose 
the  fine  idea  of  one  state  arising  out  of  another, 
a  state  of  fluidity  DO  ch.  vi.  14)  passing  over 
into  solidity;  playing  on  Job's  past  and  future." 
Dav.]. 

Second  Strophe  :  Vers.  IG,  17.  Continuation  of 
the  promise  of  well-being  to  the  penitent. 

Ver,  IG.  For  thou  shalt  forget  trouble, 
shalt  remember  it  as  v/aters  that  have 
passed  away  :  us  something  therefore  that  is 
never  to  come  back,  that  has  disappeared  for- 
ever. ["When  we  think  of  water  that  has 
flowed  away,  we  think  of  it  as  oomething  whicli 
does  not  return,  or  rather  we  think  no  more 
about  it  at  all,  for  with  its  disappearance  even 
the  remembrance  of  it  is  gone."  Dillmann].  The 
pronoun  here  is  emphatic  :  "  for  thou  thyself  wilt 
forget  trouble,  thou  and  none  otlier,  no  stranger 
(comp.  ch.  xix.  27)  [or,  as  Davidson:  '^  thou, 
unlike  others,  who  escape  calamity,  but  are 
haunted  by  its  memory  ;"  or,  as  Hengst:  "thou, 
who  just  now  canst  think  no  other  thought  than 
of  thy  suffering"]  :  giving  "an  emphasis  to  the 
personal  application  of  this  peroration,"  which 
would  be  lost  if,  with  the  Pesh.  and  Hirzel,  ''3 
nPX  were  changed  to  DPJ^  ^2. 

Ver.  17.  And  brighter  than  the  glory  of 
noon  (D'lrii*,  as  in  ch.   v.    14  6)  arises   (for 

thee)  the  future.  "l/H,  lit.  that  which  creeps 
along  slowly,  which  passes  by  unobserved  (from 

^7^,  to  glide)  hence  time  in  general,  either  in 
the  sense  of  tlie  world,  that  which  is  temporal, 
a'luv  (Ps.  xvii.  14;  comp.  Ilupfeld  on  the  pas- 
sage, Ps.  xlix.  2 ) ;  or  in  the  sense  of  life,  life- 
time, future,  as  here  and  in  Ps.  xxxix.  G  (5) ; 
Ixxxix.  48  (47),  etc.  [  '  D=lp\  an  exquisite 
imago,  lift  itself  up,  disentangle  itself  from  the 
accumulated,  crushing  darkness  of  the  present, 
increasing  in  brilliancy  ever  as  it  disengages 
itself.'  Dav.].  For  jp  in'Dnni':^,  (with  "bright- 
er "  to  be  supplied)  comp.  Mic.  vii.  4  — Should 
it  be  dark,  it  w^ill  be  as  the  morning  ;  i.  e., 
if  any  darkness  shonM  come,  if  dark  adversity 
should  befall  thee   (nD;'j~i,   3d  Pers.    Fem.,  with 

^         T  ■•.  T 

neut.  signification:  no't  2d  Pers.,  "shouldest 
thou  become  dark,"  as  Schlottm.  would  explain) 
it  will  then  ever  be  as  bright  as  on  acinar  morn- 
ing: evidently  an  intentional  reversal  of  tho 
gloomy  picture  of  his  future  in  ch.  x.  22,  which 
Job  had  himself  drawn.  ["  His  climax  there 
was  that  his  dayliglit  should  be  as  darkness ; 
Zophar's  promise  is  that  liis  darkness  sliall  he 
dpylight."  Dav. — Gesenius  (in  Thes  )  Ew.ald, 
Conant,  etc.,  prefer  taking  HDi'n  as  a  nouu, 
"darkness,"  written  nam,  or  HDUTl,  as  found 

T  *•     :  T         ; 

in  a  few  MSS.,  and  as  nad  by  the  Syr.  and 
Chald. — Bernard,  Hcngstenbcrg,  and  others  ren- 
der the  verb—"  thou  sh;/lt  fly  up,"  i.  e.,  .-^oar  out 
of  the   depths   of  thy  misery  to   the   heights  of 


prosperity;  a  rendering  which  destroys  the  an- 
tithesis between  this  verse  and  cli.  x.  22. — E.  V.: 
"thou  shalt  shine  forth"  seems  to  be  a  para- 
phrase of  this  last  rendering,  suggested  perhaps 
by  the  frequent  comparison  of  the  beams  of  light 
to  the  wings  of  a  bird. — E.] 

Third  Strophe  :  Vers.  18-20.  Conclusion  of  the 
promise  of  prosperity,  with  an  admonitory  re- 
ference to  the  joyless  end  of  the  wicked. 

Ver.  18.  And  thou  hast  (thou  shalt  have, 
Perf.  cousec.)  confidence,  because  there"  is 
W'_,  "  with  the  force  of  a  real  and  lasting  exist- 
ence," Del.]  hope  (for  thee,  comp.  ch.  xiv.  7, 
also  the  opposite  of  this  hopeful  condition,  de- 
scribed above  in  ch.  vii.  6) ;  and  thou  shalt 
search  about  (to  ascertain,  viz.,  whether  all 
that  pertains  to  thy  household  is  in  a  state  of 
order  and  security;  comp.  ch.  v.  24  6),  shalt 
lie  down  securely,  viz.,  for  sleep;  comp.  Ps. 
iv.  9  (8).  ^3^  here  certainly  "to  spy  out,"  as 
in  ch.  xxxix.  21,  29;  not  "to  blush  ("13n),tobe 
ashamed,"  as  though  P^Sni  were  a  concessive 
antecedent  clause  :  "  and  even  shouldest  thou  be 
put  to  shame  (in  thy  confidence),  thou  canst  still 
lie  down  in  peace,"  Rosenm.,  Hirzel,  [Carey], 
an  unsuitable  weakening  of  the  sense,  wliich  is 
at  variance  with  the  remainder  of  the  bright 
promises  contained  in  these  verses.  ["Against 
this  conditional  sense  is  the  afiirmative  use  of 
the  corresponding  form  in  the  parallel  member." 
Con.  "  It  is  inadmissible,  since  it  introduces  a 
sadness  into  the  promise."  Del.].  The  render- 
ing of  Hengstenberg  is  altogether  too  artificial: 
"and  thou  hast  dug,"  i.  e.,  dug  a  trench  for  pro- 
tection around  thy  house  [and  so  E.  V. — "  thou 
shalt  dig  about  thee"],  a  sense  which  the  refe- 
rence to  ch.  iii.  21 ;  xxxix.  21  is  scarcely  sufiS- 
cient  to  justify. 

Ver.  19.  Thou  liest  down  without  any 
one  making  thee  afraid ;  as  peacefully  and 
securely,  that  is,  as  the  ber.st,  or  the  cattle, 
which  no  foe  terrifies;  comp.  Gen.  xlix.  9  ;  Isa. 
xvii.  2. — Yea,  many  shall  seek  thy  favor, 
lit  stroke,  or  caress  thy  face  (Del.  "thy  cheeks") 
flatter  thee;  comp.  Prov.  xix.  G;  Ps.  xlv.  13 
(12).  Instead  of  being  despised,  and  covered 
with  ignominy,  (ch.  x.  15)  thou  shalt  be  highly 
honored,  and  greatly  courted. 

Ver.  20.  But  the  eyes  of  the  w^icked 
•waste  avyay,  in  vainly  looking  lor  help,  in 
unsatisfied  yearning  for  good  (comp.  ch.  xvii.  5) 
and  every  refuge  vanishes  from  them  ;  lit. 
"  away  from  them,"  Dn.J'D  poet,  for  Dn"p  ;  and 
their  hope  is  the  breathing  out  of  the  soul; 
i.  ('.,  all  that  they  have  still  to  hope  for  is  the 
breathing  out  of  their  soul  (comp.  U/Dj  npj,  ch. 
xxxi.  39  ;  Jer.  xv.  9),  hence  the  giving  up  of  the 
gliost,  death  (not  a  state  where  their  desires  will 
remain  eternally  unfulfilled,  as  Dclitz,«ch  ex- 
plains.) ["Zophar  here  makes  use  of  the  clioicest 
expressions  of  the  style  of  the  prophetic  Psalms," 
Delitzsch.  "  If  we  compare  with  each  other  the 
closing  words  of  the  three  friends,  ch.  v.  2Gsq. ; 
viii.  22  b  ;  xi.  20,  the  advance,  which  each  makes 
beyond  his  predecessor,  is  unmistakable."  Dill- 
mann.] 


CHAP.  XI.  1-20. 


393 


DOCTRINAL    AND   ETHICAL. 

1.  This  first  discourse  of  Zophar's  resembles 
♦  hat  of  Eliphaz,  and  still  more  that  of  Bildad, 
both  iu  respect  of  the  rebuke  with  which  it  be- 
gins ("  who  can  hear  such  words  in  silence?" 
etc.)  and  in  respect  of  the  union  of  promise  and 
warning  at  the  close.  It  proceeds  from  the  same 
theological  and  ethical  premises  as  those  of  the 
two  previous  speakers,  in  so  far  as  it  puts  God's 
absolute  perfection  and  exaltation  (here  more 
particularly  on  the  intellectual  side,  the  illimita- 
bility  of  His  knowledge  and  His  wisdom)  in  so- 
lemn and  emphatic  contrast  with  the  short-sighted 
limitation  of  man,  and  thence  derives  man's  obli- 
gation in  all  circumstances  to  draw  nigh  to  God 
as  a  penitent,  and  to  confess  himself  before  Him 
as  guilty  and  deserving  of  punishment.  Not  less 
does  it  resenable  those  two  preceding  arraign- 
ments of  Job  in  respect  of  form,  in  the  strength 
of  its  expressions,  in  the  poetic  loftiness  and 
fig'irative  richness  of  its  descriptions,  qualities 
which  shine  forth  with  especial  brilliancy  in 
the  passage  where  the  Divine  wisdom  is  de- 
scribed as  being  high  as  heaven,  deep  as  hell, 
long  as  the  earth,  and  broad  as  the  sea  (vers. 
7-9).  IVIoreover  the  comparatively  correct 
orthodoxy  of  its  positions  and  arguments,  the 
absence  of  everytliing  that  would  decidedly  con- 
tradict the  doctrinal  and  ethical  tradition  of 
pious  Old  Testament  worshippers  of  Jehovah 
(worshippers  of  Eloah),  the  circumstance  that 
nowhere  is  there  even  any  excessive  work-right- 
eon^ness  and  legal  harshness  visible  (particu- 
larly not  in  ver.  14) — all  this  exhibits  Zophar 
to  us  as  a  kindred  soul  with  Eliphaz  and  Bildad. 
and  his  stand-point  as  most  intimately  related 
to  theirs. 

2.  That,  however,  which  marks  the  difference 
between  this  discourse,  as  to  its  contents  and 
tendency,  and  those  of  the  two  former  speakers 
— a  diiFerence,  too,  which  is  not  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  speaker — is  its  tone,  which  is  immea- 
surably more  violent.  Its  attack  on  the  sorely 
tried  sufferer,  who  so  greatly  needed  a  merciful 
and  tender  treatment,  is  harsher,  more  pointed 
and  personal.  At  the  vry  beginning  (vers.  2-3) 
the  bitter  charge  is  hurled  at  his  bead  that  his 
speech  was  "a  torrent  of  words"  and  "empty 
talk."  To  the  expression  "an  empty  pate," 
which  is  here  applied  to  him,  is  added  in  vers. 
11-12  a  description  of  vain,  hollow-pated,  stub- 
born people  (who  are  like  the  wild  ass),  which 
points  with  unmistakable  significance  to  Job. 
And  in  the  closing  passage  (ver.  20),  which 
points  out  the  hopeless  destruction  of  the  wicked, 
there  is  no  trace  of  the  delicacy  and  urbanity 
of  his  two  predecessors,  at  the  close  of  whose 
discourses,  the  tone  of  promise  altogether  pre- 
dominates over  that  of  threats  and  warnings. 
The  discourse  at  this  very  point  shows  a  deci- 
dedly perceptible  advance  beyond  the  two  which 
precede  towards  inconsiderate  harshness.  "Eli- 
ph^iz  barely  appended  a  slight  warning  ;  Bildad 
briefly  blends  it  with  his  promise  by  way  of 
contrast;  Zophar  adds  a  verse  which  already 
looks  Hke  the  advanced  picket  of  an  army  of 
similar  harsh  menaces  in  chs.  xv.,  xviii.,  xx." 
(Ewalcl).     Again,  the  exceedingly  personal  and 


unqualified  way  in  which  Zophar  in  ver.  6 
reproaches  Job  with  his  guilt,  and  suggests  that 
there  must  be  not  a  little  of  it  that  is  overlooked 
by  God,  as  well  as  the  not  less  personal  and 
humiliating  demand  that  he  should  repent  and 
renounce  all  unrighteousness  as  a  conditio  sine 
qua  nan  of  his  restoration  to  divine  favor  (ver. 
13  seq.)  exhibit  a  certain  advance  on  the  part  of 
this  speaker  beyond  the  stand-point  of  the  two 
former.  Instead  of  reckoning  himself  as  be- 
longing to  those  who  need  repentance  and  puri- 
fication, as  Eliphaz  does  very  distinctly,  and 
Bildad  also,  at  least  to  some  extent,  Zophar, 
when  he  reminds  Job  of  the  duty  of  acknow- 
ledging his  sins  and  repenting  of  them,  speaks 
only  in  the  second  person.  He  thus  sets  himself 
up  before  him  as  a  rigid  censor  and  accuser, 
and  assumes  the  character  of  an  advocate  of 
God,  who  himself  needs  no  correction.  As  a 
consequence  all  that  he  says  in  the  way  of  posi- 
tive instruction,  or  produces  out  of  the  store  of 
his  monotheistic  Chokmah-tradition,  loses  for 
Job  its  proper  moral  value  and  its  determining 
power.  Even  the  description  of  the  abysmal 
vastness  and  unsearchableness  of  the  Divine 
nature  and  intelligence  in  ver.  7  seq.,  grand  as  it 
is  in  itself,  must  seem  cold  to  Job,  and  pass 
away  without  leaving  any  impression  on  him ; 
for  no  softening  ray  of  heartfelt  brotherly  love, 
and  of  a  humble  realization  of  grace  falls  on 
this  magnificent  picture  of  the  Divine  omnis- 
cience and  wisdom.  That  picture  can  and  should 
in  truth  produce  only  terror  and  trembling;  for 
in  whichever  of  the  four  directions  we  turn, 
whether  toward  the  heights  of  heaven,  or  the 
depths  of  hell,  or  the  lengths  of  the  earth,  or 
the  breadths  of  the  sea,  nowhere  do  we  discover 
any  bridge  hospitably  inviting  and  facilitating 
our  advance.  We  find  no  experience,  not  even 
a  presentiment  of  the  love-potcer  of  Christ's  cross, 
which  fills  and  pervades  the  abysraal  depths 
of  the  divine  nature.  There  is  to  be  found  as 
yet  no  trace  of  that  knowledge  of  God,  which 
Paul  in  Eph.  iii.  18  describes  as  a  "compre- 
hending .  .  .  what  is  the  breadih  and  the  length 
and  the  depth  and  the  height:"  a  comprehen- 
sion which  indeed  belongs  only  to  the  "saints" 
of  the  New  Dispensation,  which  is  produced 
only  by  the  cross  of  the  Redeemer  as  the  solu- 
tion of  all  contradictions  (comp.  also  Eph.  iv. 
8-10),  and  which  can  be  acquired  and  appropri- 
ated only  at  the  feet  of  the  Crucified  One. -'    The 

*  It  is  ft  favorite  thought  of  many  of  the  Church  Fathers 
that  the  Cross  of  Christ  is  a  power  whicli  motliatt's  and 
reconciles  the  discords  and  oppositions  between  all  parts  of 
the  universe  (as  though  uccoidingly  it  Bent  its  roots  down 
into  the  under-world,  its  head  up  into  heaven,  while  with 
both  arms  it  lovingly  embraced  the  broad  expanse  of  earth 
and  air).  This  tliought  is  elaborated  for  the  most  part  in 
connection  with  Eph.  iii.  18  (ch.  iv.  8-10),  but  rccasionally 
a'so  with  reference  to  Job  xi.  8,  9.  So  by  Bjsil  the  Great 
(i-omm.  on  Isai.  ii.);  by  Gregory  of  Nyssa  (  Cutech.  Magna,  c. 
.33);  by  Rufinus  (Expositio  S;/inh.  ApostoUri);  by  Coel. 
8(>dnlius  (Mirahilia  Div.  V.  297,  54);  by  John  of  Damascut) 
(De  fide  ortlioil.  iv.  12),  etc.  The  same  may  be  said  of  m^iny 
mud  rn  niystirs  and  the.  sophists,  such  as  Kaader,  St.  Mar- 
tin. Gorres,  .1.  F.  v.  M"yer.  Comp.  especially  the  la-st  named'd 
'•niiilter  f.  hohere  Wahrtieit,"  Vol.  VlII.,  page  1ir>  seq.:  "The 
Cross  points  upward  and  downward,  to  the  rit^ht  and  to  the 
left;  this  fourfold  direction  designates  the  All,  on  which  and 
from  which  its  influf>rice  acts.  Its  head  vplifts  itself  to  the 
throne  of  God,  and  its  root  reaches  doicn  to  hell.  Its  amis  stretch 
out  from  the  riximj  of  the  mm  to  the  ijoimj  down  of  the  sa)ne,from 
pole  topole.  In  it  heaven  and  earth  are  united,  in  it  ap- 
peatied;  iu  it  things  which  are  most  strongly  opposed  are 


39i 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


deficiency  in  (liis  knowledge  of  God,  which  Zo- 
phar  here  exhibits  is  indeed  on  his  part  essen- 
tially not  criminal,  resting  as  it  does  on  the  fact 
that  neither  to  him,  nor  to  his  associates,  nor  to 
Job  himself,  had  tiie  mystery  of  justification  by 
faith  been  openly  revealed  as  yet  (comp.  Bren- 
tiu3:  "Zophar  and  the  other  friends  of  Job 
Beem  to  be  entirely  ignorant  of  what  the  Gospel 
and  faith  in  God's  promise  can  effect ;  they 
argue  against  Job  as  though  no  one  could  ever 
be  justified  before  God  by  faith"),  and  that  as 
to  his  general  position  he  belonged  to  that  im- 
mature and  imperfect  stage  of  development  in 
the  education  of  the  human  race,  when  it  was 
impossible  as  yet  to  advance  beyond  a  rigid  con- 
tra-position  of  the  Godhead  and  the  creature. 
He  must,  however,  be  to  the  last  charged  with 
criminal  and  guilty  conduct  in  this,  that  he  uses 
his  insight  into  that  heavenly  immeasurable 
superiority  of  the  Divine  knowledge  over  the 
human  (or,  which  is  the  same  thing:  his  doc- 
trine that  the  divine  wisdom  represents  all  men 
as  sinful  and  foolish)  with  merciless  severity 
against  Job,  deeply  wounding  him  with  it  as 
■with  a  sword,  without  making  even  a  single 
attempt  to  soften  the  application,  or  to  use  this 
two-edged  weapon  in  a  considerate  and  concili- 
atory spirit. 

3.  It  is  easy  to  see  accordingly  what  in  Zo- 
phar's  discourse  must  be  censured  as  one-sided 
and  unfriendly,  and  what  on  the  other  hand 
remains  as  really  beautiful  and  valuable  reli- 
gious and  moral  truth.  The  latter  is  limited 
essentially  to  the  inspired  eulogy  of  the  Divine 
wisdom  and  omniscience  in  ver.  7  seq., — a  de- 
scription which  in  power  and  beauty  is  not, 
indeed,  equal  to  that  presented  in  the  introduc- 
tory part  of  Ps.  cxxxix.,  but  which  furnishes 
nevertheless  one  of  the  most  note-worthy  Old 
Testament  parallels  of  that  passage.  It  is  in  the 
more  detailed  exliibition  of  the  individual  beau- 
ties and  profound  truths  of  this  eulogy  of  Divine 
wisdom  that  we  are  principally  to  find  the 

HOMILETTCAL   AND    PRACTICAL 

.Suggestions  of  this  Discourse. — It  is  neither  ne- 
cessary nor  advisable  to  subdivide  it  in  thus 
treating  it.  For  as  vers.  2-5  are  simply  in- 
troductory to  the  main  theme,  so  vers.  13-20 
show  how  the  wisdom  of  the  Most  High,  incom- 
prehensible in  itself,  and  His  omniscience,  Ciin 
alone  become  comprehensible  to  man,  thus  fur- 
nishing the  basis  for  the  practical  and  hortatory 
part,  in  which  every  homily  on  such  a  theme  as 
the  present  one  must  find  its  issue.  The  whole 
is  to  be  left  in  its  organic  connection.  The  fol- 
lowing hints  however  may  serve  for  the  treat- 
ment of  particular  passages. 

Ver.  7.  fficoLAMPADius:  By  the  four  greatest 
dimensions  of  the  greatest  things  the  idea  of  su- 
]ireme  perfection  is  conveyed.  .  .  .  Wisdom  is 
iiiglier  than  the  heaven,  deeper  than  hell, 
broader  than  the  sea,  and  longer  than  the  earth, 


reconciled  and  made  one."  Comp.  also  the  remarks  of  (Eco- 
I  impadius,  Cocceius,  etc.,  cited  below  [Ilomileticaland  Prac- 
tical). 


for  its  greatness  is  not  included  within  all  of 
these.  For  the  heaven  of  the  heavens  cannot 
contain  Thee,  says  Solomon  in  his  prayer  (1  Ki. 
viii.  27). — Cocceius  :  It  is  no  longer  necessary 
that  we  should  wish  for  one  who  might  either 
ascend  to  heaven,  or  descend  to  hell  or  depart 
beyond  the  sea.  In  Christ  we  have  One  who 
came  from  heaven,  who  returned  from  hell,  who 
measu''ps  the  earth  and  the  sea  with  a  span.  In 
Him  all  things  are  open  and  clear  to  us. — 
Starke  :  If  man  is  not  capable  of  searching  out 
so  many  things  in  nature,  how  much  less  can  he 
with  his  narrow  understanding  comprehend 
God  s  nature,  and  His  wise  governrntnt  (Wisd. 
ix.  16) ! — Hengstenberg  (on  ver.  10  seq  ):  It  is 
here  that  we  first  see  quite  clearly  in  what  re- 
spect Zophar  asserts  the  claims  of  the  Divine 
wisdom  against  Job,  as  being  that,  namely,  by  vir- 
tue of  which  God  penetrates  the  depths  of  the  human 
heart  and  life,  which  to  man  himself  are  utterly  in- 
accessible and  hidden.  He  in  rendering  His  judg- 
ment has  all  facts  and  data  at  His  control, 
whereas  to  man  only  a  small  part  is  accessible. 

Ver.  13  seq.  Cocceius  :  As  there  was  impu- 
dence in  the  Pharisee's  lifting  up  of  his  hands 
(Luke  xviii.  11  seq.),  so  there  is  deception  in 
the  hypocrite's  beating  of  the  breast.  These  ges- 
tures easily  degenerate.  The  best  prayers  are 
those  which  make  the  least  noise,  and  which  are 
poured  out  in  the  secret  recesses  of  the  heart  to 
Him  who  seeth  in  secret,  and  rewardeth  openly, 
who  is  the  "  Hearer  of  the  heart,  not  of  the 
voice,"  as  Cyprian  says. — Starke:  True  peni- 
tence and  believing  prayer  are  the  means  by 
which  calamity  is  warded  off,  and  prosperity 
and  blessing  procured  (Judith  viii.  12  seq.)  With 
true  repentance,  however,  there  must  be  asso- 
ciated (as  in  the  case  of  Zacchueus,  Luke  xix. 
8)  an  earnest  purpose  to  reform  the  life. 

Ver.  15seq.  Brentius:  AV hat  therefore  shall 
be  to  the  man  who  directs  his  own  heart,  who 
stretches  out  his  hands  toward  God,  and  who 
purges  his  works  of  sin?  He  dares  to  lift  up 
his  face  before  God,  without  spot,  without  crime  ; 
for  if  conscience,  sin,  or  Satan  should  accuse  us 
it  is  God  who  justifies;  it  is  Christ  who  died  and 
rose  again,  and  the  Christian  shall  rise  together 
with  Him.  .  .  .  All  these  promises  are  fulfilled  in 
the  Church,  in  which  by  faith  tears  are  wiped 
away,  and  mourning  disappears  (Rev.  xxi.  4) ; 
the  body  indeed  suffers  pain,  but  the  inward  man 
is  renewed  day  byday  (2  Cor.  iv.  16). 

Ver.  2U.  Starke  :  The  Divine  threatenings 
are  to  be  applied  to  the  soul  that  rests  in  care- 
less security,  but  not  to  the  soul  that  is  tried 
with  temptation  and  anguish  (2  Thess.  v  14). — 
Hengstenberg  ;  Job  had  spoken  of  death  as  his 
only  hope.  Very  true,  says  Zophar,  it  is  the 
only  hope,  if  thou  remainest  as  thou  art  !  Zo- 
phar is  quite  right  in  making  all  Job's  hope,  and 
all  his  salvation  depend  on  his  knowing  himself 
as  a  sinner.  His  error  begins  only  when  he 
comes  to  determine  more  particularly  the  way 
and  mode  of  recognizing  sin,  when — that  is — he 
treats  sinners  and  transgressors  as  convertible 
terms.  In  his  sense  Job  could  not  acknowledge 
himself  a  sinner. 


CHAPS.  XII— XIV.  395 


B. — Job's  Reply:    Attack  upon  his  friends,  whose  wisdom  and  justice  he  earnestly 

questions : 

Chapters  XII— XIV. 

1.  Ridicule  of  the  assumed  wisdom  of  the  friends,   who  can  give  only  a  very  unsatisfactory  de  ■ 
scription  of  the  exalted  power  and  wisdom  of  the  Divine  activity  : 

Chap.  XII. 

1  And  Job  answered  and  said, 

2  No  doubt  but  ye  are  the  people, 
and  wisdom  shall  die  with  you. 

3  But  I  have  understanding  as  well  as  you ; 
I  am  not  inferior  to  you  ; 

yea,  who  knoweth  not  such  things  as  these? 

4  I  am  as  one  mocked  of  his  neighbor, 

who  calleth  upon  God,  and  He  answereth  him  ; 
the  just,  upright  man  is  laughed  to  scorn  ! 

5  He  that  is  ready  to  slip  with  his  feet 

is  as  a  lamp  despised  in  the  thought  of  him  that  is  at  ease. 

6  The  tabernacle  of  robbers  prosper, 
and  they  that  provoke  God  are  secure ; 
into  whose  hand  God  bringeth  abundantly.  < 

7  But  ask  now  the  beasts,  and  they  shall  teach  thee, 
and  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  they  shall  tell  thee : 

8  or  speak  to  the  earth,  and  it  shall  teach  thee, 
and  the  fishes  of  the  sea  shall  declare  unto  thee. 

9  Who  knoweth  not  in  all  these 

that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  hath  wrought  this? 

10  In  whose  hand  is  the  soul  of  every  living  thing, 
and  the  bi-eath  of  all  mankind. 

11  Doth  not  the  ear  try  words, 
and  the  mouth  taste  his  meat  ? 

1 2  With  the  ancient  is  wisdom  ; 

and  in  length  of  days  understanding. 

13  "With  Him  is  wisdom  and  strength, 
He  hath  counsel  and  understanding. 

14  Behold  He  breaketh  down,  and  it  cannot  be  built  again ;    " 
He  shuttethup  a  man,  and  there  can  be  no  opening. 

15  Behold,  He  withholdeth  the  waters,  and  they  dry  up  ; 
also  He  sendeth  them  out,  and  they  overturn  the  earth, 

16  With  Him  is  strength  and  wisdom; 
the  deceived  and  the  deceiver  are  His. 

17  He  leadeth  counsellors  away  spoiled, 
and  maketh  the  judges  fools. 

18  He  looseth  the  bond  of  kings,  «• 
and  girdeth  their  loins  with  a  girdle. 

19  He  leadeth  princes  away  spoiled, 
and  overthroweth  the  mighty. 


396  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


20  He  removeth  away  the  speech  of  the  trusty, 
and  taketh  away  the  uuderstanding  of  the  aged. 

21  He  poureth  contempt  upon  princes, 

and  weakeneth  the  strength  of  the  mighty. 

22  He  discovereth  deep  things  out  of  darkness, 
and  bringeth  out  to  light  the  shadow  of  death. 

23  He  increaseth  the  nations  and  destroyeth  them ; 

He  enlargeth  the  nations,  and  straighteneth  them  again. 

24  He  taketh  away  the  heart  of  the  chief  of  the  people  of  the  earth, 
and  causeth  them  to  wander  in  a  wilderness  where  there  is  no  way. 

25  They  grope  in  the  dark  without  light, 

and  He  maketh  them  to  stagger  like  a  drunken  man. 

2.  The  resolution  to  betake  himself  to  God,  who,  in  contrast  with  the  harshness  and  injustice  of 
the  friends  will  assuredly  do  him  justice: 

Chaptee  XIII.  1-22. 

1  Lo,  mine  eye  hath  seen  all  this, 

mine  ear  hath  heard  and  understood  it. 

2  What  ye  know,  the  same  do  I  know  also  ; 
I  am  not  inferior  unto  you. 

3  Surely  I  would  speak  to  the  Almighty, 
and  I  desire  to  reason  with  God. 

4  But  ye  are  forgers  of  lies, 

ye  are  all  physicians  of  no  value. 

5  O  that  ye  would  altogether  hold  your  peace, 
and  it  should  be  your  wisdom. 

6  Hear  now  my  reasoning, 

and  hearken  to  the  pleadings  of  my  lips. 

7  Will  ye  speak  wickedly  for  God,  ' 
and  talk  deceitfully  for  Him  ? 

8  Will  ye  accept  His  person  ? 
will  ye  contend  for  God  ? 

9  Is  it  good  that  He  should  search  you  out? 

or  as  one  man  mocketh  another,  do  ye  so  mock  Him  ? 
30  He  will  surely  reprove  you, 
if  ye  do  secretly  accept  persons. 

11  Shall  not  His  excellency  make  you  afraid? 
and  His  dread  fall  upon  you  ? 

12  Your  remembrances  are  like  unto  ashes, 
your  bodies  to  bodies  of  clay. 

13  Hold  your  peace,  let  me  alone  that  I  may  speak, 
and  let  come  on  me  what  will. 

14  Wherefore  do  I  take  my  flesh  in  my  teeth, 
and  put  my  life  in  mine  hand  ? 

15  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him : 
but  I  will  maintain  mine  own  ways  before  Him. 

16  He  also  shall  be  my  salvation : 

for  a  hypocrite  shall  not  come  before  Him. 

17  Hear  diligently  my  speech, 

and  my  declaration  with  your  ears. 

18  Behold  now,  I  have  ordered  my  cause  ; 
I  know  that  I  shall  be  justified. 

19  Who  is  he  that  will  plead  with  me  ? 

for  now,  if  I  hold  my  tongue,  I  shall  give  up  the  ghost. 


CHAP.  XII- XIV.  397 


20  Only  do  not  two  things  unto  me  ; 
then  will  I  not  hide  myself  from  Thee. 

21  Withdraw  Thine  hand  far  from  me  ; 
and  let  not  Thy  dread  make  me  afraid. 

22  Then  call  Thou,  and  I  will  answer : 
or  let  me  speak,  and  answer  Thou  me ! 

3.  A  vindication  of  himself,  addressed  to  God,  beginning  with  the  haughty  asseveration  of  his 
own  innocence,  but  relapsing  into  a  despondent  cheerless  description  of  the  brevity,  help- 
lessness, and  hopelessness  of  man's  life  : 

Chapter  XIII.  23— XIV.  22. 

23  How  many  are  mine  iniquities  and  sins  ? 
make  me  to  know  my  transgression  and  my  sin. 

24  Wherefore  hidest  Thou  Thy  face, 
and  boldest  me  for  Thine  enemy  ? 

25  Wilt  Thou  break  a  leaf  driven  to  and  fro  ? 
and  wilt  Thou  pursue  the  dry  stubble? 

26  For  Thou  writest  bitter  things  against  me, 

and  makest  me  to  possess  the  iniquities  of  my  youth. 

27  Thou  puttest  my  feet  also  in  the  stocks, 
and  lookest  narrowly  unto  all  my  paths ; 
Thou  settest  a  print  upon  the  heels  of  my  feet. 

28  And  he,  as  a  rotten  thing,  consumeth, 
as  a  garment  that  is  moth-eaten. 

Chapter  XIV. 

1  Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman, 

is  of  few  days,  and  full  of  trouble. 

2  He  Cometh  forth  like  a  flower,  and  is  cut  down ; 
he  fleeth  also  as  a  shadow,  and  continueth  not. 

3  And  dost  Thou  open  Thine  eyes  upon  such  an  one, 
and  bringest  me  into  judgment  with  Thee? 

4  Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean  ? 
not  one ! 

5  Seeing  his  days  are  determined, 

the  number  of  his  mouths  are  with  Thee, 

Thou  hast  appointed  his  bounds  that  he  cannot  pass; 

6  turn  from  him  that  he  may  rest, 

till  he  shall  accomplish,  as  an  hireling,  his  day. 

7  For  there  is  hope  of  a  tree, 

if  it  be  cut  down,  that  it  will  sprout  again, 

and  that  the  tender  branch  thereof  will  not  cease. 

8  Though  the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth, 
and  the  stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground  ; 

9  yet  through  the  scent  of  water  it  will  bud, 
and  bring  forth  boughs  like  a  plant. 

10  But  man  dieth,  and  wasteth  away ! 

yea,  man  giveth  up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he? 

11  As  the  v/aters  fail  from  the  sea, 

and  the  flood  decayeth  and  drieth  up  : 

12  so  man  lieth  down  and  riseth  not : 

till  the  heavens  be  no  more,  they  shall  not  awake, 
nor  be  raised  out  of  their  sleep. 

13  O  that  Thou  wouldest  hide  me  in  the  grave, 

that  thou  wouldest  keep  me  secret  until  Thy  wrath  be  past, 
that  Thou  wouldest  appoint  me  a  set  time,  and  remember  me  I 

14  If  a  mai  die,  shall  he  live  again  ? 


398 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


all  the  days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I  wait, 
till  my  change  come. 

15  Thou  shalt  call,  and  I  will  answer  Thee  ; 

Thou  wilt  have  a  desire  to  the  work  of  Thine  hands. 

16  For  now  Thou  numberest  my  steps ; 
dost  Thou  not  watch  over  my  sin  ? 

17  My  transgression  is  sealed  up  in  a  bag, 
and  Thou  sewest  up  mine  iniquity. 

18  And  surely  the  mountain  falling  cometh  to  nought, 
and  the  rock  is  removed  out  of  his  place. 

19  The  waters  wear  the  stones ; 

Thou  washest  away  the  things  which  grow  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth ; 
and  Thou  destroyest  the  hope  of  man. 

20  Thou  prevailest  forever  against  him,  and  he  passeth  ; 
Thou  changest  his  countenance,  and  sendest  him  away. 

21  His  sons  come  to  honor,  and  he  knoweth  it  not ; 

and  they  are  brought  low,  but  he  perceiveth  it  not  of  them, 

22  But  his  flesh  upon  him  shall  have  pain, 
and  his  soul  within  him  shall  mourn. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

Zophar  in  ch.  xi.  had  specially  arrayed  against 
Job  the  wisdom  and  omniscience  of  God,  in  order 
to  convict  him  partly  of  ignorance  in  Divine 
things,  partly  of  his  sinfulness  and  need  of  re- 
pentance. Job  now  meets  this  attack  by  strongly 
doubting  the  wisdom  of  his  friends,  or  by  repre- 
senting it  as  being  at  least  exceedingly  ordinary 
and  commonplace,  being  capable  neither  of  wor- 
thily comprehending  or  describing  the  Divine 
wisdom  and  greatness,  nor  of  demonstrating  ac- 
tual sin  and  guilt  on  his  part.  This  demonstra- 
tion of  their  incompetency,  delivered  in  an  iro- 
nical tone,  accompanied  by  a  description  of  the 
wisdom  and  strength  of  God  far  transcending 
that  of  Zophar  in  energy  and  inspired  elevation 
of  thought,  forms  the  first  part  of  his  discourse 
(ch.  xii.)  This  is  followed  by  an  emphatic  as- 
severation of  his  innocence,  clothed  in  the  de- 
claration of  his  purpose  to  appeal  to  God,  the 
righteous  Judge,  and  from  Him,  by  means  of 
a  formal  trial,  to  which  he  purposes  summoning 
Him,  to  obtitin  testimony  in  favor  of  his  inno- 
cence, which  shall  effectually  dispose  of  the  sus- 
picions of  the  friends  (ch.  xiii.  1-22).  As  though 
such  a  trial  had  already  been  instituted,  be  then 
turns  to  God  with  a  solemn  assertion  of  his  in- 
nocence, but  failing  to  meet  with  a  favorable  de- 
claration from  God  in  answer  to  his  appeal,  he 
immediately  sinks  back  into  his  former  discou- 
ragement and  despair,  to  which  he  gives  charac- 
teristic expression  in  a  long  description  of  the 
shortness  of  life,  the  impotence  and  helplessness 
of  man  as  opposed  to  the  Divine  omnipotence 
(ch.  xiii.  23 — xiv.  22).  [Davidson  characterizes 
this  discourse  as  "  this  last  and  greatest  effort 
of  Job"].  Each  of  these  three  parts  is  subdi- 
vided into  sections  which  are  distinctly  sepa- 
rated, Parts  I.  and  II.  into  two  sections  each  of 
about  equal  length  ;  Part  III.  into  five  strophes 
of  5  to  6  verses  each. 

2.  First  Division. — First  Section :  Sarcasm  on 
the  wisdom  of  Zophar,  and  the  two  other  speak- 


ers, as  being  quite  ordinary  and  commonplace  : 
ch.  xii.  2-12. 

First  Strophe :  Vers.  2-6.  [Sarcasm  on  the 
friends  (ver.  2)  changing  into  angry  invective 
(ver.  3),  then  into  bitter  complaint  of  his  own 
lot  (ver.  4),  of  the  way  of  the  world  (ver.  5),  and 
of  the  security  of  the  wicked  (ver.  6)]. 

Ver.  2.  Of  a  truth  ye  are  the  people. — 
DJ?  OIj]^,  with  the  logical  accent  on  the  first 
word,  signifies  not:  "ye  are  people,  the  right 
sort  of  people,"  but :  "  ye  are  the  people,  the  to- 
tality of  all  people,  the  race  of  men  ;"  DJ^,  there- 
fore as  in  Is.  xl.  7 ;  xiii.  5.  The  Cod.  Alex,  of 
the  LXX.  expresses  correctly  the  sense ;  fx^ 
i'/Lielc  eare  av&fiuTvoc  fjovot.     As  to  '3    DJOX,  comp. 

the  simple  DJDX,   ch.  ix.  2. 
^  T  :  T  ' 

Ver.  ?>.  I  also  have  a  heart  as  well  as 
you,  i.  e.,  I  lack  understanding  no  more  than 

you. — 33/  therefore  as  above  in  ch.  viii.  10;  ix. 
4  ;  comp.  ch.  xi.  12  ["he  also  has  a  heart  like 
them,  he  is  therefore  not  empty,  313J,"  Del.], 
and  as  below  in  ver.  24. — I  do  not  stand  be- 
hind you:  lit.,  "  I  do  not  sink  down  beneath 
you,'  or:  "  I  do  not  fall  away  before  you  ;"  the 
to  in  D30    relates   to   the   stand-point   of    the 

friends, //-OOT  which  Job  might  seem  to  be  a  73J. 
one  falling  below  them,  meaner  than  themselves. 
[Ewald  takes  JO  in  the  comparative  sense, 
which  however  would  give  an  unsuitable  render- 
ing, "  to  fall  more  than  another"]. — And  to 
whom  are  such  things  not  known?  Lit., 
"  and  with  whom  is  not  the  like  of  these  things  ?" 
viz.,  the  like  of  your  knowledge  of  Divine  tbings. 
r\X,  lit.  "  with,"  is  used  here  in  the  sense  of  an 
inward  indwelling,  as  also  in  ch.  xiv.  5  b,  and 
as  elsewhere  DJ.'  is  used:  ch.  ix.  35;  x.  lo,  etc. 
Ver.  4.  A  mockery  (pnii',  lit.,  "a  laugh- 
ing," laughter,  Inf.  subst.,  like  bt^'D,  ch.  xvii. 
G)  to  my  own  friend  must  I  be. — [Lit.,  "  a 
mockery  to  his  neighbor,  etc.  J.  Instead  of 'H^'^^ 


CHAPS.  XII— XIV. 


899 


one  might  expect  to  find  ""J^^?!  ^^  exchange  of 
persons,  however,  takes  place,  that  the  expres- 
sion may  be  made  as  general  as  possible:  "  one 
who  is  a  mockery  to  his  own  friend  must  I  be." 
Corap.  similar  examples  of  the  exchange  of  per- 
sons in  Ps.  xci.  1  seq.  ;  Is.  ii.  8.  ['^  Must  I  be- 
come, n^nx  best  as  exclamation,  expressing 
Job's  sense  of  indignity:  (1)  At  such  treat- 
ment from  friends  ;  (2)  such  treatment  to  such 
as  he,"  (Dav.)  see  remainder  of  verse]. — I  vrho 
called  to  Eloah  and  found  a  hearing:  lit., 
"  one  calling  [still  in  3d  person]  to  Eloah,  and 
He  heard  him,"  in  apposition  to  the  subject — I 
— in  n'riN:  which  is  the  case  also  with  P'^^ 
D'pn,  one  who  is  just,  godly  (pure,  blameless), 
comp.  Prov.  xi.  5  a,  these  words  being  placed 
with  emphasis  at  the  end  of  the  whole  exclama- 
tion. [Zockler's rendering  of  this  clause  being: 
"  a  mockery  (am  I)  ; — the  just,  the  godly  man  !" 
Noyes  and  Wemyss  render  the  second  member: 
"  I  who  call  upon  God  that  He  would  answer 
me"  (or  "to  listen  to  me").  Noyes  objects  to 
the  other  rendering  the  use  of  the  present  par- 
ticiple. This  form,  however,  is  used  to  denote 
a  continuous  fact  in  Job's  life,  and  a  permanent 
quality  grounded  thereon,  the  Vav.  consec.  then 
indicating  the  Divine  result  consequent  on  Job's 
conduct  and  character. — E.]. 

Ver.  5.  For  misfortune  scorn — according 
to  the  opinion  of  the  prosperous:  i.  c.,  the 
prosperous  (lit.  "the  secure,"  who  lives  free 
from  care,  comp.  Isa.  xxxiii.  20)  thinks,  that 
contempt  is  due  to  the  unfortunate.  ["  It  is  the 
ordinary  way  of  the  great  multitude  to  over- 
whelm the  unfortunate  with  contempt,  and  to 
give  to  the  tottering  still  another  push."  Dillm.] 
n3  thus  =  contemptus,  as  in  ver.  21,  and  ch. 
xxxi.  34 ;  T3  =  destruction,  ruin,  misfortune, 
as  in  ch.  xxx.  24;  xxxi.  29;  Prov.  xxiv.  22; 
and  nii^C^J^  ( plur.  fern.  st.  constr.  from  r\^^),  or, 
after  a  form  which  is  better  authorized,  Pkr\^]l, 
signifies  an  opinion,  fancy,  thought  (from  T\^y, 
to  fashion,  used  of  the  mind's  fashioning  its 
thoughts).  This  is  the  interpretation  adopted 
by  most  of  the  moderns,  since  the  time  of  Aben 
Ezra.  The  rendering  of  the  Targ.,  Vulg.,  [E. 
v.],  Levi  b.  Gerson,  and  other  Rabbis,  preferred 
also  by  Luther,  De  Wette,  Rosenm.  [Noyes, 
Carey,  Rod.],  etc.,  which  takes  T3  7  in  the  sense 
of  a  torch,  yields  no  tolerable  sense,  at  least  no 
such  sense  as  suits  the  second  member  ("a  torch 
of  contempt"  [Luther:  "a  despised  taper"]  in 
the  opinion  of  the  prosperous  is  he  who  is  ready 
to  totter,"  or  "to  whom  it  is  appointed  that  his 
feet  slip,"  etc.)  [Against  this  rendering,  found 
in  E.  v.,  may  be  urged  (1)  The  expression  "a 
despised  torch  "  is  meaningless.  As  Con.  sug- 
gests "  a  consumed  or  expiring  torch  would  be 
pertinent,  but  a  torch  despised  is  like  anything 
else  that  is  despised."  (2)  j'lDJ  is  superfluous 
and  insipid.  Why  "-ready  to  waver?"  (3)  This 
rendering  presupposes  a  noun  "1^10,  with  the 
meaning  vacillatio,  wavering,  lit.  ready  for  wa- 
verings, for  which  however  there  is  no  authority, 
and  which  would  require  here  rather  the  vowel 
pointing:  '''}.VP^- — (4)  It  destroys  the  rhythm  of 
the  verse.     See  Con.,  Dillm.,  Dav.  and  Delitzsch. 


E.].  The  rendering  of  Hitzig  {Geschichle  des 
Volkes  Israel  I.,  112)  is  peculiar;  TsS  he  takes 
to  mean:   "a  soothing  bandage,  a  cure  "  (from 

the  root  "137,  "  to  wind,  or  bind  around,"  here 
the  sing,  corresponding  to  the  plur.  found  in 
Judg.  iv.  4,  which  is  not  a  proper  name  [Lapi- 
doth],  but  taken  in  connection  with  the  preceding 
niyx  signifies:  "a  mistress  of  healing  band- 
ages " ),  so  that  the  sense  would  then  be  :  "  Heal- 
ing is  a  scorn  [is  scorned]  in  the  opinion  of  the 
prosperous"  (?). — Ready    (is  it,  the  contempt) 

for  those  whose  foot  wavers {OJ,  Part. 

Niph.  from  |0,  hence  etoc^oq,  ready,  as  in  Ex. 
xxxiv.  2.  Comp.  below  xv.  23,  where  may  also  be 
found  "  the  wavering  of  the  foot  "  as  a  figurative 
expression  of  falling  into  misfortune  ;  Ps.  xxxviii. 
17  (16)  Ewald  (Bibl.  Jahrb.  IX.  p.  38)  would  in- 
stead of  |OJ  read  ji'JJ,  "  a  stroke,"  and  Schul- 
f  ens  and  Dillmann  would  assign  this  same  mean- 
ing of  playa,  percussio  to  this  same  form  V\2i 
(from  njJ,  ni)n) :  "a  stroke,  is  due  to  those 
whose  foot  wavers."  As  if  a  new  parallelism  of 
thought  must  of  necessity  be  found  between  a 
and  b! 

Ver.  6.  Secure  are  the  tents  of  the  spoil- 
ers, lit.  to  the  spoilers  ;  i.  e.,  to  powerful  tyrants, 
savage  conquerors,  and  the  like.  On  "  tents  " 
comp.  ch.  y.  24  ;  xi.  14. — ^'''^\  is  the  aramai- 
zing  third  plur.  form  of  a  verb  which  has  for  its 
perf.  vlp  (see  ch.  iii.  26),  but  which  derives  its 
imperf.    forms    from    Tv)'^.     Moreover    V/E/'  is 

T  T  T    :    • 

not  merely  a  pausal  form,  but  stands  here  re- 
moved from  the  place  of  the  tone:  comp.  the  si- 
milar pathetic  verbal  forms  in  Ps.  xxxvi.  9 ; 
Ivii.  2  ;  Ixxiii.  2  ;  also  Ewald,  g  194,  a.— And 
security  nintpS,  plur.  et  abstr.  from  niD2  (se- 
cure, free  from  care),  have  they  w^ho  defy 
God  ["Dmity  denotes  the  sin  of  these  unde- 
servedly prosperous  ones  against  men,  7X  'IjnD 
(lit.  those  who  provoke  God,  who  insolently  assail 
Him)  their  wickedness  against  God."  Schlott.] 
they  who  carry  Eloah  in  their  hand:  lit., 

"he  who   carries,"    (X'3n "'^^Z)  ;    from 

among  those  who  rage  against  God  and  defy 
Him,  one  is  selected  as  an  example,  such  an 
one,  viz.,  as  "bears  God  in  his  hand,"  i.e.,  re- 
cognizes no  other  God  than  the  one  he  carries 
in  his  hand  or  fist,  to  whom  therefore  his  fight- 
ing weapon  is  to  be  his  God  ;  comp.  Ilab.  i.  11, 
16;  also  the  '■'■  d extra  mihi  Deua"  of  Virg.  Aen. 
16,  773.  [Delitzsch  renders  i<"3ri  a  little  more 
precisely  perhaps:  "he  who  causes  Eloah  to 
enter  into  his  hand;  from  which  translation  it 
is  clear  that  not  the  deification  of  the  hand,  but 
of  that  which  is  taken  into  the  hand  is  meant. 
That  which  is  taken  into  the  hand  is  not,  how- 
ever, an  idol  (Abenezra),  but  the  sword  ;  there- 
fore he  who  thinks  after  the  manner  of  Lamech, 
as  he  takes  the  iron  weapon  of  attack  and 
defense  into  his  hand,  that  he  needs  no  other 
God."  The  deification  of  the  weapon  which  a 
man  wields  with  the  power  of  his  own  right 
hand,  and   the  deification  of  the  power  which 


400 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


wields  the  weapon,  aa  in  Hab.  1.  c.  and  Mic.  ii. 
1,  are,  however,  so  nearly  identical  as  descrip- 
tive of  the  character  here  referred  to,  that  either 
resolves  itself  into  the  other.  Conant,  who 
adopts  the  rendering  of  E.  V. :  "  he  into  whose 
hand  God  bringeth"  (E.  V.  adds  "abundantly") 
i.  e.  whom  God  prospers,  objects  that  by  the 
other  rendering  "  the  thought  is  expressed  very 
coarsely,  as  to  form,  when  it  might  be  done  in 
the  Hebrew  with  great  felicity."  It  is  difficult 
to  see,  however,  how  the  sentence:  "he  who 
takes  God  in  his  hand"  could  be  expressed 
more  idiomatically  or  forcibly  than  in  the  words 
of  the  passage  before  us.  Wordsworth  some- 
what differently  :  "  who  grasps  God  in  his  hand. 
The  wicked,  in  his  impious  presumption,  ima- 
gines that  he  can  take  God  prisoner  and  lead 
Him  as  a  captive  by  his  power."  But  this  is 
lens  natural  than  the  above. — E.] 

Second  Strophe:  vers.  7-12.  ["Return  to  the 
thought  of  ver.  3 — the  shallowness  of  the  friends' 
Avisdom  on  the  Divine.  Such  knowledge  and 
deeper  every  one  possessed  who  had  eyes  and 
ears.  For  (1)  every  creature  in  earth  and  sea 
and  air  proclaimed  it  (7-10);  and  (2)  every 
man  of  thought  and  age  uttered  it  in  the  general 
ear  (11,  12)."  D.w.] 

Ver.  7.  But  ask  now  even  the  beasts — 

they  can  teach  thee. — ["D 7^X1,  recovery  fvom. 
the  crushing  thought  of  vers.  4-6,  and  strong 
antithesis  to   the   assumption   of  the  friends." 

Dav.]  "X},^,  as  also  ir  ^^  ^^^  second  member, 
voluntative  [or,  jussive],  hence  not  literally 
future — "they  will  teach  it  to  thee" — as  com- 
monly rendered.  Here  the  form  of  address  is 
different  from  that  adopted  heretofore  in  this 
discourse,  being  now  directed  to  one  only  of  the 
friends,  viz.  to  Zophar,  to  whose  eulogy  of  the 
absolute  wisdom  of  God  (ch.  xi.  7-9)  reference 
is  here  made,  with  the  accompanying  purpose 
of  presenting  a  still  more  copious  and  elaborate 
description  of  the  same. 

Ver.  8.  Or  think  thoughtfuUy  on  the 
earth :  lit.  "  think  on  the  earth,"  i.  e.  direct 
thoughtfully  thy  observation  to  the  earth  (which 
comes  under  consideration  here,  as  is  evident 
from  what  follows,  as  the  place  where  the  lower 
order  of  animals  is  found,  the  t^D^,  Gen.  ix.  2  ; 
1  Kings  V.  13),  and  acquire  the  instruction 
which  may  be  derived  from  her.  The  render- 
ing of  V\^il!  as  a  substantive,  in  the  sense  of 
"shrub"  (comp.  ch.  xxx.  4;  Gen.  ii.  5),  is  on 
several  grounds  untenable;  for  TT'ti',  "shrub" 
is,  according  to  those  passages,  masculine  ;  the 
use  of  the  preposition  7  instead  of  the  genit., 
or  instead  of  7;;  or  3  before  |*1Nn,  would  be 
singular;  and  the  mention  of  plants  in  the  midst 
of  the  animals  (beasts,  birds,  fishes),  would  be 
out  of  place  (against  Berleb.  Bib.,  Bottcher, 
Umbreit,  etc.). 

Ver.  9.  Who  would  not  know  in  all 
this,  etc.—^o  is  n7X-7D3  to  be  rendered,  giving 
to  3  the  instrumental  sense,  not  with  Hahn — 
"  who  knows  not  concerning  all  this,"  which 
would  yield  too  flat  a  sense,  and  lead  us  to  over- 


look the  retrospective  reference  which  is  to  be 
looked  for  to  the  various  kinds  of  animals 
already  cited.  Neither  with  Ewald  [Hcngst. , 
Noyes]  is  it  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  "  among 
all  these,"  as  if  the  passage  contained  a  refer- 
ence to  a  knowledge  possessed  by  all  the  crea- 
tures of  God  as  their  Creator,  or  possibly  to  the 
groaning  of  the  creature  after  the  Godhead,  as 
described  in  Horn.  viii.  18  sq.  This  partitive 
rendering  of  3  (which  Renan  as  well  as  Ewald 
adopts:  "  qui  ne  suit  parmi  tous  ces  elres,"  etc.)  is 
at  variance  with  the  context,  as  well  as  the 
position  of  the  words  (;?'!'  X^  before  nbx-S33). 
— That  the  hand  of  Jehovah  hath  made 
this. — nxi  refers  essentially  to  the  same  object 
with  rivX-^S,  only  that  it  embraces  a  still  wider 
circle  of  contemplation  than  the  latter  expres- 
sion, which  refers  only  to  the  classes  of  animals 
afore-mentioned.  It  denotes  "the  totality  of 
that  which  surrounds  us,"  the  visible  universe, 
the   whole   world   (rd   (3?i.e7T6fiEva,    Heb.  xi.  8) ; 

comp.  Is.  Ixvi.  2 ;  Jer.  xiv.  22 ;  where  n7K~73 
is  used  in  this  comprehensive  signification  ;  so 
also  above  in  ch.  xi.  8  seq.,  to  which  description 
of  the  all-embracing  greatness  of  God  there  is 
here  a  manifest  reference.  Ewald,  Dillmann 
[Conant,  Davidson]  translate:  "that  the  hand 
of  Jehovah  hath  done  this."  By  nxr>  "this," 
Ewald  understands  "the  decreeing  of  suffering 
and  pain"  (of  which  also  the  groaning  creation 
would  testify) ;  Dillmann  refers  it  to  the  mighty 
and  wise  administration  of  God  among  His  crea- 
tures; both  of  which  explanations  are  manifestly 
more  remote  than  the  one  given  above.  ["  The 
meaning  of  the  whole  strophe  is  perverted  if 
nXT is,  with  Ewald,  referred  to  the  'destiny  of 
severe  suffering  and  pain.'  .  .  .  Since  as  a 
glance  at  what  follows  shows,  Job  further  on 
praises  God  as  the  governor  of  the  universe,  it 
may  be  expected  that  the  reference  is  here  to 
God  as  the  creator  and  preserver  of  the  world. 
.  .  .  Bildad  had  appealed  to  the  sayings  of  the 
ancients,  which  have  the  long  experience  of  the 
past  in  their  favor,  to  support  the  justice  of  the 
Divine  government;  Job  here  appeals  to  the 
absoluteness  of  the  Divine  rule  over  creation." 
Delitzsch.] — Apart  from  the  Prologue  (ch.  i. 
21),  the  name  niTT  occurs  only  here  in  the 
mouth  of  Job,  for  the  reason  doubtless  that  the 
whole  expression  here  used,  which  recurs  again 
word  for  word  in  Is.  xli.  20  (ch.  Ixvi.  2)  was 
one  that  was  everywhere  much  used,  not  unfre- 
queutly  also  among  the  extra-Israelitish  mono- 
theists  (and  the  same  is  true  of  the  expression 
'r^.  ^^T..  ch.  xxviii.  28). 

Ver.  10.  In  whose  hand  is  the  soul  of 
every  living  thing,  and  the  breath  of  all 
the  bodies  of  men. — ["Evidently  these  words 
are  more  naturally  referred  to  the  act  of  pre- 
servation than  to  that  of  creation."  Schlottm.] 
Observe  the  distinction  between  tl'Sp.  the  lower 
principle  of  life,  which  fills  all  animals,  and 
nit,  the  godlike  personal  spirit  of  man.  Other- 
wise in  Eccles.  iii.  19,  21,  where  n^"!,  in  a  wider 
sense,  is  ascribed  even  to  the  beasts. 


CHAPS.  XII-XIV. 


401 


Vers.  11,  12.  To  the  knowledge  of  God  wliich 
rests  ou  tlie  observation  of  the  external  cosmos 
(notitia  Dei  naturalis  txtcrna  s.  acquisita),  is  here 
added  the  human  wisdom  and  insight  which 
springs  from  experience,  especially  that  of  the 
aged,  as  a  second  source  from  which  Job  might 
draw  (which  may  be  regarded  as  the  equivalent 
of  that  which  is  sometimes  called  notitia  Dei 
naturalis  interna), 

Ver.  11.  Does  not  the  ear  prove  sayings, 
even    as  [)   adiequationis,   as  iu  ch.  v.  7J   the 

palate  tastes  food  for  itself  (17,  Dat.  corn- 
modi).  Both  comparisons  illustrate  the  power 
of  judicious  discrimination  possessed  by  the 
human  spirit,  by  which  it  discerns  the  inner 
worth  of  things,  especially  as  it  exists  in  aged 
persons  of  large  experience.  So  again  later  in 
Elihu's  discourse,  ch.  xxxiv.  3.  The  opinion 
of  Umbreit,  Delitzsch,  etc.,  that  Job  iu  this  verse 
utters  an  admonition  not  to  receive  without 
proof  the  sayings  of  the  ancients,  to  wit,  those 
of  which  Bildad  had  previously  spoken,  ch.  viii. 
10  [^^ should  noi  the  ear  prove  the  sayings?"), 
lacks  proper  support.  A  reference  to  that 
remote  passage  in  the  discourse  of  Bildad  should 
have  been  more  clearly  indicated  than  by  the 
accidental  circumstance  that  there  as  here  the 

word  Ty?,  "sayings,  utterances,"  is  used. 
Moreover  the  "aged"  who  are  here  mentioned 
(D"'B''t^",  as  in  ch.  xv.  10;  xxix.  8)  are  by  no 
means  identical  with  the  fathers  of  former  gene- 
rations, whom  Bildad  had  mentioned  there. 

Ver.  12.  Among  the  aged  is  •wisdom, 
and  a  long  life  (works,  gives)  understand- 
ing [or  lit.  "  length  of  days  is  understanding  "]. 
The  verse  is  related  to  the  preceding  as  logical 
consequent  to  its  antecedent :  As  the  ear  deter- 
mines the  value  of  words,  or  the  palate  the  taste 
of  food,  so  aged  men  have  been  able  to  acquire 
for  themselves  in  the  course  of  a  long  life  a  true 
insight  into  the  nature  of  things,  and  a  truly 
rational  knowledge  of  the  same, — and  I  have 
been  to  school  with  such  men,  I  have  also  ven- 
tured to  draw  from  this  source!  This  is  the 
meaning  of  the  passage  as  clearly  appears  from 
the  context,  and  it  makes  it  unnecessary  to 
assume:  a.  with  Starke,  etc.,  that  Job  reckons 
himself  among  the  aged,  and  as  such  sets  him- 
self in  the  fullness  of  his  self-consciousness 
against  the  three  friends  as  being  younger  than 
himself  (which  is  distinctly  refuted  by  what  we 
find  in  ch.  v.  26  ;  xxix.  8,  18 ;  xv.  10) ;  b.  with 
Ewald,  to  conjecture  the  loss  of  a  passage  after 
ver.  12,  Avhich  would  furnish  the  transition  from 
that  verse  to  ver.  23  ;  c.  with  Dillmann,  that 
originally  ver.  12  stood  before  vers.  9,  10, 
thus  immediately  following  ver.  8;  d.  with 
Delitzsch,  Ilengstenberg.  etc.,  that  ver.  23  is 
to  be  connected  closely  and  immediately 
■with  ver.  12,  so  that  thus  the  following  order  of 
thought  would  be  expressed  :  assuredly  wisdom 
is  to  be  found  among  the  aged,  but  in  reality 
and  in  full  measure  it  is  to  be  found  only  with 
God,  etc.  \_i.e.  withConant,  that  the  verse  is  to  be 
remlered  interrogatively,  on  the  ground  that  Job 
would  not  appeal  to  tradition  in  support  of  his 
positions;  to  which  Davidson  replies  that  "Job 
assails  tradition  only  where  he  has  found  it  false ; 
2U 


and  here,  where  he  is  exposing  the  vulgarity  of 
the  friends'  much-boasted  insiglit,  it  is  quite  in 
place  to  refer  to  the  facility  any  one  had  for 
coming  in  contact  with  such  information  ;  aiid 
in  xiii.  2,  where  Job  recapitulates  xii.  13-2-5, 
these  two  sources  gf  information,  sight  and  hear- 
say are  directly  alluded  to." — Besides  Delitzscli 
and  Ilengstenberg,  Schlottmann  and  Merx  con- 
nect the  verse  with  the  preceding.  On  tlie  con- 
trary Con.,  Dav.,  Dillm.,  Ren.,  Good,  Wemyss, 
etc.,  connect  it  with  the  following,  and  correctly 
so  on  account  of  the  strict  connection  in  thought, 
and  especially  the  resumption  of  the  thought  in 
varying  language  in  ver.  16. — In  answer  to  the 
objection  of  abruptness  in  the  transition  if  ver. 
13  be  detached  from  the  preceding,  Davidson 
says  well  that  "  it  is  quite  in  place  ;  the  whole 
chapter  and  speech  is  abrupt  and  passionate." 
-E.]. 

First  Division:  Second  Section:  An  animated 
description  of  the  exercise  of  God's  wisdom  and 
power,  by  way  of  actual  proof  that  he  is  by  no 
means  wanting  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  which 
Zophar  had  denied  to  him  :  vers.  13-25.  [It  is 
possible  perhaps  to  exaggerate  this  idea  that  Job 
in  the  passage  following  is  consciously  emulating 
his  opponents.  Something  there  is  of  this  no 
doubt,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  de- 
scription here  given  of  the  Divine  wisilom  and 
omnipotence  is  an  important  part  of  Job's  argu- 
ment, as  tending  to  show  that  these  attributes  so 
far  from  being  employed  by  the  ends  which  they 
had  described,  are  exercised  to  produce  hopeless 
confusion  and  ruin  in  human  affairs. — E.]. 

First  double  strophe :  Vers.  13-18  (consisting 
of  two  strophes  of  3  verses  each). 

a.  Vei-s.  13-15.  [The  theme  in  its  most  gene- 
ral statement]. 

Ver.  13.  "With  Him  are  -wisdom  and 
might.  His  are  counsel  and  discernment. 

— The  sufiSxes  in  IDJ/  and  17  point  back  to  Je- 
hovah, vers.  9,  10,  to  whom  the  whole  following 
description  to  ver.  2-5  in  general  relates.  ["With 
Him,  i?3j7,  him,  doubly  emphatic  (a)  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  just  mentioned  wisdom  of  men,  ver. 
12;  (b)  with  awe-iw\  omission  of  Divine  name, 
and  significant  allusion  and  intonation  in  the 
pronoun."  Dav.].  The  verse  before  us  forms 
as  it  were  the  theme  of  this  description,  which 
presents  Job's  own  personal  confession  of  faith 
in  respect  to  the  nature  and  wisdom  of  God.  It 
is  therefore  neither  an  expression  of  the  doctri- 
nal views  of  a  "  hoary  antiquity,"  or  of  the  aged 
sages  of  ver.  12  (Umbreit)  [Ewald,  Schlottm.], 
nor  a  statement  of  that  which  is  alone  to  be  es- 
teemed as  genuine  Divine  wisdom,  in  antithesis 
to  the  more  imperfect  "wisdom  of  the  aged" 
(Delitzsch,  Ilengstenberg).  There  is  to  be  sure 
a  certain  progression  of  thought  from  ver.  11 
on  :  the  adaptation  to  their  uses  of  the  organs 
of  hearing  and  of  taste,  the  wisdom  of  men  of 
age  and  experience,  and  the  wisdom  of  God, 
transcending  all  else,  and  united  with  the  high- 
est power,  are  related  to  each  other  as  positive, 
comparative,  and  superlative.  But  there  is  not 
the  slightest  intimation  of  the  thought  that  the 
absolute  wisdom  of  God  casts  into  the  shade 
those  rudiments  of  itself  which  are  to  be  found 
in  the  sphere  of  the  creature,  or  would  hold  them 


402 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


up  as  utterly  worthless.  Rather  is  what  is  said 
of  the  same  in  our  verse  in  some  measure  the 
fruit,  or  a  specimen  of  the  wisdom  of  the  aged, 
which  Job  also  claims  to  possess,  as  a  pupil  of 
such  aged  men.  Comp.  below  Cocceius,  in  the 
Homiletical  Remarks  on  ch.  xii.  10-13.  Of  the 
four  designations  of  the  absolute  Divine  intelli- 
gence here  given,  which  accord  with  the  lan- 
guage of  Is.  xi.  2,  and  the  accumulation  of  which 
intensifies  the  expression  to  the  utmost,  '^J?'^ 
denotes  that  side  of  God's  intelligence  which 
"  perceives  things  in  the  ground  of  their  being, 
and  in  the  reality  of  their  existence"  ["the  ge- 
neral word  and  idea  comprehensive  of  all  others,' ' 
Dav.].  rm^J  that  "which  is  able  to  carry  out 
the  plana,  purposes,  and  decisions  of  this  uni- 
versal wisdom  against  all  hindrance  and  opposi- 
tion "  I"  virtus,  1.3J,  vir."  Dav.];  H^J^,  that 
"  which  is  never  perplexed  as  to  the  best  way  of 
reaching  its  purpose;"  DJOH,  that  "  which  can 
penetrate  to  the  bottom  of  what  is  true  and 
false,  sound  and  corrupt,  and  distinguish  between 

them:"  Delitzsch ;  [?i*  "actively  force,  passively 
strength,  firmness :"   Dav.]. 

Ver.  14.  Lo,  He  tears  dow^n,  and  it  is  not 
built  up  (again).  This  is  the  first  example  of 
the  irresistible  exercise  of  this  absolute  might 
and  wisdom  of  God.  Job  describes  it  as  directed 
above  all  else  to  the  work  of  tearing  down  and 
destroying,  because  in  his  recent  mournful  ex- 
periences he  had  been  led  to  know  it  on  this  side 
of  its  activity;  comp.  ch.  ix.  5  seq.,  where  in 
like  manner  the  mention  of  the  destructive  acti- 
vities of  the  Divine  omnipotence  precedes  that 
of  its  creative  and  constructive  operation.  Whe- 
ther there  is  a  reference  to  Zophar's  expression 
(ch.  xi.  10;  so  Dillmann)  is  doubtful.  He  shuts 
up  a  man  (lit.  "He  shuts  over  a  man"),  and 
it  cannot  be  opened.     The  expression    1JD 

S>',  "to  shut  over  any  one,"  is  to  be  explained 
from  the  fact  that  use  was  frequently  made  of 
pits,  perhaps  of  cisterns,  as  prisons,  or  dun- 
geons: comp.  Gen.  xxxvii.  24;  Jer.  xxxviii.  G; 
Lam.  iii.  53.  Where  this  species  of  incarcera- 
tion is  not  intended,  "^JD  is  used  either  with  the 

-*  T 

accus.  or  with    1^^    (comp.  ch.  iii.  10;  and  1 

Sam.  i.  6). 

Yer.  \'>.  Lo,  He  restrains  the  •waters,  and 
they  dry  up  (Is.  1.  38)  ;  He  letteth  them 
forth  (again),  and  they  overturn  the  earth. 

A  remarkable  parallel  in  thought  to  this  descrip- 
tion of  the  operation  of  the  Divine  omnipotence 
in  the  visible  creation,  now  withdrawing  and  now 
giving  life,  but  ever  mighty  in  its  agency,  may 
be  found  in  Ps.  civ.  29,  30.  A  reference  to  Zo- 
phar's comparison  of  past  calamity  with  vanished 
■waters  (ch.  xi.  10)  is  scarcely  to  be  recognized. 

b.  Vers.  10-18.  [Resumption  of  the  theme — 
specially  of  tlie  Divine  wisdom  bringing  confu- 
eion  and  humiliation  on  earth's  migliticst]. 

Ver.  1 0.  With  Him  are  strength  and  true 
knowledge  (iT'u'^n,  precisely  us  in  ch.  xi.  G). 
His  are  the  deceived  and  the  deceiver 
[the  erring  one,  and  the  one  who  causes  to  err]  : 
i.  e  ,  liis  intelligence  is  so  far  superior  to  that  of 
man  that  alike  he  who  abuses  his  wisdom  in 
•leading   others  astray,  and  he   who    uses  it  for 


their  good,  are  in  His  hand,  and  constrained  to 
serve  His  purposes.  He  thus  makes  evil,  moral 
and  intellectual,  subservient  to  the  good:  Gen.  1. 
20;  Vs.  xviii.  27.  ["  JJJ:/  and  Ti}^  here  are  to 
be  understood  not  so  much  in  the  ethical  as  in 
the  intellectual  sense:  if  a  man  thinks  himself 
wise  because  he  is  superior  to  another,  and  can 
lead  him  astray,  in  comparison  with  God's  wis- 
dom the  deceiver  is  not  greater  (in  understand- 
ing) than  the  deceived ;  He  has  them  both  ia 
his  hand,  etc."   Dillm.] 

Ver.  17.  He  leads  counsellors  away  strip- 
ped :  or  "  who  leads  counsellors,  etc." — for  from 
this  point  on  to  the  end  of  the  description  (ver. 
24)  Job  speaking  of  God  uses  the  present  parti- 
ciple. The  circumstantial  accus.  /vii!?,  which 
here  and  in  ver.  19  is  used  in  connection  with 
■ij-VlO,  (and  that  in  the  singular,  like  DIIJ',  ch. 
xxiv.  7,  10),  is  rendered  by  the  ancient  versions 
"captive,"  or  "chained"  (LXX.,  Targ.  on  ver. 
19:  alxi^o-luTovq ;  Targ.  on  ver.  17:  catenis  vinc- 
fos),  whereas  etymologically  the  signification 
"  made  naked  [exutus),  violently  stripped  "  is  the 
only  one  that  is  authenticated.  The  word  there- 
fore is  equivalent  to  the  expression  Hn'l  DIIJ^ 
"naked  and  barefoot,"  Is.  xx.  4,  not  to  "bare- 
j  foot "  alone,  as  Oehler,  Hitzig,  Dillmann,  etc., 
suppose  from  comparison  with  the  LXX.  in  Mic. 
i.  8.  Naturally  we  are  to  understand  the  de- 
scription here  to  be  of  counsellors  led  away 
stripped  as  captives  taken  in  war :  comp.  Is.  I.  c. 
and  2  Chron.  xxviii.  15,  as  also  what  pertains  to 

□■"Vj^",  "  counsellors  "  in  ch.  iii.  14.  — And 
judges  He  makes  fools.  /Sin'',  as  in  Isa. 
xliv.  25,  to  infatuate,  to  show  to  be  fools.  Such 
an  infatuation  of  judges  as  would  cause  the  mili- 
tary and  political  ruin  of  their  country  to  pro- 
ceed directly  from  them  (as  in  the  breaking  out 
of  great  catastrophes  over  certain  kingdoms,  e. 
ff.  over  Egypt,  Is.  xix.  17  seq.  ;  over  Isi-ael  and 
Judah,  2  Kings  xix.  26,  etc.),  is  not  necessarily 
to  be  assumed  here  (comp.  v.  20),  although  ca- 
tastrophes of  that  character  are  here  especially 
prominent  in  the  thought  of  the  speaker. 

Ver.  18.  He  looses  the  bond  of  kings  ;  /. 

e.,  He  looses  the  bond,  or  the  fetters,  with  which 
kings  bind  their  subjects.  He  breaks  the  tyran- 
nical yoke  of  kings,  and  brings  them  rather  into 
bond:ige  and  captivity,  or  as  the  second  member 
expresses  this  thought  more  in  the  concrete  :  Ho 
"binds  a  girdle  on  their  loins."  It  seems  that  IITX 
lit.  "girdle,"  in  this  second  member  should  accord 
with  "^D'n  in  the  first.  So  much  the  more  should  the 
latter  be  pointed  "^0113,  and  be  construed  as  slat, 
constr.  Comp.  IDiO  (=  1DN0,  from  "IDN,  to 
bind).  Of  less  authority,  etymologic.illy,  is  the 
interpretation  required  by  the  Masoretic  punc- 
tuation regarded  as  s<.  co?j«/r.  of  IDIO,  "disci- 
pline, caslif/a/io,"  although  it  gives  a  sense  quite 
nenr'y  related  to  the  preceding,  it  being  presup- 
posed that  "discipline"  is  to  be  understood  in 
tJie  sense  of  "rule,  authority"  (so  among  the 
moderns,  Rosenm.,  Arnh.,  Vaih.,  llahn,  Delitzsch 
[Ges.,  Carey],  etc.).     But  "  discipline  "  is  a  dif- 


CHAPS.  XII— XIV. 


403 


ferent  conception  from  "  authority,"  and  "  HJ]}? 
can  very  well  take  for  its  object  CTpiO,  fetters, 
ch.  xxxix.  5  ;  Ps.  cxvi.  16,  but  not  ca.slic/ationcm." 
So  Dillmann  correctly,  who  also  however  rightly 
rejects  the  interpretation  of  Ewald,  Hirzel,  Hci- 
ligst.,  Welte,  etc.,  according  to  which  ''D  ID'O 
denotes  "  the  fetters,  with  which  kings  are 
bound,"  so  that  the  relation  between  a  and  /> 
would  be  not  that  of  a  logical  progression,  but 
of  direct  antithesis,  as  in  ver.  15.  [Hengsten- 
berg  calls  attention  to  the  paronomasia  of  iDN', 
IDTD,  and  "IITX]. 

Second  Double  Strophe :  Vers.  19-25  (divided 
into  one  strophe  of  three,  and  one  of  four  verses) : 
[The  description  continued:  the  agency  of  the 
Divine  wisdom  in  confounding  the  great  of 
earth]. 

a.  Vers.  19-21.  [Special  classes  of  leaders 
brought  to  shame  described]. 

Ver.  19.  He  leads  priests  away  spoiled 
(see  on  ver.  17),  and  those  firmly  established 

He  overthrows.  [D'jnil  "priests,"  not 
"princes  "  (E.  V.)  "  In  many  of  the  States  of 
antiquity  the  priests  were  personages  no  less  im- 
portant, were  indeed  even  more  important  and 
honored  than  the  secular  authorities."  Dillm. 
"  The  juxtaposition  of  priests  and  kings  here 
points  to  the  ancient  form  of  priestly  rule,  as  we 
encounter  the  same  in  the  person  of  Jethro.  and 
in  part  also  inMelchizedck."  Schlott.]. — All  ob- 
jects are  called  □''JD'S^)  "firmly-enduring" 
[perpetual],  which  survive  the  changes  of  time. 
Hence  the  term  is  applied,  e.  g.,  to  water  which 
does  not  become  dry  [aqrix  pereyines),  or  firmly 
founded  rocks  (.Jer.  xlix.  10;  1.  44),  or  mighty, 
invincible  nations  (Jer.  v.  15),  or,  as  here,  dis- 
tinguished and  influential  persons   (Vulg.,   opti- 

mafes).  ['^^D,  "  slip,  in  Piel,  overthrow,  aptly 
antithetic  [to  p''^."  Dav.]. 

Ver.  20.  He  takes  away  the  speech  of 
the  most  eloquent:  lit.  of  "the  trusted,"  of 
those  who  have  been  tried  as  a  people's  orators 
and  counsellors  ;  for  they  are  the  D'JOXJ  (from 
jOX,  to  make  firm,  trustworthy,  not  from  DNJ, 
to  speak,  as  D.  Kimchi  thinks,  who  would  ex- 
plain the  word  diserti,  as  though  it  were  punc- 
tuated D'J*DX3).  On  b  comp.  Hos.  iv.  11  ;  and  as 
regards  D>'6,  "taste,  judgment,  tact,"  see  1 
Sam.  XXV.  33. 

Ver.  21.  He  pours  contempt  on  nobles 

(exactly  the  same  expression  as  in  Ps.  cvii.  40), 
and  looses  the  girdle  of  the  strong,  (D'P'3X 
lit.  "containing  of  great  capacity"  [Delitzsch  : 
"  to  hold  together,  especially  to  concentrate 
strength  on  anything"]  only  here  and  ch.  xli.  7  ; 
i.  e.,  He  disables  them  for  the  contest  (by  causing 
the  under-garments  to  hang  down  loosely,  thus 
proving  a  hindrance  for  conflict :  comp.  Is.  v.  27  ; 
also  below  ch.  xxxviii.  3  ;  xl.  7).  The  transla- 
tion of  Delitzsch  is  altogether  too  forced,  and  by 
consequence  insipid  :  "  He  pours  contempt  on 
the  rulers  of  the  etate,  and  makes  loose  the  belt 
of  the  mighty." 


b.  Vers.  22-25.  [The  Divine  energy  as  espe- 
cially operative  among  nations]. 

Ver.  22.  [This  verse  must  naturally  form  the 
prelude  to  the  deeper  exercise  of  power  and  in- 
sight among  nations,  and  its  iiighest.  genornliza- 
tioa,  comp.  IG  b."  Dav.]. — He  discovereth 
deep  things  out  of  the  darkness,  and 
brings  forth  to  light  the  shadow  of  death; 
i.e.,  not:  "  He  puts  into  execution  His  hiJdeu 
purposes  in  the  destiny  of  nations"  (Schlottm. ), 
["  for  who  would  call  the  hidden  ground  of  all 

appearancea  in  God,  moS^  !"  Dilllm.],  but: 
"  He  brings  forth  into  the  light  all  the  dark 
plans  and  wickedness  of  men  which  are  hidden 
in  darkness;"  comp.  1  Cor.  iv.  5:  (jiurlaei  rH 
KpvTTTd  Tov  okStovc  k.  t.  /I.,  and  the  proverb: 
"  There  is  nothing  spun  so  fine  but  all  comes  to 
the  light;"  see  also  ch.  xxiv.  13  seq.  ;  Is.  xxix. 
15;  Rom.  xiii.  12;  1  Thes.  v.  5,  etc.  ["Beep 
thinffs  out  of  the  darkness,  mppj?,  must  mean  hid- 
den tendencies  and  principles,  e.  g.,  those  run- 
ning under  national  life,  ver.  23,  naturally  more 
subtle  and  multiplex  than  those  governing  indi- 
vidual manifestation  on  however  elevated  a  scale) 
and  darkness,  and  shadoto  of  death,  figures  (xi.  8) 
descriptive  of  the  profoundest  secresy.  These 
secret  tendencies  in  national  life  and  thought — 
never  suspected  by  men  who  are  silently  carried 
on  by  them — He  detects  and  overmasters  either 
to  check  or  to  fulfil."  David.  A  truth  "  which 
brings  joy  to  the  good,  but  terror  to  all  the  chil- 
dren of  darkness  (xxiv.  13  seq.),  and  not  with- 
out threatening  significance  even  to  the  friends 
of  Job."  Dillmann]. 

Ver.  23.  He  makes  nations  great,  and — 
destroys  them ;  He  spreads  nations  abroad 
and — causes  them  to  be  carried  away  (or  : 

"  carries  them  away  captive,"  comp.  nnjn,  sy- 
nonymous with  n  7Jin,  abducere  in  servitutem  ;  also 
2  Kings  xviii.  11).  [Rodwell:  "then  straitens 
them:  leads  them,  i.  e.,  back  into  their  former 
borders"].  Instead  of  N'JiI'^D  the  LXX.  (t/.o- 
vuv)  as  well  as  some  of  the  Rabbis  read  X'J'J/O, 
"who  infatuates,  makes  fools."  But  the  first 
member  of  the  verse  corresponds  strictly  in  sense 
to  the  second,  on  which  account  the  Masoretic 
reading  is  to  be  retained,  and  to  be  interpreted 
of  increase  in  height,  even  as  the  parallel  nCO"^ 
in  b  of  increase  in  breadth,  or  territorial  en- 
largement (not  as  though  it  meant  a  dispersion 
among  other  nations,  as  the  Vulg.  and  Aben  Ezra 

incorrectly  interpret  this  TMDU).  [The  7  in  both 
members,  says  Schlottmann,  is  not  used  Araina- 
ice  with  the  accus.,  but  as  sign  of  the  Dat.  coin- 
modi. '\ 

Ver.  24.  He  takes  away  the  understand- 
ing (37  as  in  ver.  3)  of  the  chief  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  land  (^.i^S^n-DJ^.  can  certainly 
signify  "  the  people  of  the  earth,  mankind," 
[Hirzel],  after  Isa.  xlii.  5;  for  its  use  in  the 
more  limited  sense  of  the  people  of  a  land,  comp. 
below  ch.  XT.  19).      ["  We   have  intentionally 


404 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


translated  Q'lJ  "  nations,"  Uy  people,  for  "'U 
is  the  mass  held  together  by  the  ties  of  a  com- 
mon origin,  language,  and  country;  DJ,^,  the 
people  bound  together  by  unity  of  government." 
Delitzsch]. — And  makes  them  -wander  in  a 
pathless  waste  :  {']'},'},  ** 'j  synonymous  with 
n-Vih2,  or  with  H'j'X,  comp.  ^^f'Vi  nS  ch. 
xxxviii.  2G  ;  and  Ewald,  ^  286,  8).  The  whole 
verse,  the  second  member  of  which  recurs  ver- 
batim in  Ps.  cvii.  40  presents  an  exact  Hebrew 
equivalent  for  the  Latin  proverb  :  quern Deus per- 
dcre  vult,  prius  dcmentat,  a  proverb  on  which  the 
history  of  many  a  people  and  kingdom,  from  the 
earliest  antiquity  down  to  the  present,  furnishes 
an  actual  commentary  that  may  well  make  the 
heart  tremble.  Concerning  the  catastrophes  of 
historic  nationalities  in  the  most  ancient  times, 
which  the  poet  here  may  not  improbably  have 
had  before  his  mind,  comp.  Introd.,  ^  6,  e. 

Ver.  25.  They  grope  in  darkness  -with- 
out light  and  He  makes  them  to  -wander 
like  a  drunken  man.  Comp.  Is.  xix.  14,  and 
especially  above  in  ch.  v.  13,  14,  a  similar  de- 
scription by  Eliphaz,  which  Job  here  seems  de- 
sirous of  surpassing,  in  order  to  prove  that  he  is 
in  no  wise  inferior  to  Eliphaz  in  experimental 
knowledge  of  the  righteous  judgments  of  God, 
the  infinitely  Wise  and  Mighty  One. 

4.  Second  Division  :  First  Section  :  Resolution 
to  appeal  to  the  judicial  decision  of  God,  before 
which  the  harsh,  unloving  disposition  of  the 
friends  will  assuredly  not  be  able  to  maintain 
itself,  but  will  be  put  to  shame:   ch.  xiii.  1-12. 

First  Strophe:  Vers.  1-6.  [Impatience  with 
the  friends,  and  the  purpose  to  appeal  to  God]. 

Ver.  1.  Behold,  mine  eye  hath  seen  all 
(that),  mine  ear  hath  heard  and  perceived 

for  itself. — 73  here  equivalent  to  n7X-73,  "all 
that  has  been  here  set  forth,"  all  that  has  been 
stated  (from  ch.  xii.  13  on)  in  respect  to  the  evi- 
dences of  the  Divine  power  and  wisdom  in  the 

life  of  nature  and  men.  [H 7,  dativus  commodi, 
or  perhaps  only  dat.  ethicus :  and  has  made  it 
intelligible  to  itself  [sibi) ;  r3  of  the  apprehen- 
sion accompanying  perception."  Del.]. — On  ver. 
2  comp.  ch.  xii.  3,  the  second  member  of  which 
is  here  repeated  word  for  word. 
Ver.  3.  ButI  will  speak  to  the  Almighty. 

D7?X,  "but  nevertheless,"  puts  that  which  now 
follows  in  emphatic  antithesis  to  the  preceding  : 
"notwithstanding  that  I  know  all  this,  I  will 
still,"  etc.  ["  Three  feelings  lie  at  the  back  of 
this  antithesis:  (1)  The  folly  of  longer  speaking 
to  the  friends.  (2)  The  irrelevancy  of  all  such 
knowledge  as  they  paraded,  and  which  Job  had 
in  abundance.  (3)  Antagonism  to  the  prayer 
of  Zophar  that  God  would  appear — Job  desires 
nothing  more  nor  better — but  I,  to  the  Ahnitjihli/ 
will  I  speak."  Dav.].  Observe  also  the  signifi- 
cantly accented  "JX,  I  [kyio  jiev),  which  puts  the 
speaker  in  definite  antithesis  to  those  addressed 
(DPX,  ver.  4,  i/i«f  6e),  as  one  who  will  not  fol- 
low their  advice  to  make  penitent  confession  of 
his  guilt  towards  God;  who  will  rather  plead 
against  God. — I  desire  to  plead  with  God. 


nDin,  Inf.  absol.  as  obj.  of  the  verb  ;  comp.  ch. 
ix.  18;  and  for  the  signification  of  nDIH,  "to 
plead,  to  vindicate  one's  cause  against  an  accu- 
sation," comp.  Amos  V.  10;  Isa.  xxix.  21  ;  also 
below  ver.  15,  ch.  xix.  5.  ]'2n,  to  desire,  to  be 
inclined,  here  essentially  as  in  ch.  ix.  3.     ["I'^n' 

always  for  Y^V'l  ^^  pause].  That  passage  (ix. 
3)  certainly  stands  in  some  measure  in  contra- 
diction to  this,  implying  as  it  does  the  impossi- 
bility of  contending  with  God  ;  it  is  however  a 
contest  of  another  sort  from  that  which  is  in- 
tended there  that  he  proposes  here,  a  contest 
not  of  one  arrogantly  taking  the  offensive,  but 
of  one  driven  by  necessity  to  the  defensive. 

Ver.  4.  But  ye  are  (only)  forgers  of  lies. — 
DnX   D7=IX1    puts    another    antithetic    sentence 

v-         T       :      '■ 

alongside  of  the  first  which  was  introduced  by 
D7^H  (ver.  3),  without  however  laying  any  spe- 
cial stress  on  DHX  ;  hence  :  "  and  however,  but 
again,"  etc.;  not:  "ye  however"  (Hirzel). — 
IptJ^  vptJ  (from  73£D,  "  to  plaster,  to  smear, 
to  paste  together ;"  comp.  73t3,  "plaster"  Ez. 
xiii.  10  seq.,  and  Talmudic  n73L3  grease)  are  lit. 
"  daubers  of  lies,"  i.  e,,  inventors  of  lies,  concin- 
natores  s.  inventores  mendacii;  not:  "  imputers, 
fasteners  of  falsehood,"  assutores  mendacii,  as 
Stickel,  Hirzel,  Schlottmann,  Delitzsch,  etc.,  ex- 
plain both  against  philology  and  the  context 
(neither  ch.  xiv.  17  nor  Ps.  cxix.  69  support  this 
definition);  nor  again:  " deceitful  patchers," 
sarcinatores falsi,  i.  e.,  inanes,  idutilis,  as  Hupfeld 
explains. — Physicians  of  no  value  are  ye 

all. — ^"'7X  "'^3'^  are  not  "patchers"  [Con. 
"botchers"]  of  vanity,"  i.  e.,  such  a=!  patch  to- 
gether empty  unfounded  assertions  (Vulg.,  Ew., 
blsh.,  Dillm.),  [Good,  Con.,  Dav.],  but  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  universal  usage  of  ND"1 : 
"worthless,  useless  physicians,"  medici  mhili, 
miserable  quacks,  who  are  incapable  of  applying 
to  Job's  wounds  the  right  medicine  to  soothe  and 
heal.  ["Job  calls  their  false  presuppositions 
regarding  his  guilt  "IpK^.,  their  vain  attempts  at 
a  Theodicy  and  '  Theory  of  Providence '  /'yX.  " 
Dav.]. 

Ver.  5.  Oh  that  ye  would  be  altogether 
silent — that  -would  be  reckoned  to  you 
for  wisdom. — Comp.  Prov.  xvii.  28;  the  Latin 
proverb:  Si  tacuisses,  philosophus  mansisses;  also 
the  honorable  title,  ^' bos  mutus,'"  the  mute  ox, 
given  to  Thomas  Aquinas  during  hi.s  student  life 
at  Paris,  by  his  fellow-students,  as  well  as  by  his 
teacher,  Albertus  Magnus.  The  jussive,  ''nj7'^> 
is  used  in  a  consecutive  sense:  "then  would  it 
be,  rorove,  pass  for;"  comp.  Ewald,  §  347,  a, 
Gcsen.,  §  128,  2. 

Ver.  6.  Hear  no-w  my  reproof,  and  give 
heed  to  the  charges  of  my  lips. — So  cor- 
rectly Hirzel,  Dillm,  Del.,  etc.,  while  several 
other  moderns  explain:  "  Hear  my  defense  [Con., 
E.  v.,  "reasoning"],  and  attend  to  the  argu- 
ments of  my  lips."  As  if  PflDin  could  signify 
anything    else    than    k'kEyyoq,   correptio    (so  cor- 


CHAPS.  XII— XIV. 


405 


rectly  LXX.,  Vu^g. — Comp.  TI'DIH  ia  ch.  vi.  25; 
xl  2),  and  as  if  nU"i  (defectively  for  ni^n)- 
could  even  in  one  instance  sink  the  meaning  of 
the  stern  word  J''"l,  "to  strive,  to  quarrel!" 
Furthermore  it  is  a  long  moral  reproof  and  ani- 
madversion of  the  friends  which  immediately  fol- 
lows, vers.  7-12.  His  reply  and  vindication  of 
himself  to  God  first  follows  ver.  13  seq.,  or  in- 
deed properly  not  before  ver.  17  seq. 

Second  Strophe  :  Vers.  7-12.  [Scathing  rebuke 
of  their  dishonesty  and  presumption  in  assuming 
to  be  God's  advocates  (vers.  7-9),  and  warning 
of  the  consequences  to  themselves  when  God 
shall  rebuke  them  for  their  conduct]. 

Ver.  7.  Will  ye  for  God  [SnS  emphatic] 
speak  that  \which  is  wrong,  will  ye  for 

Him  speak  deceitfully? — The  preposition  7 
signifies  here  "  for,  in  favor  of  any  one,"  as  also 
in  ver.  8,  Judg.  vi.  31.  On  T\ny_  comp.  ch.  v. 
16;  vi.  30. 

Ver.  8.  Will  ye  show  partiality  for  Him 
(lit.  "  lift  up  His  countenance,"  i.  e.  show  pre- 
ference for  His  person),  or  will  ye  take  the 
part  of  God's  advocates?  (lit.  "contend  for 

God,  comp.  /)!Tl  y\  Judg.  vi.  31 ).  These  are 
the  two  possible  ways  in  which  they  could 
"speak  in  favor  of  God:"  either  as  clientx, 
dependents,  taking  His  part  slavishly,  for  mer- 
cenary ends,  or  as  joaYroJiv  or  ff<fyoca/es,  presump- 
tuously and  naively  taking  Him  under  their 
protection.  [There  thus  appears  a  subtle  and 
vcrj'  effective  irony  in  these  questions  of  Job's. 
His  charge  of  partiality  is  also,  as  Davidson 
says,  "a  master-stroke  of  nrgumenfation,  effect- 
ually debarring  the  friends  from  any  further 
defense  of  God  in  this  direction,  or  almost  at 
all."— E.]. 

Ver.  9.  Will  it  be  well  [for  you]  when 
He  searches  you  out  (goes  to  the  bottom  of 
you,  "Ipn  as  in  Prov.  xxviii.  11 ;  Ps.  cxxxix.  23) 
or  can  you  deceive  Him  as  a  man  is 
deceived?  viz.  in  regard  to  your  real  disposi- 
tion and  the  sentiment  of  your  heart,  of  which 
a  more  searching  investigation  must  reveal  to 
Him  that  it  by  no  means  corresponds   to    His 

holy  nature  and  life. —  i^X),  Hiph.  from  i)r\ 
(in  Imperf.  ^IvHriil,  with  a  non-syncopated  H, 
for  =lh>rin,  Gesen.  §  53  [§  52]  Rem.  7  [Green,  I 
142,  3]),  is  lit.  "to  cause  to  waver  [to  hold  up 
anything  swaying  to  and  fro],  to  keep  one  in 
suspense,  to  make  sport  of  any  one,"  [E.  V.  "to 
mock"],  hence  to  deceive;  ensnare;  comp. 
Gen.  xxxi.  7;  Judg.  xvi.  10;  Jer.  ix.  4.) 
[Schlott.,  who  renders :  "will  ye  mock  him?" 
explains  by  quoting  from  Jarchi:  '■'■  dicendo  :  in 
honorern  iuam  mendacia  nos  finzimus''^']. 

Ver.  10.  Surely  He  will  sorely  chastise 
you  (ch.  V.  17)  if  ye  are  secretly  partial : 
i.  e.  if  ye  are  actuated  not  by  love  of  the  truth 
and  conscientious  conviction,  but  by  selfish  in- 
terest in  your  relations  with  Him,  as  One  who 
is  mightier.  That  with  which  Job  hereby 
reproaches  them  is  (as  Del.  rightly  observes)  a 
f?//iof   ■deo'v   aTiV    oh  kut'    eTriyvuciv,    Kom.    x.    2 


(comp  John  xvi.  2),  "  an  advocacy  contrary  to 
one's  better  knowledge  and  conscience,  in  which 
the  end  is  thought  to  sanctify  the  means." 

Ver.  11.  Will  not  His  majesty  (HN^,  as 
in  ch.  xxxi.  23,  exaltation,  dignity  ;  not  "  a  kin- 
dling of  wrath,"  or  "a  lifting  up  for  conten- 
tion," as  Bottch.  renders  it  after  the  Vulg.) 
confound  you  (ch.  iii.  5),  and  the  dread  of 
Him  (nns  the  dread,  the  terror  which  Ho 
inspires)  fall  upon  you — then,  namely,  when 
lie  will  reveal  Himself  as  your  Judge.  Job 
here  anticipates  what  according  to  ch.  xlii.  7  seq. 
really  happened  afterwards.  ["It  is  a  pecu- 
liarity of  the  author  of  our  book  that  he  drops 
every  now  and  then  hints  of  how  the  catastro- 
phe is  to  turn  out,  showing  unmistakably  both 
the  unity  of  conception  and  the  authorship  of 
the  book."  D.vv.] 

Ver.  12.  Your  maxims  (become)  proverbs 
of  ashes:  to  wit,  then  when  God  will  judge 
you.  D^J^I3I,  "  memorable  sayings,  apothegms, 
memorabilia  [Dav.  "old  saws"]  (comp.  Mai. 
iii.  IG;  Esth.  vi.  1):  so  does  he  name  here,  not 
without  irony,  the  admonitions  and  warnings 
which  they  had  addressed  to  him,  in  part  as  the 
Chokmah  of  the  ancients,  or  even  as  divinely 
inspired  communications.  ["  The  sarcasm  in 
the  word  is  cutting:  comp.  XJ~^DT  of  Eliph.  ch. 
iv.    7;  and   viii.    8."  Dav.]     He    characterizes 

these  maxims  as  13N  '2?'?'  *'•  ^-  ^^  empty  and 
unsubstantial  like  ashes  or  dust,  like  ashes  (the 
emblem  of  nothingness  and  worthlessness,  Is. 
xliv.  20)  scattered  to  every  wind.  The  second 
member  is  strictly  parallel :  Your  bulwarks 
become  bulw^arks  of  clay.  [-'While  ver. 
12  a  says  what  their  speeches,  with  the  weight}' 
nota  bene,  are,  ver.   12  b   says  what  their   D'SJ 

become ;  for  7  always  denotes  a  Kivr/cig^^yeveatg, 
and  is  never  the  exponent  of  the  predicate  in  a 
simple  clause."  Dkl.]  JJ,  lit.  "back,  i-idge " 
(comp.  ch.  XV.  26)  here  equivalent  to  breast- 
work, bulwark ;  so  does  Job  call  here  the  rea- 
sonings behind  which  they  souglit  refuge,  the 
glittering,  pathetically  urged  arguments  which 
they  had  arrayed  against  him.  Comp.  nirDi'i*. 
Is.  xli.  21,  and  bxvpcjfinTa,  2  Cor.  x.  4.  [The 
rendering  of  E.  V.  "your  bodies  (are  like)  to 
bodies  of  claj^"  is  evidently  taken  from  the  sig- 
nification "back:"  and  the  whole  verse  is  a 
reminder  of  their  mortality.  But  this  is  much 
less  suited  to  the  language  used,  less  pertinent 
to  the  context,  and  less  efi'cctive  for  Job's  pur- 
pose than  the  rendering  here  given. — E.]  For 
"ipn,  mud,  potter's  clay,  as  an  emblem  of  what 
is  frail,  easily  destroyed,  incapable  of  resistance, 
comp.  ch.  xxxviii.  14;  Is.  xlv.  9  seq. 

Second  Division:  Second  Sectioii:  Declaration 
of  his  consciousness  of  innocence  as  against  God 
in  the  form  of  a  solemn  confession,  in  which  he 
boldly  challenges  Him:   vers.  13-22. 

First  Strophe :  vers  13-1<).  [Turning  from  the 
friends,  he  expresses  more  emphatically  than 
before  his  purpose  to  appeal  to  God,  cost  what 
it  may  at  tlie  first,  confident  of  ultimate  acquit- 
tal. Dillinann  says:  "It  seems  that  the  poet 
intentionally  cut  this  strophe  short,  in  order  by 


406 


THE  BCOK  OF  JOB. 


this  very  brevity  to  empliasize  more   strongly 
the  gravity  of  these  thoughts."] 

Ver.  13.  In  silence  leave  me  alone:  lit. 
"be  silent  from  me"  ('il??),  i.  e.,  desist  from 
roe,  cease  from  your  injurious  assaults,  and  let 
me  be  in  peace.  [According  to  Schlott.  the 
preposition  here  is  the  |D  of  source  or  cause : 
be  silent  because  of  the  weight  of  my  words ; 
ace.  to  the  above,  a  constr.  prxfjnans  is  assumed. 
Conant,  etc.,  translate:  "Keep  silence  before 
me."  Barnes  thinks  it  "possible  that  Job  may 
have  perceived  in  them  some  disposition  to 
interrupt  him  in  a  rude  manner  in  reply  to  the 
severe  remarks  which  he  had  made."  Comp. 
on  ch.  vi.  29.  More  probably,  however,  the 
verse  is,  like  ver.  5,  an  expression  of  his  weari- 
ness with  their  vain  platitude^,  and  unjust  accu- 
sations, and  a  demand  that  they  should  stand 
by  in  silence  while  he  should  plead  directly 
with  God. — E.] — Then  will  I  speak,  or:  in 
order  that  I  may  speak.  [Conant;  '^  That  I 
now  may  speak:  'J^'iT^^lXI."  Strong  double 
emphasis  in  the  use  of  the  cohortative  future, 
and  the  pronoun ;  the  latter  emphasizing  the 
first  person,  the  former  his  strong  determination 
to  speak. — E.] — And  let  come  upon  me 
what  will. — 1J>^  as  in  Deut.  xxiv.  5.  D^ 
here  for  '^'^}l^p,  HO,  a  condensed  form  of  expres- 
sion similar  to  HD  ^T}"],  2  Sam.  xviii.  22;  comp. 
Ewald,  1 104,  d. 

Ver.  14.  "Wherefore  should  I  take  my 
flesh  into  my  teeth :  i.  e.  be  solicitous  to  save 
and  to  preserve  my  body  at  any  price,  like  a 
beast  of  prey,  which  drags  oif  its  booty  with  its 
teeth,  and  so  secures  it  against  other  preying 
animals.  This  proverbial  saying,  wiiich  does 
not  occur  elsewhere,  is  in  itself  clear  (comp. 
Jer.  xxxviii.  2).  The  second  member  also  sig- 
nifies essentially  the  same  thing:  and  (where- 
fore should  I)  put  my  soul  in  my  hand:  i.  e. 
risk  my  life,  seek  to  save  it  by  means  of  a  des- 
perate exertion  of  strength  (comp.  the  same 
expression  in  Judg.  xii.  3 ;  1  Sam.  xix.  5 ; 
xxviii.  21).  [This,  says  Dillmann,  is  indeed 
"scarcely  the  original  meaning  of  the  phrase; 
nor  is  it  to  be  understood,  as  commonly  ex- 
plained, that  what  one  has  in  the  hand  easily 
falls  out  and  is  lost.  The  primary  meaning  is 
rather:  to  commit  or  entrust  the  life  to  the 
hand  in  order  to  bear  it  through,  i.  e.  to  make  a 
desperate  effort  to  save  it  (see  Ewald  on  the 
passage) :  such  an  attempt  is  indeed  dangerous, 
because  if  the  hand  fails,  the  life  is  lost,  and  so 
the  common  explanation  attaches  itself  naturally 
to  the  phrase,  to  expose  the  life  to  apparent 
danger.  Here,  however,  the  original  meaning 
is  altogether  suitable,  and  indeed  necessary, 
because  only  so  do  the  first  and  second  members 
agree:  why  should  I  make  an  extreme  effort  to 
save  my  life?"]  Such  a  desperate  effort  Job 
would  make,  in  case  he  should  declare  himself 
guilty  of  the  reproaches  brought  against  him. 
while  at  the  same  time  he  bore  no  consciousness 
of  guilt  within  himself.  This,  however,  would 
not  be  of  the  least  avail,  for  according  to  ver. 
15  a  he  has  nothing  more  to  hope  for,  he  sees 
before  him  nothing  but  certain  death  from  the 
hand  of  God.     Hence,   therefore,  his  question : 


"  Wherefore  should  I  seek  to  save  my  life  at  any 
price — I  who  have  nothing  more  to  hope  for?" 
Ooaipared  with  this  interpretation,  wbicli  is  the 
only  one  suited  to  the  context,  and  which  is 
adopted  by  Umbreit,  Ewald,  Vaih.,  DlUm.,  etc., 
the  many  interpretations  which  vary  from  it  are 
to  be  rt-jected,  especially  those  according  to 
which  the  second  member  is  not  to  be  regarded 
as  a  continuation  of  the  question,  but  as  an 
assertion — according  to  Hirzel  in  the  positive 
form  :  "  and  even  my  life  do  I  risk  " — according 
to  Hahn  and  Delitzsch  in  the  negative:  "nay, 
I  even  put  my  life  at  stake:"  in  like  manner, 
that  of  Bcittcher :  "wherefore  should  I  seek  to 
preserve  my  life  at  any  price,  seeing  that  I  wil- 
lingly expose  it,  etc." 

[Wordsworth  agrees  in  this  interpretation  of 
the  meaning  of  each  member  of  the  verse,  but  dif- 
fers from  Zockler,  etc.,  in  the  application:  "The 
question  (he  says)  is  put  hypoihetically.  You 
may  ask  me  why  I  am  thus  bold  to  desire  to  ex- 
pose myself  to  a  trial  before  God  ?  The  reason 
is  because  I  am  sure  that  I  have  a  good  cause  ; 
I  know  that  in  the  end  He  will  do  me  right.  See 
what  follows." — The  Vulg.  renders  :  "  Quarcla- 
cero  carnes  mens  dentibus  mcis,  et  aniinam  meam 
porto  in  manibus  meis  T^  Hengstenberg  follow* 
this  rendering,  explaining  the  first  clause  of  the 
wrong,  the  violence  which  he  would  do  to  his 
moral  personality,  if  by  silence  he  should  plead 
guilty  to  the  accusations  of  the  friends.  Schul- 
tens,  who  is  followed  in  substance  by  Rosenmiil- 
Icr,  Good,  Wemyss,  Bernard,  Barnes,  Renan, 
Davidson,  Carey,  Rodwell,  Elzas,  regards  both 
members  as  proverbially  expressing  the  idea  of 

risking  life,  and  the  clause  no~7j7  not  in  its 
usual  interrogative  sense,  but  as  equivalent  to: 
'•in  spite  of  every  thing."  {^c]in\i.,sup:r  quid,  on 
any  account.)  n"D  is  thus  a  resumption  of  the 
no  in  13  b.  This  rendering  gives  a  consistent 
and  forcible  sense  throughout:  Be  silent  now, 
and  let  me  alone,  and  1  for  my  part  will  assu- 
redly speak,  be  the  consequence  what  it  may: 
Cost  what  it  may,  I  will  risk  it  all,  I  will  risk 
my  person  and  my  life  :  lo.  He  will  slay  me,  etc., 
yet  in  his  very  presence,  etc  ,  (comp.  on  ch.  ix. 
21,  22).  The  objection  to  this  is  of  course  the 
unusual  rendering  of  no~7>2-  On  the  other  hand 
the  objection  to  the  interpretation  adopted  in 
our  comm.  is  the  unusual  sense  in  which  we  are 
constrained  to  take  the  proverbial  expressions 
of  the  verse,  particularly  the  latter — "to  take 
the  life  in  the  hand" — which  according  to  this 
interpretation  must  mean  to  seek  to  save  the  life, 
whereas  in  every  other  instance  it  means  to  risk 
it.  It  is  thus  at  best  a  choice  between  difficulties, 
or  unusual  expressions.  And  it  may  fairly  be 
queried    whether    the    difficulty    in   regard   to 

n"D~7j*  is  not  largely  obviated  by  the  close  con- 
nection in  which  it  stands  with  the  HO  just  pre- 
ceding.— E.]. 

Ver.  15.  tio,  He  will  slay  me  :  vi~.  through 
my  disease,  which  will  certainly  bring  about  my 
speedy  dissolution  (comp.  ch.  vi.  13;  vii.  G;  ix. 
25  ;  X.  20).  I  have  no  (more)  hope  ;  i.  e.,  I 
do  not  direct  my  thoughts  to  the  future,  I  am  not 

in  a  state  of  waiting,  expectation  (vTI''^  without 


CHAPS.  XII— XIV. 


407 


an  obj.,  prxstolari,  exactly  as  in  cli.  vi.  11,  and 
xiv.  14),  and  this  indeed  is  so  naturally,  because 
for  me  there  is  nothing  more  to  wait  for,  seeing 
that  my  condition  is  hopeless,  and  my  fate  loug 
since  decided.  So,  according  to  the  K'thibh  is 
the  phrase    /p^^   Vh  to  be  explained,  while  the 

K'ri,  cK  1/  must  signify  in  accordance  with  the 
suffix:  "  until  then,  viz.,  until  I  am  slain,  I  wait  " 
(so  substantially  Luther),  or  again :  "  I  wait  for 
ilim,  that  He  may  slay  me"  (Delitzsch)  [i.  e., 
"  I  wait  what  He  may  do,  even  to  smite  with 
death"].  The  context  by  no  means  yields  the 
rendering  of  the  Vulg.,  which  also  rests  on  the 
K'ri;  etiam  si  occiderit  nie,  in  ipso  {Deo)  sperabo 
[so  also  E.  v.,  "though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I 
trust  in  Him"]:  an  utterance  which  has  ac- 
quired a  certain  celebrity  as  a  favorite  sentiment 
alike  of  pious  Jews  and  Christians  (comp.  De- 
litzsch on  the  passage),  as  the  funeral  text  of 
the  Electoress  Louise  Henriette  of  Brandenburg, 
and  as  the  poetic  theme  of  a  multitude  of  popu- 
lar religious  hymns.  It  scarcely  expresses  how- 
ever the  meaning  here  intended  by  Job,  which 
is  far  removed  from  any  expression  of  a  hope 
reaching  beyond  death. — Only  my  ways  {viz., 
the  innocence  of  my  ways)  ■will  I  prove  in 
His  presence.  ^X,  referring  back  to  the  whole 
preceding  sentence,  hence  the  same  as  "never- 
theless, however."  He  has  already  despaired 
of  life,  but  of  one  thing  he  does  not  despair, 
freely  and  openly  to  prove  before  God  the  blame- 
lessness  of  his  life:  "  physically  therefore  he  can 
succumb,  that  he  concedes,  but  morally  he  can- 
not"  (Del.). 

Ver.  IG.  Even  this  will  be  my  salvation 
that  the  unholy  comes  not  before  Him  : 
i.  e.,  does  not  dare  to  present  himself  so  confi- 
dently before  Him.  In  the  fact  that  He  is  filled 
with  impivjaia  towards  God  he  sees  accordingly 
a  pledge  of  salvation,  i.  e.,  oi  victory  in  the  trial 
in  which  he  is  involved.  For  this  sense  of  T\^V\^\ 
comp.  1  Sam.  xiv.  45;  2  Chron.  xx.  17;  Ilab. 
iii.  8  (not  however  in  ch.  xxx.  15,  where  it  sig- 
nifies rather  prosperity,  and  that  of  the  earthly 
sort).  ["  He  wavers  between  two  contradic- 
tions :  on  the  one  side  he  believes  according  to 
an  opinion  widely  prevalent  in  the  Semitic  East, 
that  no  one  can  see  God  without  dying;  on  the 
other  side  he  reassures  himself  with  the  thought 
that  God  cannot  reveal  Himself  to  the  wicked." 
Renan].  N-ID  is  referred  by  Bottcher,  Schlott., 
[Con.,  Dav.,  and  so  E.  V.],  etc.,  to  God:  "He 
also  ministers  to  my  help,  to  my  deliverance, /or, 
etc..  But  this  does  not  agree  with  the  contents 
of  the  preceding  verse.  For  the  neuter  render- 
ing of  X^n,  which  we  find  already  in  the  LXX., 
{koc  Tovr6  /joi  anoftljasTai,  elq  cur?/p/av)  comp.  ch. 
XV.  9  ;  xxxi.  28  ;  xli.  3.  [In  favor  of  the  per- 
sonal sense  for  NIH,  referring  it  to  God,  Schlott- 
mann  argues  that  it  would  scarcely  be  said  of  a 
circumstance  in  Hebrew  that  it  would  be  any- 
body's salvation:  and  Davidson  objects  to  the 
neuter  rendering  that  it  originates  in  a  cold  con- 
ception of  Job's  mental  agitation,  and  gives  to 

n^Ti^'y  a  sense  feeble  almost  to  imbecility.  On 
the  other  hand  Dillmann  argues  against  the  mas- 
culine sense  that  in  that  case  the  connection  be- 
tween the  first  and  second  members  of  this  verse 


would  be  imperfect,  and  that  the  contrast  between 
what  would  thus  be  sai  i  of  God  in  this  verse  and 
that  which  has  been  said  in  ver.  15  would  be  too 
violent]. 

Second  Strophe :  Vers.  17-22.  [""Determination 
to  cite  God  finally  reached,  with  conditions  of 
pleading  before  Him." — Dav.]. 

Ver.  17.  Hear,  O  hear  my  declaration. — 
y^^L/  ?>'OLy,  a  strongly  emphasized  appeal  that 
they  should  hear  him,  essentially  the  same  in 
signification  as  Is.  vi.  9,  only  that  here  is  not  in- 
tended as  there  a  continued  but  an  attentive  hear- 
ing/or the  time  being  ;  comp.  ch.  xxi.  2  ;  xxxvii. 

2. — n-70,  here  "  declaration,"  signifies  in  Ara- 
bic confession,  religion.  Its  synonym  mnx  in 
the  second  member,  [and  let  my  utterance 
sound  in  your  ears],  formed  from  the  Hiph. 
of  the  verb  Hin  (ch.  sv.  17;  Ps.  xix.  3)  signi- 
fies here  (the  only  place  where  it  occurs  in  the 
O.  T.)  not  "  brotherly  conduct"  as  in  post-bib- 
lical Hebrew,  but  "utterance."     With  TlinXI  it 

•  T  :  ~  : 

is  better  to  supply  Tlj'^  or  NUn,     "  let  it  enter, 
•    :  T 

let  it  sound  in  your  ears,"  than  to  repeat  IJ^Dt!^ 
from  a. 

Ver.  18.  Behold  now  I  have  made  ready 
the  cause.  £031^^  ^'}i*.  causa?n  inslruere,  aa  in 
ch.  xxiii.  4;  comp.  the  simple  ^^J^,  ch.  xxxiii. 
5.     On  h  comp.  ch.  xi.  2. 

Ver.  19.  "Who  is  he  that  w^ill  contend 
with  me?  i.  e.,  attempt  with  success  to  prove 
that  I  am  in  the  wrong.  As  to  the  thought  com- 
pare the  parallel  passages,  Isa.  1.  9  ;  Rom.  viii. 
34 ;  and  as  to  the  lively  interrogative  N^Fl  'D, 
ch.  iv.  7. — Then  indeed  (if  any  one  succeeds 
in  that,  in  convictin,^  nie  of  wrong)  I  ^would  be 
silent  and  die :  then,  as  one  defeated  within 
and  without,  I  would  without  offering  further 
resistance,  let  death  come  upon  me  as  merited 
punishment.  The  explicitness  and  calmness  with 
which  he  makes  this  declaration  shows  how  im- 
possible it  seems  to  him  that  he  should  be  proved 
guilty,  how  unalterably  firm  he  stnnds  in  the 
consciousness  of  his  innocence.  [E.  V.,  "for 
now,  if  I  hold  my  tongue,  I  ehall  give  up  the 
ghost,"  is  less  simple,  and  less  suited  to  the  con- 
nection]. 

Ver.  20.  Only  tw^o  things  do  not  Thou 
unto  me  :  these  are  the  same  two  things  which 
lie  has  already  deprecated  in  ch.  ix.  34  in  order 
that  he  may  successfully  achieve  his  viiidiciition, 
and  so,  as  it  is  here  expressed  in  h,  not  bo 
obliged  to  hide  before  God.  In  ver.  21  we  are 
told  wherein  they  consist,  viz.,  a,  in  heavy  un- 
remitting calamities  and  chastisements  ("Thy 
hand  remove  Thou  from  me"),  ^3  here  of  the 
hand  which  punishes,  as  previously  t^yJ  in  ch. 
ix.  34)  ;  and  h,  in  terror,  confusion,  and  trepi- 
dation produced  by  His  majesty  ;  comp.  above, 
ver.  11. 

Ver.  22.  Then — if  these  two  alleviations  are 
granted  tome — call  Thou  and  I  w^illansw^er: 
i.  e.,  summon  me  then  to  a  criminal  trial,  or 
which  would  be  eventually  still  more  advantage- 
ous to  me :  "  allow  7ne  the  first  word,  let  me  be 
the  questioner."  Obviously  it  is  in  this  sense 
that  we  are  to  take  b,  where  3''l?'n,  "  to  reply" 


408 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


(supply  "13T)  is  connected  transitively  with  ac- 
cus.  of  the  person,  as  elsewliere  T\}j^  ;  comp.  ch. 
XX.  2  ;   xxxii.  14  ;   xl.  4. 

6.  Third  Division.  The  vindication  of  himself 
to  God,  with  a  complaint  over  the  vanity  and 
helplessness  of  human  existence:  ch.  xiii.  23 — 
xiv.  22.  ["  Tbat  Job,  lifted  up  by  the  proud 
consciousness  of  innocence,  might  really  fancy 
for  the  moment  that  God  would  answer  his  chal- 
lenge, is  not  in  itself  improbable  in  view  of  the 
present  temper  of  his  soul,  and  the  entire  plan 
of  the  poem,  according  to  which  such  an  inter- 
course of  God  with  men  as  ma^^  be  apprehended 
by  the  senses  lies  within  the  bounds  of  possi- 
bility (ch.  xxxviii.  seq.),  and  should  not  be  de- 
scribed (with  Schlottm.)  as  a  fanatical  thought ; 
although  indeed  he  could  not  long  continue  in 
this  fancy;  not  only  the  non-appearance  of  God, 
but  also  every  consideration  of  a  more  particular 
port  must  convince  him  ofthe  idleness  of  his  wish." 
Dillmann.  Hence  the  sudden  change  of  his  apo- 
logy to  a  lamentation]. 

First  Strophe  :  Vers.  23-28.  Having  repeatedly 
announced  his  purpose  (ver.  13  seq.,  17  seq.).  Job 
now  at  length  passes  directly  to  the  demonstra- 
tion of  his  innocence,  but  at  once  falls  from  a 
tone  of  confident  self-justification  into  one  of  sor- 
rowful lamentation,  and  faint-hearted  despair, 
out  of  which  he  does  not  again  emerge  during 
this  discourse. 

Ver.  23.  How  many  are  (then)  my  iniqui- 
ties and  sins  ;  my  wickedness  and  my  sin 
make  known  to   me  ! — Inasmuch  as  nxiSn 

T    ~ 

denotes  sin  or  moral  aberration  in  general  (oc- 
casionally also  indeed  sins  of  weakness),  V^ 
transgression  or  evil-doing  of  a  graver  sort,  ^'HD 
however  flagrant  wickedness,  open  apostasy  from 
God  (comp.  Hoffmann,  Schriftbew.  I.,  483  seq.), 
the  enumeration  which  is  here  given  is  on  the 
whole  neither  climactic  nor  anti-climactic,  but 
alike  in  a  and  b  the  more  special  and  stronger 
expression  precedes,  while  the  more  general  term 
f  jUows.  Observe  still  further  that  the  charac- 
teristic expression  used  to  denote  the  smallest 
and  slightest  offenses,  mN'Jty  (Ps.  xix.  13)  is  not 
introduced  here  at  all.  Of  such  failures  of  the 
most  insignificant  sort  Job  would  indeed  be  per- 
fectly well  aware  that  he  was  guilty ;  comp. 
above  ch.  ix.  2,  14  seq. 

Ver.  24.  "Wherefore  hidest  Thou  Thy 
face  (a  sign  of  the  Divine  displeasure,  comp.  Is. 
liv.  8)  and  regardest  me  as  Thine  enemy  ? 
— The  question  is  an  expression  of  impatient 
wonder  at  the  non-appearance  of  God. 

Ver.  25.  A  driven  leaf  wilt  Thou  terrify? 
Tv)VT)  with  He  interrog.  like  D^np,  ch.  xv.  2. 
Comp.  Gesenius  §  100  [§  98],  ViE.  V.  "wilt 
thou  break  a  leaf,"  etc.  And  so  Bernard  :  but 
against  usage].  And  pursue  the  dry  chaff? 
The  meaning  of  this  troubled  plaintive  double 
question  is  :  How  canst  Thou,  who  art  Almighty 
and  AU-suificient,  find  Thy  pleasure  in  perse- 
cuting and  afflicting  a  weak  and  miserable  crea- 
ture like  me  ?  It  is  not  with  reference  to  the 
universal  frailty  of  mankind,  of  Avhich  he  par- 
took (Hahn),  but  with  special  reference  to  the 
fearful  visitation  which  had  come  on  him,  and 


the  destruction  which  had  begun  in  his  body, 
that  he  compares  himself  to  a  "driven  leaf," 
i.  e.  one  that  is  tossed  to  and  fro  by  the  wind 
(comp.  Lev.  xxvi.  36),  and  to  the  dry  chaff, 
which  is  in  like  manner  blown  about  (comp.  Ps. 
i.  4,  etc.). 

Ver.  26.  For  Thou  decreest  for  me  bitter 
things  (or  also  with  consecutive  rendering  of 
"3:  "that  Thou  decreest,"  etc.).  Hll'ip  here 
is  equivalent  of  course  to  "  bitter  painful  pun- 
ishments;" and  3rO,  lit.  to  "write,"  refers  to 
a  written  decree  announcing  a  judicial  sentence : 
comp.  ch.  xxxi.  35;  Ps.  cxlix.  9;  Is.  x.  1. — 
And  makest  rae  to  inherit  the  iniquities 
of  my  youth:  the  sins  of  my  earlier  years, 
long  since  forgiven  and  forgotten,  by  comparison 
with  which  as  being  the  half-conscious  misbe- 
haviour of  childhood,  or  the  manifestations  of 
youthful  thoughtlessness  (Ps.  xxv.  7),  so  severe 
and  fearful  a  penalty  would  seem  to  be  needless 
cruelty.  ["  He  can  regard  his  afiliction  only  as 
the  inheritance  of  the  sins  of  his  youth,  since 
he  has  no  sins  of  his  mature  years  that  would 
incur  wrath  to  reproach  himself  with."  Del. — 
E.  Ver.  "makest  me  to  possess,"  etc.,  not  sufl[i- 
ciently  expressive.  "His  old  age  inherited  the 
accumulated  usury  and  consequence  of  youthful 
sins."  Dav.]  "To  cause  one  to  inherit  any- 
thing" is  the  same  as  causing  him  to  experience 
the  consequences  of  anything  (here  the  bad  con- 
sequences, the  punishments) ;  comp.  Prov.  xiv. 
18;  Ps.  Ixix.  37  (36);  Mark  x.  17;  1  Cor.  vi. 
10,  etc. 

Ver.  27.  And  puttest  my  feet  in  the 
block :  i.  e.  treatest  me  as  a  prisoner.  Dt^jni, 
poet,  for  D^PI,  Ewald,  |443,  b.  [jussive  in  form 
though  not  in  signification  ;  used  simply  "from 
the  preference  of  poetry  for  a  short  pregnant 
form."  Del.],  comp.  ch.  xv.  33;  xxiii.  9,  11. — 
'^D  here  and  ch.  xxxiii.  11  is  a  wooden  block 
with  a  contrivance  for  firmly  fastening  the  feet 
of  a  prisoner,  the  same  with  the  flDSHO  of  Jer. 
XX.  3,  and  the  f  ivVw  of  Acts  xvi.  24,  or  -aodoKaKrf, 
or  the  Roman  instruments  of  torture  called 
cippus,  codex  or  nervus.  In  times  still  recent 
wooden  blocks  of  this  kind  were  in  use  among 
the  Arabians,  as  Burckhardt  had  occasion  to 
observe  (Travels,  p.  420).  And  watchest  all 
my  paths:  i.  e.  does  not  allow  me  the  slightest 
freedom  of  motion:  comp.  ch.  vii.  12;  x.  14. — 
Around  the  roots  of  my  feet  Thou  dost 
set  bounds:  i.e.  around  the  place  where  I 
stand,  where  the  soles  of  my  feet  are  placed  (the 
soles  firmly  fixed  in  one  point  being  compared 
to  the  roots  of  a  tree).  Thou  dost  make  marks, 
bounds,  lines  of  demarcation,  which  Thou  dost 
not  permit  me  to  cross.  This  is  the  simplest 
and  philologically  the  most  suitable  definition 
ofthe  Hithpael  Hpnnri  (from  pn,  npP);  found 
only  here,  in  which  definitions  Gesenius,  Ewald 
(1st  Ed.),  Schlottm.,  Hahn,  Del  ,  Dillm.,  [Con., 
Elz. — and  see  below  the  rendering  of  Hirzel, 
Noyes,  etc."],  etc.,  essentially  agree.  Not  essen- 
tially different  as  to  the  sense,  although  philolo- 
gically not  so  well  authenticated  are  the  expla- 
nations of  Rosenm.,  Umbreit  [Hengst.,  Merx], 
etc.:  "Thou  drawest  a  circle  around  my  feet;" 
of  Ewald  (2d  Ed.):  "Thou  makest  sure  of  my 


CHAP.  XII- XIV. 


4C0 


feet"  (corap.  Peshito  and  Vulgate:  vestigia 
pedum  meorum  consider asti) ;  of  Hirzel  [Fiirst]  : 
"Thou  (lost  make  Thyself  a  trench  around 
the  roots  of  my  feet  '  [others,  e.  g.  Noyes, 
Renan,  Davidson,  Rodiger,  take  Hpn  in  this 
sense  of  cutting  or  digging  a  trench,  but  regard 
the  Hithpael  as  indirectly  and  not  directly 
reflexive,  sihi,  not  sc  susnilpere — "  dost  dig  a 
trench  for  thyself"]  ;  of  Raschi,  Mercier,  etc.  : 
"  Thou  fastenest  Thyself  to  the  soles  of  my  feet." 
[E.  v.,  Good,  Wem.,  Bernard,  etc.:  "Thou 
brandest  (settest  a  print  upon,  E.  V.)  the  soles 
of  uiy  feet;"  evidently  supposing  the  expression 
to  refer  to  some  process  of  branding  criminals 
in  the  feet:  for  which,  however,  there  is  no 
good  authority.] — The  three  parallel  figures 
contained  in  the  verse  all  find  their  actual 
explanation  in  the  fearful  disease,  with  which 
Job  was  visited  by  God,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  was  doomed  to  one  place,  being  unable  to 
move  on  account  of  the  unshapely  swelling  of 
his  limbs.  ["  Mercier  has  already  called  atten- 
tion to  the  gradation  which  marks  the  proofs 
given  in  these  verses  of  the  Divine  anger.  (1) 
God  hides  His  face.  (2)  He  shows  Himself  an 
enemy.  (3)  He  issues  severe  decrees  against 
him.  (4)  He  punishes  sins  long  since  passed. 
(5)  He  throws  him  into  cruel  and  narrow  im- 
prisonment."  Ilengst.] 

Ver.  28.  Although  he  (the  persecuted  one) 
as  rottenness  wastes  a\way,  as  a  garment 
•which  the  moth  has  eaten  (comp.  ch.  iv. 
19).  This  forcible  description  of  the  weakness 
and  perishableness  of  his  condition  is  given  to 
emphasize  the  thought,  how  unacccountably 
severe  is  God's  treatment  of  him  (comp.  above 
ver.  25).  It  is  introduced  by  N-IHI  (instead  of 
"'2^1)  objectivizing  the  subject,  and  "giving  to 
the  discourse  a  more  general  application,  valid 
also  for  other  men,"  and  at  the  same  time  pro- 
viding a  transition  to  the  following  lament, 
referring  to  human  misery  in  general.  ["Thou 
hast  set  this  enclosure  around  one  who  does  not 
grow  like  a  tree,  but  moulders  away  moth-eaten 
like  a  garment.  Job  looks  at  himself  ab  extra; 
he  will  hardly  own  himself;  he  hardly  recog- 
nizes himself,  so  changed  is  he  by  affliction  and 
disease,  and  he  speaks  of  himself  in  the  third 
person.  How  natural  and  touching  is  this!" 
Wordsworth.] 

Third  Division :  Second  and  Third  Strophes : 
The  lament  over  man's  mortality,  frailty  and 
vanity  continued:  ch.  xiv.  1-12. 

Second  Strophe :  vers.  1-6.  [Man's  physical 
frailty  and  moral  impurity  by  nature  made  the 
ground  of  a  complaint  against  the  severity  of 
God's  treatment,  and  of  an  appeal  for  forbear- 
ance.] 

Vers.  1,  2.  Man,  born  of  woinan,  of  few 
days,  and  full  of  trouble,  cometh  up  as  a 
flow^er  [and  withereth,  and  fleeth  as  a 
shadow,  and  abideth  not]. — This  is  the 
only  right  construction  of  the  passage.  The 
first  verse  contains  only  the  subject,  together 
with  three  appositional  clauses  more  particularly 
descriptive  of  the  same.  Of  these  the  first, 
nt^X  11'?''  (a  phrase  which  is  elsewhere  exactly 
synonymous  with  "man,"  e.g.  Sir.  x.  18:  yev- 
VTj/xa  yvvaiKog,   and  Matt.  xi.  11:  yhvTjTog  yw.), 


belongs  immediately  to  the  notion  contained  in 
the  subject,  man,  whom  it  characterizes  accord- 
ing to  his  innate  quality  of  weakness  (as  also  ia 
ch.  XV.  14;  XXV.  4),  while  the  two  following 
clauses  illustrate  the  shortness  of  his  life,  (IVp, 
constr.  st.  of  "^i'P,  comp.  ch.  x.  15),  and  the 
trouble  which  fills  it  (TJ/l,  as  in  ch.  iii.  17,  26). 
It  is  disputed  whether  the  second  verb  in  ver.  2, 
^J3'1  means  to  wither,  or  to  he  cut  off.  Etymolo- 
gically  both  these  definitions  are  possible,  since 
7'3^  may  be  taken  either  as  Impcrf  Niph.  of 
770=7lD,  succidi,  or  as  Imperf.  of  a  secondary 
Kal.  70 J  (an  alternate  form  7  70),  synonymous 
with  70X,  to  wither,  to  become  dry,  marcescere. 
The  meaning  to  be  cut  off,  however,  is  less  suita- 
ble to  the  flower  than  to  fade  [the  latter,  and  not 
the  former,  being,  as  DlUmann  points  out,  the 
natural  destiny  alike  of  the  flower  and  of  man]  ; 
comp.  Is.  xl.  7  ;  Ps.  xxxvii.  2 ;  xc.  <J ;  ciii.  15 
seq. ;  Matt.  vi.  30 ;  1  Pet.  i.  24 ;  moreover,  in 
the  two  parallel  passages  of  our  book,  ch.  xviii. 
16;  and  xsiv.  24,  it  is  by  no  means  necessary 
to  render    70''   in  the    sense    of  succidi,  prsecidi 

T   * 

(against  Hirzel,  Gesenius,  Delitzsch  [Conant, 
Dav.,  E.  v.],  etc.).  On  b  comp.  ch.  viii.  9  ;  Ps. 
xc.  5,  9,  10.  [Conant  regards  the  article  before 
7i*  as  having  a  (^f/2«?7e  signification,  "that  which 
marks  the  passing  and  declining  day."  This, 
however,  would  scarcely  be  in  harmony  with 
the  verb  n"lD,  which  describes  rather  the  fleet- 
ing shadow  of  the  cloud,  to  which  the  art.  would 
be  equally  suitable.  Merx  transposes  ver.  28, 
of  chap,  vii.,  and  inserts  it  here  between  vers. 
1  and  2,  thus  depriving  it  of  the  force  and  beauty 
which  belong  to  it  as  the  closing  verse  of  that 
strophe,  and  as  a  transition  to  this,  and  at  the 
same  time  weakening  the  beauty  and  pathos  of 
this  passage  by  the  accumulation  of  figures. 
— E.] 

Ver.  3.  And  upon  this  one  dost  Thou 
keep  Thine  eye  open?  viz.  in  order  to  watch 
him,  and  to  punish  him  for  his  sins,  comp.  Ps. 
xxxiv.  17  [16].  ^^,  emphatically  connecting 
something  new  with  what  has  already  been 
given,  like  our  "  over  and  above."  HJ'J^i 
"  upon  this  one,"  i.  e.  upon  such  an  one  as 
he  is  here  described,  upon  so  wretched  a 
creature  (Psalm  ciii.  14).  [The  pronoun  hero 
descriptive,  "such  an  one,"  talis,  rather  than 
demonstrative.  By  position  the  phrase  is  em- 
phatic. E.  v.,  Conant,  etc.,  render  the  verb  sim- 
ply "  to  open,"=so  much  as  open  the  eyes,  so 
much  as  look  upon  him.  The  rendering  given  in 
our  commy.  "  to  keep  the  eye  open  upon  "  pre- 
supposes a  double  emphasis,  the  first  and  prin- 
cipal one  on  the  pronoun,  the  second  on  the  verb. 
— E.] — And  me  (["'^'*,  emphatic,  me]  this  par- 
ticularly wretched  example  of  the  human  race), 
dost  thou  bring  into  judgment  before 
Thee  ? — i.  «.,  to  judgment  at  TIi;/  tribunal, 
where  it  is  impossible  to  maintain  one's  cause. 

Ver.  4.  O  that  a  pure  one  might  come 
forth  out  of  an  impure :  i.e.,  would  it  were 
only  possible  that  one  might  remain  free  from  the 


410 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


universal  sinfulness  of  the  human  race,  and  from 
the  misery  accompanying  the  same,  which  is  now 
absolutely  universal  and  without  exception,  so 
that  it  has  the  appearance  of  unpitying  severity 
when  God  visits  those  belonging  to  this  race  with 
punishment  (comp.  vers.  5,  6).  |i?.'~''P,  the 
customary  optative  formula  (as  in  ver.  13 ;  ch. 
vi.  8),  here  connected  with  an  accusative  of  the 
object,  specifying  the  contents  of  the  wish  (so 
also  in  ch.  xxxi.  31,  35  ;  Ps.  xiv.  7  ;  Deut.  xxviii. 
67).  Hence  not:  "who  makes  [E.  V.  :  can 
bring]  a  pure  one  out  of  an  impure  ?"  (Rosenm  , 
Arnheim,  Welte,  [Renan]);  nor:  "where  can 
a  pure  one  be  found  among  the  impure?"  as  if  ID 
here  could  have  the  partitive  sense  before  the 
singular  XpCD.  ["The  Opt.  rendering  not  only 
denies  the  possibility  (of  a  morally  clean  coming 
out  of  a  morally  unclean),  but  gives  utterance  to 
the  desire  that  it  was  otherwise."  Dav.].  Not 
one:  to  wit,  "comes  forth."  [Not  therefore 
"can  bring  forth,"  as  might  be  inferred  from 
the  literal  rendering  of  h'i^.'"'''?]-  Not  one  pure 
will  ever  come  forth  in  the  line  of  development 
which  has  once  been  contaminated  by  sin  ;  comp. 
Ps.  li.  7  [5]  ;  also  the  expression  inx  DJ  PX 
Ps.  xiv.  3,  which  reminds  us  very  closely  of  this 
nriN  i<7.  Ewald,  with  whom  Dillmann  agrees, 
punctuates  N/  instead  of  vh,  and  conforms  the 
second  member  to  the  first:  "Oh  that  there 
were  one  !"  for  the  reason  that  a  wish  does  not 
properly  contemplate  an  answer.  But  a  wish 
which  is  in  itself  incapable  of  realization  is  equi- 
valent to  a  questioa,  the  answer  to  which  is  a 
strong  negation.  Moreover  the  passage  is  in- 
comparably stronger  and  more  emphatic  accord- 
ing to  the  common  rendering,  than  according  to 
that  of  Ewald.  ["  Moreover,  why  should  he  de- 
sire one  such  specimen?  Plainly,  the  desire  is 
nothing  to  the  pui'pose,  except  as  implying  that 
not  one  such  is  to  be  found ;  and  precisely  this 
is  asserted  in  the  proper  and  usual  construction 
of  the  words."  Con.].  On  the  relation  of  this 
assertion  by  Job  of  the  universality  of  human 
corruption  to  the  earlier  affirmation  of  Eliphaz 
in  ch.  iv.  17  seq.,  see  the  Doc.  andEth.  Remarks. 
Vers.  5,  6,  (the  former  the  antecedent,  the  lat- 
ter the  consequent). — If  his  days  are  deter- 
mined (D'lfnn,  lit.  cut  off  [^decisi],  sharply 
bounded,  defined  cnT0T6fLuir ;  comp.  Isa.  x.  22 ; 
1  Kings  XX.  40),  the  number  of  his  months 
•vyith  Thee  {viz.  "is  established,  firmly  fixed;" 
^nx  here  equivalent  to  ^'3J/,  comp.  ch.  x.  13), 
and  Thou  hast  made  [or  set]  his  limit  (read 
Ipn  with  the  K'thibh,  not  the  plural  with  the 
K'ri,  which  is  here  less  suitable,  there  being  but 
one  limit,  one  terminus  to  this  earthly  life) — 
^whioh  he  cannot  pass  (lit.  "  and  he  passes  it 
not")  [observe  that  the  particle  DN  in  the  first 
member  of  the  verse  extends  its  influence  over 
all  three  members]  :  then  look  av/ay  from 
him,     (vS^O   X\-^y3    the   opposite   of  ver.   3  a; 

comp.  ch.  vii.  19)  that  he  may  rest  (Sin  here 
as  in  1  Sam.  ii.  5  :  "to  rest,  to  keep  holiday," 
to  be  released  from  the  IJ/l  of  ver.  1)  that  he 
may  enjoy  as  a  hireling  his  day.— The  last 
member  literally  reads :  "  until  that  (to  the  de- 


gree that — ^J;?  as  in  ch.  viii.  21  ;  1  Sam.  ii.  5  ; 
Isa.  xlvii.  7)  he,  like  a  day- laborer,  find  pleasure 
in  his  day,"  or,  "be  satisfied  with  his  day." 
This  is  the  meaning  of  HXT  with  the  accus. — 
(comp.  Jer.  xiv.  10 ;  Ps.  cii.  15,  and  often) ;  not 
"to  satisfy,"  in  the  sense  of  "to  discharge,  to 
make  good,"  [E.  V.  to  accomplish]  as  Delitzsch 
explains  it,  when  he  translates:  "  uutil  he  dis- 
charges [accomplishes]  as  a  hireling  his  day." 
In  favor  of  this  latter  rendering  indeed.  Lev. 
xxvi.  34,  43,  and  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  21  may  be 
cited;  but  the  sense  thence  resulting  is  in  each 
case  harsh  and  artificial.  For  just  why  it  should 
be  said  of  a  hireling,  that  he  (in  death)  "makes 
complete  "  his  days  (comp.  avravav'kripom,  Col. 
i.  24)  is  not  altogether  apparent :  the  compari- 
son of  the  lOty  (comp.  ch.  vii.  1)  seems  super- 
fluous, inconsistent  indeed,  if  we  have  to  do  sim- 
ply with  the  thought:  "until  the  completion  of 
the  days  of  his  life."  [It  is  diflicult  to  see  why 
the  definition  adopted  by  the  E.  V.  and  Del.  is 
not  perfectly  suitable  to  the  connection.  The 
objection  to  it  is  that  it  is  not  supported  by 
usage,  n^l  means  everywhere  "  to  regard  fa- 
vorably, to  take  pleasure  in."  We  are  not  justi- 
fied in  taking  it  in  any  other  sense  here.  But 
the  expression  "  to  enjoy  as  a  hireling  his  day  " 
is  variously  understood.  Some  take  lOV  here 
in  some  specific  sense;  e.  g.,  the  day  of  his  dis- 
charge, his  last  day  as  a  hireling  (Bernard) ;  his 
day  of  rest  (Rod well) ;  and  something  similar  is 
suggested  by  Jerome's  optata  dies.  But  this 
thought  would  have  been  more  distinctly  ex- 
pressed.— Others  (Hengst.,  Wordsworth,  Noyes, 
Barnes),  explain  it  as  a  wish  that  man  may  enjoy 
his  life  at  least  as  much,  with  the  same  freedom 
from  care,  as  the  hireling.  But  to  this  there  are 
several  objections.  (1)  TVi'S  would  scarcely  be 
used  to  express  this  idea,  least  of  all,  as  here, 
without  any  qualification.  (2)  That  Job  re- 
garded the  day  or  service  of  a  hireling  as  a  term 
of  hardship,  from  which  deliverance  was  to  be 
sought  rather  than  as  affording  any  measure  of 
satisfaction  to  be  desired,  is  evident  from  the 
parallel  passage  in  ch.  vii.  1,  2.  Comp.  ch.  iii. 
19.     (3)  He  has  already  expressed  the  burden 

of  his  longing  in  /IH^I.  This  clause  is  rather 
to  be  regarded  as  an  amplification  of  that 
thought:  the  rest,  the  enjoyment  which  the  end 
of  the  day's  labor  brings. — It  is  unnatural  to 
suppose  that  having  reached  in  thought  the  goal 
of  rest,  he  would  go  back  to  the  joyless,  even 
though  painless  toil  preceding  it.  We  are  thus 
led  to  the  explanation  that  the  enjoyment  hero 
spoken  of  is  that  which  succeeds  the  labors  of 
the  day.  The  hireling's  real  enjoyment  of  his 
day  comes  when  the  "shadow"  of  evening  (ch. 
vii.  2)  brings  with  it  the  rest  which  he  covets, 
and  the  wages  he  has  earned.  In  like  manner 
Job  desires  for  man  agitated  by  unrest  (TJT  ver. 
1)  a  respite,  however  brief,  the  satisfaction 
which  the  end  of  toil  and  sorrow  would  bring. 
It  is  not  death  however  that  he  here  prays  may 
come,  for  that,  as  the  following  verses  show,  is  a 
hopeless  condition.  And  yet  the  thought  of  the 
end  of  toil  suggests  at  once  the  thought  of  death 
and  that  hopeless  beyond. — E.]. 


CHAP.  XII— XIV. 


411 


Third  Strophe :  Vers.  7-12.  The  hopelessness 
of  man  when  hia  earthly  life  is  ended. 

Ver.  7.  For  there  is  yet  hope  for  the  tree. 
''2,  "  for"  introduces  the  reason  for  the  request 
preferred  in  ver.  6  in  behalf  of  miserable  and  af- 
flicted man  :  "  look  away  from  him,"  etc.  ["  The 
predication  oi  hope  made  very  strongly  both  by 
W''  and  the  accent,  the  main  division  of  the  verse 
is  at  hope."  Dav.]. — If  it  be  cut  down,  it 
shoots  up  again  [viz.,  the  stump  left  in  the 
ground,  comp.  Isa.  vi.  13),  and  its  sprout 
npJV,  the  tender  young  shoot  from  the  root 
[suckling],  LXX.  liaiiafivoq ;  comp.  oh.  viii.  16) 
faileth  not.  Carey,  Delitzsch,  and  others,  cor- 
rectly understand  the  tree  of  whose  vitality  and 
power  of  perpetual  rejuvenescence  Job  seems 
more  particularly  to  think  here  to  be  the  date- 
palm,  which  on  account  of  this  very  quality  is 
called  by  the  Greeks  <poivi^.  It  is  not  so  proba- 
ble that  the  oak  or  terebinth  [E.  V.  "  teil  "] 
mentioned  in  the  parallel  passage  in  Isa.  vi.  13, 
is  intended  here. 

Vers.  8,  9,  present  not  properly  "  another 
case,"  (Dillmann),  but  they  develop  the  illustra- 
tion already  presented  still  further  and  more 
forcibly. — If  its  root  beoometh  old  in  the 
ground  ( ^'P''.'?,  inchoative  Hiph.,  senescere), 
and  its  trunk  dieth  in  the  dust  (comp.  Isa. 
xl.  21),  i.  e.,  if  the  tree  die,  not  interrupted  in  its 
growth  by  the  violent  hand  of  man,  while  yet 
young  and  vigorous,  but  decaying  with  age,  be- 
coming dry  and  dead  down  to  the  roots. — 
Through  the  scent  of  ■water  («.  e.,  so  soon  as 
it  feels  the  vivifying  energy  of  water  ;  comp. 
Judg.  xvi.  9)  [n'^.,  may  be  taken  either  subjec- 
tively of  the  scenting,  or  inhalation  of  water 
by  the  tree  ;  or,  better,  of  the  scent  which  water 
brings  with  it.  "  When  the  English  army  landed 
in  Egypt  in  1801,  Sir  Sydney  Smith  gave  the 
troops  the  sure  sign  that  wherever  date-trees 
grew  there  must  be  water."  Vide  R.  Wilson's 
History  of  the  Expedition  to  Egypt,  page  18]  it 
sprouts  (again;  comp.  Ps.  xcii.  14)  and  puts 
forth  boughs  (comp.  ch.  xviii.  16;  xxix.  19), 
like  a  young  plant ;  or  also  like  a  sapling 
newly  planted  (LXX.  :  wf  veoipvTov).  That  this 
description  also  is  pre-eminently  suitable  to  the 
palm  appears  from  the  fact  that,  as  every  ori- 
ental knows  very  well,  in  every  place  where 
this  tree  grows,  water  must  be  very  near  at 
hand,  generally  from  the  indestructible  vitality 
and  luxuriant  fulness  of  this  ^/Aiidpov  (pvrSv, 
(comp.  Delitzsch  on  this  passage.  ["Even  when 
centuries  have  at  last  destroyed  the  palm — says 
Masius  in  his  beautiful  and  thoughtful  studies 
of  nature — thousands  of  inextricable  fibres  of  pa- 
rasites cling  about  the  stem,  and  delude  the  tra- 
veller with  an  appearance  of  life."   Del.]).^ 

Vers.  10-12  present  the  contrast  to  the  above: 
the  hopelessness  of  man  in  death. 

Ver.  10.  But  man  dies  and  is  brought 
down  (i-^iH  here  in  the  intrans.  sense  confectum 
esse,  to  be  prostrated,  to  be  down,  whence  the 
usual   signitication,   "to  be  weak,"  is  derived: 

[the  Imperf ,  when  transitive,  is  written  \^lX^y, 
when  intransitive,  as  here,  B^n.'!);   man  ex- 


pires (.J'lJ'^,  Imperf.  consec,  because  the  cheer- 
less consequences  of  death  are  here  further  set 
forth),  and  where  is  he? — where  does  he  then 
go  to?  what  becomes  of  him?  Comp.  the  simi- 
lar yearning  question  in  Eccles.  iii.  21. 

Ver.  11.  The  waters  flow  away  [lit.  roll 
off]  out  of  the  sea,  and  a  stream  fails  and 
dries  up. — This  is  the  protasis  of  a  simile,  the 
apodosis  of  which  is  introduced,  ver.  12,  by  1 
"so,"  as  below  in  ver.  19,  and  as  above  in  chap. 
V.  7;  xi.  12  (in  which  latter  passages  indeed 
the  figure  follows,  not  precedes,  the  thing  illus- 
trated). Comp.  the  description,  imitative  of  the 
present  passage,  in  Isa.  xix.  5,  describing  the 
drying  up  of  the  Nile  (D%  "inj)  by  a  Divine  judg- 
ment— a  description  which  indeed  the  advocates 
of  a  post-solomonic  authorship  of  our  book  re- 
gard as  the  original  of  the  passage  before  us 
{e.g.,  Volck,  de  summa  carm.  Job  sent.,  p.  31). 
[□""  here  should  be  taken  of  an  inland  sea  or  body 
of  water,  a  sense  which  the  application  of  the 
word  to  the  lake  of  Tiberias,  Numb,  xxxiv.  11; 
the  Euphrates,  Isaiah  xxvii.  1  ;  the  Nile,  see 
above,  abundantly  justifies.  Such  a  drying  up 
of  large  bodies  of  water  is  no  uncommon 
phenomenon  in  the  torrid  regions  of  the  East. 
-E.] 

Ver.  12.  So  man  lies  dow^n  and  rises  no 
more ;  till  the  heavens  are  no  more,  they 

awake  not. — D'Diy  'r^Ss  '^}l,  until  the  failure, 
i.  e.,  the  disappearance  of  the  heavens  (comp.  the 
exactly  equivalent  phrase,  n^'  "'12  '\)^_,  Ps.  Ixxii. 
7),  the  same  in  meaning  with  D7lJ^7  1^7,  Psalm 
cxlviii.  6.  Foraccordingto  the  popular  conception 
of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  the  heavens  endure  for- 
ever: Ps.  Ixxxix.  30  [29]  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  35.  When 
in  Ps.  cii.  21 ;  Isa.  li.  G;  Ixv.  17  the  heavens  are 
described  as  waxing  old  and  being  changed,  this 
statement  does  not  exclude  their  eternal  exist- 
ence ;  for  the  supposition  of  a  destruction  of  the 
universe  in  the  sense  of  its  annihilation  is  every- 
where foreign  to  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  The 
expression  before  us,  "  not  to  awake  till  the  hea- 
vens are  no  more,"  is  accordingly  in  any  case 
equivalent  to  "not  to  awake  for  ever"  [or  "ne- 
ver to  awake"],  as  the  third  member  of  the 
verse  also  clearly  indicates :  and  are  never 
aroused   out   of  their   sleep — they  sleep  a 

dVijT  r»JK/,  Jer.  li.  39,  57,  an  endless  sleep  of 
death.  [It  is  assuredly  straining  the  language, 
and  at  variance  with  the  connection,  and  with 
Job's  present  mood,  to  assume  in  the  expression 
an  implication  that  when  the  phenomenal  hea- 
vens should  disappear,  man  would  awake.  How 
far  Job's  mind  does  reach  out  towards  the  idea 
of  a  resuscitation  of  humanity  will  be  seen  pre- 
sently. Amid  such  fluctuations  of  thought  and 
feeling  as  characterize  his  utterances,  we  are 
not  to  look  for  self-consistency,  much  less  for  a 
careful  and  exact  expression  of  the  highest  forms 
of  truth,  whether  as  revealed  elsewhere,  or  even 
as  at  times  revealed  to  his  own  mind. — E.]  How 
unchangeable  the  cheerless  outlook  on  such  an 
eternal  condition  of  death  in  Sheol  presents  itself 
to  Job,  is  shown  by  the  vividly  expressed  wish 
which  immediately  follows  that  God,  if  it  were 


412 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


possible,  would  cause  him  agaia  to  emerge  out 
of  this  condition,  which,  however,  he  immediately 
recognizes  as  a  yearning  which  is  absolutely  in- 
capable of  being  realized. 

8.  Third  Division:  Fourth  and  Fifth  Strophes: 
Continuation  and  conclusion  of  the  description 
of  the  hopelessness  of  man  in  the  prospect  of 
death:  vers.  13-22. 

Fourth  Strophe:  Vers.  13-17:  [If  God  would 
only  permit  a  hope  of  the  cessation  of  His  wrath, 
and  of  his  restoration  from  Sheol,  how  joyfully 
he  would  endure]  until  the  change  should  come; 
but  now  He  punishes  without  pity  his  sins.] 

Ver.  13.  Ah  that  Thou  wouldst  hide  me 
(Hiph.  as  in  Ex.  ii.  3)  in  the  realm  of  the  dead, 
■wouldst  keep  me  secret  until  Thy  -wrath 
should  change  (comp.  the  description  of  such 
a  hiding  from  God's  wrath  in  Isa.  xxvi.  20;  Ps. 
xxvii.  5;  xxxi.21  [20]),  'wouldst  appoint  me 

a  set  time  (a  pn,  see  on  ver.  5),  and  then  re- 
member me — viz.,  for  good,  in  order  to  re-esta- 
blish me  in  the  fellowship  of  Thy  grace,  and  cause 
me  to  live  in  the  same.  Thislastexpression  ''J'^.?!^! 
accented  with  the  emphasis  of  glowing  passion,  is 
the  culmination  of  the  yearning  wish  which  Job 
here  expresses,  from  which,  however,  he  imme- 
diately recoils  again,  as  from  a  chimerical  idea 
which  has  no  real  foundation. 

Ver.  14.  If  man  dies,  will  he  live? — i.e., 
is  it  possible  that  he  who  has  once  died,  will 
come  to  life  again?  The  asyndetic  introduction 
of  this  short  but  frequent  question  after  the  pre- 
ceding verse,  produces  a  contrast  which  is  all 
the  stronger.  No  answer  to  the  question  fol- 
lows, because  it  is  self-evident  to  the  reader  that 
it  can  be  answered  only  in  the  negative.  But 
strong  as  is  his  conviction  of  the  impossibility 
of  a  return  to  life  of  the  dead,  equally  sweet  and 
gracious  is  the  charm  of  the  thought  which 
dwells  on  the  opposite  possibility,  which  he  has 
just  expressed  in  the  form  of  a  wish.  ["//"  a 
man  die,  etc.,  finely  natural  interpretation  of  the 
cold  reason  and  of  doubt,  striving  to  banish  the 
beautiful  dream  and  presentiment  of  a  new  bo- 
dily life  with  God  ;  but  in  vain,  the  spirit  tram- 
ples down  the  rising  suspicion,  and  pursues  more 
eagerly  the  glorious  vision."  Dav.]  All  the 
days  of  my  -warfare  would  I  w^ait,  until  my 
discharge  (lit.  "my  exchange,"  comp.  chap.  x. 
17)  should  come. — Job  uses  the  term  "  war- 
fare" here  somewhat  differently  from  chap.  vii. 
1  to  denote  not  only  the  remainder  of  his  toil- 
some and  troublesome  days  on  earth,  but  "the 
whole  dismal  interval  between  the  present  and 
that  longed-for  goal"  in  the  future  when  he 
should  be  released  from  Hades;  this  release  is 
here,  in  accordance  with  the  figure  of  military 
service,  designated  as  an  "exchange"  or  "dis- 
charge." [Hence  the  "change"  here  spoken 
of  is  not,  as  the  old  Jewish  expositors,  followed 
by  some  moderns,  have  explained  it,  the  change 
produced  by  death.  The  word  713' /H'  however, 
lias  here  a  double  significance,  which  should  be 
fippreciated  to  realize  the  full  beamy  of  the  pas- 
sage. In  addition  to  its  primary  and  principal 
meaning  as  expressing  the  discharge  of  the  sol- 
dier whose  term  of  hard  service  has  expired,  it 

Buggests  also  the  "sprouting"  anew  (^'''?n2,  ver. 


7)  of  the  trunks  and  roots  of  the  tree  which  has 
been  cut  down.     The  niJ^n,  in  a  word,  which 

T     •  -: 

Job  yearns  for  is  a  release  from  sprvice  which 
would  be  at  the  same  time  a  "springing  up" 
anew  from  death  to  life.  That  this  double  mean- 
ing is  not  forced,  that  it  is  a  beautiful  and  happy 
stroke  of  genius,  will  not  seem  at  all  incredible 
to  any  one  who  will  carefully  trace  out  our  au- 
thor's masterly  use  of  words  in  their  various  pos- 
sibilities.— E.] 

Ver.  15.  Thou  wouldst  call  (to  wit,  in  this 
discharge  [by  Ewald  and  others  referred  to  the 
forensic  call  to  the  final  trial,  wherein  Job  confi- 
dently hoped  to  be  acquitted;  but  the  connection 
here  indicates  rather  the  call  of  love,  yearning 
after  its  object;  "the  voice  of  God  returning  to 
take  His  creatures  to  Himself"  (Dav.) — E.],  and 
I  would  answ^er  Thee  (would  follow  Thy 
call) ;  Thou  wouldst  yearn  after  the  work 
of  Thy  hands  (chap.  x.  3);  i.e.,  Thou,  as 
Creator,  wouldst  feel  an  affectionate  longing  af- 
ter Thy  creature,  which  Thou  hadst  hitherto 
treated  harshly,  and  rejected.  "The  true  cha- 
racter of  the  relation  of  love  between  the  Creator 
and  His  creature  would  again  assert  itself,  it 
would  become  manifest  that  wrath  is  only  a 
waning  power  (Isa.  liv.  8),  and  love  the  true  and 
essential  necessity  of  His  being."  Del.  ["Job 
must  have  had  a  keen  perception  of  the  profound 
relation  between  the  creature  and  his  Maker  in 
the  past,  to  be  able  to  give  utterance  to  such  an 
imaginative  expectation  respecting  the  future." 
ScHLOTT.]  Although  only  a  "phantasy  of  hope" 
(Schlott.),  it  still  furnishes  an  unconscious  pro- 
phecy of  that  which  was  accomplished  in  Christ's 
descent  into  Hades  for  the  salvation  of  the  saints 
of  the  Old  Covenant. 

Ver.  16.  For  now  Thou  numberest  my 
steps,  i.  e.,  for  at  this  time  Thou  watchest  every 
step  and  motion,  as  those  of  a  transgressor, 
comp.  chap.  siii.  27.  Hnj;  "3,  as  in  chap.  vi.  21, 
introducing  the  contrast  between  a  point  of  time 
on  which  the  eye  fixes  in  the  future,  and  the  sad 
reality  of  the  present.     ['Jp  assigns  the  reason 

/or /Aew/sA  which  forms  the  contentsof  vers.  13-15. 
It  is  not  necessary,  with  Hirzel  and  Schlott.,  to 
supply  any  thing  between  vers.  15  and  1(3,  as,  e.g., 
"Thou  dost  not  yearn  for  Thy  creature  now,  for," 
etc.  The  construction  of  Unibreit.t/c.,  which  takes 
nnj^  '•?  ^'•^  ^"  emphatic  clause, =r"  indeed  now," 
is  to  be  rejected. — E.] — And  dost  not  hold 
Thyself  back  on  account  of  my  sins. — 
This  is  the  most   satisfactory  rendering  of   x"? 

'nXDn  Si'  '^■DUrs.  it  is  found  already  in  Mercier, 
[non  reservas  nee  differs  peccati  mei  j^unitioncm), 
and  is  of  late  advocated  by  Delitzsch  [and 
Wordsworth.  It  seems  to  Del.  "that  the  sense 
intended  must  be  derived  from  'IX  "IDJ;/,  which 
means  to  keep  anger,  and  consequently  to  delay 
the  manifestation  of  it;  Amos  i.  11."]  Dill- 
mann's  explanation  gives  the  same  sense: 
"  Thou  dost  not  pass  over  my  sins;"  a  render- 
ing, indeed,   which   rests    on  an  emendation  of 

the  text  to  :  ^r\-h];_  IHj'n  N'S,  which  is  favored 
in  some  measure  by  the  version  of  the  LXX. 
Also  the  rendering  advocated  by  Ewald,  Heilig., 


CHAPS.  XII— XI 7. 


413 


Schlott.  and  Ilalin:  "Thou  givest  no  considera- 
tion to  my  sins"  (to  ascertain,  namely,  wliether 
they  do  iu  truth  deserve  to  be  punished  so 
severely),  does  not  differ  very  essentially.  Other 
explanations  lack  satisfactory  support:  such  as 
those  of  the  Kabbis,  which  differ  widely  among 
themselves:  e.g.  Raschi's:  "Thou  waitcst  not 
over  my  sins,  i.  e.  to  punish  them;"  Ralbag's  : 
"Thou  waitest  not  for  my  sins^repcntance 
punishment;"  Abcn-Ezra's:  "Thou  lookest  not 
except,  on  my  sins."  The  same  may  be  s.iid  of 
the  attempt  of  Rosenm.,  Hirzel  and  Welte  to 
render  the  sentence  as  an  interrogative  without 
p:  "  Dost  Thou  not  keep  watch  over  my  sin?" 
[So  E.  v.,  Conant,  Dav.,  Rod.,  Gesen.,  Fiirst. — 
In  view  of  ch.  xiii.  27  6,  it  is  not  apparent  why 
this  rendering  should  be  said  to  "lack  satisfac- 
tory support."  The  preposition  7J^  cannot  be 
urged  against  it,  for  it  harmonizes  well  with  the 
idea  thus  expressed;  and  the  interrogative  form 
gives  vividness,  force  and  variety  to  the  passage. 
-E.] 

Ver.  17.  Sealed  up  in  a  bag  is  my  guilt. 
^V.p2,  lit.  "wickedness,"  as  in  ch.  xiii.  23  b, 
here  of  the  aggregate  of  Job's  former  transgres- 
sions (comp.  ch.  xiii.  26  b),  of  the  sum  total,  the 
entire  mass  of  guilty  actions  committed  by  him, 
which,  as  be  must  believe,  is  preserved  and 
sealed  up  by  God  with  all  care  as  a  treasure,  to 
be  used  against  him  in  his  own  time ;  comp. 
Deut.  xxxii.  34  ;  Hos.  xiii.  12.  For  the  figura- 
tive expression  :'  "to  tie  up  in  a  bag,"=:to  keep 
in  remembrance,  comp.  Ps.  Ivi.  9 ;  1  Sam.  xxv. 
29.  Ewald,  Hirzel,  Renan,  incorrectly  explain 
the  "  guilt  sealed  in  a  bag"  to  be  the  judicial 
sentence  of  condemnatiou  by  God  already  issued 
against  Job,  which  now  only  awaits  execution  ; 
for  of  the  preservation  of  such  penal  sentences 
in  a  bottle  all  oriental  antiquity  knows  nothing 
whatever.  [The  figure  is  taken  "from  the  mode 
of  preserving  collected  articles  of  value  in  a  sealed 
bag."  Del.] — And  Thou  hast  devised  addi- 
tions to  my  transgressions:  lit.  "and  Thou 
hast  still  further  stitched  (to  wit,  other,  new 
transgressions)  on  my  transgressions;  i.  e.  hast 
made  mine  iniquity  still  greater  than  it  is,  and 
punished  it  accordingly  more  severely  than  it 
deserves.  This  accusation  which  Job  here  pre- 
fers against  God  is  a  bold  one;  but  it  is  too 
much  to  affirm  that  it  is  "pure  blasphemy" 
(Dillm.),  because  the  language  of  Job  through- 
out is  simply  tropical,  and  his  real  thought  is 
that  God's  treatment  of  him  is  as  severe  as  if,  in 
addition  to  his  actual  transgressions,  he  were 
burdened  with  a  multitude  of  such  as  had  been 
fabricated  (comp.  Hengstenberg  on  the  passage). 
Hence  the  rendering  of  Ewald:  "Thou  hast 
patched  up,  sewed  up  my  transgression"  [E.  V., 
Dillmann,  Good,  Wemyss,  Bernard,  Con.,  Barnes, 
Dav.,  Rod.],  is  equally  unnecessary  with  the 
similar  rendering  of  Umbreit,  Yaih.,  Bottch. : 
"  and  Thou  covercst  up  my  sins."  Substan- 
tially the  right  interpretation  is  given  by  Roscn- 
mliller,  Arnh.,  Hirz.,  Welte,  Delitzsch,  Ilengst. 
[Gesen.,  Fiirst,  Noyes,  Renan,  Words.]. 

[The  main  argument  in  favor  of  the  interpre- 
tation adopted  here  by  Zockler  is  that  7i3U 
means  properly  not  to  sew  up,  but  "to  sew  on, 


patch  on,  and  gen.  to  add."  So  Delitzsch.  But 
(1):  It  looks  very  much  like  hyper-criticism  to 
decide,  from  a  very  limited  usage,  that  a  word, 
the  essential  meaning  of  which  is  to  sew,  may 
mean  to  sew  on,  but  cannot  mean  to  sew  up  ;  or, 
if  the  essential  meaning  be  to  plaster,  to  patch, 
that  it  may  mean  to  patch  on  to  (to  add  a  patch), 
but  not  to  patch  over.  (2)  The  point  becomes 
still  weaker  in  a  case  where  the  word  is  used, 
as  here,  in  a  figurative,  not  a  literal  sense.  (3) 
The  parallelism  favors  the  meaning  to  sew,  or 
to  patch  up.  It  seems  somewhat  incongruous, 
after  representing  God  as  having  sealed  up 
tran.'^grcssions  in  a  bag,  to  represent  Him  in  the 
next  clause  as  stitching,  patching,  or  fabricating 
other  sins.  On  the  other  hand,  the  thought  of 
sealing  sin  in  a  bag  is  suitably  supplemented  by 
the  thought  that  the  bag  is  not  only  officially 
sealed,  but  carefully  sewed  together;  or  if, 
with  Bernard,  we  explain:  "With  such  cara 
dost  Thou  store  up  my  iniquities  in  Thy  bag, 
that  if  Thou  seest  the  slightest  possibility  of  its 
giving  way  in  any  part,  so  that  some  of  them 
might  slip  out  and  be  lost.  Thou  immediately 
stoppest  up  the  hole  with  a  patch."  (4)  Admit- 
ting that  the  apparent  blasphemy  of  the  expres- 
sion may  be  explained  away,  as  above  by  Zcick- 
ler,  its  admitted  audacity  still  remains.  But  Job 
is  not  now  in  one  of  his  Titanic  moods  of  defiance. 
He  resembles  not  so  much  Prometheus  hurling 
charges  against  the  Tyrant  of  the  skies,  as  Ham- 
let, meditating  pensively  on  death  and  the  "  undis- 
covered country  from  whose  bourne  no  traveller 
returns,"  but  with  an  infinitely  purer  pathos 
than  is  found  even  in  the  soliloquy  of  "  the  me- 
lancholy Dane."  It  is  but  a  moment  ago  (ver. 
15  h)  that  he  recognized  in  a  strain  of  inimitable 
beauty  the  yearning  bent  of  Creative  Love. 
He  is  now  indeed  complaining  of  the  present 
severity  of  God's  dealings  with  him,  but  the 
plaintive  tenderness  of  that  sentiment  still  floats 
over  his  spirit  and  lingers  in  his  words,  soften- 
ing them  into  the  tone  of  a  subdued  reproachful 
moan,  very  different  from  the  bitter  outcry  of 
rebellious  defiance. — E.] 

Fifth  Strophe :  vers.  18-22,  Conclusion:  com- 
pleting the  gloomy  delineation  of  that  which  in 
reality  awaited  Job,  in  opposition  therefore  to 
the  yearning  desire  of  his  heart. 

Ver.  18.  But  in  sooth  a  falling  mountain 
crumbles  away:  observe  the  paronomasia  iu 
the  original  between  the  participle  7Dij  de- 
scribing in  and  ^21  6l3')-  [dS^XI  at  the  be- 
ginning  as  elsewhere  strongly  adversative, 
introducing  in  opposition  to  the  dream  of  a  pos- 
sible restoration  in  the  preceding  strophe  the 
stern  reality,  the  inexorable  and  universal  law, 
which  dooms  everything  to  destruction.  The 
use  of  this  conjunction  here  is  a  strong  confirm- 
ation of  the  position  maintained  in  the  conclu- 
ding remarks  on  ver.  17  that  the  sentiment  of 
vers.  15-17  lingers  also  around  vers.  10,  17,  and 
that  accordingly  ver.  17  b  cannot  be  a  daring 
suggestion  of  the  charge  of  fabricating  iniquity 
against  Job. — E.] — And  a  rock  grows  old 
out  of  its  place.  Pj^'  is  rightly  rendered: 
"  to  grow  old,  to  decay "  by  the  LXX.,  and 
among  moderns  by  Hirzel,  Umbreit,  Vaihinger, 
Schloitmann.     The   topical    meaning:     "to    be 


414 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


removed"  is  indeed  admissible,  and  is  sup- 
ported by  the  Vulg.,  Rosenm.,  Ewald,  Habn, 
and  generally  by  the  majority  of  moderns.  The 
more  pregnant  meaning  of  the  pasi=age,  however, 
■would  be  lost  by  the  adoption  of  this  latter  ren- 
dering, which  is  simply  prosaic  in  its  simplicity. 
Ver.  10.  In  this  verse  a  and  h  continue  the 
series  of  figures  begun  in  ver.  18,  which  are 
intended  to  illustrate  the  unceasing  operation 
of  the  Divine  penalty  or  process  of  destruction 
decreed  for  men,  whereas  c  first  introduces  that 
which  is  to  be  illustrated  by  means  of  the  1 
adxqualinnis  (as  in  ch.  v.  7;  xi.  12;  xii.  11). 
"Water  hollows  out  stones  (comp.  the  Lat. 
gutta  cavat  lapidem) ;  its  floods  'wash  away 

the  dust  of  the  earth.  ^b"'n,  fem.  sing., 
referring  to  the  plural  iT'n'pp,  according  to 
Gesenius,  §  1-46  [§  143]  3,'  [Cfreen.  I  'lib,  4. 
The  harshness  of  the  construction  which  is 
necessitated  by  taking  H'SO  in  the  sense  which 
belongs  to  it  elsewhere  of  a  self-sown  growth, 
is  shown  in  the  rendering  of  E.  V.:  "Thou 
washest  away  the  things  which  grow  out  of  the 
dust  of  the  earth."  Moreover,  the  limitation — 
"self-sown" — is  against  this  rendering,  which 
would  require  rather  some  more  comprehensive 

term,  such  as  i^T.     The  fem.  suffix  in  nTTiJD 

:  TV*: 

originates  in  the  same  principle  which  deter- 
mines the  fem.  form  of  the  verb,  and  like  the 
latter  refers  to  D]D. — E.]. — And  the  hope  of 
mortal  man  [note  the  use  of  ti'lJ^?,  bringing 
man  into  the  category  of  destructible  matter. — 
E.] — Thou  destroyest:  i.  e.  just  as  incessantly 
and  irresistibly  as  the  physical  objects  here 
mentioned  yield  to  the  gradual  processes  of  de- 
struction in  nature,  so  dost  Thou  cause  man  to 
perish  without  any  hope  of  being  brought  to 
life  again,  and  this  too  at  once,  suddenly 
(J11!3Nn,  Perf.  of  the  accomplished  fact.  [For 
the  form  of  the  verb  see  Green,  §112,  3]). 
The  four  figures  here  used  are  not  intro- 
duced to  exemplify  the  idea  of  incessant 
change  ruling  in  the  realm  of  nature,  whereas 
from  man  all  hope  of  a  change  for  the 
better  in  his  lot  is  taken  away  (so  Hahn, 
who  takes  the  1  in  c  in  the  adversative  sense, 
but  they  describe  the  processes  of  destruction  in 
nature,  and  more  especially  in  the  lower  sphere 
of  inorganic  nature,  as  types  of  the  gradual 
ceaseless  extinction  to  which  man  succumbs  in 
death.  This  moreover  is  not  to  be  understood  as 
though  Job  contemplated  those  processes  witli  a 
view  to  console  himself  with  the  thought  that  his 
destruction  in  death  was  a  natural  necessity, 
(Hirzel),  but  in  order  to  exhibit  as  forcibly  and 
thoroughly  as  possible  the  absolute  hopelessness 
of  his  condition  in  prospect  of  the  dark  future 
which  death  holds  up  before  him  ;  see  vers.  20- 
22,  which  admit  of  no  other  than  this  disconso- 
late sentiment  for  ver.  19  c.  [The  descending 
gradation  in  the  series  of  objectsfrom  which  the 
illustrations  here  are  takeu  is  quite  noticeable — 
mountain — rock — stones — dust;  and  suggests  at 
least  the  query  whether  we  do  not  have  here 
something  more  than  four  distinct  emblems  of 
decay,  whether  it  is  not  intended  to  show  a  suc- 
cession of  stages  in  the  process:   the  mountains 


crumbling  into  rocks,  the  rocks  breaking  down 
from  age  into  stones,  the  stones  wearing  away 
into  dust,  and  the  dust  being  washed  by  the  wa- 
ters into  the  abyss ;  whether  accordingly  all  na- 
ture is  not  thus  resolving  itself  into  the  dust  to 
which  man  too  at  the  last  returns  What  hope 
is  there  indeed  for  man,  whose  "  house  of  clay 
is  crushed  like  the  moth  "  (ch.  xiv.  19),  when 
the  doom  even  of  the  everlasting  mountains  is — 
dust!— E.]. 

Ver.  20.  Thou  overpowerest  him  forever 
— then  he  passeth  aw^ay. — ^pn  with  accus, 
if  the  person  is  not:  "to  assail"  (Hirzel)  [Con. 
Del.],  but  as  in   ch.  xv.  24;  Eccles.   iv.   12,  "to 

overpower,"  and  n^J7  is  not  "continually 
evermore,"  but  "  forever ;"  comp.  ch.  iv.  20  ; 
XX.  7 ;  xxiii.  7. — As  to  the  emphatic  ^7n2T» 
"then  he  passeth  away,"  Greek  (Satvei,  blx^rac, 
comp.  ch.  X.  21 ;  also  in  respect  of  form  the  same 
poet.  Imperf.  in  ch.  xvi.  8,  22  ;  xx.  25. — Dis- 
figuring his  countenance,  so  Thou  send- 
est  him  avray  ;  i.  e.,  in  the  struggle  of  death, 
or  when  decay  sets  in,  Thou  makest  him  unlike 
himself,  distortest  his  features,  etc.,  and  so  send- 

est  him  forth  out  of  this  life  (Hvl^  as  in  Lev. 
XX.  23 ;  Jer.  xxviii,  16 ;  the  1  consecut.  very 
nearly  as  in  Ps.  cxviii.  27). 

Ver.  21.  Should  his  sons  be  in  honor,  he 
knows  it  not;  if  they  are  aba-sed  he  per- 
ceives them  not :  [7  after  Vl  here  of  the 
direct  object :  in  ch.  xiii.  1  however  as  daf.  ethi- 
ciis.  Del.].  The  same  contrast  between  1^3,  to 
come  to  honor,  and  *11'y,  to  be  insignificant,  to 
sink  into  contempt,  is  presented  in  Jer.  xxx.  19; 
for  123  comp.  also  Is.  Ixvi.  5.  The  mention  of 
the  children  of  the  dead  man  has  nothing  re- 
markable about  it,  since  Job  is  here  speaking  in 
general  terms  of  all  men,  not  especially  of  him- 
self. It  is  somewhat  difi'erent  in  ch.  xix.  17  ; 
see  however  on  the  passage.  The  description  in 
the  passage  before  us  of  the  absolute  ignorance 
of  the  man  who  is  in  Sheol  of  that  which  takes 
place  in  the  world  above,  reminds  us  of  ch.  iii. 
13  seq.  Comp.  in  addition  Eccles.  ix.  5,  6  (see 
Coram,  on  the  passage). 

Ver.  22.  Only  his  flesh  in  him  feels  pain, 
and  his  soul  in  him  mourns:  t.  e.,  he  him- 
self, his  nature,  being  analyzed  into  its  consti- 
tuent parts  of  soul  and  body  (comp.  ch.  xvii.  IG), 
perceives  nothing  more  of  the  bright  life  of  the 
upper  world  ;  he  has  only  the  experience  of  pain 
and  sorrow  which  belongs  to  the  joyless,  gloomy 
existence  of  the  inhabitants  of  Sheol,  surrounded 
by  eternal  night.  The  brevity  of  the  expression 
makes  it  impossible  to  decide  with  certainty  whe- 
ther Job  here  assumes  that  man  carries  with  him 
to  Sheol  a  certain  corporeality  (a  certain  residue, 
kernel,  or  some  reflex  of  the  earthly  body),  or 
whether  he  mentions  the  "  flesh  "  along  with  the 
"  soul"  because  (as  is  perhaps  the  case  also  in 
Is.  Ixvi.  24;  Judith  xvi.  17)  he  attributes  to  the 
decaying  body  in  tlie  grave  a  certain  conscious- 
ness of  its  decay  (Dillmann;  comp.  Delitzsch, 
who  would  cast  on  the  departed  soul  at  least  "  a 
painful  reflection  "  of  that  process).  Tlie  former 
view,  however,  is  the  more  probable  in  view  of 


CHAPS.  XII— XIV. 


415 


what,  is  said  in  cli.  xix.  27  (see  below,  Doctrinal 
and  Ethical  Remarks  on  oh.  xix.,  No.  8).     By 

means  of  V;^,  "  in  him,"  occurring  in  both 
members,  the  two  factors  of  the  nature  belong- 
ing to  the  man  who  has  died  are  emphatically 
represented  as  belonging  to  him,  as  being  his 
own;  the  suffixes  in  'llJi'B  and  W2^  are  thus  in 

T  :  :  - 

like  manner  strengthened  by  this  doubled  V^JT 
as  in  Greek  the  possessive  pron.  by  hhoq.  It  is 
not  probable  that  "IjN  "  only,"  is  through  a  hy- 

perbaton  to  be  referred  simply  to  viy ,  express- 
ing the  thought :  "  only  he  himself  is  henceforth 
the  object  of  his  experiences  of  pain  and  mourn- 
ing, he  concerns  himself  no  more  about  the 
thiogs  of  the  upper  world  (Hirzel,  Delitzsch), 
[Noyes,  Schlott.].  This  rendering  is  at  variance 
with  the  position  of  the  words,  and  with  the  dou- 
bled use  of  V/^*.  Dillmann  rightly  says :  "  the 
limiting  '^X  belongs  immediately  not  to  the  sub- 
ject, but  to  the  action:  he  no  longer  knows  and 
perceives  the  things  of  the  upper  world,  he  is 
henceforth  only  conscious  of  pain,  p/c."  Heng- 
stenberg  on  the  contrary  arbitrarily  explains 
[and  so  Wordsworth]  :  The  situation  in  ver.  22 
is  in  general  not  that  of  the  dead,  but  of  one  who 
is  on  the  point  of  death,  of  whose  flesh  (animated 
as  yet  by  the  soul)  alone  could  the  sense  of  pain 
be  predicted  (?). 

[Vers.  21,  22  are  a  description  of  the  after- 
life in  two  of  its  principal  aspects.  (1)  As  one 
of  absolute  separation  from  the  present,  and  so 
of  entire  unconsciousness  and  independence  in 
regard  to  all  that  belongs  to  life  on  earth  (ver. 
21). — (2).  As  one  of  self-absorbed  misery,  the 
self-absorption  being  indicated  by  the  repeated 

VIV,  and  the  double  suffixes  in  each  member  of 

T    T 

ver,  22.  The  thought  of  ver.  21  leads  naturally 
to  that  of  ver.  22.  The  departed  knows  nothing 
of  the  living,  nothing  of  all  that  befalls  those 
who  during  life  were  in  the  closest  union  with 
himself ;  the  consciousness  of  his  own  misery  fills 
him.  ' 

The  description  in  ver.  22  of  his  experience 

of  that  misery  is  more  obscure. — 7J7  may  be  ren- 
dered— "  on  account  of"  :  "  only  on  his  own  ac- 
count his  flesh  sufi"ereth  pain,  etc.^'  The  objec- 
tion to  this  is  its  non-emphatic  position,  and  the 
separation  between  it  and  '^X.  In  any  case  the 
suffix  V  refers  to  the  man,  not  fas  Conant,  Dav., 
Ren.,  Rod.)  to  "flesh"  in  a,  and  to  "soul"  in 
b,    for   in   that   case  U'ipp  would   require  •T'yJ'- 

The  proper  rendering  of  V/J,*  therefore  is  "  in 
him  "  (in  =  Germ,  an  ;  i.  e.,  his  flesh  and  spirit 
as  belovjing  to  him,  as  that  with  which  he  is  in- 
vested).— But  why  connect  the  "  flesh  "  here  with 
the  "  soul  ?"  The  simplest  explanation  seems  to 
be  that  the  realm  of  the  dead,  the  under-world, 
in  its  broadest  extent  embraces  both  the  grave, 
where  the  body  lies,  and  Hades  where  the  soul 
goes,  as  may  ba  seen  in  Ps.  xvi,  10,  where  n)<p 
and  nnfj/  are  conjoined  ;  and  that  accordingly, 
hy  poetic  personification,  the  mouldering  flesh 
is  here  represented  as  sharing  the  aching  dis- 


content, the  lingering  misery  of  the  imprisoned 
soul.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  even  for  us  to 
speak  of  the  comfort,  rest,  equality,  etc.,  of  the 
grave,  as  though  its  occupants  might  have  some 
consciousness  of  the  same.  So  on  the  other 
hand  it  would  seem  that  Job  here  introduces  into 
the  resting-place  of  the  body  something  of  that 
which  made  the  place  of  the  departed  soul  an 
object  of  dread.  It  mm/  be  indeed,  as  our  Comm. 
suggests  above,  that  the  passage  reflects  some 
peculiarity  in  the  opinion  of  antiquity  touching 
the  relation  of  the  corporeal  and  spiritual  parts 
of  humanity,  after  death,  but  our  grounds  for 
aflirming  this  are  too  precai'ious. — E.J. 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

It  is  undeniable  that  Job  in  this  reply  to  Zo- 
phar's  attack,  which  at  the  same  time  closes  the 
first  colloquy,  shows  himself  decidedly  superior 
to  the  three  friends  not  only  in  acuteness,  high 
poetic  flight  of  thought,  and  penetrative  fiery 
energy  of  expression,  but  also  in  what  may  be 
called  doctrinal  correctness,  or  purity.  In  the 
latter  respect  he  seems  to  have  made  progress  in 
the  right  direction  from  the  stand-point  which 
he  had  previously  occupied.  At  least  he  exhi- 
bits in  several  points  a  perception  of  sin  which 
is  in  some  measure  more  profound  and  accurate, 
in  so  far  as  he,  notwithstanding  that  he  repeats 
the  emphatic  asseveration  of  his  innocence  (see 
especially  ch.  xiii.  16,10),  makes  mention  of  his 
own  sins,  not  simply  of  those  of  his  opponents. 
No  doubt  it  is  one  of  his  principal  aims  to  criti- 
cize sarcastically  and  severely  their  one-sided 
wisdom  (ch.  xii.  2  seq. ;  xiii.  1  scq.)  ;  no  doubt 
he  censures  with  visible  satisfaction  the  one- 
I  sided  application  which  they  make  of  their  nar- 
row doctrine  of  retribution,  and  holds  (ch.  xiii. 
9)  that  if  God  in  the  exercise  of  rigid  justice, 
should  scrutinize  them,  the  result  would  be  any- 
thing but  favorable  to  them!  Now,  however, 
more  decidedly  and  explicitly  than  in  his  previ- 
ous apologies,  he  includes  himself  also  in  the 
universal  mass  of  those  who  are  sinfully  corrupt 
and  guilty  before  God.  He  several  times  admits 
in  the  last  division  (ch.  xiii.  23— xiv.  22)  that 
by  his  sin  he  had  furnished  the  inexorable  Di- 
vine Judge,  if  not  with  v.alid  and  sufficient  cause 
at  least  with  occasion  for  the  severe  treatment 
which  He  had  exercised  toward  him.  Here  belongs 
the  prayer,  addressed  to  God  to  show  him  how 
much  and  how  grievously  he  had  in  truth  sinned 
(ch.  xiii.  23).  Here  also  belongs  the  supposi- 
tion which  he  expresses  (ch.  xiii.  2G)  that  pos- 
sibly it  was  the  "transgressions  of  his  youth" 
of  which  he  was  now  called  to  make  supplemen- 
tary confession;  and  following  thereupon  we 
have  his  lamentation — which  reminds  us  of 
David's  penitential  priyer  (Ps.  li.  7;  comp.  Ps. 
xiv.  3) — concerning  the  nature  of  human  depra- 
vity, which  he  represents  as  embracing  all,  and 
organically  transmitting  itself,  so  that  no  one  is 
excepted  from  it  (ch.  xiv.  4) — an  utterance  which 
agrees  in  substance  with  the  proposition  pre- 
viously advanced  by  Eliphaz  (ch.  iv.  17),  but 
which  more  profoundly  authenticates  the  truth 
under  consideration,  so  that  the  Church  tradi- 
tion is  perfectly  justified  in  finding  in  it  one  of 
the  cardin.ll  sedes  doctrinm  on  the  subject  of  ori- 


416 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


ginfxl  sin.     Here  finally  belongs  the  description, 
involving  another  distinct  confession  of  his  own 
sinfulness,  in  which  he  shows  how  God  unspa- 
ringly puTiishes  his  sin,  lies  in  wait,  as  it  were, 
for  it,   and  carefully   notes   it   in    His   book    (a 
thought  which  is  fayored  by  the  corresponding 
Hebrew  expression  "  to  seal   transgression  in  a 
Isag") — nay,  more,  seems  to  interest  Himself  in 
wilfully  enlarging  this.  His  register  of  sins  (ch. 
xiv.  16,  17).     With  these  several  indications  of 
a  more  profound  and  comprehensive  conscious- 
ness of  sin,  which  are  indeed  still  far  from  sig- 
nifying a  genuine  contrite  submission  beneath 
God's  righteous  discipline,  that  true  penitence 
which  God's  personal  interposition  at  last  works 
in  him  (ch.  xlii.  2  seq.),    there    stands   imme- 
diately connected  another  evidence  of  progress 
in  Job's  frame  of  mind,  which  is  also  contained 
in  the  closing  division  of  this  discourse,   espe- 
cially in  the  14th  chapter,  which  is  character- 
ized by  wondrous  beauty  and  astonishing  power. 
Job  utters  here  for  the  first  time,  if  not  the  hope, 
at  least  the  yearning  desire  for  a  release  from  the 
state  of  death  (ch.  xiv.  13-17).     He  prays  that, 
instead  of  being  shut  up  in  an  eternally  forlorn 
separation  from  God  in  the  gloomy  realm  of 
shadows,  he  may  rather  be  only  kept  there  for  a 
season,  until  the  Divine  wrath  is  ended,   and 
then,  .when  the   Creator  should  remember  His 
creature,  to  be  restored  to  His  fatherly  love  and 
compassion.     This  does  not  indeed  amount  to  a 
hope  that  He  would  one  day  be  actually  released 
from  Hades ;  it  is  simply  a  dream,  born  of  the 
longing  of  this  sorely  tried  sufi"erer,  which   ima- 
gination summons  before  him  as  a  lovely  picture 
of  the  future,  of  which,  however,  he  himself  is 
the  next  moment  assured  that  it  can  never  be  a 
reality  !     If  we  should  still  call  it  a  hope,  we 
must  in  any  case  keep  in  view  the  wide  interval 
which  separates  this  forlorn  tiame  of  hope,  flick- 
ering up  for  once  only,  and  then  immediately 
dying   out,   from   that   hope    of  a   resurrection 
which  with  incomparably  greater  confidence  is 
expressed  in  ch.  xix.  25  seq.     At  best  we  can 
but  say,  with  Ewald:   "  The  hope  exists  only  in 
imagination,    without    becoming    a    certainty, 
while  the  speaker,  whom  it  has  surprised,  only 
follows  out  the  thought,  how  beautiful  and  glo- 
rious it  would  be,  were  it  really  so."     This  sim- 
ple   germ-hope    of    a    resurrection,    however, 
acquires  great  significance  as  a  step  in  the  doc- 
trinal and  ethical  course  of  thought,  in  our  book. 
For  it  is  the  clear  radiance  of  an  unconscious 
prophecy  of  the  future  deliverance  of  spirits  out 
of  their  prison  through  Christ's  victory  over  the 
powers   of  darkness   (Matt.  xii.  40  seq.;    Luke 
xxiii.  43;  Eph.  iv.  8  seq. ;  Phil.  ii.  10  seq. ;  Col. 
ii.  15;  1  Pet.  iii.  18  seq.;  Rev.  i.   18;  Heb.   ii. 
14),  which  here  shines  forth  in  the  depths  of  a 
Boul  beclouded  by  the  sorrows  of  death.     On  the 
other  side  Job  expresses  so  strong  a  yearning 
after  permanent  reconciliation  with  his  Creator, 
so  pure  a  representation   of  the  nature  of  tlie 
communion  of  man  with  God,  as  a  relation  which 
behooves   to    be   of  eternal  duration,   that  this 
very  intensity  of  the  religious  want  and  longing 
of  his  heart  carries  with   it,  in  a  measure,  the 
pledge  that  his  yearning  was  not  in  vain,  or  that 
his  k'kmL,Eiv  Trap'  £/l:r/Ja  would  one  day  be  ful- 
filled.    Comp.  on  the  one  side  what  is  said  by 


Schlottmann,  who  (on  ver.  15)  rightly  empha- 
sizes the  thought  that  "Job  must  have  had  a 
deep  experience  in  the  past  of  the  inwardness 
of  the  relation  between  the  creature  and  his 
Creator,  if  he  was  able  to  give  such  an  expres- 
sion to  it  as  this  di'eamy  hope  of  the  future ;"  — 
on  the  other  side  by  Delitzsch,  who  not  less 
strikingly  and  beautifully  points  out  "  how  totally 
different  would  have  been  Job's  endurance  of 
suflfering,  if  he  had  but  known  that  there  was 
really  a  release  from  Hades,"  and  how  at  the 
same  time  in  the  wish  of  Job  that  it  might  be 
so,  til  ere  is  revealed  "  the  incipient  tendency  of  the 
groiving  hope.'"  "For,"  he  continues,  "the 
author  of  our  book  confirms  us  in  what  one  of 
the  old  writers  says,  that  the  hope  of  eternal  life 
is  a  flower  which  grows  on  the  brink  of  hell. 
In  the  midst  of  the  hell  of  the  feeling  of  God'a 
wrath,  in  which  Job  is  sunk,  this  flower  blooms 
for  him.  In  its  blooming,  however,  it  is  not  yet. 
a  hope,  but  a  longing.  And  this  longing  cannot 
unfold  itself  into  a  hope,  because  no  light  of 
promise  shines  into  the  night  which  rules  in 
Job's  soul,  and  which  makes  the  conflict  yet 
darker  than  it  is  in  itself." 

2.  When  we  compare  Job's  frame  of  mind, 
and  religious  and  moral  views  of  the  world,  as 
indicated  in  this  discourse,  with  those  expressed 
in  his  former  discourses,  we  find  these  two  points 
of  superiority  and  progress :  a  more  correct  in- 
sight into  s'n,  and  above  all,  in  his  relation  to 
the  Divine  Creatoi',  an  inward  sense  of  fellow- 
ship blossoming  into  what  is  at  least  a  lively 
longing  after  eternal  union  with  God.  In  other 
respects,  however,  the  present  outpouring  of  his 
sorely  tempted  and  afilicted  heart  exhibits  retro- 
gression rather  than  progress.  The  illusion  of 
a  God  tyrannically  tormenting  and  hostilely 
persecuting  him  has  a  stronger  hold  upon  him 
than  ever  before  (see  especially  ch.  xiii.  15  seq.). 
And  this  illusion  is  all  the  stronger  in  that,  on 
the  one  hand,  he  finds  within  himself  that  the 
witness  of  his  conscience  to  his  innocence  is 
more  positive  than  ever  (ch.  xiii.  16,  19),  while 
on  the  other  hand,  he  is  unable  to  free  himself 
from  the  preconceived  opinion  which  influences 
him  equally  with  the  three  friends,  which  admits 
no  other  BuS'ering  to  be  possible  for  men  than 
that  of  penal  retribution  for  sin  (comp.  ch.  xiii. 
23,  26;  xiv.  16  seq.).  There  arises  thus  a 
strange  conflict  between  his  conscience^  which 
is  comparatively  pure,  and  the  gloomy  anxieties 
produced  by  that  preconceived  notion,  and  by 
the  contemplation  at  the  same  time  of  his 
unspeakable  wretchedness — a  conflict  which,  in 
proportion  as  he  neither  can  nor  will  relinquish 
his  own  righteousness,  urges  him  to  cast  suspi- 
cion on  God's  righteousness,  and  to  accuse  Him 
of  merciless  severity.  This  unsolved  antinomy 
produces  within  him  a  temper  of  agonizing 
gloominess,  which  in  ch.  xiii.  13  seq.  expresses 
Itself  more  in  presumptuous  bluster  and  Titan- 
like storming  against  God's  omnipotence,  in  ch. 
xiv.  1  seq.  more  in  a  tone  of  elegiac  lamentation 
and  mourning.  Immediately  connected  here- 
with is  the  melancholy,  deeply  tragical  charac- 
ter which  attaches  to  his  utterances  from  begin- 
ning to  end  of  this  discourse.  For  it  has  been 
truly  remarked  of  the  passage  in  ch.  xii.  7  seq., 
in  which,   with  a  view  to  surpass  and  eclipse 


CHAPS.  XII— XIV. 


4i; 


that  which  had  been  said  in  the  right  direction 
by  his  three  predecessors,  he  describes  the 
absolute  majesty  of  God  in  nature  and  in  the 
history  of  liumanity,  that  it  is  "a  night-scene 
{^Nachtgemalde),  picturing  the  catastrophes  which 
God  brings  to  pass  among  the  powers  of  the 
world  of  nature  and  of  humanity;"  and  that 
the  one-sidedly  abstract,  negative,  repelling, 
rather  than  attractive  representation  of  God's 
wisdom,  is  the  reflection  of  the  midnight  gloom 
of  his  own  feelings,  which  permits  him  to  con- 
template God  essentially  only  on  the  side  of 
His  majesty,  His  isolation  from  the  world,  and 
His  destructive  activity.  ["For  the  wisdom 
of  God,  of  which  he  speaks,  is  not  the  wisdom 
that  orders  the  world  in  which  one  can  con- 
fide, and  in  which  one  has  the  surety  of  see- 
ing every  mystery  of  life  sooner  or  later  glo- 
riously solved;  but  this   wisdom   is   something 

purely  negative Of  the  justice  of  God 

he  does  not  speak  at  all,  for  in  the  narrow 
idea  of  the  friends  he  cannot  recognize  its  con- 
trol; and  of  the  love  of  God  he  speaks  as  little 
as  the  friends,  for  as  the  sight  of  the  Divine  love 
is  removed  from  them  by  the  one-sidedness  of 
their  dogma,  so  is  it  from  him  by  the  feeling  of 
the  wrath  of  God  which  at  present  has  posses- 
sion of  his  whole  being.  Hegel  has  called  the 
religion  of  the  Old  Testament  the  religion  of  sub- 
limity; and  it  is  true  that,  so  long  as  that  ma- 
nifestation of  love,  the  incarnation  of  the  God- 
head, was  not  yet  realized,  God  must  have  rela- 
tively transcended  the  religious  consciousness. 
From  the  book  of  Job,  however,  this  view  can  be 
brought  back  to  its  right  limits;  for,  according 
to  the  tendency  of  the  book,  neither  the  idea  of 
God  presented  by  the  friends,  nor  by  Job,  is  the 
pure  undimmed  notion  of  God  that  belongs  to 
the  Old  Testament.  The  friends  conceive  of  God 
as  the  absolute  One,  who  acts  only  according  to 
justice  ;  Job  conceives  of  Him  as  the  absolute 
One,  who  acts  according  to  the  arbitrariness  of 
His  absolute  power.  According  to  the  idea  of 
the  book,  the  former  is  dogmatic  one-sidedness, 
the  latter  the  conception  of  one  passing  through 
temptation.  The  God  of  the  Old  Testament  con- 
sequently rules  neither  according  to  justice  alone 
nor  according  to  a  '  sublime  whim.'  "  Delitzsch 
I. :  239,  240]. 

It  has  been  still  further  truly  remarked  that 
the  mournfulness  of  his  lamentations  over  the 
hopeless  disappearance  of  man  in  the  eternal 
night  of  the  grave — in  contemplating  which  he 
is  led  to  regard  the  changes  which  take  place  in 
the  vegetable  kingdom  as  more  comforting  and 
hope-inspiring  than  the  issue  of  man's  life,  with 
which  he  can  compare  only  the  processes  of  de- 
struction and  the  catastrophes  of  inorganic  na- 
ture (chap.  xiv.  7seq.,  18seq.) — has  its  echo  in 
classical  heathenism  in  such  passages  as  the  fol- 
lowing from  IIoEACE  i^Od.  IV.  7, 1): 

"  Nos  xibi  decidimus 
Quo  pins  JEneas,  quo  dives  Tullus  ot  Ancus, 
Pulvis  et  umbra sumus." 

Or  like  this  from  Homer  [II.  VI.  146  seq.) : 

"Like  the  race  of  leaves 
Is  that  of  humankind.     Upon  tho  ground 
The  winds  strew  one  year's  leaves  ;  the  sprouting  wood 
PutB  fjrth  another  brood,  that  shoot  and  grow 

27 


In  the  spring  season.    So  it  is  with  man  ; 
One  generation  grows  while  one  decays  ;" 

(Bryant's  Trand.) 

Or  like  this  meditation  of  Simonides  [Anthol.  Or. 

Appendix,  83) : 

"Nought  among  men  unchangeable  endures. 
Sublime  the  truth  which  he  of  Chios  spoke: 
'  Men's  gencnitions  are  like  those  of  leaves  !' 
Vet  few  are  they  who,  having  heard  tho  truth 
Lodge  it  within  their  hearts,  for  hope  abides 
With  all,  and  in  the  breasts  of  youth  is  planted." 

Or  like  tliis  elegy  from  Moschus  (III.   lOGseq.): 

"  The  meanest  herb  we  trample  in  the  field, 
Or  in  tho  garden  nurture,  when  its  leaf, 
At  winter's  touch  is  blasted,  and  its  place 
Forgotten,  Boon  its  vernal  buds  renews, 
And,  from  short  slumber,  wakes  to  life  again. 
Slan  wakes  no  more ! — man  valiant,  gloriouH,  wise, 
When  death  once  chills  him,  sinks  in  sleep  profound, 
A  long,  unconscious,  never-ending  Bleep." 

(GiSBORNE.) 

Or  like  that  saying  of  the  Arabian  panegy- 
rist of  Muhamed,  Kaabi  ben-Sohair: — "Every 
one  born  of  Woman,  let  bis  good  fortune 
last  never  so  long,  is  at  last  borne  away  on  the 
bier,  etc."  :  or  like  that  still  more  impressive  de- 
scription in  the  Jagur  Veda:  "While  the  tree 
that  has  fallen  sprouts  again  from  the  root, 
fresher  than  before,  from  what  root  does  mortal 
man  spring  forth  when  he  has  fallen  by  the  hand 
of  death?" 

Finally,  it  has  been  rightly  shown  that  besides 
the  tone  of  mourning  and  hopeless  lamentation 
which  sounds  through  this  discourse,  it  is  also 
pervaded  by  a  tone  of  bitterness  and  grievous  ir- 
ritation on  the  part  of  Job,  not  only  against  the 
friends  (this  being  most  forcibly  expressed  in 
ch.  iv.  7  seq.)  but  even  in  a  measure  against  God, 
especially  in  those  passages  where  he  presump- 
tuously undertakes  to  argue  with  Him  (ch.  xiii. 
13  seq.),  and  where  he  even  reproaches  Him 
with  making  fictitious  and  arbitrary  additions  to 
His  list  of  charges,  after  the  manner  of  the 
friends  when  they  calumniated  him  and  invented 
falsehoods  against  him  (ch.  xiv.  17;  see  on  the 
passage).  A  singular  contrast  with  this  tone  of 
defiant  accusations  is  furnished  in  the  plaintive 
pleading  tone  with  which  he  submits  the  twofold 
condition  on  which  he  is  willing  to  prosecute  his 
controversy  with  God,  to  wit,  that  God  would  al- 
low a  respite  for  a  season  from  his  sufferings, 
and  that  He  would  not  terrify  and  confound  iiira 
with  His  majesty  (ch.  xiii.  20-22).  It  is  every- 
where the  terrible  idea  of  a  God  who  deals  with 
men  purely  according  to  His  arbitrary  caprici', 
not  according  to  the  motives  of  righteousness  and 
a  Father's  love,  this  "phantom  which  the  temp- 
tation has  presented  before  his  dim  vision  instead 
of  the  true  God," — it  is  this  which  drives  him  to 
these  passionate  oufbreaks,  which  in  several  re- 
spects remind  us  of  the  attitude  of  a  hero  of 
Greek  tragedy  towards  the  fearful  might  of  an 
inexorable  Fate.  ["This  phantom  is  still  the 
real  God  to  him,  but  in  other  respects  in  no  way 
dift'ering  from  tiie  inexorable  ruling  fate  of  the 
Greek  tragedy.  As  in  this  the  hero  of  the  drama 
seeks  to  maintain  his  personal  freedom  against 
the  mysterious  power  that  is  crushing  him  with 
an  iron  arm,  so  Job,  even  at  the  risk  of  sudden 
destruction,  maintains  the  steadfast  conviction 
of  his  innocence  in  opposition  to  a  God  who  ha^ 


418 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


devoted  him,  as  an  evil-doer,  to  slow  but  certain 
destruction.  It  is  the  same  battle  of  freedom 
against  necessity  as  in  the  Greek  tragedy.  Ac- 
cordingly one  is  obliged  to  regard  it  as  an  error, 
arising  from  simple  ignorance,  when  it  has  been 
recently  maintained  that  the  boundless  oriental 
imagination  is  not  equal  to  such  a  truly  exalted 
task  as  that  of  representing  in  art  and  poetry  the 
power  of  the  human  spirit,  and  the  maintenance 
of  its  dignity  in  the  conflict  with  hostile  powers, 
because  a  task  that  can  only  be  accomplished  by 
an  imagination  formed  with  a  perception  of  the 
importance  of  recognizing  ascertained  pheno- 
mena. In  treating  this  subject,  the  book  of  Job 
not  only  attains  to,  but  rises  far  above,  the  height 
attained  by  the  Greek  tragedy;  for  on  the  one 
hand  it  brings  this  conflict  before  us  in  all  the 
fearful  earnestness  of  a  death-struggle ;  on  the 
other  however  it  does  not  leave  us  to  the  cheer- 
less delusion  that  an  absolute  caprice  moulds  hu- 
man destiny.  This  tragic  conflict  with  the  Di- 
vine necessity  is  but  the  middle,  not  the  beginning 
nor  the  end,  of  the  book ;  for  this  god  of  fate  is 
not  the  real  God,  but  a  delusion  of  Job's  tempta- 
tion. Human  freedom  does  not  succumb,  but  it 
comes  forth  from  the  battle,  which  is  a  refining 
fire  to  it  as  conqueror.  The  dualism,  which  the 
Greek  tragedy  leaves  unexplained,  is  here  cleared 
up.  The  book  certainly  presents  much  which, 
from  its  tragic  character,  suggests  this  idea  of 
destiny,  but  it  is  not  its  final  aim — it  goes  far 
beyond:  it  does  not  end  in  the  destruction  of  its 
hero  by  fate ;  but  the  end  is  the  destruction  of 
the  idea  of  this  fate  itself,"  Delitzsch  I.  242 
seq.]. 

HOMILETICAL   AND    PRACTICAL. 

The  points  of  light  which  these  three  chapters 
exhibit  in  a  doctrinal  and  ethical  respect,  have 
a  background  of  gloom,  here  and  there  of  pro- 
found blackness.  The  homiletic  expositor  never- 
theless finds  in  them  in  rich  abundance  both 
texts  for  exhortation  and  comfort,  and  themes 
for  didactic  edification.  Here  belongs  of  course 
the  beautiful  passage  containing  the  physico- 
theological  argument  for  an  infinitely  powerful 
and  wise  Maker  and  Ruler  of  the  world  (ch.  xii. 
7-12) — a  passage  which  in  detail  indeed  exhibits 
no  progressive  development,  but  which  does  ne- 
vertheless present  an  occasion  for  such  a  teleo- 
logic  advance  of  thought,  in  so  far  as  it  dwells 
first  on  the  animal  world,  then  on  the  realm  of 
human  life  and  its  organic  functions,  in  order  to 
produce  from  both  witnesses  for  a  Supreme  Wis- 
dom ordering  all  things.  But  here  still  further 
belongs  the  description  which  follows  of  the  Di- 
vine majesty  and  strength  which  display  them- 
selves in  the  catastrophes  of  human  history  (ch. 
xii.  13-25), — a  description  which  may  be  made 
the  foundation  of  reflections  in  the  sphere  of 
historical  theology,  or  ethical  theology,  as  well 
as  the  physico-theological  argument.  Here 
belongs  again  the  passage  which  follows,  in 
which  Job  sharply  censures  the  unfriendly 
judgment  and  invidious  carping  of  his  oppo- 
nents (ch.  xiii.  1-12) — a  passage  which  reminds 
us  in  many  respects  of  New  Testament  teach- 
ings, as  e.  g.  of  Matt.  vii.  1-5,  and  of  Matt,  xxiii. 
2  seq. — Finally,  we  may  put  in  this  class  the 


lalnentation  in  the  closing  division,  especially 
in  ch.  xiv.,  over  the  vanity  and  perishableness 
of  the  life  of  man  on  earth,  which  is  compared 
now  to  a  driven  leaf,  now  to  the  process  of 
mouldering,  or  being  devoured  by  the  moth, 
now  to  a  fading  flower,  or  a  rock  worn  away 
and  hollowed  out  by  the  waters,  together  with 
those  passages  which  are  interwoven  with  this 
lamentation,  in  which  he  glances  at  the  begin- 
ning of  life,  poisoned  by  sin,  and  at  its  dismal 
outlook  in  the  future  appointed  for  it  after  death 
by  the  Divine  justice,  which  is  contemplated  by 
itself,  isolated  from  grace  and  mercy. — The  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  the  older  and  later  practi- 
cal expositors  may  serve  to  indicate  how  these 
themes  may  be  individually  treated. 

Ch.  xiii.  7-10.  Brentius:  All  creatures  pro- 
claim the  Creator,  and  cry  out  in  speech  that 
cannot  be  described :  God  has  made  me — as 
Paul  also  says  (Rom.  i.  19;  comp.  Ps.  xix.  1 
seq.).  If  any  one  therefore  properly  considers 
the  nature  of  beasts,  birds,  fishes,  he  will  dis- 
cover the  wonderful  wisdom  of  the  Creator  ( — 
certain  examples  of  the  same  being  here  brought 
forward,  such  as  the  instinct  which  the  deer 
and  the  partridge  exhibit,  the  wonderful  strength 
of  the  little  sucking-fish  [Echinei's]).  Thus  by 
the  natures  of  animals  the  invisible  majesty  of 
God  is  made  visible  and  manifest.  For  not  only 
did  God  create  all  things,  but  He  also  preserves, 
nourishes  and  sustains  all  things:  the  breath, 
whether  of  beasts  or  of  men,  is  all  lodged  in 
His  hand. — Cocceius:  What  all  these  things 
severally  contribute  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Creator,  as  it  would  be  a  most  useful  subject  of 
thought,  so  it  is  too  vast  to  be  here  set  forth  by 
us.  Suflice  it  that  Natural  Theology  is  here 
established  by  Job.  .  .  .  When  he  says  "this" 
(nxi,  ver.  9),  he  doubtless  points  out  individual 
things.  He  thus  confesses  that  every  single 
thing  was  made  and  is  governed  by  God,  not 
only  masses  of  things,  and  the  universe  as  a 
whole,  as  the  Jews  dream.  In  fact  individual 
animals,  plants,  etc.,  utter  their  testimony  to  the 
Divine  eflSciency.  .  .  .  These  opinions,  either 
by  the  light  of  nature,  or  the  intercourse  of  the 
fathers,  were  transmitted  even  to  the  gentiles. 
— Hengstexbeeq:  In  order  to  make  the  wisdom 
of  the  friends  quite  contemptible,  Job  attributes 
to  the  animals  a  knowledge  of  the  Divine  omni- 
potence and  wisdom,  their  existence  being  an 
eloquent  proof  of  those  attributes,  so  that  they 
can  become  teachers  of  the  man  who  should  be 
so  blind  and  foolish  as  to  fail  to  know  the 
divine  omnipotence  and  wisdom.  That  which 
can  be  learned  from  brutes,  that  as  to  which  we 
may  go  to  school  to  them,  Job  will  not  be  so 
foolish  as  not  to  know,  neither  will  he  need  to 
learn  it  first  from  his  wise  friends.  .  .  .  Just  as 
here  the  animals,  so  in  Ps.  xix.  the  heavens  are 
represented  as  declaring  the  glory  of  God,  which 
is  revealed  in  them.  Jehovah,  the  most  pro- 
found in  significance  of  the  Divine  names,  here 
bursts  forth  suddenly  out  of  its  concealment,  the 
lower  names  of  God  being  in  this  connection 
unsatisfactory.  Jehovah,  Jahveh,  the  One  who 
Is,  the  absolute,  pure  Being,  is  most  appropri- 
ately the  name  by  which  to  designate  the  First 
Cause  of  all  existences. 

Ch.  xii.  11-13.    CoccEius:  If  the  mind  judges 


CHAPS.  XII— XIV. 


410 


concerning  those  things  which  arc  presented 
either  by  signs,  such  as  words,  or  by  themselves, 
as  food  to  the  palate,  whetlier  they  are  true  or 
false,  useful  or  injurious;  if  by  experience  (by 
which  many  things  are  seen,  lieard,  examined), 
by  the  liuowledge  of  very  many  things,  and  of 
(hings  hidden,  and  by  sagacity  it  is  fitted  to 
make  a  proper  use  of  things — does  it  not  behoove 
that  God,  who  gave  these  things  should  be  omni- 
scient without  weakness,  nay,  with  fulness  of 
power,  so  that  all  things  must  obey  His  nod  ? 
For  He  beholds  not,  like  man,  that  which 
belongs  to  another,  but  that  which  is  His  own. 
Nevertheless  neither  is  judgment  given  to  man 
for  nouglit,  but  so  that  ho  may  have  some  power 
of  doing  that  which  is  useful,  of  refusing,  or  of 
not  accepting  that  which  is  hurtful.  Much  less 
is  God's  wisdom  to  be  exercised  apart  from  om- 
nipotence or  sovereignty  over  all  creatures. 

Ch.  xii.  16  seq.  Cramer:  Not  only  true  but 
also  false  teachers  are  God's  property;  but  He 
uses  the  latter  for  punishment  (2  Thess.  ii.  10), 
yet  in  such  a  way  that  He  knows  how  to  bring 
forth  good  out  of  their  ill  beginning.  The  Lord 
is  a  great  king  over  all  gods;  all  that  the  earth 
produces  is  in  His  hand  (Ps.  xcv.  3) ;  even  false 
religions  must  serve  His  purposes  (comp.  Oeco- 
lampadius,  who  remarks  on  ver.  16  6;  I  refer 
this  to  i}isvSo^pr;t7K£ia(;,  or  false  religions,  of  which 
the  whole  eartli  is  full;  he  says  here,  that  they 
come  to  be  by  His  nod  and  permission).  Such 
might  and  majesty  He  displays  particularly 
toward  the  mighty  kings  of  earth,  to  whom  He 
gives  lands  and  people,  and  takes  them  away 
again,  as  He  wills  (Dan.  iv.  29). — Zeyss:  Rulers, 
and  those  who  occupy  their  place,  should  dili- 
gently pray  to  God  that  He  would  keep  them 
from  foolish  and  destructive  measures  (in  diets, 
council-chambers,  in  regard  to  wars,  etc.),  in 
order  that  they  may  not  plunge  themselves  and 
their  subjects  into  great  distress  (I  Kings 
iii.  9). 

Ch.  xiii.  14  seq.  Brentius:  You  see  from 
this  passage  that  it  is  harder  to  endure  the  lia- 
bility and  dread  of  death  than  death  itself.  For 
it  is  not  hard  to  die,  seeing  that  whether  disease 
precedes  or  not,  death  itself  is  sudden;  but  to 
hear  in  the  conscience  the  sentence  of  death 
(scil. — Thou  shalt  surely  die!)  this  indeed  is 
most  hard  I  This  voice  no  man  can  hear  with- 
out despair,  unless,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Lord 
should  say  to  our  soul:  I  am  thy  salvation!  — 
Wohlfarth:  "Earthly  things  lost — little  lost; 
honor  lost — much  lost;  God  lost — all  lost!"  thus 
does  Job  admonish  us. 

Ch.  xiii.  23-28.  Oecolampadius:  See  the 
stages  by  which  the  calamities  come,  swelling 
one  above  the  other.  (1)  To  begin  with,  the 
face  is  hidden,  and  friendship  is  withheld ;  then 
(2)  enmity  is  even  declared ;  (3)  persecution 
follows,  and  that  without  mercy,  or  regard  for 
frailty;  (4)  reproaches  and  grave  accusations 
are  employed,  and  the  memory  of  past  delin- 
quencies is  revived ;  (5)  guards  are  imposed, 
lest  he  should  escape,  and  fetters  in  which  he 
must  rot.  (Mercier  and  others,  including  of  late 
Hengstenberg,  have  called  attention  to  these 
same  five  stages.) — Zeyss  (on  ver,  24)  :  Besides 


the  external  afiliction,  internal  trials  are  gene- 
rally added. — (On  ver.  26) :  Even  the  sins  of 
youth  God  brings  to  judgment  in  His  own  time 
(Ps.  XXV.  7).  Think  of  that,  young  men  and 
women,  and  flee  youthful  lusts! 

Ch.  xiv.  1  seq.  Brentius:  Man's  misery  is 
set  forth  by  the  simile  of  the  flower;  for  bodily 
beauty  and  durability  can  be  compared  to 
nothing  more  suitably  than  to  the  flower  and 
the  shadow.  .  .  .  Verily  with  what  miseries 
man  is  filled,  is  too  well  known  to  need  reciting. 
For  nowhere  is  there  any  state  or  condition  of 
men  which  does  not  have  its  own  cro.'-s  and  tri- 
bulation; and  thus  all  things  everywhere  are 
filled  with  crosses.  .  .  .  The  tiling  to  be  done, 
therefore,  is  not  to  shun  the  cross,  but  to  lay 
hold  on  Christ,  in  whom  every  cross  is  most 
easily  borne. — Zeyss:  Although  no  man  is  by 
nature  pure  and  holy  (ver.  4),  true  believers 
nevertheless  possess  through  Christ  a  two-fold 
purity:  (1)  in  respect  of  their  justification  ;  (2) 
in  respect  of  their  sanctification  and  renewal : 
Heb.  i.  3;  ix.  14;  1  John  i.  7,  etc. 

Ch.  xiv.  7  seq.  Zeyss:  As  a  tree  pprouts  up 
again,  so  will  men,  who  have  been  cut  down  by 
the  axe  of  death,  germinate  again  out  of  the 
grave  on  the  Last  Day ;  John  v.  28,  29. — Heng- 
stenberg:  The  prospect  of  a  future  life  here 
vanishes  away  from  Job.  How  indeed  could  it 
be  otherwise,  seeing  that  he  has  lost  altogether 
out  of  his  consciousness  and  experience  the  true 
nature  of  God,  on  which  that  hope  rests,  God's 
justice  and  mercy?  In  these  circumstances  the 
belief  in  an  endless  life  must  of  necessity  perish 
within  him,  for  to  this  faith  there  was  not  given 
until  the  latter  part  of  the  Old  Dispensation  any 
firm  declaration  from  God  to  which  it  could 
cling,  while  before  that  it  existed  rather  in  the 
form  of  a  longing,  a  yearning,  a  hope.  Further 
on,  however,  [in  Job's  history]  it  again  recovers 
its  power. 

Ch.  xiv.  13-17:  See  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Re- 
marks, No.  1. 

Ch.  xiv.  18  seq.  Cramer:  Nothing  on  earth 
is  so  firmly  established,  but  it  must  perish  ;  and 
they  who  occupy  themselves  with  the  things  of 
earth,  must  perish  in  them  (Sir.  xiv.  20  seq.  ;  1 
John  ii.  16  seq.). — Zeyss:  Although  mountains, 
stones  and  rocks,  yea,  all  that  is  in  the  world, 
are  subject  to  change,  God's  word,  and  the  grace 
therein  promised  for  believers,  stand  fast  for- 
ever; Ps.  cxvii.  2  ;  Isa.  liv.  10. — Vict.  Andke.^: 
Like  an  armed  power  the  feeling  of  his  present 
cheerless  condition  again  overpowers  Job,  and 
again  the  feeble  spark  is  extinguished,  which 
had  just  before  (vers.  13-17),  illumined  his  soul 
with  so  tender  a  gleam  of  hope.  To  his  former 
reflections  on  nature  (vers.  7-12)  he  now  opposes 
the  fact,  no  less  true,  that  even  that  which  iS" 
most  enduring  in  nature  itself,  such  as  moun- 
tains, rocks,  and  soils,  must  gradually  decay. 
And  so  it  seems  to  him  now,  in  accordance  with 
this  fact,  as  though  human  life  also  were  des- 
tined by  God  only  to  endless  annihilation.  Death 
it  is — with  its  pale  features  so  suddenly  disfi- 
guring the  human  countenance — which  again 
stands  in  all  its  horror,  and  annihilating  power, 
before  his  despairing  soul ! 


420  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  THE  CONTROVERSIAL  DISCOURSES. 

THE  ENTANGLEMENT  INCREASING: 
Chapters  XV— XXI. 

/.  Eliphaz  and  Job :   XV—XVII. 

A. — EUphaz:  God's  punitive  justice  is  revealed  only  against  evil-doers. 

Chapter  XV. 

1.  Recital  in  the  way  of  rebuke  of  all  in  Job's  discourses  that  is  perverted,  and  that  bears  testi- 
mony against  his  innocence  : 

Chapter  XV.  1-19. 

1  Then  answered  Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  and  said, 

2  Should  a  wise  man  utter  vain  knowledge, 
and  fill  his  belly  with  the  East  wind  ? 

3  Should  he  reason  with  unprofitable  talk  ? 

or  with  speeches  wherewith  he  can  do  no  good  ? 

4  Yea,  thou  castest  off  fear, 

and  restrainest  prayer  before  God. 

5  For  thy  mouth  uttereth  thine  iniquity, 
and  thou  choosest  the  tongue  of  the  crafty. 

6  Thine  own  mouth  condemneth  thee,  and  not  I : 
yea,  thine  own  lips  testify  against  thee. 

7  Art  thou  the  first  man  that  was  born  ? 
or  wast  thou  made  before  the  hills  ? 

8  Hast  thou  heard  the  secret  of  God  ? 

and  dost  thou  restrain  wisdom  to  thyself? 

9  What  knowest  thou  that  we  know  not  ? 
what  understandest  thou,  which  is  not  in  us  ? 

10  With  us  are  both  the  gray-headed  and  very  aged  men, 
much  elder  than  thy  father. 

11  Are  the  consolations  of  God  small  with  thee  ? 
is  there  any  secret  thing  with  thee  ? 

12  Why  doth  thine  heart  carry  thee  away, 
and  what  do  thy  eyes  wink  at, 

13  that  thou  turnest  thy  spirit  against  God, 
and  lettest  such  words  go  out  of  thy  mouth  ? 

14  What  is  man,  that  he  should  be  clean  ? 

and  he  which  is  born  of  a  woman,  that  he  should  be  righteous  ? 

15  Behold  He  putteth  no  trust  in  His  saints  ; 
yea,  the  heavens  are  not  clean  in  His  sight. 

16  How  much  more  abominable  and  filthy  is  man, 
which  drinketh  iniquity  like  water  ? 

17  1  will  show  thee,  hear  me  ; 

and  that  which  I  have  seen  I  will  declare  ; 

18  which  wise  men  have  told — 

from  their  fathers — and  have  not  hid  it : 

19  unto  whom  alone  the  earth  was  given, 
aud  no  stranger  passed  among  them. 


CHAP.  XV.  1-35, 


421 


2.  A  didactic  admonition  on  the  subject  of  the  retributive  justice  of  God  in  the  destiny  of  the 
ungodly. 

Verses  20-35. 

20  The  wicked  man  travailetli  with  pain  all  his  days, 
and  the  number  of  years  is  hidden  to  the  oppressor. 

21  A  dreadful  sound  is  in  his  ears  : 

in  prosperity  the  destroyer  shall  come  upon  him. 

22  He  believeth  not  that  he  shall  return  out  of  darkness, 
and  he  is  waited  for  of  the  sword. 

23  He  wandereth  abroad  for  bread,  saying,  Where  is  it  ? 

he  knoweth  that  the  day  of  darkness  is  ready  at  his  hand. 

24  Trouble  and  anguish  shall  make  him  afraid  ; 

they  shall  prevail  against  him  as  a  king  ready  to  the  battle. 

25  For  he  stretcheth  out  his  hand  against  God, 
and  strengtheneth  himself  against  the  Almighty : 

26  he  runneth  upon  him,  even  on  his  neck, 
upon  the  thick  bosses  of  his  bucklers ; 

27  because  he  covereth  his  face  with  his  fatness, 
and  maketh  collops  of  fat  on  his  flanks : 

28  and  he  dwelleth  in  desolate  cities, 

and  in  houses  which  no  man  inhabiteth, 
which  are  ready  to  become  heaps. 

29  He  shall  not  be  rich,  neither  shall  his  substance  continue, 
neither  shall  he  prolong  the  perfection  thereof  upon  the  earth. 

30  He  shall  not  depart  out  of  dai'kness  ; 
the  flame  shall  dry  up  his  branches, 

and  by  the  breath  of  his  mouth  shall  he  go  away. 

31  Let  not  him  that  is  deceived  trust  in  vanity, 
for  vanity  shall  be  his  recompense. 

32  It  shall  be  accomplished  before  his  time, 
and  his  branch  shall  not  be  green. 

33  He  shall  shake  ofi"  his  unripe  grape  as  the  vine, 
and  shall  cast  off  his  flower  as  the  olive. 

34  For  the  congregation  of  hypocrites  shall  be  desolate, 
and  fire  shall  consume  the  tabernacles  of  bribery. 

35  They  conceive  mischief,  and  bring  forth  vanity, 
and  their  belly  prepareth  deceit. 


EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 

This  second  discourse  of  Eliphaz  is  again  the 
longest  of  the  attacks  made  on  Job  by  his  three 
opponents  in  this  second  series  or  act.  Not  only 
by  its  length,  but  also  by  its  confident,  impas- 
sioned tone,  it  gives  evidence  of  being  a  deliver- 
ance of  opinion  by  the  oldest  and  most  distin- 
guished of  the  three,  in  short  by  their  leader. 
Apart  from  certain  indications  of  increased  vio- 
lence, however,  it  adds  nothing  at  all  that  is  new 
to  that  which  had  been  previously  maintained  by 
Eliphaz  against  Job.  lis  first  principal  division 
(vers.  2-19)  subjects  that  which  was  erroneous 
in  Job's  discourses  to  the  same  rigid  criticism 
and  censure,  which  culminates  in  a  renewed  and 
more  emphatic  application  to  Job  of  the  doctrine 
advocated  in  the  former  discourse,  of  the  impu- 
rity of  all  before  God  (vers.  14-19;  comp.  ch. 
iv.  17  seq.).  The  second  division  (vers.  20-85) 
is  occupied  with  a  prolonged  dissertation  on  the 


destiny  of  the  ungodly,  as  an  example  repeating 
itself  in  accordance  with  God's  righteous  decree, 
and  full  of  warning  for  Job.  The  first  division 
comprises  three  strophes  of  five  verses  each,  to- 
gether with  a  shorter  group  of  three  verses  (vers. 
17-19),  which  forms  the  transition  to  the  follow- 
ing division.  The  latter  consists  of  three  stro- 
phes, of  which  the  middle  one  numbers  six 
verses,  the  first  and  last  each  five. 

2.  First  Division :  Censuring  the  perversity  of 
Job  in  his  discourses,  and  pointing  out  tlic  evi- 
dences which  they  gave  of  his  gu'lt  ;   vers.  2-19. 

First  Strophe :  Introduction  [Job's  discourses 
disprove  his  wisdom,  injure  religion,  and  testify 
against  himself]  vers.  2-6. 

Ver.  2.  Doth  a  wise  man  utter  [or,  an- 
swer with]  windy  knowledge? — [Eliphaz 
begins  each  one  of  his  three  discourses  with  a 
question].  Job  had  clearly  enough  sot  himself 
forth  as  a  Wise  Man,  ch.  xii.  3  ;  xiii.  2.  Hence 
this  ironical  contrast  between  this  self-praise 
and  the  "  windy  "  nature  (comp.  ch.  viii.  2  ;  xvi. 


422 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


3)  of  that  wliich  he  really  knew. — And  fill  his 
breast  [scm  Inncres,  his  iaward  parts]  'with 
the  stormy  East  -wind  ? — So  Delif  zsch,  whoso 
translation  is  to  be  preferred  on  the  score  of 
taste  tc  the  more  common  and  literal  version: 
"  and  fill  his  belly  with  the  East  wind  ?"  even  if 
we  grant  that  ip3  is  not,  without  further  quali- 
fication, synonymous  with  37,  and  consequently 
not  to  be  taken  as  a  mere  designation  of  the 
"  thinking  inner  part  "  of  man  (although  in  fa- 
vor of  this  application  of  it,  as  maintained  by 
Delitzsch,  we  might  cite,  if  not  ver.  35  of  this 
chapter,  at  least  ch.  xxxii.  18  seq.).  In  any  case 
D'lp,  "  East  wind,"  is  here  (as  well  as  in  Hos. 
xii.  2  [1]  a  stronger  synonym  of  ni"<,  '*  wind," 
and  so  describes  the  violence,  or  the  ceaseless 
noisy  bluster  and  roar  of  Job's  discourses;  and 
the  "belly,"  or  the  inward  part,  which  must 
take  into  itself  such  discourses  and  labor  for 
their  refutation,  appears  as  though  it  were  a  sail, 
or  tent-canvas  inflated  by  a  heavy  storm  ! 

Ver.  3.  An  explanatory  clause  subordinate  to 
the  preceding  interrogative  clause: — Arguing 
■with  speech  -which  availeth  nought,  and 
with  words  by  ^j^hich  one  can  do  no  good. 
— The  Inf.  Absol.  H^'^H  can  be  taken  neither  as 
an  interrogative  finite  verb  (Hirzel,  Renan:  se 
defend  il-par  des  vaines  paroles  ?  ["  for  though  the 
Inf.  Absol.  is  so  used  in  a  historical  clause  (ch. 
XV.  85)  it  is  not  in  interrogative."  Del.]),  nor  as 
the  subject  (Ewald:  "  to  reprove  with  words  pro- 
fiteth  not,"  ete. — as  if  this  useless  striving  with 
words  were  opposed  to  a  more  efficient  conten- 
tion by  the  use  of  facts)  [which  yields  indeed,  as 
Dillmann  remarks,  a  good  meaning,  to  wit,  that 
mere  words  availed  nothing  for  self-justification, 
when  opposed  by  facts,  as  e.  g.  the  fact  of  his 
suffering,  whicli  was  presumptive  evidence 
against  him.  But  such  a  contrast  is  not  ex- 
pressed. The  '^iil  of  ver.  4  does  not  at  all  ex- 
press it].  Feather  is  it  joined  to  tlie  preceding 
finite  verbs  in  the  sense  of  an  ablative  gerund 
(redarguendo  s.  disputando) ;  comp.  Ewald,  § 
280,  a. 

Ver.  4.  Yea  more,  thou  [thyself]  dost 
make  void  the  fear  of  God.  ^X,  a  strong 
copula,  adding  a  new  and  more  serious  charge, 
like  the  phi\ase  "  over  and  above  ;"  comp.  ch. 
xiv.  3.  [nnx,  emphatic — "  even  thou,"  who 
dost  fancy  thyself  to  be  called  on  to  remind  us 
of  the  fear  of  God,  ch.  xiii.  9  seq.]  n><T,  abso- 
lute, as  in  ch.  iv.  6  ;  "^SH,  "  to  remove,  make 
void,"  as  in  ch.  v.  12  [lit.  to  break,  destroy  ; 
Rodwell :  "thou  dost  break  down  piety"]. — 
And  diminishest  (devout)  meditation  be- 
fore God  — Sx-'JdS  nn'K',  according  to  Ps. 
cii.  1  ;  cxix.  97,  99,  the  same  with  "  devotion, 
pious  prayerful  reflection  "  [should  not  there- 
fore be  rendered  "  prayer,"  altliough  prayer  is 
a  prominent  element  in  it.  It  includes  tlie  wiiole 
meditative  side  of  piety,  that  over  which  a  sanc- 
tified sentiment  rules,  as  HXI"'  includes  the  prac- 
tical side,  over  which  conscience  rules.  Eliphaz 
charges  therefore  that  the  tendency  of  Job's 
speech  and  conduct  is  to  undermine  piety  in  its 
most  important  strongholds,   to  injure  it  in  its 


most  vital  points. — E.].  In  regard  to  the  form 
niT'i!'  [with  feminine  ending]  see  ch.  iii.  4. — 
^^J,  detrahere,  to  derogate  from,  to  prejudice 
[Fiirst:  to  weaken,  to  lessen]  ;  comp.  below  ver. 
8,  where  it  conveys  more  the  sense  of  "  drawing 
to  one's-self"  [reserving,  attrahere'],  and  ch. 
xxxvi.  7,  where  it  means  "  withdrawing." 

Ver.  6.  For  thy  transgression  teaches 
thy  mouth:  i.  e.,  thou  allowest  thyself  to  be 
wholly  influenced  in  what  thou  sayest  by  thy 
sin,  thou  showest  thyself,  even  in  thy  words,  to 
be  entirely  ruled  by  it.  So  correctly  the  Vulg., 
Ilaschi,  Luther,  Dillm.  [Ewald,  Schlottm.],  for 
the  probability  is  in  favor  of  '"[JU^,  which  stands 
first,  being  the  subject  of  the  sentence.  More- 
over, the  rendering  which  has  latterly  become 
current  (since  Rosenm.,  Umbreit,  Hirzel,  etc.): 
"  thy  mouth  teaches,  i.  e.,  exposes  [E.  V.  '  utter- 
eth ']  thine  iniquity,"  is   at   variance   with  the 

usual  sense  of  '^.7^?,  which  signifies  "  to  teach, 
to  instruct,"  not  "  to  show,  to  declare."  [To 
which  Schlottmann  adds  that  this  rendering  se- 
cures a  better  connection  between  the  first  and 
second  members  of  the  verse.  It  exhibits  to  us 
"  in  a  manner  alike  original  and  suitable,  the 
internal  motive  from  which  Job's  presumptuous 
and  still  crafty  discourses  proceed  "]. — And 
thou  chopsest  the  speech  [lit.  the  tongue] 
of  the  crafty:  (D'DO^^  essentially  as  in  ch.  v. 
12)  i.  e.,  thou  doest  as  crafty  offenders  do,  who, 
when  accused,  hypocritically  set  themselves  forth 
as  innocent,  and  indeed  even  take  the  offensive 
against  their  accusers,  (as  Job  did  in  ch.  xiii. 
4  seq.).  ["  The  perverse  heart  teaches  the  guilty 
man  presumptuously  to  assail  God,  and  at  the 
same  time  so  to  arrange  his  words  that  in  ap- 
pearance he  is  filled  with  the  greatest  zeal  for 
the  piety  which  he  really  undermines."  Schlott.] 
The  rendering  of  Rosenm.,  Hirzel  [Noyes,  Co- 
nant,  Carey],  etc."  "■  while  thou  (although 
thou)  choosest,  etc."  is  less  satisfactory,  and 
goes  with  the  rendering  of  the  first  member, 
which  is  controverted  above. 

Ver.  6.  Thy  mouth  condemns  thee  (see 
ch.  ix.  20)  and  not  I,  and  thy  lips  testify 
against  thee. — The  mouth  is  here  per.sonified 
as  a  judge  pronouncing  an  unfavorable  decision, 
declaring  one  guilty,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
lips  figure  as  wittiesses,  or  accusers  (3  riJ>',  a  vox 
forensis;  for  the  masc.  ^3  IJJ,'^  after  the  fem. 
-■j'JlSii'  comp.  Prov.  v.  2  ;  xxvi.  23).  Comp.  still 
further  the  New  Testament  parallel  passage, 
Matth.  xii.  37.  ["These  words,  according  to 
Eliphaz's  meaning,  place  Job's  guilt  not  merely 
in  his  words,  but  rather  set  forth  these  as  con- 
firming the  sinful  actions,  which  he  is  assumed 
to  have  committed  on  account  of  the  sufferings 
which  have  been  appointed  for  him."   Schlott.]. 

Second  Strophe:  Vers.  7-11.  [Ironical  ques- 
tioning in  regard  to  the  extraordinary  superi- 
ority which  Job's  conduct  implied  that  he  arro- 
gated to  himself]. 

Ver.  7.  Wast  thou  born  as  the  first  man  ? 

(JliyXT  [''"ji^.^l  is  the  original  form,  which  ap- 
pears again  in  Josh.  xxi.  10,  and  is  retained  by 
the  Samaritans ;    titi'X'l,    instead  of  which  wc 


CHAP.  XV.  1-35. 


423 


have  in  ch.  viii.  8  jli^'''^.,  which  has  passed  into 
general  use,  and  is  hence  chosen  by  the  K'ri." 
Dillm.l  in  the  constr.  st.  followed  by  the  collec- 
tive DIX;  hence  lit.  "as  first  of  men. — Delitzsch 

T    T 

takes  mx  as  predicate  nominative:  "  wast  thou 
as  the  first  one  born  as  a  man?"  a  rendering 
which  is  altogether  too  artificial.  The  question 
presupposes  that  the  first-created  man,  by  virtue 
of  his  liaving  proceeded  immediately  from  God's 
hand,  possessed  the  deepest  insight  into  the  mys- 
teries of  the  Divine  process  of  creation.  Comp. 
the  Adam  Kadmon  of  the  Kabbalists,  the  Kajo- 
morts  of  the  Avesta  [Trpurog  av^ftuirog  of  the 
Manicheans),  the  Manu  (t.  e.,  "  the  thinking 
one")  of  the  Brahmanic  legends  of  creation  as 
well  as  the  ironical  proverb  of  the  Hindiis: 
"  Aye,  aye,  he  is  the  first  man,  no  wonder  he  is 
so  wise!"  (Roberts,  Oriental  Illustrations,  p. 
276).  ["Eliphaz  evidently  gives  in  these  two 
verses  the  conception  of  a  First  Man,  (like  the 
Manu  of  the  Hindus),  possessed  as  such  of  the 
highest  wisdom;  a  being  who  before  the  founda- 
tions of  the  earth  were  laid,  was  present,  a  list- 
ener, as  it  were,  to  the  deliberations  concerning 
creation  in  the  council  of  God,  and  thus  a  par- 
taker at  least  of  creative  wisdom  (ch.  xxviii.  23 
seq.),  without  being  identified  witli  the  Divine 
nojn."  Dillm.  "  Many  erroneously  understand 
this  expression  as  signifying  simply  the  greatest 
antiquity,  so  that  the  sense  would  be  :  dost  thou 
combine  in  thyself  the  wisdom  of  all  the  centu- 
ries, from  the  creation  of  the  world  on?  This 
conception  would  be  unsuitable  for  the  reason 
that  it  would  have  no  reality  corresponding  to 
it,  the  first  man  being  conceived  of  as  dead  long 
since."  Schlott.] — And  wast  thou   brought 

forth  before  the  hills  ?— '^Vin,  passive  of 
//in  "to  whirl"  [hence  to  writhe,  be  in  pain, 
travail],  Ps.  xc.  2. — Precisely  the  same  expres- 
sion occurs  in  Prov.  viii.  25  b,  an  utterance  of 
God's  Eternal  Wisdom,  which  is  doubtless  an  in- 
tentional allusion  to  this  passage.  [So  also  De- 
litzsch.— Schlottmann,  on  the  contrary,  thinks 
it  indisputable  that  this  passage  contains  an  al- 
lusion, if  not  to  the  passage  in  Proverbs,  then 
to  an  original  source  common  to  both,  so  that 
the  sense  would  be:  "  art  thou  the  essential  Di- 
vine Wisdom  itself,  through  which  God  created 
the  world  ?"  The  verse  thus  furnishes  a  preg- 
nant and  energetic  progression  of  thought  and 
expression.  "  Being  born  before  the  hills,"  and 
"  sitting  in  God's  council,"  could  not  be  taken  aa 
accidentia  sine  suhjcclo,  which  without  having  a 
real  substratum,  are  sarcastically  predicated  of 
Job,  but  they  must  be  regarded  as  inhering  in  a 
definite  subject,  with  which  Job  is  now  com- 
pared, as  immediately  before  he  was  compared 
with  the  first  man ;  and  this  makes  it  necessary 
that  wo  should  think  of  the  ante-mundane  AVis- 
dom  described  in  Prov.  viii.,  which  from  an  early 
period  was  brought  into  special  relation  to  the 
first  man.  Ewald  accordingly  paraphrases  vers. 
7,  8:  "Thou,  who  wouldest  be  wiser  than  all 
other  men,  dost  thou  stand  perchance  at  the  head 
of  humanity,  like  the  Logos,  the  first  alike  in  age, 
and  in  worth  and  nearness  to  God?"] 

Ver.  8.  Didst  thou  listen  in  the  council 
of  Eloah  ? — niD,  as  in  Jer.  xxiii.  18;  comp.  Ps. 


Ixxxix.  8  [7].  ["  Hero  God  is  represented  in  Ori- 
ental language  as  seated  in  a  divan,  or  council 
of  state,  .  .  .  and  El.  asks  of  Job  whether  he  had 
been  admitted  to  that  nouncil"  Barnes.] — And 
dost  thou  keep  back  ■wisdom  to  thyself? 
nODn  without  the  article,  denoting  the  absolute 

T  :  T  ° 

divine  wisdom;  comp.  ch.  xi.  6;  xii.  2;  Prov. 
viii.  1  seq.  In  regard  to  }!~^^,  see  above  on  ver. 
4.  [Gesenius:  "  Dost  thou  reserve  all  wisdom 
to  thyself?"  like  the  Arabic,  to  absorb,  drink 
up.  Fiirst:  "to  snatch  away:  hast  thou  pur- 
loined wisdom  to  thyself?  i.  e.  captured  it  as  a 
booty."]  The  representation  of  the  First  Man, 
endowed  with  the  highest  wisdom,  a  witness  of 
God's  activity  in  creating  and  ordering  the 
world,  still  lies  at  the  bottom  of  these  questions. 
Comp.  God's  questions  at  a  later  period  to  Job: 
ch.  xxxviii.  3  seq.  ["Having  obtained  the 
secret  of  that  council,  art  thou  now  keeping  it 
wholly  to  thyself — as  a  prime  minister  might,  be 
supposed  to  keep  the  purposes  resolved  ou  in 
the  divan?"  Barnes] 

On  ver.  9  comp.  ch.  xii.,  3;  xiii.  2,  to  which 
self-conscious  utterances  of  Job  Eliphaz  here 
replies. 

Ver.  10.  Both  the  gray-headed  and  the 
aged  [hoary]  are  among  us;  or:  "also 
among  us  are  the  gray-headed,  are  the  aged;" 
for  the  DJ  is  inverted,  as  in  ch.  ii.  10,  and  as  in 
the  parallel  passages  there  cited.  1J3  is  equiva- 
lent to:  "in  our  generation,  in  our  race."  We 
are  to  think,  on  the  one  side,  of  Job's  appeal  to 
the  aged  men,  to  whom  he  owed  his  wisdom,  ch. 
xii.  12;  on  the  other  side,  of  the  proverbial 
wisdom  of  the  "sons  of  the  East,"  to  whom  the 
three  friends  as  well  as  Job  belonged  (1  Kings 
iv.  30),  especially  that  of  the  Temauites;  see 
above  on  ch.  ii.  11.  The  supposition  of  Ewald, 
Hirzel,  Dillmann,  etc.,  that  Eliphaz,  "in  modestly 
concealed  language,"  referred  to  himself,  as  the 
most  aged  of  the  three,  has  but  little  probability, 
for  the  statement:  "there  is  also  among  us 
(three)  a  gray-headed,  an  aged  man,"  would  in 
the  mouth  of  El.  himself  have  in  it  something 
exceedingly  forced,  if  he  had  thereby  meant 
himself;  and  the  collective  use  of  the  sinsr.  3'^ 
and  W^W''  presents  not  the  slightest  grammatical 
difficulty.  Still  further,  if  El.  had  (according 
to  b)  declared  himself  "more  abundant  in  days 
than  Job's  father,"  he  would  have  said  of  him- 
self that  which  would  have  been  simply  mon- 
strous. The  correct  explanation  is  given  among 
the  moderns  by  Roscnm.,  Arnhcim>  Umbreit, 
Delitzsch.  ["It  will  be  seen  [infra  xviii.  3)  that 
in  the  discussion  carried  on  between  Job  and 
his  friends,  he  is  not  always  regarded  as  a  sin- 
gle individual,  but  rather  as  the  representative 
of  the  party  whose  views  he  hold."^,  that  of  the 
philosophers,  namely,  who  wish  to  understand 
and  account  for  everything;  while  his  friends, 
as  the  contrary,  represent  the  orthodox  party, 
whose  principle  it  is  to  declare  everything  that 
comes  from  God  good  and  right,  whether  it  be 
comprehensible  or  incomprehensible  to  the 
human  intellect.  Hence  the  plural  DD'P";*2,  in 
your  eyes,  used  by  Bildad  (though  speaking  to 
Job  alone),  in  the  chapter  alludei]  to,  i.  e.  in  the 
eyes  of  you  philosophers.     In  like  manner,  in 


424 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


the  Terse  before  us  El.  says :  Both  gray-headed  j 
and  very  aged  men  are  amongst  us.  Amongst  i 
us  orthodox  people."   Bernard.]  j 

Ver.  11.  Are  the  consolations  of  God  i 
(comp.  ch.  xxi.  2)  too  little  for  thee  (lit.  are 
they  less  than  thee — comp.  Num.  xvi.  9;  Is.  vii. 
13)?  [The  irony  of  the  question  is  severe:  Too 
little  for  thee  are  the  consolations  of  God?  The 
words  reveal  at  the  same  time  the  narrow  self- 
complacency  of  the  speaker,  the  consolations  of 
God  being  such  as  he  and  the  friends  had  sought 
to  administer,  for  which  El.,  however,  claims  a 
Divine  value  and  efiBcacy. — E.],  and  a  'word 
so  gentle  with  thee  ?  i.  e.  a  word  which, 
like   my  former   discourse,   dealt  with  thee  so 

tenderly  and  gently.  On  t2iy>,  elsewhere  t2iy>, 
lit.  "for  softness,"  i.  e.  softly,  gently  [e.  ff.  Is. 
viii.  6  of  the  soft  murmur  and  gentle  flow  of 
Siloah],  comp.  Ew.  |  217,  d;  §  243,  c.  Eliphaz 
here  identifies  his  former  address  to  Job  with  a 
consolation  and  admonition  proceeding  from 
God  himself;  as  in  fact  in  delivering  the  same 
(see  ch.  iv.  12seq.),  he  ascribed  the  principal 
contents  of  it  to  a  Divine  communication.  In 
regard  to  the  gentleness  which  he  here  claims 
for  that  former  discourse,  comp.  especially  ch. 
iv.  2 ;  V.  8,  17  seq. 

Third  Strophe:  vers.  12-16.  [Severe  rebuke 
of  Job's  presumptuous  discontent,  founded  on 
man's  extreme  sinfulness.] 

Ver.  12.  Why  does  thy  heart  carry  thee 

aTvay  ?  Hp/,  auferre,  abripere.  [3*7  here  for 
deep  inward  agitation,  excitement  of  feeling 
(Delitzsch:  "wounded  pride  ").  Why  dost  thou 
allow  the  stormy  discontent  of  thy  bosom  to 
transport  thee  beyond  thyself? — -E.] — And 
•why  twinkle  thine  eyes?  DP,  an.  ?.ey.= 
Aram,  and  Arab.  101,  "to  wink,  to  blink," 
said  hero  of  the  angry,  excited  snapping,  or 
rolling  of  tlie  eyes  [referring,  according  to  Re- 
nan,  to  such  a  manifestation  of  angry  impa- 
tience with  the  hypocrisy  of  El.  at  this  point  of 
his  discourse ;  and  similarly  Noyes:  "why  this 
winking  of  thine  eyes?"].  Comp.  Cant.  vi.  5 
(according  to  the  correct  interpretation,  see  my 
remarks  on  the  passage). 

Ver.  18.  Depending  on  the  preceding  verse: 
That  thou  turnest  against  God  thy  snort- 
ing, nn  here  meaning  angry  breathing,  i3i'/iof 
["thus  expressed  because  it  manifests  itself  in 
irvesiv  (Acts  ix.  1),  and  has  its  rise  in  the  nvevfia 
(Eccl.  vii.  9)."  Delitzsch],  as  in  Judg.  viii.  3; 
Prov.  xvi.  82;  Is.  xxv.  4;  comp.  above  Job  iv. 
9. — And  sendest  forth  words  out  of  thy 

mouth  ?  I  wO  (comp.  ch.  iv.  2)  as  parallel 
with  nn  can  mean  here  only  vehement,  intem- 
perate speaking,  passionate  words,  not  empty 
speaking,  as  Kamphn.  explains  it. 

Ver.  14  repeats  the  principal  proposition  of 
Eliphaz  in  his  former  discourse  (ch.  iv.  17-20), 
with  an  accompanying  reminder  of  Job's  con- 
fession in  ch.  xiv.  4,   which  was  in  substantial 

harmony  therewith.  On  r\Ui<  117'  comp  ch. 
xiv.  1. 

Ver.  15.  Behold,  in  His  holy  ones  He 
puts  no  trust.      D^VJID,  the  same  as  U'ln},',  ch. 


iv.  18,  and  hence  used  of  the  angels  [see  on  ch. 
V.  1]. — And  the  heavens  are  not  pure  in 
His  eyes.  D'OC/  is  neither  here,  nor  in  Is. 
xlix.  13  (comp.  Luke  xv.  18,  21;  Matt.  xxi.  25), 
to    be    taken  as   a  synonym   of  D'DNvD,   or  of 

XO'nO  w.*?-?^  ('''^''g-)'  ^^  many  commentators 
explain  from  the  Targumists  down  to  Hirzel, 
Heiligst.,  Welte  [Schlott.,  Carey,  Ken.],  etc. 
Rather,  as  the  parallel  passage  in  ch.  xxv.  5 
incontestably  shows,  it  designates  the  starry  hea- 
vens, which  are  here  contemplated  in  respect  of 
their  pure  brilliancy,  and  their  physical  eleva- 
tion above  the  impure  earthly  sphere.  So  cor- 
rectly Umbreit,  Delitzsch,  Dillmann.  ["In 
comparison  with  the  all-transcending  holiness 
and  purity  of  God,  the  creatures  which  ethically 
and  physically  are  the  purest,  are  impure.  How 
in  the  representations  of  antiquity  ethical  and 
physical  purity  and  impurity  arc  throughout 
used  intercliangeably  is  well  enough  known." 
Dillmann.]  The  angels  are  indeed  regarded  as 
inhabiting  the  heavenly  spheres,  as  is  indispu- 
tably proved  by  the  phrase  D''DJi'n  X3^  (1  Kings 
xxii.  19;  Is.  xxiv.  21;  Ps.  cxlviii.  2;  comp. 
Gen.  ii.  1),  and  the  fact  that  the  Holy  Scriptures 
everywhere  speak  of  angels  and  the  starry  hea- 
vens together.  Comp.  Del.  on  this  passage  and 
on  Gen.  ii.  1;  Hengstenberg;  Ewald,  K. — Ztg., 
1869;  Preface,  No.  3,  4;  Zockler:  Die  Urge- 
schichte  der  Erde  und  des  3Ienschcn  (18G8),  p. 
12  seq. ;  also  below,  on  ch.  xxxviii.  7. 

Ver.  16.  Much  less  then  ('3  ']S<,  quanta 
minus,  like  Hi*  above  in  ch.  iv.  19)  the  abomi- 
nable and  corrupt  (H/Kj,  lit.  soured,  one 
corrupted  by  the  fr//;?  KUKiaq,  1  Cor.  v.  8,  one 
"thoroughly  corrupted,"  Del.),  the  man  who 
drinks  iniquity  like  water,  i.  e.  who  is  as 
eager  to  do  iniquity,  shows  as  much  avidity  for 
sin,  as  a  thirsty  man  pants  for  water;  comp. 
the  repetition  of  this  same  figure  by  Elihu,  also 
Ps.  Ixxiii.  10;  Prov.  xxvi.  6;  Sir.  xxiv.  21. 
The  whole  description  relates  to  the  moral  cor- 
ruption of  mankind  generally,  of  which  Eliphaz 
intentionally  holds  up  before  Job  "a  more 
hideous  picture  "  (according  to  Oetinger)  than 
the  latter  himself  had  given  in  ch.  xiv.  4, 
because  he  has  in  view  the  impurity,  ill-desert, 
and  need  of  repentance  of  Job  himself.  Comp. 
still  further  what  he  says  ch.  v.  7  on  the  spark- 
like proneness  of  man  to  sin  and  its  penalty. 

Fourth  Strophe:  vers.  17-19.  Transition  to 
the  didactic  discourse  which  follows  in  the  form 
of  a  captatio  benevolent ise. 

Ver.  17.  I  ■will  inform  thee  (comp.  ch.  xiii. 
17),  listen  to  me,  and  that  w^hich  I  have 
seen  w^ill  I  relate. — ni  is  neuter,  as  in  Gen. 
vi.  15,  or  like  N-lil  above  in  ch.  xiii.  16,  and 
■'jT'irTnT  is  a  relative  clause;  comp.  Gcs.  ^  122 
[§  120],' 2  — nin  needs  not  (with  Schlottm.)  be 
understood  in  the  sense  of  an  ecstatic  vision,  of  the 
proplietic  sort,  seeing  that  in  ch.  viii.  17;  xxiii.  9; 
xxiv.  1 ;  xxvii.  12,  etc.,  it  denotes  also  the  know- 
ledge or  experience  of  sensible  things.  More- 
over, as  ver.  18  shows,  Eliphaz  makes  a  very  de- 
finite distinction  between  that  which  is  now  to 
be    communicated    and    a   Divine    revelation  of 


CHAP.  XV.  1-35. 


425 


whatever  sort.  [A3  DillmaDn  observes,  that 
which  is  communicated  by  a  direct  revelation 
from  God  does  not  need  to  be  supported  by  the 
wisdom  of  antiquity]. 

Ver.  18.  That  which  wise  men  declare 
without  concealment  from  their  fathers. 
— This  verse,  which  is  an  expression  of  the  ob- 
ject of  niDpXI,  coordinate  with  'fl'TiTriJ,  is 
added  without  i,  because  it  is  substantially  iden- 
tical  with   that    which    Eliphaz    "  had    seen." 

Dj^13Nrp  belongs  not  to  nnp  K7l  (so  the  ancient 
versions',  and  Luther)  but  to  the  logically  domi- 
nant verb  n''r,  to  which  the  O  til]  is  sub- 
joined as  an  adverbial  qualification.  "  To  de- 
clare and  not  to  hide  "  is  equivalent  to  a  single 
notion,  "to  declare  without  deception,"  pre- 
cisely like  John  i.  20,  6fio2,oyelv  Kal  o'vk  ayvetad-ai. 
Ver.  19.  A  more  circumstantial  description  of 
Dni3X :  — To    whom    alone  the   land  w^as 

T       ~: 

given  (to  inhabit),  and  through  the  midst 
of  whom  no  stranger  had  forced  his  way. 

— [Zockler  takes  the  verb  "^2^  here  not  in  the 
sense  of  a  chance  sojourning  in  a  land,  or  tra- 
veling through  it,  but  in  the  sense  of  a  forcible 
intrusion,  war  gedningen;  a  national  amalgama- 
tion resulting  from  invasion.  The  language  will 
include  a  foreign  admixture  from  whatever 
source. — E.].  Seeing  that  f.'^i^n  denotes  here 
with  much  more  probability  "the  land"  rather 
than  "  the  earth  "  (and  so  again  in  ch.  xxii.  8  ; 
XXX.  8),  and  that  what  is  expressly  spoken  of  is 
the  non-intrusion  of  strangers  (D^'^f),  Schlolt- 
mann's  view  that  the  passage  refers  to  the  first 
patriarchs,  "  the  nobler  primitive  generations 
of  mankind,"  who  as  yet  inliabited  the  earth 
alone,  is  to  be  rejected.  The  reason  why  Eli- 
phaz puts  forward  the  purity  of  the  generation 
of  his  forefathers  as  a  guarantee  of  the  sound- 
ness and  credibility  of  their  teachings  is  that 
"among  'the  sons  of  the  East'  purity  of  race 
was  from  the  earliest  times  considered  as  the 
sign  of  highest  nobility  "  (Del. )  ["  The  meaning 
is,  '  I  will  give  you  the  result  of  the  observations 
of  the  golden  age  of  the  world,  when  our  fathers 
dwelt  alone,  and  it  could  not  be  pretended  that 
they  had  been  corrupted  by  foreign  philosophy  ; 
and  when  in  morals  and  in  sentiment  they  were 
pure."  Barnes.  "Eliph.,"  says  Umbr.,  "speaks 
here  like  a  genuine  Arab."  The  exclusiveness 
and  dogmatic  superciliousness  which  are  to  this 
day  characteristic  of  Oriental  nationalities  are 
doubtless  closely  associated  with  the  race-in- 
stinct which  here  finds  expression.  In  propor- 
tion as  a  people,  either  from  lack  of  courage,  or 
from  an  effeminate  love  of  luxury,  or  from  a  sor- 
did love  of  gain  prostrates  itself  to  foreign  in- 
fluences, and  carries  the  witness  of  its  degrada- 
tion in  the  impurity  of  its  blood,  it  cannot,  in  the 
judgment  of  an  oriental  sage,  produce,  or  trans- 
mit, pure  and  sound  doctrine. — E.].  It  is  unne- 
cessary herewith  to  assume  that  the  age  of  Eli- 
phaz, in  contrast  with  the  boasted  age  of  the 
fathers,  was  a  period  of  foreign  domination,  like 
the  Assyrian-Chaldean  period  in  the  history  of 
Israel  (Ewald,  Hirzell,  Dillmann).  Or  granting 
that  such  a  period  is  referred  to — although  we 
are  under  no  necessity  of  understanding  either 


IT  or    D^inS   "^^y    of    warlike    invasions — still 

T  T        :  -    T 

nothing  could  be  deduced  from  the  passage  in 
favor  of  the  post-solomonic  origin  of  our  book: 
comp.  on  ch.  xii.  24. 

3.  Second  Division :  An  admonitory  didactic 
discourse  on  the  retributive  justice  of  God  as 
exhibited  in  the  fate  of  the  ungodly :  vers.  20-35. 
["  Now  follows  the  doctrine  of  the  wise  men, 
which  springs  from  a  venerable  primitive  age, 
an  age  as  yet  undisturbed  by  any  strange  way 
of  tliinking  (modern  enlightenment  and  free 
thinking,  as  we  should  say),  and  is  supported  by 
Eliphaz's  own  experience."  Delitzsch.  "  It  is 
not  so  much  the  fact  that  the  evil-doer  receives 
his  punishment,  in  favor  of  which  Eliphaz  ap- 
peals to  the  teaching  handed  down  from  the  fa- 
thers, as  rather  the  belief  in  it,  consequently  in  a 
certain  degree  the  dogma  of  a  moral  order  in 
the  world."  Wetzstein  in  Delitzsch]. 

First  Strophe :  Vers.  20-24.  Description  of  the 
inward  discontent  and  the  restless  pain  of  an 
earthly-minded  and  wicked  man  who  defies  God, 
and  cares  not  for  Ilim. 

Ver.  20.  So  long  as  the  wicked  liveth, 
(lit.,  all  the  days  of  the  wicked)   he   suffereth 

torment  (bVinnp,  lit.  he  is  writhing  and  twist, 
ing,  viz.,  from  pain),  and  so  many  years  as 
are  reserved  for  the  oppressor  ["  which  ac- 
cording to  ver.  32,  are  not  very  many,"  Dillm.] 
(|'"'"]IJ^,  tyrant,  one  who  commits  outrageous  vio- 
lence, as  in  ch.  xxvii.  13;  vi.  23;  Ps.  xxxvii. 
35;  Is.  xiii.  11,  etc.).  The  second  member,  in 
which  WW  1300  is  an  [adverbial]  accusative 
clause,  and  y'^^l^  '^PV^  *  relative  clause  de- 
pending upon  it,  resumes  the  temporal  clause, 
"  all  the  days  of  the  wicked,"  which  for  the  sake 
of  emphasis  stands  at  the  beginning  of  the  entire 
sentence.  The  LXX.  renders  difi"erently  :  Irrj  6i 
api{}fir/Ta  6E6o/.i£va  6vvdary ;  and  similarly  De- 
litzsch: "and  a  fixed  number  of  years  is  re- 
served for  the  oppressor,"  a  rendering  however 
which  gives  a  much  flatter  thought  tljan  our  ex- 
position. Against  the  rendering  of  the  Targ., 
Pesh.,  and  Vulg.  [also  E.  V.]  "and  the  number 
of  years  is  hidden  to  the  oppressor,"  it  may  be 
urged  that  in  that  case  the  reading  must  have 

been  ]'''"|J''n  I?-  [Not  necessarily. — 1  is  often 
used  as  a  sign  of  the  dalivus  commodi.  or  incom- 
modi,  where  we  should  expect  J^. — E.  g.,  Mic. 

ii.  4  '7  E^'D'  ^'X,  where  the  removal  of  the  na- 
tion's  portion /ro??»  it,  is  represented  by  the  pre- 
position 7,  because  of  the  injurious  conse- 
quences to  it.  So  here  the  hiding  of  the  number 
of  the  oppressor's  years /rom  him  is  represented 

by  7,  because  of  the  misery  this  causes  to  him. 
On  the  other  hand  it  may  be  said  in  favor  of  this 
construction  that  it  is  much  simpler  and  stronger, 
that  it  introduces  an  additional  thought,  such  as 
the  change  of  1""^^'  for  J't^"^  might  lead  us  to 
expect  (Del.),  and  that  it  is  in  entire  harmony 
with  the  context.  The  central  thought  of  the 
passage,  the  essential  element  of  the  oppressor's 
misery  is  apprehension,  anxiety,  the  premonition 
of  his  doom.     How  the  darkness  of  this  feature 


426 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


of  the  picture  is  deepened  by  this  stroke — "  the 
number  of  his  years  is  laid  up  in  darkness,"  so 
that  he  knows  not  when,  or  whence,  or  how  the 
blow  will  fall. — Furthermore  the  rendering  "hid- 
den" seems  more  suitable  for  |3^3  than  "re- 
served," in  the  sense  of  "  determined,"  being 
more  vivid,  and  more  closely  connected  with  the 
subjective  character  of  the  description.  Even 
if  we  render  it  by  "  reserved,"  the  idea  of  "hid- 
den" should  be  included. — E.]. 

Ver.  21  seq.,  describe  more  in  detail  the  rest- 
less pain  of  soul,  or  the  continual  /^'inri'l'  of 
the  wicked.  [It  is  doubtful  whether  the  follow- 
ing description  is  to  be  limited  to  the  evil-doer's 
anxiety  of  spirit,  or  whether  it  includes  the  re- 
alization of  his  fears  in  the  events  of  his  life. 
On  the  whole  Delitzsch  decides,  and  apparently 
with  reason,  that  as  the  real  crisis  is  not  intro- 
duced until  further  on,  and  is  then  fully  de- 
scribed, the  language  in  vers.  21-24  is  to  be  un- 
derstood subjectively. — E.]. 

Ver.  21.  Terrors  (the  plural  DHrii)  only 
here)  sound  [lit. :  the  sound  of  terrors]  in  his 
ears;  in  (the  midst  of )  peace  the  destroyers 
fall  upon  him  ;  or,  if  we  regard  '1^12'  not  as  a 
collective,  but  as  singular  (comp.  ch.  xii.  C)  : 
"  the  destroyer  falls  upon  him."  As  to  N13  with 
the  accus.  in  the  sense  of  "  coming  upon  any 
one,"  comp.  ch.  xx.  22;  Prov.  xxviii.  22. 

Ver.  22.  He  despairs  (lit.,  he  trusts  not,  he 
dares  not)  of  returning  out  of  the  darkness 
(viz.,  of  his  misfortune,  see  vers.  25,  30),  and 
he  is  marked  out  for  the  sword.     13]f,  the 

T 

same  with  "'^3^  (which  form  is  given  by  the  K'ri 
and  many  MSS.)  Part.  pass,  of  TlD'H,  signifies 
literally,  "watched,  spied  out,"  which  yields  a 
perfectly  good  sense,  and  makes  both  the  mid- 
dle rendering  of  the  Participle,  ("anxiously 
looking  out  for  the  sword" — so  the  Pesh.  and 
Vulg.)  and  Ewald's  emendation  to  pSi',  seem 
superfluous. 

Ver.  23.  He  wanders  about  for  bread:  "Ah 
where  ?"  [i.  e.,  shall  I  find  it]  ?  The  meaning  is 
obvious :  in  the  midst  of  super-abundance  he,  the 
greedy  miser,  is  tortured  by  anxieties  concern- 
ing his  food — a  thought  which  the  LXX.  [also 
Wemyss  and  Merx],  misunderstanding  the  short 
emphatic  interrogative  n'X,  "where"  [for 
which  they  read  rfX,  "vulture"],  have  ob- 
scured, or  rather  entirely  perverted  by  their  sin- 
gular translation:  KnTnTeTanrat  St-  elg  olra  yvtjuv: 
["  he  wanders  about  for  a  prey  for  vultures," 
Wem.].  With  H'X  comp.  the  similarly  brief 
n^n  in  ch.  ix.  19. — He  knows  that  close  by 
him  [lit.  as  in  E.  V.,  "ready  at  his  hand"], 
0T2,  like  \T"Sj;  ch.  i.  14  tS,  "  near,  close 
by,"  Ps.  cxl.  6  (5) ;  1  Sam.  xix.  3)  a  dark  day 
(lit.  day  of  darkness;  comp.  ver.  22)  stands 
ready — to  seize  upon  him  and  to  punish  him 
(JDJ,  as  in  ch.  xviii.  12). 

Ver.  24.  Trouble  and  anguish  terrify  him. 
np^^fDI   "IV  here  not  of  external,  but  of  internal 

It       :  -  . 

need  and  distress,  hence  equivalent  to  anguish 
and  alarm;  comp.  ch.  vii.  11. — It  overpcwer- 
eth  him  (the  subj.  of  'napnn  is  either  T^p^'!iO 


or,  with  a  neuter  construction,  the  unknown 
something,  the  mysterious  Power  [which  sug- 
gests the  comparison  that  follows])  as  a  king 

ready  for  the  onset. — "^l^^  cannot  belong  to 
the  object  of  the  verb,  as  rendered  by  the  LXX. 
["  like  a  leader  falling  in  the  first  line  of  the 
battle  "]  and  the  Targ.  [''  to  serve  the  conqueror 
as  a  foot-stool  "],  but  only  to  the  subject  The 
deadly  anguish,  which  suddenly  seizes  on  the 
wicked,  is  compared  to  a  king,  armed  for  battle, 
who  falls  upon  a  city  ;  comp.  Prov.  vi.  11. — The 
meaning  of  the  Hapaxleg.  ")n"3  (=:  1112,  Ew., 
^  156,  b)  is  correctly  given  on  the  whole  by  the 
I'esh.  and  Vulg.,  although  not  quite  exactly  by 
proelium.  The  Rabbis,  Bottch.,  Del.,  f^c  ,  render 
it  better  by  "  the  round  of  conflict,  the  circling 
of  an  army  "  ["  the  conflict  which  moves  round 
about,  like  tumult  of  battle,"  Del.]  ;  but  Dill- 
mann  best  of  all,  after  the  Arabic  113  by  "  on- 
set, storming,  rush   of  battle  ;"   for  this  is  the 

only  meaning  that  is  well  suited  to  v  "''■''>J''>  P't- 
ratus  ad,  as  well  as  to  the  principal  subject  1170. 

Second  Strophe  :  Vers.  25-30.  The  cause  of  the 
irretrievable  destruction  of  the  wicked  is  his  pre- 
sumptuous opposition  to  God,  and  his  immode- 
rate greed  after  earthly  possessions  and  enjoy- 
ments. The  whole  strophe  forms  a  long  period, 
consisting  of  a  doubled  antecedent  (marked  by 
the  double  use  of  "'3,  ver.  25  and  ver.  27),  and  a 
consequent,  vers.  29,  30. 

Ver.  25.  Because  he  has  stretched  out 
his  hand  against  God  (in  order  to  contend 
with  Him),  and  boasted  himself  against  the 
Almighty.  [As  indicated  in  the  introductory 
remark  above,  "3  at  the  beginning  is  not  "  for  " 
(E.  v.),  introducing  a  reason  for  what  precedes, 
but  "because,"  the  consequent  of  which  is  not 
gi\ en  until  ver.  29  seq.]  "13 JD',  lit.  "to  show 
oneself  a  hero,  a  strong  man  ;"  i.  e.,  to  be  proud, 
insolent;  comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  9;  Is.  xlii.  13. 

Ver.  26  continues  the  first  of  the  two  antece- 
dents, so  that  pi''  is  still  under  the  regimen  of 
'D  in  ver.  25  .  .  .  has  run  against  Him  with 
(erect)  neck  (comp.  ch.  xvi.  14)  with  the 
thick  bosses  (lit.  with  the  thickness  of  the 
bosses,  comp.  Ewald,  §  293,  c)  of  his  shields. 
In  a  the  proud  sinner  is  represented  as  a  single 
antagonist  of  God,  who  1N5i*3,  i.  e.,  erecto  colle, 
(comp.  Ps.  Ixxv.  6  [5])  rushes  upon  Him;  in  b 
he  is  become  a  whole  army  with  weapons  of  of- 
fense and  defense,  by  virtue  of  his  being  the 
leader  of  such  an  army. 

Ver.  27.  Introducing  the  second  reason  [for 
ver.  29  seq.],  consisting  in  the  insatiable  greed 
of  the  wicked  — Because  he  has  covered  his 
face  with  his  fatness  (comp.  Ps.  Ixxiii.  4-7), 
and  gathered  (nty>'  here  in  the  sense  of  a  na- 
tural production  or  putting  forth,  as  in  ch.  xiv. 
9)  fat  upon  his  loins. 

Ver.  28.  And  abode  in  desolated  cities, 
houses  which  ought  not  to  be  inhabited, 

io'?  ^yd\  ^h,  lit.  "  which  they  ought  not  to  in- 
habit for  themselves  ;"  the  passive  rendering  of 
Dty'  [Gesen.,  Del.]  is  unnecessary,  the  meaning 
of  the  expression  in  any  case  being,  {domua  non 


CHAP.  XV.  1-35, 


427 


habitandse)  •which  are  destined  for  ruins. — 

We  are  to  thiuk  of  an  insolent,  sacrilegious, 
mocking,  avaricious  tyrant,  ■who  fixes  his  resi- 
dence— whether  it  be  his  pleasure-house,  or  his 
fortified  castle — in  what  is  and  should  remain 
according  to  popular  superstition,  an  accursed 
and  solitary  place,  among  the  ruins,  it  may  be, 
of  an  accursed  city;  Deut.  xiii.  13-19;  comp. 
Josh.  vi.  26;  1  Kings  xvi.  34;  also  what  is  re- 
ported by  Wetzstein  (in  Dclitzsch  I.  267  w.)  con- 
cerning such  doomed  cities  among  modern  ori- 
entals.* Hirzel  altogether  too  exclusively  takes 
the  reference  to  be  to  a  city  cursed  in  accord- 
ance with  the  law  in  Deut.  {I.  c.) — against v^hich 
Lowenthal  and  Delitzsch  observe  quite  correctly 
that  what  is  spoken  of  here  is  not  the  rebuilding 
forbidden  in  that -law,  but  only  the  inhabiting  of 
such  ruins.  Possibly  the  poet  may  have  had  in 
mind  certain  particular  occurrences,  views,  or 
customs,  of  which  we  have  no  further  knowledge. 
Perhaps  we  may  even  supjiose  some  such  widely- 
spread  superstition  as  that  of  the  Romans  in  re- 
lation to  the  bidenlalia  to  be  intended.  [Noyes, 
Barnes,  Renan,  Rodwell,  etc.,  introduce  ver.  28 
with  "  therefore,"  making  it  the  consequence  of 
what  goes  before. — Because  of  his  pride  and 
■self-indulgence,  the  sinner  will  be  driven  out  to 
dwell  among  ruins  and  desolations.  To  this 
view  there  are  the  following  objections.  (1)  It 
deprives  the  language  of  the  terrible  force  which 
belongs  to  it  according  to  the  interpretation 
given  above.  (2)  It  leaves  the  description  of 
the  sin  referred  to  in  ver.  27  singularly  incom- 
plete and  weak.  This  would  be  especially  no- 
ticeable after  the  climactic  energy  of  the  de- 
scription of  the  sin  previously  referred  to  in 
vers.  25,  26.  Having  seen  the  thought  in  ver. 
25  carried  to  such  a  striking  climax  in  ver.  26, 
we  naturally  expect  to  find  the  thought  suggested 
rather  than  expressed  in  ver.  27  carried  to  a  si- 
milar climax  in  ver.  28.  (3)  After  dooming  the 
sinner  to  dwell  an  exile  among  "stone-heaps," 

(DwJ),  it  seems  a  little  flat  to  add,  "he  shall  not 
be  rich,"  if  the  former  circumstance,  like  the 
latter,  is  a  part  of  the  penalty. — E.]. 

Vers.  29,  30.  The  apodosis:  (Therefore)  he 
does  not  become  rich  (flos.  xii.  9  [8]),  and 
his  •wealth  endures  not  (has  no  stability, 
comp.  1  Sam.  xiii.  14),  and  their  possessions 
(?.  e.,  the  possessions  of  such  people)  bow  not 
down  to  the  earth. — This  rendering  is  in  ac- 

*  "  As  no  one  ventnrps  to  pronounce  the  name  of  Satan 
because  God  has  cursed  Iiim  (Qen.  iii.  1-1),  without  adding 
''alah  el-hi'iie.  '  God's  curse  upon  him  I'  8o  a  man  may  not  pre- 
fiume  to  inliabit  places  which  God  has  appointed  to  desola- 
tion. Sucti  viUagf-s  and  cities,  which,  according  to  tradition 
have  perished  and  been  frequently  overthrown  by  the  visita- 
tion of  Divine  judgment,  are  not  uncommon  on  the  borders 
of  the  desert.  They  use  places,  it  is  said,  where  the  primary 
commandments  of  the  religion  of  Abraham(D?n  Ibrahim) 
have  been  impiously  tran.sirressed.  Thus  the  city  of  Babylon 
■will  nevi  r  be  coh.nized  by  a  Semitic  tribe,  because  tlievho'd 
the  belef  th  t  it  has  been  destroyed  on  account  of  Nimrod's 
apostasy  fr  'm  God,  and  \vi  hostility  to  His  favored  one  Abra- 
ham. The  tradition  which  has  even  been  transferred  by  the 
tribes  of  Araliia  Petrrea  into  Tslimism  of  the  d  solation  of 
the  c'ty  of  Higr  (or  Medain  Salih  )  on  account  of  disobedience 
to  God,  prevfnts  my  one  from  dwelling  in  that  remarkable 
city,  which  consists  of  thousands  of  dwellings  cut  ia  the  rock, 
some  of  whieh  are  richly  oruamented ;  without  looking 
round,  and  muttering  prayers,  the  desert  ranger  hiirries 
th-ough,  even  as  does  the  great  procession  of  jvilgrims  to 
MeJ:ka,  from  fear  of  incurring  the  punishment  of  God  by  the 
slightest  delay  in  the  accursed  city." 


cordance  with  the  interpretation  now  prevalent 
of  D^JO  =  nSjD,  (with  the  suffix    □-)  from  a 

T :  •  V :  •       ^  T ' 

root  (which  is  not  to  be  met  with)  H/J,  =  Arab, 
nal,  "to  attain,  to  acquire,"  and  so  used  in  the 
sense  of  quxstum,  lucrum  (comp.  the  post-biblical 
|iOO,  fiafiuvdg).  A  possession  "  bowing  down  to 
the  earth  "  is  e.  g.  a  full-eared  field  of  grain,  a 
fruit-laden  tree,  a  load  of  grain  weighing  down 
that  in  which  it  is  borne,  etc.  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  all  the  ancient  versions  present  other 

readings  than  D7j!p — e.  g.,  LXX. :  D7jf  [adopted 
by  Merx]  ;  Vulg.  D72fX,  radicem  suam:  Pesh. 
D'7rp,  words ;  Targ.  tlHil'D,  etc. — the  attempts 
of  several  moderns  to  amend  the  text  may  to 
some  extent  be  justifieil.  Not  one  of  these  how- 
ever, yields  a  result  that  is  altogether  satisfac- 
tory, neither  Hupfeld's  n7Drp  («o«  extendet  in 
terra  caulam),  nor  Olshausen's  D^JO  ("their 
sickle  does  not  sink  to  the  earth"),  nor  Bottch- 
er's  D^OO  ("their  fullness"),  nor  Dillmann's 
W'hl'U   rixb    na""  nSi,   "  and  he    does  not  bow 

•  t:-       I  VTT         V  •  : 

down  ears  of  corn  to  the  earth."  [Carey  sug- 
gests that  there  may  be  a  transposition  here,  and 

that  instead  of  D/JO  we  should  read  D70J  from 

root  irDJ  "to  cut;"  the  translation  then  being: 
"  neither  shall  the  cutting  (cr  ofi'set)  of  such  ex- 
tend in  the  earth."  The  verbal  root  H/J  found 
only  in  Isa.  xxxiii.   1   (^ji '^?»  Hiph.  Inf.  with 

Dagh.  dirimens  for  'jjl 'i"!?-?)  seems  to  signify 
perficere,  to  finish;  hence  E.  V.  here  renders 
the  noun  "perfection."  Bernard  likewise  "ac- 
complishment, achievements."  For  PltOJ  the 
meaning  "  to  spread,  extend,"  is  preferred  by 
Good,  Lee,  Noyes,  Umbreit,  Renan,  Con.,  Rod- 
well,  etc.  (E.  v.,  "prolong").     The  preposition 

7  however  suits  better  the  definition  "  to  bow 
down,"  which  on  the  whole  is  to  be  preferred. 
-E.] 

Ver.  30.  He  does  not  escape  out  of  the 
darkness  (of  calamity,  ver  22) ;  a  fiery  heat 
[lit.  aflame]  'withereth  his  shoots,  and  he 
passes  a^7ay  ("^'O'l  forming  a  paronomasia  with 

the  I^D'    xS  of  the  first  member)  by  the  blast 

T 

of  His  [God's]  mouth;  comp.  ch.  iv.  9.  In 
the  second  member  the  figure  of  a  plant,  so  fre- 
quent throughout  our  book,  previously  used  also 
by  Eliphaz  (comp.  ch.  v.  3,  25seq.)  [and  already 
suggested  here  according  to  the  above  interpre- 
tation of  29  6],  again  makes  its  appearance, 
being  used  in  a  way  very  similar  to  ch.  viii.  16 
seq. ;  comp.  also  ch.  xiv.  7.  The  parching  heat 
here  spoken  of  may  be  either  that  of  the  sun,  or 
of  a  hot  wind  (as  in  Gen.  xli.  6;  Ps.  xi.  6). 

Third  Strophe:  Vers.  31-3o.  Describing  more 
in  detail  the  end  of  the  wicked,  showing  that  his 
prosperity  is  fleeting,  and  only  in  appearance, 
and  that  its  destruction  is  inevitable. 

Ver.  31.  Let  him  not  trust  in  vanity — he 
is  deceived  (nj,'n],  Niph.  Perf.  with  reflexive 
sense:  lit.  he   has  deceived  himself)    [Renan: 


428 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Insense .']  for  vanity  shall  be  his  possession 

[mion;  Ges.,  FuTst.,  Con.,  etc.,  like  E.  V.  "re- 
compense :"  Delitzsch  :  ''jiot  compensatio,"  but 
permutatio,  acquisitio ;  and  so  Ewald  and  Zockler 
— Eintausch,  exchange].  Nit!',  written  the  first 
time  IK',  is  used  here  essentiallv  in  the  same 

T  _  * 

sense  as  in  ch.  vii.  3,  and  hence  =  delusion,  va- 
nity, evil.  In  tha  first  instance  the  sense  of  emp- 
tiness, deception  predominates,  in  the  second 
that  of  calamity  (the  evil  consequences  of  trust- 
ing in  vanity).  For  the  sentiment  comp.  ch.  iv. 
8;  Hos.  viii.  8;  and  the  New  Testament  pas- 
sages which  speak  of  sowing  and  reaping;  Qal. 
vi.  7  seq. ;  2  Cor.  ix.  6. 

Ver.  32.  "While  his  day  is  not  yet  (lit.  "in 
his  not-day,"  i.  e.,  before  his  appointed  time  has 
yet  run  its  course;  comp.  ch.  x.  22;  xii.  24),  it 
is  fulfilled,  viz.,  the  evil  that  is  to  be  exchanged, 
it  passes  to  its  fulfillment ;  or  also:  the  exchange 

fulfills  itself,  S^./'^jT^  referring  back  immediately 
to  liT^lon,  ver.  31, — so  Hirzel,  Di^lmann.  And 
his  palm-branch  (ni33  as  in  Isa.  ix.  13;  xix. 
15)  is  no  longer  green,  is  dry,  withered.  The 
whole  man  is  here  represented  as  a  palm-tree, 
but  not  green  and  flourishing,  as  in  Ps.  xcii.  13 
(12),  but  as  decaying  with  dried  up  branches — 
by  which  branches  we  are  not  to  understand 
particularly  his  children,  especially  seeing  that 
only  one  is  mentioned  instead  of  several. 

Ver.  33.  He  loses  [or  shakes  off]  like  a 
vine  his  grapes  (lit.,  his  unripe  grapes;  1p3 

or  "ipb  =  ofi(pa$,  late  or  unripe  grape ;  comp. 
Isa.  xviii.  5;  Jer.  xxxi.  29  ;  Ezek.  xviii.  2)  and 
casts  dow^n,  like  an  olive,  his  blossoms, 

i.  e.,  without  seeing  fruit,  this,  as  is  well-known, 
being  the  case  with  the  olive  every  other  year, 
for  only  in  each  second  year  does  it  bear  olives 
in  anything  like  abundance;  comp.  Wetzstein  in 
Delitzsch  [I.  272  n.  "  In  order  to  appreciate 
the  point  of  the  comparison,  it  is  needful  to  know 
that  the  Syrian  olive-tree  bears  fruit  plentifully 
the  first,  third,  and  fifth  years,  but  rests  during 
the  second,  fourth,  and  sixth.  It  blossoms  in 
these  years  also,  but  the  blossoms  fall  off  almost 
entirely  without  any  berries  being  formed." 
Add  the  following  from  Thomson's  Land  and  the 
Book:  "  The  olive  is  the  most  prodigal  of  all 
fruit-bearing  trees  in  flowers.  It  literally  bends 
under  the  load  of  them.  But  then  not  one  in  a 
hundred  comes  to  maturity.  The  tree  casts  them 
off  by  millions,  as  if  they  were  of  no  more  value 
than  flakes  of  snow,  which  they  closely  resemble. 
So  it  will  be  with  those  who  put  their  trust  in 
vanity.  Cast  off  they  melt  away,  and  no  one 
takes  the  trouble  to  ask  after  such  empty,  use- 
less things,  efc."  I.  72].  The  verb  DOn'  in  a 
is  variously  rendered  by  commentators;  e.g., 
♦♦  broken  [man  bricht,  'H'  impersonal]  as  from 
a  vine  are  his  unripe  grapes,"  Schlott. ;  or : 
"  He  (God)  tears  off  as  of  a  vine  his  young 
grapes"  (Del.,  Hahn)  ;  or:  "he  (the  wicked) 
wrongs  as  a  vine  his  unripe  grapes"  (Hupfeld). 
The  rendering  given  above  (Ewald,  Hirzel,  Dill- 
mann)  [E.  V.,  Con.,  Noy.,  Carey,  Ren.,  Rod.], 
etc.),  is  favored  by  the  parallelism  of  the  second 
member,  which  shows  that  the   "injuring,  da- 


maging" (Dpn  as  in  Lam.  ii.  6;  Prov.  viii.  36, 
etc.),  proceeds  from  the  wicked  himself.  A  re- 
ference to  the  process  of  cutting  off  the  sour 
grape  for  the  manufacture  of  vinegar  (Wetzstein, 
Delitzsch)  is  altogether  too  remote  here. — In  re- 
gard to  the  variety  of  figures  here  derived  from 
the  vegetable  kingdom,  comp.  further  Ps.  xcii. 
13  (12)  seq.  ;  Hos.  xiv.  6seq.  ;  Sir.  xxiv.;  and 
in  general  my  Theol.  Naturalis,  p.  218  seq. 

Ver.  34.  For  the  company  of  the  profli- 
gate is  barren. — ^Jn  as  in  ch.  viii.  13  ;  xiii. 

16  ~Wyi^  (ch.  iii.  7)  is  here  and  in  ch.  xxx.  3 
used  as  a  substant.  in  the  sense  of  "  stark  death  " 
(LXX. :  ■QdvaTog),  barrenness,  hard  rock,  comp. 
Matth.  xiii.  6 ;  and  mj;*  signifies  here  not  in- 
deed specially  the  family,  as  in  ch.  xvi.  7,  but 
still  the  family  circle,  the  kinsfolk,  tribe,  or  clan. 
— And  fire  devours  the  tents  of  bribery: 
i.  e.,  the  fire  of  the  Divine  sentence  (comp.  ch.  i. 
16)  consumes  the  tents  built  up  by  bribery,  or 
the  tents  of  those  who  take  bribes  (olaovg  dupo- 
Sektuv,  LXX.). 

Ver.  35.  They  (the  profligate,  for  «]3n  in 
ver.  34  was  collective)  conceive  (are  pregnant 
with)  misery,  and  bring  forth  calamity. — 

|1}<  and  70^',  synonyms,  as  in  ch.  iv.  8;  comp. 
the  parallel  passages  Ps.  vii.  15  (14) ;  Isa.  xxxiii. 
11 ;  lix.  4.  The  Infinitives  absolute  in  a,  which, 
are  put  first  for  emphasis,  are  followed  in  b  by 
the  finite  verb  :  and  their  body  prepares  de- 
ceit, i.  e.,  their  pregnant  womb  (not  their  "  in- 
ward part,"  as  Del.  renders  it)  matures  deceit, 
ripens  falsehood,  viz.,  for  themselves  ;  comp.  ver. 
31.  For  riin,  to  prepare,  to  adjust,  comp.  ch. 
xxvii.  17  ;  xxxviii.  41  ;  for  riO"}p,  "  deception," 
Gen.  xxvii.  35;  xxxiv.  13;  Mic.  vi.  11;  Prov. 
xi.  1,  etc. 

DOCTRINAL  AND  ETHICAL. 
1.  Job's  persistence  inholding  what  the  friends 
assume  to  be  a  delusion,  and  especially  in  main- 
taining an  attitude  of  presumptuous  defiance  to- 
wards God,  compels  them  to  enter  on  a  new  cir- 
cle of  the  discussion  with  him.  This  is  opened 
by  Eliphaz  in  the  new  arraignment  of  Job  before 
us.  In  respect  of  doctrinal  contents  this  dis- 
course exhibits  little  or  nothing  that  is  new,  as 
indeed  is  the  case  generally  with  what  the  friends 
produce  from  this  point  on.  It  revolves,  as  well 
as  that  which  Bildad  and  Zophar  say  in  the  se- 
quel, altogether  about  the  old  thesis,  that  Job's 
sufferings  have  a  penal  significance.  The  speakers 
assume  that  to  have  been  sufiiciently  demon- 
strated by  what  they  have  said  before,  and  ac- 
cordingly do  not  undertake  to  prove  it  further  to 
him,  but  being  themselves  unquaHfiedly  right, 
they  imagine  that  they  have  only  to  warn  and 
threaten  and  upbraid  him  in  a  tone  of  the  harsh- 
est reproof.  The  fact  that  Job  had  spoken  ex- 
citedly, daringly,  and  inconsiderately  against 
God,  is,  to  their  minds,  transparent  proof,  which 
needs  no  further  confirmation,  of  the  correctness 
of  their  coarse  syllogism:  "All  suffering  is  the 
penalty  of  sin;  Job  suffers  severely ;  therefore, 
Job  is  a  great  sinner."  And  so  assuming  him  to 
be  impenitent,  and  hardened  in  presumption, 
they    break  out  all  the  more  violently  against 


CHAP.   XV.  1-85. 


429 


him,  with  the  purpose  not  of  instructing  him 
more  thoroughly,  but  of  more  sharply  blaming 
and  chastising  him.  The  consequence  is  that 
these  later  discourses  of  the  friends  become  more 
and  more  meagre  in  their  doctrinal  and  ethical 
contents,  and  abound  more  and  more  in  contro- 
versial sharpness  and  polemic  bitterness.  They 
give  evidence  of  a  temper  which  has  been  aroused 
to  more  aggressive  vehemence  towards  Job,  aim- 
ing at  his  conversion  as  one  laboring  under  a 
delusion,  and,  at  the  same  time,  of  increasing 
monotonousness  and  unproductiveness  in  the  de- 
velopment of  their  peculiar  views,  their  funda- 
mental dogma  remaining  substantially  unchanged 
throughout. 

2.  Of  these  arraignments  belonging  to  the  se- 
cond act  (or  stage)  of  the  discussion,  and  having 
as  just  stated  a  polemic  far  more  than  a  doctrinal 
significance,  the  preceding  discourse  by  Eliphaz 
is  the  first,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  fullest  in 
matter,  and  the  most  original.  Its  fundamental 
proposition  (vers.  14,  15)  is  indeed  nothing  else 
than  a  repetition  of  that  which  the  same  speaker 
had  previously  propounded  to  Job  as  truth  re- 
ceived by  him  through  a  divine  revelation  (chap. 
iv.  12seq.).  Here,  however,  by  the  parallel  jux- 
taposition of  "the  heavens"  with  "the  angels," 
there  is  introduced  into  the  description  an  ele- 
ment which  is,  in  part  at  least,  new,  and  not  un- 
interesting (comp.  the  exegetical  remarks  on 
ver.  15).  The  application  of  the  thesis  to  Job's 
case  is  thereby  made  much  more  direct,  wound- 
ing him  much  more  sharply  and  relentlessly  than 
before,  as  ver.  16  shows,  where  the  harsh,  "hi- 
deous" (Oetinger)  description  which  El.  gives 
of  the  corruption  of  the  natural  man,  is  unmis- 
takably aimed  at  Job  himself,  as  the  genuine  ex- 
ample of  a  hardened  sinner.  It  will  be  seen  from 
the  extract  from  Seb.  Schmidt  in  the  homiletical 
remarks  (see  on  ver.  2  seq.)  how  the  harshness 
of  the  charges  preferred  against  Job  in  the  first 
division  (especially  in  vers.  2-13)  reaches  the 
extreme  point  of  merciless  severity,  and  how, 
along  with  some  censures  which  are  certainly 
merited  (as,  e.g.,  that  he  braves  God,  speaks 
proud  words,  despises  mild  words  of  comfort  and 
admonition,  etc.)  there  is  much  thrown  in  that  is 
unjust  and  untrue,  especially  the  charge  that  he 
"chose  the  speech  of  the  crafty,"  and  hence  that 
he  dealt  in  the  deceitful  subtleties  and  falsehoods 
of  an  advocate.  The  discourse,  however,  pre- 
sents much  that  is  better,  that  is  objectively  more 
true  and  valuable,  and  more  creditable  to  the 
speaker.  Here  we  must  reckon  the  whole  of  the 
second  division  (vers.  20-35).  Here  we  have  a 
picture  indisputably  rich  in  poetic  beauties,  and 
iu  powerful  and  impressive  passages,  harmo- 
niously complete  in  itself  withal,  and  easily  de- 
tached from  its  surroundings, — the  picture  of  a 
wicked  man,  inwardly  tormented  by  the  pangs 
of  an  evil  conscience,  who  after  that  he  has  for 
a  long  lime  enjoyed  his  apparent  prosperity,  at 
last  succumbs  to  the  combined  power  of  the  tor- 
ments within,  and  of  God's  sentence  without,  and 
so  comes  to  a  horrible  end.  This  passage — which 
reminds  us  of  similar  striking  descriptions  else- 
where of  the  foolish  conduct  of  the  ungodly  and 
its  merited  retribution  (as,  e.g.,  Ps.  i.;  xxxv.;  lii.; 
Prov.  i.  18  seq.;  iv.  14  seq.;  v.  Iseq.) — forms  an 
interesting  counterpart  to  the  magnificent  picture 


of  the  prosperity  of  the  penitent  and  righteous 
man  with  which  the  first  discourse  of  Eliphnz 
closes  (chap.  v.  17-27).  The  contrast  between 
the  two  descriptions,  which  are  related  to  each 
other  like  the  serene,  bright  and  laughing  day 
and  the  gloomy  night,  is  in  many  respects  sug- 
gestive and  noteworthy;  but  it  is  not  to  the 
speaker's  advantage.  In  the  former  case,  in 
painting  that  bright  picture,  he  may  be  viewed 
as  a  prophet,  unconsciously  predicting  that  which 
was  at  last  actually  to  come  to  pass  according  to 
God's  decree.  But  here,  in  painting  this  gloomy 
night-scene,  which  is  purposely  designed  as  a 
mirror  by  the  contemplation  of  which  Job  might 
be  alarmed,  this  tendency  to  prophesy  evil  shows 
him  to  be  decidedly  entangled  in  error.  Indeed 
the  point  where  this  warning  culminates,  to  wit, 
the  charge  of  self-deception  and  of  hypocritical 
lying,  which  having  been  first  introduced  in  ver. 
5  seq.,  is  repeated  in  the  crimin.iting  word — 
no"1?p — at  the  close  (ver.  35),  involves  in  itself 
gross  itijustice,  and  is  an  abortive  attack  which 
recoils  on  the  accuser  himself  with  destructive 
effect,  besides  depriving  the  whole  description 
of  its  full  moral  value,  and  even  detracting  from 
its  poetic  beauty. 

3.  None  the  less,  however,  does  the  Sage  of 
Teman,  even  when  in  error,  remain  a  teacher  of 
real  wisdom,  who  has  at  his  disposal  genuine 
Chokmah  material,  however  he  may  pervert  its 
application  in  detail.  This  same  gloomy 
picture  with  which  the  discourse  before  us 
closes,  although  it  fails  as  to  its  special  occasion 
and  tendency,  contains  much  that  is  worth  pon- 
dering. It  is  brilliantly  distinguished  by  rare 
truth  of  nature  and  conformity  to  experience  in 
its  descriptions,  whether  it  treats  of  the  inward 
torment  and  distress  of  conscience  of  the  wicked 
(ver.  20  seq.),  or  of  the  cheerless  and  desperate 
issue  of  his  life  (ver.  29  seq.), — the  latter  de- 
scription being  particularly  remarkable  for  the 
profound  truth  and  the  beauty  of  the  figures  in- 
troduced with  such  effective  variety  from  the 
vegetable  kingdom  (see  on  ver.  33).  But  even 
in  the  first  division  there  is  not  a  little  that  is 
interesting  and  stimulating  to  profound  reflec- 
tion. This  is  especially  true  of  ver.  7 seq.,  with 
its  censure  of  Job's  conceit  of  superiority  on  the 
ground  of  his  wisdom — a  passage  the  significance 
of  which  is  attested  both  by  the  recurrence  of 
one  of  its  characteristic  turns  of  expression 
(ver.  2)  in  the  Solomonic  Book  of  Proverbs,  and 
of  another  in  Jehovah's  address  to  Job  (chap, 
xxxviii.  3  seq.). 

HOMILETICAL  AND   PRACTICAL. 

Ver.  2seq.:  Sf.b.  Schmidt:  lie  brings  against 
Job  the  grave  accusation  of  swelling  up,  as  it 
were  with  the  conceit  of  too  great  wisdom,  and 
hence  of  sinning  in  more  ways  than  one;  thus 
he  would  convict  him:  (1)  of  vanity;  (2)  of 
causing  scandal,  and  of  encouraging  men  to 
neglect  the  fear  of  God — nay  more,  to  fall  into 
atheism;  (3)  of  presumption,  or  of  the  conceit 
of  too  great  wisdom;  (4)  of  contempt  for  the 
word  of  God;  (5)  of  proud  anger  against  God. 
— WoHLFARTH  :  The  reproaches  which  we  bring 
against  others  are  often  only  witnesses  to  our 
own  guilt  1 


430 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Ver.  7  seq. :  Cocceius:  He  addresses  Job  here 
almost  in  the  same  terms  as  God  ia  ch.  xxxviii. 
but  with  another  scope  and  purpose.  Wisdom 
Bays  in  Prov.  yiii.  2S,  that  it  was  begotten 
before  the  hills,  i.  e.  that  it  is  the  eternal  Son 
of  God.  This  Wisdom  alone  was  acquainted 
with  all  the  mysteries  of  God  the  Father,  to  this 
Wisdom  alone  are  owing  the  purification  and 
justification  of  men,  the  full  declaration  of  the 
gracious  will  of  God,  and  the  gift  of  the  spirit 
of  joy. 

Vers.  14-16:  Brentius:  These  words  are 
most  true:  no  one  in  himself  is  clean,  pure  and 
just ;  but  in  God,  through  faith  in  Christ,  we 
come  into  possession  of  all  cleanness,  purity  and 
justification  (John  xv.  3;  Rom.  xv.  1,  etc.). — 
Mercier:  Eliphaz  finds  fault  with  man's  nature 
•which  nevertheless  by  faith  is  made  pure. — 
Zetss:  Although  the  holy  angels  are  pure  and 
holy  spirits,  neither  their  holiness  nor  that  of 
man  is  to  be  compared  with  the  infinitely  per- 
fect holiness  of  God,  but  God  only  is  and 
remains  the  Most  Holy  One ;  Is.  vi.  3. — Oeco- 
lAMPADius  (on  ver.  16):  Here  is  beautifully 
described  the  misery  of  man,  who  is  abominable 
by  reason  of  innate  depravity,  a  child  of  wrath, 
corrupted  and  degenerated  from  his  first  estate, 
and  so  inflamed  with  lust,  that  as  one  in  the 
dropsy  drinks  water,  so  does  he  drink  sin,  and 
is  never  satisfied. 

Ver.  20  seq. :  Idem:  This  is  what  he  would 
say,  that  the  wicked  man,  having  an  evil  con- 
science within  himself,  at  every  time  of  his  life 


when  he  becomes  better  known  to  himself,  trem- 
bles, carries  with  him  his  own  torments,  and 
never  hopes  for  good.  Moses  has  finely  illus- 
trated this  in  Cain,  Gen.  iv. — Cramer:  The 
ungodly  and  hypocrites  live  in  continual  rest- 
lessness of  heart;  but  blessed  are  they  whose 
sins  are  forgiven ;  they  attain  rest  and  peace 
of  conscience. — Comp.  Prov.  xxvii.  1:  "The 
wicked  flee  when  no  man  pursueth,  but  the 
righteous  are  bold  as  a  lion." 

Ver.  29  seq. :  Brentius:  Eliphaz  proceeds 
with  his  recital  of  the  catalogue  of  curses  on 
the  wicked.  .  .  .  "His  seed  will  burn  up,"  i.  e. 
the  blessing  of  the  wicked  will  be  turned  into  a 
curse;  and  as  the  branches  of  trees  are  burned 
by  fire,  and  scattered  by  the  wind,  which  is 
called  the  Spirit  [breath]  of  God,  so  do  all  the 
blessings  of  the  wicked  perish  by  the  judgment 
of  God,  and  tlie  Spirit  of  His  mouth. — Cramer: 
The  dire  punishments  which  befall  the  ungodly 
give  courage  to  the  pious,  and  strengthen  their 
faith,  when  they  see  how  the  former  are  recom- 
pensed for  their  ungodliness  (Ps.  xci.  8).  .  .  . 
Although  the  ungodly  have  many  friends  and 
many  dependents,  their  name  must  nevertheless 
rot  and  perish  (Prov.  x.  7;  Esth.  vi.  13). — 
Zetss  (on  vers.  31-33):  As  the  sowing,  so  the 
reaping.  He  who  sowa  vanity  will  also  reap 
vanity;  calamity  and  destruction  will  happen 
to  him  for  a  recompense  (Hos.  viii.  7;  Gal.  vi. 
8).  When  the  ungodly  think  that  their  life  is 
at  its  very  best,  they  are  often  enough  quite 
suddenly  taken  away  (Luke  xii.  17). 


B. — Job :   Although   oppressed  by  his    disconsolate    condition,    he    nevertheless 

■wishes  and  hopes  that  God  will  demonstrate  his  innocence,  against 

the  unreasonable  accusations  of  his  friends. 

Chapter  XVI— XVII. 

(A  brief  preliminary  repudiation  of  the  discourses  of  the  friends  as  aimless  and  unprofitable) : 

Chap.  XVI.  1-5. 

1  Then  Job  answered  and  said  : 

2  I  have  heard  many  such  things : 
miserable  comforters  are  ye  all. 

8  Shall  vain  words  have  an  end  ? 

or  what  emboldeneth  thee  that  thou  answerest  ? 

4  I  also  could  speak  as  ye  do  ; 

if  your  soul  were  in  my  soul's  stead, 
I  could  heap  up  words  against  you, 
and  shake  mine  head  at  you. 

5  But  I  would  strengthen  you  with  my  mouth, 

and  the  moving  of  my  lips  should  assuage  your  grief. 

1.  Lamentation  on  account  of  the  disconsolateness  of  hia  condition,  as  forsaken  and  hated  by  God 
and  men: 

Vers.  6-17. 

6  Though  I  speak,  my  grief  is  not  assuaged ; 
.    and  though  I  forbear,  what  am  I  eased  ? 


CHAPS.  XVI— XVII.  431 


7  But  now  He  hath  made  me  weary  : 
Thou  hast  made  desolate  all  my  company. 

8  And  Thou  hast  filled  me  with  wrinkles,  which  is  a  witness  against  me; 
and  my  leanness  rising  up  in  me 

beareth  witness  to  my  face. 

9  He  teareth  me  in  His  wrath,  who  hateth  me; 
He  gnasheth  upon  me  with  His  teeth ; 

mine  enemy  sharpeneth  his  eyes  upon  me. 

10  They  have  gaped  upon  me  with  their  mouth  ; 

they  have  smitten  me  upon  the  cheek  reproachfully ; 
they  have  gathered  themselves  together  against  me. 

11  God  hath  delivered  me  to  the  ungodly, 

and  turned  me  over  into  the  hands  of  the  wicked. 

12  I  was  at  ease,  but  He  liath  broken  me  asunder ; 

He  hath  also  taken  me  by  ray  neck,  and  shaken  me  to  pieces, 
and  set  me  up  for  His  mark. 

13  His  archers  compass  me  round  about, 

He  cleaveth  my  reins  asunder,  and  doth  not  spare ; 
He  poureth  out  my  gall  upon  the  ground. 

14  He  breaketh  me  with  breach  upon  breach ; 
He  runneth  upon  me  like  a  giant. 

15  I  have  sowed  sackcloth  upon  my  skin, 
and  defiled  my  horn  in  the  dust. 

16  My  face  is  foul  with  weeping, 

and  on  my  eyelids  is  the  shadow  of  death  ; 

17  not  for  any  injustice  in  mine  hands  ; 
also  my  prayer  is  pure. 

2.  Vivid  expression  of  the  hope  of  a  future  recognition  of  his  innocence; 
Chapter  XVI.  18— XVII.  9. 

18  O  earth,  cover  not  thou  my  blood ! 
and  let  my  cry  have  no  place ! 

19  Also  now,  behold,  my  witness  is  in  heaven, 
and  my  record  is  on  high. 

20  My  friends  scorn  me: 

but  mine  eye  poureth  out  tears  unto  God. 

21  O  that  one  might  plead  for  a  man  with  God, 
as  a  man  pleadeth  for  his  neighbor ' 

22  When  a  few  years  are  come, 

then  I  shall  go  the  way  whence  I  shall  not  return. 

Chap.  XVII.  1.     My  breath  is  corrupt, 
my  days  are  extinct, 
the  graves  are  ready  for  me. 

2  Are  there  not  mockers  with  me? 

and  doth  not  mine  eye  continue  in  their  provocation  ? 

3  Lay  down  now,  put  me  in  a  surety  with  Thee ; 
who  is  he  that  will  strike  hands  with  me  ? 

4  For  Thou  hast  hid  their  heart  from  understanding  ? 
therefore  shalt  Thou  not  exalt  them. 

5  He  that  speaketh  flattery  to  his  friends, 
even  the  eyes  of  his  children  shall  fail. 

6  He  hath  made  me  also  a  byword  of  the  people ; 
and  aforetime  I  was  as  a  tabret. 

7  Mine  eye  also  is  dim  by  reason  of  sorrow, 
and  all  my  members  are  as  a  shadow. 

8  Upright  men  shall  be  astonished  at  this, 

and  the  innocent  shall  stir  up  himself  against  the  hypocrite. 


432 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


9  The  righteous  also  shall  hold  on  his  way, 

and  he  that  hath  clean  hands  shall  be  stronger  and  stronger. 

3.   Sharp  censure  of  the  admonitory  speeches  of  the  friends  as  unreasonable,  and  destitute  of  all 
power  to  comfort : 

Vers.   10-16. 

10  But  as  for  you  all,  do  ye  return,  and  come  now; 
for  I  cannot  find  one  wise  man  among  you. 

11  My  days  are  passed, 

my  purposes  are  broken  off, 
even  the  thoughts  of  my  heart. 

12  They  change  the  night  into  day : 
the  lisht  is  short  because  of  darkness. 

13  If  I  wait,  the  grave  is  mme  house ; 

I  have  made  my  bed  in  the  darkness. 

14  I  have  said  to  corruption,  Thou  art  my  father ; 
to  the  worm.  Thou  art  my  mother  and  my  sister. 

15  And  where  is  now  my  hope  ? 

as  for  my  hope,  who  shall  see  it  ? 

16  They  shall  go  down  to  the  bars  of  the  pit, 
when  our  rest  together  is  in  the  dust. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  Heartlessly  repulsed  by  his  friends,  and 
left  without  comfort,  Job  turns,  more  trustfully 
than  in  his  previous  apologies,  to  the  God  who 
evidenced  Himself  in  his  good  conscience,  of 
whom  he  cannot  believe  that  He  will  leave  him 
forever  without  testifying  to  his  innocence, 
however  cheerless  a  night  of  despair  may  in  the 
meanwhile  surround  him.  It  is  in  the  expres- 
sion of  his  confidence,  and  of  his  inward  yearning 
and  ivaiting  for  this  Divine  testimony  to  his  inno- 
cence (ch.  xvi.  18  to  xvii.  9)  ihat  the  significance 
of  this  discourse  culminates,  so  far  as  it  gives 
pleasing  evidence  of  progress  beyond  Job's  for- 
mer frame  of  mind.  Along  with  this  indeed  it 
gives  evidence  that  the  spirit  of  hopeless  and 
bitter  complaint  is,  if  not  intensified,  at  least 
substantially  unchanged  and  undiminished. 
1\\Q  fivsi  principal  division  of  the  discourse  (ch. 
xvi.  6-17)  which  precedes  that  expression  of 
yearning  confidence  in  God's  help  contains  in 
particular  an  expression  of  cheerless  lamenta- 
tion over  his  condition,  as  one  forsaken  by  God 
and  men;  while  a  shorter  introduction  prefaced 
to  this  division  (ch.  xvi.  2-5),  as  well  as  the 
concluding  section,  or  third  division  (ch.  xvii 
10-16)  are  particularly  occupied  with  a  bitter 
complaint  on  account  of  the  misunderstanding 
and  heartless  conduct  of  the  friends. — Tlie  whole 
discourse  comprises  six  long  strophes,  the  first 
of  which  constitutes  the  introduction,  extending 
through  four  verses,  or  ten  stichs  (ch.  xvi,  2-5), 
while  the  first  and  second  divisions  contain  each 
two  strophes  (of  6,  7  verses,  or  14  stichs),  the 
third  division,  however,  only  one  strophe  (of 
7  verses,  or  14  stichs). 

2.  Exordium  of  the  discourse,  or  introductory 
strophe:  A  sliort  preliminary  repudiation  of  the 
discoursf^s  of  the  friends  as  aimless,  and  deji- 
tute  of  all  powr  to  comfort:    ch    xvi.  2-5. 

Ver.  2.  I  have  heard  (already)  many  such 
things   (-ni^"},  mulla,  as  in  ch.  xxiii.  14),  and 


miserable  comforters  are  ye  all.     ''pnw 

I'OV,    lit.    "comforters    of  distress"    TGen     of 

T    T  ■- 

attribute.  Green,  §  254,  6]  are  burdensome  com- 
forters {consolatores  onerosi,  Jer. ),  who,  instead 
of  comfort,  minister  only  trouble  and  distress  ; 
comp.  ch.  XV.  11. 

Ver.  3.  Are  windy  ^w■ords  (now)  at  an 
end?  Comp.  ch.  xv.  2,  where  Eliphaz  re- 
proaches Job  with  windy  speech — a  reproach 
which  Job  now  pays  back  in  the  same  coin. — 
Or  what  vexes  thee  [addressed  more  parti- 
cularly to  Eliphaz]  that  thou  answerest? 
•[""IDn,  Hiph.  of  I^IO,  "to  be  sick,  weak"  (see 
on  ch.  vi.  25),  signifies  "to  make  sick,  toafHict" 
(Ewald,  Schlott.,  Dillm.),  or  again  "to  goad, 
incite,  vex"  (Del.)  [see  the  examples  in  notes 
on  vi.  25  favoring  this  definition]  :  not  "to  make 
sweet,  to  sweeten,"  as  the  Targ.  interprets,  as 
though  yiO  were  without  further  qualification 
=]*70 — ^2  moreover  is  noi^^quum  (Hirz.),  but 
as  in  ch.  vi.  11  quod:  "what  vexes  thee  ihat 
thou  answerest,"  or  "to  answer." 

Ver.  4.  I  also  indeed  would  speak  like 
you,  i.  e.,  would  be  minded  to  serve  you  with 
such  like  discourses  as  your  own  [Dillmann, 
Conant,  Renan,  Rodwell,  etc.,  with  good  reason 
prefer  to  render  the  subjunctive  n"l31N  "I 
could,"  or  "might,"  rather  than  "would"]. — 
If  your  soul  w^ere  instead  of  mine ;  i.  e. 
in  case  you  had  my  place,  your  persons  were 
instead  of  mine.  [Conant,  however:  "Your 
soul  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  periphrasis  of  the 
personal  pronoun.  Soul,  the  seat  of  intelligence, 
mental  activity  and  emotion,  stands  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  these  faculties  in  man,  and  is  spe- 
cially appropriate  here,  where  there  is  imme- 
diate reference  to  what  is  thought,  felt  and 
suffered.  The  force  of  the  expression  is  lost 
therefore  by  substituting;/^  and  w"."]— Would 
[or    could]    weave   words   against   you.— 


CHAPS.  XVI— XVII. 


483 


DwOS  "I'^nn  is  not  "to  make  a  league  with 
words"  (Gesen.  [Rodwell],  etc.),  nor  again: 
"to  affect  wisdom  wiih  words"  (Ewa'd),  but 
to  "combine  words,  string  them  together  like 
pearls."  .  Instead  of  the  simple  accus.  of  the 
object  D'^?,  the  more  choice  construction  with 

3  instrum.  is  used;  comp.  the  following  mem- 
ber, also  ver.  10;  Jer.  xviii.  IG;  Lam.  i.  17 
(Ge^en.  ?  138  [?  135]  1,  Rem.  3).  ["When  he 
says:  I  would  range  together,  etc.,  he  gives  them 
to  understand  that  their  speeches  are  more  arti- 
ficial than  natural,  more  declamations  tlian  the 
outgushings  of  the  heart."  Del.] — And  shake 
my  head  at  you;  viz.,  as  a  gesture  of  scoiu 
and  malicious  pleasure;  comp.  Ps.  xxii.  8  [7]  ; 
Is.  xxxvii.  22;  Jer.  xviii.  16;  Sir.  xii.  18; 
Matt,  xxvii.  39.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  what  is  hateful  in  such  conduct  is  not  to  be 
charged  upon  Job  (who  indeed  only  states  what 
he  could  do  if  he  liad  before  him  the  friends, 
weak  and  miserable  as  he  is  now,  and  should 
then  follow  tlie  promptings  of  the  natural  man), 
but  on  the  friends,  before  whom  Job  here  holds 
up  as  in  a  mirror  the  hatefulness  of  their  own 

conduct  [In  regard  to  the  rendering  of  1^ 
by  "against,"  and  the  explanation  of  ^^'pn  as  a 
gesture  of  scorn,  see  below  on  ver.  5  ] 

Ver.  5.  Would  [could]  strengthen  you 
■with  my  mouth:  i.  e.  with  mere  words,  in- 
stead of  with  deeds  of  a  love  that  wins  the  heart. 
[On  the  form  DZ)i**3^X  with  Tsere  shortened  to 
Hhirik,  see  Green,  g  104,  A.] — And  the  sym- 
pathy of  my  lips  (TJ,  commisseration,  sympa- 
thy, only  here ;  comp.  the  phrase,  similar  in 
sound,  D^II^Dty  y\,  "fruit  of  the  lips,"  Is.  Ivii. 
19)  should  assuage,  soil,  your  grief.  I^^H, 
"to  soothe,  restrain,  check,"  here  without  an 
obj.  as  in  Is.  Iviii.  1.  The  following  verse  easily 
enables  us  to  supply  3i53,  as  the  object.  [The 
E.  v.,  Wem.,  Bar.,  Elz.,  etc.,  render  this  as  a 
contrast  with  ver.  4,  as  though  Job,  after  there 
describing  what  he  might  do  if  they  were  in  his 
place,  describes  here  what,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  really  would  do.  But  there  is  nothing  to 
indicate  such  a  contrast.  Ver.  5  is  most  simply 
and  naturally  the  continuation  of  ver.  4. — The 
irony  of  the  passage  is  most  keen  and  cutting. 
If  you  were  in  my  place,  says  Job,  if  your  soul 
were  tried  as  mine  is,  I  could  speak  windy  words 
in  abundance  as  you  have  done,  I  could  string 
them  out  one  after  another,  and  nod  my  head  to 
comfort :  oh,  yes !  all  such  comfort — sympathy 
of  the  head,  of  the  mouth,  of  the  lips,  I  could 
lavish  upon  you — that  is  cheap  enough,  as  your 
conduct  shows — but  as  for  the  heart,  that  is 
quite  another  matter!  It  will  be  seen  from 
this  paraphrase  of  Job's  language  that  a  some- 
what different  view  is  taken  of  one  or  two 
expressions,  particularly  in  ver.  4,  from  that 
given  above  by  Zockler.  It  seems  unnecessary 
and  unnatural  to  suppose  that  Job  would  in  ver. 

4  describe  himself  as  framing  words  against 
them,  and  indulging  in  gestures  of  malicious 
mockery,  and  then  in  ver.  5  as  strengthening  and 
soothing  them  with  words — but  nothing  more. 
Moreover  the  expressions  of  ver.  4  would  thus 
lose  ihe^iT point,  there  being  no  reason  to  suppose 

28 


that  the  friends  had  shown  any  such  malignity 
as  would  be  thus  suggested.  What,  Job  says  is, 
that  he  could  multiply  words  of  cold  formal  sym- 
pathy, that  he  could  string  out  such  words  Ujwn 
them,  or  toivards  them;  and  again  that  he  could 
make  with  his  head  tiie  customary  oriental  ges- 
ture of  condolence  (^}l  here  like  l^J,  see  above, 
ch.  ii.  11  and  comp.  Gesen.  sub.  v. ),  this  being 
by  implication  all  the  sympathy  he  had  received 
from  them. — E.] 

3.  First  Division.  A  lamentation  concerning 
the  cheerlessness  of  his  condition,  as  oue  for- 
saken and  persecuted  by  God  and  men.  Vers. 
U-17. 

First  Strophe:  vers.  611.  From  the  friends, 
the  "miserable  comforters,"  who  leave  him  in 
his  helplessness,  he  turns  to  himself,  who  is  so 
greatly  in  need  of  sympathy,  because  God  has 
delivered  liim  over  to  the  scorn  and  the  cruelty 
of  the  unrighteous. 

Ver.  6.  ["He  bethinks  himself  wlietlier  he 
will  continue  the  colloquy  further.  Already  in 
the  lamentation  of  ch.  iii.  Job  had  given  vent  to 
his  grief,  and  solicited  comfort.  The  colloquy 
thus  far  had  shown  that  from  them  he  had  no 
comfort  to  expect.  Should  he  then  speak  fur- 
tlier,  in  order  to  procure  at  least  some  allevia- 
tion of  his  grief?  but  he  cannot  anticipate  even 
this  as  the  result  of  his  speaking.  He  must 
accordingly  be  silent;  yet  even  then  he  is  no 
better  off."  Dillm.] — If  I  speak  (voluntative 
after  DN,  see  Ew.  |  355,  b)  my  grief  is  not 
assuaged;  if  I  forbear  (voluntative  without 
DX,  as  in  ch.  xi.  17;  Ps.  Ixxiii.  16,  etc.),  V7hat 
departs  from  me,  viz.  of  my  pain  ?  how  much 
of  my  pain  goes  away  from  me,  do  I  lose  ?  The 
unexpressed  answer  would  naturally  be :  Nought ! 

On  'i]bn"',  comp.  ch.  xiv.  20. 

Ver.  7.  Nevertheless— now  He  hath  ex- 
hausted me,  VIZ.  God,  not  the  pain  ('^'^4''  ^^r. 
6),  which  the  Vulg.,  Aben-Ezra,  etc.,  regard  as 
the  subj.  The  particle  ^N,  which  belongs  to  the 
whole  sentence,  signifies  neither:  "of  a  truth,  yea 
verily  !"(Ew.)  nor  "only"  [^entirely],  as  though 
it  belonged  only  to  'JNTn  (Hirz.,  llahn,  etc.), 
but  it  has  here  an  adversative  meaning,  and 
states,  in  opposition  to  the  two  previously  men- 
tioned possibilities  of  speaking  and  being  silent, 
what  is  actually  the  case  with  Job  ;  hence  it 
should  be  rendered  "still,  nevertheless,"  vcritm 
tamcn:  [Renan :  Mais  quoi !  "He  is  absolutely 
incapable  of  offering  any  resistance  to  his  pain, 
and  care  has  also  been  taken  that  no  solacing 
word  shall  come  to  him  from  any  quarter,"  Del. 
See  the  next  clause]. — Thou  hast  desolated 
all  my  circle.  m>'  here  not  "  rabble,"  as  iix 
ch.  XV.  34,  but  sensu  bono — circle  of  friends  and 
family  dependents  (Carey:  all  my  clan).  ["This 
mention  of  the  family  is  altogether  in  place,  see- 
ing that  the  loss  of  the  same  must  be  doubly  felt 
by  him  now  that  his  friends  are  hostile  to  him." 
Schlott.].  The  Pesh.  reads  "  all  my  testimony  " 
^'r'"'>!.^  ^-  *■•»  ^^1  ^^^^  witness  in  my  behalf,  all 
my  prosperity  (so  also  Hahn  among  the  mo- 
derns), to  which  however  D^'H  is  not  particu- 
larly suitable.  Note  moreover  the  transition, 
bearing  witness  as  it  does  to  the  vivid  excite- 


434 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


ment  of  the  speaker's  feelings,  from  the  declara- 
tions concerning  God  in  the  third  person  (which 
we  find  in  the  first  member,  and  which  appear 
again  ver.  9seq.),  and  the  mournful  pl^iintive 
address  to  Him  here  and  in  ver.  8,  in  which  the 
description  before  us  is  directly  continued. 

Ver.  8.  And  hast  seized  me  (not  "Thou 
makest  me  wrinkled,"  Vulg.,  Luther£E.  V.,  Lee, 
Rodwell]  or  "shrivelest  me  together,"  Del. — for 
£30p  signifies  "  to  press  together,  to  fasten  firmly 
together;"  comp.  ch.  xxii.  16.  [Wordsworth 
attempts  somewhat  peculiarly  to  combine  the  two 
definitions:  "  Thou  hast  bound  nie  fast  ivith  wrin- 
kles, as  with  a  chain"]. — It  is  become  a  wit- 
ness, viz.,  the  fact  that  thou  hast  seized  me  ; 
the  circumstance  that  God  makes  him  suffer  so 
severely  is — so  at  least  it  seems — a  witness  of 
his  guilt.  [This  clause,  taken  in  connection  es- 
pecially with  the  following  parallelism,  seems 
certainly  to  favor  the  rendering  of  the  Vulg., 
E.  v.,  etc.  "thou  hast  filled  me  with  wrinkles  " 
The  wifness  against  Job  is  naturally  something 
which  like  his  "  leanness"  is  visible.  The  cor- 
rugation of  the  skin  was  a  feature  of  elephantia- 
sis more  marked  even  than  the  emaciation  of  the 
body,  and  would  hardly  be  omitted  in  so  vivid  a 
description  of  his  condition  as  Job  here  gives. 
The  primary  signification  of  "  seizing,"  or 
"  compressing  "  should  not  however  be  lost  sight 
of;  indeed  it  adds  much  to  the  terrible  force  of 
the  representation  to  retain  it,  and,  with  Words- 
worth, to  combine  the  two  definitions,  only  in  a 
somewhat  different  way  from  his;  the  true  con- 
ception being  that  God — who  in  ver.  12  is  repre- 
sented as  seizing  Job  and  dashing  him  in  pieces, 
— is  here  represented  as  seizing,  compressing 
him,  until  his  body  is  shriveled,  crumpled  up 
into  wrinkles. — E.].  In  opposition  to  Evvald, 
who  changes  nTI  into  riTI  (;=nin,  see  ch.  vi. 

O  TT  T-       ^  T- 

2;  XXX.  I'd),  and  translates  acconiingly :  "and 
calamity  seized  me  as  a  witness  " — comp.  Del. 
and  Dillm.  on  the  passage:   [who  object  that  it 

would  leave  "IJ^  7  without  much  of  its  force  and 
emphasis,  and  t  bat  the  construction  would  be  too 
condensed  and  artificial]. — And  my  leanness 
has  appeared  against  me,  accusing  me  to 
the  face  (speaking  out  against  me,  comp.  ch. 
XV.  6  6).  On  lynj)  =  consumption,  emaciation, 
comp.  Ps.  cix.  24.  The  signification  rests  on  a 
metaphor  similar  to  that  by  virtue  of  which  a 
dried-up  brook  is  called  a  "liar"  (ch.  vi.  15 
eeq.). 

Ver.  0.  His  anger  has  torn  and  made  •war 
upon  me ;  He  has  gnashed  against  me 
■with  His  teeth ;  as  mine  enemy  He  has 
whetted  His  eyes  against  me.  God,  who  is 
now  again  spoken  of  in  the  third  person,  is  ima- 
gined as  a  ferocious  beast  of  prey,  who  is  en- 
raged against  Job.  So  above  in  ch.  x.  16. — As 
to  the  "tearing,"  comp.  Hos.  vi.  1  ;  the  "making 
war,"  cli.  XXX.  21  ;  the  "whetting"  or  "sharp- 
ening" of  the  eyes,  Ps.  vii.  13  [12]:  also  the 
acies  oculorum  of  the  Romans,  and  the  modern 
•expression,  "to  shoot  a  murderous  look  at  any 
one  " 

Ver.  10.  Men  also,  like  God,  fall  upon  Job,  as 
his  enemies,  resembling  beasts  of  prey. — They 
have  opened  wide  their  mouth  against 


me  (a  gesture  of  insolent  mockery,  as  in  Ps. 
xxii.  8  [7]  ;  Jer.  Ivii.  4) ;  with  abuse  («'.  e., 
with  abusive  speech)  they  strike  me  on  the 
cheeks  (comp.  Mic.  iv.  14  [v.  1];  Lam.  iii.  30; 
John  xviii.  22;  xix.  3);  together  they 
strengthen  themselves  against  me,  or 
again:   they  complete;  fill  themselves  up  [=  fill 

up  their  ranks]  against  me,  for  NvOnn  means 
"to  gather  themselves  together  to  a  vHd  (Isa. 
xxxi.  4),  a  heap;"  not  "to  equip  themselves 
with  a  full  suit  of  armor,"  as  Hirzel  would  ex- 
plain, supplying  Spl. — The  whole  of  this  lamen- 
tation, which  reminds  us  of  Ps.  xxii.,  is  general 
in  its  form  ;  it  contemplates  nevertheless  the 
hostile  attacks  made  by  the  friends  on  Job,  as 
in  particular  the  word  "  together  "  in  the  third 
member  shows — in  hearing  which  the  friends 
could  not  help  feeling  that  they  were  personally 
aimed  at  in  the  etrong  expressions  of  the  speaker, 
even  as  he  on  his  part  must  have  had  his  sensi- 
bilities hurt  by  such  expressions  as  those  of 
Eliphaz  in  ch.  xv.  10  (see  on  the  passage). 

Ver.  11.  God  delivers  me  (comp.  Deut. 
xxiii.  16  [15])  to  the  unrighteous,  and 
casts  me  headlong  into  the  hand  of  the 
wicked.  'PP^.\  Imperf.  Kal.  of  £3T  (con- 
tracted from  'ygy],  Ges.,  ?70  [|68],  Rem.  3). 
["  The  preformative  Jod  has  Mctheg  in  correct 
texts,  so  that  we  need  not  suppose,  with  Ralbag, 
a  n£3"l  similar  in  meaning  to  t3"l\"  Del.],  prx- 
cipitem  vie  dat;  comp.  LXX.  ippiips  and  Symma- 

chus  hiliale. —  T}^_  in  the  first  member,  "the 
perverted  one,  the  reprobate,  the  unrighteous," 
or  again — "  the  boy  "  \^dcr  Babe,  "  or  the  boyish, 
childish,  knavish  one"]  as  Del.  explains  it,  (re- 
ferring to  ch.  xix.  18;  xxii.  11),  is  used  collec- 
tively for  the  plur.,  as  the  parallel  term  D'^^tJ'T 
in  b  shows. 

Second  Strophe:  Vers.  12-17.  Continuation  of 
the  description  of  the  cruel  and  hostile  treat- 
ment he  had  received  from  God,  notwithstanding 
his  innocence. 

Ver.  12.  I  w^as  at  ease,  and  He  then  shat- 
tered me.  \7^,  secure,  unharmed,  suspecting 
no  evil;  comp.  ch.  xxi.  23;  iii.  20. — "^3^3,  Pilp. 
of  *n£3  with  strong  intensive  signification — "to 
shatter,  to  crush  in  pieces;"  so  also  the  follow- 
ing ]*31.'3,  from  ]"2fi3,  '•  to  beat  in  pieces,  to  dash 
to  pieces."  ["He  compares  himself  to  a  man 
who  is  seized  by  the  hair  of  his  head,  and  thrown 
down  a  precipice,  where  his  limbs  are  broken. 
He  probably  alludes  to  some  ancient  mode  of 
punihhing  criminals."  Wemyss].  Observe  the 
ononiatopoetic  element  of  these  intensive  forms, 
which  furthermore  are  to  be  understood  not  lit- 
erally or  physically,  but  in  a  figurative  sense  of 
the  sudden  shattering  of  prosperity,  and  peace 
of  soul. — And   set   me  for  a  mark.     n""£30 

T  T  - 

(from  TDJ,  rr/pelv,  like  fr/cowof  from  aKEnreadai), 
target,  mark,  as  in  1  Sam.  xx.  20;  Lam.  iii.  12; 
comp.  ^'^30  above  in  ch.  vii.  20. 

Ver.  13  expands  the  figure  in  ch.  xii.  c. — His 
arrow^s  w^hirred  about  me.     V3"i,  not  "  his 

T- 

troops,  his  archers"  (Rabb.  [E.  V.,  Noy.,  Con., 


CHAPS.  XVI— XVII. 


43i: 


Car.,  Rod.,  Elz.,  eic.'\),  but  according  to  the  una- 
nimous witness  of  the  ancient  versions:  "his 
arrows,  darts  "  (from  2^"^  =  T\2'\,  HO'^,  j'acere, 
Gen.  xlix.  23;  comp.  Gen.  xxi.  10).— (He 
cleaves  my  reins  \vithout  sparing,  pours 
out  on  the  earth  my  gall  (comp.  Lam.  ii.  11). 
Job  here  describes  more  specifically  the  terrible 
effect  of  God's  arrows,  t.  e.,  of  the  ailments  in- 
flicted on  him  by  a  hostile  God  (comp.  ch.  vi.  4, 
also  the  well-known  mythological  representa- 
tions of  classical  antiquity),  representing  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  Hebrew  conception  the  noblest 
and  most  sensitive  of  the  inner  organs  of  the 
body  as  aiFected,  namely  the  reins,  and  also  the 
gall-bladder.  In  view  of  the  highly  poetic  cha- 
racter of  the  description,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
inquire  wliether  he  conceives  of  the  "  outpour- 
ing" of  the  gall  as  taking  place  inwardly,  with- 
out being  at  all  perceptible  externally,  or  whe- 
ther, with  a  disregard  of  physiological  possibi- 
lity or  probability,  he  represents  it  as  something 
that  is  externally  visible.  It  is  moreover  worthy 
of  note  that  according  to  Arabic  notions  the 
"rupture  of  the  gall-bladder"  may  really  be  pro- 
duced by  violent  painful  emotions.  Comp.  De- 
litzsch  on  the  passage;  also  his  Biblical  Fsi/cho- 
lo(/>/  [p.  317,  Clark] ;  also  my  Theol.  Naluralis, 
p.  G18. 

Ver.  14.  He  breaks  through  me  breach 
upon  breach.  \"]^,,  comp.  ch.  xxx.  14,  here 
as  accus.  of  the  object,  united  to  its  cognate 
verb;  comp.  Gesen.,  ^  138  [§  13-5]  Rem.  1. — He 
runs  upon  me  like  a  mighty  w^arrior.  In 
this  new  turn  of  the  comparison  Job,  and  in  par- 
ticular his  body,  appears  as  a  wall,  or  a  fortress, 
which  is  by  degrees  breached  by  missiles  and 
battering-rams,  and  which  God  himself  assaults 
by  storm. 

Ver.  15.  I  have  sewed  sackcloth  upon 
my  skin,  /.  e.  I  have  girded  around  myself,  and 
stitched  together  (about  the  loins)  a  closely  fitting 
mourning  garment  of  close  hair  (comp.  pti'  in 
Isa.  iii.  24;  xx.  2 ;  xxxii.  11;  1  Kings  xxi.  27; 
2  Kings  vi.  30,  etc.).  The  "sewing  upon  the 
skin"  is  doubtless  to  be  understood  only  figura- 
tively of  the  laying  on  of  a  closely  fitting  gar- 
ment, which  it  is  not  intended  to  lay  off  imme- 
diately. Possibly,  indeed,  there  may  be  an 
allusion  to  the  cracked  swollen  skin  of  one  dis- 
eased with  elephantiasis,  in  which  the  hair  of  the 
sackcloth  [cilicium')  must  of  necessity  stick  (see 
my  Krilische  Gesch.  der  Asccse,  p.  82seq.).  [See 
also  Art.  "Sackcloth"  in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet. 
"Job  does  not  say  of  it  that  he  put  it  on,  or 
slung  it  around  him,  but  that  he  sewed  it  upon 
his  naked  body;  and  this  is  to  be  attributed  to 
the  hideous  distortion  of  the  body  by  elephan- 
tiasis, which  will  not  admit  of  the  use  of  the  or- 
dinary foi'm  of  clothes."  Delitzsch].  In  any 
case  in  referring  to  this  stiff,  almost  dead  skin, 
as  a  part    of  his   fearfully   distorted   body,  he 

chooses  the  term  l7J,  which  appears  in  Hebrew 
only  here  (though  more  common  in  Aram,  and 
Arab.),  and  in  contrast  with  "llj^,  the  "  sound, 
healthy  skin,"  may  be  translated  "hide;"  comp. 
the  f^vpaa  of  the  LXX. — And  have  low^ered 
(lit.  "stuck,"  see  below)  my  horn — the  symbol 
of  power  and  of  free  manly  dignity,  comp,  1  Sam. 


ii.  1,  10:  Ps.  lx.xxix.  18  [17],  25  [24];  xcii.  11 
[10];  etc.,  Luke  i.  69 — into  the  dust: — this 
being  a  sign  of  his  humiliation,  of  his  conscious- 
ness of  the  defeat,  and  of  the  deep  sorrow  whicli 
he  has  been  called  to  endure.  For  this  lowering 
of  the  horn  into  the  dust  of  the  earth  is  tlie  di- 
rect opposite  of  "lifting  up  the  horn"  (Ps. 
Ixxxiii.  3    [2]    as  a  symbol  of  the  increase  of 

power  and  dignity.  /VlJ^  is  with  Saad.,  Ro- 
senm.,    Ew.,    Hirz.,   Dillm.,    etc.,   to  be   derived 

from  //}?,  introire,  of  frequent  use  in  the  Aram, 
and  Arab.,  and  thus  signifies  "to  stick  into,  to 

dig  into."  If  it  were  the  Pil.  of  i'^,  "  to  act," 
meaning  accordingly  "  to  abuse,"  or  "  to  defile  " 
(Targ.,  Pesch.,  Delitzsch  [E.  V.,  Schlott.]  etc.), 

the  7  before  the  object  would  not  be  wanting; 
comp.  Lam.  i.  22;  ii.  20;  iii.  51.  To  be  pre- 
ferred to  this  is  the  translation — "  I  roll  my  horn 
in  the  dust  "  (Umbr.,  Vaihing.,  Hahn),  a  render- 
ing which  is  etymologically  admissible. 

Ver.  10.  My  face  is  burning  red  -with 
"weeping,  mo^ipn  (instead  of  which  we 
ought  perhaps  with  the  K'ri  to  read  the  plural 
lip'l^n,  unless  we  explain  the  fem.,  like  ^bti'ri 
in  ch.  xiv.  19,  in  accordance  with  Qesen.,  ^  14G, 
[^  143],  8),  Pualal  of  "lOn,  an  intensive'  pas- 
sive form,  expressing  the  idea  of  being  exceed- 
ingly reddened,  glowing  red  (comp.  Lam.  i.  20 ; 
ii.  11).  [From  the  same  root  comes  the  name 
Alhambra,  applied  to  the  building  from  its  color. 
See  Delitzsch]. — And  on  mine  eyelashes  is 
a  death-shade,  ;.  e.,  by  reason  of  continuous 
weeping,  and  the  weakening  thereby  of  the 
power  of  sight,  my  eyes  are  encompassed  by  a 
gloom  of  night:  [an  explanation  which  Schlott- 
mann  characterizes  as  flat  and  prosaic.  The 
idea  is  rather  that  in  Job's  despondent  mood  he 
conceived  of  "  the  shadow  of  death  "  as  gather- 
ing around.  He  had  well-nigh  wept  himself  out 
of  life]. 

Ver.  17.  Although  no  violence  is  in  my 
hands  (or  clings  to  them)  and  my  prayer  is 
pure. — Job  emphasizes  his  innocence  here  in 
contrast  not  only  with  ver.  IG,  but  with  the 
whole  description  thus  far  given  of  the  persecu- 
tion which  he  had  endured,  vers.  12-lG. — 7>2  ig 
used  here,  as  in  Is.  liii.  9,  as  a  conjunction,  in 
the  sense  of  "notwithstanding  that,  although," 
(Ewald,  §  222,  b),  not  as  a  preposition,  as  Hir- 
zel  explains  it  ("  in  spite  of  non-violence  "). 

4.  Second  Divi-fion.  A  vivid  expression  of  the 
hope  of  a  future  recognition  of  his  innocence  : 
ch.  xvi.  18 — xvii.  9. 

First  Strophe:  Ver.  18 — ch.  xvii.  2.  [His  con- 
fidence in  God  as  his  witness  and  vindicator — 
his  only  hope  in  view  of  the  speedy  approach  of 
death]. 

Ver.  18.  Earth,  covernot  thou  my  blood, 

i.  e.,  drink  it  not  up,  let  it  lie  open  to  view,  and 
cry  to  heaven  as  a  witness  to  my  innocence, 
Comp.  Gen.  iv.  10  ;  Ezck.  xxiv.  7  seq. ;  Is.  xxvi. 
21.  ["  As  according  to  the  tradition  it  is  said 
to  have  been  impossible  to  remove  the  stain  of 
the  blood  of  Zachariah,  who  was  murdered  in 
the  court  of  the  temple,  until  it  was  removed  by 


436 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


the  destruction  of  the  temple  itself."  Delitzsch. 
"According  to  the  old  belief  no  rain  or  dew 
would  moisten  the  spot  marked  by  the  blood  of 
a  person  murdered  when  innocent,  or  change  its 
blighted  appearance  into  living  green."  Ewald]. 
The  second  member  also  expresses  essentially 
the  same  meaning:  and  let  my  cry  have  no 
resting-place,  i.e.,  let  not  the  cry  for  ven- 
geance arising  from  my  shed  blood  (or  the  cry 
of  my  soul  poured  out  in  my  blood.  Gen.  ix.  4, 
etc.),  be  stilled,  let  it  not  reach  a  place  of  rest, 
before  it  appears  as  my  7Xij  (ch.  xix.  25)  to 
deliver  and  avenge  me.  ["Therefore  in  the 
very  God  who  appears  to  him  to  be  a  blood- 
thirsty enemy  in  pursuit  of  him.  Job  neverthe- 
less hopes  to  find  a  witness  of  his  innocence  : 
He  will  acknowledge  his  blood,  like  that  of 
Abel,  to  be  tlie  blood  of  an  innocent  man.  It  is 
an  inward  irresistible  demand  made  by  his  faith 
which  liere  brings  together  two  opposite  prin- 
ciples— principles  which  the  understanding  can- 
not unite — with  bewildering  boldness.  Job  be- 
lieves that  God  will  even  finally  avenge  the  blood 
which  His  wrath  has  shed,  as  blood  that  has 
been  innocently  shed."  Delitzsch]. 

Ver.  19.  Even  noTv  behold  in  heaven 
my  ■writneas,  and  my  attestor  (inty,  LXX. 
csvviarup,  an  Aram,  synonym  of  ^J^',  witness, 
comp.  Gen.  xxxi.  47)  in  the  heights. — In  re- 
gard to  D^pno  as  a  synonym,  of  D]I5^>  comp. 
ch.  XXV.  2;  xxxi.  2.  T\r\^  DJ,  "even  now," 
(not  "now  however,"  Ewald)  sets  the  present 
condition  of  .Job,  apparently  quite  forsaken,  but 
in  reality  still  supported  and  upheld  by  God  as 
a  heavenly  witness  of  his  innocence,  in  contrast 
with  a  future  period,  when  he  will  be  again  pub- 
licly acknowledged  and  brought  to  honor.  This 
more  prosperous  and  happy  future  he  does  not 
yet  indeed  realize  so  vividly  as  later  in  ch.  xix. 
25  seq.  That  of  which  he  speaks  here  is  only 
the  contrast  between  his  apparent  forsakenness, 
and  the  fact  that,  as  he  firmly  believes,  God  in 
heaven  is  still  on  his  side.  ["  If  his  blood  is  to 
be  one  day  avenged,  and  his  innocence  recog- 
nized, he  must  have  a  witness  of  the  same.  And 
reflecting  upon  it  he  remembers  that  even  now, 
when  appearances  are  all  against  him.  he  has 
such  a  witness  in  God  in  heaven."  Dillm.]. 

Ver.  20.  ["  The  conduct  of  the  friends  in  de- 
nying, nay  in  mocking  his  innocence,  compels 
him  to  cling  to  this  God  in  heaven."  Dillm.]. — 
They  who  mock  me  (lit.,  "  my  mockers," 
with  strong  accent  on  "mockers")  are  my 
friends.  ["  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
word  here  used,  melits,  signifies  also  an  intnrpre- 
ter,  an  intercessor,  and  is  employed  in  tliat  sense  ; 
below,  ch.  xxxiii.  23;  comp.  Gen.  xlii.  23;  2 
Chron.  xxxii.  31;  Is.  xliii.  27;  and  some,  as 
Pro/es.fors  Lee  and  Carey,  have  assigned  that 
sense  to  the  word  here,  '  My  true  interpreters 
are  my  friends  ;'  and  they  suppose  in  this  word, 
here  and  in  xxxiii.  23,  a  prophetic  reference  to 
the  Mediator.  But  the  Auth.  Ver.  appears  to  be 
correct;  and  the  similarity  of  the  words  serves 
to  bring  out  the  contrast  between  the  unkind- 
ness  of  man,  and  the  mercy  of  God."  Words.]. — 
To  Eloah  mine  eye  poureth  tears:  i.  e., 
although  my  friends  mock  me,  instead  of  taking 


me  under  their  protection,  and  attesting  my  in- 
nocence, I  still  direct  to  God  a  look  of  tearful 
entreaty  that  He  would  do  justice,  etc.  —  ["  An 
equally  strong  emphasis  lies  here  on  subj.  and 
predicate:  '  My  friends  '  stands  in  contrast  with 
God;  'my  mockers'  in  contrast  with  'my  wit- 
ness,' ver.  19;  and  finally  also  'my  mockers'  in 
contrast  with  'my  friends.' "  Schlottm.].  Ew., 
Dillm.,  etc.,  take  the  first  member,  less  suitably, 
as  assigning  the  reason  for  the  second:  "because 
my  friends  are  become  such  as  mock  me,  mine 
eye  pours  out  tears  to  Eloah,"  etc. 

Ver.  21  states  the  object  of  the  weeping  {i.  e., 
the  yearning)  look  which  he  lifts  up  to  God. 
This  object  is  twofold:  (1)  That  He  would 
do  justice  to  a  man  before  God  :  lit.  "  that 
He  would  decide  (FIDVI,  voluntative  expressing 
the  final  end,  as  in  ch.  ix.  83)  for  the  man  affainst 
Eloah,  or  with  Eloah  (Dj;  as  in  Ps.  Iv.  19  [18]  ; 
xciv.  16  [15]  of  an  opponent)  ;  i.  e.,  that  before 
His  own  bar  He  would  pronounce  me  not  guilty, 
that  He  would  cease  to  misunderstand  and  to 
persecute  me  as  an  enemy,  but  would  rather  as- 
sist me  to  my  right,  and  so  appear  on  my  side. 
(2)  (That  He  would  do  justice)  to  the  son  of 
man  against  his  friend,  that  He  would  justify 
me  against  my  human  friend  (^HJ^T  distribu- 
tively  for  Vl^"!!),  and  set  me  forth  as  innocent — 
which  would  result  immediately  upon  his  justi- 
fication before  God's  bar.  For  the  interchange 
of  "man"  and  "  son  of  man  "  in  poetic  paral- 
lelism, comp.  Ps.  viii.  5.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
adopt  Ewald's  suggestion  [Jahrb.  der  bibl.  Wis- 
senschaft,  IX.  38)  to  read  DIX  J'3,  instead  of 
''J<~|3,  in  order  to  acquire  a  more  suitable  con- 
struction for  nOin.  The  construction  accord- 
ing to  the  common  reading  presents  nothing  that 
is  objectionable,  scarcely  anything  that  is  parti- 
cularly harsh.  The  influence  of  the  7  of  the 
first  member  extends  forward  to  mx~|3   (as  in 

T    T      I   V     ^ 

ch.  XV.  3),  and  the  7  before  ^n;;^  =r  "  in  re- 
spect to,  against,"  supplies  the  place  of  the  DJ^ 
of  the  first  member.  It  would  be  much  harsher 
were  we,  with  Schlottmann,  Ewald  (in  Comm.), 
and  Olsh.  to  translate  the  second  member:  "and 
judges  man  against  his  friend,"  a  rendering 
which  is  condemned  by  the  usage  of  the  lan- 
guage, for  H'^in  with  accus.  of  person  never 
signifies  "to  judge,"  but  always  "to  punish, 
reprove."  ["Job  appeals  from  God  to  God: 
he  hopes  that  truth  and  love  will  finally  decide 
against  wrath.  .  .  .  Schlottmann  aptly  recalls 
the  saying  of  the  philosophers,  which  applies 
here  in  a  different  sense  from  that  in  which  it  is 
meant:  Nemo  contra  Deum,  nisi  Deus  ipse."  Del. 
"The  prayer  of  Job  is  fulfilled  in  ch.  xlii.  7; 
and  that  too  in  a  sense  quite  otherwise  than  that 
which  Job  had  ventured  to  hope  for,  even  in 
this  life.  This  is  again  one  of  the  passages 
where  the  poet  permits  his  hero,  in  an  exalted 
moment,  to  enjoy  a  presage  of  the  issue."  Dillm.] 
Concerning  the  theological  significance  of  the 
wish  here  expressed  by  Job,  that  he  might  be 
justified  by  God  before  God  as  well  as  before 
men;  comp.  the  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks. 
Ver.  22.  Giving  the  reason  why  Job  longs  to 


CHAP.  XVI -XVII. 


437 


be  vindicated,  arising  from  the  fact  that  his  end 
is  near,  and  that  for  hira  who  has  once  died 
there  is  no  prospect  of  a  return  to  this  life. 
[This,  however,  is  not  to  be  understood  as  a  rea- 
son given  why  God  should  interpose  speedily 
to  vindicate  him  hffore  his  death.  Rather  the 
argument  is  drawn  from  the  hopelessness  of  liis 
physical  condition.  Death  was  sure  and  near; 
that  recovery  which  the  friends  promised  on 
condition  of  repentance  was  out  of  the  question: 
hence  if  he  is  to  be  vindicated,  it  must  be  by 
God,  who  can  do  it  when  he  is  gone.] — For 
years  that  may  be  numbered  are  coming 
on,  and  by  a  path  w^ithout  return  shall  I 
go  hence. — The  thought  is  substantially  the 
same  as  in  ch.  vii.  7-10;  and  x.  20  seq. — nijiy 
*13pn,  lit.  "years  of  number"  (Gen.  xxxiv.  30; 
Ps.  cv.  12),  are  years  that  may  be  numbered, 
i.  e.  a  few  years  (LXX:  ett]  apz-d/ir/rd),  by  which 
we  are  naturally  to  understand  those  which  still 
remain  before  his  death,  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life  (not  all  the  years  of  his  life,  as  Hahn 
and  Del.  explain).  For  VnX"'  (in  regard  to  the 
form,  comp.  on  ch.  xii.  6)  can  only  mean : 
"they  are  coming  on,  they  stand  before  me," 
not :  "  they  are  passing  away  "  [transeunl,  Vulg., 
etc.),  nor:  "  tlieir  end  is  coming  on"  (Hahn, 
Del.).  That  Job  here  announces  the  sad  issue 
in  which  the  rapid  and  inevitably  fatal  course 
of  the  elephantiasis  generally  resulted,  is  shown 
by  the  conclusion  of  the  discourse,  ch.  xvii. 
11-16. 

Ch.  xvii.  1  [the  chapter-division  here  being 
manifestly  errroneous]  continues  the  statement 
of  the  reason  given  in  ch.  xvi.  22.  It  consists 
of  abrupt  sob-like  ejaculations  of  which  it  may 
be  truly  said  with  Oetinger  that  they  form  "the 
requiem,  which  Job  chants  for  himself  even 
while  yet  living." — My  spirit  is  distuibed, 
60  correctly  most  moderns,  taking  ''nil  in  the 
sense  of  "the  spirit  or  power."  The  transla- 
tion: "■my  breath  \s  corrupt,"  or  "destroyed" 
(De  Wette,  Del.  [E.V.,  Rod.,  Elz.,  Con.,  Ber.], 
etc.),  is  less  suitable  here  to  the  connection, 
which  requires,  as  the  subject  of  Job's  expres- 
sion, not  that  single  symptom  of  a  short  and 
fetid  breath  [which  would  be  a  much  less  con- 
clusive indication  that  his  days  were  numbered 
than  others  which  he  miglit  have  mentioned], 
referred  to  also  in  ch.  vii.  15;  xix.  17;  but 
requires  rather  some  sign  of  the  incipient  dis- 
solution of  the  whole  psychical  bodily  organism, 
a  failure  of  tlie  vital  principle. — My  days  are 
extinct  (i;ri— 1;?1,  ch.  vi.  17,  which  some 
MSS.  exhibit  here  also) ;  graves  avrait  me 
[Rodney  :  for  me  the  tombs  1].  Comp.  the  Ara- 
bic proverb:  "to  be  a  grave-companion  (Ssachib 
el-kubur)  ;"  also  the  familiar  saying  of  Luther: 
"to  walk  on  the  grave;"  and  the  modern 
expression :  "  to  stand  with  one  foot  in  the 
grave." 

Ver.  2.  Verily  mockery  surrounds  me  : 
and  on  their  quarreling  mine  eye  must 
d-wrell. — So  substantially  Welte,  Arnh.,  Del., 
Dillm.  [Schlott.,  Con.,  Words.],  whose  render- 
ing of  this  difficult  verse  is  the  most  satisfactory ; 
for  (1)  It  is  best  to  take  t<7~DN,  as  in  ch.  i.  11; 
xxii.  20;  xxxi.  36,  etc.,  as  a  formula  of  asseve- 


ration="  verily,  truly."  (2)  D'Spn  (or  accord- 
ing  to   another   reading  DwriH  is  an   abstract 

term,  formed  from  7rin=mockery,  scoffing  (not 
"deception,"  as  Hirzel  renders  it);  to  render 
it  as  a  concrete  term  in  the  sense  of  "mockers" 
[E.  v.,  Noyes,  etc.'],  or  "beguiled,"  is  at. 
variance  with  tlie  laws  governing  the  formation 
of  Hebrew  words  (see  Ew.  ^  15o,  a;  179,  (/,  h). 
—{?>)  nnnpn  is  inf.  Hiph.  with  suffix,  from 
niO,  wliicii  means  in  Hiph.  "  to  miike  refrac- 
tory," to  incite  to  strife,  to  contend  with  one. 
The  word   is  written   with  Dayh.  dirimcns  in    ^) 

comp.  ix.  18;  Joel  i.  17,  etc. — (4)  |7P,  .Jussive 
or  Voluntative  form  of  jw,  to  lodge,  to  tarry 
(comp.  ch.  xix.  4;  xxix.  19;  xxxi.  32),  is  a 
pausal  form  for  pn,  which  occurs  also  in  Judg. 
xix.  20,  the  use  of  which  in  a  non-pausal  posi- 
tion seems  to  be  purely  arbitrary,  or  rests  pos- 
sibly on  euphonic  grounds  (the  liquids  I  and  n 
in  juxtaposition  being  treated  as  though  they 
were  gutturals:  comp.  Ewahl,  g  141,  b.  Rem.  2). 
(5)  The  sense  of  the  entire  verse,  according  to 
the  construction  here  given,  is  decidedly  more 
suitable  to  the  context :  Of  a  truth  it  is  mocking 
me  Cl^.t'  'n,  lit.  "mockery  is  with  me,  befalls 
me")  to  force  me,  who  am  standing  on  the  verge 
of  the  grave  to  confess  a  guilt  from  which  I 
know  myself  to  be  free  ;  and  such  hateful  quar- 
relsome conduct  it  is  that  I  must  have  continu- 
ally before  my  eyes  ! — Other  renderings  are  e.  g. 
— a.  That  of  the  Pesh.,  Vulg.,   and   recently  of 

Hirzel,  which  takes  ^''/jPH  in  the  sense  of  "de- 
ception, illusion."  Tims  Hirzel's  rendering  is: 
"  If  deception  is  not  with  me,  then  let  them  con- 
tinually henceforth  quarrel."  b.  That  of  Rosen- 
miiller :  annon  illusiones  mecitin,  et  in  adversando 
eorum  per7ioctat  ociilus  meun. — c.  That  of  Ewald 
(in  part  also  of  Eichhorn,  Umbr.):  "If  only  I 
were  not  mocked  and  mine  eye  were  not  obliged 
to  dwell,"  etc. — d.  Tlie  rendering  in  part  simi- 
lar to  the  latter,  of  Vaih.  and  Heiligst. — "  Oh, 
that  mockery  did  not  surround  me!  tlien  could 
mine  eye  abide  in  peace  witli  their  contention !" 
— e.  That  of  Stickel  and  Hahn :  "Or  are  there 
not  around  me  those  who  are  dehulcd  ?  must 
not  mine  eye  dwell  on  their  contention?" — 
[/.  That  of  Renan :  "May  it  please  God  that 
traitors  might  be  far  from  me,  and  that  mine 
eye  be  never  more  afllicted  with  their  quarrels!'] 
Second  Strophe :  vers.  8-9.  Repetition  of  the 
yearning  and  trustful  supplication  to  God  as  the 
only  remaining  attestor  or  witness  of  his  inno- 
cence now  remaining  to  him  in  view  of  the 
heartless  coldness,  nay  the  hostility  of  liis 
hnman  friends. — Oh,  lay  down  [no'w],  be 
Thou  bondsman  for  me  with  Thyself! 
who  else  will  furnish  surety  to  me  ?  The 
thouglit  is  not  substantially  different  from  that 
in  ch.  xvi.  21,  only  that  the  ropresentation 
which  there  predominates  of  an  adjudication  in 
favor  of  Job's  innocence  is  here  replaced  by 
tliat  oi  pledfjiiig  or  binding  one's  self  as  scciiritg  for 
it.  For  all  the  expressions  of  the  verse  are 
borrowed  from  the  system  of  pledging.  With 
the  Imper.  nrD'tl'  is  to  be  supplied,  as  the  fol- 


438 


THE  BOCK  OF  JOB. 


lowing  '^5*?^  shows,  an  accus.  of  the  object, 
"a  pledge,  security."  It  is  not  necessary  with 
Reiske  and  Olsh.  to  change  'J?"*;^  to  "'p■^;^ 
arrhabonem  meam.  The  following  '^'SJ/',  indica- 
ting the  person  with  whom  the  pledge  is  depo- 
sited, ar^ain  represents  God,  precisely  as  in  ch. 
xvi.  21,  as  being,  so  to  speak,  divided,  or  sepa- 
rated into  two  persons.  The  word  of  entreaty 
^1>?  (which  appears  also  in  Is,  xxxviii.  14,  and 
Ps.  cxix.  122,  aad  which  is  here  used  with  the 
accus.  of  the  person  following  in  the  sense  of 
"  representing  any  one  mediatorially  as  lyyvog 
or  fieaiTTjg)  is  replaced  in  the  second  member  by 

the  circumstantial  phrase  T^  VPJ}^.,  to  give 
surety  by  striking  hands.  For  this  is  the 
meaning  of  the  phrase,  which  elsewhere  reads 
T  ^'T^r^,  or  "^1  (Prov.  yi.  1;  xvii.  18;  xxii.  26), 
or  simply  ^['J^  (Prov.  xi.  15).  Here,  however, 
where,  instead  of  the  person,  the  hand  of  the 
person  is  mentioned  (^y/,  instead  of  the  simple 
■•7,  which,  according  to  Prov.  vi.  1,  we  might 
be  led  to  expect),  the  reflexive  Niphal  is  used; 
hence  literally:  "who  will  strike  himself  [scil. 
his  hand]  into  my  hand;"  i.  e.  who  will  (by  a 
solemn  striking  of  hands,  as  in  a  pledge)  bind 
himself  to  me  to  vindicate  publicly  my  inno- 
cence ?  AVhat  man  will  do  this  if  Thou,  God, 
doest  it  not? 

Ver.  4  assigns?  a  reason  for  this  prayer  for 
God's  intervention  as  his  security  in  the  short- 
sightpdness  and  narrow-mindedness  of  the 
friends :  for  Thou  hast  closed  [lit.  hid] 
their  heart  to  [lit.  from]  understanding 
(to  [from]  a  correct  knowledge  in  respect  to  my 
innocence),  therefore  Thou  -wilt  not  let 
them  prevail:  lit.  wilt  not  exalt  them,  i.  e. 
above  me,  who  am  unjustly  injured  by  them, 
but  wilt  rather  at  last  confound  them  by  demon- 
strating my  innocence  (as  actually  came  to  pass, 
ch.  xlii.  7).  DOnjTl,  Imperf.  Pil.  of  On  with 
plur.  sufEx,  is  a  contraction  of  D^pilp,  with 
omission  of  Dagh.  forte  in  D  on  account  of  the 
preceding  long  o.  The  correction  D3?n  (sug- 
gested by  Dillm.  with  a  reference  to  ch.  xxxi.  15 ; 
xli.  2  K'ri)  is  unnecessary,  as  also  the  expla- 
nation of  D?1"'J^  as  a  Hithpael  noun,  signifying 
"striving upward,  improvement,  victory"  (Ew.). 

Ver.  5  continues  the  consideration  of  the  un- 
frioridly  conduct  of  the  friends.  Friends  are 
delivered  for  a  spoil,  •while  the  eyes  of 
their   (lit.  "of  his")    children   languish. — 

p7n,  "a  share  of  booty,  spoil"  (according  to 
Num.  xxxi.  36)  denotes  here  in  particular,  as 
the  word  T^H  snakes  probable,  mortgaged  pro- 
perty, an  article  in  pledge,  distrained  from  a 
debtor  by  a  judicial  execution;  P/Hv  TJn 
(for  p/PI  nVnb  '^n,  comp.  l  Kings  xiv.  2;  Jer.  xiii. 
21)  signifies  to  advertise  and  off'or  for  sale  such 
a  pledged  article  in  court;  or,  more  simply  and 
briefly,  to  distrain,  to  seize  upon  by  means  of  a 
j'ldicial  execution.  The  subject  of  T^  i*^  inde- 
finiic  [-'one  exposes  friends,"  f.  e.,  "friends  are 


exposed"]  (comp.  chap.  vi.  20).  In  the  object 
D'i'^.  Job  certainly  points  immediately  to  him- 
self, for  certainly  he  only  was  the  victim  of  the 
heartless  conduct  of  the  three.  He  purposely, 
however,  expresses  himself  by  a  general  propo- 
sition; for  his  whole  description  is  as  yet  only 
ideal,  imaginative.  In  the  second  member,  as 
the  sing.  suSix  in  VJS  shows,  he  again  speaks 
only  of  himself  as  the  one  who  was  ill-treated, 
continuing  the  description  (by  means  of  an  enal- 
lage  of  number,  similar  to  that  in  chap,  xviii. 
5;  xxiv.  5, 10;  xxvii.  23),  as  though  he  had  in  a 
written  J,n  or  ^nj/^.-  Hence  literally:  "and  the 
eyes  of  his  children  languish,"  or  "although  the 
oj'es  of  his  children  languish"  (Ewald,  Stickel, 
Heiligst.,  Hahn,  Dillmann,  etc.^.  Many  of  the 
ancients,  and  also  De  Wette,  Delitzsch  [Noyes, 
Con.,  Renan,  Barnes,  Wem.,  Car.,  Wordsw., 
Hod.],  etc.,  translate:  "Whoso  spoileth  friends, 
the  eyes  of  his  children  must  fail"  (or,  opta- 
tively,  "may  the  eyes  of  his  children  fail!"  So 
Rosenmiiller,  Vaihinger).  [The  E.  V.  adopts  the 
same  view  of  the  general  construction,  but  less 

appropriately  takes  P/.D  i^^  ^^'^  sense  of  "flat- 
tery :"  "  He  that  speaketh  flattery  to  his  friends, 
eveu  the  eyes  of  his  children  shall  fail."]  In 
this  way,  doubtless,  the  harshness  of  that  change 
of  number  is  avoided;  but  so  to  predict  (or 
even  to  wish  for)  the  punishment  of  the  evil-doer 
seems  here  too  little  suited  to  the  context,  and 
especially  does  not  agree  with  the  contents  of  the 
following  verse.  [But  it  certainly  agrees  very 
well  with  the  last  member  of  the  preceding 
verse,  the  thought  of  which  it  both  confirms  and 
expands.  God  would  not,  could  not,  favor  the 
friends,  for  they  had  betrayed  friendship,  and 
thus  had  incurred  judgment  in  which  their  pos- 
terity would  share.  Ver.  5  may  be,  as  conjec- 
tured by  some,  a  proverbial  saying  quoted  by 
Job  to  emphasize  ver.  \h.  The  "pining  of  the 
eyes"  is  a  frequent  figure  for  suflering.  This 
last  construction  has  in  its  favor,  therefore:  (1) 
That  it  is  suitable  to  the  conned  ion.  (2)  That 
it  avoids  the  harshness  of  the  other  construction, 
with  its  sudden  change  of  number,  and  its 
strained  introduction  of  the  reference  to  the  be- 
trayed one's  children,  which  is  p^irticularly 
pointless  when  applied  to  the  childless  Job.  (3) 
It  takes  away  from  ver.  4  the  isolation  which  be- 
longs to  it,  according  to  the  other  construction, 
and  provides  a  much  simpler  transition  from 
ver.  4  to  ver.  5. — E.] 

Ver.  6  !?eq.  Continued  description  of  the  un- 
friendly conduct  of  the  friends,  only  tlint  the 
same  is  now  directly  chargeii  on  God.  And  He 
(viz.,  God,  who  is  manifestly  to  be  underslood 
here  as  the  subject  of  the  verb)  has  set  me  for 
a  proverb  to  the  vsrorld. —  /ii'O,  a  mbstant. 
infinitive  (comp.  chap.  xii.  4),  means  a  proverb, 
simile,  sensu  objectivo,  hence  an  object  of  ridi- 
cule [or,  as  in  E.V  ,  "by-word" J.  D'3>2,  lit- 
"nations,"  denotes  here  not  the  races  living 
around  Job  {e.g.,  those  "gipsy-like  troglodytes" 
who  are  more  fully  described  in  chap.  xxiv.  30, 
and  who,  Delitzsch  thinks,  may  possibly  be  in- 
tended here),  but  the  common  people  generally 
{vulfjus,  plcbs),  hence  equivalent  to  the  great 
multitude,    the    world;    comp.    Prov.   xxiv.  24. 


CHAP.  XVI— XVII. 


439 


And  I  must  be  one  to  be  spit  upon  in  the 
face. — nan    (only  here   in   the  0.  T.)  denotes 

spittle,  an  object  spit  upon;  D'JQ/  is  in  the 
closest  union  with  it  (comp.  Num.  xii.  14;  Deut. 
XXV.  9).  A  ''3/  r\Dr\  is  accordingly  one  into 
whose  face  any  body  spits,  the  object  of  the  most 
unqualified  public  detestation.  Comp.  ch.  xxx. 
9  seq..  from  which  passage  it  also  appears  that 
•Tob  speaks  here  not  only  of  that  which  his 
friends  did  to  him,  but  that  he  uses  D'D^  in  a 
more  comprehensive  sense. 

Ver.  7.  Then  mine  eye  became  dim  with 
grief  (K^>'3,  as  in  chap.  vi.  2;  and  comp.  chap, 
xvi.  16;  Ps.  vi.  8  [7];  xxxi.  10  [9]),  and  all 
my  members  (lit.  "my  frnmcs,  bodily  frames, 
or  structures")  are  as  shadows  [better  on  ac- 
count of  the  generic  H,  "as  a  shadow"],  i.  e.,  so 
mea'gre  and  emaciated,  like  intangible  shadows, 
or  phantoms;  comp.  chap.  xix.  20. 

Ver.  8.  The  upright  are  astonished  at 
this — because  they  cannot  understand  how 
things  can  come  to  such  a  pass  with  one  of  their 
sort.  And  the  innocent  is  roused  against 
the  ungodly — lit.  "stirred  up"  by  anger — in 
an  opposite  sense  to  that  of  chap.  xxxi.  29,  de- 
scribing "the  innocent  man's  sense  of  justice  as 
being  aroused  on  account  of  the  prosperity  of 
the  '^Jn,  comp.  Ps.  xxsvii.  1;  Ixxiii."   IIirzel. 

Ver.  8.  Nevertheless  the  righteous  holds 
fast  on  his  way  (the  way  of  piety  and  recti- 
tude in  which  he  has  hitherto  walked),  and  he 
that  is  of  clean  hands  (lit.  "and  the  clean-of- 
hands,"  ""IHO-I,  as  iuProv.  xxii.  11)  increaseth 

in  strength  (^'01%  of  inward  increase,  or 
growth  of  strength,  as  in  Eccles.  i.  18). — The 
■whole  verse  is  of  gveat  significance  as  an  expres- 
sion of  the  cheerful  confidence  in  his  innocence 
and  deliverance  wliich  .Job  reaches  after  the  bit- 
ter reflections  of  ver.  5 seq.  So  far  from  real- 
izing the  reproach  of  Eliphaz  in  chap.  xv.  4,  that 
he  would  "destroy  piety  and  diminish  devotion 
before  God,"  he  holds  fast  on  his  godly  way, 
yea,  travels  it  stiU  more  joyously  and  vigorously 
than  before  (comp.  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Re- 
marks). ["These  words  of  Job  (if  we  may  be 
allowed  the  figure)  are  like  a  rocket,  which 
shoots  above  the  tragic  darkness  of  the  book, 
lighting  it  up  suddenly,  although  only  for  a 
short  time."  Del.] 

5.  Tlurd  Division:  Sixth  Strophe.  Severe  cen- 
sure of  the  almonitions  of  the  friends,  as  devoid 
of  understanding,  and  without  any  power  to 
comfort,  vers.  10-16. 

Ver.  10.  But  as  for  ye  all  (vh2  for  DD^2  as 
in  1  Kings  xxii.  28,  and  Mic.  i.  2  [corresponding 
more  to  the  form  of  a  vocative  clause — Del.]; 
the  preceding  D7?X1  is  here  written  D7X1,  with 
sharpened  tone,  for  the  sake  of  assonance) — 
come  on  again,  I  pray. — Orc/jl,  instead  of  the 
Imper. ^i^ty,  which  we  might  have  expected,  but 
which  cannot  stand  so  well  at  the  beginning  of 
the  clause  (comp.  Ew.,  ^229)  [besides  that,  as 
Delitzsch  remarks,  the  first  verb  is  used  adver- 
bially, iterum,  dcnuo,  according  to  Gesen  ,  ^142 


(^  l."9),  3  a — and  not  either  of  a  physical  return, 
as  though,  irritated  by  his  words,  they  had  made 
a  movement  to  depart  (Renan),  or  of  a  mental 
return  from  their  hostility  (see  vi.  29). — E.].  In 
this  sense  it  is  followed  by  the  supplementary 
verb  Ni3  in  the  Imperf.,  connected  with  it  by 
1-  I  shall  nevertheless  not  find  a  wise 
man  among  you — /.  e.,  your  heart,  remains 
closed  against  a  riglit  understanding  of  my  con- 
dition (see  ver.  4),  however  often  and  persist- 
ently you  may  attempt  to  justify  your  attacks 
upon  me.  ["  He  means  that  they  deceive  them- 
selves concerning  the  actual  state  of  the  case  be- 
fore them;  for  in  reality  he  is  meeting  death 
without  being  deceived,  or  allowing  himself  to 
be  deceived,  about  the  matter."    Del] 

Ver.  11  seq.  prove  this  charge  of  a  defective 
understanding  on  the  part  of  the  friends  by  set- 
ting forth  the  nearness  of  Job's  end,  and  tlie  al- 
most complete  exhaustion  of  his  strength:  this 
fact  is  fatal  to  their  preconceived  opinion  as  to 
the  possibility  of  a  joyful  restoration  of  his  pros- 
perity, such  as  they  had  frequently  set  forth  as 
depending  on  his  sincere  repentance.  My 
days  are  gone  (being  quite  near  their  end — 
comp.  chap.  xvi.  22),  my  plans  are  broken 
off(JlTiit,  lit.  "connections,  combinations,"  from 
DOr,  "to  bind  together,"  the  same  as  niQIO  else- 
where, chap.  xxi.  27;  xlii.  2; — but  not  spnsu 
mnlo,  but  in  the  good  sense  of  the  plans  of  his 
life  which  had  been  destroyed),  the  nurslings 
\_rfleglingc^  of  my  heart. — 'tyilD  are  things 
which  are  coveted  and  earnestly  sought  nfter, 
favorite  projects,  plans  affectionately  cherished; 
comp.  ty'^^^,  to  long  after,  Ps.  xxi.  3  [from  which 
root  Dillmann  suggests  the  present  noun  may  be 
derived  (1^110  for  K^^ND,  like  ")D'10  for  "IDND 
from  1DN),  which  would  give  at  once  the  mean- 
ing, "desires,  coveted  treasures."  So  appa- 
rently Ziickler.  If,  according  to  the  prevailing 
view,  it  be  taken  from  V"^^,  the  meaning  will  be 
peculia,  cherished  possessions. — E.]  Not  so 
suitable  is  the  definition  "possessions"  (from 
iyi\  ^^os.s/ffere,  after  Obad.  ver.  17  and  Isa.xiv.  23), 
while  the  rendering  apdpa  (LXX.),  cords  or 
bands  [or,  as  Del.  suggests,  "joints,  instead  of 
valves  of  the  heart"]  (Gekat.,  Ewald)  is  entirely 
unsupported,  and  decidedly  opposed  to  the  laws 
of  the  language. 

Ver.  12.  They  change  night  into  day 
(comp.  Isa.  V.  20),  inasmucii,  to  wit,  as  tiicy  pic- 
ture before  me  joyous  anticipations  of  life  (thus 
Eliphaz  in  chap.  v.  17 seq.;  Bildad  in  chap.  viii. 
20 seq.:  Zophar  in  chap.  xi.  13  seq.),  while  not- 
withstanding I  have  before  me  only  the  dark  night 
of  death.  Light  is  to  be  near  (lit.  "is  near," 
i.e.,  according  to  their  assertions)  in  the  pre- 
sence of  darkness,  /.  e.,  there  where  tlie  dark- 
ness is  still  present,  or  in  conspectu;  "33?,  here 
therefore^coraTW,  comp.  chap,  xxiii.  17  (so  Um- 
breit,  Vaih.,  Del.).  Others  (Ew.,  Hirz.,  S'ick., 
Dillm.)  take  ''JSO  in  the  comparative  sense:  light 
is  nearer  than  the  face  of  darkness,  i.  e.,  than  the 
visible  darkness,  which,  however,  is  less  suitable 
in  the  parallelism.  The  same  is  true  of  the  ex- 
planation of  Weltc — "and  they  bring  the  light 
near  to  the  darkness;"  of  Rosenmiiller — "light 


440 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


is  near  the  darkness."  and  similarly  the  LXX.; 
of  Scbloitmann — "light,  to  which  the  darkness 
already  draws  near;"  of  Renan — "Ah!  but  your 
light  resembles  the  darkness!"  etc. — Note  still 
further  that  here  in  vers,  ll-l^,  where  the  tone 
of  lamentation  is  resumed,  those  phort,  sob-like 
ejaculations  appear  again,  which  we  have  already 
met  with  above  in  vers.  1-2.  [The  explanation 
here  given  does  not  seem  to  harmonize  perfectly 
■with  the  context.  With  ver.  10  Job  seems  to 
dismiss  the  friends  from  his  present  discourse. 
He  flings  that  verse  at  them  as  a  parting  con- 
tempt uous  challenge,  and  so  takes  his  leave  of 
them.  AVith  ver.  11  he  enters  on  the  pathetic 
elegiac  strain  with  which  he  closes  each  one  of  his 
discourses  thus  far  (see  chap.  vii.  22;  x.  20seq.; 
xiv.  18seq.).  Vers.  11,  12  are  characterized, 
as  Zcickler  justly  remarks,  by  "brief,  sob-like 
ejaculations"  (as  in  vers.  1,  2),  which  are  more 
befitting  the  elegy  of  a  crushed  heart  than  the 
sarcasm  of  a  bitter  spirit.  Job  makes  himself 
the  theme  of  the  whole  passage  from  ver.  11  to 
ver.  16.  He  is  pre-occupied  exclusively  with 
his  own  lamentable  condition  and  prospects,  not 
with  the  course  of  his  friends,  any  reference  to 
which  after  ver.  10  would  interrupt  the  self- 
absorption  of  his  sorrow.  Supposing  Job  then 
to  be  occupied  with  himself  solely,  it  follows 
that  ^"O't!'"'  is  to  be  taken  impersonally,  and  the 

•    T 

verse  may  be  explained  either — a.  With  Noyes: 
^^Nif/hl.  hath  he  come  day  to  me  (?.  e.  I  have  sleep- 
less nights;  I  am  as  much  awake  by  night  as  by 
day),  the  light  bordcreth  on  darkness  (i.  e.  the  day 
seems  very  short;  the  daylight  seems  to  go  as 
soon  as  it  is  come)."  Or  6.  We  may  translate: 
"Night  iri/l  (soon)  take  the  place  of  day,  light  (in 
which  I  am  tarrying  for  a  brief  season,  awaiting 
my  abode  in  Sheol,  ver.  13)  is  not  far  from  dark- 
ness ('^3^  3i"^p,  prope  abest  ab;  LXX.  0uf  kyyv 
airb  irpoa/jTrnv  aK6Tovg=ov/LiaKpav  ok'.,  according 
to  Olympiodorus.  —  The  use  of  '33  with  JO, 
which  Delitzsch  objects  to  this  rendering,  is 
finely  poetic.  The  darkness  faces  him,  stares 
upon  him,  close  at  hand,  just  on  the  other  side 
of  tliis  narrow  term  of  light  which  is  left  to  him). 
In  favor  of  b  may  be  urged:  (1)  The  use  of  the 
fut.  ^O'K",  following  the  preterites  in  ver.  11. — 
(2)  The  analogy  of  Is.  v.  20,  where  /  D'K'  means 
to  put  for,  exchange,  substitute.  (3)  It  pre- 
serves the  continuity  of  Job's  reflections  on  his 
own  condition,  and  his  immediate  prospects. 
(4)  The  thought  is  in  admirable  harmony  with 
the  description  which  immediately  follows,  in 
which  he  represents  himself  as  lingering  on  the 
verge  of  Sheol,  awaiting  his  speedy  departure 
thither,  preparing  his  couch  in  that  darkness 
which  is  so  near,  etc. — E.] 

Ver.  13  seq.  show  how  far  Job  was  right  in 
peeing  before  his  eyes  nothing  but  night  and 
darkness,  and  in  giving  up  the  hope  of  a  state 
of  greater  prosperity  which  was  lieLl  up  before 
liiiii  by  the  friends.  Vers.  13,  14  form  the  cnn- 
diiionul  protasis,  introduced  by  DX  on  which 
all  the  verbs  in  both  verses  depend,  ver.  15  being 
the  apodosis,  introduced  by  1  consec.  [Of  which 
view  of  the  construction,  however,  Delitzsch 
remarks:  "There  is  no  objection  to  this  expla- 


nation so  far  as  the  syntax  is  concerned;  but 
there  will  then  be  weighty  thoughts  which  are 
also  expressed  in  the  form  of  fr<;sh  thoughts,  for 
which  independent  clauses  seem  more  appropri- 
ate, under  the  government  of  DX  as  if  they  were 
pre-suppositions."  And  see  below.] 

Ver.  13.  If  I  hope  for  the  underworld  as 
my  house  [or  abode],  have  spread  in  the 
darkness  my  couch. — [Delitzsch  agrees  with 
the  E.  V.  in  the  construction:  "If  I  wait,  it  is 
for  Sheol  as  my  house."  Gesenius,  Furst  and 
Conant  take  DX;=jn,  "Lo!"  as  in  Hos.  xii.  12; 
Jer.  xxxi.  20.] 

Ver.  14.  If  I  have  cried  out  to  the  grave  : 
Thou  art  my  father! — T\r^'d,  grave  (comp. 
ch.  ix.  31)  in  Heb.  is  strictly  speaking  feminine, 
here,  however,  it  is  construed  ad  sensum  as  a 
masculine  (as  is  the  case  elsewhere  with  such 
feminines  as  r\Kfp,  n^nj>  PJ^'I,  etc.,  comp.  Ges., 
Thes.,  p.  1378).  It  is  unnecessary  with  the 
LXX.,  Vulg.,  Pesh.,  to  take  nni!/  here  in  the 
sense  of  "death,"  or  with  Nachman,  Rosenm., 
Schlottm.,  DeL  [E.  V.,  Con.,  Car.],  etc.,  to 
assign  to  it  the  meaning:  "corruption,  rotten- 
ness" as  though  it  were  derived  from  nniJ',  not 
from  n'tJ',  fodere:  moreover  the  existence  of 
such  a  second  substant.  rini!'=corruption  is 
susceptible  of  certain  proof  from  no  other  pas- 
sage. In  regard  to  the  bold  poetic  expression 
here  given  to  the  inward  familiarity  of  Job  with 
the  state  of  death  which  lay  before  him,  comp. 
Ps.  Ixxxviii.  19  [18];  Prov.  vii.  4;  also  below 
ch    XXX.  29. 

Ver.  15.  Apodosis:  Where  then  (as  to  13X, 
which,  notwithstanding  the  accents,  is  to  be 
drawn  into  union  with  the  preceding  ri'N, 
where?  comp.  on  ch.  ix.  24)  is  (now)  my 
hope?  Yea,  my  hope,  who  sees  it?  i.  e., 
who  exhibits  it  to  me  as  really  well  founded  ?  who 
discloses  it  to  me?  In  both  clauses  one  and  the 
same  hope  is  intended,  that  viz.  of  the  restora- 
tion of  his  prosperity  in  this  life,  even  before 
death  [this  hope,  Dillmann  remarks,  being  the 
hope  which,  according  to  the  friends,  he  should 
have,  not  the  hope  which,  according  to  ver.  13, 
he  really  has"]. 

Ver.  16.  To  the  bars  of  the  grave  it  sinks 
down,  when  at  the  same  time  there  is 
rest  in  the  dust. — The  subject  here  also  is 
Tllpn,  ver.  15,  this  hope  being  regarded  as  sin- 
gle, although  the  expression  there  was  doubled. 
nJTin  is  a  poetic  alternate  form  for  H^H  (Ew., 
g  191,  Gesen.,  g  47,  Rem.  3),  not  third  pers. 
plur.,  as  the  old  translators  [and  E.  V.]  ren- 
dered the  form,  and  as  among  moderns  [Green, 
?  88,  Schlottm.],  Btittcher  and  Dillmann  take  it, 
tlie  latter  supposing  that  the  hope  which  Job 
really  had,  mentioned  in  ver.  13,  and  the  hope 
attributed  to  him  by  the  friends  in  ver.  15,  are 

the  two  subjects  of  the  verb. — li<p  '^3  are 
"  bars  of  the  underworld,  of  the  realm  of  the 
dead,"  not  its  "clefts"  (Bottcher),  nor  its 
"bounds"  (Hahn);  for  again  in  Ex.  xxv.  13feq.; 
xxvii.  6  seq. ;  Hos.  xi.  6,  □"13  signifies  "  carry- 
ing poles,"  or  "cross-beams"  (vcctcs).  And 
whereas,   according    to    many   other   passages, 


CHAPS.  XVI— XVII. 


441 


Sheol  is  represented  as  provided  with  doors  or 
gates  (cb.  xxxviii.  17;  Is.  xxxviii.  10;  Ps.  ix. 
14  [13];  cvii.  18),  its  "cross-beams"  or  "bars" 
signify  essentially  tlie  same  with  its  gates  (comp. 
Lam.  ii.  9).  In  HH^  "at  the  same  time"  (not 
"together"  [E.  V.],  as  Hahn  renders  it,  under- 
standing it  to  be  affirmed  of  the  descending 
hope,  and  of  .Job  at  his  death),  Job  expresses 
a  thought  similar  to  that  in  ch.  xiv.  22,  the 
thought,  namely,  that  the  rest  of  his  body  in  the 
dust  coincides  in  time  with  tlie  descent  of  the 
soul  to  Hades.  r\nj,  pausal  form  for  r\nj, 
"rest,"  signifies  here  tlie  rest  of  the  lifeless 
body  in  the  grave:  comp.  Is.  xxvi.  19;  Ps.  xxii. 
30  [29]. 

DOCTRINAL   AND    ETHICAL. 

1.  The  central  point  of  this  now  reply  of  Job's 
— and  it  is  that  which  principally  shows  pro- 
gress on  the  part  of  the  sorely  afflicted  sufferer 
out  of  his  spiritual  darkness  to  a  clearer  percep- 
tion and  a  brighter  frame  of  mind — lies  in  the 
expression  of  a  yearning  hope  in  his  future  justifi- 
cation by  God,  which  is  found  in  the  last  section 
but  one  of  the  discourse,  and  which  constitutes 
the  real  kernel  of  the  argument.  Inasmuch  as 
the  friends,  instead  of  ministering  to  him  loving 
sympathy  and  true  comfort  were  become  his 
"mockers"  (ch.  xvi.  20),  he  finds  himself  all 
the  more  urgently  driven  to  God  alone  as  his 
helper,  and  the  guardian  of  his  innocence. 
Hence  it  is  that  he  now  suddenly  turns  to  the 
same  God,  whom  he  had  just  before  described  in 
the  strongest  language  as  his  ferocious,  deadly 
enemy  and  persecutor,  as  well  as  the  author  of 
the  suffering  inflicted  on  him  even  by  his  human 
enemies,  and,  full  of  confidence,  calls  Him  his 
"witness  in  heaven,"  and  his  "attestor  on 
high"  (ver.  19),  who  is  already  near  to  him, 
and  who  will  not  permit  the  earth  to  drink  up 
his  blood,  which  cries  out  to  heaven,  and  thus 
to  silence  his  self-vindication  (ver.  18).  Nay, 
more:  he  lifts  up  his  tearful  eye  with  coura- 
geous supplication  to  God,  praying  Him  that 
He  would  "  do  justice"  to  him  before  Himself, 
that  He  would  represent  him  before  His  own 
judicial  tribunal,  interceding  in  his  behalf, 
acquitting  him,  and  thus  vindicating  his  inno- 
cence against  his  human  accusers  (ver.  21). 
"We  see  distinctly  here  how  Job's  idea  of  God 
becomes  brighter  in  that  it  becomes  dualized 
(in  that  he  prays  to  God  Himself,  the  author 
of  his  sufi'erings,  as  his  deliverer  and  helper). 
The  God  who  delivers  Job  to  death  as  guilty, 
and  the  God  who  cannot  leave  him  unvindicated 
— even  though  it  should  be  only  after  death — 
come  forth  distinct  and    separate   as  darkness 

from  light  out  of  the  chaos  of  temptation 

Thus  Job  becomes  here  the  prophet  of  the  issue 
of  his  own  course  of  suffering ;  and  over  his 
relation  to  Eloah  and  to  the  friends,  of  whom 
the  former  abandons  him  to  the  sinner's  death, 
and  the  latter  declare  him  to  be  guilty,  hovers 
the  form  of  the  God  of  the  future,  which  now 
breaks  through  the  darkness,  from  whom  Job 
believingly  awaits  and  implores  what  the  God 
of  the  present  withholds  from  him  "  (Del.  i.  310- 
311). — The  same  duality  between  the  God  of 
the  present  as  a  God  of  terror,  and  the  Redeem- 


er-God of  the  future,  becomes  apparent  in 
the  earnest  entreaty  which  is  further  on  ad- 
dressed to  God,  that  He  "would  become  a 
bondsman  with  Himself"  for  Job,  seeing  that 
He  is  the  only  possible  guarantor  of  his  inno- 
cence (ch.  xvii.  3).  Not  less  does  this  duality 
between  a  God  of  truth,  who  knows  and  attests 
his  righteous  conduct,  and  a  God  of  absolute 
power  and  fury,  lie  also  at  the  foundation  of  the 
confident  declaration  which  concludes  this  whole 
section,  according  to  which  the  righteous  man, 
untroubled  by  the  suspicions  and  attacks  of  his 
enemies,  "  holds  fast  on  his  way,"  and  in  respect 
of  his  innocence  and  purity  only  "  increases  in 
strength"  (ver.  9).  That  to  which  Job  here 
gives  expression,  primarily  indeed  in  the  form 
of  entreaty,  of  yearning  desire,  or  as  an  infe- 
rence from  religious  and  ethical  postulates,  ac- 
quires, when  considered  in  its  historical  connec- 
tion with  his  deliverance,  the  significance  of  an 
indirect  prophecy ,  referring  not  only  to  the  actual 
historical  issue  of  his  own  suffering  (which  in 
fact  ends  with  just  such  a  vindication  as  he  here 
wishes  for  himself),  but  also  in  general  to  the 
completed  reconciliation  of  God  with  sinful  hu- 
manity in  Christ. — For  this  work  of  reconcilia- 
tion was  accomplished,  according  to  2  Cur.  v. 
19,  precisely  as  Job  here  wishes  for  it.  God 
was  in  Christ,  and  reconciled  the  world  to  Him- 
self. He  officiated  as  Judge,  acquitting,  and  as 
Advocate,  vindicating,  in  one  person.  He  be- 
came in  Christ  His  awn  Mediator  with  humanity 
(Gal.  iii.  20),  and  caused  that  "suretyship  with 
Himself"  to  come  to  pass,  which  Job  here  wishes 
and  longs  for,  in  that  He  sent  His  own  Son  to  be 
the  "  Mediator  "  (jueaiTT/c,  1  Tim.  ii.  5;  Heb.  xii. 
24),  or  a  "surety"  (eyyvor,  Heb.  vii.  22)  of  the 
New  Covenant,  and  so  established  for  fallen  hu- 
manity, subject  to  sin  and  to  death,  its  penalty, 
an  eternal  redemption,  which  is  ever  renewed 
in  each  individual.  The  older  expositors  have 
for  the  most  part  failed  to  recognize  this  pro- 
founder  typical  and  prophetic  sense  of  the  pas- 
sage, obscured  as  it  is  by  the  erroneous  transla- 
tions of  the  verses  in  question  given  by  the  LXX. 
and  the  Vulgate.  Comp.  however  the  remarks 
of  Cocceius  below  on  ch.  xvi.  19seq. 

2.  Although  however  Job  seems  by  the  pro- 
found truth  and  the  striking  power  of  these  bold 
prophetic  anticipations  of  his  future  vindication 
to  be  making  most  significant  advances  in  the 
direction  of  more  correct  knowledge,  and  to  be 
at  any  rate  far  above  the  limited  and  elementary 
conceptions  of  his  friends,  there  is  nevertheless 
in  the  midst  of  all  this  soaring  of  his  purer  and 
better  consciousness  to  God  one  thing  percepti- 
bly wanting.  It  is  the  penitent  confession  of  his 
sins.  He  not  only  calls  himself  a  "  righteous" 
man,  and  "pure  of  hands,"  (ch.  xvii.  9),  but 
with  all  earnestness  he  regards  himself  as  such 
(comp.  ch.  xvi.  17).  He  will  by  no  means  admit 
that  his  suffering  is  in  any  sense,  or  in  any  de- 
gree whatever,  the  punishment  of  his  sins.  In 
this  particular  he  falls  short  of  that  which  he 
himself  has  before  this  expressly  conceded  (ch. 
xiv.  4).  As  the  friends,  in  consequence  of  their 
superficial  judgment,  greatly  exaggerated  his 
guilt,  so  he,  by  no  means  free  as  yet  from  Pela- 
gian self-righteousness,  exaggerates  his  inno- 
cence.    The  justificatiou  which  he  wishes  and 


442 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


hopes  for,  is  not  the  New  Testament  diKaiuaiQ, 
that  Divine  act  of  grace  declaring  the  repentant 
sinner  righteous.  It  is  only  the  Divine  attesta- 
tion of  an  innocence  and  freedom  from  sin,  which 
he  deems  himself  to  possess  in  perfection.  It 
thus  stands  very  nearly  related  to  that  lawyer's 
"willing  to  justify  himself"  which  is  mentioned 
in  Luke  x.  29;  and  is  altogether  different  from 
that  disposition  which  at  last  the  actual  justifi- 
cation and  restoration  of  .Job  to  favor  produced 
(ch.  xlii.  6'.  Again — what  he  says  in  ch.  xvi. 
15  seq.  of  thrusting  his  horn  into  the  dust,  of 
continuous  weeping,  of  wearing  sackcloth,  has 
no  reference  to  signs  of  actual  repentance  (a  view 
often  met  with  in  the  ancient  commentators)  ; 
these  things  are  simply  indications  of  physical 
pain,  referring  to  a  humiliation  which  proceeded 
less  out  of  a  complete  and  profound  acquaintance 
with  sin,  than  out  of  the  sense  of  severe  painful 
suffering  (comp.  above  on  this  passage).  With 
this  defective  knowledge  of  self,  and  partial  self- 
righteousness,  in  which  Job  shows  himself  to  be 
as  yet  entangled,  is  closely  connected  the  gross 
harshnessof  the  judgment  concerning  the  friends, 
with  which  he  requites  their  inconsiderate  words 
against  himself;  characterizing  them  as  windy 
phrase-mongers  (ch.  xvi.  3),  as  unv/ise  (ch.  xvii. 
4,  10),  as  impudent  mockers  (ch.  xvi.  20;  xvii. 
2),  as  hard-hearted  extortioners  and  distrainers 
(ch.  xvii.  5),  yea,  as  belonging  to  the  category 
of  "children  of  the  world"  (ch.  xvii.  6),  of  the 
unrighteous  and  wicked  (ch.  xvi.  10,  11),  of  the 
profligate  (ch.  xvii.  8).  Closely  connected  with 
it  in  like  manner  is  the  harsh  and  extreme  judg- 
ment in  which  he  indulges  of  that  which  Ood 
does  against  him;  the  description  which  he 
gives  of  Him  as  a  mighty  warrior  rushing  upon 
him  with  inexorable,  nay  with  bloodthirsty  cru- 
elty (ch.  xvi.  12-14),  attributing  to  Him  as  the 
higher  cause  all  the  ignominy  and  injustice  which 
he  had  suffered  through  the  friends  (ch.  xvi.  11 
seq. ;  xvii.  6  seq.).  And  finally  here  belongs  the 
gloomy  hopelessness  in  respect  to  the  issue  of 
his  life  into  which  his  spirit  sinks  down  again, 
(ch.  xvii.  11-16)  from  the  courage  and  confidence 
to  which  it  had  been  raised  in  the  last  sectioa 
but  one.  This  despair  is  in  palpable  contradic- 
tion with  the  better  confidence  which  like  a  flash 
of  light  had  illuminated  the  darkness  of  his  an- 
guished soul,  although  it  is  in  unison  with  the 
state  of  the  sufferer's  heart  in  this  stage  of  his 
education  in  the  school  of  sufi"ering,  lacking  as  it 
does  as  yet  the  complete  exactness  and  purity 
of  moral  self-knowledge,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  real  stability  and  joyfulness  of  faith  in  God's 
power  to  save.  So  it  is  that  the  hope,  which 
again  emerges  in  his  next  discourse,  that  his  in- 
nocence will  be  acknowledged  in  a  better  here- 
after, is  by  no  means  held  by  him  with  a  firm 
and  decided  grasp,  but  rather  appears  only  as  a 
transient  flash  across  the  prevailing  darkness  of 
his  soul. 

3.  Job  suffers  as  a  righteous  man,  compara- 
tively, and  for  that  reason  the  complaints  of  his 
anguished  heart  in  this  discourse  resemble  even 
in  manifold  peculiarities  of  expression  that  which 
other  righteous  sufferers  of  the  Old  Testament 
say  in  the  outgushings  of  their  hearts,  e.  g.,  the 
Psalmist  in  Pa.  xxii.  (comp.  above  on  ch.  xvi. 
10),  Ps.   xliv.   and  Ixix.   (comp.   especially  the 


words:  "I  am  made  a  byword  to  the  world," 
ch.  xvii.  fi,  with  Ps.  xliv.  1-5  [14],  and  Ixix.  12 
[11]);  also  the  servant  of  Jehovah  in  the  se- 
cond division  of  Isaiah  ;  comp.  ch.  xvii.  8,  "  the 
righteous  are  astonished  thereat,"  with  Isa.  lii. 
14;  also  ch.  xvi.  16,  17 — "My  face  is  burning 
red  with  weeping,  etc.,  .  .  .  although  no  wrong 
cleaves  to  ray  hands,"  etc.,  with  Isa.  liii.  9 — 
"although  he  hath  done  no  violence,  neither  is 
any  deceit  found  in  his  mouth  :" — likewise  ch. 
xvi.  19 — "  Even  now  behold  in  heaven  my  wit- 
ness," with  Is.  1.  8  seq.  ("  He  is  near  that  justi- 
fieth  me,  who  will  condemn  me?"  etc.).  Not- 
withstanding these  and  the  like  correspondcDces 
with  the  lamentations  and  prayers  of  other 
righteous  sufferers,  Seinecke  [Der  Grundgedanke 
des  B.  Hioh,  1863,  p.  34  seq.)  goes  too  far  when, 
on  the  ground  of  such  correspondences  in  this 
and  in  other  discourses  of  Job,  he  regards  Job 
as  being  in  general  an  allegorical  figure  of  es- 
sentially the  same  significance  with  the  servant 
of  God  in  Isaiah,  and  hence  as  a  poetic  personi- 
fication of  the  suffering  people  of  Israel.  Scarcely 
can  it  be  definitely  said  that  the  poet  "  by  the 
relation  to  the  passion-psalms  stamped  on  the 
picture  of  the  affliction  of  Job,  has  marked  Job, 
whether  consciously  or  unconsciously,  as  a  typi- 
cal person;  that  by  taking  up,  and  not  uninten- 
tionally either,  many  national  ti-aits.  he  has 
made  it  natural  to  interpret  Job  as  a  Mashal  of 
Israel"  (Delitzsch  I.  313).  There  is  too  evident 
a  lack  of  distinct  intimations  of  such  a  purpose 
on  the  part  of  the  poet  to  justify  us  in  assuming 
anything  more  than  the  fact  that  the  illustrious 
sufferer  of  Uz  has  a  typical  significance  for  many 
pious  sufferers  of  later  (post-patriarchal,  and 
post-soloraonic)  times,  and  that  consequently 
later  poets,  the  authors  of  the  Lamentation- 
Psalms,  or  prophets  (such  as  Isaiah,  possibly  al- 
so Ezekiel  and  Zechariah)  borrowed  many  par- 
ticular traits  from  the  picture  of  his  suffering. 
Moreover,  in  view  of  the  uncertainty  touching 
such  a  relation  of  the  matter,  we  can  only  warn 
against  any  homiletic  application  of  this  Mes- 
sianic-allegorical conception  of  Job  as  being  es- 
sentially identical  with  the  "servant  of  God." 
The  exposition  for  practical  edification  of  the 
section  chap.  xvi.  18 — xvii.  9,  with  its  rich  yield 
of  thought  in  biblical  theology  and  the  history 
of  redemption,  would  gain  little  more  by  any  at- 
tempts in  this  direction  than  the  obscuration  of 
the  simple  fact  by  useless  and  barren  subtleties. 

HOMILETICAL   AND    PRACTICAL. 

Chap.  xvi.  7  seq.  Okcolampadius:  He  makes 
use  of  three  motives  most  suitable  for  concilia- 
ting pity,  to  wit:  the  manifest  severity  of  his 
sufferings  (vers.  7-14),  repentance  (?? — vers. 
15-16),  and  innocence  (vers.  17-21). 

Chap.  xvi.  10  seq.  Brentius:  There,  is  this  in 
God's  judgment  that  is  most  grievous — that  He 
seems  to  favor  our  adversaries,  and  to  stand  on 
their  side,  by  prospering  their  counsels  and  ef- 
forts against  us.  Nor  is  there  any  one  who  can 
endure  this  trial,  unless  thoroughly  fortified  by 
the  word  of  God.  Thus  Christ  Himself  lament.-, 
saying:  "Dogs  have  compassed  me;  the  assem- 
bly of  the  wicked  enclosed  me"  (Ps.  xxii.). — 
Cramee:  0  soul,  remember  here  thy  Saviour,  lo 


CHAP.  XVIII.  1-21. 


443 


whom  also  such  things  happened ;  for  lie  suf- 
fered pain  in  body  and  soul,  was  persecuted  by 
His  enemies,  and  forsaken,  afflicted,  and  tortured 
by  God  Himself. 

Chap.  xvi.  19seq.:  He  intimates  that  Godls 
tribunal  is  above  all  tribunals;  and  when  his 
mind  and  conscience,  his  faith  and  love  toward 
God,  cannot  be  recognised,  appreciated  or  judged 
by  any  judge  or  witness,  other  than  the  Supreme, 
how  can  he  do  otherwise  than  appeal  to  Him? 
So  the  Aposdc  (1  Cor.  iv.  3-4)  repudiates  every 
judgment  but  that  of  God  .  .  .  (On  chap.  xvii. 
3.)  Here  he  calls  God,  in  whose  power  he  is,  his 
Surety;  which  is  simply  to  ask  that  He  would 
approve  his  appeal,  and  judge  in  accordance  with 
it,  so  that  if  his  adversary  should  carry  the  day, 
He  would  satisfy  his  claims.  So  we  find  else- 
where the  pious,  when  wronged  by  an  unright- 
eous judgment,  appealing  to  the  judgment  of 
God,  requesting  Him  to  be  their  surety,  as  though 
they  wished  God  to  say  to  the  adversary:  This 
man  is  mine;  enter  thy  suit,  if  any  thing  is  due 
to  thee,  I  will  render  satisfaction  (Isa.  xxxviii. 
14:  Ps.  cxix.  122). 

Ch.  xvi.  22.  Brestius:  Death  is  here  called 
a  path,  by  which  we  do  not  return.  For  take 
away  the  Word,  or  Christ,  .and  death  seems  to  be 
eternal  annihilation;  add  the  Word  and  Christ, 
and  death  will  be  the  beginning  of  the  resurrec- 
tion. .  .  .  (On  ch.  xvii.  llseq.).  This  despair 
of  Job  is  described  for  our  instruction,  that  we 
may  learn :  first,  that  no   one   can  endure  the 


judgment  of  death  without  God  the  Father;  next 
that  we  may  know  by  clear  testimony  that  God 
alone  is  good,  but  every  man  a  liar. 

Ch.  xvii.  llseq.  St.\rke  :  We  see  here  how 
unlike  are  God's  ways  and  thoughts,  and  those 
of  men.  Job  had  no  other  thought  but  that  now 
it  was  all  over  with  him,  he  would  neither  con- 
tinue in  life,  nor  again  attain  his  former  pros- 
perity. And  God  had  notwithstanding  joined 
both  these  things  together  so  wondrously  and  so 
gloriously,  as  the  wished-for  issue  of  Job's  suf- 
ferings sufficiently  proves.  Delitzsoh:  Job 
feels  himself  to  be  inevitably  given  up  as  a  prey 
to  death,  and  as  from  the  depth  of  Hades  into 
which  he  is  sinking,  be  stretches  out  his  hands 
to  God,  not  that  He  would  sustain  him  in  life, 
but  that  He  would  acknowledge  him  before  the 
world  as  His.  If  he  is  to  die  even,  he  desires 
only  that  he  may  not  die  the  death  of  a  criminal. 
.  .  .  When  then  the  issue  of  the  history  is  that 
God  acknowledges  Job  as  His  servant,  and  after 
he  is  proved  and  refined  by  the  temptation,  pre- 
serves to  him  a  doubly  rich  and  prosperous  life, 
Job  receives  beyond  his  prayer  and  comprehen- 
sion; and  after  he  has  learned  from  his  own  ex- 
perience that  God  brings  to  Hades  and  out  again 
(I  Sam.  ii.  6;  comp.  on  the  other  hand  above, 
ch.  vii.  9),  he  has  forever  conquered  all  fear  of 
death,  and  the  germs  of  the  hope  of  a  future  life, 
which  in  the  midst  of  his  affliction,  have  broken 
through  his  consciousness,  can  joyously  ex- 
pand. 


II.  Bildad  and  Job :    Ch.  XVIII— XIX. 

A. — Bildad :  Job's  passionate  outbreaks  are  useless,  for  the  Divine  ordinance,  insti- 
tuted from  of  old,  is  still  in  force,  securing  that  the  hardened  sinner's 
doom  shall  suddenly  and  surely  overtake  him. 

Chapter  XVIII. 

1.  Sharp  rebuke  of  Job,  the  foolish  and  blustering  boaster: 

Vers.  1-4. 
1       Then  answered  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  said  : 

3  How  long  will  it  be  ere  ye  make  an  end  of  words  ? 
Mark,  and  afterwards  we  will  speak. 

3  Wherefore  are  we  counted  as  beasts, 
and  reputed  vile  in  your  sight  ? 

4  He  teareth  himself  in  his  anger  ! 
shall  the  earth  be  forsaken  for  thee  ? 

and  shall  the  rock  be  removed  out  of  his  place  ? 


Description  of  the  dreadful  doom  of  the  hardened  evil-doer: 

Vers.  5-21. 
)  Yea,  the  light  of  the  wicked  shall  be  put  out, 

and  the  spark  of  his  fire  shall  not  shine. 
)  The  light  shall  be  dark  in  his  tabernacle, 

and  his  candle  shall  be  gut  out  with  him. 


444 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


7  The  steps  of  his  strength  shall  be  straitened, 
and  his  own  counsel  shall  cast  him  down. 

8  For  he  is  cast  into  a  net  by  his  own  feet, 
and  he  walketh  upon  a  snare. 

9  The  gin  shall  take  him  by  the  heel, 

and  the  robber  shall  prevail  against  him.  • 

10  The  snare  is  laid  for  him  in  the  ground, 
and  a  trap  for  him  in  the  way. 

11  Terrors  shall  make  him  afraid  on  every  side, 
and  shall  drive  him  to  his  feet. 

12  His  strength  shall  be  hunger-bitten, 

and  destruction  shall  be  ready  at  his  side. 

13  It  shall  devour  the  strength  of  his  skin  ; 

even  the  first-born  of  death  shall  devour  his  strength. 

14  His  confidence  shall  be  rooted  out  of  his  tabernacle, 
and  it  shall  bring  hira  to  the  king  of  terrors. 

15  It  shall  dwell  in  his  tabernacle,  because  it  is  none  of  his; 
brimstone  shall  be  scattered  upon  his  habitation. 

16  His  roots  shall  be  dried  up  beneath, 
and  above  shall  his  branch  be  cut  oflT. 

17  His  remembrance  shall  perish  from  the  earth, 
and  he  shall  have  no  name  in  the  street. 

18  He  shall  be  driven  from  light  into  darkness, 
and  chased  out  of  the  world. 

19  He  shall  neither  have  son  nor  nephew  among  his  people 
nor  any  remaining  in  his  dwellings. 

20  They  that  come  after  him  shall  be  astonished  at  his  day, 
as  they  that  went  before  were  affrighted. 

21  Surely  such  are  the  dwellings  of  the  wicked, 

and  this  is  the  place  of  him  that  knoweth  not  God. 


EXEGETICAL    AND    CRITICAL. 

1.  In  opposition  to  Job's  solemn  appeal  to  God 
as  a  witness  of  his  innocence,  Bildad  continues 
fixed  in  his  former  preconceived  opinion,  that  a 
secret  crime  must  be  the  cause  of  his  heavy  bur- 
den of  suffering.  After  a  short,  sharp,  censori- 
ous introduction,  in  vphich  he  pays  back  Job's 
bitter  and  harsh  reprimands  in  the  same  coin, 
(vers.  2-4),  he  shows  that,  notwithstanding  Job's 
passionate  bluster,  the  old  divine  decree  was  still 
in  force,  by  virtue  of  which  a  sudden  merited 
punishment  from  God  carries  off  the  hardened 
sinner,  and  with  him  his  entire  household  and 
race  (vers  5-21).  He  thus  presents  a  companion 
piece  to  that  description  of  tlie  doom  of  the  un- 
godly with  which  Eliphaz  had  closed  his  pre- 
ceding discourse  (ch.  xv,  20-35),  this  delineation 
of  Bildad's  being  new  only  in  form,  but  being 
similar  to  that  of  Eliphaz  throughout  as  to  its 
substance  and  tendency.  The  whole  discourse 
is  divided  into  six  strophes  of  three  to  four  verses 
each,  of  which  the  first  forms  the  introductory 
section  spoken  of  above,  while  the  remaining 
five  belongs  to  the  long  main  division,  vers.  5-21. 

2.  Introduction  and  First  Strophe :  A  short, 
sharp  rebuke  of  Job  as  a  foolish  boaster,  raving 
with  passion;  vers.  2-4. 


Ver.  2.  How  long  V7ill  ye  yet  hunt  for 
■words? — Let  it  be  observed  that  Bildad's  for- 
mer discourse  began  with  a  like  impatient  ques- 
tion, ch.  viii.  2  (there  J><~"1J.1,  here  njX'lj;^)  and 
further,  that  he  addresses  his  opponent  in  the 
plural,  for  the  reason  tliat  the  la'ter  had  him- 
self first  made  his  cause  identical  with  the  cause 
of  all  the  righteous,  and  had  thereby  himself 
provoked  this  representative  association  of  bis 
person  with  all  who  were  like-minded.  ["  Some 
say  tliat  he  thinks  of  Job  as  one  of  a  number; 
Ewald  observes  that  the  controversy  becomes 
more  wide  and  general  [representing  two  great 
parties  or  divisions  of  mankind]  ;  and  Schlott- 
mann  conjectures  that  Bildad  fixes  his  eye  on 
individuals  of  his  hearers,  on  whose  counte- 
nances he  believed  he  saw  a  certain  inclination  to 
side  with  Job.  This  conjecture  we  will  leave  to 
itself;  but  the  remark  which  Schlottmann  also 
makes  that  Bildad  regards  Job  as  a  type  of  a 
whole  class,  is  correct,  only  one  must  also  add, 
this  address  in  the  plural  is  a  reply  to  Job's  sar- 
casm (ch.  xii.  2)  by  a  similar  one.  As  Job  has 
told  his  friends  that  they  act  as  if  they  were 
mankind  in  general,  and  all  wisdom  were  con- 
centrated in  them,  so  Bildad  has  taken  it  amiss 
that  Job  connects  himself  with  the  whole  of  the 
truly  upright,   righteous,  and  pure  ;  and  he  ad- 


CHAP.  XVIII.  1-21. 


445 


dresses  him  in  the  plural  becnuse  lie,  the  unit, 
has  puffed  himself  up  as  such  a  collective  whole." 
Delitzsch].  Still  further  Job  had  also  begun  his 
last  discourse  (see  ch.  xvi.  8)  with  a  comjilaint 
about  the  useless  interminable  discourse  of  the 
friends, — a  complaint  which  Bildad  here  retali- 
ates, although  to  be  sure  in  an  altered  form. 
[".Job's  speeches  are  long,  and  certainly  are  a 
trial  of  patience  to  the  three,  and  the  heaviest 
trial  to  Bildad,  whose  turn  now  comes  on,  be- 
cause he  is  at  pains  throughout  to  be  brief. 
Hence  the  reproach  of  endless  babbling  with 
which  he  begins  here,  as  at  ch.  viii.  2."  Del.]. 

'D?  ■'^Jp  Wp  is  not  "to  put  an  end  to  words, 
to  make  an  end  of  speaking"  (so  the  ancient 
versions.  Rabbis,  Rosonm.,  Gesen.  [E.  V.  Um- 
breit,  Lee,  Carey,  Renan]),  etc.;  for  a  plural 
D'^fJp  (with  a  resolved  Daghesh  for  Q'^P,  [see 
Green,  ^54  3]),  for  ]*p  cannot  be  shown  else- 
where. Moreover  in  that  case  we  should  ra- 
ther look  for  the  singular  construction  ]*p  D'ty 
(see  ch.  xxviii.  3).  [Merx  introduces  the  sing, 
into  the  text.  Rodwell  renders  njX~nj^  as  an 
exclamation,  and  the  following  Imperf  (like  that 
of  6)  as  an  Imperative, — "  Ilowlong?  Make  an 
end  of  words."  So  substantially  Bernard,  ex- 
cept that  he  supplies  the  clause  following  in  ch. 
viii.  2.  This  construction  however  still  leaves 
the  plural  "'i'Jp  unaccounted  for.  According  to 
the  usual  construction  the  clause  should  have 
vh  after  mX"!^,  to  render  which  with  E.  V., 
etc.  "  How  long  will  it  be  ere,"  etc.,  is  forced  and 
gratuitous. — E.].  We  are  to  take  "'i'Jp  (with 
Castell.,  Schult.,  J.  D.  Michaelis,  Ewald,  Hirzel, 
Del.  [Dillm.,  Schlottm.,  Con.,  Words.],  fCc),  as 
plur.  constr.  of  ]*Jp,  laqueits  (a  hunter's  noose, 
a  snare),  so  that  the  phrase  under  consi- 
deration signifies,  "  making  a  hunt  for,  hunt- 
ing after  words"  [laqucus  verbis  tendere,  verba 
venando  capere).  By  this  however  is  intended 
not  contradiction  and  opposition  perpetually 
renewed,  but  only  uninterrupted,  yet  use- 
less speaking.  [Fiirst,  while  agreeing  with  the 
above  derivation  of  ^^.Jp,  explains  it  here  as 
fig.  for  perversion,  contortion:  "how  long  will 
ye  make  a  perversion  of  words  ?"  But  this 
explanation  of  the  figure  is  less  natural  and 
appropriate.  Bildad's  charge  against  Job  and 
his  party  is  that  they  were  hunting  after  words, 
straining  after  something  to  say,  when  there 
was  really  nothing  to  be  said. — E.] — Under- 
stand, and  afterwards  we  will  speak. — 
^r^n,  "  will  you  understand,"  voluntative  for 
the  Imperative   ^^3  ;   comp.  on  ch.  xvii.  10  a. 

Ver.  3.  Why  are  •we  accounted  as  the 
brute? — a  harsh  allusion  to  ch.  xvii.  4,  10; 
comp.  also  Ps.  Ixxiii.  22. — Are  regarded  as 
stupid  in  your  eyes  ? — ^J"?£3J,  from  no£3= 
DCOX,  Q'OD,  "to  stop  up,"  hence  lit.  "are  (are 
treated  as)  stopped  up  in  your  eyes,"  i.  e.  are  in 
your  opinion  stupid,  blockheads  (comp.  the 
similar  phrase  in  Is.  lix.  1).  The  LXX.  ex- 
change the  word,  which  does  not  appear  else- 
where, for  ?yO"lJ.  aeauom/Kaftev;  the  Targ.  gives 
NJi'OP,   "are   sunk."      The  Vulg.    finally    (fol- 


lowed by  many  moderns,  including  Dillmann 
[Ewald,  Noyes,  Lee,  Con.,  Car.,  Rod.,  and  so 
E.  V.])  derives  the  word  from  noC^ir^NOtS,  "to 
be  impure"  (Lev.  xi.  43),  and  translates  accord- 
ingly: et  sorduimus  coram  vobis.  But  this  mean- 
ing would  be  a  stronger  departure  from  that 
of  the  first  member  than  is  allowed  by  the  struc- 
ture of  the  verses  elsewhere  in  this  discourse, 
which  exhibit  throughout  a  thoroughly  rigid 
parallelism.  Moreover  it  would  obscure  too 
much  the  antithetic  reference  to  ch.  xvii.  8,  9. 

Ver.  4.  O  thou,  w^ho  tearest  thyself  in 
thy  rage. — This  exclamation,  wliich  is  prefixed 
to  the  address  proper  to  Job,  and  put  in  the 
tliird  person  ([so  apud  Arabes  uhique  fere, 
Schult.],  comp.  ch.  xvii.  10  a),  is  in  direct  con- 
tradiction to  the  saying  of  Job  in  ch.  xvi.  9, 
which  represents  him  as  torn  by  God,  whereas 
he  proves  that  the  cause  of  the  tearing  is  his 
own  furious  passion. — For  thee  [LXX.  proba- 
bly reading  -"jPlonn,  which  Merx  adopts  into 
the  text,  render  tav  cv  a7roi9(ri';/f]  should  the 
earth  be  depopulated  [lit.  forsaken]  (comp. 
D?;;  in  Is.  vii.  16;  vi.  12)  [on  the  form  ^^llT}', 
with  Pattach  in  the  ultimate,  see  Green,  ^  91, 
GJ,  and  a  rock  remove  out  of  its  place 
(comp.  ch.  xiv.  18;  ix.  5).  Both  these  things 
would  come  to  pass  if  the  mor.al  order  of  the 
world,  established  by  God  as  an  unchangeable 
law,  more  especially  as  it  reveals  itself  in 
rewarding  the  good  and  punishing  the  wicked, 
were  to  depart  from  its  fixed  course  ;  or  in  other 
words,  should  God  cease  to  be  a  righteous 
rewarder.  For  that,  as  Bildad  thinks,  is  what 
Job  really  desires  in  denying  his  guilt ;  his  pas- 
sionate incessant  assertion  of  liis  innocence 
points  to  a  dissolution  of  the  whole  sacred  fabric 
of  universal  order  as  established  by  God  (comp. 
Rom.  iii.  5,  6).  [A  fine  and  most  effective 
stroke  of  sarcasm.  On  the  one  side,  the  puny, 
impotent  storming  of  Job's  wrath  ;  on  the  other, 
the  calm,  unalterable  movement  of  Divine  Law. 
How  foolish  the  former  when  confronting  the 
latter!  And  by  what  right  could  he  expect  the 
Divine  Order  to  be  overthrown  for  his  sake? 
For  thee  (emphatic)  is  everything  to  be  plunged 
into  desolation  and  chaos? — E.] 

3.  The  terrible  doom  of  hardened  sinners,  de- 
scribed as  a  salutary  warning  and  instructioa 
for  Job  :  vers,  5-21. 

Second  Sirojyhe :  vers.  6-7.  [The  destruction 
of  the  wicked  declared.] 

Ver.  5.  Notwithstanding,  the  light  of 
the  w^icked  shall  go  out. — DJ  adding  to  that 
which  has  already  been  said  something  new  and 
unexpected,  like  o/zcjf,  equivalent  to  "notwith- 
standing;" comp.  Ps.  cxxix.  2;  Ezek.  xvi.  28. 
The  "light  going  out"  is  a  figure  of  prosperity 
destroyed  (comp.  ch.  xxx.  26) ;  so  also  in  the 
second  member:  and  the  flames  of  his  fire 
shine  not.     As  to  3011^,   '<flame,"   comp.  Dan. 

•  T  '■ 

iii.  22;  vii.  9.  Also  as  to  the  transition  from 
the  plural  in  a  ("wicked  ones")  to  llie  sing,  in 
b  (his  fire),  see  on  ch.  xvii.  5;   Ewald,  §  319,  a. 

Ver.  6.  The  light  darkens  (lit.  "has  dark- 
ened," ^ii'n,  Pert",  of  certainty,  as  in  ch.  v.  20) 
in  his  tent  ''comp.  ch.  xxi.  17;  xxix.  3;  Ps. 
xviii.  29  [28]  ;  Prov.  xiii.  9),  and  his  lamp 
above  him  ((.  e.,  the  lamp  hanging  down  above 


446 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


liim  f-om  tlie  covering  of  his  tent,  cotnp.  Eccles. 
xii.  G)  goes  out. —  I'his  figure  of  tlie  extinction 
of  Mie  light  of  prosperity  vvhicli  is  repeated 
again  anil  again,  is  alike  familiar  to  the  Hebrew 
and  to  the  Arabian  ;  the  latter  also  says:  "Fate 
has  put  out  my  light." 

Ver.  7.  His  mighty  steps  [lit.  the  steps  of 
his  strength]  are  straitened:  another  figure 
which  is  "ju.'^t  as  Arabic  as  it  is  Biblical" 
(Del.).  Comp.  in  regard  to  it  Prov.  iv.  12 ;  Ps. 
xviii.  37  [36].  Also  as  regards  the  form  OV 
(not  from  "1^',  as  Gescn.  [Fiirst],  and  Hirzel 
say,  but  Imperf.  form  11^,  see  Ewald,  |  138,  b. 
[The  meaning  is  clearly:  his  movements  are 
hampered,  his  powers  are  contracted  by  the 
pent-up  limits  which  shut  him  in]. — And  his 
©■wrn  counsel  casts  him  dovyn :  oomp.  oh. 
T.  12  seq.,  and  as  regards  T\}>}?  in  the  bad  sense 
of  the  counsel  of  the  wicked,  see  ch.  x.  3  ; 
xxi.  16. 

Third  Strophe  :  vers.  8-11.  [Everything  con- 
spires to  destroy  the  sinner.] 

Ver.  8.  For  his  feet  drive  him  into  a  net: 
lit.  "he  is  driven,  sent  forth"  {HTd,  precisely 
as  in  Judg.  v.  15)  [by  or  with  his  own  feet.  A 
vivid  paradoxical  expression,  conveying  also  a 
profound  truth.  The  sinner  is  driven,  and  yet 
rushes  on  to  his  ruin.  He  is  divided  against 
himself.  He  pursues  his  course  at  once  with 
and  against  his  will. — E.] — And  h©  "walks 
over  pitfalls. — r\Dy[y,    net-like,    cross-barred 

*  T  T :  ' 

work,  or  lattice-work,  applied  here  specially  to 
a  snare  (as  in  Arabic  schabacah,  snare),  hence  a 
cross-barred  covering  laid  over  a  deep  pit. 
["  He  thinks  he  is  walking  upon  solid  ground, 
but  he  is  grievously  mistak;-n;  it  is  but  a  deli- 
cate net-work,  spread  over  an  unfathomable 
abyss,  into  which,  therefore,  he  every  moment 
risks  to  be  precipitated."  Bernard.] 

Vers.  9,  10  continue  still  further  the  same 
figures  derived  from  hunting,  snare,  cord  and 
noose.  In  vers.  8-10  there  are  six  diiferent  im- 
plements mentioned  as  being  in  readiness  to 
capture  the  evil-doer;  a  vivid  variety  of  expres- 
sion which  reminds  us  of  the  five  names  given 
to  the  lion  by  Eliphaz,  ch.  iv.  10  seq. ;  comp. 
also  on  ch.  xix.  13  seq. 

Ver.  9.  A  trap  holds  his  heel  fast,  and  a 
snare  takes  fast  hold  upon  him. — To  the 
simple  inx,  to  hold,  corresponds  in  b  the  signi- 
ficantly stronger  pTFI,   which,  however,  is  used 

with  7j^  [instead  of  3],  thus  giving  expression 
to  the  idea  of  a  mighty,  overpowering  seizure. 
[The  jussive  form  piH^  is  used  simply  by  poetic 
license.]  On  CSV,  snare  [which  is  not  plur., 
but  sing.,  after  the  form  p'^V,  from  DDi'], 
comp.  on  ch.  v.  5.  [The  rendering  of  E.  V. : 
"  robbers"  is  to  be  rejected  here,  as  well  as  in 
ch.  V.  5.] 

Ver.  10.  Bfidden  in  the  ground  is  his 
cord,  and  his  gin  upon  the  pathway. — 
[T'he  suffixes  here  undoubtedly  refer  to  the  sin- 
ner, and  not,  according  to  Conanfs  rendering — 
"its  cord — its  noose" — to  the  snare  of  ver.  9. 
"  The  continuation  in  ver.  10  of  the  figure  of  the 
fowler  affirms  that  that  issue  of  his  life,  ver.  9, 
lias  been  preparing  lo"g  beforehand  ;  the  pros- 


perity of  the  evil-doer  from  the  beginning  tends 
towards  ruin."   Del.] 

Ver.  11  unites  the  figures  by  way  of  explana- 
tion in  a  more  general  expression. — On   every 

side  terrors  affright  him. — r\in7|  signifies 
two  things  at  once — terrible  thoughts  and  terri- 
ble circumstances,  here  naturally  sueli  as  are 
sent  by  God  upon  the  wif^ked  to  disturb  him.— 
And  scare  him  at  his  footsteps;  i.  e.  pur- 
suing him:  VvJTy  meaning  "step  for  step, 
close  behind;"  comp.  Gen.  xxx.  30;  1  Sam.  xxv. 
42;  Is.  xli.  2;  Hab.  iii.  5.— [E.  V.  "shall  drive 
him  to  his  feet"  is  ambiguous.]  I^iin,  lit. 
d.iffundere,  dissipare,  hence  requiring  a  collective 
for  its  object  (as  r.  g.  "host"  in  Hab.  iii.  14), 
or  a  word  representing  a  mass  (as  e.  g.  "cloud, 
smoke,"  comp.  Job  xxxvii.  11;  xl.  11,  etc.')\ 
here,  however,  exceptionally  connected  with  a 
single  individual  as  its  object,  and  hence  syno- 
nymous with  ^Tl,  to  chase,  scare  (comp.  ch. 
xxx.  1-5).  ["It  would  probably  not  be  used 
here,  but  for  the  idea  that  the  spectres  of  terror 
pursue  him  at  every  step,  and  are  now  here, 
now  there,  and  his  person  is  multiplied."  Del.] 

Fourth  Strophe:  vers.  11-14.  Description  of 
the  final  overthrow  of  the  wicked  in  its  three 
stages:  outward  adversity,  mutilation  of  the 
body  by  disease,  and  death — hence  manifestly 
pointing  at  Job. 

Ver.  12.  His  calamity  shows  itself  hun- 
gry.— The  voluntat.  ''T\\  used  for  the  finite: 
comp.  ver.  9,  also  below  ch.  xxiv.  14. — UNi 
di^'fective  for  1J1X,  is  more  correctly  derived 
from  JIN  in  the  sense  of  calamity,  misfortune, 
than  from  |1X,  "strength."  The  latter  render- 
ing, which  is  adopted  by  the  Vulgate.  Rosenm., 
Ewald,  Stickel,  Schlottm.,  Dillm.  [E.  V.,  Um- 
breit,  Good,  Lee,  Wem.,  Noyes,  Con.,  Car.,  Rod., 
Elz.],  yields  a  sense  which  is  in  itself  entirely 
appropriate:  "then  does  his  strength  become 
hungry."  ["But  this  rendering  is  unsatisfac- 
tory, for  it  is  in  itself  no  misfortune  to  be  hun- 
gry, and  3j7T  does  not  in  itself  signify  'ex- 
hausted with  hunger.'  It  is  also  an  odd  meta- 
phor that  strength  becomes  hungry."  Delitzsch.] 
But  the  rendering  favored  by  the  Peshito, 
Hirzel,  Hahn,  Del.  [Renan,  Words.],  etc. — "his 
calamity  shows  itself  hungry  (towards  him);  it 
seems  greedy,  eager  to  devour  him  "  agrees  better 
both  with  the  second  member  of  the  parallelism, 
and  with  the  actual  course  of  Job's  adversity, 
which  began  with  a  series  of  external  cnlamities 
suddenly  bursting  upon  him,  to  which  Bildad  ma- 
nifestly refers.  The  explanation  of  the  Targ. 
[and  Bernard]  —  "  the  son  of  his  manhood's 
strength  (comp.  jti?  in  Gen.  xlix.  3")  becomes 
hungry"  destroys  the  connection  [and  "sounds 
comical  rather  than  tragic,"  Del.]  ;  and  Reiske's 
translation — "  he  is  hungry  in  the  midst  of  his 
strength" — assumes  the  correctness  of  the  con- 
jectural reading  1JN3  3J;'"',  which  is  entirely 
without  support. — And  destruction  (TX,  lit. 
"  a  heavy  burden,  a  load  of  suffering,"  hence 
stronger   than    ^N,  comp.   ch.   xxi.    17 ;    Obad. 

13)  is  ready  for  his  fall  — U''?^'?  might  of 
itself  signify  "at  his  side"  (lit.  "rib"),  beng 


CHAP.  XVIII.  1-21. 


447 


thus  equivalent  to  iT3,  ch.  xv.  23  (Gesen.,  Ew., 
Schlottrn.,  Dillm.),  [E'.  V.,  Good,  Lee,  Bernard, 
Wem  ,  Words.,  Noy.,  Ren.,  Con.,  Car.,  Rod  , 
Elz.]  ;  but  a  more  forcible  meaning  is  obtained, 
if  in  accordance  with  Psalm  xxxv.   15  ;  xxxviii. 

18,  we  take  ^jV  to  mean  "limping,  fall,"  and 
so  find  destruction  represented  as  in  readiness 
to  cast  down  the  wicked. 

Ver.  13.  There  devours  the  parts  of  his 
skin  (0^3  elsewhere  "cross-bars,"  or  "branch- 
es of  a  tree,"  comp.  ch.  xvii.  16;  used  here  of 
the  members  of  the  body  :  11^  here  for  the  body ; 
comp.  on  ch.  ii.  4),  there  devours  his  parts 
the  first-born  of  death  [or  with  a  smoother 
English  construction,  by  inverting  the  order  of 
clauses,  as  Rodwell:  "  The  first-born  of  death 
shall  devour — devour  the  limbs  of  his  body"]. 
According  to  this  rendering,  which  is  already 
justified  by  the  ancient  versions,  and  which  hns 
of  late  been  quite  generally  adopted,  DID  103 
is  the  subject  of  the  whole  verse,  and  is  placed 
for  emphasis  at  the  end.  By  this  "first-born  of 
death,"  we  are  to  understand  not  the  "  angel  of 
death "  as  the  Targum  explains  it,  nor  again 
"  death  "  itself,  as  Hahn  thinks,  but  a  peculiarb/ 
dangerous  and  terrible  disease,  ["in  which  the 
whole  destroying  power  of  death  is  contained,  as 
in  the  first-born  the  whole  strength  of  his  pa- 
rent." Del. J.  Comp,  the  Arabic  designation  of 
fatal  fevers  as  bendt  el-menijeh,  "  daughters  of 
fate  or  death."  The  whole  verse  thus  points 
with  indubitable  clearness  to  Job's  disease,  the 
elephantiasis,  which  devours  the  limbs  and  mu- 
tilates the  body, — an  allusion  which  is  altogether 
lost,  if,  with  Umbreit  and  Ewald,  we  make  the 
wicked  himself  the  subject  of  the  verse,  under- 
standing him  to  be  designated  in  b  by  way  of  ap- 
position as  "the  first-born  of  death,  i.e.,  as 
surely  doomed  to  death,  and  to  be  compared  in 
the  rest  of  the  verse  to  one  in  hunger  devouring 
his  own  limbs,  as  in  Is.  ix.  19  [20]. 

Ver.  14.  He  is  torn  out  of  his  tent, 
wherein  he  trusted:  intO^O  as  in  ch.  viii.  14. 
LintD^p  is  taken  as  the  subject  of  the  sentence 
by  E.  v.,  Rosenm.,  Umbr.,  Ewald.  Noyes,  Ber- 
nard. Good,  Lee,  Wemyss,  Carey,  Barnes,  Rod., 
Merx,  Delitzsch  ;  the  meaning  being  as  explained 
by  t!ie  latter:  "  Everything  that  makes  the  un- 
godly man  happy  as  head  of  a  household,  and 
gives  him  the  brightest  hopes  of  a  future,  is  torn 
away  from  his  household,  so  that  he,  who  is  dy- 
ing otF,  alone  survives."  The  rendering  of  our 
Comm.  is  adopted  by  Dillmann,  Schlottm.,  Co- 
nant,  Renan,  Hirzel,  Hahn,  Heiligst. — It  is  de- 
fended by  Dillmnnn  on  the  ground  that  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  the  description  the  fate  of  his 
tent  and  household  is  not  mentioned  until  verse 
15;  and  also  that  by  its  position  IPltO^TD  stands 

in  apposition  to  wPIX,  whereas  according  to  the 
other  construction  the  order  should  have  been 
inverted,  int32^  as  subject,  coming  immediately 
after  the  verb:  grounds  which  seem  satisfactory. 
— E.]. — And  he  must  march  to  the  king 
of  terrors :  lit.,  "and  it  makes  him  march" 
(inT^'l^n  fem.  used  as  neuter),  viz.,  his  calamity, 
the  dismal  something,  the  secret  power  which 
effects  his  ruin.     ["After  the  evil-doer  is  tor- 


mented for  a  while  with  temporary  mil 73,  and 
made  tender  and  reduced  to  ripeness  for  death 
by  the  first-born  of  death,  he  falls  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  king  of  mri/J  himself ;  slowly 
and  solemnly,  but  surely  and  inevitably  (as 
Tj^Vn  implies,  with  which  is  combined  the  idea 
of  the  march  of  a  criminal  to  the  place  of  exe- 
cution), he  is  led  to  this  king  by  an  unseen  arm." 
Delitzsch].  The  "king  of  teri'ors "  is  death 
himself,  who  is  here,  as  in  Ps.  xlix.  15  [14];  Is, 
xxviii.  15  personified  as  a  ruler  of  the  under- 
world. He  is  not  however  to  be  identified  with 
tlie  king  of  the  under-world  in  the  heathen  my- 
thologies (e.  ff.,  with  the  Yama  of  the  Hindus,  or 
the  Pluto  of  the  Romans,  with  whom  Schllrer 
and  Ewald  here  institute  a  comparison),  nor 
with  Satan.  For  although  the  latter  is  in  Heb. 
ii.  14  designated  as  6  to  KparoQ  i;^cjv  rov  -Qavn-ov, 
in  our  book  according  to  ch.  i.  6seq.,  he  ap- 
pears in  quite  another  character  than  that  of  a 
prince  of  death.  Neither  can  the  Angel  of  the 
abyss,  Abaddon  (Rev.  ix.  11)  be  brought  into 
the  comparison  here,  since  the  king  of  terrors  is 
unmistakably  the  personification  of  death  itself. 
We  produce  an  unsuitable  enfeebling  of  the  sense 
if,  with  the  Pesh.,  Vulg.,  Bottchcr,  Stickel, 
[Parkhurst,  Noyes,  Good,  Wemyss,  Carey]  dis- 
regarding the  accentuation  we  separate  niriv^ 
from  ^_70,  and  render  it  as  subj,  of  IDTj^yn: 
"  and  destruction  makes  him  march  onward  to 
itself,  as  to  a  king"  [or:  "  Terror  pursues  him 
like  a  king,"  Noyes] — a  rendering  which  is  made 
untenable  by  the  disconnected  and  obscure  posi- 
tion which,  in  the  absence  of  a  clause  more  pre- 
cisely qualifying  it,  it  assigns  to  ^^07  (instead 

of  which  we  might  rather  look  for  ^/.v?^). 

Fifth  Strophe:  Vers,  15-17.  Description  of  the 
influence  of  the  calamity  as  extending  beyond 
the  death  of  the  wicked  man,  destroying  his  race, 
his  posterity,  and  his  memory. 

Ver.  15.  There  dwells  in  his  tent  that 
which  does  not  belong  to  him  :    or  again: 

"  of  that  which  is  not  his."  For  17~''73D  may 
be  rendered  in  both  ways,  either  partitively 
(Hirzel),  or,  which  is  to  be  preferred,  as  a 
strengthened   negation  =  i7~wilO   "^P.^,,    "  that 

which  is  not  his  "  (comp.  the  advei-bial  V??  in 
Ex.  xiv.  11  ;  also  the  similar,  yet  more  frequent 
rxp  ;   and  in  general  Ewald,  §  294,  a).     In  any 

case  n7~X7  in  ch.  xxxix.  16  may  be  compared 
with  it.  The  fem.  JDtl/n  (for  neu*er)  is  ex- 
plained on  the  ground  that  the  forsaken  tent  is 
thought  of  as  being  inhabited  not  by  human 
beings,  but  by  wild  beasts  (Is.  xiii.  20  seq.  ; 
xxxiv.  11  seq.),  or  wild  vegetation  (Zeph.  ii.  9). 
— Brimstone  is  scattered  on  his  habita- 
tion, viz.,  from  heaven  (Gen.  xix.  21)  in  order 
to  make  it,  the  entire  habitation  of  the  wretched 
man  ('irijj  as  in  ch.  v.  3)  a  solitude,  the  monu- 
ment of  an  everlasting  curse;  comp.  ch.  xv.  34  ; 
Deut.  xxix.  22  ;  Ps.  xi.  G  ;  also  the  remark  of 
Wetzstein  in  Delitzsch,  founded  on  personal  obser- 
vation of  present  modes  of  thought  and  customs 
among   the  orientals:  "  The  desolation   of  his 


448 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


house  is  the  most  terrible  calamity  for  the  Sem- 
ite; i.e.,  when  all  belonging  to  his  family  die, 
or  are  reduced  to  poverty,  their  habitation  is 
desolated,  and  their  ruins  are  become  the  byword 
of  future  generations.  For  the  Bedouin  espe- 
cially, although  his  iiair  tent  leaves  no  mark,  the 
thou  rht  of  the  desolation  of  his  house,  the  ex- 
tinction of  his  hospitable  hearth,  is  terrible." 

Ver.  16.  His  roots  dry  up  from  beneath, 
and  his  branch  (T'VP  ^^  i'^  ^'^^  ^'"''  ^)  'With- 
ers above  (not,  "is  lopped  off,"  Del.  [E.  V., 
Conant,  etc.'\  comp.  above  on  ch.  xiv.  2):    ["  the 

derivation  from  770  "  to  cut  off,"  is  here  alto- 
gether untenable,  for  the  cutting  off  of  the 
branches  of  a  tree  dried  up  in  the  roots  is  mean- 
ingless." Dillm.].  The  same  vegetable  figure, 
in  illustration  of  the  same  thing;  see  above,  ch. 
XV.  32seq.  ;  comp.  Amos  ii.  9;  Is.  v.  24,  also 
the  inscription  on  the  sarcophagus  of  Eschmu- 
nazar:  "  Let  there  not  be  to  him  a  root  below 
or  a  branch  above!" 

Ver.  17.  His  memory  perishes  out  of  the 
land,  and  he  has  no  (longer  a)  name  on  the 
(wide)  plain. — As  ]*"1X  in  the  first  member  de- 
notes the  "land  with  a  settled  population,"  so 
y^n  denotes  the  region  outside  of  this  inhabited 
lind,  the  wide  plain,  steppe,  wilderness.  Comp. 
on  ch.  V.  10,  also  the  parallel  phrase  ni^ini  ]''^X 
in  Prov.  -viii.  26  (see  on  the  passage). 

Sixth  Strophe  (together  with  a  closing  verse) : 
Vers.  18-21.  [After  his  desirnction  the  wicked 
lives  in  the  memory  of  posterity  only  as  a  warn- 
ing example]. 

Ver.  18.  He  is  driven  out  of  the  light  into 
the  darkness  [i.  e.,  out  of  the  light  of  life  and 
happiness  into  the  darkness  of  calamity  and 
death),  and  chased  out  of  the  habitable 
•world,     ^nyty,  from  the  Hiph.  npPI  of  the  verb 

ni3;  /^_i^  used  of  the  inhabited  glohe,  the  o'ikov- 
UEVT).  The  third  plural  of  both  verbs  expresses 
the  subject  indefinitely,  as  in  ch.  iv.  19  ;  vii.  3; 
xix.  23.  It  would  be  legitimate  to  take  as  the 
object  referred  to  by  the  suffixes,  not  the  wicked 
man  himself,  but  his  Dty  and  "^IIT  (Seb.  Schmidt, 
Ewald).  The  following  verse  however  makes 
this  interpretation  less  probable. 

Ver.  19.  No  sprout,  no  shoot  (remains)  to 
him  among  his  people. — The  phrase  "  sprout 
and  shoot"  will  most  nearly  and  strikingly  re- 
produce the  short  and  forcible  alliteration  of  V} 
*1DJ1,  which  is  found  also  in  Gen.  xxi.  23  ;  Is. 
xiv.  22. — And  there  is  no  escaped  one 
(T'lty,  as  in  Deut.  ii.  34,  etc.),  in  his  dwell- 
ings. 11J3,  "  lodging,  dwelling,"  elsewhere 
only  in  Ps.  Iv.  16.  The  whole  verse  expresses, 
only  still  more  directly  and  iTnprcssively,  what 
was  first  of  all  said  fi<:!;uratively  above  in  ver.  Ifi. 

Ver.  20.  They  of  the  "West  are  astonished 
on  account  of  his  day  (?'.  e.,  the  day  of  doom, 
of  destruction;  comp.  DV  in  Ps.  xxxvii.  13; 
cxxxvii.  7;  Obad.  12,  etc.),  and  they  of  the 
East  are  seized  with  terror  (lit,,  •'  they  take 
fright,"  seize  upon  terror,  in  accordance  with  a 
mode  of  expression  employed  also  in  ch.  xxi. 
6;  Isa.    xiii.   8;   Hos.    x.    6.     The    D'jnnx,   as 


well  as  the  D'jblD,  might  certainly,  according  to 
the  general  usage  of  the  words  elsewhere,  denote 
"posterity,"  together  with  the  "ancestors"  {i.  e., 
the  fathers,  now  living,  of  the  later  generations), 
hence  the  successors  of  the  wicked,  together 
with  his  contemporaries.  So,  besides  the 
ancient  versions  [and  E.  V.],  many  moderns, 
e.  g.  Hirzel,  Schlottmann,  Hahn  [Lee,  Bernard, 
Noyes,  Conant,  Wordsworth,  Renan,  Rodwell], 
etc.  A  more  suitable  meaning  is  obtained,  how- 
ever, if  (with  Schultens,  Oetinger,  Umbreit, 
Ewald,  Delitzsch,  Dillmann),  [Wemyss,  Barnes, 
Carey,  Elzas,  Merx],  we  take  the  words  in  a 
local  sense:  the  "men  of  the  west,"  the  "men 
of  the  east,"  the  neighbors  on  both  sides,  those 
who  live  towards  the  east,  and  those  who  live 
towards  the  west  [Dillmann  inelegantly:  "those 
to  the  rear,  and  those  to  the  front"].  Comp. 
the  well-known  designation  of  the  Mediterranean 
as  pinxn  D"n  (the  western  sea),  and  of  the 
Dead  Sea  as  "'JIOlpH  (the  eastern  sea).  [Del. 
objects  to  the  former  rendering:  "The  return 
from  the  posterity  to  those  then  living  is  strange, 
and  the  usage  of  the  language  is  opposed  to  it; 
for  D'JOnp  is  elsewhere  always  what  belongs  to 
the  previous  age  in  relation  to  the  speaker ;  e.  g. 
1  Sam.  xxiv.  14;  comp.  Eccles.  iv.  10."  Schlott- 
mann', on  the  other  hand,  argues  that  the  tem- 
poral sense  is  much  better  suited  to  the  entire 
connection  than  the  local.] 

Ver.  21.  A  concluding  verse,  which  properly 
lies  outside  of  the  strophe-structure  of  the  dis- 
course, similar  to  ch.  v.  27;  viii.  19. — Only 
thus  does  it  befall  the  dwellings  of  the 
unrighteous,  and  thus   the  place  of  him 

■who  (yy~'<isl  without  'IK'i?,  comp.  ch.  xxix. 
16;  Gesen"^,  \  116  [|  121],  3)'  knew  not  God: 
i.  e.  did  not  recognize  and  honor  God,  did  not 
concern  himself  about  Him  (ch.  xxiv.  1).  Hahn, 
Dillmann,  etc.,  correctly  render  '!|J<  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  verse  not  afHrmatively,="yea, 
surely,"  but  restrictively — "only  so,  not  other- 
wise does  it  happen  to  the  dwellings  of  the 
unrighteous,"  etc.  For  it  is  only  by  this  ren- 
dering that  Bildad's  whole  description  receives 
the  emphatic  conclusion  which  was  to  be  ex- 
pected after  its  solemn  and  pathetic  opening, 
ver.  5  seq. 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

1.  Bildad  appears  here  again,  as  in  his  former 
discourse,  ch.  viii.,  as  essentially  an  imitator  of 
Eliphaz,  without  being  able  to  present  mucli  that 
is  new  in  comparison  with  his  older  associate 
and  predecessor.  So  far  as  his  picture  of  the 
restless  condition  and  irretrievable  destruction 
of  the  wicked  (ver.  4  seq.)  is  in  all  essentials  a 
copy  of  that  of  Elipliaz  in  ch.  xv.  20  seq.,  while 
at  the  same  time  this,  instead  of  being  the  sub- 
ject of  a  particular  section,  runs  through  his 
entire  argument  as  its  all-controlling  theme,  he 
appears  poorer  in  original  ideas  than  his  model. 
At  the  same  time  he  rivals,  and  indeed  surpasses, 
his  associate  now  again,  as  before,  in  wealth  of 
imagery  and  in  the  varie'y  of  his  illustrations 
derived  from  the  life  of  nature  and  humanity, 
for  the  vivid  and  skilful  handling  of  which  the 


CHAP.  XVIII.  1-21. 


449 


speaker  is  pre-eminently  distinguished  among 
the  thi-ee  friends.  He  uses  the  peculiar  phrase- 
ology of  the  Chokmah  with  consummate  art; 
and  this  aptness  and  elegance  of  style  compen- 
sates in  a  measure  for  its  lack  of  originality. 
Especially  does  his  terrible  portraiture  of  the 
wicked  man  encountering  his  doom,  like  that 
of  Eliphaz  in  ch.  xv.,  or  even  in  a  higher  degree 
than  that  in  some  particulars,  acquire  by  virtue 
of  these  qualities  a  peculiar  significance  as 
regards  its  assthetic  beauty,  its  relation  to  scrip- 
tural theology,  and  its  parenetic  value.  "The 
description  is  terribly  brilliant,  solemn  and 
pathetic,  as  becomes  the  stern  preacher  of 
repentance  with  haughty  mien  and  pharisaic 
self-confidence;  it  is  none  the  less  beautiful, 
and,  considered  in  itself,  also  true — a  master- 
piece of  the  poet's  skill  in  poetic  idealizing,  and 
in  apportioning  out  the  truth  in  dramatic  form." 
(Delitzsch  i.  332).  Especially  are  the  gradual 
steps  in  the  destruction  of  the  wicked  (ver.  12 
seq.),  and  the  participation  of  all  that  he  leaves 
behind  him,  of  his  posterity,  his  property,  and 
his  memory,  in  his  own  sudden  downfall  and 
total  ruin  (ver.  15  seq.),  described  with  masterly 
power.  All  this  is  presented  with  such  internal 
truth,  and  in  such  harmony  with  the  experiences 
of  all  mankind,  that  the  description,  considered 
in  itself,  and  detached  from  its  connections,  is 
well  adaptei  to  exert  a  salutary  influence 
for  all  time  in  the  way  of  warning  and  ex- 
hortation, and  edification  even  for  the  Christian 
world. 

2.  It  is  true  nevertheless  that  the  malignant 
application  to  the  person  of  .Tob  of  the  sharp 
points  and  venomous  stings  of  this  portraiture, 
wonderful  as  it  is  in  itself,  destroys  the  pure 
enjoyment  of  the  study  of  it,  and  warns  the 
thoughtful  reader  at  every  step  to  exercise  cau- 
tion in  the  acceptance  of  these  maxims  of  wis- 
dom, which,  while  sounding  beautifully,  are 
applied  solely  and  altogether  in  the  service  of 
nn  illiberal  legal  pharisaic  and  narrow  view  of 
life.  ["Bildad  knows  nothing  of  the  worth  and 
power  which  a  man  attains  by  a  righteous  heart. 
By  faith  he  is  removed  from  the  domain  of  God's 
justice,  which  recompenses  according  to  the  law 
of  works,  and  before  the  power  of  faith  even 
rocks  remove  from  their  place"  (see  ver.  4). 
Delitzsch.]  The  unmistakable  directness  of  the 
allusions  to  Job's  former  calamities  (in  vers.  12-14 
which  point  to  the  frightful  disease  which  afflicted 
him;  in  ver.  15,  where  the  shower  of  brimstone 
is  a  reminder  of  ch.  i.  16  seq.,  and  in  ver.  16, 
where  the  "withering  of  the  branch"  points  to 
the  death  of  the  children)  takes  away  from  the 
description,  although  true  in  itself,  that  which 
alone  could  constitute  it  a  universal  truth,  and 
lowers  it  to  the  doubtful  rank  of  a  representation 
halving  a  partisan  purpose.  It  compels  us  to 
regard  its  author,  moreover,  as  a  preacher  of 
morality  entangled  in  a  carnal,  external,  legal 
dogmatism,  destitute  of  all  earnest,  deep  and 
pure  experience  of  the  nature  of  human  sin,  as 
well  as  of  the  divine  righteousness,  and  for  that 
very  reason  misunderstanding  the  real  signifi- 
cance of  Job's  suflFerings,  and  doing  gross  injus- 
tice to  his  person.  We  are  thus  constrained  to 
put  Bildad,  as  a  practical  representative  and 
teacher  of  th'e  Divine  wisdom  of  the  Old  Testa- 
29 


ment,  far  below  his  opponent.  The  practical 
commentator,  especially  when  engaged  in  the 
continuous  exposition  of  the  whole  poem,  cannot 
help  keeping  in  view  these  considerations,  which 
impair  the  religious  and  ethical  value  of  this 
discourse.  In  its  characteristic  traits  and  mo- 
tives, it  yields  comparatively  little  that  is 
di/ectly  profitable  and  edifying. 

HOMILETICAL  AND   PRACTICAL. 

Ver.  3  seq.  Oecolamp.vdius  :  Truly  the  un- 
godly are  vile  in  the  eyes  of  the  godly,  and  are 
recognized  as  being  more  stupid  than  brutes; 
but  this  is  in  accordance  with  a  healthy  judg- 
ment, and  free  from  contempt.  For  the  world 
was  even  crucified  to  Paul,  yet  what  did  he  not 
do  that  he  might  benefit  those  who  were  in  the 
world?  The  godly  therefore  seem  vile  to  the 
ungodly  in  quite  a  diflFerent  sense  from  that  in 
which  the  ungodly  seem  vile  to  the  godly ;  for 
to  the  one  class  belongs  charity,  which  the  other 
class  in  every  way  neglect;  the  former  act  with- 
out pride,  the  latter  with  the  utmost  pride. — 
Bkentius  (on  ver.  4) :  It  is  no  common  trial  of 
faith,  that  we  must  think  of  ourselves  as  not 
being  of  such  consequence  with  God  that  He  for 
our  sakes  should  change  common  events,  and 
His  own  pre-established  order.  .  .  .  We  seem  to 
think  that  God  rather  will  change  His  usual 
course  on  our  account.  —  Woiilfarth:  God's 
plan  is  indeed  unchangeable  and  without  excep- 
tions, alike  in  the  realm  of  nature,  and  in  that 
of  spirit.  But  we  must  beware  of  erring  by 
arguing  from  that  which  is  external  to  that 
which  is  internal.  In  that  which  pertains  to 
the  spiritual,  the  higher,  that  which  is  to  decide 
is,  not  external  indications,  but  reason,  Scrip- 
ture, and  conscience. 

Ver.  5  seq.  Brentius:  These  curses  on  the 
wicked  are  that  his  light  may  be  put  out,  and 
that  the  spark  of  his  fire  may  not  shine.  For 
the  Lord  and  His  Word  are  true  light  and  splen- 
dor, as  David  says  (Ps.  xxxvi.  10  [9] ;  cxix. 
105).  The  wicked  have  neither,  for  they  say 
in  their  heart:  There  is  no  God. — V.  Gerlach: 
The  light  is  here  in  general  the  symbol  of  a 
clear  knowledge  of  man's  destiny,  of  serene 
consciousness  in  the  whole  life  (Matt.  vi.  22 
seq.);  the  light  of  the  tent  carries  the  symbol 
further,  and  points  to  this  clearness,  even  in  a 
man's  daily  household  affairs,  as  something 
which  ceases  to  be  for  the  ungodly. 

Ver.  17  seq.  Lanoe:  The  memory  which  a 
man  leaves  behind  him  is  of  little  consequence: 
it  is  enough  if  we  are  known  to  God  in  respect 
of  that  which  is  good.  Many  righteous  soiiU 
are  hidden  from  the  world,  because  they  havo 
wrought  their  works  in  the  most  quiet  wny 
in  God  (John  iii.  21);  while,  on  the  con- 
trary, many  an  ungodly  man  makes  noise 
and  disturbance    enough,   so    that  he  is  talked 

about  after  his  death But  to  the 

believing  child  of  God  it  is  still  granted  as  his 
special  beatitude  that  he  shall  see  God,  who  will 
make  his  life  an  example,  bringing  it  forth  into 
the  light,  and  causing  it  even  after  his  death  to 
shed  a  sweet  savor  to  the  praise  of  God  (Prov. 
X.  7). 

Ver.  21.  Bbentius:  Truly  it  is  not  without 


450 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


purpose  that  the  Holy  Spirit  so  often,  even  ad 
fastidium  sets  forth  in  this  book  the  judgment 
which  befalls  the  ungodly ;  it  is  to  admonish  us, 
lest  we  should  be  disturbed  by  the  prosperity 
of  the  ungodly,  knowing  that  the  judgment 
hangs  over  their  head,  and  will  be  executed 
most  speedily,  as  you  have  most  impressively  set 
forth  in  regard  to  this  matter  in  Ps.  Ixxiii.  For 
although  the  application  of  these  judgments  to 
Job  by  the  friends  is  altogether  forced,  their 


opinions  nevertheless  are  most  true,  and  are 
written  for  our  instruction. — Wohlfarth  (on 
vers.  5-21):  By  what  tokens  can  we  determine 
that  any  one  truly  reveres  God?  Not  by  his 
scrupulous  attention  to  the  external  observances 
of  religion,  not  by  the  external  events  which 
befall  him,  not  by  the  individual  good  works 
which  he  does,  but  by  the  faith  which  he  con- 
fesses, by  the  whole  direction  of  his  life  toward 
that  which  is  Godlike,  by  the  composure  with 
which  he  dies:  Pa.  Ixziii.  17,  19,  etc. 


B. — Job:  His  misery  is  well-deserving  of  sympathy;  it  will,  however,  all  the  more 

certainly  end  in  his  conspicuous  vindication  by  Qod,  although  not 

perchance  till  the  life  beyond. 

Chaptek  XIX.  1-29. 

(Introduction :  Reproachful  censure  of  the  friends  for  maliciously  suspecting  hia  innocence : ) 

Vers.  1-5. 

1  Then  Job  answered,  and  said : 

2  How  long  will  ye  vex  my  soul, 
and  break  me  in  pieces  with  words  ? 

3  These  ten  times  have  ye  reproached  me ; 

ye  are  not  ashamed  that  ye  make  yourselves  strange  to  me. 

4  And  be  it  indeed  that  I  have  erred, 
mine  error  remaineth  with  myself. 

6  If  indeed  ye  will  magnify  yourselves  against  me, 
and  plead  against  me  my  reproach : 


1.  Sorrowful  complaint  because  of  the  suflfering  inflicted  on  him  by  God  and  mens 

Verses  6-20. 

6  Know  now  that  God  hath  overthrown  me, 
and  hath  compassed  me  with  His  net. 

7  Behold,  I  cry  out  of  wrong,  but  I  am  not  heard ; 
I  cry  aloud,  but  there  is  no  judgment. 

8  He  hath  fenced  up  my  way,  that  I  cannot  pass, 
and  He  hath  set  darkness  in  my  paths. 

9  He  hath  stripped  me  of  my  glory, 
and  taken  the  crown  from  my  head. 

10  He  hath  destroyed  me  on  every  side,  and  I  am  gone ; 
and  mine  hope  hath  he  removed  like  a  tree. 

11  He  hath  also  kindled  His  wrath  against  me, 

and  He  caunteth  me  unto  Him  as  one  of  His  enemies. 

12  His  troops  come  together, 

and  raise  up  their  way  against  me, 

and  encamp  round  about  my  tabernacle. 

13  He  hath  put  my  brethren  far  from  me, 

and  mine  acquaintance  are  verily  estranged  from  me. 

14  My  kinsfolk  have  failed, 

and  my  familiar  friends  have  forgotten  me. 

15  They  that  dwell  in  mine  house,  and  my  maids,  count  me  for  a  stranger; 
I  am  alien  in  their  sight. 


CHAP.  XIX.  1-29. 


451 


16  I  called  my  servant,  and  lie  gave  me  no  answer  ; 
I  entreated  him  with  my  mouth. 

17  My  breath  is  strange  to  my  wife, 

though  I  entreated  for  the  children's  sake  of  mine  own  body. 

18  Yea,  young  children  despised  me  ; 
I  arose,  and  they  spake  against  me. 

19  All  my  inward  friends  abhorred  me ; 

and  they  whom  I  loved  are  turned  against  me. 

20  My  bone  cleaveth  to  my  skin  and  my  flesh, 
and  I  am  escaped  with  the  skin  of  my  teeth. 


2.  A  lofty  flight  to  a  blessed  hope  in  God,  his  future  Redeemer  and  Avenger: 

Verses  21-27. 

21  Have  pity  upon  me,  have  pity  upon  me,  O  ye  my  friends  ! 
for  the  hand  of  God  hath  touched  me. 

22  Why  do  ye  persecute  me  as  God, 
and  are  not  satisfied  with  my  flesh  ? 

23  O  that  my  words  were  now  written  I 
O  that  they  were  printed  in  a  book ! 

24  — that  they  were  graven  with  an  iron  pen 
and  lead  in  the  rock  for  ever ! 

25  For  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth, 

and  that  he  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth: 

26  and  though  after  my  skin  worms  destroy  this  body, 
yet  in  my  fl;  sh  shall  I  see  God ; 

27  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself, 

and  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  another, 
though  my  reins  be  consumed  within  me. 

3.  Earnest  warning  to  the  friends  against  the  further  continuance  of  their  attacks: 

Verses  28,  29. 

28  But  ye  should  say,  Why  persecute  we  him, 
seeing  the  root  of  the  matter  is  found  in  me? 

29  Be  ye  afraid  of  the  sword ; 

for  wrath  bringeth  the  punishments  of  the  sword, 
that  ye  may  know  there  is  a  judgment. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  Deeply  grieved  by  the  warnings  and  threat- 
enings  of  Bildad's  discourse,  which  in  these  re- 
spects was  but  an  echo  of  that  of  Eliphaz,  Job, 
on  the  one  side,  advances  his  complaint  even  to 
the  point  of  imploring  pity  from  his  opponents  in 
view  of  his  inexpressible  misery;  on  the  other 
hand,  for  the  very  reason  that  he,  being  inno- 
cent, finds  himself  deprived  of  all  human  help 
and  sympathy,  he  lifts  himself  up  to  a  more  cou- 
rageous confidence  in  God's  assistance  than  he 
has  ever  yet  exhibited.  He  expresses  the  well- 
defined  hope  of  a  vindication  awaiting  him — if 
not  on  this  side  of  the  grave,  then  at  least  beyond 
it — through  the  personal  intervention  of  God, 
appearing  to  him  in  visible  form.  That  an- 
guished complaint  concerning  his  unspeakably 
severe  sutFering  (vers.  6-20)  is  preceded  by  a 
sharp  word,  addressed  by  way  of  introduction  to 
the  friends,  as  having  maliciously  suspected  his 
innocence  (vers.  2-5).  That  inspired  declara- 
tion of  his  hope  in  tlie  divine  vindication  which 
was  to  take  place  in  the  Hereafter  (vers.  21-27) 


is  in  like  manner  followed  by  a  short  but  forcr- 
ble  and  impressive  warning  to  the  friends  in 
view  of  their  sinning  against  him  (vers.  28-29). 
The  whole  discourse,  accordingly,  which  is  cha- 
racterized by  vivid  emotion  and  decided  contra- 
rieties of  feeling,  contains  four  principal  parts, 
which  embrace  five  strophes  of  unequal  length. 
The  three  longest  of  these  strophes,  each  being 
of  7-8  verses,  fall  into  the  second  and  third 
parts,  of  which  the  former  contains  two  stro- 
phes, the  latter  one.  The  sliort  introductory 
and  concluding  strophes  are  identical  with  the 
first  and  fourth  parts. 

2.  Introduction:  Reproachful  censure  of  the 
friends  for  their  malicious  suspicion  of  his  inno- 
cence (vers.  2-5). 

Ver.  2.  The  discourse  begins — like  that  of 
Bildad,  with  a  Quousque  tandem  (njX~nj;),  which, 
however,  is  incomparably  more  emphatic  and 
significant  than  that  of  his  accuser,  because  it 
has  more  to  justify  it  How  long  ■will  ye 
vex  my  soul  and  crush  me  v;rith  words? — 
p'Jn  \s  fut.  energicum  of  njiil,  with  the  third  ra- 
dical retained  (Gesen.  §75  [§74],  Rem.  16).    lu 


452 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


regard  to  tlie  form  'JJJXS^H  (with  suffix  ap- 
pended to  the  |1  of  the  fu't.  energ.  and  with  the 
union-vowel  a),  see  Gesen.  §G0  [§59],  Rem.  3 
[Green,  §105c]. 

Yer.  3  gives  the  reason  for  the  nJX'l^'.  Now 
already  ten  times  is  it  that  ye  reproach 
me,  viz.,  by  assailing  my  innocence — 711  here  in 
the  sense  of  "already,  now  already,"  comp. 
EwALD,  §183(1  [Gesen.  \  122,  2,  Rem.;  Lex.  3. 
It  may,  however,  be  equally  well  regarded  as  a 
pronoun,  in  its  usual  demonstrative  sense,  in  the 
singular  with  it^J^,  with  perhaps  an  interjec- 
tional  force — "lio!  these  ten  times  do  ye  re- 
proach mc."  So  Renan:  Voilh  la  dixitme  fois  que 
voiis  m'  insultez.  Comp.  Gen.  xxvii.  36. — E.] 
"Ten  times"  stands  naturally  for  a  round  num- 
ber, or  ideal  perfection;  Gen.  xxxi.  7;  Lev.  xxvi. 
26;  Num.  xiv.  22,  etc.  ["Ten,  from  being  the 
number  of  the  fingers  on  the  human  hand,  is  the 
number  of  human  possibility,  and  from  its  posi- 
tion at  the  end  of  the  row  of  numbers  (in  the  de- 
cimal system),  is  the  number  of  that  which  is 
perfected;  as  not  only  the  Sanskrit  dac-an  is 
traceable  to  the  radical  notion  'to  seize,  em- 
brace,' but  also  the  Semitic  "li^i?  is  traceable  to 
the  radical  notion,  'to  bind,  gather  together' 
(cogn.  "It^p).  They  have  already  exhausted 
■what  is  possible  in  reproaches — they  have  done 
their  utmost."  Del.].  Comp.  my  Thcologia  Na- 
iwraZ/.',  p.  713seq.;  also  Leyrer's  Art.  "ZahJen 
bei  den  HebrUern"  in  Herzoq's  Real- Encij clop. 
XVIIL  p.  878seq.).      Are    not  ashamed   to 

stun  me.— The  syntax  of  '^'^2r\r\  Ityan-xb  ("ye 
stun  [me]  without  shame,  shamelessly"),  as  in 
chap.  vi.  28;  x.  16.  Comp.  Gesen.  §  142  [§  139], 
3  6  [Green,  §269].— nDHn  is  a  shortened  Im- 
perf.  Hiph,  for  -nonn  (Gesen.  §53  [§52],  Rem. 
4,5  [see  also  Green,  §94c]),  of  a  verb  IDD, 
which  does  not  appear  elsewhere,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  Arabic,  signifies  "to  stun,"  ob- 
stupefacere.  The  rendering  "to  maltreat,  to 
abuse  grossly,"  which  rests  on  the  authority  of 
the  ancient  versions  (LXX.;  k-iKeia-&e  fioi,  Vulg. 
opprimentcs),  and  which  is  adopted  by  Ewald, 
Hirzel,  Dillmann,  etc.,  gives  essentially  the  same 
sense,  [The  rendering  of  E.  V.:  "ye  are  not 
ashamed  that  ye  make  yourselves  strange  to  me" 
seems  to  have  been  suggested  by  the  use  of  "IDJ 
in  the  sense  of  "not  to  know."  The  Hiph.  form 
of  the  verb,  however,  is  not  found  in  that  sense, 
which  is,  moreover,  less  suitable  to  the  context 
than  the  renderings  given  above. — E.] 

Ver.  4.  And  verily  even  if  I  have  erred 
(comp.  chap.  vi.  24)  [DJON'^^X,  double  intensive, 
"yea,  verily,  comp.  chap,  xxxiv.  12],  my  error 
remains  (then)  with  me,  /.  e.,  it  is  then  known 
only  to  me  ( 'i^?*,  "withme=:in  my  conscious- 
ness," comp.  chap.  xii.  3 ;  xiv.  5),  and  so  does  not 
fall  under  your  jurisdiction,  does  not  call  for 
your  carping,  unfriendly  criticism;  for  such  a 
wrong,  being  known  to  myself  alone  (and  for 
that,  reason  being  of  the  lighter  sort),  I  have  to 
answer  only  to  God.  ["I  shall  have  to  expiate 
it,  without  your  having  on  this  account  any  right 
to  take  upon  yourselves  the  office  of  God,  and  to 
treat  me  uncharitably;  or  what  still  better  cor- 


responds with  I'Sn  'PX:  my  transgression  re- 
mains with  me,  without  being  communicated  to 
another,  i.  e.,  without  having  any  influence  over 
you  or  others  to  lead  you  astray,  or  involve  you 
in  participation  of  the  guilt."  Del.].  So  in  sub- 
stance — and  correctly — Hirzel,  Schlottmann, 
Hahn,  Delitzsch,  Dillmann  [Renan,  Carey,  Rod- 
well],  while  Ewald  and  Olshausen,  failing  to 
perceive  the  relation  of  the  first  member  as  a 
hypothetical  antecedent  to  the  second  member  as 
its  consequent  and  opposite,  translate:  "I  have 
erred,  I  am  fully  conscious  of  my  error."  [If 
this  be  understood  as  a  confession  by  Job  of  mo- 
ral guilt,  it  is  premature  and  out  of  place.  Ac- 
cording to  Ewald,  it  is  a  confession  of  intellec- 
tual error  (to  wit,  that  he  had  vainly  put  his 
confidence  in  the  justice  of  God),  uttered  with 
the  view  of  softening  the  hostility  of  the  friends, 
by  the  indirect  admission,  on  the  one  hand,  that 
their  charges  had  some  justification  in  the  non- 
appearance of  God ;  by  the  reminder,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  his  complaint  was  against  God 
rather  than  them.  But  such  a  thought  would  be 
too  obscurely  expressed,  and  would  imply  too 
sudden  a  change  from  the  tone  of  bitter  reproach 
which  pervades  this  opening  strophe. — E.] 

Ver.  5.  Will  ye  really  boast  yourselves 
against  me,  and  prove  against  me  my  re- 
proach?— DN  is  to  be  taken,  with  Schultens, 
Ewald,  Hirzel,  Dillmann  [Renan:  "By  what 
right  do  you  dare  to  speak  insolently  to  me,  and 
do  you  pretend  to  convince  me  of  disgrace?"],  as 
an  interrogative  particle  (=an),  and  the  whole 
verse   as  a   question,  with  the  chief  emphasis 

resting  on  the  verbs  nnjn  ("will  you  [mag- 
nify] boast  yourselves,"  exhibit  yourselves 
against  me  as  great  rhetoricians  and  advocates, 
by  your  elaborate  accusations?)  and  -inOin 
("will  you  judicially  prove,  demonstrate"  my 
disgrace  ['2^-  ag<'^inst  me]?  comp.  chap.  xiii.  3, 
15,  and  often).  This  is  the  only  construction 
which  properly  completes  ver.  4.  There  is  no 
such  completing  of  the  sense  obtained,  if  we 
take  DX  as  a  conditional  particle — "if,"  whether 
we  take  the  whole  of  the  fifth  verse  as  a  hypo- 
thetical protasis,  and  ver.  6  as  apodosis  (so  Cle- 
ricus,  Olshausen,  Delitzsch)  [E.  V.,  Lee,  Carey, 
Rodwell,  Merx],  or  regard  ver.  5  a  as  protasis, 
and  b  as  apodosis  (so  Umbreit,  Stickel,  Schlott- 
mann [Noyes,  Wemyss,  Conant],  etc.  [Schlott- 
mann exhibits  the  connection  as  follows:  "In 
ver.  4  Job  says — 'Granted  that  I  have  erred,  you 
need  give  yourselves  no  concern  about  the  mat- 
ter.' In  ver.  5  he  adds — 'If,  nevertheless,  you 
will  concern  yourselves  about  it,  and  in  pride 
look  down  on  me,  it  is  at  least  incumbent  on  you 
not  to  assume  without  further  proof  that  I  have 
brought  disgrace  on  myself  by  such  an  error,  but 
to  prove  it  against  me,witli  good  arguments.' 
The  repetition  of  DJON  seems  to  cor-relate  vers. 
4  and  5,  so  that  if,  as  all  agree,  the  first  and  se- 
cond members  of  ver.  4  are  related  to  each  other 
as  protasis  and  apodosis,  the  same  would  seem 
to  be  true  of  ver.  5. — E.] 

First  Division:  First  Strophe.  Vers.  6-12.  La- 
mentation over  his  sufferings  as  proceeding  from 
God. 


CHAP.  XIX.  1-29. 


453 


Ver.  6.  Know  then  (liJX  as  ia  chap.  ix.  24) 
["elsewhere  in  questions,  here  strengthening 
the  exclamation" — Schlott.]  that  Bloah  has 
wrested  me,  i.e.,  has  treated  me  unjustly,  done 
me  wrong,  "J^jlJ;'  for  'tDSp^p  rj^Jk',  comp.  chap, 
viii.  3;  xxxiv.  12;  Lam.  iii.  36.  And  com- 
passed me  round  about  w^ith  His  net — like 
a  hunter  who  has  entirely  robbed  a  wild  beast 
of  its  liberty  by  the  meshes  of  the  net  which  en- 
velop him  around,  so  tliat  he  can  find  no  way  of 
escape. — The  expression  describes  the  unforeseen 
and  inexorable  character  of  the  dispensations 
■which  had  burst  on  Job  as  the  object  of  the  Di- 
vine persecution;  comp.  Bildad's  description, 
chap,  xviii.  8seq.  ["Bildad  had  said  that  the 
wicked  would  be  taken  in  his  own  snares.  Job 
says  that  God  had  ensnared  him."  Elzas.] 

Ver.  7.  Lo!  I  cry — "Violence!"  (DOH  as 
an  interjectional  exclamation,  found  also  Hab.  i. 
2;  comp.  Jer.  xx.  8)  and  am  not  heard  (Prov. 
xxi.  13);  I  call  out  for  help,  and  there  is 
no  justice — /.  e.,  no  justice  shown  in  an  impar- 
tial examination  and  decision  of  my  cause. — 
Vi^,  lit.  "to  cry  aloud  for  help,  to  send  forth  a 
cry  for  deliverance"  (comp.  Ps.  xxx.  3  [2]; 
Ixxii.  12;  Ixxxviii.  14  [13]),  from  yvd,  or  ^W— 
J.'K^"',  "to  be  wide,  to  be  in  a  prosperous  situa- 
tion." 

Ver.  8.  He  has  hedged  up  my  way,  that 
I  cannot  pass,  and  He  has  set -darkness 
on  my  paths. — Comp.  chap.  iii.  23;  xiii.  27; 
also,  as  regards  ^^J,  "to  fence  up,  to  hedge  up," 
Lam.  iii.  7,  9;   Hos.  ii.  8  [6]. 

Ver.  9.  He  has  stripped  me  of  mine  ho- 
nor; i.  e.,  of  my  righteousness  in  the  eyes  of 
men;  comp.  ch.  xxix.  14.  The  "crown  of  my 
bead  "  in  the  parallel  second  member  signifies 
the  same  thing;  comp.  Lam.  v.  16.  The  same 
collocation  of  a  "  raiment  of  lionor,"  and  a 
"  crown  of  the  head,"  occurs  also  in  Is.  Ixi.  10  ; 
Ixii.  3  ;  and  suggested  by  these  passages  we  find 
it  often  in  evaTjgelical  church  hymns  [e.  y.,  in 
the  following  from  Watts  : 

"Then  let  my  soul  march  boldly  on, 

Press  forward  to  the  heavenly  gate, 
There  pe.Hce  and  jny  eternal  reign. 

And  cjUtleriifj  robes  for  conquerors  wait. 
There  shall  1  wear  a  starry  croint, 

And  triumph  ia  Almighty  grace, 
■While  all  the  armies  of  the  skies 

Join  iu  my  glorious  Leader's  praise"].* 

Ver.  10.  He  breaks  me  do'wn  on  every 
side:  like  a  building  doomed  to  destruction,  for 
such  is  the  representation  here  given  of  Job's 
outward  man  together  with  his  state  of  pros- 
perity ;  comp.  ch.  xvi.  14  ;  [so  that  I  pass 
aw^ay],  and  uproots,  like  a  tree,  my  hope: 
J.  e.,  he  takes  entirely  away  from  me  the  pros- 
pect of  a  restoration  of  my  prosperity,  leaves  it 
no  foundation  or  bottom,  like  a  plant  which  is 
uprooted,  and  which  for  that  reason  inevitably 
withers  (comp.  ch.  xiv.  19;  xvii.  15).  As  to 
J^'Dn,  lit.  "  to  tear  out,  to  pluck  up  wholly  out 
of  the  ground,"  comp.  ch.  iv.  21,  where  the  ob- 
ject spoken  of  is  the  tent-stake. 


*  The  above  extrn^^t  from  Watts  will  supply  for  the  English 
reader  the  place  of  the  extract  given  by  our  author  from  P. 
Gerhaeb's  hymn:  "Eiii  Lammlein  geht  tmd  triigl  die  SckiM." 


Ver.  1 1 .  [  He  makes  His  anger  burn  against 
me,  and  He  regards  me  as  His  foes],  comp. 
ch.  xiii.  24.  The  Imperfects  alternaling  with 
Imperfects  consecutive  are,  as  above  in  ver.  10, 
and  in  what  follows,  used  for  the  present,  because 
present  and  continuous  suflFerings  are  described  ; 
comp.  ch.  xvi.  13,  14.  [The  plural  in  V^'iSD, 
either  for  the  class,  of  which  Job  is  one  ;  or,  as 
Delitzsch  suggests,  "perhaps  the  expression  is 
intentionally  intensified  here,  in  contrast  with 
ch.  xiii.  24;  he,  the  one,  is  accounted  by  God  as 
the  host  of  His  foes  ;  He  treats  him  as  if  all  hos- 
tility to  God  were  concentrated  in  him  "]. 

Vor.  12.  Together  all  His  troops  advance. 
— DnnJ,  armies,  synonymous  with  NUi',  ch.  x. 
17,  and  denoting  here,  as  there,  the  band  of  ca- 
lamities, sulFerings,  and  pains,  which  rush  upon 
him. — And  cast  up  their  way  against  me. 

— v)D\  lit.  "  to  heap  up  "  their  way,  which  is 
at  the  same  time  a  rampart  for  carrying  on  the 
attack,  a  mound  for  offensive  operations  (H; 70, 
comp.  2  Sam.  xx.  15;  2  Kings  xix.  32;  Ezek. 
iv.  2)  against  Job,  who  is  here  represented  as  a 
besieged  fortress.  In  regard  to  this  figure  comp. 
above  ch.  xvi.  14;  also  in  regard  to  the  technics 
of  siege  operations  among  the  ancient  orientals, 
see  Keil's  Bihl.  Archaol.  §159. 

First  Division:  Second  Strophe:  Vers.  13-20. 
Lamentation  over  his  sufferings  as  proceeding 
from  man. 

Ver.  13.  My  brethren  He  drives  far  away 
from  me  :  to  wit  God,  to  whom  here,  precisely 
as  in  ch.  xvii.  6,  even  the  injustice  proceeding 
from  men  is  ascribed.  For  this  reason  the  read- 
ing p'n^n  is  perfectly  in  place,  and  it  is  unne- 
cessary after  the  aTTcaniaav  of  the  LXX.  to  change 
it  to  ^p'H^r'-  "^^  *^®  term  "brethren  "  (which 
as  in  Ps.  Ixix.  9  [8],  is  to  be  understood  literally, 
not  in  the  wider  sense  of  relatives),  who  are  de- 
scribed as  turning  away  from  him,  corresponds 
in  ver.  14  a  the  term  D'lJ^P,  "kinsmen"  (Ps. 
xxxviii.  12  [11])-  Iq  like  manner  we  find  as 
parallel  to  the  D'J^"!',  i.  e.,  "knowers,  confi- 
dants," in  ver.  13  b,  the  D'JTT'p,  i.  e.,  those  fami- 
liarly known,  intimate  friends,  in  ver.  14  b  (comp, 
in  regard  to  it  Ps.  xxxi.  12  [11]  ;  Ixxxviii.  9  [8]. 
As  synonyms  in  the  wider  sense  there  appear  in 
the  sequel  ri'^'^ltJ,  "  house-associates,  or  so- 
journers" in  ver.  15  (Vulg.,  inqiiilini  domus  mese) 
and  finally  11D~''jn?p  (ver.  19),  those  who  belong 
to  the  circle  of  closest  intimacy,  bosom-friends, 
(comp.  ch.  xxix.  4;  Ps.  Iv.  15  [14]),  so  that  i!ie 
notion  of  friendship  is  here  presented  in  six  dif- 
ferent phases  and  gradations,  comp.  on  ch.  xviii. 
8-10.— As  for  the  rest  n?  ^X  ver.  13  b  is  lit., 
"are  become  only  [or,  nothing  but']  strange  to 
me,"   i.  e,,    entirely   and  altogether  strange;  and 

l7in,  ver.  14  a,  means  "they  cease,"  i.e.,  to  be 

:  It'  '  .7  >  > 

friends,  they  leave  off,  fail  (comp.  ch.  xiv.  7), 
withdraw  from  me. 

Ver.  15.  My  house  associates  [  =  "  they 
that  dwell  in  mine  house,"  E.  V.],  and  my 
maids  (this  doubled  expression  denoting  all  the 
domestics,  including  hired  servants  and  the  like ; 
comp.   above)   are   become  strange  to  me 


454 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


[properly,  "count  me  for  a  stranger,"  E.  V.]. 
The  verb  "'JOU'nn  is  governed  as  to  gender  by 
the  subject  next  preceding:  comp.  Gesen.  ^  GO; 
Ewald,  §  339  c  [Green,  ^  liTG,  1]. 

Ver.  16.  I  call  to  my  servant,  and  he  an- 
swers not. — Whether  this  disobedient  servant 
is  to  be  viewed  as  the  overseer,  or  house-stew- 
ard, like  Eliezer  in  the  house  of  Abraham,  Gen. 
xxiv.  (Del.),  is  in  view  of  the  sinjplicity  of  the 
language  at  least  doubtful. — With  my  mouth 
must  I  entreat  him. — For  the  Imperf.  iu  the 
sense  of  mus(,  comp.  ch.  iv.  30  ;  xvii.  2.  'S  103 
(comp.  Ps.  Ixxsix.  2  [1];  cix.  30),  expresses 
here  not,  as  in  ch.  xvi.  5,  a  contrast  with  that 
which  proceeds  out  of  the  heart,  but  with  a  mere 
wink,  or  any  dumb  intimation  of  what  might  be 
desired  of  him. 

Ver.  17.  My  breath  is  offensive  to  my 
V7ife. — nil,  from  "^=11,  to  be  strange,  to  be  es- 
tranged, expresses  simply  by  virtue  of  this  sig- 
nification the  idea  of  "being  repugnant,  repul- 
sive," so  that  we  need  not  derive  it  from  a 
particular  verb  TT,  "to  be  loathsome;"  and 
"'nn  assuredly  signifies  here  the  breath  (stinking 
according  to  b),  having  the  same  meaning  aa 
UpJ  in  the  partly  parallel  passage  ch.  vii.  15  ; 
hence  not  "my  discontent"  (Hirzel)  ["my  spi- 
rit, as  agitated,  querulous"  Gesen.;  "depres- 
sion," Fiirst]  ;  nor  "  my  sexual  impulse"  Arnh. ; 
nor  "my  spirit"  (Starke,  [Carey]  and  ancient 
commentators);  nor  "  my  person  "  (Pesh.,  Um- 
breit,  Hah'i)  [Renan]. — Jerome  already  cor- 
rectly :  halilitm  vteum  exhorruit  vxor  mca,  and  in 
the  same  sense  most  of  the  moderns  [so  E.  V.], 
and  my  ill  savor  to  the  sons  of  my  body. 
— 'niini,  can  neither  signify :  "my  prayers,  my 
entreaties"  (Gesen.,  with  a  reference  to  his 
Gram.,  §  91,  3 — against  which  however  compare 
Ewald,  I  259)  [Noyes,  Lee,  Words.,  Elzas]  ;  nor 
"  my  caresses  (Arnh.)  [Hernard,  Rodw.,  Green, 
Chresiom.,  and  Gram.  |l39,  2 — Kal  Inf.  of  pn 
(with  fern,  termination  r\1~)  to  be  gracious]; 
nor  "my  lamentations,  my  groanings  "  (Hirzel, 
Vaih.)  [Fiirst]  ;  nor  yet  finally — "  and  I  pray  to 
the  sons  of  my  body"  (LXX.,  Vulg.,  Luth.,  etc.) 

[E.  v.,  with  different  construction  of  the  7 — 
"  though  I  entreated  for  the  children's  sake  of 
my  own  body"]  ;  for  all  these  constructions  are 
alike  opposed  to  the  language  and  to  the  con- 
text. The  word  is  rather  (with  Schiir.,  Rosen., 
Ew.,  Hahn,  Schlott.,  Del.,  Dillm.),  to  be  derived 
from  the  root  pn,  "  to  stink,"  which  does  not 
appear  elsewhere  indeed  in  Heb.,  but  which  is 
quite  comiiion  in  Arab,  and  Syr.,  and  is  to  be 
construed  either  ns  first  pers.  sing.  Perf.  Kal 
("  and  I  smell  offensively  to  the  sons  of  my 
bodj'"),  or,  which  is  better  suited  (o  the  paral- 
lelism, as  Infinitive  substantive,   iT^T   in  a  being 

'  TT  O 

still  the  predicate.  This  stench  suggests  in  par- 
ticular the  fetid  matter  which  issues  from  the 
festering  and  partially  rotting  limbs  of  the  vic- 
tim of  elephantiasis.  Comp.  on  ch.  ii.  7;  vii. 
14.— That  by  "  the  sons  of  my  body  "  ("^£33  ""JS) 
■we  are  not  of  necessity  to  understand  the  legiti- 
mate sons  of  Job,  and  hence  that  there  is  no  con- 
tradiction  between  this   passage  and  the  pro- 


logue, has  already  been  shown  in  the  Introd., 
^  8,  3.  AVe  need  not  therefore  follow  the  critics 
who  are  there  refuted  in  deciding  that  the  pro- 
logue is  not  genuine;  nor  assume  (with  Eich- 
horn  and  Olsh.)  that  the  poet,  has  here  for  once 
forgotten  himself,  and  lost  sight  of  his  scheme  as 
set  forth  in  ch.  i.  18,  19.  We  are  rather  to  sup- 
pose (with  Ewald,  1st  Ed.,  Hirz.,  Heiligsl.,  Hahn, 
Dillmann,  etc.),  that  the  reference  is  to  grand- 
children, the  offspring  left  behind  by  (he  unfor- 
tunate sons — in  favor  of  which  may  be  cited  the 
similar  use  of  D"J3  in   a  wider    sense   in   Gen. 

•T 

xxix.  5;  xxxi.  28,  etc.:  or  else  (with  the  LXX., 
Symmachus,  J.  D.  Michaelis,  Schiir.,  Rosenm., 
Dathe,  Ewald,  2d  Ed.)  to  his  children  by  concu- 
bines {ylovg  na7JMK.i6uv  /j.ov,  LXX.)  a  supposition 
however  with  which  ch.  xxxi.  1  seems  scarcely 
to  agree,  however  true  it  may  be  that  in  the  pa- 
triarchal age,  to  which  our  poet  assigns  Job, 
rigid  monogamistic  views  did  not  prevail.  The 
explanation  of  Stuhlm.,  Gesen.,  Umbr.,  Schlott., 
Del.,  [Noyes,  Conant,  Elzas,  Merx]  is  also  lin- 
guistically possible,  that  'JCpS  stands  for  |£03 
■'DN  (after  ch.  iii.  10),  so  that  ':i22  ^J3  would 
mean  accordingly  Job's  natural  brothers.  This 
theory  however  is  inconsistent  with  the  circum- 
stance that  Job  has  already  made  mention  above, 
ver.  13,  of  his  brothers  ;  and  that  immediately 
following  the  mention  of  his  wife,  the  mention 
of  his  descendants  would  be  more  suitable  than 
that  of  his  brothers.  [To  which  add  this  from 
Bernard,  that  above,  in  ch.  iii.  10,  no  ambiguity 
whatever  could  arise  from  the  employment  of 
''Jt03  in  the  sense  of  "mother's  womb,"  whereas 
"here,  by  using  it  in  this  sense.  Job  would  have 
run  such  risk  of  having  his  meaning  misunder- 
stood, as  ''JC33  might  fairly  be  considered  syno- 
nymous with  '^'[1,  mi/  loins,  or  ''J^T^,  my  bow- 
els, that  we  find  it  quite  impossible  to  believe 
that  if  he  had  really  wished  to  speak  here  of  his 
brethren,  he  would  have  applied  to  them  such  a 
very  ambiguous  epithet."  It  has  also  been  sug- 
gested as  a  relief  of  the  difficulty  that  children 
had  been  born  to  Job  in  the  interval  between  the 
first  series  of  calamities,  and  the  infliction  of  the 
disease,  but  such  a  conjecture  is  too  precarious. 
Others  regard  the  expression  as  general.  So 
Wordsworth :  "  He  is  speaking  of  the  greatest 
wretchedness  in  general  terms  "]. 

Ver.  18.  Even  youngsters  act  contemp- 
tuously towards  me. — QvVi^i  plur.  of   r]i?, 

piier  (root  7lJ^,  comp.  ch.  xxi.  11)  are  little  chil- 
dren, such  namely  as  are  rude  and  impudent 
mockers,  like  those  children  of  Bethel,  2  Kings 
ii.  23  seq.,  which  may  be  expressed  by  the  word 
"youngsters"  [Germ.  "  Bube7i" :  Bernard — 
"  wicked-little-children  "],  here  as  also  above  in 
ch.  xvi.  11. — It  will  also  guard  in  particular 
against   the   mistake    of    supposing    that   Job's 

grandchildren  are  intended  by  these  D'/'IJ?, 
(Hahn). — If  I  rise  up  (conditional  clause,  as  in 
ch.  xi.  17  [not  as  E.  V.,  "I  arose"]),  they 
speak  about  me,  make  me  the  butt  of  jeering 
talk  (3  "137,  as  in  Ps.  1.  20 ;  Numb.  xii.  1; 
xxi.  6). 

Ver.  19.  My  bosom  friends  abhor  me  : — 
(comp.  above  on  ver.  13  seq.),  and  those  •whom 


CHAP.  XIX.  1-29. 


456 


I  loved  (HT  relative,  as  ia  ch.  xv.  17)  have 
turned  against  me. — This  verse  points  parti- 
cularly at  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  ami  Zophar,  the  once 
trusted  friends,  who  are  now  become  his  violent 
opponents. 

Ver.  20.  My  bone  cleaves  to  my  skin 
and  my  flesh  (comp.  ch.  x.  11),  t.  e.,  through 
my  skin  and  my  extremely  emaciated  flesh  may 
be  seen  my.  bones,  which  seem  to  cleave,  as  it 
were,  to  that  poor  and  loathsome  integument. 
Comp.  Lam.  iv.  8  ;  Ps.  cii.  6  [5],  and  I  am  es- 
caped only  ■with  the  skin  of  my  teeth: — 
i,  e.,  thus  far  only  my  gums  (the  flesh  of  my 
teeth,  here  called  the  skin  of  my  teeth,  because 
of  their  skinlike  thinness  and  leanness  of  muscle) 
have  been  spared  by  this  fearful  disease, — so  that 
I  am  able  at  least  to  speak,  without  having  my 
mouth  full  of  internal  boils  and  sores  (as  is  wont 
to  be  the  case  in  the  extreme  stages  of  elephan- 
tiasis). This  is  the  only  satisfactory  explana- 
tion, to  which  most  moderns  give  in  their  adhe- 
rence (Rosenm.,  Umbreit,  Ewald,  Hirzel,  Vaih., 
Heil.,  Schlottm.,  Dillm.).  This  explanation  of 
"  the  skin  of  the  teeth  "  as  the  "  gums,"  is  un- 
doubtedly the  most  obvious,  simple,  and  natural. 
[Yet  simpler,  perhaps,  is  the  view  of  Umbreit, 
Wordsworth,  Noyes,  Renan,  Elzas,  that  it  is  a 
proverbial  expression,  describingastate  in  which 
one  is  stripped  to  the  very  minimum  of  posses- 
sion, or  emaciated  to  the  last  point.  Words- 
worth: "  A  proverbial  paradox.  I  am  reduced 
to  a  mere  shadow,  I  am  escaped  with  nothino-,  or 
next  to  nothing,  so  that  my  escape  is  hardly  an 
escape.  I  am  escaped  with  the  skin  of  what  has 
no  skin,  the  skin  of  bone;  comp.  the  Latin  pro- 
verbs, Lana  caprina  (Herat.,  1  Ep.  xviii.  15),  and 
Totum  nil  (Juvenal  3,  209)."  To  which  may  be 
added  the  humorous  English  proverb:  '♦  As  fat 
as  a  hen  in  the  forehead." — E.].  Other  expla- 
nations are  in  part  against  the  language,  in  part 
too  artificial:  such  as  a.  That  of  Jerome,  and 
many  Catholic  commentators,  that  by  the  skin 
of  the  teeth  we  are  to  understand  the  lips.  b. 
That  of  Delitzsch,  which  explains  it  to  mean  par- 
ticularly the  periosteum  (in  distinction  from  the 
gums — as  if  such  a  distinction  could  have  been 
known  to  the  ancient  Hebrews !  [and  "  as  though 

the  poet  had  written  for  doctors]"   Dillm.]). 

c.  That  of  Stickel  and  Hahn,  who  translate:  "I 
am  escaped  with  the  nakedness  of  my  teeth," 
[i.  e.,  with  naked  teeth].— c?.  That  of  Le  Clerc, 
who  understands  it  of  the  gums  as  alone  remain- 
ing, when  the  teeth  have  fallen  out. 

6.  Second  Division :  Vers.  21-27.  A  lofty 
flight  to  a  blessed  hope  in  God,  his  future  Re- 
deemer and  Avenger,  introduced  by  a  pathetic 
appeal  to  the  friends,  that  they  would  be  merci- 
fully disposed  towards  him,  as  one  who  had  been 
80  deeply  humiliated,  and  so  heavily  smitten  by 
the  hand  of  God. 

Ver.  21.  ["  Job  here  takes  up  a  strain  we  have 
not  heard  previously.  His  natural  strength  be- 
comes more  and  more  feeble,  and  his  tone  weaker 
and  weaker.  It  is  a  feeling  of  sadness,  that  pre- 
vails in  the  preceding  description  of  suS"ering, 
and  now  even  stamps  the  address  to  the  friends 
with  a  tone  of  importunate  entreaty  which  shall, 
if  possible,  afi"ect  their  hearts.  They  are  indeed 
his  friends,  as  the  emphatic  '.in   Dnx  affirms: 

T"  V"  ' 


impelled  towards  him  by  sympathy,  they  are  come, 
and  at  least  stand  by  him  while  all  other  men  flee 
from  him."  Del.  Pity  me,  pity  me  (pathetically 
repeated)  Oye  my  friends!]  Forthe  hand  of 
Eloah  hath  touched  me. — An  allusion  to  the 
nature  of  his  frightful  disease,  being  a  species  of 
leprosy,  i.  e.,  of  a  i-'JJ  (2  Ki.  xv.  5),  a  pla(/a  Dei 
["  wherefore  the  suff'ering  Messiah  also  bears  the 
significant  name '31    OT   Nlin,  'the  leprous  one 

.    _         ...  TT    •  ' 

from  the  school  of  Rabbi,'  in  the  Talmud,  after 
Isa.  liii.  4,  8."].  One  who  is  already  treated 
with  enough  severity  through  the  infliction  of 
such  a  plague  from  God,  ought  not  to  be  smitten 
also  by  men  through  the  exercise  of  a  merciless 
disposition,  unfriendly  words,  etc. 

Ver.  22.  Why  do  ye  persecute  me  as 
God,  "  by  which  he  means  not  merely  that  they 
add  their  persecution  to  God's,  but  that  they  take 
upon  themselves  God's  work,  that  tiiey  usurp  to 
themselves  a  judicial  divine  authority  ;  they  act 
towards  him  as  if  they  were  superhuman,  and 
therefore  inhumanly."  Del.  And  are  not  sa- 
tiated •writh  my  flesh?  i.e.,  continually  de- 
vour my  flesh,  figuratively  speaking,  by  false 
accusations,  slanders,  suspicions  of  my  inno- 
cence, etc.,  gnaw  me  incessantly  with  the  tooth 
of  slander  [comp.  Engl,  "backbiting"].  Comp. 
the  equivalent  figurative  expression  "slander  " 
{(^lalid^^eiv)  in  the  Aram,  of  the  book  of  Daniel 
(ch.  iii.  8;  vi.  25)  ["to  eat  the  pieces  of  any 
one"],  in  the  Syriac,  where  the  devil  is  called 
ochel-karso^(haj3oXog,  and  in  Arab,  where  "  to 
eat  the  flesh,  or  a  piece  of  any  one  "  is  equiva- 
lent to  "slandering,  backbiting." 

Ver.  23  seq.  As  though  despairing  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  influencing  the  friends  to  withdraw 
from  their  attacks  on  his  innocence,  he  now 
turns  with  ardent  longing  for  the  final  vin- 
dication of  the  same  to  God,  first  of  all  uttering 
the  wish  that  his  own  asseverations  of  the  same 
might  be  preserved  to  the  latest  generations. 
[Ewald  imagines  a  pause  after  ver.  22.  Job 
waits  to  see  what  response  the  friends  would 
make  to  his  pitiful  appeal.  They  are  silent, 
show  no  signs  of  relenting.  Job  sees  that  he 
has  nothing  to  hope  for  either  from  men,  or  the 
God  of  the  present.  But  in  his  extremity  he  ob- 
tains a  glimpse  of  the  far-distant  future,  after 
his  death,  which  fills  him  with  a  new  and  won- 
derful courage].  Oh  that  my  words  were 
but  written  (|i?}'"'p  here  followed  by  1  conscc. 
before  the  voluntative  [future],  on  account  of 
the  intervening  ISN,  comp.  Deut,  v.  2(5),  that 
they  were  but  inscribed  ('pn;,  pausal  form 
for  Ipn;  [see  Ewald,  g  193,  c,  and  Gesen.,  g  67 
(^  66)  Rem.  8],  Hoph.  of  ppT})  in  a  book  !— 
("^???'  ^^5^h  the  Art.,  as  this  expression  is  always 
written — comp.  Ex.  xvii.  14;  1  Sam.  x.  25,  etc. 
— although  no  particular  book  is  meant,  but  only 
in  general  a  skin  of  an  animal  prepared  for 
writing  ["^ao],  a  writing-roll).  These  words 
of  his,  which  he  thus  desires  to  see  transmitted 
for  remembrance  by  after  generations,  are,  as  it 
is  most  natural  to  suppose,  not  those  contained 
in  ver.  25  seq..  (Hahn,  Schlottm.)  [Scott,  Good, 
Bernard,  Words.,  Rodwell,  Barnes],  butthe  suf- 
ferer's former  protestations  of  innocence,  the 
assurances  which  from  ch.  vi.   on  he  has  couti- 


456 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


nually  put  forth,  that  he  suffers  innocen'ly.  [In 
favor  of  this  view,  and  against  the  other,  De- 
litzsch  argues:  (1)  It  is  improbable  that  the 
inscription  would  begin  with  1. — (2)  It  is  more 
likely  that  Job  would  wish  to  see  inscribed  that 
•which  was  the  expression  of  his  habitual  con- 
sciousness, than  that  which  was  but  an  occa- 
sional and  transient  flash  of  light  through  the 
darkness]. 

Ver.  24.  That  with  an  iron  pen  [or  style] 
and  with  lead — i.  e.,  in  letters  engraved  by 
means  of  an  iron  style,  or  chisel,  and  then  filled 
in  with  lead,  in  order  to  make  them  more  impe- 
rishable— they  might  be  graven  in  the  rock 

forever!     Instead  of  l^^H  the  LXX.  read  here, 

as  also  in  Is.  xxx.  8:  "^^h,  "for  a  witness,  as 
testimony,"  («f  fiaprvpiov),  an  emendation  how- 
ever which  is  unnecessary,  for  the  rendering 
"forever"  gives  here  a  meaning  that  is  quite 
suitable.  The  monumental  inscription  is  indeed 
preferred  to  that  on  parchment  just  because  of 
its  greater  durability,  which  is  the  reason  why 
Job  wishes  for  it  here.  In  regard  to  the  use  of 
both  methods  of  writing  already  in  the  Pre-Mo- 
saic  age,  see  Introd.,  §  2,  No.  4,  p.  .  [For  ac- 
counts of  such  inscriptions  see  Robinson's 
£ibl.  Researches  in  Palestine,  I.,  169,  188  seq., 
552;  Wilson's  Lands  of  the  Bible,  I.,  184  seq.; 
Princeton  Review,  1870,  page  533  seq.  "This 
■wish  was  not  in  truth  too  high  on  Job's  part; 
for  we  now  know  sufficiently  well  that  of  old 
in  those  lands  it  was  sought  to  perpetuate  by 
means  of  inscriptions  in  stones  and  rocks  not 
only  short  legal  precepts,  but  also  longer  docu- 
ments, memorable  historical  events,  public  re- 
quests, prayers,  etc.  Such  costly  works  it  is  true 
could  in  general  be  completed  only  by  kings  and 
princes;  Job  was  however  a  man  of  power  in 
his  age,  who  might  well  express  such  a  wish." 
Ewald]. 

Ver.  25.  Not  because  he  despairs  of  the  possi- 
bility of  realizing  this  last  wish  (Dillm.),  but 
because  he  knows  for  a  certainty  that  God  will 
not  allow  his  testimony  to  his  innocence  to 
pass  down  to  posterity  without  Hi3  absolute 
confirmations  of  it,  and  hence  because  he  re- 
gards that  wish  for  the  eternal  perpetuation 
of  his  testimony  ss  by  no  means  a  vain  one,  he 
continues:  —  And  I  know  my  Redeemer 
lives,  etc.  The  1  in  "TljrT  'JX1  is  thus  not  used 
in  an  adversative  sense  (Luther,  Ewald,  Vaih., 
Dillm.  [Conant,  Noyes,  Lee],  etc.,  but  simply 
continual ive,  or,  if  one  prefers  it,  ascensive, 
introducing  the  end  to  which  the  realization  of 
the  preceding  wish  is  to  lead.  ["The  progres- 
sive rendering  seems  to  be  preferable  (fo  the 
adversative),  because  the  human  vindication 
after  death,  which  is  the  object  of  the  wish 
expressed  in  ver.  23  seq.  is  still  not  essentially 
different  from  tl>e  Divine  vindication  hoped  for 
in  ver.  25,  which  must  not  be  regarded  as  an 
antithesis,  but  rather  as  a  perfecting  of  the 
other,  designed  for  posterity.  Ver.  25  is,  how- 
ever, certainly  a  higher  hope,  to  which  the  wish 
in  ver.  23  seq.  forms  the  stppping  stone."  Del.] 
The  causal  rendering  (LXX.,  Vulgate,  Stickel 
[E.  v.,  Good,  Carey,  Renan].)  is  less  probable, 
although  not  altogether  meaningless,  as  Dillmaun 


affirms.  [The  rendering:  "yea,  verilj-,"  adopted 
by  Schlottm.,  Words.,  Elzas,  Merx,  etc.,  is  pro- 
bably designed  to  express  the  ascensive  meaning 
referred  to  above.]  Forasmuch  as  'Jp  is  want- 
ing after  TIJ^T"  (as  in  ch.  xxx.  23;  Ps.  ix.  21), 
we  should  translate  simply  in  the  oratio  directa: 

"My  Redeemer  lives."  vXJ,  which  according 
to  ch.  iii.  5  means  literally  "reclaimer,  redeem- 
er," acquires  a  meaning  that  is  entirely  too  spe- 
cial, when  it  is    taken    by   Umbreit   and    some 

others  [Renan,  Rodwell,  Elzas]  to  be=D'in  Ssj' 
"the  blood-avenger"  (Num.  xxxv.  12,  19),  for 
the  previous  discourse  was  not  of  Job  in  the 
character  of  one  murdered  in  his  innocence, 
and  ch.  xvi.  18  is  too  remote.  After  the  analogy 
of  Prov.  xxiii.  11;  Lam.  iii.  58;  Ps.  cxix.  154, 
we  are  to  think  in  general  of  the  restitution  of 
the    honor   and   right   of    one   who    has    been 

oppressed,  and  are  accordingly  to  take  iHl  in 
the  sense  of  a  defender,  an  avenger  of  honor — a 
meaning  indeed  which  approaches  that  of  a 
"blood-avenger"  in  so  far  as  the  expected  deli- 
verance [or  vindication]  is  conceived  of  as 
taking  place  only  after  the  sufferer's  death. 
For  the  Goel  is  "'n,  is  absolutely  living  (Tit 
"  he  lives,"  incomparably  stronger  than  U\  for 
instance  would  have  been)   ['n  reminding  us  of 

"that  name  of  God,  D/IJ^  Tl,  Dan.  xii.  7,  after 
which  the  Jewish  oath  per  Anchialum  in  Martial 
is  to  be  explained,"  Del.,  and  indicating  here 
the  contrast  between  Him,  the  Living  One,  and 
Job,  the  dying  one,  Dillm.],  while  the  object  of 
His  redemptive  activity  is  13.1',  "dust,"  and  as 
b  shows,  at  the  time  when  He  arises,  has  long 
been  dust. — And  as  the  Last  will  He  arise 
upon  the  dust. — |''"'riX  cannot  possibly  with 
B'jttcher  and  others  [so  E.  V.,  Lee,  Conant, 
Renan,  Elzas]  be  construed  in  the  adverbial 
sense  "hereafter,  in  the  latter  time  [or  day]." 
It  is  cleai'ly  a  substantive,  used  either  in  appo- 
sition to  ''i^},  the  subj.  of  the  first  member,  or 
as  the  independent  subj.  of  the  second  member, 
identical  in  meaning  with  this  -'J.  The  word 
signifies  neither  "Next-man"  [Next-of-kin,  Ger. 
Nachmann']  in  the  sense  of  Avenger  (vifidex : 
Ewald,  Hirzel),  nor  the  "Follower"  [Germ. 
Ilin'ermann,  "backer"],  "second"  (Ilahn),  but 
according  to  Is.  xliv.  6;  xlviii.  12,  simply  the 
Last,  he  who  survives  all,  an  expression  which 
is  used  here  not  with  eschatological  universality, 
but  with  particular  reference  to  Job,  who  is  no 
longer  living  (ch.  xvii.  11  seq.).  [Delitzsch, 
however,  and  in  a  waj'  which  seems  more  suita- 
ble to  the  sublimity  and  scope  of  the  passage: 
"  as  the  Last  One,  whose  word  shall  avail  in  the 
ages  of  eternity,  when  the  strife  of  human  voices 
shall  have  long  been  silent."]  Of  this  Last 
One,  or  this  One  who  is  hereafter  to  come.  Job 
says:  "He  will  stand  up.  He  will  arise"  (Dip"). 
viz.  for  his  protection  and  his  deliverance  (D?p. 
the  customary  term  for  the  favorable  interven- 
tion of  a  judge  to  help  one :  Ps.  xii.  6  [5]  ;  Is. 
ii.  19,  21 ;  xxxiii.  10,  or  also  of  a  witness).  He 
is  thus  to  appear  "^^^P'/il,  "upon   the  dust;" 


CHAP.  XIX.  1-29. 


457 


i.  e.,  according  to  cli.  xvii.  16;  xx.  11;  xxi.  26, 
indisputably — on  the  dust  to  which  I  shall  soon 
return  (Gen.  iii.  19  ;  Ecclcs.  ill.  20),  or  in  which 
I  shall  soon  be  made  to  lie  down,  on  the  dust  of 
my  decayed  body,  or  of  my  grave.  This  is  the 
only  meaning  of  the  expi-ession  which  suits  the 
context  (so  Ilosenm.,  Ewald,  Vaih.,  Welte,  Del., 
Dillmann  [Conant,  Elzas,  Merx],  etc.).  Any 
other  explanation  does  more  or  less  violence  to 
the  language,  whether  with  Umbreit  we  trans- 
late in  a  way  altogether  too  classic,  "  in  the 
arena;"  or  with  Hahn,  altogether  too  freely: 
"above  the  earth,"  i.  e.  in  heaven!  or  with 
Jerome,  Luther,  and  most  of  the  ancients,  alto- 
gether too  dogmatically,  and  withal  against  the 
usage  of  the  language,  we  find  expressed  an 
"awakening  out  of  the  earth;"  or  finally  with 
Hirzel  and  others,  we  understand  it  in  a  way 
altogether  too  rationalistic  of  an  "  appearing  of 
God  on  the  earth,"  in  the  sense  of  ch.  xxxviii., 
rejecting  any  reference  to  the  continuance  of 
life  hereafter  [this  last  rendering,  however, 
being  adopted  by  not  a  few  of  the  commentators 
who  refer  the  passage  to  the  final  resurrection : 
80  e.  g.  Scott,  Lee].  In  opposition  to  all  these 
views,  Dillmann  says  truly  :  "  [Had  Job  intend- 
ed here  simply  to  express  the  hope  of  an  appear- 
ance of  God  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  the  con- 
troversy in  favor  of  Job,  '^£)i*~7j^  would  have 
been  unnecessary  (comp.  e.  g.  Ps.  xii.  6),  and 
instead  of  DID"'  he  would  have  said  ^^''_  rather, 
for  it  is  not  said  elsewhere  that  God  arises  on  the 
dust  when  He  appears ;  besides  that  God  does 
not  appear  in  ch.  xxxviii.  on  the  earth,  but  He 
speaks  His  final  decision  out  of  the  storm. 
Rather  do]   the  words  express  the  expectation 

of  a  /XJ  who  lives,  even  when  Job  lives  no 
longer,  who  comes  after  him,  and  who  for  the 
open  vindication  of  his  right  arises  on  the  dust 
in  which  he  is  laid,  or  stands  above  his  grave." 
(Analogies  from  Arabic  usage  compel  us  thus  to 
understand  the  phrase  of  the  grave,  or  the  dust 
of  the  grave;  see  Delitzsch.)  "The  words  thus 
lead  us  withoui,  doubt  into  the  circle  of  thought 
indicated  in  ch.  xvi.  18  (although  at  the  same 
time  beyond  the  same).  He  does  not  yet  say 
whom  he  intends  by  this  7XJ,  because  the  main 
thought  here  is  the  certainty  that  such  an  one 
lives ;  not  until  ver.  26,  after  he  has  explained 
himself  further,  does  he  surprise  the  friends 
and  himself  by  saying  that  the  object  of  his  hope 
is  Eloah  Himself." 

Ver.  26.  And  after  my  skin,  which  is 
broken  in  pieces,  even  this. — "inx  is  not  a 
conjunction  belonging  to  12PJ,  "after  that" 
(Targ.,  de  Dieu,  Gesenius  [Schlott.,  Con.,  Word., 
Rod.],  etc.),  but  as  its  position  immediately 
before  ''']iij?  shows,  a  preposition  [a  prepos. 
when  used  as  a  conjunc.  being  always  followed 
immediately  by  the  verb;  see  ch.  xlii.  7;  Lev. 
xiv.  43.  Rendered  as  a  prepos.  the  meaning  of 
the  phrase  "after  my  skin"  will  be  "after  the 
loss  of  it."  Comp.  ch.  xxi.  21,  VinX,  "after 
him,"  to  wit,  after  his  death].  '3pJ,  however 
(which  is  not  to  be  taken  [with  Hofmann, 
Schriftbeiveis  II.,  2,  503]  as  a  Chaldaizing 
variation   of  m3pJ=an   envelope,  Germ.    Um- 


spannung),  is  an  appositional  relative  clause, 
referring  to  '"11^.  It  is  found  in  the  third  plur. 
perf.  Piel  of  f]pj,  "to  break  off"  (in  Piel  used 
particularly  of  the  hewing  down  of  trees.  Is.  x. 
84.  Hence  the  third  plur.  here  being  used  im- 
personally (comp.  ch.  iv.  19;  vii.  3;  xviii.  18), 
"after  my  skin,  which  is  broken  off,"  i.  e.  cut 
ofl"  piecemeal,  mutilated,  broken  in  pieces  [E.  V. 
unnecessarily  supplies  "worms"  as  subject]. 
The  reference  is  to  the  skin  together  with  the 
tender  parts  of  the  flesh  [D'^^]  adhering  to  it, 
which  gradually  rot  away,  so  that  the  meaning 
is  similar  to  that  of  ch.  xviii.  13.  The  PKT  added 
at  the  end  of  this  member  of  the  verse  cannot 
possibly  be  interpreted  as  equivalent  to  flXI 
'^.\'7'?»  "this  shall  be"  (Targ.,  Gesen.)  [for  in 
that  case  r\XI  should  have  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  clause].  We  must  either,  with  Arnheim, 
Stickel,  Hahn,  Delitzsch  [Lee,  Rodwell,  and 
preferred  by  Green],  explain  it  to  mean  "so,  ia 
this  manner,"  connecting  it  in  this  sense  adver- 
bially with  ^3pJ  "thus  torn  to  pieces,"  Del.), 
or  else  explain  it  deictically,  as  pointing  to  the 
skin,  or,  since  "11^  is  strictly  masc,  as  pointing 
to  the  body  as  here  represented  by  that  term, 
the  totality  of  Job's  members  and  organs.  [The 
distinction  which  the  E.  V.  makes  between  the 
"skin"  and  the  "body,"  the  destruction  of  the 
latter  being  "after"  that  of  the  former  seems 
not  sufficiently  warranted.  Such  a  distinction 
must  have  been  more  clearly  indicated.  The 
construction  is  indeed  a  peculiar  one,  and  yet 
exceedingly  pathetic  in  its  broken  irregularity. 
"  And  after  my  skin — when  it  is  all  fallen  off  by 
decay — this  tattered  thing  which  you  now  see  !" 
— E.]  In  respect  to  the  various  renderings  of 
the  ancients,  especially  those  of  the  Targ.,  of 
Jerome,  of  Luther,  etc.,  see  below  [Doctrinal 
and  Ethical]  the  history  of  the  exposition  of  the 
passage. — And  free  from  my  flesh,  shall  I 
behold  Eloah.— If  nK/30  be  explained  "out 
of  my  flesh"  [or,  as  in  this  sense  it  is  rendered 
by  many,  "  in  my  flesh,"  either  referring  it  to 
his  resurrection-body,  E.  V.,  Good,  Le§,  etc.; 
or]  with  a  reference  to  the  restored  body  of  the 
sufferer  (Eichh.  v.  CiiUn,  Knapp,  Hofmann) 
[Noyes,  Wemyss,  Elz.,  Rod.,  who  render  by 
"in"],  it  would  form  an  inappropriate  antithe- 
sis to  '•'11;^  in  a,  which  would  be  all  the  more 
strange,  seeing  that  only  a  little  before,  in  ver. 
20,  they  had  been  used  as  in  substance  synony- 
mous. Neither  can  the  expression  signify  ex- 
actly "from behind,  or  within  my  flesh"  (against 
Volck) ;  this  meaning  would  require  Ti'3,  or 
njl?3p  (after  Cant.  iv.  1,  3;  vi.  7).  Hence  JD 
is  to  be  rendered  privatively,  "away  from,  with- 
out.^free  from"  (comp.  ch.  xi.  15;  xxi.  9).  In 
that  case,  however,  the  reference  is  not  to 
the  last  point  of  time  in  Job's  earthly  life,  when 
he  would  be  relieved  of  all  his  flesh,  i.  e.,  would 
be  completely  reduced  to  a  skeleton  (Chrysost., 
Umbr.,  Hirz.,  Stickel,  Heiligst.,  Hahn,  Renan, 
«<c.),  but  to  his  condition  after  departing  from 
this  earth,  a  condition  which  if  not  absolutely 
incorporeal,  is  at  least  one  of  freedom  from  the 
body.     It  refers  to  the  time  when,  freed  from  his 


458 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


suffering,  miserable,  decayed  anp^,  he  shall  be- 
hold God  as  a  glorified  spirit  (Ewald,  Vaihinger, 
Schlottm.,  Arnheim,  Delitzsch,  Dillmana  [Coa., 
Green]).  This  latter  interpretation  is  favored 
decidedly  by  the  Imperf.  HinX,  which  is  not  to 
be  rendered  in  the  present  (as  by  Mercier,  Ilahn, 
H.  Schultz  [Bibl.  T/icol.  des  A.  T.,  Vol.  11., 
1870],  etc.):  "  I  behold  God  even  now  in  the  spi- 
rit;" for  then  the  circumstantial  particulars, 
'IIJ?  *inX  and  ^yC}'^^,  would  appear  meaning- 
less, and  almost  unintelligible,  but  which  is  cer- 
tainly to  be  construed  in  the  future,  expressing 
the  hope  in  a  joyful  beholding  of  God  hereafter, 
(comp.  the  similar  meaning  of  Hinx  in  Ps.  xvii. 
15,  also  of  Itn*  in  Ps.  xi.  7),  that  is  to  say,  as 
the  following  verse  shows  yet  more  clearly,  in 
such  a  beholding  of  God  in  a  glorified  state  after 
death  (Matth.  v.  8  ;  1  John  iii.  2,  etc  ).  The  ex- 
pression of  such  a  hope  here  "does  not,  after 
ch.  xiv.  13-15;  xvi.  18-21,  come  unexpectedly; 
and  it  is  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  inner 
progress  of  the  drama,  that  the  thought  of  a  re- 
demption from  Hades,  expressed  in  the  former 
passage,  and  the  demand  expressed  in  the  latter 
passage  for  the  rescue  of  the  honor  of  his  blood, 
which  is  even  now  guaranteed  him  by  his  wit- 
ness in  heaven,  are  here  united  together  into  the 
confident  assurance  that  his  blood  and  his  dust 
■will  not  be  declared  by  God  the  Redeemer  as  in- 
nocent, without  his  being  in  some  way  conscious 
of  it,  though  freed  from  this  his  decaying  body." 
(Delitzsch). 

Ver.  27  describes,  in  triumphant  anticipation 
of  the  thing  hoped  for,  how  Job  will  then  behold 
God.     Whom  I  shall  behold  for  myself,  to 

■wit,  for  my  salvation;  the  w,  "for  me"  (em- 
phatic Dnt.  commodi,  as  in  Ps.  Ivi.  10;  cxviii.  6) 
being  decidedly  emphasized,  as  also  "'J>^,  "  I," 
by  the  use  of  which  Job  makes  prominent  the 
thought  that  he,  who  was  so  grievously  perse- 
cuted, and  delivered  over  to  certain  death,  was 
destined  some  day  to  enjoy  a  blessed  beholding 
of  God.  And  whom  mine  eyes  shall  see, 
and  not  a  stranger. — =IN1  after  the  Fut.  njnx 
is  the  Perf.  of  certainty,  or  of  futurity  (prset. 
propheticum  s.  confidentise),  and  TIJN71,  can  only 
be  nominative,  synonymous  with  IPX  K/l  [el 
non  alius,  \u]g.;  so  also  LXX.,  Targ.  [E.  V], 
and  most),  not  accusative,  as  held  by  Gesenius 
in  Thes.,  Vaih.,  Umbreit,  Stickel,  Ilabn,  v.  Hofm. 
[Noyes,  Wemyss,  Carey,  Elzas,  Green],  who  fake 
the  rendering  which  they  assume,  et  non  alium, 
in  the  sense  oi  et  non  adversarium,  "and  not  as 
an  enemy" — which  is  decidedly  at  variance  with 
the  universal  use  of  II,  which  never  signifies 
"an  enemy"  [never  at  least  except  indirectly, 
and  in  a  national  connection,  a  hostile  alien:  it 
can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  the  word  which  Job 
would  most  naturally  use  in  describing  God's 
personal  relations  to  himself, — E.],  and  also  at 
Tariance  with  the  clause  1X1   'yj,M,  which  ought 

not  to  stand  without  an  object,  if  '^T'^Nvl  were 
an  appositional  accusative.  It  is  undoubtedly 
to  be  taken  as  a  nominative  [in  cor-relation  to 
'JX    and    ""VJ^,     "/ — my   eyes"]     "and    not   a 


stranger,  not  another"  (with  which  comp.  Prov. 
xxvii.  2),  containing  an  allusion  to  Job's  three 
opponents,  who  could  not  share  in  this-future 
joyful  beholding  of  God  the  Vindicator,  at  least 
not  in  the  same  blessed  experience  of  it  as  him- 
self. Moreover  the  very  fact  that  Job  here  so 
obviously  glances  aside  at  his  opponents,  with 
their  hostile  disposition,  precludes  the  supposi- 
tion of  Hirzel  and  others,  who  put  the  time  of 
the  beholding  here  prophesied  in  this  life,  and 
regard  ch.  xxxviii.  1  seq.  as  the  fulfilhiient  of 
the  prophecy;  for  comp.  ch.  xlii.  7  seq.  [Zock- 
ler's  argument  seems  to  be  that  the  vindication 
recorded  at  the  close  of  the  book  could  not  be 
the  vindication  here  anticipated  by  Job  for  the 
reason  that  in  the  former  case  God  did  really 
appear  to  the  friends,  as  well  as  to  Job,  whereas 
they  were  to  be  excluded  (so  also  Delitzsch) 
from  the  appearance  to  which  Job  looked  for- 
ward. But  it  is  unnatural  to  suppose  that  the 
Theophany  and  the  Vindication  in  which  Job 
here  exults,  would  be  limited  either  to  himself 
or  to  his  sympathizing  adherents.  The  very 
object  of  it  presupposes  the  presence,  as  wit- 
nesses, of  those  who  had  wronged  him.  When 
Job  accordingly  says:  "/  shall  see  Him — my 
eyes  shall  behold  Him — and  not  a  stranger" — 
he  is  not  so  much  inlimaiing  that  they  would  be 
excluded,  as  denying  that  he  himself  would  be 
excluded.  The  vindication  was  not  to  be  in  his 
own  absence,  and  before  a  stranger,  who  would 
feel  no  interest  in  the  matter,  but — in  some 
strange,  unaccountable  way — he  would  be  there, 
participating  in  the  awful  glory  and  the  blessed 
triumph  of  the  scene.  This  view  of  the  mean- 
ing also  gives  the  most  satisfactory  explanation 
of  "^I,  not  an  "enemy,"  as  shown  above,  which 
would  be  inappropriate,  nor  "another,"  which 
would  be  too  general,  but  a  "stranger,"  who 
would  have  no  interest  in  the  result.  The  jubi- 
lant tone  of  Job's  mind  is  strikingly  exhibited 
in  the  repetition  of  the  pronoun:   "/ — for  me — 

771V  eyes,"  the  climax  being  reached  in  "II'X 7l. 
— E.] — Finally,  the  fact  that  Job  here  hopefully 
promises  this  future  beholding  of  God  not  only 
to  himself  as  the  personal  subject,  but  in  parti- 
cular to  his  eyes,  may  certainly  with  perfectly  good 
right  be  appealed  to  in  proof  that  the  condition 
in  which  he  hopes  to  enjoy  it,  viz.  disembodied, 
freed  from  the  earthly  1ty3,  is  to  be  understood 
not  as  one  of  abstract  incorporeality,  or  abso- 
lute spirituality — for  this  is  a  representatron 
which  is  decidedly  opposed  to  the  concrete 
pneumatico-realistic  mode  of  thought  found  in 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  whicii  does  not 
even  represent  God  as  abstractly  incorporeal. — 
My  reins  pine  (therefore)  in  my  bosom : 

viz.  with  longing  for  such  a  view.  n3,  lit. 
"they  are  consumed,  waste  away,  languish; 
elsewhere  used  of  the  soul  pining  away  with 
longing  (Ps.  Ixxxiv.  3  [2]  ;  cxix.  81),  or  of  the 
eyes  (Ps.  Ixix.  4  [3];  cxix.  123;  comp.  above 
ch.  xi.  20;  xvii.  5),  here  of  that  inner  organ 
which  is  regarded  as  the  seat  of  the  tenderest, 
inmost  and  deepest  affections,  being  used  also 
in  this  sense  in  Ps.  xvi.  7;  vii.  10  [9]  (Del., 
Biblical  Psychology,  p.  2G8  [Clark,  p.  317]). 
Comp.   also   the  Arabic  phrase  culaj'a  iadhitbu, 


CHAP.  XIX.  1-29. 


459 


"  my  reins  melt."  Essentisilly  the  same  mean- 
ing is  given  to  the  phrase  in  the  various  render- 
ings which  on  other  accounts  are  objectionable, 
e.g.  the  Syriac:  "my  reins  waste  away  com- 
pletely by  reason  of  my  lot;"  that  of  Hahn: 
"if  my  reins  perish  in  my  bosom."  [E.  V.  and 
Good:  "though  my  reins  be  consumed  within 
me;"  Lee  and  Conant:  "when  my  reins  are 
(or  shall  have  been)  consumed  within  me;" 
either  of  which  renderings  is  far  less  expressive 
as  limiting  the  description  to  Job's  physical  suf- 
ferings, now,  or  in  death,  and  failing  to  bring 
out  the  pathetic  emotion  with  which  the  passage 
expresses  Job's  ardent  longing  for  the  day  of  his 
vindication — a  meaning  which  is  not  only  far 
more  in  accordance  with  the  general  usage  of 
the  words  (see  reff.  above),  but  also  most  touch- 
ingly  appropriate  here.  As  Dillmann  also 
remarks  :  "  These  words  indicate  that  what  Job 
has  said  just  before  expresses  something  alto- 
gether extraordinary." — E.] 

6.  Third  Division :  Conclusioii :  Earnestly 
warning  the  friends  against  the  further  continu- 
ance of  their  attacks:  vers.  28,  29.  [It  is  wor- 
thy of  note  how  lofty  the  tone  which  Job, 
inspired  by  the  vision  of  his  future  vindication, 
here  assumes  towards  the  friends.  No  longer 
a  suppliant  for  pity  (ver.  21),  or  trembling 
before  their  threats  of  the  Divine  vengeance,  he 
now  threatens  them  with  that  vengeance  in  case 
they  persevere  in  their  unjust  treatment  of  him. 
_E.] 

Ver.  28.  If  ye  think  [lit.  say]  How  will 
we  pursue  him! — '3  is  neither  causal  (Stick.) 
[Rodwell],  nor  affirmative,  "truly"  (Umbreit, 
Hirzel,  Vaih.),  [nor  adversative  "but"  (E.  V.), 
■which  requires  an  untenable  rendering  of  the 
clauses  which  follow;  nor  temporal — "then" 
(Wemyss,  Renan,  Elzas,  who  refer  it  to  Job's 
restoration  iu  this  life ;  Good  and  Lee,  who 
refer  it  to  the  resurrection),  for  this  is  inconsis- 
tent with  the  future  ^^7P]  >  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  analogy 
of  ch.  xxi.  28  teaches,  a  conditional  particle 
"if"  ["wh^n"  Ewald;  "since,"  Noyes],  so 
that  ver.  28  is  the  protasis  of  which  ver.  29  is 
the  apodosis.  HO  in  that  case  is  neither  an 
interrogative  "how?"  (Bottcher)  [Carey],  nor 
"why?"  (Umbreit,  Hirzel  [E.  V.,  Rodmann, 
Elz.],e^c.),  but  exclamatory:  "how!  howmuch!" 
comp.  ch.  xxvi.  2,  3;  Cant.  vii.  2. — In  regard 

to  the  construction  of  ^TH  with  7,  found 
only  here,  comp.  that  with  '7N  in  Judg.  vii. 
25.  With  this  exclamation  of  the  friends 
there  is  connected  in  b  the  expression  of  an 
opinion,  or  a  thought  on  their  part  in  the  oratio 
obliqua :  and  (if  you  think):  the  root  of  the 
matter  is  found  in  me,  i.  e.  the  cause  of  my 
sutFering  lies  only  in  me,  viz.  in  my  sin.  As 
regards  this  connection  of  an  oratio  obliqua  with 
an  oratio  recta,  especially  with  exclamatory 
clauses,  comp.  chap.  xxii.  17;  xxxv.  3;  Ewald, 
^  338.  According  to  the  reading  of  the  ancient 
versions  (LXX.,  Targ.,  Vulg.),  and  of  some 
MSS.,  which  have  13  instead  of  '3,  this  inter- 
change of  the  direct  and  conditional  form  of 
expression  is  removed,  assuredly  against  the 
original  construction.  [According  to  another 
view,  followed  by  the  translators  of  the  E.  V., 


"the  root  of  the  matter"  is  to  be  taken  in  a 
good  sense  of  Job's  piety  (Barnes),  or  the  "jus- 
tice of  his  cause"  (Renan).  The  expression 
has  indeed  become  in  English  a  proverlDial  one 
for  religious  sincerity,  and  we  who  have  become 
accustomed  to  it  in  this  sense  may  find  a  little 
difficulty  in  releasing  our  minds  from  the  power 
of  that  association.  It  will  be  found  difficult, 
however,  to  harmonize  such  a  thought  with  the 
connection.  In  the  E.  V.,  for  example,  no  one 
can  help  feeling  that  the  connection  between 
ver.  28  and  the  preceding  passage  has  an  unsa- 
tisfactory abruptness  and  lameness  about  it,  and 
even  this  connection,  such  as  it  is,  rests  on  a 
forced  rendering  of  ^2  which  is  properly  adver- 
sative only  after  an  expressed  or  implied  nega- 
tive. And  in  general  it  may  be  said,  that  whe- 
ther we  regard  ver.  28  6  as  a  declaration  of 
Job's  sincerity  by  himself  or  by  his  friends,  it 
will  be  found  next  to  impossible  to  put  it  into 
proper  and  natural  relations  to  ver.  28  a  on  the 
one  hand,  and  to  ver.  29  on  the  other.  The 
most  intelligible,  tenable  and  forcible  construc- 
tion is  that  given  above  by  Zockler  (and  adopted 
by  Ewald,  Dillmann,  Schlottraann,  Delitzsch, 
Conant,  Green),  which  regards  vers.  28,  29  as  a 
lofty  warning  to  the  friends,  inspired  by  the 
triumphant  anticipation  of  vers.  25-27,  bidding 
them — if  they  continued  to  persecute  him,  and 
to  charge  him  with  harboring  within  himself 
the  root  of  the  calamities  which  had  befallen 
him — to  beware  of  the  sword  ! — E.] 

Ver.  29.  Apodosis:  Be  ye  afraid  (D37  "for 
yourselves,"  as  in  Hos.  x.  5)  before  the 
sword,  i.  e.  the  avenging  sword  of  God ;  comp. 
3'in  in  ch.  XV.  22 ;  xxvii.  14 ;  Deut.  xxxii.  41 ; 
Zecli.  xiii.  7,  etc.  ["a  sword,  without  the  art.  in 
order  to  combine  the  idea  of  what  is  boundless, 
endless  and  terrific  with  the  indefinite,"  Del.]. 
This  sufficiently  distinct  threat  of  Divine  pun- 
ishment is  confirmed  by  that  which  follows: 
for  w^rath  (befalls)  the  transgressions  of 
the  sword,  that  ye  may  know  that  (there 
is)  a  judgment. — HOn,  "glow  of  wrath,  rage," 
can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  the  subject,  with 
the  meaning:  "for  wrath  (against  friends)  is 
one  of  the  crimes  of  the  sword"  (Schultens, 
Stickel,  Schlottmann),  [Conant,  Noyes,  who 
with  less  than  his  usual  accuracy  renders  by 
"malice"].  Apart  from  the  difficulty  that 
niJI^  can  by  no  means,  without  modification  be 
=the  partitive  r\U1^0,  the  meaning  is  not  at 
all  suited  to  the  true  position  of  Job  as  regards 
the  friends,  who  might  rather  reproach  liim  with 
anger,  than  be  them.  Rather  is  non  a  noun  in 
the  predicate,  the  meaning  being:  "wrath  are 
the  sword's  crimes,"  i.  e.  they  carry  wrath  as  a 
reward  in  themselves,  they  cause  wrath,  they 
are  infallibly  overtaken  by  it  (Rosenm.,  Hahn, 
Delitzsch,  Dillmann,  etc.).  ["Crimes  of  the 
sword  are  not  such  as  are  committed  with  the 
sword — for  such  are  not  treated  of  here,  and, 
with  Arnh.  and  Hahn,  to  understand  3in  of 
the  sword  of  'hostilely  mocking  words'  is  arbi- 
trary and  artificial — but  such  as  have  incurred 
the  sword.  Job  thinks  of  slanders  and  blas- 
phemy." Delitzsch].  This  explanation  is  better 
than   that   of    Hirzel,   Ewald    [Rodwell],    eta 


460 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


"for  wrath,  i.  e.  something  to  be  dreaded,  are 
the  punishments  of  the  sword,"  for  r\1J1J^  can 
scarcely  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  punishments, 
chastisements;  even  in  Ps.  xxxi.  11;  xxxviii. 
5;  Lam.  iv.  6,  jilj^  signifies  not  so  much  pun- 
ishment, as  rather  evil-doing,  sin  together  with 
its  mischievous  consequences.  The  above  inter- 
pretation is  not,  it  is  true,  altogether  satisfac- 
tory; nevertheless,  if  we  should  attempt  to 
amend  the  passage,  it  would  be  better  to  intro- 
duce a  7  before  HIJI^,  than  either  to  change 
non  to  rrsn  fOesenius:  "for  such,  i.  e.  such 
transgressions  as  yours,  are  crimes  of  the  sword) 
or  to  introduce  the  constr.  state  ri^O  before 
^1J1^,  which  is  the  construction  given  by  the 
Pesh.  and  Vulg.,  the  latter  of  which  reads : 
quoniam  ultor  iniquitatum  gladius  est.  A  difficulty 
is  also  presented  in  the  word  |'''^K^  (K'thibh)  or 
p'lE?  (K'ri)  at  the  end  of  the  last  member,  occa- 
sioned by  the  fact  that  i:^^"^i2/X  does  not  else- 
where occur  in  the  Book  of  Job,  as  also  by  the 
fact  that  the  rendering  of  the  LXX. — nov  ectlv 
avriJv  y  v?itj  (or  according  to  the  Cod.  Alex,  uri 
ovdafiov  ai'Tuv  ■fj  lax'^X  koriv)  probably  points  to 
another  text  in  the  original.  The  above  ren- 
dering, however:  "  that  ye  may  know  that  there 
is  a  judgment,"  is  in  general  accord  with  the 
context,  and  corresponds  well  to  the  meaning 
of  these  closing  verses.  It  is  not  necessary  with 
Heiligst.,  Dillmann,  Ewald  (2d  Ed.),  to  read 
'^K':  "  that  ye  may  know  the  Almighty;"  nor 
(which  is  moreover  linguistically  inadmissible) 
to  regard  yvy  as  a  variation  of  ''^E'  (Eichhorn, 
Hahn,  Ewald,  1st  Ed.),  which  would  yield  the 
same  meaning.  ["  P^  has  everywhere  else  the 
signification  judicium,  e.  g.  by  Elibu,  ch.  xxxvi. 
17;  and  also  often  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  e.g. 
ch.  XX.  8  (comp.  in  the  Arabizing  supplement, 
ch.  xxxi.  8).  The  final  judgment  is  in  Aramaic 
K3]^  KJ'T ;  the  last  day  in  Heb.  and  Arabic, 
y^T\UV,  jaum  ed-din.  To  give  to  Plii',  "that 
(there  is)  a  judgment,"  this  dogmatically  defi- 
nite meaning,  is  indeed,  from  its  connection 
with  the  historical  recognition  of  the  plan  of 
redemption,  inadmissible ;  but  there  is  nothing 
against  understanding  the  conclusion  of  Job's 
speech  according  to  the  conclusion  of  the  Book 
of  Ecclesiastes,  which  belongs  to  the  same  age 
of  literature."  Delitzsch.] 

["Thus  does  this  lofty  tragical  discourse 
combine  in  itself  the  deepest  humiliation  and 
depression  with  the  highest  Divine  elevation, 
the  most  utter  despair  with  the  most  animated 
overflowing  hope  and  the  most  blissful  certainty. 
Not  only  does  it  occupy  the  lofty  centre  of  the 
human  controversy  and  of  the  whole  action,  but 
it  also  causes  the  first  real  and  decisive  revolu- 
tion in  Job's  favor,  because  in  it  Job's  two  ruling 
thoughts  and  tendencies,  the  unbelief  springing 
from  superstition,  and  the  higher  genuine  faith 
just  forming  itself  come  into  such  sharp  and 
happy  contact  that  the  latter  rushes  forth  out 
of  its  insignificance  with  irresistible  might,  and 
although  the  discord  is  not  as  yet  harmonized, 
from  this  time  on  it  maintains  itself,  gradually 


prevails  more  and  more,  until  at  last  it  remains 
supreme  and  alone."  Ewald.] 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

1.  The  history  of  the  interpretation  of  vera. 
25-27,  the  passage  of  greatest  theological  impor- 
tance in  this  chapter,  exhibits  three  principal 
views  of  the  meaning.  Of  these  the  two  oldest 
rest  on  the  texts  of  the  ancient  versions,  and 
particularly  of  the  LXX.  and  Vulg.,  which  are 
more  or  less  erroneous,  and  yield  results  which 
are  one-sided  and  partially  perverted.  It  ia 
only  the  latest  of  these  which,  resting  on  the 
original  text,  avoids  these  one-sided  results,  and 
sets  forth  the  poet's  thought  with  unprejudiced 
objectivity. 

a.  A  rigidly  orthodox,  or  if  the  phrase  be  pre- 
ferred,   an   ultra-orthodox    (ultra-eschatological) 
view,  which  can  be  traced  back  into  the  earliest 
periods  of  the  church,  assumes  that  the  passage 
predicts  a  resuscitation  of  the  body  by  Christ  on  the 
last  day.     This  assumption  rests  on  the  render- 
ing of  ver.  25  b,  and  ver.  26  a  by   the   LXX., 
partly  indeed   also  on  the    Targura,    but   more 
especially  on  the  rendering  of  the  passage  in  the 
Vulgate — a  rendering   which  flows   out   of  the 
older  version,  and  which  pushes  still  further  ita 
misinterpretation.     The   LXX.  presents   a  ver- 
sion of  the  words  which  for  the  most  part  indeed 
is  opposed,  rather  than  otherwise,  to  the  escha- 
tological  view,  which   linlits  Job's  expectations 
to  the  present  earthly  life,  which  in  fact  almost 
wholly  precludes  the  reference  to  the  future. 
But  the  words  beginning  with  Dip',   ver.  25  b, 
(instead  of  which  it  read  C'D''),  and  ending  with 
r\NI,  ver.. 26  a,  which  it  combines  together  so  as 
to  form  one  sentence,  it  renders  thus :  dvaari^aec 
(U  fiov  TO  oufia  TO  avavT2,ovp  fioi  ravTa  (Cod.  Alex.: 
avaarfjaaL  fiov  to  Sepfin  (lov  to   avavr'kovv  Tavrd). 
According  to  this  rendering  a  future  resuscita- 
tion after  death  of  the  sorely  aflSicted  body  of  Job 
is  as  distinctly  as  possible  expressed.     The  Tar- 
gumist  expresses  essentially  the  same  meaning: 
"I  know  that  my  Redeemer  lives,"  and  here- 
after my  redemption  will  arise  {i.  e.   be   made, 
actual,    become  a  reality)  over  the  dust,   and 
after    that  my    skin  is    again    made  whole   (or 
— according    to   another    reading — "is   swollen 
up")  this  will  happen,  and  out  of  my  flesh  shall 
I  behold  God.     On  the  basis  of  these  interpreta- 
tions, which  were  rooted  in  the  hopes  of  a  resur- 
rection cherished  by  the  Jews  after  the  exile,  and 
especially  on  the  basis  of  the  former  [that  of  the 
LXX.],    Clemens  Romanus  (1  Cor.  26),  Origen 
(Comm.  in  Matth.  xxii.  23seq.),  Cyril  of  Jerusa- 
lem   (Catech.  XVIII.),     Ephraem,    Epiphaniua 
(Orat.  Ancorat),  and    other  fathers   before  Je- 
rome,   found   in   the   passages   a   proof  of  the 
church  doctrine  of  the  avaaraciQ  Tfjq  capKdq.     Still 
more  definitely  and   completely  did  the  passage 
acquire  the  character  of  a  Scriptural  proof  of 
this  doctrine  from  Jerome,  as  the  author  of  the 
authorized  Latin  translation,  which  was  adopted 
by  the  Western  Church  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
as  well  as  by  the   Catholic    Church    of  recent 
times.     While  the  predecessor  of  his  work,  the 
Itala,  had   somewhat   indefinitely    expressed   a 
meaning  approximating  that  of  the  LXX.  ("su- 
per terram  resurget  cutis  mea,'"  etc.),  the  Vulgate 


CHAP.  XIX.  1-29. 


461 


set  aside  the  last  remnant  of  a  possibility  that 
the  passage  should  be  understood  of  a  restitution 
or  a  restoration  of  Job  in  this  life.  This  it  did 
by  introducing  into  the  text  of  vers.  25  and  26 
three  inaccuracies  of  the  most  glaring  sort.  For 
D^p^  (or  CP'')  it  substituted  without  more  ado 
D^pX,  surrecturus  sum ;  jlin^  i*-  rendered,  in  no- 
vissimo  die!  and  rendering  13pJ  as  Niphal  of 
^pj  =  ^1p,  "  to  surround,  to  circle,"  it  gave  to 
it  no  less  arbitrarily  the  meaning  of  circumdabor, 
so  that  the  whole  passage  is  made  to  read  thus : 
ver.  25  :  '^scio  enim,  quod  redemptor  meus  vivit  et  in 
novissimo  die  de  terra  surrecturus  su7n  ;  ver.  26  :  et 
rursum  circumdabor  pelle  mea  et  in  came  mea  videbo 
Deummeum;  ver.  27 :  quern  visurus  sum  ego  ipse 
et  oculi  viei  conspecturi  sunt  et  non  alius  ;  reposita 
est  hxc  spes  mea  in  sinii  meo." — This  interpreta- 
tion, which  was  emphatically  approved  and  re- 
commended by  Augustine  {Be  Civ.  Dei  XXII., 
29),  held  its  ground  through  the  Middle  Ages 
among  all  Christian  expositors,  and  all  the  more 
necessarily  that  a  revision  of  the  same  after  the 
Hebrew  could  not  be  undertaken  by  any  one  of 
them.  Neither  does  Luther's  translation — "But 
I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  He  will 
hereafter  raise  [or  quicken']  me  out  of  the  earth,  and 
I  shall  thereupon  be  surrounded  with  this  my  skin, 
and  shall  see  God  in  my  flesh" — break  through 
the  spell  of  this  doctrinally  prejudiced  interpre- 
tation; and  just  as  little  as  Luther  do  the  dis- 
tinguished Reformed  translators  of  the  Bible,  e. 
g.,  Leo  Juda,  Job.  Piscator,  the  authors  of  the 
English  Version,  etc.,  exhibit  any  substantial  de- 
parture from  the  meaning  or  phraseology  of  the 
Vulgate.  Thus  the  rendering  under  considera- 
tion succeeded  in  acquiring  the  most  important 
influence  even  in  the  evangelical  theolpgical  tra- 
dition. It  came  to  be  cited  in  Church  symbols 
{e.g.,  Form.  Cone.  Epit.,  p.  375  11.)  [Westmin- 
ster Conf.  of  Faith  XXXII.  2],  catechisms  and 
doctrinal  manuals  as  a  cardinal  proof-text  for 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and 
occasionally  even  for  the  divinity  of  Christ  (on 
account  of  the  ni/X  of  ver.  26).  It  became  a 
leading  theme  of  sacred  poets  {e.  g.,  of  Louisa 
Henrietta  V.  Brandenburg,  who  wrote  "Jesus, 
meine  Zuversicht  "  [Jesus,  my  Trust],  of  P. 
Gerhard,  the  author  of  "  Ich  weiss  dass  niein 
Erliiser  lebt "  [of  Charles  Wesley:  "I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  lives"]),  and  in  general  it 
has  received  the  most  manifold  application  alike 
in  the  domain  of  speculative  theology,  and  in 
that  of  practical  and  ascetic  piety.  Even  such 
thorough  exegetes  as  Cocceius,  Seb.  Schmidt, 
Starke,  while  in  subordinate  details  occasionally 
departing  from  the  traditional  ecclesiastical  ver- 
sion, advocate  strenuously  the  direct  christolo- 
gical  and  eschatological  reference  of  the  passage 
(comp.  also  Jablonsky,  De  Redemptore  stante  su- 
per pulverem,  Francof.  ad  V.  1772:  Gude  and 
Rambach :  De  Jobo  Christi  incarnationis  vate, 
Ilalas  1730,  etc.).  A  number  even  of  able  Ori- 
entalists, and  independent  Hebrew  scholars  since 
the  last  century,  such  as  Schultens,  J.  H.  and  J. 
D.  Michaelis,  Velthusen,  Rosenmiiller,  Rosen- 
garten,  tlie  English  writers  Mason.  Good,  Hales, 
J.  Pye  Smith  [Scott,  Lee,  Carey,  Wordsworth],* 


*  [Among  other  prominent  English   theological  writers 


and  quite  recently  the  Catholic  Welte,  think  that 
notwithstanding  the  various  amendments  which 
following  the  original  text  they  make  to  the  ver- 
sion of  the  Vulg. ,  or  in  a  measure  to  that  of  Lu- 
ther, the  passage  must  still  be  held  to  teach,  at 
least  in  general,  the  Church  doctrine  of  the  re- 
surrection, in  that  they  favor  the  inadmissible 

rendering  of  TI"X7l  as  =  neque  ego  alius  ("and 
truly  I  not  as  another,  I  as  unchanged  " ),  or  un- 
derstand "  the  appearing  of  the  Redeemer  on  the 
dust"  as  having  for  its  object  the  quickening  of 
the  dead,  and  hence  as  referring  to  the  Second 
Advent  of  Christ,  or  find  denoted  in  ""Itl^ao  the 
glorified  flesh  of  the  resurrection  body,  or  adopt 
other  explanations  of  a  like  character  (against 
which  see  above  in  the  Exegetical  and  Critical 
Remarks). 

b.  A  one-sided  anti-eschatological  view  which 
limits  the  object  of  Job's  hope  and  longing  wholly 
to  this  life,  which  may  also  be  called  the  skeptical 
or  hypercritical  ratio7ialistic  view  has  for  its  pre- 
cursors in  the  Ancient  Church  Chrysostom,  John 
of  Damascus,  and  other  fathers  of  the  Oriental 
Church.  By  an  allegorizing  interpretation  of 
the  language  of  the  LXX.  avaaTijcu  6k  pov  rb 
aupa  TO  avavrXovv  poc  ravra,  these  writers  refine 
away  the  eschatological  meaning  which  undoubt- 
edly belongs  to  the  passage  as  pointing  to  the 
hereafter,  and  refer  it  to  the  removal  of  his 
disease  which  Job  hoped  for,  and  the  rehabili- 
tation of  his  disfigured  body;  and  they  saw 
that  the  phraseology  of  the  Septuagint  in  the 
remaining  verses  of  the  passage  favored  this 
interpretation.  Most  of  the  Jewish  Exegetes 
during  the  Middle  Ages  adhered  to  their  view 
so  far  as  the  principle  was  concerned,  the  prin- 
ciple, to  wit,  of  excluding  from  the  passage  any 
messianic  and  eschatological  application  while 
in  respect  to  many  of  the  details  they  hit  upon 
novel  expedients,  which  were  in  part  of  a  most 
wonderful  and  arbitrary  character.  The  more 
freely  inclined  theologians  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  also,  such  as  Mercier,  Grotius,  Le 
Clerc,  substantially  adopted  this  view.  After 
the  time  of  Eichhorn  {Ally.  Biblioth  der  Bibl. 
Literatur  I.  8,  1787)  it  acquired  even  a  tempo- 
rary ascendency  over  the  opposite  opinions,  and 
that  not  only  with  commentators  of  rationalistic 
tendencies,  such  as  Justi,  v.  Colin,  Knobel,  Hir- 
zel,  Stickel,  etc.,  but  even  with  supra-naturalists, 
such  as  Dathe,  Doderlein,  Baumgarten-Crusius, 
Knapp,  Augusti,  Umbreit,  and  even  with  Hahn, 
strictly  orthodox  as  he  is  elsewhere  {De  spe  im- 
mortalitatis  sub  V.  T.  gradatim  ezculla,  1845,  and 
his  Comm.  on  the  passage),  with  v.  Hofmann 
(concerning  whose  peculiar  rendering  of  '3p3 
see  above  on  ver.  26),  with  the  English  theolo- 
gians Wemyss,  Stuart,  Barnes  [Warburton, 
Divine  Legation,  Book  VI.,  Sec.  2;  Patrick, 
Kennicott,  Noyes,  Rodwell ;  to  whom  may  be 
added  Elzas  and  Bernard],  and  others.  Almost 
all  the  advocates  of  this  view  agree  in  holding 

who  interpret  the  passage  of  Christ  and  the  final  resuTec- 
ti'>n,  may  li"  ment  oned  Owen,  Vol.  XII.,  Stand.  Lib.  of  Brit. 
Diviii'-s,  p  WlSspf].;  Bd.  Andrews'  fecroions.  Vol  II.,  p.  251 
8i'q.  in  Lib.  of  An^'.-Cath.  Thnol.;  Bp.  ^herlook,  Works  1830, 
Vol.  II,  p.  167 seq.;  John  Newton,  Works,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  435 
peq.;  Bp.  Pearson  on  the  f'reed.  Art.  XL;  Dr.  W.  H.  Mill, 
Lent  Sermon«,  CambridfC",  1845;  Dr.  W.  L.  Alexander,  Con- 
uec.  and  Ilurm.  of  0.  and  N.  Tests.,  p.  153  seq. — E.j 


462 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


that  in  ver.  25  seq.  Job,  having  just  before 
expressed  the  wish  that  he  might  see  his  pro- 
testation of  innocence  perpetuated,  utters  his 
conviction  that  such  a  perpetuation  for  posterity 
■would  not  be  necessary,  tliat  he  himself  would 
yet  live  to  see  the  restoration  of  his  honor  and 
of  his  health,  and  that  even  though  he  should 
waste  away  to  a  most  pitiful  skeleton,  he  would 
be  made  to  rejoice  by  the  appearance  of  God  to 
benefit  him  and  none  others. 

c.  An  intermediate  view,  or  one  exhibiting  a 
moderate  eschatology ,  which  resting  on  the  most 
.exact  philological  and  impartial  treatment  of 
the  original  text,  avoids  the  one-sided  conclu- 
sions of  the  two  older  interpretations,  has  been 
advanced  and  defended  by  Ewald  {^Die  Dichter 
des  Alten  Bundcs,  1st  Ed.,  Vol.  III.,  1836),  and 
substantially  adopted  by  Vaihinger,  Schlottman, 
V.  Gerlach,  Hupfeld  {Deutsche  Zeitschrift,  1850, 
No.  85  seq.),  Oehler  {Orundz'dge  der  alt-testa- 
vientJichen  Weisheit,  1854),  Konig  [Die  Unster- 
blichkcitsidee  im  B.  Job,  1855,  Hoelemann  (Sachs. 
Kirchen — ,  und  Schulbl.  1853,  No.  48  seq.),  Del. 
(Art.  Job  in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl.,  and  in  his 
Commentary),  Dillmann,  Davidson  (Introduction 
II.  224  seq.)  [Conant,  Canon  Cook  in  Smith's 
Bib.  Diet.  Art.  "Job;"  MacClintock  &  Strong's 
Cyclop.  Art.  "Job"],  and  even  by  the  Jewish 
expositors  Arnheim  and  Lciwenthal.  According 
to  the  unanimous  opinion  of  these  investigators. 
Job  here  expresses  the  hope,  not  indeed  of  a 
bodily  resuscitation  from  death,  but  neverthe- 
less of  a  future  beholding  of  God  in  a  spiritual 
glorified  state.  It  is  not  the  hope  of  a  resurrec- 
tion; it  is,  however,  the  hope  of  immortality,  to 
■which  he  is  here  lifted  up,  and  that  too  with 
great  clearness  and  the  most  vivid  definiteness, 
above  the  ordinary  popular  conception  of  the 
ancient  Israelites,  as  it  has  been  previously 
declared  even  by  himself. 

2.  We  have,  in  our  Exegetical  Remarks  above, 
expressed  our  concurrence  in  this  modified 
eschatological  or  futuristic  exposition  of  the 
passage,  because,  on  the  one  side,  the  unmodi- 
fied doctrinal  orthodox  rendering  presents  too 
many  linguistic  errors  and  arbitrary  construc- 
tions to  have  any  scientific  value  whatever 
attached  to  it,  and  because  on  the  other  fjide  the 
view  which  excludes  every  reference  to  the 
hereafter  can  be  established  only  by  allegori- 
cally  or  rationalistically  refining  away  the 
obvious  phraseology  of  the  passage.  The  latter 
interpretation,  which  Ilirzel  in  particular  has 
attempted  to  support  with  great  argumentative 
acuteness,  cannot  be  successfully  maintained. 

a.  The  connection  with  vers.  23,  24  cannot 
be  urged  in  its  favor,  for  Job  by  no  means 
contradicts  the  wish  here  expressed  that 
the  protestation  of  his  innocence  might 
be  preserved  for  posterity,  when  in  ver.  25  seq. 
lie  declares  the  assurance  of  his  triumphant 
justification  by  God  hereafter;  rather  in  pro- 
claiming this  assurance  he  but  takes  a  new  step 
upward  in  the  inspired  conviction  that  God  will 
at  last  interpose  as  the  Avenger  of  his  inno- 
cence. 

b.  Job's  former  hopelessness,  as  he  contem- 
plates the  mournful  lot  of  him  who  goes  down 
into  Sheol,  cannot  be  used  as  an  argument  in 
favor  of  that  view;  for  Job's  former  discourses 


are  by  no  means  wanting  in  preparatory  intima- 
tions of  a  clear  and  well-defined  hope  in  future 
retribution  and  a  blessed  immortality :  see  espe- 
cially ch.  xiv.  18-15,  and  ch.  xvi.  18-21. 

c.  Nor  finally  can  the  fact  that  neither  by 
Job's  friends,  nor  in  the  historical  issue  of  the 
colloquy  in  the  Epilogue  is  there  any  direct 
reference  made  to  this  expression  of  Job's  hope 
of  immortality,  be  urged  against  our  interpre- 
tation; for  "it  is  a  general  characteristic  of  all 
the  discourses  of  the  friends,  that  they — spell- 
bound as  they  are  within  the  circle  of  their 
external,  legal  views — scarcely  enter  at  all  in 
detail  upon  the  contents  of  Job's  discourses; 
and  in  ch.  xxxviii.  seq.  God  does  not  undertake 
the  task  of  a  critic,  who  passes  judgment,  one 
by  one,  on  all  the  propositions  of  the  contending 
parties.  That  the  poet,  however,  should  have 
framed  for  the  drama  a  difi"erent  issue  from  that 
which  it  has,  is  not  to  be  desired,  for  the  theme 
of  the  poem  is  not  the  question  touching  the 
immortality  of  man's  spirit,  but  the  question: 
how  is  the  suflFering  of  the  righteous  to  be  har- 
monized with  the  Divine  justice"  (Dillmann)? 
Such  a  change  of  the  issue,  moreover,  would  be 
undesirable  for  the  reason  that  the  very  contrast 
between  the  deliverance  and  exaltation  which  Job 
here  hopes  for  as  something  lohich  lies  after  death, 
and  the  favor  which  God  visits  upon  him  even  in 
this  life,  a  favor  infinitely  surpassing  all  that  he 
hopes  and  toaits  for,  prays  for  or  understands — this 
is  one  of  the  most  striking  beauties  of  the  poem,  con. 
stitules  indeed  the  real  focus  of  its  splendor  and  its 
crowning  close  (comp.  v.  Gerlach  in  the  Homile- 
tical  Remarks  on  ver.  25  seq.).  Such  a  suddea 
unexpected  blazing  up  of  the  bright  light  of  the 
hope  of  immortality,  without  frequent  references 
to  it  afterwards,  and  without  other  preparations 
or  antecedent  steps  leading  to  it  than  a  wish  (in 
ch.  xiv.  13  seq.),  and  a  demand  of  similar  mean- 
ing (ch.  xvi.  18  seq.) — corresponds  perfectly  to 
the  style  of  our  poet,  who,  having  assigned  his 
hero  to  the  patriarchal  age,  does  not  ascribe  to 
him  his  own  settled  certainty  of  faith,  repre- 
senting him  as  possessing  such  a  certainty  in 
the  same  clear,  complete  measure  as  himself; 
he  aims  rather  to  represent  him  as  striving  after 
such  a  possession.  To  this  it  may  be  added  that 
Hirzel's  view,  which  places  the  object  of  the 
sufl'erer's  hope  altogether  in  this  life  is  contra- 
dicted by  the  fact  that  Job  in  what  he  has 
already  said  has  repeatedly  described  his  end 
as  near,  his  strength  as  completely  broken,  his 
disease  as  wholly  incurable,  his  hope  of  an 
earthly  restoration  of  his  prosperity  as  having 
altogether  disappeared  (ch.  vi.  8-14;  vii.  6;  xiii. 
13-15;  xiv.  17-22;  xvii.  11-16).  With  such 
extreme  hopelessness,  how  would  it  be  possible 
to  reconcile  the  expression  in  ver.  25  seq.  of  the 
very  opposite,  as  is  assumed  to  be  the  case  by 
the  interpretation  which  refers  that  passage  to 
this  life  ?  And  why  again  hereafter,  in  ch.  xxx. 
23,  does  the  gloomy  outlook  of  a  near  and  cer- 
tain death  find  renewed,  expression  in  a  way 
which  cuts  off  all  possibility  of  cherishing  any 
hopes  in  regard  to  this  life  (see  on  the  passage)? 
Wherefore  such  an  unseemly  wavering  between 
the  solemnly  emphasized  certainty  of  the  hope 
in  an  appearance  of  Eloah,  and  the  not  less 
emphatic  expression  of    the  certainty   that  he 


CHAP.  XIX.  1-29. 


4C3 


has  no  hope  in  such  an  appearance?  What 
would  the  artistic  plan  of  the  poem  in  general 
gain  by  allowing  the  hero  in  the  middle  of  it  to 
predict  the  final  issue,  but  afterwards  to  assume, 
even  as  he  had  already  done  before,  that  the 
exact  opposite  of  this  is  the  only  possible  issue? 
3.  Seeing  then  that  every  consideration  favors 
most  decidedly  the  view  which  interprets  the 
passage  in  accordance  with  a  modera'e  escha- 
tology,  the  question  still  remains:  whether  that 
beholdiiig  of  God  after  this  earthly  life,  which  Job 
here  anticipates  as  taking  place  concurrently 
with  the  vindication  of  his  honor  and  his  redemp- 
tion, is  conceived  of  by  him  as  something  that  is  to  be 
realized  in  the  sphere  of  abstract  spirituality,  or 
lohether  his  conception  of  it  is  more  concrete,  real- 
istic, in  analogy  with  the  relations  of  this  earthly 
life?  In  other  words,  the  question  is:  whether 
his  idea  of  immortality  is  abstractly  spiritualistic, 
or  ojie  which  up  to  a  certain  point  approximates  the 
New  Testament  doctrine  of  a  resurrection?  We 
have  already  declared  above  (on  ver.  27  b)  in 
favor  of  the  latter  opinion;  because  (1)  The 
mention  of  the  eyes  with  which  he  expects  to 
see  God  admits  only  of  that  pneumatico-realistic 
meaning,  under  the  influence  of  which  the  Old 
Testament  speaks  even  of  eyes,  ears,  and  other 
bodily  organs  as  belonging  to  God,  and  in  gene- 
ral furnishes  solid  supports  to  the  proposition 
of  Oetinger  touching  corporeity  as  the  "end  of 
the  ways  of  God."  To  this  it  may  be  added  that 
(2)  the  absolute  incorporealness  of  Job's  condition 
after  death  is  in  no  wise  expressed  by  the  phrase 
'Viyap,  notwithstanding  the  privative  mean- 
ing which  in  any  case  belongs  to  jD,  that  this 
expression  merely  indicates  the  object  of  Job's 
hope  to  be  a  release  from  his  present  miserable 
body  of  flesh,  and  that  accordingly  what  Job  here 
anticipates  is  (gradually  accomplished  to  be  sure, 
but)  not  specifically  different  from  that  which 
the  Apostle  calls  tt/v  anoVvrpuaiv  rov  aufiarog 
?'luG)v  (Rom.  viii.  23;  comp.  ch.  vii.  25),  or  what 
on  another  occasion  he  expresses  in  more  nega- 
tive form  by  the  proposition:  on  aap^  Kal  al/ia 
jia'ji'ksiav  Qeov  KTiTjpovopijaai  oh  Svvavrac  ov6e  i) 
(fi&opa  Tijv  aip&apalav  KXTjpovop.Ei  (1  Cor.  xv.  50). 
— Still  further  (3)  the  concluding  verse  of  ch. 
xiv.  shows  that  Job  conceives  even  of  man's  con- 
dition in  Sheol  as  by  no  means  one  of  abstract 
incorporeality,  but  rather  invests  this  gloomy 
and  mournful  stage  of  his  existence  after  death 
with  two  factors  of  being  (11^3  and  ^^1),  con- 
ceiving of  them  as  existing  in  conjunction,  and 
as  standing  in  some  kind  of  a  relation  to  each 
other  (see  above  on  the  passage).  Finally  (4): 
The  perfected  realistic  hopes  of  a  resurrection, 
found  in  the  later  Old  Testament  literature  from 
the  time  of  Ezekiel  and  Daniel  on,  would  be  ab- 
solutely inconceivable,  they  would  be  found 
drifting  in  the  air  without  attachment  or  sup- 
port, they  would  be  witliout  all  historical  prece- 
dent, if  in  the  passage  before  us  the  hope  of  im- 
mortality be  understood  in  the  light  of  an  abstract 
spirituality.  What  Job  says  here  is  certainly 
nothing  more  than  a  germ  of  the  more  complete 
resurrection  creed  of  a  later  time,  but  it  must 
indubitably  be  regarded  as  such  a  germ,  as  such 
a  seminal  anticipation  of  that  which  the  Israel 
of  a  later  period  believed  and  expected  in  respect 


to  the  future  state.  Its  relation  to  the  perfected 
eschatology  of  those  prophets  of  the  exile,  as 
well  as  to  the  post-exilic  literature  of  the  Apo- 
crypha (for  example  the  II.  Book  of  Maccabees) 
is  like  tliat  "  of  the  protevangclium  to  the  per- 
fected soteriology  of  revelation;  it  presents  only 
the  first  lines  of  the  picture,  which  is  worked  up 
in  detail  later  on,  but  also  an  omline,  sketched 
in  such  a  way  that  all  the  knowledge  of  later 
times  may  be  added  to  it "  (Uelitzsch) — as  from 
of  old  the  Church  has  been  doing,  and  still  ia 
doing,  in  her  epitaphs,  hymns,  liturgies,  and 
musical  compositions,  and  this  too  with  some  de- 
gree of  right,  although  largely  in  violation  of  the 
law  of  exegetical  sobriety. 

[The  following  additional  considerations,  sug- 
gested by  the  passage,  and  the  context,  may  be 
urged  in  favor  of  the  view  here  advocated.  (1) 
Job,  as  the  context  shows,  is,  while  uttering  this 
sublime  prediction,  painfully  conscious  of  wliat 
he  is  sufi'ering  in  the  body.  Note  the  wliole  pas- 
sage, vers.  13-20,  where  the  estrangement  of  his 
most  intimate  friends  and  kindred  is  associated 
with  the  loathsome  condition  into  which  his  dis- 
ease has  brought  him.  Note  again  how  in  the 
heart  of  the  prophecy  itself  (ver.  2G),  he  is  still 
unable  to  repress  the  utterance  of  this  same  pain- 
ful consciousness  of  his  bodily  condition.  If 
now  he  anticipates  here  a  Divine  Intervention 
which  is  to  vindicate  him,  is  it  not  natural  that 
he  should  include  in  that  vindication,  albeit 
vaguely  and  remotely,  some  compensation  for 
the  physical  wrong  he  was  suffering?  If  God 
would  appear  to  recompense  the  indignity  to  hia 
good  name,  would  He  not  appear  at  the  same 
time  to  recompense  the  indignity  from  which  his 
body  had  so  grievously  suffered  ?  In  a  word, 
would  not  the  same  experience  which  here  blos- 
soms so  gloriously  into  the  prophetic  assurance 
of  a  justification  of  his  spiritual  integrity,  bear 
at  least  the  bud  of  a  resurrection-hope  for  the 
body,  although  the  latter  would  be,  ex  necessitate 
rei,  less  perfectly  developed  than  the  former  ? 
Surely  the  Day  of  Restitution,  which  he  knoics 
is  to  come,  will  bring  with  it  some  compensation 
for  this  grievous  bodily  ill,  the  dark  shadow  of 
which  flits  across  even  this  bright  vision  of  faith! 
This  presumption  is  still  further  heightened 
when  we  note  that  he  himself,  with  his  own  eyes, 
is  to  witness  that  restitution. 

(2).  The  phrase  1i3J-'~7^2  i^  ^o*-  without  sig- 
nificance. It  certainly  me-ans  something  more 
specific  than  "on  the  earth."  The  Goel  is  to 
stand  "  on  dust "  (or  "on  the  dust" — article 
poetically  omitted),  the  place  wkere  lies  the  dust 
of  the  body  gathered  to  the  dust  of  the  earth. 
This  is  the  only  exegesis  of  "^ilj^  that  is  either 
etymologically  admissible,  or  suited  to  the  con- 
text. The  Vindication  is  thus  brought  into  local 
connection  with  the  grave.  And  this  can  mean 
only  one  thing.  It  shows  at  least  that  Job  could 
not  conceive  of  this  future  restitution  as  taking 
place  away  and  apart  from  his  dust.  Ilis  body, 
his  physical  self,  was  in  some  way — he  has  no 
conception  how — to  be  interested  in  it. 

(3).  The  expression  '7^3?  is  no  objection  to 
this  view,  even  with  the  privative  sense  which 
our  Commy.  (and  correctly  I  think)  attaches  to 


464 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


n.  It  does  not  mean, — it  is  doubtful,  as  Zock- 
ler  remarks,  whether  for  a  Hebrew  it  could  mean, 
— an  abstract  unqualified  spirituality.  At  all 
events  the  connection  shows  that  here,  as  often 
elsewhere  in  Job  (comp.  ch.  vii.  15;  xiv.  22; 
xxxiiii.  21,  etc.),  "^t^J  is  used  specifically  of  the 
body  as  the  seat  of  8ufi"ering  and  corruption,  the 
TO  (p&aprbv  tovto  of  Paul.  Twice  indeed  in  this 
immediate  connection  it  is  used  in  this  sense,  to 
wit,  in  ver.  19,  and  ver.  22  (figuratively,  how- 
ever). Observe  particularly  that  in  ver.  19,  as 
in  ver.  26  the  "flesh"  is  associated  with  the 
"  skin  "  in  describing  his  emaciated  condition. 
When  therefore  he  describes  his  physical  condi- 
tion at  the  time  of  his  ultimate  restitution  first 
by  the  clause  "  after  my  skin,  which  shall  have 
been  destroyed — even  this!"  and  then  by  the 
clause,  "  and  without  my  flesh,"  what  he  means 
evidently  is,  when  skin  and  flesh  are  both  no 
more,  when  the  destruction,  the  decay,  begun 
by  disease,  and  to  be  continued  in  the  grave,  has 
finished  its  course  ;  then  would  he  behold  God. 
— "After  my  skin  " — and  "  without  my  flesh  " 
are  thus  parallelistic  equivalents,  of  which  still 
another  equivalent  is  found  in  "  dust,"  the  last 
result  of  bodily  decay. — These  elements  of  the 
passage  thus  fix  the  place  and  the  time  of  the 
coming  restitution;  the  place — the  grave,  the 
time — the  remote  future,  when  his  body  should 
be  dust. 

It  seems  clear  therefore  that  the  passage  can- 
not be  regarded  on  the  one  hand  as  a  distinct 
formal  enunciation  of  a  literal  resurrection,  for 
the  last  view  which  he  gives  us  of  his  body  is  as 
that  which  is  no  more,  as  dust.     Just  as  little  on 
the  other  hand  is  it  a  mere  vindication  of  his 
memory,  a  declaration   of  the  integrity  of  his 
cause,  an  abstract  spiritual  beholding   of  God, 
for  he  is  conscious  of  physical  suff"ering — he  an- 
ticipates a  complete  restitution — one  therefore 
which  will  bring  some  reparation  of  the  wrong 
which  he  has  sufi'ered  in   the  body,   the  grave 
where  his  dust  lies  is  to  be  the  scene  of  his  vin- 
dication, and  he,  the  'JX  now  speaking,  the  per- 
sonal I  contrasted  with  "  a  stranger,"   as  com- 
plete realistic  a  personality,  therefore,  as  any  ^I 
then  living, — he  is  to  be  there,  seeing  with  his 
own  eyes,  and  exulting  in  the  sight.     This  neces- 
sarily implies  a  rehabilitation  of  the  man,  as  well 
as  of  his  cause,  a  rehabilitation  after  death,  as  the 
terms  and  internal  scope  of  the  passage  prove,  as 
well  as  the  external  plan  and  scope  of  the  book; 
and  if  not  a  resurrection,  it  at  least  carries  us  a 
long  way  forward  in  the  direction  of  that  truth. 
It  is,  as  Delitzsch  says  above,  an  outline  of  that 
doctrine  which  needs  but  a  few  touches  to  com- 
plete the  representation.     Indeed  it  may  be  said 
that  if  the  passage  had  contained  one  additional 
thought,  more  definitely  linking  the  dust  of  Job's 
body  with  that  future  'JN,  that  vaguely  foresha- 
dowed organism  with  the  eyes  of  which  he  was 
to  see  God,  the  enunciation  of  a  resurrection 
would  be  almost  complete.     But  that  thought  is 
wanting.     It  is  not  in  the  Book  of  Job.     That 
which  is  given,  however,  points  to  the  resurrec- 
tion; and  the  paean  of  the  Old  Testament  saint, 
this  old   "song  of  the  night,"    breathing  forth 
faith's  yearning  towards  the  "glorious  appear- 
ing" of  Him  who  is  "The  Last"  as  He  is  "The 


First,"  of  which,  though  the  singer  understands 
it  not,  he  is  yet  triumphantly  assured,  may  be 
chanted  by  the  Christian  believer  with  no  less 
confidence,  and  with  a  truer  and  more  precious 
realization  of  what  it  means. 

(4)  The  interpretation  which  refers  the  vindi- 
cation of  .lob  to  this  life  is  sufficiently  refuted 
above.  The  argument,  urged  by  Zockler  as  by 
others,  that  such  an  anticipation  of  a  vindication 
before  death  is  inconsistent  with  Job's  frequent 
declarations  that  he  had  no  hope,  and  that  he  was 
near  his  grave,  is  perhaps  fairly  enough  an- 
swered by  Noyes:  "As  if  a  person,  who  is  repre- 
sented as  agitated  by  the  most  violent  and  oppo- 
site emotions,  could  be  expected  to  be  consistent 
in  his  sentiments  and  language.  What  can  be 
more  natural  than  that  Job,  in  a  state  of  extreme 
depression,  arising  from  the  thought  of  his 
wrongs,  the  severity  of  his  afflictions,  and  the 
natural  tendency  of  his  disease,  should  express 
himself  in  the  language  of  despair,  and  yet  that 
he  should  be  animated  soon  after  by  conscious 
innocence  and  the  thought  of  God's  justice,  good- 
ness and  power,  to  break  fortli  into  the  language 
of  hope  and  confidence?"  Job's  utterances  are 
in  fact  marked  by  striking  inconsistencies,  as 
he  is  swayed  by  this  feeling  or  by  that.  The 
following  considerations  are,  however,  decisive 
against  this  view. 

a.  It  furnishes  a  far  less  adequate  explanation 
of  the  remarkable  elevation  and  ardor  of  feeling 
which  Job  here  exhibits  than  the  other  view, 
which  refers  it  to  the  hereafter. 

b.  However  well  it  may  harmonize  with  some 
of  the  expressions  used,  there  are  others  with 
which  it   is  altogether  irreconcilable.     This  is 

especially  true  of  Dip""  liD>'-'7j;  and  the  prepo- 
sition in  ''^K'SO.  It  may  also  be  said  that  inx 
— which  is  best  explained  as  a  preposition  be- 
fore '"lij? — implies  a  state  wherein  the  skin  has 
ceased  to  be,  in  like  manner  as  jfp  before  '")^3- 
Both  these  prepositions  carry  us  forward  to  an 
indefinitely  remote  period  after  death,  and  are 
thus  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  a  physical  re- 
storation before  death.  It  is  especially  incon- 
ceivable that  the  poet  should  have  used  liJJ^-ljr 
to  describe  the  place  where  the  God  should  ap- 
pear, if  the  appearance  was  to  be  before  death, 
when  it  is  remembered  how  invariably  else- 
where, when  mentioned  in  connection  with  Job, 
it  is  associated  with  the  grave.  Comp.  chap, 
vii.  21;  viii.  19;  x.  9 ;  xvii.  16;  xx.  11;  xxi. 
26;  xxxiv.  15.* 

c.  It  would  be,  as  Zockler  well  argues,  a  se- 
rious artistic  fault,  were  Job  at  this  point  to  be 
introduced  predicting  the  actual  historical  so- 
lution of  the  drama  in  language  so  definite,  and 
this  while  the  evolution  of  the  drama  is  still  go- 
ing on,  and  the  logical  entanglement  is  at  its 
height.  According  to  the  eschatological  theory, 
the  passage  before  us  is  a  momentary  gleam  of 
brightness  from  the  Life  Beyond,  which  lights 
up  with  preternatural  beauty  the  lurid  centre 
of  the  dark  drama  before  us,  which,  however 
it    may    modify    the    development    which    fol- 


*  Even  in  chap.  xli.  25  [33]  it  suggests,  ai  Umbrelt  correctly 
observes,  earth  as  a  transitory  state  of  activity  for  leviathan. 


CHAP.  XTX.  1-29. 


465 


lows,  leaves  it  essentially  unchanged,  moving  on 
towards  its  historic  consummation,  according  to 
the  plan  which  our  poet  has  so  grandly  conceived 
and  so  steadfastly  pursued  thus  far.  The  light 
which  here  breaks  through  the  clouds  is  from  a 
source  much  further  than  the  setting  of  Job's 
earthly  day.  It  is  a  light  even  which  sends  for- 
ward its  reflection  to  the  final  earthly  consum- 
mation, and  which  rests  on  the  latter  as  an  in- 
effable halo,  giving  to  the  radiant  eve  of  the  pa- 
triarch's life  a  sacred  beauty  such  as  without 
this  passage  could  not  have  belonged  to  it.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  were  an  anticipation  of 
.Job's  earthly  restoration,  it  would  be  a  sudden, 
violent,  inexplicable  thrusting  of  the  solution 
into  the  heart  of  the  conflict,  leaving  the  conflict 
nevertheless  to  struggle  on  as  before,  and  the 
solution  itself  to  be  swallowed  up  and  forgotten, 
until  it  reappears  at  the  close,  having  lost,  how- 
ever, through  this  premature  suggestion  of  it, 
the  majesty  which  attends  its  unexpected  coming. 
It  is  true  that  the  poet,  with  that  rare  irony 
which  he  knows  so  well  how  to  use,  introduces 
the  friends  as  from  time  to  time  unconsciously 
prophesying  Job's  restoration.  But  those  inci- 
dental and  indirect  anticipations  have  a  very 
different  signification  from  what  this  solemn, 
lofty,  direct,  and  confident  utterance  from  the 
hero  himself  would  have,  if  it  were  referred  to 
the  issue  of  the  poem. 

(5)  Per  contra — the  view  advocated  in  the 
Commentary  and  in  these  Remarks  has  in  its 
favor  the  following  considerations: 

a.  It  furnishes  by  far  the  most  satisfactory 
explanation  of  the  more  difficult  expressions  of 
the  text.     See  above. 

b.  It  is  most  in  harmony  with  the  representa- 
tions of  the  future  found  elsewhere  in  the  book, 
especially  chap.  xiv.  13-15,  of  which  this  passage 
is  at  once  the  glorious  counterpart  and  comple- 
ment;— that  being  a  prophetic  yearning  for  the 
recovery  of  his  departed  personality  from  the 
gloom  of  Sheol,  a  recovery  which  is  to  be  a 
change  into  a  new  life,  even  as  this  is  a  prophetic 
pEean  of  a  Divine  interposition  which  is  not  only 
to  vindicate  his  cause,  but  also  to  realize  his  re- 
stored personality  as  a  witness  of  the  scene. 

c.  It  is  most  in  harmony  with  the  doctrinal 
development  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  carries 
us  beyond  the  abstract  idea  of  a  disembodied  im- 
mortality io  an  intermediate  realistic  conception 
of  the  resuscitation  of  the  whole  personality,  a 
conception  which  is  an  indispensable  stepping- 
stone  to  the  distinct  recognition  of  the  truth  of 
the  resurrection.  The  development  of  the  doc- 
trine would  be  incomplete,  if  not  unintelligible, 
without  the  Book  of  Job,  thus  understood. — E.] 

HOMICETICAL   AND   PRACTICAL. 

In  the  treatment  of  this  chapter  for  practical 
edification,  the  passage  in  vers.  25-27  will  of 
course  be  the  centre  and  the  goal  of  our  medi- 
tations. It  must  not,  however,  be  separated 
from  its  surroundings  in  such  a  way  that  on  the 
one  side  the  preparation  and  immediate  occasion 
for  the  upsoaring  of  his  soul  in  yearning  and 
hope  to  God,  to  be  found  in  the  sorrowful  plaint 
of  vers.  6-20,  and  on  the  other  side  the  stern 
and  earnest  warning  to-  the  friends,  with  which 
30 


the  whole  discourse  closes  (vers.  28,  29),  will  fail 
of  being  set  forth  in  the  proper  light  and  iu  their 
organic  connection.  It  is  fitting  accordingly  to 
show  that  it  is  one  who  feels  himself  to  be  for- 
saken by  God  and  rncn,  to  be  cast  out  by  this 
world,  and  even  by  all  that  he  held  dearest  in 
it,  who  here  suddenly  leaps  up  to  that  hope  out 
of  the  most  painful  agitation  and  the  profoundest 
depression  of  spirit,  being  supported  in  this 
flight  by  the  train  of  thought  developed  in  vers. 
21-24: — that  when  his  contemporaries  refuse  to 
hear  his  appeals  for  compassion,  and  when  the 
acknowledgment  of  his  innocence,  which  he  has 
reason  to  expect  from  posterity,  presents  itself 
as  something  which  he  can  by  no  possibility  live 
to  see  for  himself,  God,  the  Everlasting  One,  who 
is  above  all  time,  still  remains  to  him  as  his  only 
consolation,  although,  indeed,  a  consolation  all 
the  more  sure  and  powerful.  Not  less  is  it  to  be 
shown  how  Job,  feeling  himself  to  be,  as  it  were, 
sanctified  and  lifted  high  above  tliis  lower 
earthly  sphere  by  the  thought  of  this  God  and 
the  joy  of  future  union  with  Him,  which  he  waits 
for  with  such  longing,  immediately  after  the  utter- 
ance of  his  hope  turns  all  the  more  sharply  against 
the  friends,  in  order  that — being  filled  a.syet  by  the 
thought,  of  God's  agency  in  judicial  retribution, 
through  which  he  hopes  one  day  to  be  justified 
— he  may  warn  them  still  more  urgently  than 
before  against  becoming,  through  tlieir  continued 
harshness  and  injustice  towards  himself,  the 
objects  of  God's  retributive  interposition,  and 
of  His  eternal  wrath.  Essentially  thus,  only 
more  briefly  and  comprehensively,  does  v.  Ger- 
lach  give  the  course  of  thought  in  the  entire 
discourse:  "The  pronounced  sharpness,  visible 
in  the  speeches  of  the  friends,  intensifies  also  in 
Job  the  strong  and  gloomy  descriptions  which 
he  gives  of  his  sufferings.  But  the  wonderful 
notable  antithesis  which  he  presents — God  Him- 
self against  God! — God  in  His  dealings  with 
liim  showing  His  anger,  and  inflicting  punish- 
ment, but  at  the  same  time  irresistibly  revealing 
Himself  to  the  inmost  consciousness  of  faith  as 
all-gracious,  bringing  deliverance  and  blessed- 
ness— this  gives  to  tije  sufferer  the  clear  light 
of  a  knowledge  in  which  all  his  foriiior  faint 
yearnings  shape  themselves  into  fixed  certainty. 
God  appears  to  him  as  the  holy  and  merciful 
manager  of  his  cause,  and  even,  after  a  painful 
end,  as  the  Giver  of  a  blessed  eternal  life.  .  .  . 
To  the  friends,  however,  he  declares  finally  with 
sharp  words,  that  although  their  legal  security 
and  rigor  has  already  made  them  sure  of  victory, 
God's  interposition  in  judgment  will  so  much 
the  more  completely  put  them  to  shame. 

Partmilar  Passages. 
Ver.  6  seq.  Brentius:  When  conscience  con- 
fronts the  judgment,  when  it  cries  out  to  God  in 
trouble,  and  its  prayer  is  not  answered,  it 
accuses  God  of  injustice.  .  .  .  But  the  tliought8 
of  a  heart  forsaken  by  the  Lord  are  in  tliis  pas- 
sage most  beautifully  described;  for  wiiat  else 
can  it  think,  when  all  aid  is  withdrawn,  than 
that  God  is  unjust,  if,  after  first  taking  sin  away. 
He  nevertheless  pays  the  wages  of  f^in,  even 
death?  and  if  again,  after  promising  that  He 
will  be  nigh  to  those  who  are  in  trouble.  He 
seems  not  only  not  to  be  affected,  but  even  to  be 


466 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


deligbted  hy  our  calamities?  When  the  flames 
of  hell  thus  rage  around  us,  we  must  look  to 
Christ  alone,  who  was  mode  in  all  things  like  to 
His  brethren,  and  was  tempted  that  He  might 
be  able  to  succor  those  who  are  tempted. — 
Zejtss:  There  is  no  trial  more  grievous  than 
when  in  afiliction  and  suffering  it  seems  as 
though  God  had  become  our  enemy,  has  no  com- 
passion upon  us,  and  will  neither  hear  nor  help. 
— Idem  (on  vor.  13  seq.):  To  be  forsaken  and 
despised  by  one's  own  kindred  and  household 
companions  is  hard.  But  herein  the  children 
of  God  must  become  like  their  Saviour,  who  in 
His  suffering  was  forsaken  by  all  men,  even  by 
His  dearest  disciples  and  nearest  relations:  thus 
■will  they  learn  to  build  on  no  man,  but  only  on 
the  living  God,  who  is  ever  true — Egard: 
Friends  do  not  (usually)  adhere  in  trial  and 
need ;  with  prosperity  they  take  their  departure, 
forgetful  of  their  love  and  troth.  Men  are  liars ; 
they  are  inconstant  as  the  wind,  which  passes 
away.  But  because  trial  and  need  come  from 
God,  the  withdrawal  of  friends  is  ascribed  to 
God,  for  had  He  not  caused  the  trial  to  come, 
the  friends  would  have  remained. 

Yer.  2.3  seq.  Wohlfarth:  The  wish  of  the 
pious  sufferer  that  his  history  might  be  pre- 
served for  posterity,  was  fulfilled.  In  hundreds 
of  languages  the  truth  is  now  proclaimed  to  all 
the  people  of  the  earth — that  even  the  godly 
man  is  not  free  from  suffering,  but  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  innocence,  and  in  faith  in  God, 
Providence  and  Immortality,  he  finds  consola- 
tion which  will  not  permit  him  to  sink,  and  his 
patient  waiting  for  the  glorious  issue  of  God's 
dark  dispensations,  is  crowned  without  fail. 

Ver.  25  seq.  Oecolampadius  :  These  are  the 
words  of  Job's  faith,  nay,  of  that  of  the  Church 
Universal,  which  desires  that  they  may  be  trans- 
mitted to  all  ages:  "And  I  know,"  «ic 

We,  taking  faith  for  our  teacher,  and  remem- 
bering what  great  things  Job  has  declared  before- 
hand he  is  about  to  set  forth  here,  understand 
it  of  the  resurrection.  We  believe  that  we  shall 
see  Christ,  our  Judge,  in  this  body  which  we 
now  bear  about,  and  in  no  other,  with  these 
eyes,  and  no  others.  For  as  Christ  rose  again 
in  the  same  body  in  which  He  suffered  and  was 
buried,  so  we  also  shall  rise  again  in  the  same 
body  in  which  we  now  carry  on  our  warfare. — 
Brentius:  a  most  clear  confession  of  faith! 
From  this  passage  it  may  be  seen  what  is  the 
method  of  true  faith,  viz.,  in  death  to  believe  in 
life,  in  hell  to  believe  in  heaven,  in  wrath  and 
judgment  to  believe  in  God  the  Redeemer,  as 
the  Apostle,  whoever  he  may  have  been,  truly 
says  in  writing  to  the  Hebrews:  Faith  is  the 


substance  of  things  hoped  for,  etc.  (Heb.  xi.  1). 
For  in  Job  nothing  is   less   apparent   than   life 
and  the  resurrection;  rather  is  it  hell   that  is 
perceived.     "Nevertheless,"  he  says,  "I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  however  He  may  now 
seem  to  sleep  and  to  be  angry ;  nevertheless  I 
know  and  by  faith  I  behold  beneath  this  wrath 
great  favor,  beneath  this  condemner  a  redeemer. 
You  will  observe  in  this  place  how  despair  and 
hope  succeed  each  other  by  turns  in  the  godly." 
— Starke  (after  Zeyss  and  Joach.  Lange):  As 
surely  as  that  Christ,  our  Redeemer,   is  risen 
from  death  by  His  power,  and  is  entered  into 
His  glory,  so  surely  will  all  who  believe  in  Him 
rise  again  to  eternal  life  by  His  divine  power. 
.  .  .  The   Messiah  is  in  such  wise   the   Living 
One,  yea  more,  the  Life   itself  (John  xiv.  6;  xi. 
25),  in  that  he  proves  Himself  to  be  the  Living 
One,  by  making  us  alive.   .  .   .   This  is  the  best 
comfort  in  the  extremity  of  death,  that  as  Christ 
rose  again  from  the   dead,    therefore  we   shall 
arise  with  him   (Rom.  viii.   11;   1   Cor.  xv.). — 
V.  Gerlach:   It  is  remarkable  in  this  passage 
that  Job,  after  indulging  in  those  most  gloomy 
descriptions  of  the  realm  of  the  dead,  which  run 
through  his  discourses  from  cli.  iii.  on,  should 
here  soar  up  to  such  a  joyous  hope  touching  his 
destiny  after   death.     Precisely  this,   however, 
constitutes  the  very  kernel  of  the  history  that 
through  his  fellowship  with  God  Job's  sufferings 
become  the  means,  first,  of  overcoming  in  him- 
self   that    legal    stand-point,    with    which    that 
gloomy,   cheerless    outlook    was    most    closely 
united,  and  thereby  of  gaining  the  victory  over 
the    friends   with   their  legalistic  tendencies. — 
Moreover,  we  must  not  be  led  astray  by  the  fact 
that  in  the  end  Job's  victory  is  set  even  for  this 
life,  and  that  he  receives  an  earthly  compensa- 
tion for  his   losses.     The  meaning  of  this  turn 
of  events  is  that   God  gives  to  His  servant,  who 
has  shown  himself  to  be  animated  by  such  firm  con- 
fidence in  Himself,  more  than  he  could  ask  or  think. 
Yer.  28  seq.    See.    Schmidt:    Job's   friends 
knew  that  there  is  a  judgment,   and  they  had 
proceeded   from  this  principle  in  their  discus- 
sions  thus  far.     Job   accordingly  would  speak 
of  the  subject  here  not  in  the  abstract,  but  in 
connection  with  the  matter  under  consideration: 
"in   order  that   ye   may    know    that  *God    will 
administer  judgment  in  respect  to  all  iniquities 
of  the  sword,  which  you  among  yourselves  ima- 
gine   to  be  of  no  consequence,    and  not  to   be 
feared,    and    that    He    will   punish    them    most 
severely." — Cramer:  God  indeed  punishes  much 
even  in  this  life;   but  much   is  reserved  for  the 
last  judgment.     Hence  he  who  escapes  temporal 
punishment  here,  will  not  for  that  reason  escape 
all  divine  punishment. 


CHAP.  XX.  1-29.  4G7 


III.  Zophar  and  Job :  Ch.  XX.— XXI. 

A. — Zophar:  For  a  time  indeed  the  evil-doer  can  be  prosperous;  but  so  much  the 
more  terrible  and  irremediable  will  be  hia  destruction. 

Chapter  XX. 

1.  Introduction — censuring  Job  with  violence,  and  Theme  of  the  discourse :  vers.  1-6. 

1  Then  answered  Zophar  the  Naamathite,  and  said : 

2  Therefore  do  my  thoughts  cause  me  to  answer, 
and  for  this  I  make  haste. 

3  I  have  heard  the  check  of  my  reproach, 

and  the  spirit  of  my  understanding  causeth  me  to  answer. 

4  Knowest  thou  not  this  of  old, 
since  man  was  placed  upon  earth, 

6  that  the  triumphing  of  the  wicked  is  short, 
and  the  joy  of  the  hypocrite  but  for  a  moment  ? 

2.  Expansion  of  the  theme,  showing  from  experience  that  the  prosperity  and  riches  of  the  ungodly 

must  end  in  the  deepest  misery  :  vers.  6-29. 

6  Though  his  excellency  mount  up  to  the  heavens, 
and  his  head  reach  unto  the  clouds  ; 

7  yet  he  shall  perish  forever,  like  his  own  dung : 
they  which  have  seen  him  shall  say,  Where  is  he  ? 

8  He  shall  fly  away  as  a  dream,  and  shall  not  be  found  ; 
yea,  he  shall  be  chased  away  as  a  vision  of  the  night. 

9  The  eye  also  which  saw  him  shall  see  him  no  more ; 
neither  shall  his  place  any  more  behold  him. 

10  His  children  shall  seek  to  please  the  poor, 
and  his  hands  shall  restore  their  goods. 

11  His  bones  are  full  of  the  sin  of  his  youth, 
which  shall  lie  down  with  him  in  the  dust. 

12  Though  wickedness  be  sweet  in  his  mouth, 
though  he  hide  it  under  his  tongue ; 

13  though  he  spare,  and  forsake  it  not, 
but  keep  it  still  within  his  mouth : 

14  yet  his  meat  in  his  bowels  is  turned, 
it  is  the  gall  of  asps  within  him. 

15  He  hath  swallowed  down  riches,  and  he  shall  vomit  them  up  again : 
God  shall  cast  them  out  of  his  belly. 

16  He  shall  suck  the  poison  of  asps; 
the  viper's  tongue  shall  slay  him. 

17  He  shall  not  see  the  rivers, 

the  floods,  the  brooks  of  honey  and  butter. 

18  That  which  he  labored  for  shall  he  restore,  and  shall  not  swallow  it  down : 
according  to  his  substance  shall  the  restitution  be,  and  he  shall  not  rejoice  therein. 

19  Because  he  hath  oppressed,  and  hath  forsaken  the  poor; 

because  he  hath  violently  taken  away  a  house  which  he  builded  not ; 

20  Surely  he  shall  not  feel  quietness  in  his  belly, 
he  shall  not  save  of  that  which  he  desired. 

21  There  shall  none  of  his  meat  be  left ; 
therefore  shall  no  man  look  for  his  goods. 


4C8 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


22  In  the  fulness  of  his  sufficiency  he  shall  be  in  straits ; 
every  hand  of  the  wicked  shall  come  upon  him. 

23  When  he  is  about  to  fill  his  belly, 

God  shall  cast  the  fury  of  His  wrath  upon  him, 
and  shall  rain  it  upon  him  while  he  is  eating. 

24  He  shall  flee  from  the  iron  weapon, 

and  the  bow  of  steel  shall  strike  him  through. 

25  It  is  drawn,  and  cometh  out  of  the  body ; 

yea,  the  glittering  sword  cometh  out  of  his  gall ; 
terrors  are  upon  him ! 

26  All  darkness  shall  be  hid  in  his  secret  places ; 
a  fire  not  blown  shall  consume  him  ; 

it  shall  go  ill  with  him  that  is  left  in  his  tabernacle. 

27  The  heaven  shall  reveal  his  iniquity ; 
and  the  earth  shall  rise  up  against  him. 

28  The  increase  of  his  house  shall  depart, 

and  his  goods  shall  flow  away  in  the  day  of  His  wrath. 

29  This  is  the  portion  of  a  wicked  man  from  God, 
and  the  heritage  appointed  unto  him  by  God. 

count  he  feels  called  upon  by  his  thoughts  to  an- 


EXEGETICAL  AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  A  new  variation  of  the  favorite  theme  of 
the  friends — the  perishableness  of  the  prosperity 
of  the  ungodly. — The  formula  by  which  it  is  this 
time  expressed  is  (ver.  5):  "  The  triumphing  of 
the  wicked  is  of  short  duration,  and  the  joy  of 
the  ungodly  only  for  a  moment."  In  the  further 
development  of  this  thought  the  wicked,  who  en- 
counters inevitable  destruction,  is  described  as 
a  rich  man,  who  avariciously  seizes  on  the  pos- 
sessions of  others,  and  whose  property,  unjustly 
acquired,  becomes  the  prey  of  an  exterminating 
fire  that  destroys  himself,  and  all  that  belongs 
to  him.  This  on  the  one  side  links  itself  to  the 
former  description  of  Eliphaz,  ch.  xv.  26  seq.,  on 
the  other  side,  however,  it  glances  aside  with 
malicious  suspicion  at  the  former  prosperity  of 
Job,  the  foundation  of  which  the  speaker  would 
indicate  as  presumably  impure  and  unrighteous. 
— The  discourse  is  divided  into  a  short  intro- 
duction (vers.  2-5),  and  a  discussion  extending 
through  four  strophes  of  six  verses  each  (in  one 
instance  of  five),  together  with  a  closing  verse, 
which  stands  as  an  isolated  epiphonema. 

2.  Introduction,  together  with  the  theme  of  the 
discourse :  vers.  2-5. 

Ver.  2.  Therefore  do  my  thoughts  give 

answer  to  me. — [|3 /,  by  some  rendered  "still, 
yet,"  (Umbreit,  Noyes,  Rodwell),  or  "  truly," 
(Elzas),  but  incorrectly].  J'tyn  with  Accus.  of 
the  person,  as  in  ch.  xiii.  22  [E.  V.,  "cause  me 
to  answer,"  and  so  Fiirst,  and  this  would  cor- 
respond with  Zophar's  eagerness  to  speak  ;  but 
the  other  signiiication  is  the  more  common]. 
U^DyVf  as  in  ch.  iv.  13. — And  hence  (comes) 
the  storming  -within  me. — Lit.  "  my  haste 
in  me":  V^r\  herein  the  sense  of  perturbatio  ; 
and  '3  in  immediate  connection  with  'tl'IP,  and 
more  precisely  qualifying  it,  comp.  ch.  iv.  21. — 
Both  IP?  in  a,  and  "^^^jj^S  in  b,  point  forward  io 
the  statement  given  in  ver.  3  of  the  cause   of 


swer,  and  hence  his  inward  impulse  leaves  him 
no  rest,  because  he  hears  from  Job  a  contemptu- 
ous wounding  reproof  of  himself."  Ewald,  Hahn, 
Wordsworth,  etc.,  point  backward  to  the  closing 
menace  of  Job's  discourse  (ch.  xix.  29)  as  the 
cause  of  Zophar's  feeling],  "''l^^^,  which  is  evi- 
dently separated  from  ''p^H  by  the  accentuation 
is  used  as  a  preposition  =  "  on  account  of," 
but  without  its  complement.     We  must  supply 

either  j3  (from  p7  in  a),  or  nx'f;  comp.  the 
similar  elliptical  use  of  i^D  in  Isa.  lix.  18.  To 
connect  ^13^'^  immediately  with  'I^^FI:  "be- 
cause of  my  storming  (Del.  "  because  of  my  feel- 
ing ")  ["  because  of  my  eager  haste,"  Ges.,  Con., 
Carey,  Noyes]  within  me,"  produces  a  less  sym- 
metrical structure  for  the  verse,  and  a  flatter 
sense. 

Ver.  3.  A  chiding  to  my  shame  must  I 
hear!  Comp.  Isa.  liii.  5  ["  chastisement  of  our 
peace,"  i.  e.,  which  tends  to  our  peace  ;  so  here, 
the  chastisement  or  chiding  which  tends  to  my 
shame. — The  E.  V.'s  rendering,  "check  of  my 
reproach  "  is  scarcely  intelligible.  Neither  is 
"  1  have  heard  "  sufficiently  exact  for  the  fut. 
^'Dti'X,  which  means  rather  "  I  have  to  hear."' 
— E.]. — Nevertheless  the  spirit  out  of  my 
understanding  gives  me  an  answer ;  i.  e., 
"out  of  the  fulness  of  its  perception  it  furnishes 
me  with  information  as  to  what  is  to  be  thought 
of  Job  with  his  insulting  attacks  "  (Delitzsch), 
viz.,  that  he  is  to  be  warned  and  punished  as  an 
ungodly  man.  [E.  V.,  \JJJ^\  as  Hiph.  "causeth 
me  to  answer  ;'""  better  as  Kul  "  answereth,"  and 
thus  equivalent  to  2"dTl,  ver.  2.  This  exor- 
dium is  strikingly  suggestive  of  the  prominent 
traits  of  Zophar's  character  ;  his  mental  discur- 
siveness and  vivacity,  or  perhaps  volatility,  in- 
dicated by  D'D},W,  his  thoughts  shot  forth  in 
various  directions  ;  his  eager  impetuosity,  '1^111, 
he  could  scarcely  contain  himself  until  Job  bad 
finished,  and  then  broke  out  hotly;  his  proud 
sensitive   egotism,  especially  prominent  in  ver. 


Job's  discontent  and  excitement.     [''  Onthisac-    3  a,   "the  chiding  of  wiy  shame   must  /  hear; 


CHAP.  XX.  1-20. 


469 


his  subjective  self-sufficient  dogmatism — 'Hhei 
spirit  out  of  viy  understanding  gives  answer."  It 
is  questionable  whether  niT  here  is  to  be  taken 
as  Renan  explains,  of  the  universal  (not  as  he 
terms  it  "impersonal")  spirit  (comp.  ch.  xxxii. 
8),  speaking  in  man.  The  dogmatic  character 
of  the  speaker,  and  the  prominence  which  he 
gives  to  his  own  personality,  is  not  altogether  in 
harmony  with  such  a  view.  Moreover,  Elihu  is 
put  forward  by  the  poet  as  the  representative 
of  an  internal  revelation,  even  as  Eliphaz  re- 
presents the  external.  Zophar  on  the  other  hand 
represents  the  individual  reason,  as  Bildad  re- 
presents the  collective  traditional  wisdom  of  the 
race.     See  Introduction. — E.]. 

Vers.  4,  5  present  the  substance  of  these  com- 
munications of  Zophar's  spirit  in  the  form  of  a 
question  addressed  to  Job. 

Ver.  5.  Know^est  thou  this  indeed  [either 
"the  question  implying  that  the  contrary  would 
be  inferred  from  Job's  language"  (Con.),  or 
"sarcastically,  equivalent  to:  thou  surely  know- 
est ;  or  in  astonishment,  what!  dost  thou  not 
know!"  (Pel.)  hence  it  is  unnecessai-y  (with  E. 
v.,  Ges.,  etc.),  to  supply  the  negative,  H  =  X/H] 
from  eternity  {i.  e.,  to  be  true,  l^-'JD,  as  a 
■virtual  adjective,  or  as  a  virtual  predicate-ac- 
cusative, Ewald  §  336,  b),  since  man  was 
placed  upon  the  earth.  D'^  Infinit.  with  an 
indefinite  subject,  "  since  one  placed  "  [or,  since 
the  placing  of]  as  in  ch.  xiii.  9. — DIX,  not  pre- 
cisely a  proper  name,  referring  to  the  first  man, 
but  collective  or  generic;  comp.  Deut.  iv.  32. 

Ver.  5.  That  the  triumphing  of  the 
wicked  is  short  (lit.,  from  near,  i.  e.,  not  ex- 
tending far;  comp.  Deut.  xxxii.  17;  Jer.  xxiii. 
23),  and  the  joy  of  the  ungodly  only  for  a 
moment.— 'l;^  in  J.'J'?"'."}^..  like  Ij;  in  2  Kings 
ix.  22  expresses  the  idea  of  duration,  "  during, 
for."  The  whole  question  is  intended  to  convey 
doubt  and  wonder  that  Job,  judging  by  his 
speeches,  was  entirely  unacquainted  with  the 
familiar  proposition  touching  the  short  duration 
of  the  triumphing  of  the  wicked  which  is  made 
the  theme  of  what  follows.  [This  is  Zophar's 
short  and  cutting  rejoinder  to  Job's  triumphant 
outburst  in  ch.  xix.  25  seq. — That  jubilant  ex- 
clamation was,  as  Zophar  indirectly  suggests,  a 
J^K'T   nJJ"!,  that  exulting  joy  a  ^JH   nmjff]. 

3.  The  expansion  of  the  theme:  vers.  6-29. 

First  Strophe:  Vers.  6-11.  [The  wicked,  how- 
ever prosperous,  perishes  utterly,  together  with 
his  family  and  acquisitions;  he  himself  in  the 
prime  of  life]. 

Ver.  6.  Though  his  height  (N"i^  from  Kti'J, 
comp.  XW  Ps.  Ixxxix.  10)  [?.  c.,  his  exaltation 
in  rank  and  power]  mount  up  to  Heaven, 
and  his  head  reach  unto  the  clouds;  comp. 
Isa.  xiv.  13  seq. ;  Obad.  4.     [J^'JH,  not  causative 

(Del.),  but  parallel  to  nSj^,  as  E?K"1  to  N'tJ']. 

Ver.  7.  Like  his  dung  he  perishes  for- 
ever ;  they  who  have  seen  him  say : 
Where  is  he?— The  subj.  here  is  the  ^:p, 
ver.  5  b,  and  so  continues  to  the  end  of  the  de- 
scription. 177J3,  "like  his  dung,"  from  Sj, 
globulus  siercoris,  Zeph.i.  17;  Ezek.  iv.  12,16  (comp. 


77J,  1  Kings  xiv.  10).  This  comparison,  which 
beyond  a  doubt  expresses  a  meaning  which  is 
unfavorable  and  disgraceful  to  the  ungodly  man, 
refers  to  his  own  dung;  in  the  same  way  that  this 
is  at  once  swept  away,  on  account  of  its  ill  odor, 
so  is  he  speedily  removed  by  the  Divine  judg- 
ment (comp.  Ezek.  1.  c. ).  In  regard  to  the  coarse 
harshness  of  the  expression,  comp.  below,  ver. 
15,  as  also  Zophar's  former  discourse,  ch.  xi.  12. 
["The  word  is  not  low,  as  Ezek.  iv.  12;  Zeph. 
i.  17  shows,  and  the  figure,  though  revolting,  is 
still  very  expressive."  Delitzsch].  The  follow- 
ing explanations  involve  an  unsuitable  softening 
[and  weakening]  of  the  sense.  (1 )  The  attempt 
of  Wetzstein  in  Delitzsch  [I.  377  seq.  adopted  by 

Del.  and  Merx]  to  identify  'Hl^  with  the  cow- 
dung  heaped  up  for  fuel  in  the  'dwelling  of  the 
wicked.  (2)  The  attempt  of  Schultens,  Ewald, 
Hirz.,  Heiligst.,  [Con.],  to  read  iSSj3,  "accord- 

T  :  • 

ing  to  hia  greatness,  in  proportion  as  he  was 
great,"  from  77j,  magnificentia,  majestas  [Good 
(followed  by  Wemyss)  adopts  this  with  the  ad- 
ditional amendment  of  2  to  3,  understanding 
the  passage  to  teach  that  the  wicked  perishes  in 
the  midst  of  his  greatness].  (3)  The  unfounded 
translation  of  the  Syriac:  "like  the  whirlwind" 

[regarding  SSj,  or  Sj  as  =  SjSj,  and  so  Fiirst, 
who  however  defines  it  to  mean  "  chaff."  Either 
of  these  renderings,  as  well  as  Wetzstein's,  makea 
the  suffix  superfluous, — E.].  (4)  The  equally 
untenable  rendering  of  some  of  the  Rabbis  (as 
Gekatilia,  Nachamanides):  "as  he  turns  him- 
self," or  "  in  turning  around,  as  one  turns  the 
hand  around." 

Ver.  8.  As  a  dream  he  flies  away  [and  is 
no  more  to  be  found :  and  he  is  scared 
away  as  a  vision  of  the  night].— For  the 
use  of  "dream"  and  "night-vision"  (jTin  as 
in  ch.  iv.  13  ["  so  everywhere  in  the  book  of  Job 
instead  of  jifn,  from  which  it  perhaps  differs  as 
visum  from  visio,"  Delitzsch]),  as  figures  for  that 
which  is  fleeting,  quickly  perishable,  comp.  Isa. 
xxix.  7;  Ps.  Ixxiii.  20;  xc.  5.  Tn;,  Iliph.:  "is 
scared  away,"  to  wit,  by  God's  judicial  inter- 
vention; a  stronger  expression  than  the  Active 
^^],  "  he  flies." 

Ver.  9.  An  eye  has  looked  upon  him 

(been  sharply  fixed  upon  hira;  ^Cd  as  in  ch. 
xxviii.  7);  it  does  it  not  again  ;  comp.  ch.  v. 
3;  vii.  8;  viii.  18.  [The  verb  ^p  is  found  in 
Cant.  i.  6  in  the  sense  of  scorching,  or  making 
swarthy  (cogn.  ^VJ  adurere).  Hence  the  sig- 
nification of  a  fixed  scorching  look  is  attached  to 
it  by  Delitzsch.  It  may  at  least  be  said  of  it 
that  it  means  as  much  as  our  "  scan,"  or  "  gaze 
upon."  It  is  suggested  perhaps  by  the  lofty  po- 
sition, the  heaven-touching,  cloud-capped  atti- 
tude of  the  wicked  in  ver.  6.  Such  a  height, 
which  the  sun  would  ij]^'^)  look  on,  and  cause 
to  glow,  the  eye  of  man  would  {^Vd)  gaze  on  in- 
tently. The  clause  is  thus  equivalent  to:  There 
was  a  time  when  he  was  the  observed  of  all  ob- 
servers, but  it  is  so  no  more  — E.]. — And  bis 


470 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


place  beholds  him  no  more. — io"ip?p,  which 
is  doubtless  the  subject  of  b,  is  here  construed  as 
a  feminine,  as  in  Gen.  xviii.  24;  2  Sam.  xvii.  12. 
Ver.  10.  His  children  must  seek  to  please 
the  poor.— li*^',  3d  plur.  Piel  from  TXH^  =  to 

propitiate,  appease,  synonymous  with  Dvn 
'S'^Jp  ,  an  expression  wliich  is  to  be  understood 
in  a  sense  altogether  general,  and  not  specifi- 
cally of  asking  alms  [Barnes:  "  they  would  be 
beggars  of  beggars"]  nor  of  appeasing  by  the 
use  of  money,  although  the  second  member  ap- 
proximates the  latter  meaning  quite  closely. 
The  ancient  versions  read  1X1%  or  12fi>"^'  (from 
V}fT),  and  thus  obtained  the  meaning,  which  is 
far  less  suitable,  "His  sons  (object)  the  lowly 
smite  down."  [Ewald,  adopting  this  definition 
for  the  verb,  and  amending  VJ3  to  VJDn  trans- 

"      TT  t: T 

lates:  "his  fists  smote  down  the  weak"]. — 
And  his  hands  (must)  give  back  his 
•wealth:  to  wit,  by  the  hands  of  his  children, 
who  will  have  to  appease  the  creditors  of  their 
father.  ["  The  suffix  in  VT  might  refer  back, 
in  the  way  of  individualization,  to  the  plural  in 
D^j:}  (so  Noyes) ;  but  against  this  is  the  fact  that 
also  in  the  following  verse  the  wicked  man  is  the 
subject  of  the  discourse."  Schlott.].  The  mean- 
ing would  be  much  less  simple  if  (with  Carey, 
Dillmann)  [Bernard,  Renan,  Lee],  "  his  hands" 
were  understood  literally,  and  after  the  pre- 
ceding mention  of  his  death  wo  were  carried 
back  here  to  the  period  of  his  life. 

Ver.  11.  His  bones  were  full  of  youthful 
vigor  (so  correctly  the  LXX.,  Targ.,  Pesh. — 
while  the  Vulg.,  Rosenm.,  Vaih.,  etc.,  under- 
stand it  of  "secret  sins,"  and  comp.  Ps.  xc.  8), 
[Jerome,  however,  followed,  by  E.  V.,  Lee,  and 
Barnes,  combining  the  two  ideas  of  sin  and 
youth,  while  Renan,  Good,  Wemyss,  Carey,  ren- 
der "secret  sins."  Our  other  authorities,  Ew., 
Dillmann,  Schlott.,  Rodwell,  Words.,  Con.,  Ber., 
Elz.,  with  Ges.  and  Fiirst  agree  with  the  LXX., 
eic.l. — and  it  lies  down  with  him  in  the 
dust;  or  "  it  is  laid  down,"  viz.,  his  youthful 
vigor;  for  the  use  of  22WI^  referring  back  to 
VDH^,  comp.  ch.   xiv.   19;    Ps.  ciii.   5  6.     For 

"dust,"  meaning  the  "grave,"  comp.  ch.  xix. 
25;  xvii.  16. 

Second  Strophe:  Vers.  12-16.  A  description 
of  the  perishableness  of  the  ungodly  man's  pros- 
perity by  a  comparison  with  poison,  sweet  to 
the  taste,  but  deadly  in  its  results. 

Vers.  12,  13  are  the  protasis  dependent  on  DX 
ver.  14  seq.,  the  apodosis. — Ver.  12.  Though 
evil  tastes  sweet  in  his  mouth  (p'riOH  lit., 
"makes  sweet,"  Ewald,  §  122,  c  [Greeii,  §  79, 
2]);  he  hides  it  under  his  tongue,  i.  e.,  he 
does  not  swallow  it  down,  in  order  to  enjoy  the 
sweet  taste  of  it  so  much  the  longer  ["  the  evil- 
doer likened  to  an  epicure,"  Delitzsch. — Renan: 
Comme  un  bonbon  qu'  on  laisse  fondre  dans  la 
bouche]. 

Ver.  13.  He  is  sparing  of  it  (Son  to  in- 
dulge, to  spare,  here  with  7j;,  the  preposition 
commonly  used  with  verbs  of  covering,  protect- 
ing, guarding)  and  does  not  let  it  go,  and 


retains  it  in  his  palate. — The  tenacity  with 
which  the  evil-doer  persists  in  the  lustful  enjoy- 
ment of  his  wickedness,  is  set  forth  by  five  pa- 
rallel and  essentially  synonymous  expressions 
accumulated  together. 

Ver.  14.  (Nevertheless)  his  food  is  changed 
in  his  bow^els — into  what  is  explained  in  the 
second  member.  The  poison  of  asps  is 
within  him.— ninn  (=miO,  chan.  xvi.  13), 

T       :     ^  T  ••  :  '  ' 

lit.  "gall,"  is  used  here  for  "poison," — because 
the  ancients  used  interchangeably  terms  repre- 
senting the  bitter  and  the  poisonous;  comp. 
U'N"l=:a  bitter,  poisonous  plant  and  the  poison 
of  serpents,  in  ver.  16;  Deut.  xxxii.  33.  The 
word  is  naturally  chosen  here  as  antithetic  to 
pTIDH,  verse  12.  [On  D'jn3  see  below,  ver. 
IG.] 

Ver.  15.  He  hath  swallowed  down  riches. 
—  '!D>  "possessions,  riches,  property,"  without 
the  accompanying  notion  of  forcible  acquisition 
which   rather   first   makes    its    appearance    in 

i?73.  God  will  cast  them  forth  again  out 
of  his  belly — i.e.,  his  riches,  or  that  which  he 
has  swallowed.  The  greedy  devourer  of  wealth 
will  be  made  to  vomit  it  forth,  as  by  pains  of 
colic.  The  LXX.,  from  motives  of  decorum, 
substituted  ayyeXog  here  for  i?£(5f ;  in  Zophar's 
mouth,  however,  the  latter  word  need  not  sur- 
prise us. 

Ver.  16  returns  back  to  the  figure  of  ver.  lib 
in  order  to  describe  more  minutely  the  elfect  of 
the  poison  which  he  had  been  enjoying.  [He 
sucked  in  the  poison  of  asps],  the  tongue 
of  adders  slays  him — the  tongue  being  re- 
garded as  the  seat  or  container  of  the  poison 
(Ps.  cxl.  4  [3]),  the  original  figure  being  at  the 
same  time  changed,  and  the  fatal  bite  taking  the 
place  of  the  deadly  draught;  comp.  Prov.  xxiii. 
32.  [I^Hr?'  LXX.  aoTiic;  according  to  some,  e.g., 
KiTTO,  Pictorial  Bible,  the  boeten  of  the  Arabs, 
about  a  foot  long,  spotted  black  and  white,  the 
bite  instantly  fatal;  according  to  others,  the  el- 
Ilaje  of  the  Arabs,  from  three  to  five  feet  long, 
dark  green,  with  oblique  bands  of  brown,  resem- 
bling the  cobra  di  capello  in  its  power  of  swell- 
ing the  neck  and  rising  on  its  tail  in  striking  its 
prey.  The  Hjl^iJX  cannot  be  determined.  See 
the  Dictionaries  and  Cyclopsedias,  "Asp,"  "Vi- 
per," "Serpent,"  etc.'] 

Third  Strophe:  Vers.  17-22.  [The  evil-doer 
cannot  enjoy  his  prosperity — for  he  must  restore 
his  ill-gotten  gains.] 

Ver.  17.  He  may  not  delight  in  the  sight 
of  (J  HNI  as  in  chap.  iii.  9)  brooks,  streams, 
rivers  of  honey  and  cream. — [The  negative 

/X  and  the  apocopated  NT  express  the  concur- 
rence of  the  speaker's  moral  judgment  and  feel- 
ing with  the  aflirmation  of  the  fact.  They  are 
a  mental  Amen  to   the  prediction. — E.]     After 

mj7p  in  the  absol.  state  there  follow  in  apposi- 
tion two  nouns  in  the  construct  state,  '7D^  '?l!^' 
which  form  an  assonance,  and  are  co-ordinate. 
[Dillmann:  "It  is  a  more  poetic  artistic  expres- 
sion than  the  simple  nxDH  "'*7n:i  m^^  nnj." 

Hupfeld  conjectures  that  'inj  may  be  a  gloss. 


CHAP.  XX.  1-29. 


471 


See  Gesen.  §255,  3a.]  "Honey  and  milk"  (or 
here,  by  way  of  gradation,  "cream,"  comp.  Isa. 
vii.  15,  22)  are  a  familiar  figurative  expression 
denoting  luxurious  prosperity,  as  in  Ex.  iii.  8, 
17,  and  often;  found  also  in  the  ancient  classical 
poets,  in  their  descriptions  of  the  golden  age; 
e.g..  Theocritus,  Idyll.  V.  124seq.;  Ovid,  Mciam. 
I  lllseq.:  Fluminajamlactis,jumflximinanccta- 
ris  ibant;  comp.  Virgil,  Eel.  IV.  30;  Horace, 
Epod.  16,  47. 

Ver.  18.  Giving  back  that  which  he  has 
labored  for  (>.'r,  subst.  synonymous  with  jrr) 
[the  participial  clause  ^T  3''ti/0  coming  first,  and 
assigning  the  reason  for  what  follows]  he  en- 
joys it  not — lit.  he  swallows  it  not,  he  will  not 
be  happy.  According  to  the  property  of  his 
exchange  (miOiT^  as  in  chap.  xv.  31)  he  re- 
joices not — i.  e.,  in  accordance  with  the  fact 
that  he  employed  sinful,  unjust  means  of  ex- 
change, in  order  to  gain  temporal  possessions 
and  enjoyments,  he  has  no  pleasure  in  the  latter, 
he  must  lack  the  joy  which  he  bad  promised 
himself  in  them.  So  correctly  Ewald,  Delitzsch, 
Dillmann,  etc.;  while  Hirzel  and  others  [E.  V. 
Lee,  Bernard,  Renan,  Rodwell],  following  the 

Targum,  translate  as  though  instead  of  '^'HJ 
ir\"l-10n,  the  passage  read  ''Oil  1  Tni)  ("as  his 
possessions,  so  his  exchange,'  i.e.,  his  restitu- 
tion). Gesenius,  Schlottmann  [Conant,  Elzas] 
render:  "as  his  property  that  is  to  be  exchanged, 
i.e.,  to  be  restored"  (similarly  Hupfeld:  sicut 
opes  permutando  comparatas),  which,  however, 
yields  a  strained  sense  [and  is  also  "contrary  to 
the  relative  independence  of  the  separate  lines 
of  the  verse,  which  our  poet  almost  always  pre- 
serves, and  is   also  opposed  by  the  intei'posing 

of  yhy   N7l."  Del.     Carey  explains:    "to  the 

full  amount  of  its  value,"  taking  rT\  in  the  sense 
of  "power,"  or  "fullness" — a  doubtful  signifi- 
cation when  used  in  connection  with  property. 

To  be   noted   is   D7j^   in   our  Book   for  I/^  or 

Ver.  19.  For  he  crushed,  abandoned  the 
poor — i.  e.,  maltreated  with  persistent  injustice 
the  unprotected  and  defenceless.  He  has  taken 
houses  (lit.  "a  house,"  collective)  for  his 
plunder,  and  builded  them  not — i.  e.,  has 
not  re-builded  them,  has  not  reached  the  point 
of  reconstructing  and  fitting  them  up  according 
to  his  own  taste,  because  he  was  not  allowed  to 
retain  permanent  possession  of  them.  Against 
the  rendering  of  the  Targ.,  Vulg.,  etc.,  also  of 
Hupfeld  [andE.V.]:  "he  has  plundered  a  house 
which  he  builded  not,"  it  may  be  urged  that  in 

that  case   it   must  have   read   inj3  Hn.      The 

TT  : 

causal  relation  in  which  the  first  member  is 
placed  to  the  second  by  Delitzsch:  "because  be 
cast  down,  let  the  destitute  lie  helpless,  he  shall 
not,  in  case  he  has  seized  a  house,  build  it  up" 
[Conant:  "the  houses  he  has  plundered  he  shall 
not  build  up"]  is  indicated  with  too  little  clear- 
ness by  the  ''2  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse,  and 
yields  a  meaning  entirely  too  artificial.  [Other 
couBtructions,  according  to  the  causal  rendering 


of  '2,  are  (a)  That  of  the  E.  V.:  "Because  he 
hath  oppressed  and  hath  forsaken  the  poor:  be- 
cause  he  hath  violently  taken  away  a  house  which 
he  builded  not;  surely  ho  shall  not,"  etc.;  which 
cannot  be  justified  in  rendering  ''2  difl'erently  in 
ver.  19  and  in  ver.  20.  (b)  That  of  Noyes  and 
Rodwell,  who  introduce  the  apodosis  in  20 i. 
(c)  That  of  Good,  Lee,  Wemyss,  Carey, — which 

assumes  the  apodosis  to  be  introduced  by  \2~1^ 
in  ver.  21  6.— E.]. 

Ver.  20.  For  ('2  co-ordinate  to  that  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  preceding  verse)  he  knew  no 
rest  in  his  belly:  the  seat  of  his  gluttony  or 

avarice.  r7p  here  a  substantive  (differently 
from  chap.  xvi.  12,  where  it  is  an  adjective),  sy- 
nonymous with  riwC',  Prov.  xvii.  1.  For  the 
sentiment  comp.  Isa.  lix.  8.  [E.  V.:  "he  shall 
not  feel  quietness,"  etc.,  overlooks  the  distinction 

of  tenses  in  the  verse:  )?y  Perfect,  £370''  Im- 
perf.  Whether  we  translate  "'3  "for"  or  "be- 
cause," there  is  a  relation  of  antecedent  and 
consequent  between  a  and  b.  This  has  been  the 
evil-doer's  character — insatiable  voracity;  this 
shall  be  his  doom — to  be  stripped  of  every  thing. 
— E.]     (Therefore)  he  shall  not  escape  w^ith 

his  dearest  treasure. — CDvO  without  an  ob- 
ject=to  escape,  like  £373,  chap,  xxiii.  7;  or 
also=1^£)J  £3^p,  comp.  Amos  ii.  15.  The  2  in 
nionS  is  the  2  of  accompaniment  or  of  posses- 
sion, as  in  chap.  xix.  20.  [Not,  therefore,  in- 
strumental (Schlottmann — the  object  conceived 
of  as  the  instrument),  nor  partitive:  "of  all  his 
delights  he  shall  save  nothing"  (Conant).  The 
rendering  of  Carey,  Elzas,  etc.:  "in  his  appetite 
he  let  (or  lets)  nothing  escape,"  is  inadmissible 
on  account  of  the  passive  form  of  llOn,  which 
signifies  not  the  act,  but  the  object,  of  desire. 
-E.] 

Ver.  21.  Nothing  escaped  his  greediness 
[or  gluttony]:  lit.  "there  is  nought  of  a  re- 
mainder [or  of  that  which  has  escaped]   to  his 

food — comp.  ch.  xviii.  19.  [17DX  from  7JX,  not 
/2ii  (E.  V.  "meat");  hence,  more  literally  still 
than  above:  "there  is  nothing  that  h.'is  escaped 
his  eating"].     Therefore  his  wealth   shall 

not  endure. —  /TT,  as  in  Ps.  x.  5,  means  "to 
be  solid,  powerful,  enduring."  2^0,  "wealth," 
or  also  "prosperity,"  as  in  ch.  xxi.  16.  [E.  V.: 
"no  man  shall  look  for  his  goods,"  which  can 

only  mean  (with  v'TT'),  no  one  shall  wait  for  his 
property  as  his  heir, — a  meaning  both  less  sim- 
ple and  less  suitable  than  the  above.] 

Ver.  22.  In  the  fullness  of  his  superfluity 
it  is  strait  with  him — /.  e.,  distress  overtakes 
him,  meaning  external  poverty  (not  internal  an- 
guish,   etc.),    as    b    shows.       The    Inf.    constr. 

nixSn  (written  like  mx^p,  Judg.  viii.  1),  from 

nSd,  after  the  analogy  of  ^TT),  verbs;  comp. 
Gesen.  ?75  [§74],  Rems.  20  and  21  [Green, 
§166,  2]'.     Ii*'  with  retracted  tone  for  "ii*;.  ["on 


472 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


account  of  the  following  monosyllable."  Del.]; 
comp.  Gen.  xxxii.  8;  Ewald,  §232  6.— Every 
hand  of  a  -wretched  one  (comp.  chap.  iii.  20) 
comes  upon  him  (comp.  chap.  xv.  21) — viz.:  to 
inflict  retribution  on  him  for  the  violence  suf- 
fered at  his  hands,  or  in  order  to  demand  of  him 
plundered  property.  [The  primary  reference  is 
doubtless  to  the  victims  of  his  own  rapacity,  al- 
though we  may  give  it,  with  Delitzsch,  a  more 
general  application:  "the  rich  uncompassionate 
man  becomes  a  defenceless  prey  of  the  proleta- 
ries."] So  according  to  the  reading  7pj?,  comp. 
chap.  iii.  20.  If,  following  the  LXX.  and  the 
Vulg.  (with  Eichhorn,  De  Wette,  etc.),  we  read 

7D^,  we  obtain  the  meaning — in  itself  indeed 
admissible,  but  less  in  harmony  with  vers.  19- 
21:  "the  whole  power  of  misery  comes  upon 
him."  [So  Rodwell.  Bernard,  Noyes  and  Renan 
take  T  as  in  chap,  xxxiii.  2,  for  "wound"  or 
"blow;'  and  translate:  " every  blow  of  misfor- 
tune" (Ren.),  or  "every  blow  of  the  wretched," 
i.  e.,  every  blow  which  cometh  upon  the  wretched 
(Noyes),  or  every  blow,  every  plague  that  can 
render  a  man  miserable  (Bernard).] 

Fourth  Strophe:  vers.  23-28.  The  end  of  the 
•wicked  according  to  the  divine  judgment. 

Ver.  23.  That  it  may  serve  to  the  filling 
of  his  belly,  He  casts  the  glow  of  His 
w^rath  upon  him.  —  The  subject  is  God, 
although  He  is  not  expressly  named ;  as  in  ch. 
xvi.  7.  The  Jussive  ""H],  at  the  head  of  the 
verse,  is  rendered  by  most  as  a  simple  future  : 
"it  shall  come  to  pass,"  viz.  that  which  follows. 
But  to  express  this  we  should  rather  expect 
rrm  (as  frequently  with  the  prophets),  or  ''H]! 
(as  frequently  in  prose).  For  this  reason  the 
construction   of  the   Jussive   as   dependent   on 

nHty  is  to  be  preferred  to  any  other  (so  Stickel, 
Hahn  [Ewald],  Dillmann,  etc.).  [It  is  certainly 
simpler,  and  in  the  spirit  and  style  of  Zophar  in 
this  discourse  to  take  'H'  as  an  independent 
verb,  forming  the  first  of  the  series  of  jussives 
in  this  verse,  each  of  which  expresses  the  strong 
sympathy   of  his    feelings  with  the  result  which 

he  predicts.  See  above  on  XT~7N,  ver.  17; 
and  Dillmann's  remark  below. — E.] — The  Jus- 
sives vhp''  and  "^(30^1,  however,  are  to  be 
explained  on  the  ground  that  the  passage  is 
intended  to  set  forth  the  necessity  for  God's 
punitive  agency  as  established  in  the  divine 
order  of  the  world  ["and  at  the  same  time  to 
indicate  his  own  agreement  therewith."  Dillm.]. 
In  regard  to  the  descent  of  the  divine  wrath  in 
the  form  of  a  rain  of  fire,  comp.  above  on  ch. 
xviii.  15. — As  to  the  phrase:  "to  fill  the  belly 
of  any  one,"  comp  above  ver.  20;  Luke  xv.  16. 
— Arid  causes  to  rain  upon  him  ■with  his 
food. — (3  serving  to  introduce  the  object; 
comp.  ch.  xvi.  4,  10).  The  subject  here  again 
is  God.  The  food  which  He  causes  to  rain  upon 
the  wicked,  to  wit,  his  just  punishment  (comp.  ch. 
ix.  18;  Jer.  ix.   14   [15])   is  called   "his  food" 

(I'onS),  viz.  that  of  the  wicked,  that  which  he  is 
appointed  to  feed  upon.     [Ewald:   "raiu  upon 


him  what  can  satisfy  him." — Schlottm.:  "Such 
a  rain  of  fire,  figuratively  speaking,  is  to  be  the 
food  of  the  ungodly,  instead  of  the  former  dainty 
morsel  of  wickedness  (comp.  vers.  12,  13)." — 
Wordsworth:  "He  surfeited  himself  with  rapine, 
and  God  will  make  him  surfeit  with  His  revenge." 
— Carey:  "Just  as  in  Ps.  xi.  6,  the  wicked  are 
said  to  drink  snares,  fire  and  brimstone,  so  here 
the  glutton  shall  have  them  for  food."]  It  is 
possible  also  to  refer  the  suffix  to  God.  Much 
too  artificial  is  the  rendering  of  theTarg.,  Aben- 
Ezra,  Gerson,  Delitzsch:  "He  causeth  it  to  rain 
upon  him  into  his  flesh," — although  to  be  sure 

on?  might  in  accordance  with  Zepb.  i.  17  mean 
"flesh."  [In  Zeph.,  however,  the  parallelism: 
"and  their  blood  is  poured  forth  as  dust,  and 

their  flesh  (DOn/)  as  dung,"  makes  the  appli- 
cation clear;  whereas  here  the  whole  context 
points  to  the  usual  literal  application. — E.] — 

lO'^J?,  poetic,  full-toned  form  for  V/}?  as  in  ch. 
xxii.  2;  xxvii.  23.  ["The  morally  indignant 
speech  which  threatens  punishment,  intention- 
ally seeks  after  rare  solemn  words,  and  dark- 
some tones."  Delitzsch.     The  partial  assonance 

of  1Dir\73  ID'bj^  may  also  have  had  some  influ- 
ence in  determining  this  form,  which  in  this 
instance  at  least  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as 
plur.,  on  account  of  the  pointed  individual 
application  to  Job.  The  rendering  of  E.  V., 
Good,  Lee,  Wem.,  Rod.,  Elz.:  "and  shall  rain 
it  upon  him  while  he  is  eating,"  is  at  variance 
with  the  form,  and  misses  the  striking  force  of 
the  figure  as  given  above. — E.] 

Vers.  24  seq.  describe  how  the  divine  decree 
of  wrath  is  historically  realized  by  the  intro- 
duction of  several  illustrations,  the  first  being 
that  of  a  warlike  pursuit  and  wounding  ["a 
highly  picturc'^que  description."  Ewald]. — If 
he  flee  from  the  iron  armor  (comp.  ch.  xxxis. 
21),  a  bow  of  brass  (P.<».  xviii.  35)  pierces 
him  through  (comp.  Judg.  v.  2(3).  [If  he 
escapes  one  danger,  it  is  only  to  fall  into  ano- 
ther, and  from  the  same  source].  The  two 
members  of  the  verse,  which  are  put  together 
asyndetically,  are  related  to  each  other  as  ante- 
cedent and  consequent,  as  in  ch.  xix.  4. 

Ver.  25.  He  draw^s  it  out  {viz.  the  a'row,  in 
order  to  save  his  life,  comp.  Judg.  iii.  22). 
[The  Targ.  reads  HUD:  he  (the  enemy,  or  God) 
draws,  and  it  (the  sword)  comes  out  of  its 
sheath;  against  which  Delitzsch  objects  that  1J 
cannot  signify  vagina.  Carey  also  translates 
^Sty,  "it  is  drawn,"  i.  e.  the  sword  of  the  pur- 
suing enemy,  who  plunges  it  into  him,  and  then 
draws  it  out  again;  but  this  is  much  less  natu- 
ral, aTid  mars  the  terrible  viviilucss  of  the 
description  given  of  his  unavailing  struggle  with 
his  doom.— E.]— Then  it  comes  forth  out 
of  the  body;  or  also  "out  of  the  back,"  in 
case  mj,  after  the  analogy  of  mPIJ,  ch.  iii.  4, 
should'be  identified  with  11     But  the  difiiculty 

of  accomplishing  such  a  manipulation  of  the 
weapon  scarcely  permits  this  assumption  (ail  opted 
among  (he  moderns  by  Dillmann),  ["The  evil- 
doer is  imagined  as  hit  in  the  back,  the  arrow 


CHAP.  XX.  1-29. 


473 


consequently  as  passing  out  at  the  front."  Del.], 
which,  moreover,  has  against  it  the  following 
member:  and  the  gleaming  steel  (comes) 
out  of  his  gall  (comp.  eh.  xvi.  IS;  and  above 
on  ver.  14  of  this  ch.).  In  regard  to  p"13,  lit. 
"lightning,"  here  "gleaming  steel,  metal  head" 
(not  a  "stream  of  blood,"  as  Hahn  explains  it), 
comp.  Deut.  xxxii.  41;  Nah.  iii.  3;  Hab.  iii.  ll. 
— Upon  him  (come)  the  terrors  of  death. — 
The  plur.  D'pN  (from  nO'N,  ch.  ix.  34;  xiii. 
21)  could  indeed  be  connected  as  subject  with 
^7(1'  construed  ad  sensum  (Hahn,  Delitzsch), 
[Conant] ;  but  the  accents  connect  Tbn^  rather 
with  the  second  member  of  the  verse,  so  that 
some  such  verb  as  "come,  break  upon,"  must 

be  supplied  with  D'OX  Vl^.  Equally  opposed 
to  the  accents,  and  altogether  too  difficult  is  the 
rendering  of  Rosenraiiller  and  Hirzel  [Schultens, 
Carey]:  "he  goes  [departs,  "he  is  going!" 
Carey]  terrors  upon  him,"  i.  e.,  while  terrors 
are  upon  him. 

Ver,  2G.  Further  description  of  the  divine 
decree  of  punishment,  with  special  reference  to 
the  wicked  man's  possessions. — All  darkness 
is  hoarded  up  for  his  treasures,  i.  e.,  every 
kind  of  calamity,  by  divine  appointment,  awaits 
the  treasures  which  he  has  gathered  and  laid 
up  (D'J^S^  as  in  Ps.  xvii.  14;  comp.  Deut.  xxxiii. 
19).  To  the  agency  of  the  earthly-minded  evil- 
doer storing  up  treasures  for  himself  corres- 
ponds the  agency  of  God  in  opposition  storing 
up  the  destruction  which  is  destined  to  overtake 
them.  Comp.  ■&eaavpi(^eLv  eavTo  opy/'/v,  Rom.  ii. 
5.     [As  Delitzsch  suggests,   there  is  somewhat 

of  a  play  upon  words  in  VJ^SJf?  |^DD]. — A 
fire  which  is  not  blown  consumes  him, 

lit.  "which  was  not  blown"  (n3J~K7,  a  rela- 
tive clause,  Gesenius,  §143,  1  [§  121,  3],  hence 
a  "fire  of  God"  burning  down  from  hea- 
ven (comp.  ch.   i.  16;  xviii.  15;  Is.   xxxiii.    11 

Beq.).  ^ny.^f^O  ^^  most  simply  explained  (with 
Ewald,  Hupfeld,  Dillmann)  [Fiirst,  Conant],  as 
an  alternate  form  of  the  Jussive  Kal,  instead  of 

the  more  common  ^n7pxn,  comp.  Ewald,  §  253, 
a.  [Gesenius  takes  it  as  Piel  for  inVSNP,  with 
lengthened  vowel  in  place  of  Daghesh-forte ; 
Delitzsch  as  Poel  with  Hholem  shortened  to  Ka- 
mets-Khatuph ;  Hirzel,  Olsh.,  Green  (§  93,  a; 

I  111,  2,  e)  as  Pual  for  inSsxp,  with  the  ren- 
dering: "a  fire  not  blown  shall  be  made  to  con- 
sume them."  In  n£3p  the  gender  of  E'N  is  dis- 
regarded, the  adoption  of  the  masc.  in  both  the 
verbs  T^BI  and  J^T"  making  the  personification 
of  the  supernatural  fire  more  vivid.  See  on 
nn  ch.  i.  19. — E.] — It  must  devour  that 
which  survives  (that  which  has  escaped  for- 
mer judgments;  T"|ty  as  in  ver.  21)  in  his 
tent. — •>  T  is  Jussive  Kal  [to  be  explained  like 
the  preceding  Jussives,  vers.  17,  23]  from  Dj^l. 
"to  graze,  to  feed  upon,"  the  subject  here  being 
B'N  used  in  the  maec. ;  comp.  for  this  rare  maso. 


usage  of  E'X  Ps.  civ.  4;  Jerem.  xlviii.  45.  01s- 
hausen's  emendation  to  ^T  (Jussive  Niph.= 
"  it  shall  be  devoured  ")  is  unnecessary.  [E.  V., 
Bernard,  Barnes,  Carey,  etc.,  render:  "It  shall 
fare  ill  with  him  that  is  left,"  etc.,  or  "That 
which  is  left,  etc.,  shall  perish,  or  be  destroyed" 
(Lee,  Wemyss,  Elzas,  etc.),  some  deriving  the 
form  from  ^11,  "to  fare  ill,"  others  from  J^T 
in  the  same  sense  (Mercier,  Carey),  others  from 
VV^,  either  Kal  (Fiirst)  or  Niph.  (Dathe,  Lee). 
The  context  favors  the  root  ni^l. — E.] 

Ver.  27.  The  heavens  reveal  his  iniquity 
(^vJ'  also  properly  Jussive  like  the  verbs  in 
vers.  26,  28),  and  the  earth  riseth  up  against 
him  (nonYO?  pausal  form  for  HDnipno). 
Thus  the  two  chief  divisions  of  the  creation, 
which  Job  had  previously  (ch.  xvi.  18  seq.) 
summoned  as  witnesses  in  behalf  of  his  inno- 
cence, must  rather  testify  the  opposite,  must 
thrust  him  out  from  themselves  as  one  con- 
demned by  God,  so  that  there  remains  for  him 
as  his  abode  only  the  gloomy  Sheol,  the  third 
division  of  the  creation  besides  heaven  and 
earth;  comp.  ch.  xi.  8,  9;  Ps.  cxxxv.  6;  Sir. 
xxiv.  7-9. 

Ver.  28.  The  increase  of  his  house  must 
depart,  flow^ing  forth  (lit.  "things  that  flow, 

or  run  away,"  diffluentia,  in  apposition  to  713') 
in  the  day  of  His  wrath,  viz.  the  divine  wrath. 
Ges.,  Olsh.  [Gr.,  §  140,  2],  etc.,  explain  nnjj  as 
Part.  Niph.  from  TIJ  with  an  Aram,  formation, 
defining  it  to  mean  opes  corrasse,  things  which 
have  been  scraped  or  gathered  together  ;  but  less 
satisfactorily,  for  the  clause  13X  DV3,  at  the 
end  of  this  member  of  the  verse,  hardly  permits 
us  to  look  for  a  second  subject,  synonymous  with 

7l3\  Moreover  we  must  have  found  that  thought 
expressed  rather  by  VmiJJ=oj3e5  ab  eo  corrasae. 
As  it  would  seem  that  tifter  ver.  27  a  return  to 
the  wicked  man's  possessions  and  treasures  could 
not  properly  be  looked  for,  some  commentators 
have  indulged  in  attempted  emendations  of  the 

passage,  all  of  which  touch  upon  7^  in  the  first 

member  (Jussive  Kal  from  H/J,  "  to  depart,  to 
wander  forth,  comp.   Prov.   xxvii.   25).     Thua 

Dathe,  Stickel,  etc.,  read  7^ — "the  flood  rolls 
away  his  house,  etc.:"  Ewald,  11] — "the  reve- 
nue of  his  house  jnust  roll  itself  away  (like  a 
torrent;"    comp.  Amos  v.  27):  Dillmann  finally 

li].  Jussive  Niphal  of  mj — "  the  produce  of  his 
house  must  become  apparent  as  that  which  flows 
away  in  the  day  of  His  wrath." 

Ver.  29.  Closing  verse,  lying  outside  of  the 
strophic  arrangement,  like  ch.  v.  27,  etc. — This 
is   the  portion  of  the  w^icked  man  from 

Elohim;  the  lot  or  "portion"  (p7n,  comp.  ch. 
xxvii,  13  ;  xxxi.  2)  assigned  to  him  by  Elobim, 
[}?V'\  mx,  "  a  rare  application  of  DIX,  comp, 
Prov.  vi.  12  instead  of  which  ti^'N  is  more 
usual,"  Del.]. — And  the  heritage  appointed 
to  him  by  God.— HfpN  nSnj,  lit.  "  his  heri- 


474 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


tage  of  the  word,"  t.  c,  his  heritage  as  appointed 
to  him  hy  a  word,  by  a  command,  a  judicial  sen- 
tence (1DJ<  in  this  sense  only  here;  but  used 
similarly  nevertheless  in  Ps.  Ixxvii.  9;  Heb.  iii. 
9.  It  is  possible  moreover  to  take  the  suffix  in 
n^X  as  genitive  of  the  object  to  "ipi<  [or  ">pN], 
in  which  case  the  sense  would  be :  "  the  heri- 
tage of  the  command  concerning  him."  In  this 
case  however  the  construction  would  be  a  much 

harsher  one.  ["p'?!!  and  PnTM  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  h^y  of  the  preceding  verse 
form  a  striking  oxymoron :  that  his  heritage  be 
taken  away  from  him,  that  is  the  heritage  ad- 
judged to  him  by  God."   Schlottmann]. 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL, 

This  second  discourse  of  Zophar's,  which  is  at 
the  same  time  the  last  of  the  utterances  directed 
by  him  against  Job — for  in  the  third  act  of  the 
colloquy  he  does  not  speak — as  respects  the  pas- 
sionate obstinacy  with  which  it  urges  the  one 
ever  repeated  dogma  and  fundamental  axiom  of 
the  friends  is  related  to  the  second  discourse  of 
Eliphaz  in  chapter  xv.,  as  superlative  to  po- 
sitive, and  to  the  second  discourse  of  Bildad, 
as  superlative  to  comparative.  In  it  the  nar- 
row-minded, legal,  as  well  as  unfriendly  and 
unjust  opposition  of  the  friends  to  the  misunder- 
stood sufterer  appears  at  its  height,  as  was  the 
case  with  the  former  discourse  of  Zophar  in  its 
relation  to  its  two  predecessors. — Neither  does 
it  present  any  new  thoughts  in  opposition  to  Job, 
any  more  than  the  immediately  preceding  dis- 
courses of  Eliphaz  and  Bildad.  The  terrible 
picture  of  the  judgment  of  wrath  upon  the  sin- 
ner, with  the  delineation  of  which,  true  to  the 
pattern  presented  by  those  two  discourses,  it  is 
principally,  and  indeed  almost  exclusively  occu- 
pied, exhibits  scarcely  anything  that  is  materi- 
ally new  or  original.  Only  as  regards  its  for- 
mal execution  does  this  picture  of  horror  surpass 
its  two  predecessors.  It  excels  in  its  adroit 
presentation,  and  in  its  skilful,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent original  treatment  of  the  familiar  figures 
and  phi-aseology  of  the  Chokmah.  This  descrip- 
tive power,  which  in  the  effects  produced  by  it 
proves  itself  to  be  not  inconsiderable,  seems  in- 
deed to  be  wholly  subservient  to  the  speaker's 
spirit  and  purpose,  which  are  characterized  by 
hateful  suspicion  and  vehement  accusation.  This 
materially  weakens  the  impression  which  it  is 
calculated  to  produce.  "  It  is  not  possible  to 
illustrate  the  principle  that  the  covetous,  unmer- 
ciful rich  man  is  torn  away  from  his  prosperity 
by  the  punishment  God  decrees  for  him,  more 
fearfully  and  more  graphically  than  Zophar  does 
it;  and  this  terrible  description  is  not  over- 
drawn, but  true  and  appropriate — but  in  oppo- 
sition to  Job  it  is  the  extreme  of  uncharitable- 
ness  which  outdoes  itself:  applied  to  him  the 
fenrfiil  truth  becomes  a  fearful  lie.  For  in  Zo- 
phar's mind  Job  is  the  godless  man,  whose  re- 
joicing does  not  last  long,  who  indeed  raises 
1  iinself  towards  heaven,  but  as  his  own  dung, 
(comp.  on  ver.  7)  must  he  perish,  and  to  whom 
t  be  sin  of  his  unjust  gain  is  become  as  the  poison 
of  the  viper  in  his  belly.  The  arrow  of  God's 
v/rath  sticks  fast  in  him;  and  though  he  draw  it 


out,  it  has  already  inflicted  on  him  a  deservedly 
mortal  wound!  The  fire  of  God  which  has  al- 
ready begun  to  consume  his  possessions,  does 
not  rest  until  even  the  last  remnant  in  his  tent 
is  consumed.  The  heavens,  when  in  his  self- 
delusion  he  seeks  the  defender  of  his  innocence, 
reveal  his  guilt,  and  the  earth  which  he  hopes 
to  have  as  a  witness  in  his  favor,  rises  up  as  bis 
accuser.  Thus  mercilessly  does  Zophar  seek  to 
stifle  the  new  trust  which  Job  conceives  towards 
God,  and  to  extinguish  the  faith  which  bursts 
upward  from  beneath  the  ashes  of  the  conflict. 
His  method  is  soul-destroying;  he  seeks  to  slay 
the  life  which  germinates  from  the  feeling  of 
death,  instead  of  strengthening  it."  (Delitzsch). 
Comp.  what  Brentius  says  in  his  straightforward 
striking  way:  "  Zophar  to  the  end  of  the  chap- 
ter puts  forth  the  most  correct  opinions  ;  but  he 
is  at  fault  in  that  he  falsely  distorts  them  against 
Job,  just  as  though  Job  were  afflicted  for  impiety, 
and  asserted  his  innocence  out  of  hypocrisy,  and 
not  out  of  the  faith  of  the  Gospel." 

HOMILETICAL   AND    PRACTICAL. 

As  regards  the  homiletic  treatment  of  this  dis- 
course, the  same  may  be  said  in  general  as  of 
the  discourses,  related  as  to  their  contents,  in 
chapters  15  and  18.  The  <lescription  given  of 
the  perishableness  of  the  prosperity  of  the  un- 
godly, and  of  their  just  punishment  at  the  last 
through  the  judgment  of  God,  has  its  objective 
truth  and  value  for  the  practical  life  ;  but  the 
vehement  tone  of  the  representation,  and  the 
many  unmistakable  allusions  to  Job  as  the  ob- 
ject of  the  speaker's  unfriendly  suspicion,  destroy 
the  pure  enjoyment  of  the  discourse,  and  compel 
us  to  regard  the  picture,  skilful  as  it  is  in  itself, 
with  critical  caution. 

Particular  Passages. 

"'^er.  8.  Brentius:  The  state  of  the  ungodly 
is  compared  to  the  most  unsubstantial  things, 
to  wit,  to  a  dream,  and  to  visions  of  the  night, 
which,  while  they  are  seen,  seem  to  be  some- 
thing, but  when  the  dreamer  awakens,  there  is 
nothing  remaining,  as  is  set  forth  in  Is.  xxix. 

Ver.  10.  Idem:  From  this  verse  we  learn 
whence  the  poverty,  and  whence  the  wealth  of 
children  proceeds,  viz.,  from  the  piety  of  parents 
(Ps.  xxxvii.  25). — Weim.vr  Bible:  The  reason 
why  many  children  sufi"er  great  misfortune,  and 
especially  poverty,  lies  often  in  their  own  sin, 
but  it  also  proceeds  oftentimes  from  the  wick- 
edness of  their  parents  (Ex.  xx.  5).  He  there- 
fore who  would  see  his  children  prosperous,  let 
him  beware  of  sin. 

Ver.  12  seq.  Starke:  Sinful  pleasure  is  com- 
monly transformed  into  pain.  When  sin  is  first 
tasted  it  is  sweet  like  sugar,  but  afterwards  it 
bites  like  an  adder  (Prov.  xx.  17;  xxiii.  32;  Sir. 
xxi.  2 seq.). 

Ver.  20  seq.  Brentius:  As  water  can  never 
satisfy  the  dropsical,  but  the  more  it  is  drank, 
the  more  it  is  thirsted  for ;  so  riches  never  sa- 
tisfy the  mind's  lust,  for  the  human  mind  can 
be  satisfied  with  no  good,  save  God  (Eccl.  i.  8). 
Hence  it  comes  to  pass  by  God's  righteous  de- 
cree, that  as  the  avaricious  man  is  discontented 
with  what  he  has,  as  well  as  what  he  has  not,  so 
the  ungodly  man  never   has   enough,   however 


CHAP.  XXI.  1-34. 


475 


much  property  he  may  possess,  because  he  is 
without  God,  in  whom  all  good  things  are  stored. 
You  have  an  example  of  this  in  Alexander  the 
Great,  who,  not  content  with  the  sovereignty  of 
one  world,  groaned  on  learning  that  there  were 
more  worlds. 

Ver.  27.  Idem  :  Creatures,  when  they  see  the 
impieties  and  crimes  of  the  ungodly,  are  silent 
until  God  pronounces  judgment;  but  when  His 
judgment  is  revealed,  then  all  creatures  betray 


the  crimes  which  the  ungodly  have  committed  in 
their  presence.  In  Christ  however  the  sins  of 
all  the  godly  are  covered,  nay,  are  absorbed. — 
Wohlfarth:  Nature  is  leagued  against  sin!  It 
is  an  incontrovertible  truth  which  we  find  here, 
written  thousands  of  years  ago — he  who  departs 
from  God's  ways  contends  against  heaven  and 
earth,  which  from  the  beginning  of  the  ages  have 
been  arrayed  against  sin,  as  a  revolt  against 
God's  sacred  ordinances. 


B. — JOB  :  That  which  experience  teaches  concerning  the  prosperity  of  the  ungodly 
during  their  life  on  earth  argues  not  against  but  for  his  innocence : 


1.  Introductory  appeal  to  the  friends : 
1      But  Job  answered  and  said  : 


Chapter  XXI. 
Verses  1-6. 


2  Hear  diligently  my  speech, 

and  let  this  be  your  consolations. 

3  Suffer  me  that  I  may  speak  ; 

and  after  that  I  have  spoken,  mock  on. 

4  As  for  me,  is  my  complaint  to  man  ? 

and  if  it  were  so,  why  should  not  my  spirit  be  troubled  ? 

5  Mark  me,  and  be  astonished, 

and  lay  your  hand  upon  your  mouth. 

6  Even  when  I  remember  I  am  afraid, 
and  trembling  taketh  hold  on  my  flesh. 

2.  Along  with  the  fact  of  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked,  taught  by  experience  (vers.  7-16),  stands 
the  other  fact  of  earthly  calamity  befalling  the  pious  and  the  righteous : 

Verses  7-26. 

7  Wherefore  do  the  wicked  live, 
become  old,  yea,  are  mighty  in  power  ? 

8  Their  seed  is  established  in  their  sight  with  them, 
and  their  offspring  before  their  eyes. 

9  Their  houses  are  safe  from  fear, 
neither  is  the  rod  of  God  upon  them. 

10  Their  bull  gendereth  and  faileth  not; 
their  cow  calveth,  and  casteth  not  her  calf. 

11  They  send  forth  their  little  ones  like  a  flock, 
and  their  children  dance. 

12  They  take  the  timbrel  and  harp, 
and  rejoice  at  the  sound  of  the  organ. 

13  They  spend  their  days  in  wealth, 

and  in  a  moment  go  down  to  the  grave. 

14  Therefore  they  say  unto  God,  Depart  from  us, 
for  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  Thy  ways. 

15  What  is  the  Almighty  that  we  should  serve  Him? 
and  what  profit  should  we  have,  if  we  pray  unto  Him  ? 

16  Lo,  their  good  is  not  in  their  hand ! 

the  counsel  of  the  wicked  is  far  from  me. 

17  How  oft  is  the  candle  of  the  wicked  put  out  ? 


476 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


and  how  oft  cometh  their  destruction  upon  them  ? 
God  distributeth  sorrows  in  His  anger. 

18  They  are  as  stubble  before  the  wind, 

and  as  chaff  that  the  storm  carrieth  away. 

19  God  layeth  up  His  iniquity  for  His  children : 
He  rewardeth  him,  and  he  shall  know  it. 

20  His  eyes  shall  see  his  destruction, 

and  he  shall  drink  of  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty. 

21  For  what  pleasure  hath  he  in  his  house  after  him, 
when  the  number  of  his  months  is  cut  off  in  the  midst  ? 


22  Shall  any  teach  God  knowledge  ? 
seeing  He  judgeth  those  that  are  high. 

23  One  dieth  in  his  full  strength, 
being  wholly  at  ease,  and  quiet. 

24  His  breasts  are  full  of  milk, 

and  his  bones  are  moistened  with  marrow. 

25  And  another  dieth  in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul, 
and  never  eateth  with  pleasure. 

26  They  shall  lie  down  alike  in  the  dust, 
and  the  worms  shall  cover  them. 


3.  Rebuke  of  the  friends  because  they  set  forth  only  one  side  of  that  experience,  and  use  it  to  his 
prejudice. 

Verses  27-34. 

27  Behold,  I  know  your  thoughts, 

and  the  devices  which  ye  wrongfully  imagine  against  me. 

28  For  ye  say,  Where  is  the  house  of  the  prince  ? 
and  where  are  the  dwelling-places  of  the  wicked  ? 

29  Have  ye  not  asked  them  that  go  by  the  way  ? 
and  do  ye  not  know  their  tokens  ? — 

30  that  the  wicked  is  reserved  to  the  day  of  destruction  ? 
they  shall  be  brought  forth  to  the  day  of  wrath. 

31  "Who  shall  declare  his  way  to  his  face  ? 

and  who  shall  repay  him  what  he  hath  done  ? 

32  Yet  shall  he  be  brought  to  the  grave, 
and  shall  remain  in  the  tomb. 

33  The  clods  of  the  valley  shall  be  sweet  unto  him, 
and  every  man  shall  draw  after  him, 

as  there  are  innumerable  before  him. 

34  How  then  comfort  ye  me  in  vain, 

seeing  in  your  answers  there  remaineth  falsehood  ? 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  The  obstinacy  of  the  friends,  who  show 
neither  the  desire  nor  the  inclination  to  solve  the 
mystery  of  Job's  sufferings  in  a  friendly  spirit, 
and  in  such  a  way  as  would  not  wound  his  feel- 
ings, drives  Job  to  come  out  in  theoretic  oppo- 
sition to  the  narrow  and  external  interpretation 
of  the  doctrine  of  retribution  advocated  by 
them,  and  to  change  his  reply  from  the  essen- 
tially personal  character  which  it  had  previously 
borne  into  a  strict  criticism  of  their  doctrine. 
Having  first  calmly  but  bitterly  challenged  their 
attention  to  that  which  he  had  to  communicate 
to  them  (vers.  2-6),  he  urges  against  them  the 
mysterious  fact  that  often  the  ungodly  revel  in 
superfluity  of  prosperity  to  the  end  of  their  life, 
while   on  the    contrary   the    pious    are    often 


throughout  their  earthly  life  pursued  by  misfor- 
tune (vers.  7-26).  In  view  of  a  distribution  of 
prosperity  and  adversity  so  unequal,  and  so 
much  at  variance  with  the  moral  desert  of  men, 
it  was  decidedly  unjust,  nay  malicious  and  false 
on  the  part  of  the  friends  to  undertake  to  brand 
him  as  a  wicked  man  on  account  of  his  misfor- 
tune (vers.  27-34).  The  whole  discussion  which 
brilliantly  demonstrates  Job's  superiority  over 
the  friends  in  respect  to  the  stand-point  of  etlii- 
cal  perception  and  experience,  and  which  serves 
to  introduce  the  last  turn  which  the  colloquy 
takes,  and  which  is  decisive  of  his  complete  vic- 
tory, is  divided  into  five  strophes,  of  five  verses 
each,  the  first  strophe  covering  the  exordium 
(vers.  2-6),  the  remaining  four  constituting  the 
Second  Division  [the  former  two  of  these  stro- 
phes again  being  occupied  with  the  fact,  the  lat- 
ter two  with  the  argument  showing  the  fact  to 


CHAP.  XXI.  1-S4. 


477 


be  irreconcilable  with  their  theory  of  retribu- 
tion ;  Dillm.]  ;  followed  by  two  strophes  of  four 
verses  each  [rebuking  the  one-sidedness  of  the 
friends]  constituting  the  Third  Division  (vers. 
27-34.) 

2.  First  Division  (and  strophe) :  Exordium : 
vers.  2-6.  Job  announces  that  he  is  about  to 
speak  of  a  mysterious  and  indeed  an  astounding 
phenomenon,  which  demands  the  entire  atten- 
tion of  the  friends. 

Ver.  2.  Hear,  I  pray,  hear  my  speech ! 
and  let  this  be  instead  of  your  consola- 
tions— or:  "in  order  that  this  may  supply  the 
place  of  your  consolations,  may  prove  to  me  a 
comfort  instead  of  them,  seeing  that  they  so 
poorly  accomplish  their  purpose"  (comp.  ch. 
XV.  11;  xvi.  2).  [A  fine  touch  of  irony:  atten- 
tive silence  would  be  a  much  more  real  comfort 
than  all  their  ineffectual  talk!] 

Ver.  8.  Sufifer  me  Cl\\X<l?,  with  Kamets  be- 

*■    •  T 

fore  the  tone,  comp.  Jon.  i,  12;  1  Kings  xx.  33  ; 
Gesenius  §  60  [g  69]  Rem.  1)— and  then  will 

I  speak  (/,  Oix',  in  contrast  with  the  "you"  of 
the  Imper.,  although  without  a  particularly 
strong  accent) ;  and  after  that  I  have  spo- 
ken, thou  mayest  mock  (TJ^bn,  concessive, 
Ewald  §  136,  e).  The  demand  for  a  patient 
hearing  of  his  rebuke,  which  reminds  us  some- 
what of  the  saying  of  Themistocles — "  Strike, 
but  hear  me!"  (Plutarch,  Themist.  c.  11),  is 
specifically  addressed  in  the  second  half  to  Zo- 
phar,  whose  last  discourse  must  have  grieved 
him  particularly,  and  who  in  fact  after  the  re- 
joinder which  Job  now  makes  had  nothing  more 
to  say,  and  could  only  leave  the  mocking  as- 
saults on  Job  to  be  resumed  by  his  older  com- 
panions. [So  in  xvi.  3  Job  had  singled  out  Eli- 
phaz  in  his  reply,  and  again  in  ch.  xxvi.  2-4,  he 
singles  out  Bildad]. 

Ver.  4.  Does  my  complaint  go  forth 
from  me  in  regard  to  man  ?  i.  e.  as  for  me 

CpjX  emphatically  prefixed,  and  then  resumed 
again  in  ''Vr'VJ,  Gesen.  §  145  [§  142],  2),  is  my 
complaint  directed  against  inen  ?  is  my  complaint 
C'n"'ty  as  in  ch.  vii.  13;  ix.27;  x.  1),  concerning 
men,  or  is  it  not  rather  concerning  something  that 
has  a  superhuman  cause,  something  that  is  de- 
creed by  God?     That  in  this  last  thought  lies 

the  tacit  antithesis  to  DHN/  is  evident  from  the 

TT  : 

second  member:  or  why  should  I  not  be 
impatient  ?  lit.  "  why  sliould  my  spirit  not  be- 
come short,"  comp.  ch.  vi.  11 ;  Mic.  ii.  7;  Zech. 
xi.  8 ;  Prov.  xiv.  29.  That  which  follows 
gives  us  to  understand  more  distinctly  that  it 
was  something  quite  extraordinary,  superhuman, 
under  the  burden  of  which  Job  groans,  and 
concerning  which  he  has  to  complain.  [The 
J  endering  of  the  last  clause  found  in  E.  V.  Lee, 
Wemyss,  etc. :  "And  if  it  were  so,  why  should 
not  my  spirit  be  troubled?"  is  both  less  natu- 
ral, in  view  of  the  antecedent  probability  that 
DX)  is  cor-related  to  the  H  interrogative,  less 
simple,  and  less  satisfactory  in  the  meaning 
which  it  yields.  E.]. 

Ver.  5.  Turn  ye  to  me  and  be  aston- 
ished, and  .lay  the  hand  on  the  mouth, 


viz. :  as  being  dumb  with  astonishment,  comp. 
ch.  xxix.  9  ;  xl.  4 — IStym  Imper.  cons.  Hiph. 
from  DDE'  (comp.  ch.  xvii.  8  ;  xviii.  20)  [with 
Pattach  for  Tsere  in  pause],  obstupescile.  Accord- 
ing to  the  reading  IQtyn  (Imper.  Iloph.  of  the 
same  verb)  [as  some  regard  it  even  with  the 
punctuation  13K^n=:hoshammu]  the  meaning  is 
not  essentially  different. 

Ver.  6.  Verily  if  I  think  on  it  I  am  con- 
founded ('r)7i^??1  apodosis  ;  comp.  ch.  vii.  14) 
and  my  flesh  seizes  on  horror.  In  Heb. 
'''yy^  is  subject;  comp.  the  similar  phraseology 

in  ch.  xviii.  20.  n'llihs,  from  fhii  chap.  ix.  6, 
means  convulsive  quaking,  terror,  as  in  the  New 
Testament  eK-^afiliela'dcu  koI  dSi/fiovelv  (Mark  xiv. 
33).  It  is  to  be  noted  how  by  these  strong  ex- 
pressions the  friends  are  prepared  to  hear  some- 
thing grave,  fearful,  astounding,  to  wit  a  propo- 
sition, founded  on  experience,  which  seems  to 
call  in  question  the  divine  justice,  and  to  the  af- 
firmation of  which  Job  accordingly  proceeds 
hesitatingly,  and  with  visible  reluctance. 

3.  Second  Division:  First  Half:  The  testi- 
mony of  experience  to  the  fact  that  the  wicked 
are  often,  and  indeed  ordinarily  prosperous  : 
vers.  7-16. 

Second  Strophe  :  vers.  7-11.  "Why  do  the 
w^icked  live  on — iustead  of  dying  early,  as 
Zophar  had  maintained,  chap.  xx.  5.  The  same 
question  is  propounded  by  Jeremiah,  ch.  xii.  1 
seq.;  comp.  Ps.  Ixxiii.  Mai.  iii.  13seq.  Become 
old,  yea,  strong  in  power,  or:  "  are  become 
old  (lit.  advanced  in  years,  comp.  p''i^P)  and 
mighty  in  possessions."  In  regard  to  rT\  13J 
(with  accus.  of  specification)  comp.  the  equiva- 
lent phrase  rT\  nri^'H,  Ps.  Ixxiii.  12  ;  and  in  re- 
gard to  tT}  see  above  ch.  xv.  29;  xx.  15,  18. 

Ver.  8.  Their  posterity  is  established 
jIDJ  here  not — "  standing  in  readiness,"  as  in 
ch.  xii.  5  ;  xv.  23,  but  "  enduring,  firmly  es- 
tablished, as  in  (Ps.  xciii.  2)  before  them 
round  about  them,  surrounding  them  in  the 
closest  proximity  ;  this  is  the  meaning  of  DSJ^* 
not:  "like  themselves"  (Rosenm.,  Umbreit, 
Schlottm.,  Vaih.,  [FUrst,  Noyes]  etc.),  in  behalf 
of  which  latter  signification  to  be  sure  ch.  ix. 
20  might  be  cited ;  but  the  parallel  expression 
— "  before  their  eyes  " — in  the  second  member, 
favors  rather  the  former  sense.  [And  their 
offspring  before  their  eyes.  D'XVX}^,  as  in 
ch.  V.  25 — "  is  exactly  expressed  by  our  issue, 
though  perhaps  the  reduplication  rather  im- 
plies issue's  issue."  Carey].  Job,  having  been 
himself  so  ruthlessly  stripped  of  his  children, 
makes  prominent  above  all  else  this  aspect  of  the 
external  prosperity  of  the  wicked,  that  namely 
which  is  exhibited  in  a  flourishing  posterity,  a 
fine  trait  of  profound  psychological  truth!  [To 
be  noted  moreover  is  the  pathetic  repetition  of 
the  thought  in  both  members  of  the  verse,  and 
its  no  less  pathetic  resumption  in  ver.  11.  This 
picture  of  a  complete  and  peaceful  household, 
with  its  circle  of  joyous  youth  fascinates  the  be- 


478 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


reaved  father's  heart  exceedingly,  and  he  dwells 
on  it  with  yearning  fondness!] 

Ver.  9.  Their  houses  [are]  peace  (Dl'bt?, 
the  same  as  Dl7t:'3  ;  comp.  ch.  v.  24  [where  see 
rem.  in  favor  of  the  more  literal  and  forcible 
rendering  obtained  by  not  assuming  the  prepo- 
sition at  all ;  E.]  Isaiah  xli.  3)  without  fear. 
""^??.  like  ni^30  ch.  xix.  26 ;  (comp.  ch.  xi. 
15  ;  Is.  xxii.3)  and  the  rod  of  Eloah  cometh 
not  upon  them,  t.  e,  to  punish  them ;  comp. 
tOTiI'  in  ch.  ix.  34;  xxxvii.  13  [How  different  from 
the  fate  of  his  own  "  house !  "  No  such  "  Ter- 
ror," no  such  "Scourge"  as  that  which  had 
made  his  a  ruin !  — E.]. 

Ver.  10.  From  the  state  of  the  household  the 
description  turns  to  that  of  the  cattle,  with  the 
peculiarity  that  here  exceptionally  the  sing, 
takes  the  place  of  the  plur.,  which  is  used 
almost  throughout  to  designate  the  wicked  (so 
again  below  ver.  19,  and  in  like  manner  ch.  xxiv. 
5,  16  seq).  His  bull  gendereth  and  faileth 
not  (Zockler  lit. — "his  bull  covereth  and  im- 
pregnates"]. 112^,  in  itself  of  common  gender, 
is  here  indicated  as  a  masc.  both  by  the  contrast 
•with  niD  in  6,  and  by  its  predic.  13jf,  "  to 
cover,  to  gender"  (comp.  "1^3J^  "  produce  fruit," 
Josh.  V.  11,  12).  The  additional  strengthening 
clause  7jt?r  X/l,  negue  efficit  ut  ejiciat  [semen) 
indicates  that  the  impregnation  is  success- 
ful. The  second  member  is  entirely  paral- 
lel.— His  cow  calveth  easily  (£373,  synon. 
with  ub-p.  ta'bpn.  Is.  xxxiv.  15 ;  Ixvi.  7)  and 
miscarries  not,  neque  abortum  patitur,  comp. 
Gen.  xxxi.  38;  Ex.  xxiii.  26. 

Ver.  11.  Once  more  Job  recurs  to  the  fairest 
instance  of  earthly  prosperity,  the  possession  of 

a  flourishing  troop  of  children.  On  C  ^^^ 
comp.  above  on  ch.  xix.  18  [where  however  the 
word  suggests,  as  it  does  not  necessarily  here,  a 
bad  quality  in  the  children  themselves;  Ber- 
nard's rendering  "  they  send  forth  their  wicked 
little  children,"  introduces  an  incongruous  ele- 
ment into  the  picture,  which  Job  contemplates 
here  as  a  pleasing  and  attractive  one. — E.]     As 

to  yy^Pf  "  *'°  ^^^^  forth,  to  let  loose,"  see  Isa. 
xxxii.  20. 

Third  Strophe:  Vers.  12-16.  They  (the 
wicked)  sing  loud  with  the  playing  of  tim- 
brel and  harp;  hence  with  joyous  festivity,  as 
in  Isa.  V.  12. — IXJi'''  (scil.  Sip)  lit.  "  they  raise 
their  voice,"  i.  e.,  in  loud  jubilations  or  songs  of 
joy;  comp.  Is.  xlii.  11. — "^1.3^)  1''^?'  used  as  in 
Ps.  xlix.  5  [4]  of  the  musical  accompaniment ; 
hence,  "with,  to  the  timbrel  and  harp."  On  the 
contrary  the  reading  preferred  by  the  Masora 

and  several  Rabbis,  ')  '^nS  would  signify  "a<, 
during  the  playing  of  the  timbrel,  etc."  (3  of  the 
proximate  specification  of  time,  as  in  r\J^3 
[" about  tha  time"],  t^i^OJS,  etc.).     Concerning 


3J1J^,  instead  of  which  several  MSS.  and  Ed's, 
have  in  ch.  xxx.  31  3JJ/,  and  in  Ps.  cl.  4  3J1J?, 
comp.  Delitzsch  on  Gen.  iv.  21 ;  Winer,  Real- 
worterb.  II.,  123  seq.  ["The  three  musical  in- 
struments here  mentioned  are  certainly  the  most 
ancient,  and  are  naturally  the  most  simple,  and 
indeed  may  be  regarded  as  the  originals  of  every 
species  of  musical  instrument  that  has  since  been 
invented,  all  which  may  be  reduced  to  three 
kinds — string  instruments,  wind  instruments, 
and   instruments   of  percussion;    and   the  "^1J3 

harp,  the  3.3^J^,  pipe,  and  the  "^P,  tabor,  may  be 
considered  as  the  first  representatives  of  each 
of  these  species  respectively."  Carey,  see  illus- 
trations in  Carey,  p.  453  seq.,  and  Smith  Bib. 
Diet,  under  "Harp,  Timbrel,  and  Organ  "J, 

Ver.  13.  They  spend  in  prosperity  their 
days. — So  according  totheK'ri  IvD'  (lit.  "they 
complete,  finish,"  comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  11;  Ps.  xc. 
9),  while  the  K'thibh  'HT  would  be,  according 
to  Isa.  Ixv.  22  =  "they  use  up,  wear  out"  (wsm 
conterunt)  [which  is  more  expressive  than  the 
K'ri,  signifying  not  only  that  they  bring  their 
life  to  an  end,  but  that  they  use  it  up,  get  out 
of  it  all  the  enjoyment  that  is  in  it. — E.].  In 
either  case  the  affirmation  is  made  in  direct  con- 
tradiction to  the  opposite  descriptions  of  Eliphaz, 
Bildad,  and  Zophar,  as  e.  g.,  ch.  xv.  32;  xviii. 
14;  XX.  11. — And  in  a  moment  {Vr}.^  li^^e 
our  "in  a  trice"  [Germ.:  "m  iVw"],  hence 
quickly,  easily,  without  a  struggle)  they  sink 
down  to  Sheol, — they  thus  enjoy  a  quick 
death,  free  from  suffering,  having  fully  enjoyed 
their  life  even  to  the  end.  The  connection  does 
not  allow  us  to  understand  it  of  an  "  evil  sudden 
death,"  but  rather  requires  the  idea  of  a  eu- 
thanasy. — •^J^n^  might  in  itself  be  the  Imperf. 
Niph.  of  nnn :  "they  are  frightened  down" 
[others,  e.  g.,  Bernard  ;  "  they  are  crushed,  or 
hurled  down"],  to  which  however  the  Accus.  loci 

n\XtD  is  ill  suited.  More  correctly  the  form  is 
derived  from  nnj,  the  Imperf.  of  which  is  writ- 
ten either  ^HJ',  or  nH"'.  It  may  be  read  here 
either  inn"  (for  iriH'' — so  Ewald,  Hirzel),  or 
with  reduplication  of  the  fl  in  pause  [Dagesh- 
forte  empliatic.  Green,  §  24,  c]  after  the  Masora; 
comp.  Gesen.  Lehrgeb.,  p.  45;  Ewald,  g  93,  d. 

Ver.  14  seq.  And  yet  they  say  unto  God, 
"  Depart  from  us,"  etc.,  etc..  i.  e..  notwithstand- 
ing their  prosperity  ["the/w^  consec.  IIDN'I  does 
not  here  denote  temporally  that  which  follows 
upon  and  from  something  else,  hut  generally  that 
which  is  inwardly  connected  with  something  else, 
and  even  with  that  which  is  contradictory,  and 
still  occurring  at  the  same  time;"  Del.],  which 
should  constrain  them  to  gratitude  towards  God, 
they  will  know  nothing  about  Him,  yea,  they  ac- 
count the  service  of  God  and  prayer  to  Him  as 
useless.  3  .I'JS,  precibus  adire ;  comp.  Ruth  i. 
16;  Jer.  vii.  16;  xxvii.  18. 

Ver.  16.  After  the  frivolous  words  of  the  un- 
godly Job  here  resumes  his  own  description,  and 
concludes  the  section  in  which  he  states  his  pro- 
position.— Behold,  not  in  their  hand  stands 
their  prosperity. — This  is  not  an  objection  as- 


CHAP.  XXI.  1-34. 


479 


sumed  by  Job  (o  be  made  by  his  opponents,  aa 
below  in  ver.  19  (Schuurrer,  Schlottm.,  Kaniph.) 
[Noyes,  Elzas],  but  an  expression  of  Job's  own 
conviction,  who  intends  herewith  to  set  forth 
that  not  they,  but  God  Himself  is  in  some  mysteri- 
ous ivay  the  cause  of  their  prosperity,  by  which  he 
would  indicate  the  difficulty  of  the  problem,  with 
which  he  is  here  occupied  in  general.  The  sen- 
tence is  not  an  expression  of  Job's  disapproba- 
tion of  the  view  of  life  prevalent  among  the 
wicked  jEwald)  [Carey,  Wordsworth],  for  such 
an  expression  of  disapprobation  first  appears  in 
b,  and  the  position  of  the  words  in  a  shows 
clearly  that  the  main  emphasis  lies  on  m"!!- 
The  interrogative  rendering  of  the  clause,  "  Be- 
hold !  is  not  their  prosperity  in  their  hand?" 
(Rashi,   Hirzel,  Heiligst.,  Welte,  Hahn  [Renan]) 

is  contradicted  by  the  use  of  K7  jPI,  not  N 7n 
at  the  beginning.  [Moreover  the  connection 
with  b  according  to  such  a  rendering  is  strained. 
— E.]  — The  counsel  of  the  wicked  be  far 
from  me ! — The  pame  formula  of  detestation  re- 
curs in  the  following  discourse  of  Eliphaz,  ch. 
xxii.  18. — ■'ilO  •^Pn'^  ^s  u^  ^  i^  ^  precative  or 
optative  sense  (Ewald,  ^  223.  b)  ;  it  is  thus  es- 
sentially equivalent  to  the  formula  elsewhere  in 

use — w  mwn.  ["  It  is  the  perf.  of  certainty, 
which  expresses  that  which  is  wished  as  a  fact, 
but  with  an  emotional  exclamative  accent." 
Del.].  In  respect  to  H^f^,  here  in  the  sense  of 
fundamental  maxim,  disposition,  view  of  life, 
comp.  ch.  V.  13  ;  x.  3  ;  xviii.  7.  Job  thus  per- 
sists decidedly  here  again  in  his  refusal  in  any 
way  to  renounce  God  ;  comp.  ch.  i.  11 ;  ii.  5. 
[This  strong  repudiation  by  Job  of  the  practical 
atheism  of  the  wicked  is  of  especial  importance 
to  the  moral  problem  of  the  book. — E.]. 

4.  Second  Division:  Second  Half.  Antithetic 
demonstration  of  the  preceding  proposition  de- 
rived from  experience,  with  reference  to  the  op- 
posite afiirmations  of  the  friends,  and  their  pos- 
sible reproaches. 

Fourth  Strophe:  Vers.  17-21.  [The  views  of 
the  friends  in  regard  to  retribution  denied  both 
as  to  the  fact  and  the  principle]. 

Ver.  17  involves  a  reference  to  certain  expres- 
sions which  Bildad  had  used  in  ch.  xviii.  in  jus- 
tification of  his  doctrine,  particularly  to  his  de- 
scription of  the  "  extinguishing  of  the  light  of 
the  wicked  "  (ch.  xviii.  6),  and  of  the  sudden 
destruction  (TN — "  prop,  pressure  of  suffering" 
Del.)  of  the  same  (ch.  xviii.  12),  but  only  to  call 
in  question  the  correct  application  of  these 
figures.— How  oft  does  the  lamp  of  the 
wicked  go  out,  and  their  destruction 
break  upon  them? — In  Job's  mind  this  "  how 
oft"  (rrs^,  comp.  Ps.  Ixxviii.  40)  is  naturally 
equivalent  to  "how  rarely;"  fof  he  decidedly 
doubts  the  general  correctness  of  those  affirma- 
tions of  Bildad  Moreover  the  influence  of  this 
interrogative  "  how  oft "  extends  to  the  third 
member  of  the  verse  [which  accordingly  is  not 
to  be  rendered  nffirmatively,  as  in  E.  V.,  "  God 
distributeth  sorrows  in  His  anger" — a  rendering 
which  changes  the  meaning  of  the  entire  con- 
text, making  it  an  assertion  by  Job  that  God 
does  punish  the  wicked  as  the  friends  had  taught 


— whereas  on  the  contrary  Job  is  asking  how 
often  was  this  the  case  ? — E.]  :  (how  often)  does 
He  distribute  sorrows  in  His  anger?  The 
subject  is  God  (comp.  ch.  xx.  23).  The  parti- 
cular affirmation  of  his  opponents,  to  which  Job 
here  alludes,  is  the  close  of  Zophar'slast  speech 

(ch.  XX.  29),  the  p/.H  of  which  is  distinctly 
enough  echoed  here  in  the  pvn\  The  retro- 
spective reference  to  this  passage  would  be  still 
more  definite  if  we  were  to  derive  D'7^n  from 
73n,  measuring-line  (so  the  Targ.,  Ewald,  Hirz  , 
Dillmann  [Schlott.,  Renan,  Fiirst]),  and  explain 
it  to  mean  "  lots,  heritages"  (comp.  Ps.  xvi.  6). 
It  is  more  natural,  nevertheless,  (with  the  LXX. 
Vulg.,  Gesenius,  Pioseum.  [E.  V.,  Good,  Lee, 
Noyes,  Ber.,  Rod.,  El'z.],  etc.,  to  take  the  word  in 
its  ordinary  sense  =  "  sorrows,  calamities"  (plur. 

of  73n).  ["  The  plur.  does  not  occur  in  that 
tropical  sense  (of  "lots"),  and  if  it  were  so  in- 
tended here,  DrfSan,  or  OTih  D'S^n  might  at 
least  be  expected."  Del.].  Also  the  translation 
"  snares,  gins,"  (Stit  kel,  Hahn,  Delitzsch)  yields 
a  meaning  good  in  itself,  and  would  have,  more- 
over, the  special  recommendation  of  furnishing 
a  retrospective  reference  to  ch.  viii.  10-12,  the 
same  passage  of  Bildad's  discourse  to  which  a 
and  b  look.  The  expression — "  to  distribute 
snares" — is  however  altogether  too  harsh,  and 
the  assumption  that  such  an  unusual  expression 
is  occasioned  by  the  collateral  reference  to  ch. 
xviii.  10  seq.,  and  to  ch.  xx.  29,  is  altogether 
too  artificial. 

Ver.  18  (over  which  the  influence  of  HS^  con- 
tinues to  extend) :  How  often  are  they  as 
straw  (chopped  straw)  [a  figure  occurring  only 
here:  the  figure  of  chatf  is  more  frequent.  Del.] 
before  the  wind,  and  as  chaff  (Ps.  i.  4;  Is. 
xvii.  13)  which  the  whirlwind  snatches 
away?  An  allusion  to  Zophar's  de-scription, 
ch.  XX.  8,  9,  if  not  as  regards  the  expressions, 
still  as  regards  the  sense. 

Ver.  19.  "God  lays  up  his  calamity  for 
his  (the  wicked  man's)  children!"  (1J1X  from 
P.i*  in  the  signification  "calamity;"  comp.  ch. 
xi.  11;  XV.  35.)  [There  is  possibly  a  play  on 
the  word  1J1K,  which  may  be  rendered  either 
"his  wealth,"  or  "his  calamity." — His  treasure 
is  the  coming  wrath !  jIN  also  means  "iniqui- 
ty," and  some  (E.  V.,  Del.,  etc.)  render  it  so 
here.  Here,  however,  the  "evil"  which  is  the 
punishment  of  "evil"  best  suits  the  context. 
— E.]  This  is  an  objection  of  the  oppo- 
nents, which  links  itself  to  similar  affirmations 
by  Eliphaz  (ch.  v.  4)  and  Zophar  (ch.  xx.  10), 
and  which  Job  himself  here  formulates,  in  order 
forthwith  to  refute  it:  (Rather)  let  Him  re- 
compense it  to  him  (or,  in  view  of  the  em- 
phasis belonging  to  the  word  bearing  the  prin- 
cipal tone:  "  to  himlet  Him  repay  it")  that  he 
may  feel  it  (iH'  here  sentire,  to  feel,  to  be  sen- 
sible of,  as  in  Is.  ix.  8  ;  Hos.  ix.  7  ;  Ezek.  xxv. 
14).  In  a  manner  quite  similar  the  prophets  Jere- 
miah (ch.  xxxi.  29  seq.)  and  Ezekiel  (ch.  xviii.) 
controvert  the  similar  doctrine  of  the  vicarious 
expiation  of  the  guilt  of  parents  by  their  pos- 


480 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


terity.  [Job's  view  is  that  retribution  can  be 
such  only  when  it  falls  on  the  offender  himself. 
It  may  affect  others — although  Job  does  not  say 
that  himself — it  must  reach  him.  E.] 

Ver.  20  continues  the  refutation  of  that  false 
theory  of  substitution  or  satisfaction,  and  illus- 
trates at  the  same  time  how  the  evil  doer  is  to 
in'  or  "feel"  the  divine  punishment. — T3  "de- 
struction," (lit.  "a  thrust,  blow,"  plaga),  only 
here  in  the  Old  Testament ;  synonymous  with 
the  Arabic  caid.  The  tigure  of  drinking  the  di- 
vine wrath  has  immediate  reference  to  Zophar's 
description,  ch.  xx.  23.  ["  The  emphasis  lies 
on  the  signs  of  the  person  in  iyj7  and  nril!'] 
May  his  own  eyes  see  his  ruin  ;  may  he  himself 
have  to  drink  of  the  divine  wrath."  Del.] 

Ver.  21  gives  a  reason  for  that  which  he  has 
just  said  against  that  perverted  theory  by  call- 
ing attention  to  the  stolid  insensibility  of  the 
evil-doer,  as  a  consummate  egoist,  in  respect  to 
the  interests  of  his  posterity.  For  ■what 
careth  he  for  his  house  after  him:  lit.  "for 
what  is  his  concern,  his  interest  (]*3n  here,  as  in 
ch.  xxii.  3  ;  comp.  Is.  Iviii.  3)  in  his  house  after 
him"  {i.e.,  after  his  death)?  nnx  is  in  close 
union  with  in'I33  (comp.  c.  g.  Gen.  xvii.  19)  not 
with  i:!f3n.  If  the  number  of  his  months  is 
apportioned  to  him ;  or  "  while  [or  when]  the 
number,  etc."  The  whole  of  this  circumstantial 
clause,  which  is  a  partial  echo  of  ch.  xv.  20 
(comp.  ch.  xiv.  5),  expresses  the  thought,  that 
the  selfish  pleasure-seeking  evil-doer  is  satisfied 
if  only  his  appointed  terra  of  life  remains  to  him 
unabridged.  This  general  meaning  may  be 
maintained  whether,  in  accordance  with  Prov. 
XXX.  27,  we  explain  ]*yn  to  mean:  "  to  allot,  to 
appoint,"  thus  rendering  it  as  a  synonym  of 
nvn  (ch.  xl.  30  [xli.  G]  ;  so  Targ.,  Gesen., 
Ewald,  Dillm.);  or,  which  is  less  probable,  we 
take  it  as  a  denominative  from  Vn,  "  arrow," 
in  the  sense  of  "casting  lots,  disposing  of  by 
lot"  [from  the  custom  of  shaking  up  arrows  for 
lots — a  doubtful  sense  for  the  Hebrew]  (so  Coc- 
ceius,  Rosenm.,  Umbreit,  Hirzel,  etc.)  ;  or  whe- 
ther, finally,  we  assign  to  the  word  the  meaning 
of  "  cutting  off,  completing"  (Gesenius  in  Thes., 
Stickel,  Delitzsch  [E.  V.  Good,  Ber.,  Noy., 
Schlott.,Con.,  Rod.,  Ren.,  Fiirst]  etc.) — to  which 
latter  interpretation,  however,  the  expression — 
"  the  number  of  his  months  " — is  not  so  well 
suited,  for  a  number  is  not  properly  cut  off. 
[In  any  case  the  addition  of  E.  V.,  -'when  the 
number  of  his  months  is  cut  off  in  the  midst,''  is 
erroneous  ;  for  even  if  we  assign  to  the  verb  the 
signification — "cut  off" — the  meaning  of  the 
clause  is  cutting  off  at  the  end,  not  in  the  midst. 
What  is  the  evil-doer's  concern  in  his  house, 
when  he  himself  is  no  more?  The  other  mean- 
ing given  above  however — "to  apportion" — 
gives  a  more  vivid  representation  of  his  brutal 
.«elfishnpss,  his  unconcern  even  for  bis  own  flesh 
ami  blood,  provided  he  himself  have  liis  full 
share  of  life  and  its  enjoyments.  What  careth 
he  for  his  house  after  him,  if  the  full  ntimher  of 
his  own  months  be  meted  out  to  him?  E.]  The 
number  of  ^i'lfn  is  determined  by  the  subordi- 
nate [but  nearest]    term  of  the  subject,  by  vir- 


tue of  an  attraction   similar  to  that  in  ch.  xv. 
20  (Gesen.  I  148  [g  Uo],  1)  [Green,  §  277]. 

Fifth  Strophe  :  vers.  22-2G  :  [The  theory  of  the 
friends  involves  a  presumptuous  dictation  to  God 
of  what  He  should  do,  seeing  that  His  present 
dealings  with  men,  and  their  participation  of  the 
common  destiny  of  the  grave,  furnish  no  indica- 
tion of  moral  character]. 

Ver.  22.  Shall  one  teach  God  know- 
ledge. 7X7  as  containing  the  principal  notion 
is  put  emphatically  first.  In  respect  to  the  da- 
tive construction  of  verbs  of  teaching  (as  in 
Greek  6i6daKEiv  nvi  ri)  comp.  Ewald,  ^  283,  c. : 
Seeing  He  judgeth  those  that  are  in  hea- 
ven:  lit:  "and  He  nevertheless  judges  (X^HI, 
circumstantial  clause)  the  high"  [Carey:  "dig- 
nities." The  LXX  read  D'On,  0(^yorf].  The 
"high"  are  simply  the  heavenly  spirits,  the 
angels  as  inhabiting  the  heights  of  heaven 
(D'Onp,  comp.  ch.  xvi.  19;  xxv.  2;  xxxi.  2),  not 
the  celestial  heights  themselves,  as  Gesenius  ex- 
plains, with  a  reference  to  Ps.  Ixxviii.  69,  a  re- 
ference, however,  which  is  probably  unsuitable. 
Still  less  does  it  mean  "the  proud"  (Hahn,  01- 
shausen),  a  signification  which  □"!  by  itself,  and 
without  qualification  never  has.  This  proposi- 
tion, that  God  exercises  judicial  power  over  the 
exalted  spirits  of  heaven.  Job  advances  here  all 
the  more  readily,  that  the  friends  had  already 
appealed  twice  in  similar  words  to  the  same  fact 
of  the  absolute  holiness  and  justice  of  God  (ch. 
iv.  18,  and  xv.  15).  They  had  indeed  done  this 
with  the  intent  of  supporting  their  narrow- 
minded  doctrine  of  retribution,  while  o?i  the  con- 
trary Job,  by  the  same  proposition  would  put 
their  short-sighted  theory  to  the  rout,  and  direct 
attention  to  the  unfathomable  depth  and  secresy 
of  God's  counsels,  and  of  the  principles  of  His 
government. 

Vers.  23-26  demonstrate  this  unfathomable- 
ness  and  incomprehensibleness  of  the  divine 
judgments  (Rom.  xi.  33)  by  two  examples, 
which  are  contrasted  each  with  the  other  (ver. 
23,  ver.  25:  npHr,  "the  one — the  other"),  of 
one  man  dying  in  the  fulness  of  his  prosperity, 
of  another  who  is  continually  unfortunate,  but 
whom  the  like  death  unites  with  the  former, 
notwithstanding  that  their  moral  desert  during 
their  life  was  altogether  different,  or  directly 
opposite  in  character.  The  assumption  of  many 
ancient  and  some  modern  commentators,  as  e.  g. 
Hahn,  that  by  the  prosperous  man  described  in 
ver.  23  seq.  a  wicked  man,  and  by  the  unfortu- 
nate man  described  in  ver.  25  a  pious  man  is 
intended,  without  qualification,  is  arbitrary,  and 
hardly  corresponds  with  exactness  to  the  poet's 
idea.  The  tendency  of  the  parallel  presented  is 
rather  in  accordance  with  ver.  22,  to  show,  in 
proof  of  the  mysteriousness  of  the  divine  deal- 
ings and  judgment,  that  what  happens  out- 
wardly to  "men  in  this  life  is  not  necessarily  de- 
termined by  their  moral  conduct,  but  that  this 
latter  might  be,  and  often  enough  is  directly  at 
variance  with  the  external  prosperity. 

Ver.  23.  The  one  dies  in  the  fulness  of  his 
prosperity,  lit.  "in  bodily  pro,><periiy,"  in  ipsa 
sua  integritate.  In  respect  to  DYj.'  "self"  [es- 
sence,   the    very    thing]    comp.     Gesen.    §   124 


CHAP.  XXI.  1-34. 


481 


[J  122],  2,  Rem.  3;  and  in  respect  to  DjI,  "in- 
tegrity in  the  physical  sense,  bodily,  in  general 

external  well  being,"  comp.  the  word  Dnp  gene- 
rally used  elsewhere  in  this  sense,  Ps.  xxxviii.  4 
[3],    8   [7],    and  also   D'D'pn   Prov.    i.     12.— 

pX7t^  in  the  second  member,  which  is  not  found 
elsewhere  is   an  alternate  form  of  JJXU',   "un- 

't  -.- 

concerned,"   enlarged  by  the  introduction  of  a 

liquid     [comp.     ^^n    from    ^^T,    sestuare,    and 

DD73,  fialaai-tov,  from  Dty3;  Del.].  According 
to  Rodiger,  Olsh.,  it  is  possibly  just  an  error  in 
writing  for  ?J5<,t^,  the  form  given  above  in  ch. 

xii.  5.  '^fp  stands  here  for  the  more  frequent 
defective  form  wK',  ch.  xx.  20;  comp.  Jer. 
xlix.  31. 

Ver.  24.  His  troughs  are  full  of  milk. 
Most  moderns,  following  the  lead  of  the  Talmu- 
dic  |£3J^"5  "olive-trough,"  as  well  as  the  author- 
ity of  the  Targ.  and  many  Rabbis,  take  Wy\5^ 
correctly  in  the  sense  of  "vessels,  troughs" 
["milk-pails,"  Luther,  Wolfsohn,  Elzas ;  "bot- 
tles," Lee;  "skin?,"  Carey  {i.  e.  undressed 
skins,  the  abundance  of  milk  making  it  neces- 
sary to  use  these)  ],  to  the  rejection  of  interpre- 
tations which  are  in  part  singularly  at  variance, 
such  as  "cattle-pastures"  (Aben-Ezra,  Schult. 
[Renan,  Weymss]  etc.,  "veins"  (Fiirst),  "jugu- 
lar veins"  (Saad.),  "sides"  (Pesh.)  [Noyes, 
Con.],  "bowels"  (LXX.,  Vulg.  ["breasts," 
Targ.,  E.  V.;  "loins,"  Rodwell;  ".sleek  skin," 
Good.  "The  assumption  that  VJ'O^  must  be  a 
part  of  the  body  is  without  satisfactory  ground 
(comp.  against  it  e.  g.  ch.  xx.  17,  and  for  it  xx. 
ll);  and  Schlottm.  very  correctly  observes  that 
in  the  contrast  in  connection  with  the  represen- 
tation of  the  well-watered  marrow  one  expects  a 
reference)  to  arich,nutritiousdrink."  DelitzschJ. 
The  meaning  of  this  member  of  the  verse  accora- 
ingly  reminds  us  in  general  of  ch.  xx.  17,  which 
description  of  Zophar's  Job  here  purposely  re- 
calls, in  like  manner  as  in  "the  marrow  of  the 
bones,"  in  b  he  recalls  ver.  11  of  the  spme  dis- 
course. [And  the  marro'w  of  his  bones  is 
•well-watered].  In  respect  to  "  well- watered," 
an  agricultural  or  horticultural  metaphor,  comp. 
Is.  Iviii.  11. 

Ver.  25.  The  other  dies  with  a  bitter 
soul  (comp.  ch.  iii.  20;  vii.  11;  x.  1),  and 
has  not  enjoyed  good;  lit.  "and  has  not 
eaten  of  the  good"  (or  "prosperity,"  ni3''CD  as 
in  ch.  ix.  25)  with  3  partitive,  as  in  Ps.  cxli.  4; 
comp.  above  ch.  vii.  13  [3  73X  perhaps  like 
3  nN"*  conveying  the  idea  of  enjoyment,  as 
Schlottmann  suggests.  Not,  however,  of  full 
enjoyment,  but  rather  tasting  of  it. — Not  as  in 
E.  V.  "and  never  eateth  «ti7/i /)/fa«!<re,-"  against 
which  lies  (1)  The  customary  usage  of  3  parti- 
tive after  verbs  of  eating  and  drinking;  (2)  The 
objective  meaning  of  71310,  which  cannot  be 
taken  of  subjective  pleasure. — E  ]. 

Vev.  26.  Together    [or:  beside  one  ano- 
ther] they  lie  down  in  the  dust  (of  the 
grave),    and    w^orms    cover    them.  —  rTa"*. 
31 


decay,  worms,  as  above  in  ch.  xvii.  14.  Comp. 
our  proverbial  expressions  in  regard  to  the 
equality  of  the  grave,  the  impartiality  of  death, 
etc. 

5.  Third  Division:  A  rebuke  of  the  friends  on 
account  of  their  one- sided  judgment  touching 
the  external  prosperity  of  men,  a  judgment 
which  was  only  unfavorable  as  regards  Job: 
vers.  27-34. 

Sixth  Strophe  :  vers.  27-30. —Behold  I  know 
your  thoughts  [m3!iyrTD,  counsels,  plans], 
and  the  plots  (niQfO,  sensu  mala,  as  in  Prov. 
xii.  2;  xiv.  17  ;  xxiv.  8)  ["is  the  name  he  gives 
to  the  delicately  developed  reasoning  with  which 
they  attack  him":  Delitzsch;  the  schemes 
which  they  invent  to  wound  him,  the  painful  di- 
lemmas into  which  they  would  entrap  him  :  E.} 
w^ith  w^hich  ye  do  violence  tome:  with 
the  intent  namely  of  presenting  me  at  any  cost 
as  a  sinner.       ["Rj   the   construction  of  DOn 

with  1)?  the  notion  of  falling  upon  and  over- 
powering is  indicated."  Schlottm.]. 

Ver.  28,  hypothetical  antecedent  with  '3,  is 
related  to  ver.  29  as  its  consequent,  precisely 
like  ch.  xix.  28  to  ver.  29.  [So  Ewald.  Del., 
Dillni.  Rut  such  a  construction  seems  neither 
natural  nor  forcible.  The  causal  rendering: 
"For  ye  say,  etc.,"  is  simpler  and  stronger.  It. 
was  from  ju.it  such  taunts  as  the  following  that 
Job  knew  their  spirit,  and  detected  their  insidi- 
ous plots  against  his  reputation  and  his  peace. 
The  causal  rendering  is  adopted  by  E.  V.  Good, 
Wem.,  Noy.,  Words.,  Schlott.,  Con.,  Rod.,  Cavey, 
Elzas,  f^o.  E.].  If,  [or,  VT-hen]  yesay  :  "  Where 
is  the  house  of  the  tyrant  ?  (3'"1J,  sejisu  utalo, 
as  in  Is.  xiii.  2,  not  in  the  neutral  sense,  as 
above  in  ch.  xii.  21)  [a  title  of  honor,  similar  in 
use  to  our  nobleman,  generosus,  for  which,  in  its 
personal  application  to  Job  here,  "tyrant" 
sjems  too  strong  a  rendering.  Neither  here, 
nor  in  Is.  1.  c,  is  such  a  rendering  called  for. 
In  this  member  the  prominent  idea  is  station, 
rank:  the  moral  character  of  the  3""1J  is  indi- 
cated in  the  following  member.  E.],  and  •where 
the  tent  inhabited  by  the  wicked  ?  lit., 
"the  tent  of  the  habitations  of  the  wicked,  '  by 
which  possibly  a  spacious  palatial  tent  is  ia~ 
tended,  with  several  large  compartments  within; 
it  (such  as  the  tents  of  the  Redouin  sheikhs  are  to 
this  day),  which  can  be  recognized  from  afar  by 
their  size.  [r\1J3C?0  "is  not  an  externally,  but 
internally  multiplying  plur. ;  perhaps  the  poet  by 

n'3  intends  a  palace  in  the  city,  and  by  7nX 
mJ3ti'ID  a  tent  among  the  wandering  tribes,  ren- 
dered prominent  by  its  spaciousness,  and  the 
splendor  of  the  establishment  "  Del.].  It  is  to  be 
noted  moreover  how  distinct  an  allusion  there  is 
in  the  question  to  the  repeated  descriptions  of 
the  destruction  of  the  tent  of  the  wicked  by  Eli- 
phaz  and  Bildad  (ch.  xv.  34;  xviii.  15,  21). 

Ver.  29.  Have  ye  not  inquired  then 
[DnSxC^  for  DnWi;/;   see  Green,  g  119,  2]    of 

those  v7ho  travel:  lit.  "the  wanderers,  pas- 
sers-by, of  the  way;"  comp.  Lam.  i.  12;  Ps. 
Ixxx.  13,  etc.  ["People  who  have  travelled 
much,  and  therefore  are  well  acquainted  with 
the  s'ories  of  human  destinies."  Del.].      And 


482 


THE  BOOK  OP  JOB. 


their  tokens  ye  will  at  least  not  fail  to 
know  ;  i.  e.  that  which  they  have  to  te  1  of  ex- 
amples of  prosperous  evil-doers  and  righteous 
ones  in  ndversity  (they,  who  have  travelled 
much,  who  know  about  other  lands  and  nations  !) 
that  you  purely  will  not  disregard,  controvert,  or 
reject  '.  033^n,  Piel  of  "IIDJ,  expresses  here,  as 
in  Deut.  xxxii.  27:  1  Sam.xxiii.  7;  Jer.  xix. 
4,  the  negative  sense  of  "ignoring,  denying," 
while  occasionally,  c.  g.  in  Elihu's  use  of  it,  ch. 
xxxiv.  19,  it  fligiiities  also  to  "acknowledge"  (a 
meaning  elsewhere  found  in  the  Hiphil).  [So 
here  E.  V.  Lee,  Conant,  Ewald,  Schlott. — accord- 
ing to  which  rendering  the  second  member  is  a 
continuation  of  the  question  begun  in  the  first]. 
rin'lX,  "tokens,"  means  here  "things  worthy  of 
note,  remarkable  incidents,  memorabilia,  anec- 
dotes of  travel.  ' 

Ver.  30  gives  in  brief  compass  the  substance 
and  contents  of  these  lessons  of  travel:  That 
in  the  day  of  destruction  (TX,  as  in  ver. 
17)  the  wicked  is  spared  [i.  e.  is  held  back 
from  ruin  ;  "TpU  as  in  ch.  xvi.  6;  xxxiii.  18),  in 
the  day  of  overflowing  wrath  they  are 
led  away  :  2.  e.  beyond  the  reach  of  the  devas- 
tating effect  of  these  outbursts  of  divine  wrath 
(nnn^  as  in  chap.  xl.  11),  so  that  these  can  do 
them  no  harm.  The  Hopb.  S^-IH,  which  is  used 
below  in  ver.  32  of  being  escorted  in  honor  to 
the  grave,  expresses  here  accordingly,  in  like 
manner  as  in  Is.  Iv.  12,  being  led  away  with  a 
protecting  escort  (as,  for  example.  Lot  was  con- 
ducted out  of  Sodom).  [Noyes  gives  to  the  verb 
here  the  same  application  as  in  ver.  32,  and  ex- 
plains: He  is  borne  to  his  grave  in  the  day  of 
wrath  ;  i.  e.  he  dies  a  natural,  peaceful  death]. 
The  only  unusual  feature  of  this  construction, 
which  in  any  case  is  much  to  be  preferred  as  a 
..whole  to  that  of  Ewald  [Rudwell]  "on  the  day 
wheu'the  overflowings  of  wrath  come  ou"  is  the 

QVS,  instead  of  which  we  might  rather  look  for 
iDVi,  "in  the  day."  It  is  nevertheless  unadvi- 
sable,  in  view  of  the  context,  to  translate  the 
second  member — as  e.  g.  with  Dillman  [E.  V., 
Con.,  Carey] — "they  are  brought  on  to  the  day 
of  wrath;"  for  such  a  proposition  could  not  pos- 
sibly be  attributed  to  the  travellers,  but  at  most 
to  the  friends;  it  would  thus  of  necessity  follow 
a  very  abruptly  [and  unnaturally];  neither 
would  any  essential  relief  be  obtained  from  a 
transposition  of  ver.  30  and  ver.  29  as  suggested 
by  Delitzsch.  [Zockler  overlooks,  however,  the 
explanation  of  those  (such  as  Scott,  Carey,  Co- 
nant, Wordsworth,  Barnes,  etc.)  who  regard  the 
whole  of  this  verse  as  expressing,  through  the 
travellers  of  ver.  29,  Job's  own  conviction  that 
the  wicked  are  reserved  for  future  retribution, 
that  they  are  led  forth  to  a  day  of  wrath  here- 
after;  that  accordingly  present  exemption  from 
the  penalty  of  sin  proves  nothing  as  to  a  man's 
real  character.  Such  an  explanation,  however, 
is  to  be  rejected  for  the  following  reasons:  (1) 
If  is  at  variance  with  the  drift  of  the  book's  ar- 
gument. (2)  It  is  inconceivable,  if  Job  held  so 
clearly  and  firmly  to  the  doctrine  of  future  retri- 
Viution,  as  this  view  of  the  passage  before  us 
would  imply,  that  he  did  not  make  more  use  of 


it  in  his  discussions.  (3)  It  is  inconsistent 
with  the  connection,  (a)  Why  should  he  pro- 
duce this  view  here  as  a  foreign  importation  ? 
Why  should  he  rest  it  on  experience  ?  Observe 
that  the  proposition — the  wicked  are  spared  in 
times  of  calamity  is  a  deduction  from  experience, 
for  the  truth  of  which  Job  might  well  appeal  to 
the  testimony  of  those  who  by  much  observation 
and  experience  could  testify  to  the  fact.  But 
surely  the  doctrine  of  a  future  retribution  must 
rest  on  other  authority — the  witness  of  con- 
science, the  testimony  of  a  divine  revelation,  the 
consensus  of  the  wise  and  holy  (not  merely  of 
the  '^■^T  '^^IJ,')  in  all  ages  and  lands,  {b)  It  is 
inconceivable  that  Job  having  carried  his  hear- 
ers forward  to  the  retribution  of  the  Hereafter 
as  the  solution  of  the  mystery  of  the  present 
should  proceed  to  speak  (aa  he  does  in  the  verses 
immediately  following)  of  the  present  prosperity 
and  pomp  of  the  wicked,  and  of  the  continuance 
of  the  same  to  and  upon  the  grave,  in  the  same 
strain  as  before.  Especially  does  the  conclu- 
sion reached  in  ver.  33  seem  strange  and  unsuit- 
able, if  we  suppose  the  sublime  truth  of  a  full 
retribution  to  be  declared  in  ver.  30. — E.] 

Seventh  Strophe:  vers.  31-34.  Who  to  His 
face  will  declare  His  way  ?  and  hath  He 
done  aught — who  will  requite  it  to  Him  ? 
This  inquiry  evidently  proceeds  not  from  the 
travellers,  whose  utterance  has  already  come  to 
an  end  in  ver.  30,  but  from  Job  himself.  More- 
over it  concerns  not  the  sinner,  but  God,  the  un- 
searchably wise  and  mighty  disposer  of  men  a 
destinies,  whose  name  is  not  mentioned  from  re- 
verential awe.  So  correctly  Aben-Ezra,  Ewald, 
Hirzel,  Heiligst.,  Dillm.  Regarded  as  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  discourse  of  the  travellers  (aa 
it  is  taken  by  the  majority  of  commentators)  [so 
Del.,  Schlott.,  Renan,  Scott,  Good,  Lee,  Bernard, 
Rod.,  Words.,  Elzas,  Merx],  the  verse  must  natu- 
rally be  referred  to  the  wicked  man,  characteri- 
zing his  unscrupulous  arbitrary  conduct,  which 
no  one  ventures  to  hinder  or  punish.  But  for  this 
view  the  expression  l/'DyK']'  "'0,  "who  will  requite 
it  to  him?"  would  be  much  too  strong.  More- 
over a  sentiment  of  such  a  reflective  cast  would 
be  strange  in  the  mouth  of  the  travellers  from 
whom  we  should  expect  directly  only  a  state- 
ment of  fact  (mniX  ver.  29).  [Referred  to  God 
the  meaning  would  be:  Who  will  challenge  the 
divine  conduct  ?  He  renders  no  account  of  His 
actions.  His  reasons  are  inscrutable;  and  how- 
ever much  His  dealings  with  men  seem  to  con- 
tradict our  notions  of  justice,  our  only  recourse 
is  silence  and  submission.  But  against  this  in- 
terpretation it  maybe  urged:  (1)  It  requires 
too  many  abrupt  changes  of  subject.  Thus  we 
should  have  for  subject  in  ver.  30  the  wicked 
man,  in  ver.  31  God,  in  ver.  32  the  wicked  again, 
and  this  while  in  ver.  31  and  ver.  32  the  subject 
is  indicated  only  by  personal  pronouns.  It  is 
highly  improbable  that  X^m  in  ver.  31  b,  and 
X=in)  in  ver.  32  a  are  used  of  different  subjects. 
(2)  The  expressions  are  unsuitable  to  the 
thought  attributed  to  them,  especially  the  clause 

'ib-obty;  ""D,  which,  as  Delitzsch  argues,  used  of 
man  in  relation  to  God,  has  no  suitable  mean- 
ing.    On  the  other  hand  the  application  to  the 


CHAP.  XXI.  1-34. 


483 


■wicked  gives  a  smooth  connection,  at  the  same 
time  that  the  expressions  are  entirely  appropri- 
ate to  describe  his  career  of  lawless  impunity. 
The  Nini  of  ver.  32  moreover  acquires  by  this 
application  its  proper  emphasis  (see  on  the 
verse).  To  the  objection  made  above — that  a 
moral  reflection  of  the  sort  would  be  inappro- 
priate in  the  mouth  of  travellers,  it  may  be 
replied  that  it  is  not  properly  a  reflection,  but  a 
statement  of  fact,  the  fact,  namely,  of  the  evil- 
doer's exemption  from  responsibility  and  pun- 
ishment. On  the  contrary,  so  far  from  being 
called  to  account,  or  properly  punished,  he  es- 
capes in  the  day  of  calamity  (ver.  30),  he  defies 
the  world  (ver.  31),  and  is  buried  with  honor 
(ver.  32).  Carey  thinks  that  Job  here  "makes 
evident  allusion  to  a  custom  that  prevailed  among 
the  ancient  Egyptians,  whose  law  allowed  any 
one  to  bring  an  accusation  against  a  deceased 
person  previously  to  his  interment  (and  even 
kings  themselves  were  not  exempted  from  this 
death  judgment)  ;  if  the  accusation  was  fully 
proved,  and  the  deceased  was  convicted  of  hav- 
ing led  a  bad  life,  he  was  obliged  to  be  placed 
in  his  own  house,  and  was  debarred  the  custom- 
ary rites  of  interment,  even  though  the  tomb  had 
been  prepared  for  him."  Less  simple  and  pro- 
bable than  the  explanation  given  above.     E.] 

Vers.  32  seq.  continue  the  report  of  those  who 
had  travelled  much,  not  however  (any  more 
than  in  ver.  30)  in  their  ip si ssimis  verbis  strictly 
quoted,  but  in  such  a  way  that  Job  fully  appro- 
priates to  himself  that  which  they  say  (to  wit, 
their  vivid  representation  of  the  brilliant  career 
of  the  wicked),  sothat  accordingly  even  ver.  31 
need  not  be  regarded  as  properly  an  interrup- 
tion of  that  report.  And  he  (N^HI  pointing 
back  to  the  J?"2  ver.  30  [empliatic,  according  to 
the  view  which  regards  the  y\  as  also  the  sub- 
ject of  ver.  31.  He — the  same  who  lives  that 
lawless,  defiant,  outwardly  successful  life,  is  the 
favorite  of  fortune  to  the  very  last.  Feared  in 
his  life,  he  is  again  honored  in  his  death.  E.] 
is  borne  aw^ay  to  burial,  in  full  honor,  and 
with  a  great  procession ;  comp.  on  ver.  30 ;  also 
ch.  X.  19;  xvii.  1.  ["Like  mjDiJ/O  above, 
nn^p  is  also  an  ampUficative  plural."  Del.  It 
would  thus  mean  "a  splendid  tomb"].  And 
on  a  monument  he  (still)  keeps  ■watch:  as 
one  immortalized  by  a  statue,  or  a  stone  monu- 
ment. This  is  not  to  be  specially  understood  in 
accordance  with  the  Egyptian  custom  (in  that 
c■^se  the  reference  here  being  to  pyramids ; 
comp.  on  ch.  iii.  14),  but  in  accordance  with  a 
custom,  still  prevalent  in  the  East,  specially 
among  the  Bedouin  Arabs,  of  building  large 
grave-mounds,  or  a  domed  structure  towering 
above  the  grave  (HSP)  in  memory  of  the  honored 
dead.  In  such  a  lofty  monument  the  dead  man 
keeps  watch,  as  it  were,  over  his  own  resting- 
place,  witliout  its  being  necessary  to  suppose 
that  he  was  particularly  represented  by  a  statue, 
or  a  picture  on  the  wall  (like  those  in  Egyptian 
vaults,  to  which  Schlottm.  refers  here  by  way 
of  comparison).  ["  Possibly  there  is  also  here 
some  allusion  to  inscriptions  warning  ofi"  those 
who  would  desecrate  the  tomb,  similar  to  those 
found  on  the  sarcophagus  of  Escbmunazar,  king 


of  Sidon."  Renan].  This  explanation  is  in 
striking  harmony  not  only  with  well-known 
customs  of  the  east,  but  also  with  the  etymologi- 
cally  established  signification  of  C'''"lJ=beap,  tu- 
mulus, monumentum  (comp.  il,  Gen.  xxxi.  J6 
seq.).  It  agrees  not  less  with  thit  wliich  was 
previously  spoken  by  Bildad  to  precisely  the  op- 
posite effect  in  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
evil-doer  after  his  death  in  ch.  xviii.  17,  where 
the  latter  presupposes  the  complete  extinction 
of  the  name  of  the  ungodly,  whereas  Job  on  the 
contrary  makes  the  same  not  only  not  to  sleep 
the  sleep  of  death,  but  rather  to  watch,  as  though 
he  continued  to  live.  [And  Noyes  accordingly 
renders  :  "  Yea,  he  still  survives  upon  his  tomb. 
He  enjoys  as  it  were  a  second  life  upon  his  tomb, 
in  the  honors  paid  to  his  memory,  his  splendid 
monument,  and  the  fame  he  leaves  behind 
him."].  The  more  striking  the  above  points  of 
agreement,  the  less  necessary  is  it  to  fatigue 
ourselves  in  company  with  the  ancient  versions 
and  Bottcher  [Froben,  etc.,  p.  22)  in  finding  how 
ty'^J  could  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  "  heaps  of 
sheaves,"  and  still  obtain  a  sentiment  suited  to 
the  context.*  Equally  unnecessary  is  it  (with 
Bottcher  de  infer,  p.  40,  [Conani],  Hahn,  Rd- 
diger,  eic.)  to  take  '^pW  impersonally;  "watch 
is  held  over  his  grave-mound,  etc."  a  rendering 
with  which  the  suflix-less  ^^"^^  (not  lU^'IJ)  would 
agree  but  indifferently.  ["  Moreover,"  says 
Uelitzsch,  "the  placing  of  guards  of  honor  by 
graves  is  an  assumed,  but  not  proved,  custom 
of  antiquity."  The  rendering  of  E.  V.  "and 
shall  remain  in  the  tomb,"  is  feeble  as  well  as 
incorrect.]. 

"Ver.  33.  Soft  lie  upon  him  the  clods  [or 
sods]  of  the  valley  (ch.  xxxviii.  38).  Lit., 
"sweet  are  to  him  the  clods  of  the  valley," those, 
namely,  beneath  which  he  rests.  Valleys  are 
particularly  desired  in  the  East  as  places  of 
burial;  witness  the  valleys  around  Jerusalem, 
abounding  as  they  do  in  graves.  The  favorite 
custom  of  the  Arabs  of  burying  their  distin- 
guished dead  on  eminences,  is  accordingly  not 
referred  to  here  (comp.  Del.  on  ver. ,  32). 
["These  words  also  seem  to  suppose  that  the 
person  who  is  buried  may  partake,  in  some  re- 
spects, of  the  prosperous  state  of  the  tomb  which 
contains  him.  Such  an  idea  seems  to  have  been 
indulged  by  Sultan  Amurath  the  Great,  who 
died  in  1450,  [and  who  in  the  .suburbs  of  Prusa] 
'  now  lieth  in  a  chappell  without  any  roofe,  his 
grave  nothing  differing  from  the  manner  of  the 
common  Turks ;  which,  they  say,  he  com- 
manded to  be  done,  in  his  last  will,  that  the 
mercie  and  blessing  of  God  (as  he  termed  it) 
might  come  unto  him  by  the  shining  of  the 
sunne  and  moone,  and  falling  of  the  raine  and 
dew  of  heaven  upon  his  grave.'  Knolles' 
Ili^t.  of  the  Turks,  p.  332."  Noyes].  And 
after  him  dra'ws  ('^ti'?]  intransitive  asinJudg. 
iv.  6)  all  the  ■world  :  viz.  by  imitating  his  ex- 

*  Witness  the  foUowin?  curious  effort  of  Bernard  :  "[Ho- 
nored] as  ivheti  he  toatched  over  his corn-shockn.  Just  as  in  hia 
life-time  peoplH  were  ol)liged  (tlirongh  their  fear  of  him)  to 
salute  him  humbly,  when  they  passed  before  him  as  he 
sto'd  watching  over  his  shocks  of  corn,  that  no  poor  man 
might  elan  an  ear,  so  must  they  testify  their  resp^-ct  tu  hia 
body  when  carried  to  the  grave." 


484 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


ample,  by  entering  on  the  same  path  of  a  life 
spent  in  earthlj'  enjoyment  and  luxury,  which 
he,  ami  an  unnuinbered  multitude  of  others  be- 
fore him  (as  the  third  member  says)  had  already 
trod.     Thus  rendered  the  scntenca  undoubtedly 

expresses  an  exaggeration  ;  in  the  D1S"7D  there 
lies  an  unjust  accusation  of  misanthropic  bit- 
terness against  tlie  great  mass  of  men.  [For  a 
somewhat  similar  misanthropic,  oral  least  cyni- 
cal bitterness,  comp.  what  Bildad  says  in  ch. 
viii.  19.]  This  same  characteristic  however 
corresponds  perfectly  to  the  exasperated  and 
embittered  temper  of  .Job;  whereas  on  the  con- 
trary to  interpret  "all  the  world  draws  after 
him"  of  a  large  funeral  procession  (Vaih., 
[Wemyss,  Carey]  etc.),  yields  when  compared 
with  32  a  an  inappropriate  tautology,  and  to  re- 
fer it  to  those  who  follow  after  him  through 
sharing  the  same  fate  of  death  and  burial  (De- 
litzsch  [Noyes])  seems  altogether  too  vapid  in 
the  present  connection. 

Ver.  84.  Conchision  :  with  a  reference  to  ver. 
27.  How  then  C^'^l,  quomodo  ergo,  stronger 
than  the  simple  "il'N)  can  you  comfort  me  so 
vainly  (comp  ch.  ix.  29)  ?  Of  your  replies 
there  remains  (over  nothing  but)  falsehood! 
Lit.  "and  as  for  your  replies  (absolute  case, 
Evvald,  ^  309,  b) — there  remaineth  over  false- 
hood."— ^^'i3,  scil.  D^ii 7X3,  "a  perfidious  dispo- 
sition towards  God"  (comp.  Josh.  xxii.  22),  and 
for  that  same  reason  also  towards  one's  neighbor. 
By  this  is  intended  the  same  intriguing,  mali- 
cious, tleceitful  eagerness  to  suspect  and  to  slan- 
der, with  Avhich  in  ver.  27  he  had  reproached 
his  opponents. 

DOCTRINAL   AND    ETHICAL. 

1.  The  significance  of  this  discourse  of  Job's 
in  respect  to  the  progress  of  the  colloquy  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  marks  the  transition  from  the  pre- 
dominantly personal  treatment  of  the  problem, 
which  has  thus  far  obtained  on  the  part  both  of 
the  friends  and  of  .Job  to  a  discussion  dealing  more 
immedia/eit/  with  the  subject-matter,  and  for  that 
reason  more  calm,  less  passionate  in  its  tone,  and 
more  directly  preparing  the  way  for  the  solution. 
The  venomous  accusations  of  the  friends,  (which 
in  the  immediately  preceding  discourse  of  Zo- 
phar  had  reached  the  climax  of  bluntness  and 
odiousness),  do  not  indeed  cease  from  this  point 
on.  Just  as  little  does  the  tone  of  bitterness  dis- 
appear from  Job's  replies,  wliich  on  the  contrary 
at  the  beginning  and  close  of  tlie  present  dis- 
course exhibits  itself  in  a  manner  decidedly 
marked  (in  vers.  2-3  ;  which  contain  sarcastic 
allusions  to  the  empty  "consolations  of  the 
friends";  in  ver.  34,  with  its  reproach  of  false- 
hood and  unfaithfulness).  From  this  point  on 
however  we  find,  along  with  these  personalities, 
a  tendency,  characterized  by  an  ever  increasing 
objectivity,  to  consider  calmly  the  question  of 
fact  involved  in  the  matter  in  controversy;  the 
result  indeed  being  that  Job's  superiority  over 
his  opponents  as  regards  their  respective  points 
of  view  becomes  more  and  more  obvious.  In 
his  former  discourse  he  had  discussed  only  oc- 
casionally and   incidentally  their  favorite   doc- 


trine concerning  the  horrible  end  of  the  wicked; 
and  in  what  he  had  said  he  had  exhibited  so  lit- 
tle prudence  that  he  had  appeared  as  one  who 
presumptuously  challenged  the  divine  righteous- 
ness, and  had  tiius  only  confirmed  the  triends' 
evil  opinion  of  his  moral  character  (see  ch.  ix. 
22-24;  X.  3;  xii.  6).  Now,  however,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  discuss  the  question  in  controversy 
calmly  and  thoroughly,  opposing  to  their  propo- 
sition, that  the  life  of  the  ungodly  must  infalli- 
bly end  in  misery,  the  fact,  which  experience 
establishes  that  it  is  quite  commonly  the  case 
that  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked  lasts  until  their 
death,  while  on  the  contrary  the  pious  are  pur- 
sued with  all  sorts  of  calamities  to  the  grave. 
In  respect  to  the  reflection  of  an  apparent  injus- 
tice which  this  experience  seems  to  cast  on  God, 
the  author  of  so  unequal  a  distribution  of  hu- 
man destinies,  Job  this  time  expresses  himself 
with  discreet  awe  and  reserve.  Instead  of  as- 
suming the  tone  of  a  presumptuous  blasphemer, 
and  accusing  God  of  injustice,  or  tyrannical  se- 
verity, he  treats  the  contradiction  between  pros- 
perity and  virtue,  as  it  so  often  exhibits  itself 
in  this  earthly  life,  as  a  dark  enigma,  not  to  be 
solved  by  human  wisdom.  .4.nd  instead  of  hold- 
ing up  this  antagonism  before  his  opponents 
with  frivolous  satisfaction  or  exulting  arrogance, 
he  exhibits  whenever  he  approaches  the  subject 
deep  perplexity  and  painful  agitation  (vers.  5, 
6),  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  description  he 
even  points  out  the  mystery  which  surrounds  the 
phenomenon  under  consideration  as  a  discipli- 
nary trial  for  human  knowledge,  constraining 
to  reverential  submission  beneath  the  inscruta- 
ble ways  of  God  (vers.  22  and  31,  according  to 
the  more  correct  explanation:  see  above  on  the 
passages).  In  short,  he  discourses  concerning 
this  mystery  as  an  earnest  thinker,  resolutely 
maintaining  his  religious  integrity,  and  putting 
the  counsel  of  the  ungodly  far  from  him  (ver. 
IG) ;  and  this  calm,  earnest,  dignified  treatment 
accounts  for  his  victory  over  his  opponents,  who 
as  may  be  seen  from  the  following,  which  is  the 
last  stage  of  the  colloquy,  are  constrained  to  ac- 
knowledge his  affirmations  in  respect  to  the  dis- 
proportion between  prosperity  and  moral  wor- 
thiness in  this  life  as  being  in  great  part  true, 
and  thus  to  make  a  beginning  toward  a  complete 
surrender. 

2.  Notwithstanding  this  undeniable  superior- 
ity over  his  opponents,  which  Job  here  already 
exhibits,  his  argument  presents  certain  vulner- 
able points,  which  expose  him  to  further  attacks 
from  them.  For  in  so  far  as,  with  manifest  one- 
sidedness,  it  completely  ignores  the  instances, 
which  occur  frequently  enough,  of  a  rigliteous 
apportionment  of  men's  destinies,  and  exhibits 
the  instances  of  the  opposite  fact,  by  a  process 
of  abstract  generalization,  as  alone  of  actual  oc- 
currence, it  does  injustice  on  the  one  side  to  the 
friends,  who  are  thereby  indirectly  classified 
with  the  wicked  who  are  unworthy  of  their  pros- 
perity ;  while  on  the  other  side  it  becomes  an 
arraignment  of  God,  who  is  described  as  though 
he  gave  no  proof  of  a  really  righteous  retribu- 
tion, but  rather  decreed  continually  examples 
of  the  contrary.  Indeed  in  one  instance,  (vers. 
19-21)  the  speaker  seems  to  be  guilty  even  of 
formally  teaching  God,  in  that  he  here  maintains 


CHAP.  XXI.  1-34. 


485 


(in  oppositioa  to  a  familiar  application  of  the 
theory  of  retribution  set  forth  in  the  Law,  Ex. 
xs.  5 ;  Deut.  xxiv.  16,  an  application  contro- 
verted also  by  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel),  that  God 
punishes  with  justice  only  where  He  exacts  ex- 
piation of  the  evil-doer  himself,  and  not  of  his 
children  after  him.  The  consequence  that  God 
does  not  punish  where  He  ought  to  punish,  is  but 
a  short  remove  from  this  proposition,  which  is 
accordingly  easily  liable  to  the  reproach  of 
speaking  unbecomingly  of  God.  The  judgment 
of  Job  accordingly  in  the  present  discourse  con- 
cerning God  and  His  dealings  with  men's  desti- 
nies is  the  less  pure  and  correct  in  so  far  as  it 
in  no  wise  distinguishes  between  the  God  of  the 
present,  and  the  God  of  the  future,  as  we  find 
him  doing  in  ch.  xix.  25seq.  For  this  reason, 
and  because  the  sufferer  begins  anew  to  yield  to 
the  pressure  of  his  outward  and  inward  suffer- 
ings, the  hope  of  a  blessed  future  in  the  life  be- 
yond, which  had  previously  irradiated  his  misery, 
is  completely  obscured. 

'3.  Notwithstanding  this  partial  obscuration 
of  his  spiritual  horizon,  .Job  in  the  discourse  be- 
fore us  utters  much  that  is  beautiful,  profoundly 
true,  and  heart-stirring.  The  first  discourse 
pronounced  by  Job  after  the  inspired  paean  of 
hope  in  ch.  xix.  "ioseq.,  there  may  be  discerned 
in  it  a  certain  hallowing  influence  thence  pro- 
ceeding, vrhich  justifies  in  a  measure  the  remark 
of  S.inctius  on  that  passage:  "From  this  point 
on  to  the  end  of  the  book  Job  is  not  the  same 
as  he  has  been  heretofore."  His  description  of 
the  success  and  abounding  prosperity  of  the  un- 
godly, by  its  many  points  of  contact  with  simi- 
lar moral  pictures,  such  as  Ps.  xxxvii.  ;  Ps. 
Ixxiii. ;  Jer.  xii.  Iseq.  ;  Hab.  i.  13  seq. ;  Eccles. 
vii.,  etc.,  commends  itself  as  being  perfectly  true, 
and  derived  from  life.  Especially  does  the  cir- 
cumstance that  in  his  observation  of  the  pros- 
perity of  the  wicked  he  shows  himself  continu- 
ally inclined  to  restrain  himself  within  the 
bounds  of  modesty,  and  the  limitations  pre- 
scribed by  the  contemplation  of  the  unsearcha- 
ble operations  of  God,  give  him  an  indisputable 
advantage  over  the  description  of  his  opponents 
(and  especially  of  his  immediate  predecessor  Zo- 
phar),  which  is  one-sided  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, and  for  that  very  reason  less  true.  "The 
speeches  of  Zophar  and  of  Job  are  both  true  and 
false, — both  one-sided,  and  therefore  mutually 
supplementary.  If,  hotvever,  we  consider  fur- 
ther, that  Job  is  not  able  to  deny  the  occurrence 
of  such  examples  of  punishment,  such  revela- 
tions of  the  retributive  justice  of  God,  as  those 
which  Zophar  represents  as  occurring  regularly 
and  without  exception;  that,  however,  on  the 
other  hand,  exceptional  instances  undeniably  do 
exist,  and  the  friends  are  obliged  to  be  blind  to 
them,  because  otherwise  the  whole  structure  of 
their  oppositioa  would  fall  in, — it  is  manifest 


that  Job  is  nearer  to  the   truth  than  Zophar" 
(Delitzsch  i.  p.  425). 

HOMILETICAL  AND  TRACTICAL. 
Ver.  0.  Zeyss:  Because  reason  caunot  com- 
prehend the  mystery  of  affliction,  and  why  God 
often  deals  so  severely  with  His  children,  it 
comes  to  pass  that  even  in  pious  hearts  mourn- 
ful thoughts  frequently  spring  up,  and  they 
tremble  in  their  great  sorrow;  Ps.  xxxvii.  1; 
Ixxiii.  12;  Jer.  xii.  1,  etc. — v.  Gerlach:  Doubts 
touching  the  rectitude  of  God's  government  of 
the  world,  have  in  them  that  which  makes  our 
inmost  feelings  quiver;  the  thought  makes  all 
the  foundations  of  human  existence  quake. 

Ver.  7seq.  Seb.  Schmidt:  Thehappiness  of  the 
ungodly  is  described;  and  it  is  shown  that  they 
are  happy  (1)  in  themselves — ver.  7;  (2)  in 
I  heir  children — ver.  8;  (3)  in  their  houses — 
ver.  9 ;  (4)  in  their  cattle— ver.  10 ;  (5)  in  their 
flocks — ver.  11;  (6)  in  a  life  which  is  joyous  and 
merry — ver.  12;  (7)  in  a  death  which  at  the  last 
is  not  sad — ver.  13.  Wohlf.\rth:  What  must 
we  bear  in  mind,  in  order  that  we  may  not  err  as 
to  God  and  virtue,  wlien  we  see  the  ungodly 
prosperous,  the  godly  aSiicted?  If  Job  recoiled 
from  such  a  sight,  who  can  blame  him,  a  sufferer 
sorely  tried,  and  with  but  imperfect  knowledge 
of  God  ?  But  a  Christian  can  and  will  guard 
himself  against  such  doubts;  for  he  knows  that 
according  to  God's  sovereign  decree  outward 
prosperity  has  often  no  relation  to  a  man's 
moral  worth;  that  the  good  things  of  this  world 
will  not  long  make  man  happy,  and  that  without 
a  peaceful  conscience  happiness  in  this  earth  is 
impossible;  that  frequently  the  earthly  prosper- 
ity which  the  wicked  enjoy  is  the  means  of  their 
punishment;  that  the  place  of  retribution  is  not 
yet  in  this  world ;  and  that  God,  vehose  counsels 
we  cannot  penetrate,  will  notwithstanding  as- 
suredly compensate  pious  sufferers  for  their 
earthly  losses. 

Ver.  22  seq.  Starke:  In  holy  fear  we  should 
wonder  at  God's  judgments;  but  we  should  by 
no  means  sit  in  judgment  upon  them,  nor  in- 
quire after  the  reason  of  His  conduct;  Is.  xlv.  0. 
V.  Gerlach:  The  righteous  and  the  ungodly 
have  both  their  various  destinies,  but  these  have 
nothing  to  do  with  their  position  before  God  : 
there  lies  another  mystery  behind  which  our 
short-sighted  speeches  and  thoughts  cannot  un- 
veil. 

Ver.  27  seq.  Starke  (after  Osiander  and  the 
Tiibingen  Bible)  :  The  ungodly  are  often  highly 
exalted  in  order  that  afterwards  their  fall  may 
be  so  much  the  greater.  Although  in  this  world, 
occupying  high  places,  they  do  evil  without  ter- 
ror, and  are  punished  by  nobody,  there  will 
come  nevertheless  a  day  of  judgment,  when  their 
wickedness  will  be  brought  to  view,  and  before 
all  the  world  they  will  be  put  to  shame. 


486  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


THIRD  SERIES    OF    CONTROVERSIAL   DISCOURSES. 

THE  ENTANGLEMENT  REACHING  ITS  EXTREME  POINT. 
Chapters  XXII— XXVIII. 

I.  Eliphaz  and  Job :  Chapter  XXII— XXIV. 

A. — Eliphaz  :   Reiterated  accusation  of  Job,  from  whose  severe  sufferings  it  must 

of  necessity  be  inferred  that  he  had  sinned  grievously,  and 

needed  to  repent : 

Chap.  XXII.  1-20. 

1.  The  charge  made  openly  that  Job  is  a  great  sinner: 

Vers.  1-10. 

1  Then  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  answered  and  said : 

2  Can  a  man  be  profitable  unto  God, 

as  he  that  is  wise  may  be  profitable  unto  himself? 

3  Is  it  any  pleasure  to  the  Almighty  that  thou  art  righteous? 
or  is  it  gain  to  Him  that  thou  makest  thy  ways  perfect? 

4  Will  He  reprove  thee  for  fear  of  thee? 
will  He  enter  with  thee  unto  judgment? 

5  Is  not  thy  wickedness  great  ? 
and  thine  iniquities  infinite  ? 

6  For  thou  hast  taken  a  pledge  from  thy  brother  for  nought, 
and  stripped  the  naked  of  their  clothing. 

7  Thou  hast  not  given  water  to  the  weary  to  drink, 
and  thou  hast  withholden  bread  from  the  hungry. 

8  But  as  for  the  mighty  man,  he  had  the  earth  : 
and  the  honorable  man  dwelt  in  it. 

9  Thou  hast  sent  widows  away  empty, 

and  the  arms  of  the  fatherless  have  been  broken. 

10  Therefore  snares  are  round  about  thee, 
and  sudden  fear  troubleth  thee. 

2.  Earnest  warning  not  to  incur  y  t  severer  punishments: 

Verses  11-20. 

11  Or  darkness,  that  thou  canst  not  see ; 
and  abundance  of  waters  cover  thee. 

12  Is  not  God  in  the  height  of  heaven? 

and  behold  the  height  of  the  stars,  how  high  they  are ! 

13  And  thou  sayest,  How  doth  God  know  ? 
can  He  judge  through  the  dark  cloud? 

14  Thick  clouds  are  a  covering  to  Him,  that  He  seeth  not ; 
and  He  walketh  in  the  circuit  of  heaven. 

15  Hast  thou  marked  the  old  way, 
which  wicked  men  have  trodden  ? 

16  Which  were  cut  down  out  of  time, 

whose  foundation  was  overflown  with  a  flood  ; 

17  which    said  unto  God,  Depart  from  us  : 
and  what  can  the  Almighty  do  for  them  ? 


CHAP.  XXII.   1-30. 


487 


18  Yet  He  filled  their  houses  with  good  things : 
but  the  counsel  of  the  wicked  is  far  from  me 

19  The  righteous  see  it,  and  are  glad 
and  the  innocent  laugh  them  to  scorn : 

20  "  Whereas  our  substance  is  not  cut  down, 
but  the  remnant  of  them  the  fire  consumeth,' 


3.  Admouition   to  repent,  accompanied  by  the  announcement  of  the  certain  restoration  of  his 
prosperity  to  liim  when  penitent  : 

Verses  21-30. 

21  Acquaint  now  thyself  with  Him,  and  be  at  peace : 
thereby  good  shall  come  unto  thee. 

22  Receive,  I  pray  thee,  the  law  from  His  mouth, 
and  lay  up  His  words  in  thine  heart. 

23  If  thou  return  to  the  Almighty,  thou  shalt  be  built  up, 
thou  shalt  put  away  iniquity  far  from  thy  tabernacles. 

24  Then  shalt  thou  lay  up  gold  as  dust, 

and  the  gold  of  Ophir  as  the  stones  of  the  brooks. 

25  Yea,  the  Almighty  shall  be  thy  defence, 
and  thou  shalt  have  plenty  of  silver. 

26  For  then  shalt  thou  have  thy  delight  in  the  Almighty, 
and  shalt  lift  up  thy  face  unto  God. 

27  Thou  shalt  make  thy  prayer  unto  Him,  and  He  shall  .hear  thee, 
and  thou  shalt  pay  thy  vows. 

28  Thou  shalt  also  decree  a  thing,  and  it  shall  be  established  unto  thee : 
and  the  light  shall  shine  upon  thy  ways. 

29  When  men  are  cast  down,  then  thou  shalt  say.  There  is  lifting  up ; 
and  He  shall  save  the  humble  person. 

30  He  shall  deliver  the  island  of  the  innocent ; 

and  it  is  delivered  by  the  pureness  of  thine  hands. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL, 

1,  Without  controvertiug  Job's  position  in  ch. 
xxi.,  that  the  present  life  furnishes  numerous 
examples  of  the  prosperity  of  the  ungodly,  and 
of  calamity  to  the  pious,  but  at  the  same  time 
without  abandoning  in  the  slightest  degree  his 
former  argument  in  favor  of  an  external  doc- 
trine of  retribution,  Eliphaz  adheres  to  his  as- 
sumption that  the  cause  of  .Job's  calamities  and 
misery  could  lie  only  in  sins  of  a  grievous  cha- 
racter (vers.  2-10),  with  which  he  now  re- 
proaches him  particularly  and  in  detail  (vers. 
6-9), — sins  of  arrogance,  of  cruelty,  and  of  in- 
justice towards  his  neighbor.  Then  follows  an 
earnest  warning  against  pursuing  any  further 
his  unholy  thoughts  and  speeches,  as  otherwise 
bis  final  doom,  like  that  of  all  the  wicked  from 
the  earliest  times  must  be  a  terrible  one  (vers. 
11-20)— a  position  indeed  which  Job  also  might 
urge  to  prove  the  alleged  injustice  of  God's  treat- 
ment of  him.  To  this  sharp  warning  succeeds 
a  conciliatory  invitation  to  repent  and  to  return 
to  God,  and  to  enter  into  possession  of  the  bles- 
sings promised  by  God  to  the  penitent,  the  whole 
discourse  having  a  conclusion  similar  to  that  of 
the  first  discourse  of  Eliphaz  (vers.  21-30).  This 
third  and  last  discourse  of  Eliphaz  falls  into 
three  divisions,  exactly  equal  in  length,  and 
each    of  these  embraces  two  strophes  substan- 


tially equal  in  length,  consisting  of  five  verses 
each  (the  first,  however,  only  of  four). 

2.  First  Division,  or  Double  Strophe :  the  accu- 
sation :  vers.   2-10. 

First  Strophe:  vers.  2-5:  Four  interrogative 
sentences,  which  taken  together  exhibit  a  well- 
constructed  syllogism,  of  which  the  first  two 
questions  (vers.  2,  3)  constitute  the  major  pre- 
mise, the  third  (ver.  4)  the  minor,  the  fourth 
(ver.  5)  the  conclusion.  The  major  premise  ex- 
presses the  thought:  The  cause  of  Job's  misery 
cannot  lie  in  God,  the  All-sufficient  One,  to  whom 
the  conduct  of  men,  whether  good  or  evil,  (wise 
or  unwise)  matters  nothing.  The  minor  pre- 
mise affirms  that  the  penalty  which  Job  was  en- 
during could  not  have  been  brought  upon  him 
by  his  piety.  From  this  he  draws  a  conclusion 
unfavorable  to  Job's  moral  character.  Is  a 
man  [1.3J,  "a  great  man,  a  hero,  etc.;  man  in 
short  considered  in  his  best  estate;"  Carey] 
profitable  unto  God  ?  Nay,  the  intelli- 
gent man  is  profitable  unto  himself.  The 
question,  with  its  negative  force,  and  the  nega- 
tive follow  each  other  immediately,  the  latter  in- 
troduced by 'J  in  the  sense  of  "nay,  rather" 
[Conant :  "for;"  E.  "V.  Wemyss,  Elzas,  less 
suitably;  "as,"  regarding  the  second  clause  as 
ft  part  of  the  question].  The  meaning  is  :  God, 
the  absolutely  Blessed  One,  who  has  everything 
and  needs  nothing,  receives  no  advantage  from 


488 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Tiiin's  comluct  whether  it  be  thus  or  so,  whether 
he  aet  unwisely,  (('.  e.  wicliedly,  Ps.  xiv.  '1  [1], 
or  intelligently  (/.  e.  piously,  righteously);  so 
that  accordingly  if  the  latter  is  the  case,  man 
cares  only  for  his  own  well-being.  In  regard  to 
pD,  lit.  "to  dwell  beside  one  another,  to  become 
one's  neighbor,"  and  hence  "to  assist  one  an- 
other, to  be  serviceable,  to  be  profitable,"  comp. 
above  on  ch.  xv.  3  ;  also  xxxv.  3.     The  pathetic 

plural  form  10')?.^,  with  the  signification  of  the 
singuUr,  vS;?,  as  in  ch.  xx.  23.  [The  use  of  7^ 
in  the  second  member,  instead  of  7  as  in  the 
first,  is  one  of  the  Aramaisms,  "  which  poetry 
gladly  adopts"   (Del.).     Coiup.  Ps.   xvi.  G]. 

Ver.  3.  Is  it  an  advantage  to  the  Al- 
mighty, if  thou  art  righteous?  ysn  [lit. 
"pleasure"]  means  here,  as  the  parallel  J,'^3  in 
the  second  member  shows,  "  interest,  gain, 
advantage,"  as  in  ch.  xxi.  21.  Or  a  gain,  if 
thou  behavest  blamelessly?  lit.  "if  thou 
makest  thy  ways  blameless"  [or  "perfect"] 
(Drin,  imperf.  Hiph.  of  DOf*,  with  the  [A.rami- 
zing]  doubling  of  the  first  radical;  comp.  Gesen. 
§  G6,  Rem.  8),  si  intcyras  facias  vias  tuas.  The 
meaning  of  the  whole  question  is:  God  gets  no 
profit  from  men's  righteousness;  consequently 
the  motives  which  determine  him  to  inflict  suf- 
ferings on  men  are  neither  selfish,  nor  arbitrary. 

Ver.  4.  W^ill  He  because  of  thy  godli- 
ness [lit.  "  fear,  godly  tenr  "]  chastise  thee, 
enter  into  judgment -with  thee  ?  That  is: 
if  now  then  the  cause  of  such  a  calamity  as  has 
befallen  thee  lies  in  thyself,  can  it  be  thy  piety 
for  which  God  punishes  thee  ?  Ilirzel  interprets 
'"[nNI'/p  to  mean  :  "  from  fear  of  thee,"  the  suf- 
fix expressing  the  genit.  of  the  object  against 
the  context,  which  requires  a  meaning  antithetic 
to  'ji^J'*'',  ver.  5.  [Hirzel's  explanation  is  the  one 
adopted  also  by  Bernard,  Wemyss,  Carey,  Ke- 
nan, Rodwell,  Elzas].  The  meaning:  "godly 
fear,  p'ety"  is  all  the  more  firmly  established 
for  n>7T'  by  the  fact  that  Eliphaz  has  already 
used  this  same  word  twice  in  this  emphatic 
sense:  chap.  iv.  6  and  chap.  xv.  4  ["a  genuine 
Eliphazian  word,  in  accordance  with  the  poet's 
method  of  assigning  favorite  words  and  habits 
to  his  speakers."   Ewald]. 

Ver.  5.  The  conclusion,  expressed  in  the  inter- 
rogative form,  like  tlie  preceding  propositions  in 
the  syllogism.  Is  not  thy  ■wickedness  great, 
and  no  end  of  thy  transgressions? — Thus 
strongly  does  Eliphaz  accuse  .Job  here;  for,  en- 
tangled in  legalism,  he  thinks  that  if  the  impos- 
sibility that  God  should  cause  the  innocent  to 
suifer  be  once  for  all  firmly  held,  then,  from  the 
severity  of  the  sufi'erings  inflicted  on  any  one,  we 
may  argue  the  greatness  of  the  transgressions 
which  are  thus  punished, — a  piece  of  bad  logic, 
seeing  that  it  entirely  overlooks  the  intermediate 
possibility  which  lies  between  those  two  ex- 
tremes, tliat  God  may  inflict  sufi'ering  on  such  as 
are  friends  indeed,  but  not  j'et  perfected  in 
their  piety,  with  a  view  to  their  trial  or  purifi- 
cation. 

Second  Strophe:  Vers.  G-10.  Enumeration  of  a 
series  of  sins,  which,  seeing  that  they  are  ordi- 


narily associated  with  riches  and  power,  must 
constitute,  in  the  opinion  of  the  speaker,  the 
probable  reason  why  Job,  who  was  once  rich 
and  honored,  had  fallen  so  low,  and  been  made 
to  suffer  the  Divine  chastisement. 

Ver.  6.  For  thou  didst  distrain  thy  bre- 
thren without  cause — /.  e.,  without  being  in 
thy  superfluity  under  any  necessity  of  doing  so 
(Ilirzel).  The  brethren  are  naturally  the  next 
of  kin,  fellow-clansmen,  not  specially  brethren 
in  the  more  literal  sense.  If  instead  of  ^'n5<  we 
should  with  many  MSS.  and  Editions  (so  also 
Blihr  and  Delitzsch)  read  THX,  this  singular 
form,  "  thy  brother,"  would  nevertheless  require 
to  be  understood  aa  a  collective,  as  the  second 
member  shows.  And  the  clothes  of  the 
naked  thou  didst  strip  off. — By  D'SI"*^  we 
are  to  understand,  of  course,  not  those  who  are 
absolutely  naked,  but  those  who  are  scantily 
clothed,  the  half-naked  poor,  as  in  isa.  xx  2; 
John  xxi.  7;  James  ii.  16  (comp.  also  Seneca, 
De  Benejiciis,  v.  13  :  si  guis  male  vestitulum  et  pan- 
nosuni  videt,  nudum  se  vidisse  dicit).  To  strip  such 
"naked"  ones  by  distraint  of  their  last  piece  of 
apparel  is  forbidden  not  only  by  the  law  of  Moses 
(Ex.  xxii.Soseq.;  Deut.  xxiv.  6,  lOscq.),  but  also 
by  the  sentiment  of  universal  humanity.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  the  proofs  of  cruelty  enumerated 
in  the  following  verse  [ver.  7:  Thou  gavest 
no  w^ater  to  the  fainting  to  drink,  and 
thou  didst  refuse  bread  to  the  hungry] ; 
comp.  Isa.  Iviii.  10,  and  for  the  opposite  course 
Matt.  X.  42. 

Ver.  8.  And  the  man  of  the  fist  (absolute 
case) — his  V7as  the  land,  and  the  honored 
one  was  to  dwell  therein  ! — That  is  to  say, 
according  to  the  insolent,  selfish,  grasping  views 
and  principles  which  Eliphaz  imputes  to  Job. 
The  "man  of  the  arm,"  or  "of  the  fist" 
(^nj  II^'X),  i.  e.,  the  powerful  and  violent  man, 
as  well  as  "the  honored  man"   (D^Ji)  NVi'J,  as  in 

\  •  T 

Isa.  iii.  8;  ix.  14),  is  none  other  than  Job  him- 
self, the  proud,  rich  Emir,  who,  as  Eliphaz  ma- 
liciously conjectures,  had  driven  away  many  of 
the  poor  and  helpless  from  house  and  home,  in 
order  to  seize  upon  the  land  far  and  wide  for 
himself.  According  to  the  assumption  that  both 
expressions  referred  to  another  than  Job,  whom 
the  latter  had  favored  in  his  course  of  .«elf-ag- 
grandizement  (Rosenmiiller,  Umbreit,  Haha 
[Noyes,  Wemyss,  Renan,  Elzas — who  translates: 
"As  if  the  land  belonged  to  the  man  of  power 
alone;  as  if  only  the  man  of  rank  may  dwell 
therein"]),  the  strong  sense  of  the  passage  is 
needlessly  weakened.  That  Job  is  not  immedi- 
ately addressed  here,  as  in  the  verse  just  pre- 
ceding, and  again  in  the  verse  following,  is  to  be 
explained  by  the  vivid  objectivizing  tendency  of 
the  description. 

Ver.  9.  Widows  thou  didst  send  away 
empty — w^hen  they  came  to  thee  as  sup- 
pliants; and  the  arms  of  the  orphans  w^ere 
broken — in  consequence,  namely,  of  the  treat- 
ment which  such  needy  and  helpless  ones  were 
wont  to  receive  from  thee  and  those  like  thee. 
The  discourse  here  assumes  the  objective  gene- 
ralizing tone,  for  the  reason  that  Eliphaz  is  sen- 


CHAP.  XXII.  1-30. 


489 


Bible  tlint  the  concrete  proofs  of  the  charge  which 
he  would  be  able  to  produce  out  of  Job's  former 
history  would  be  all  too  few!  The  "arms  of  the 
orphans"  is  a  figurative  expression  describing 
not  their  appeal  for  help,  but  all  their  powers 
and  rights,  all  upon  which  they  could  depend  for 
support.  The  same  phrase — m^'IT  XDl — occurs 
also  in  Psalm  xxxvii.  17;  Ezek.  xxx.  22.  For 
the  "arms"  as  the  symbol  of  strength,  power, 
comp.  ch.  xl.  9;  Psalm  Ixxvii.  16  [lo];  Ixxxiii. 
9  [8]. 

Ver.  10.  Therefore  snares  are  round 
about  thee  (a  figure  descriptive  of  destruction 
as  besetting  him  around;  comp.  ch.  xviii.  8-10), 
and  terror  suddenly  comes  upon  [or 
affrights]  thee  (comp.  Prov.  iii.  25) — i.  e.,  sud- 
den  deadly  anguish,  terror  in  view  of  thy  ap- 
proaching complete  destruction,  overpowers  thee 
time  after  time.  Comp.  the  similar  description 
above  in  Bildnd's  discourse,  ch.  xviii.  11.  ["To 
he  noted  is  the  frequent  paronomasia  of  PIS  and 

nnfl."    SCHLOTT.]. 

3.  Second  Division,  or  DonhJe  Strophe :  the 
warning.  If  Job  should  presumptuously  cast 
doubt  on  the  Divine  righteousness,  and  thereby 
make  himself  partaker  of  the  sins  of  those  in 
the  primeval  world  who  insolently  denied  God, 
he  would  draw  down  on  himself  the  Divine 
judgment  wtiich  had  been  ordained  for  those 
guilty  of  such  wickedness,  and  which  would 
without  fail  overtake  them,  however  long  and 
securely  they  mi^ht  seem  to  enjoy  their  pros- 
perity: vers.  11-20. 

Third  Strophe :  vers.  11-1.5.  Or  seest  thou 
not  the  darkness,  and  the  flood  of  waters, 
■which  covereth  thee? — That  is,  dost  thou 
not  then  perceive  in  what  destruction  thou  art 
already  involved,  and  that  in  punishment  for 
thy  sins?  "Darkness"  and  the  "flood  of 
waters"  (the  multitudinous  heaving  of  waters, 
n>'3tl^  as  in  Is.  Ix.  6)  are  here,  as  also  in  ch. 
xxvii.  20,  a  figure  not  of  the  sins  of  Job  (Hahn), 
but  of  the  night  of  suffering  and  of  the  deep 
misery,  which,  as  Eliphaz  thinks,  had  come 
upon  him  in  consequence  of  his  sins.  ^33i^  is 
a  relative  clause,  and  log'cally  belongs  also  to 
^"^n  ;  comp.  Is.  Ix.  2.  In  mentioning  darkness 
and  a  flood  as  bursting  on  Job,  he  has  reference 
to  the  catastrophe  of  the  deluge,  which  in  the 
following  verses  he  proceeds  to  hold  up  as  a 
warning  picture  of  terror  (ver.  16).  The  whole 
verse  forms  a  suitable  transition  from  the  accu- 
sation in  the  preceding  section  to  the  warning 
which  now  follows.  [By  the  majority  of  ver- 
sions and  commentators  ver.  11  is  joined  imme- 
diately to  the  verse  preceding,  as  its  continua- 
tion. There  is  certainly  a  close  connection 
between  the  two.  But  that  Zockler  (affer  Dill- 
mann)  is  correct  in  regarding  ver.  11  as  transi- 
tional to  what  follows,  and  so  introducing  the 
next  strophe,  is  favored  both  by  the  use  of  the 
disjunctive  iX  rather  than  1,  and  by  the  evident 
anticipation  of  ver.  16  in  the  D'0~n>'3ty,  This 
view  requires  the  construction  of  '^tyn  as  the 
object  of  nx"iri  K7:  "  seest  thou  not  the  dark- 
ness?"   (Ewald,    Schlotlm.,    Dillm.,    Delitzsch), 


rather  than  as  an  independent  subject,  followed 
by  a  relauve  clause:  "darkness,  tliat  thou  canst 
not  see"  (E.  V.,  Umbreit,  Noyes,  Con.,  Lee, 
Reuan,  Rodwell,  etc.). — E.] 

Ver.  12.  Is  not  Eloah  the  height  of  hea- 
ven ?  i.  e.  the  heaven-high,  infinitely  exalted 
One  (comp.  ch.  xi.  8 ;  [in  view  of  which  pas- 
sage, says  Schlottmann,  the  construction  of 
D'Dty  r\2i  as  Accus.  loci:  "in  the  height  of 
heaven,"  is  less  probable  than  the  const ructi'-a 
as  predicate]). — And  see  now  the  head  of 
the  stars  IJ.  e.  the  highest  of  the  stars,  D'JDI^ 
gen.partitivus)  how  high  they  are  ! — '3  "how," 
or  also  "that,"  as  in  Gen.  xlix.  15;  1  Sam.  xiv. 
29.  The  plural  ^01  [by  attraction]  as  in  ch. 
xxi.  21  ;  comp.  Ewald,  §  317,  c.  The  whole 
verse,  in  this  reference  to  the  Divine  greatness 
and  exaltation,  beginning  as  a  quest iun,  and 
passing  over  into  a  challenge,  has  lor  its  object 
the  vindication  of  Him  who  is  above  the  world, 
and  above  man,  against  every  thought  which 
would  limit  His  knowle  )ge,  or  cast  any  buspi- 
cion  on  the  perfect  justice  of  His  ways. 

Ver.  13  seq.  The  doubt  expressed  by  Job 
touching  the  justice  of  God  in  administering  the 
affairs  of  the  world  is  here  interpreted  by  Eli- 
phaz as  a  denial  that  God  has  aiii/  knoiclfdye  of 
earthhj  things,  or  feels  any  special  concern  in 
what  happens  to  men.  He  therefore  reproaches 
him  with  holding  that  erroneous,  and  almost 
atheistical  conception  of  the  Deity,  which  has 
since  been  advanced  by  the  Epicureans  (see  e.g. 
Lucretius  III.  640  seq.),  and  more  jecently  by 
the  English  Deists.  ["Eliphaz  here  attributes 
to  Job,  who  in  ch.  xxi.  22  had  appealed  to  the 
exaltation  of  God  in  opposition  to  the  friends,  a 
complete  misconception  of  the  truth,  and  thus 
skilfully  turns  against  Job  himself  the  weapon 
which  the  latter  had  just  sought  to  wrest  from 
him."  Schlottmann].  And  so  thou  thinkest 
(literally  "sayest")  what  knows  God  ?  (or  : 
what  should  God  know?)  will  He  judge 
through  (n^'3  as  in  Gen.  xxvi.  8 ;  Joel  ii.  9) 
the  darkness  of  the  clouds  ? — /.  e.  judge  us 
men  on  this  lower  earth,  from  which  He,  cov- 
ered by  the  clouds,  is  wholly  separated  and 
shut  off. 

Ver.  14  continues  this  symbolical  description 
of  this  total  separation  of  God  from  tlie  world: 
Clouds  are  a  covering  to  Him,  so  that  He 
sees  not  (comp.  Lam.  iii.  41),  and  He  walks 
upon  the  vault  (or  "circle,"  Prov.  viii.  27  ; 
Is.  xl.  22)  of  the  heaven — not  therefore  on  this 
earthly  world,  which  is  too  small  and  insignifi- 
cant for  Him.  Similar  expressions  of  unbelief 
touching  God's  special  concern  for  the  affairs  of 
earth  may  be  found  e.  g.  in  Ps.  Ixxiii.  11  ;  xciv. 
7;   Is.  xxix.  15;  Ezek.  viii.  12. 

Ver.  15.  Wilt  thou  keep  in  the  path  of 
the  old  world  ?  (^5^>  to  observe,  follow,  as 
in  Ps.  xviii.  22  [not  "hast  thou  marked"?  E. 
V.  against  which  is  the  fut.  llDE'n,  and  the  con- 
nection] and  D/IJ?  P^^K,  as  in  Jer.  vi.  16;  xviii. 
15),  which  the  men  of  wickedness  trod? 
i.  e.  insolent,  ungodly  and  wicked  men,  as  they 
are  described  in  the  following  verses,  both  as  to 
their  arrogant  deeds,  and  their  righteous  pun- 


490 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


ishment.  The  reference  to  the  race  of  men  im- 
mediately preceding  Ihe  Noachian  deluge  (the 
apxalog  K6a/iog  of  2  Pet.  ii.  6)  is  evident 
enough. 

Fourth  Strophe :  vers.  16-20.  Description  of 
the  destruciion  of  those  ungodly  men  as  a  divine 
judgment  overtaking  them  after  a  season  of 
prosperity,  together  with  an  application  to  the 
controversy  suggested  by  Job's  case  in  respect 
to  the  doctrine  of  retribution. 

Ver.  16.  [The  asterisk  in  the  Hebrew  Bible 
marks  the  verse  as  the  middle  of  the  book,  there 
being  537  verses  before,  and  the  same  number 
after  this  mark]  "Who  were  swept  off  (IDDjp, 
lit.  "were  seized"  comp.  above  on  ch.  xvi.  8) 
[Bernard,  Rod  well,  etc.,  "who  became  shrivelled 
(corpses)  before,  etc."  Carey:  "who  got  tied 
up  ...  so  that  escape  was  impossible,"  but  bet- 
ter as  above, — "to  be  snatched  away"]  before 
the  time — i.  e.  before  there  was  any  proba- 
bility, according  to  human  experience,  that  their 
hour  had  come  ;  comp.  the  aupoi  of  the  LXX. 

also  above  in  ch.  xv.  32  IDV  K73 — as  even  in 
the  present  passage  some  Mss.  read  t<73  instead 
of  vh'^  (com.  Ps.  cxxxix.  16).  As  a  stream 
their  foundation  w^as  poured  away — i.  e. 
it  became  fluid,  so  that  they  could  no  longer 
stand  on  it,  but  sank  down.  Again  a  palpable 
allusion  to  the  deluge  (scarcely  to  the  fate  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  in  mentioning  which  the 
rain  of  fire  and  brimstone  (Gen.  xix.  24 ;  comp. 
Job  xviii.  15)  would  scarcely  have  been  forgot- 
ten:— against  Ewald  [and  Davidson,  Introd.  ii. 
229]).  The  construction  of  the  words  which  we 
have  followed,  according  to  which  DllD'  is  the 
subject,  inj  nominat.  of  the  predicate  or  pro- 
duct, and  p^V  descriptive  Imperf.  Hopb.  (not 
an  unusual  alternate  form  of  the  Perf.  Pual  p^l, 
as  Ewald  supposes)  appears  as  that  which  alone 
is  favored  by  the  position  of  the  words  and  the 
accents.  The  following  renderings  are  not  so 
good:  "their  place  became  a  poured  out  stream" 
(Hirzel:  "whose  foundation  was  a  poured  out 
stream"  (Umbr.,  Olsh.)  [Rodwell]  ;  "a  stream 
was  poured  oulupon  their  foundation"  (Rosenm., 
Hahn)  [Lee,  Carey :  with  which  may  be  con- 
nected the  rendering  of  E.  V.  Renan,  Noyes, 
Elzas:  "whose  foundation  was  overflown  with 
a  flood,"  and  of  Conant :  "  their  foundation  was 
poured  away  in  a  flood  "]. 

Ver.  17.  "Who  said  unto  God  :  Depart 
from  us !  and  w^hat  could  the  Almighty 
do  for  them  ? — The  sentiment  of  the  ungodly 
is  expressed  first  in  the  direct  and  then  in  the 
indirect  form  of  speech,  precisely  as  in  ch.  xix. 
28.  As  to  the  matter  the  passage  reminds  us  of 
Job's  last  discourse,  ch.  xxi.  14,  15.  The  same 
arrogant  God-renouncing  utterances,  which 
Job  there  attributes  to  the  prosperous  wicked 
described  by  him,  is  here  imputed  by  Eliphaz  to 
the  objects  of  his  description,  in  order  to  show 
to  him  that  up  to  a  certain  point  he  agrees  en- 
tirely with  his  representation  of  the  relation  of 
external  prosperity  to  human  sinfulness.  ["El. 
no  doubt  intends  this  as  a  direct  contradiction 
to  Job's  statement.  The  Patriarch  had  asserted 
that  men  of  these  atheistical   principles   were 


happy  all  their  lives.  El.  says  :  No  !  these  are 
the  very  sort  of  men  who  were  visited  by  the 
judgment  of  the  deluge,  and  you  are  just  as  bad 
as  they,  for  you  are  treading  in  their  steps." 
Carey]. 

Ver.  18.  And  yet  he  had  filled  their 
houses  with  blessings — (31D,  prosperity, 
good,  as  below  ver.  21  and  ch.  xxi.  25  n31£3) ;  a 
circumstantial  clause,  which  stands  connected 
with  the  principal  verb  in  ver.  16,  having  a  re- 
strictive force,  in  order  to  express  the  contrast 
between  the  sudden  judgment  which  overtakes 
the  wicked,  and  the  long  season  of  prosperity 
preceding  it,  which  gives  to  them  the  appear- 
ance of  exemption  from  punishment.  The  for- 
mula of  detestation  which  follows  in  b  Eliphaz 
intentionally  takes  as  it  were  out  of  the  mouth 
of  Job  (comp.  ch.  xxi.  16),  in  order  to  impress 
upon  him  that  only  he  has  the  right  thus  to 
speak  who  does  not  doubt  that  God  inflicts  right- 
eous retribution. 

Ver.  19.  The  righteous  will  see  it : — to 
wit,  the  destruction  which  will  one  day  befall 
the  wicked  (not  the  punishment  inflicted  on  ihe 
sinners  of  the  primeval  world,  which  was  long 
since  past) — and  rejoice,  and  the  innocent 
■will  mock  at  them — at  those  who  were  once 
prosperous,  but  have  now  encountered  the 
righteous  penalty  of  their  transgressions,  in  re- 
gard to  whom  accordingly  the  proverb  will  be 
verified — "  he  laughs  best  who  laughs  last."  The 
triumphant  joy  of  the  righteous  over  the  final 
punishment  of  the  ungodly,  which  they  shall 
live  to  see,  and  which  Eliphaz  here  describes  in 
such  a  way  as  to  contrast  with  Job's  previous 
utterances,  ch.  xvii.  8 ;  xxi.  5,  6,  is  frequently 
described  in  the  Old  Testament ;  comp.  Ps.  Iviii. 
11  [10]  seq.  ;  Ixiv.  10  [9]  seq. 

Ver.  20  contains  the  words  in  which  this  fu- 
ture triumph  of  the  pious  will   be    expressed. 

Verily  (X7~DX  as  in  ch.  i.  11;  xvii.  2)  our  ad- 
versaries are  destroyed.  ^JO'D  (instead  of 
which  Olsh.  needlessly  proposes  irop  after  Ps. 
xliv.  6  ;  Ex.  xv.  7)  is  a  pausal  form  for  ^JO'p, 
from  a  root  D'p,  which  occurs  only  here,  meaning 
"  he  who  is  set  up"  (partic.  pass.),  i.  e.  the  ad- 
versary. The  righteous  designate  the  ungodly 
as  their  adversaries  not  in  a  personal,  but  an 
ethical  sense,  because  God's  enemies  are  also 
their  enemies  ;  comp.  Ps.  cxxxix.  21;  Rom.  xi. 
28.  And  what  is  left  to  them  a  fire  has 
devoured  Din'',  "their  remnant,  their  residue," 

T  :  * 

to  wit,  in  property  and  wealth ;  the  remainder 
of  tlieir  means  ;  hardly  "  their  super- abundance" 
(Del.)  ["for  why  should  the  fire  devour  only 
that  which  they  had  as  a  superfluity?"  Dillm.] 
D"^r>''  is  used  here  accordingly  iu  another  sense 
than  in  ch.  iv.  21.  a  passage  otherwise  similar 
to  the  present.  For  the  use  oi  fire  as  a  symbol 
of  the  divine  decree  of  punishment  effecting  a 
radical  extermination,  comp.  ch.  xv.  34  ;  xx.  26; 
Ez"k.  XX.  28,  etc. 

4.  Third  Division,  or  Double  Strophe:  vers.  21- 
30:  An  admonition  to  repentance,  and  a  promise 
of  salvation  to  Ihe  penitent. 

Fifth  Strophe  :   vers.  21-25:   The  admonition. 

Ver.  21.  Make  friends  now  with  Him, 


CHAP.  XXII.  1-30. 


491 


and  be  at  peace.  J'^on  here  with  D^,  which 
gives  a  signification  different  from  that  found 
above  in  ver.  2,  viz.  "to  make  friends  with  any 
one,  to  draw  nigh  to  any  one,"  comp.  James  iv. 

8.  The  following  D'71^1  is  to  be  rendered  as  an 
Imperat.  consec.  (comp.  Prov.  iii.  4;  and  Gesen. 
I  130  [g  127],  2;  "and  be  at  peace,  i.  e. 
"and    so    shalt    thou    be    at    peace."      ["We 

distinguish  best  between  pDH  and  ulW  by  re- 
garding the  former  as  expressing  the  conclu- 
gion,  the  latter  the  preservation  of  peace." 
Schlottmann].  Thereby  shall  blessing  come 
to  thee — come  upon  thee,  comp.  ch.  xx.  22. 
^nX3n  (instead  of  which  many  Mss.  read  ^nX3i^) 
is  3  sing.  fem.  imperf.  with  a  doubled  indication 
of  its  feminine  form  (first  by  n  and  afterwards  by 

n~),  hence:=nN^n,  with  suffix  of  the  2d  person. 
Comp.  in  regard  to  such  double  feminines  De- 
litzsch  on  the  passage  [who  refers  to  Prov.  i.  20; 
Ezek.  xxiii.  20;  Josh.  vi.  17;  2  Sam.  i.  26; 
Amos  iv.  3],  also  Ewald  §  191,  c;  249,  c  [Green 
§  88,  3  /.] — Olsh.  and  Rtidig.  following  certain 
Mss.  would  read  ^nxOH  :  "thereby  will  thine  in- 
come be  a  good  one,"  but  this  would  impart  to 
the  discourse  an  artificial  character,  seeing  that 
an  earthly  reward  is  not  mentioned  before  ver. 
25  seq.  As  to  Dri3,  "thereby"  (lit.  "by  these 
things")  with  neuter  stiffix,  comp.  Ezek.  xxxiii. 
18  ;  Is.  Ixiv.  4  ;    xxxviii.  16. 

Ver.  22.  Receive,  I  pray,  instruction  out 
of  His  mouth. — God's  mouth  represented  as 
the  source  of  instruction  in  the  higher  truth,  as 
in  Prov.  ii.  6  [El.  as  Dillm.  says  claiming  to  be 
himself  the  inuerpreter  of  God's  teaching  to 
Job]. 

"Ver.  28.  If  thou  returnest  to  the  Al- 
mighty,—(1^  2,V\D  as  in  Joel  ii.  12;  Am.  iv.  6 
seq.  ;  Is.  xix.  22)  ["We  are  told  by  Rosenmiiller 
that  1J7  stands  here  for  7X  to,  but  we  are  rather 
inclined  to  think  with  Maimonides  that  it  is  pur- 
posely made  use  of  in  its  real  signification,  viz., 
as  far  as,  even  to,  right  up  to,  close  up  to,  in  order 
to  encourage  Job,  who  was  looked  upon  by  the 
speaker  as  a  very  great  sinner,  by  showing  him 
that  notwithstanding  the  enormities  of  his  sins, 
he  need  not  despair  of  coming  through  penitence 
again  cZo.se  «/)  to  his  offended  Creator."  Bernard, 
Or,  as  Carey  says,  that  his  return  must  be  no 
partial  movement,  "not  one  that  would  stop  half 
way,  but  a  return  quiie  to  God"].  If  thou  re- 
movest  iniquity  far  (puttest  it  far  away) 
from  thy  tents. — This  second  conditional 
clause,  being  parallel  to  the  antecedent  clause 
in  a,  needs  no  apodosis.  It  adds  to  the  former 
a  more  specific  qualification,  which  in  itself  in- 
deed is  not  necessary,  but  which  is  appropriately 
illustrative  of  the  former;  comp.  ch.  xi.  14.  The 
LXX.,  who  in  the  first  member  read  njyn  (koL 

V    T  '  •        ^ 

TaTveLvcdonc)  instead  of  nJ3r>  construed  the  whole 
verse  as  the  antecedent,  vers.  24,  25  as  paren- 
thetic, and  ver.  26  as  consequent — a  dragging 
construction,  which  indeed  has  a  parallel  in  ch. 
xi,  13-15,  but  has  less  to  justify  it  here  in  the 
sense  and  connection.  [The  E.  V.  in  making 
the  last   clause  a  part  of  the  apodosis — "thou 


shalt  be  built  up,  thou  shalt  put  away,  g^c," 
does  not  quite  correctly  set  forth  the  logical  re- 
lation of  the  clauses.  E.] 

Ver.  26.  And  lay  down  in  (or  cast  dovrn 
to)  the  dust  the  precious  ore. — The  word 
"1X3,  which  occurs  only  here  and  in  the  follow- 
ing verse,  signifies  according  to  the  etymology 
as  well  as  the  connection  precious  metal,  gold  or 
silver,  and  that  in  its  crude,  unprepared  state, 
as  it  is  brought  forth  out  of  the  shafts  of  the 
mountain  mines,  hence  "gold  and  silver  ore," 
"virgin-gold"  (Delitzsch).  The  "  laying  down 
of  such  metal  in  the  dust"  signifies  that  one  re- 
lieves himself  of  it  as  of  worthless  trash.  The 
second  member  expresses  the  same  thought  still 
more  strongly.  And  among  the  pebbles  of 
the  brooks  ("^^2^3  assonant  with  1^.?)  the  gold 
of  Ophir, — TDIX  for  the  more  complete  and 
common  TDIX  D/}.3,  comp.  ch.  xxviii.  16  ;  Ps, 
xlv.  10  [9],  etc.,  also  such  modern  mercantile 
abbreviations  as  Mocha,  Damask,  Champagne, 
etc.  In  regard  to  the  much  disputed  location  of 
the  land  of  Ophir  (LXX.  'Q.(peip, — Cod.  Al.  how- 
ever "Zoxpeip,  which  reminds  us  of  Sufara,  on  the 
peninsula  of  Guzerat,  in  Indi-a,  as  well  as  of  the 
Coptic  Sofir,  used  as  a  name  for  India)  comp. 
the  j\,.^lworterbUcher  [Cyclopaedias  and  Dic- 
tionariesj,  also  Biihr  on  1  Kings  x.  22  [Vol.  VI. 
of  this  series,  p.  122].  To  the  earlier  theories 
which  located  Ophir  in  India,  or  in  Arabia  has 
been  added  latterly  that  of  Sir  Rod.  Murchison, 
who  in  a  Report  to  the  London  Geographical  So- 
ciety is  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  south- 
African  coast  around  the  mouth  of  the  Limpopo 
river  is  the  true  Ophir  of  the  Bible,  supporting 
his  view  in  part  by  the  conjectures  of  the  well- 
known  archaeologist,  John  Crawford  (in  his  De- 
scriptive Dictionary  of  the  Indian  Islands), 
which  point  to  this  locality,  and  in  part  by  the 
discoveries  of  districts  abounding  in  gold,  which 
the  German  traveller,  K.  Mauch,  claims  to  have 
made  since  1866  in  this  very  region  (north  of  the 
colony  of  Natal).  Comp.  the  Ausland,  1868, 
No.  39 :  Die  Goldfilnde  in  der  Kolonie  Natal  und 
das  Ophir  der  Bibel — which  essay  indeed  rightly 
prefers  the  combinations  of  K.  Ritter,  Chr.  Las- 
sen, etc.  pointing  to  the  East  Indies,  while  an 
article  in  the  ''Globus,"  Vol.  18,  No.  24,  p.  369 
seeks  to  mediate  between  the  two  hypotheses  by 
supposing  Ophir  to  be  "a  wild  region  on  the 
Indian  Ocean,  which  embraced  a  part  of  the 
eastern  coast  of  Africa  and  of  the  western  coast 
of  India." 

Ver.  25.  Apodosis.  Then  will  the  Almighty 
be  thy  treasure  (D'")V3,  pi.  of  "I2f3,  hence  lit- 
"pieces  of  gold-ore,  pieces  of  metal")  andsilver 
in  heaps  to  thee — soil,  "will  He  be." — mSi^in 
which  occurs  elsewhere  only  in  Num.  xxiii.  22  ; 
xxiv.  8  ;  and  Ps.  xcv.  4,  has  received  very  dif- 
ferent explanations.  According  to  these  pas- 
sages, however,  it  must  signify  "  things  standing 
out  high  and  prominent."  Here,  therefore  it 
must  mean  either  "high  heaps  of  silver,"  or 
"long,  prominent  bars  of  silver."  The  former 
definition  is  favored  by  the  fact  that  the  Arabic 
certifies  for  ^J^^  the  signification,  "to  tower,  to 
grow,  to  mount  upward,"  a  meaning  which  the 


492 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Vulgate  expresses  here  also  [argentum  coacerva- 
bitur  tibi),  while  on  the  contrary  the  derivation 
of  the  word  from  the  root  ^'£3',  "to  shine"  (comp. 
the  LXX  :  Kci^npov  (oa-cfj  apyrpiov  Tre-^vpu/iiiivov), 
or  even  from  Hi'',  "to  be  weary"  (Gesen.  in 
Thes.,  Bottcher  [Con.  "silver  sought  with  toil  "] 
etc),  has  but  slight  etymological  foundation.  In 
regird  to  the  sentiment  in  vers.  2-1-25  comp. 
New  Testament  parallels ;  like  Matth.  vi.  20, 33  ; 
xix.  21;  Luke  xii.  33;  1  Tim.  vi.  16-19,  etc. 
[The  rendering  of  these  two  verses  (24,  25) 
by  the  E.  V.  is  to  be  rejected  as  inconsistent 
vyith  the  language  (thus  13i'~7;^~iT't^  cannot 
be  "to  lay  up  as  dust"),  and  as  yielding  a 
much  feebler  sense. — E.] 

Sixth  Strophe :  vers.  26-30:  Further  expansion 
of  the  promise  annexed  to  the  admonition. — 
Yea,  then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in 
the  Almighty. — tX-'I)  confirmatory,  as  in  c'l. 
xi.  15:  or  argumentative — "for  then,"  etc., 
which  is  the  common  rendering.  For  the  rep- 
resentation of  God  as  the  object  of  joy  or  delight 
on  the  part  of  the  righteous  comp.  Ps.  xxxvii.  4; 
Is.  Iviii.  14.  In  regard  to  "lifiing  up  the  face" 
as  an  expression  of  freedom  from  the  conscious- 

ne?s  of  sin  (the  opposite  of  D'JS  l7pj,  Geu.  iv. 
6),  comp.  above  ch.  xi.  15. 

Ver.  27.  If  thou  prayest  to  Him,  etc. — 
*Tri>'n  hypothetical  antecedent  Xvithout  DN,  as 
also  "^^Jn  in  the  following  verse.  As  to  *^''j~'J;'n 
to  pray  (lit.  "to  present  incense"),  comp.  Ex. 
viii.  4  [8],  25  [29];  x.  17.  In  respect  to  "dis- 
charging," ?'.  e.  "fulfilling"  vows  (here  most 
naturally  such  as  have  been  oflFered  in  connec- 
tion with  prayer),  see  Ps.  xxii.  26  [25];  1.  14; 
Ixi.  6  [5],  9  [8];  Ixv.  2  [1].  Comp.  v.  Gerlach 
on  this  passage  (below  in  the  Homiletical  Re- 
marks). 

Ver.  28.  If  thou  purposest  anything,  so 
shall  it  come  to  pass  to  thee. — IIJ  lit.  "to 
cut  off,"  here  as  an  Aramaism  in  the  sense  of 
"  to  purpose,  determine."  "^P^,  either=1in 
"a  matter,  anything,"  or  "design,  plan"  (Del.). 
As  to  Dip,  "to  come  to  pass,  to  be  realized," 
comp.  Is.  vii.  7;  Prov.  xv.  22;  in  respect  to 
"light  upon  thy  ways,"  see  eh.  xix.  8. 

Ver.  29.  When  they  lead  downwards — 

viz.  thy  ways  (as  to  ^'iSii^n,  "to  make  low,  (o 
lead  downwar  Is,"  comp.  .Ter.  xiii.  18),  then 
thou  sayest  —  Upw^ard! — DiJ,  syncopated 
form  of  ni«J  (Ewald  §  62,  b ;  73,  b),  lit.  "up- 
lifting;" here  as  an  interjection,  meaning — 
"upward!  arise!"  not,  however,  as  a  petition 
in  a  prayer  (Dillm.,  etc.),  but  as  a  triumphant 
e.xclamation  in  thanksgiving.  [This  rendering 
is  certainly  not  free  from  objection,  especially 
on  account  of  the  artificial  cast  which  it  seems 
to  give  to  the  expression.  The  rendering  of  E. 
v.,  however:  "when  7nen  are  cast  down,  then 
thou  shalt  say,  etc.,"  is  still  less  satisfactory,  de- 
stroying as  it  does  the  connection  between  the 
first  and  second   members,  leaving   two   verbs, 

'irQpT]  and  JJ^K'V,  with  subjects  unexpressed, 
and  introducing  in  a  a  thought  which  is  scarcely 
suited  to   this  connection,  and   which  is  subse- 


quently introduced  with  climactic  force  in  30  b. 
— E.]  And  to  the  humbled  one  (/.  e.,  to 
thee,  if  thou  art  humbled;  lit.  "  to  him  who  lias 
downcast  eyes,"  LXX.:  KV(pov7a  IxpOa'Aiinig)  He 
w^orks  out  deliverance;  i.  e.,  God,  who  is 
hIso  the  subject  of  the  first  member  in  the  fol- 
lowing verse.  It  is  not  necessary  therefore  with 
the  Pesh.  and  Vulg.  to  read  the  passive  Jt^t^'V. 

Ver.  30.  He  w^ill  rescue  him  that  is  not 
guiltless,  and  (yet  more!)  he  is  rescued  by 
the  pureness  of  thine  hands  {U]D2  "i3  as  in 
ch.  xvii.  9;  Ps.  xviii.  21  [20]  ;  xxiv.  4);  i.  e., 
on  account  of  thine  innocence,  which  thou  shalt 
then  have  recovered,  God  will  be  gracious  even 
to  others  who  need  an  atonement  for  their  sins. 
So  great  and  transcendent  an  efficacy  does  Eli- 
phaz  assume  that  Job's  future  conversion  will 
possess,  without  once  anticipating  that  he  (to- 
gether with  Bildad  and  Zophar)  will  turn  out 
to  be  the  not-guiltless  one"  CpJ"'^  for  'PJ~r5<> 
Ewald,  I  215,  b)  [Gesen.,  §  149^  1],  whom'^God 
will  forgive  only  on  Job's  account;  comp.  ch. 
xlii.  8.  [Another  striking  example  of  that  dra- 
matic irony  in  which  our  author  from  time  to 
time  indulges,  when  he  allows  for  a  moment  the 
light  of  the  future  to  fall  on  his  characters  in 
such  a  way  as  to  present  the  contrast  between 
their  thoughts  and  God's  thoughts. — E.]  Seb. 
Schmidt  and  J.  D.  Michaelis  have  already  given 
the  correct  explanation,  as  follows:  Liberabit 
Dnis  et  propter  puritatan  jnanmim  tuariim  alios, 
quos  propria  innoceniia  ipsos  deficiens  ipsos  dejiciens 
non  esset  liberatura.  So  also  substantially  most 
moderns,  while  Hirzel  arbitrarily  understands 
by  the  not-guiltless  one  Job,  with  another  sub- 
ject for  the  second  member.  Umbreit,  how- 
ever, gives  a  still  harsher  construction,  taking 
Job  as  the  object  of  the  first  member  (r^'p^''^), 
and  at  the  same  time  as  subject  of  the  second 
member,  which  he  treats  as  addressed  to  God: 
"  yea,  he  (Job)  is  delivered  by  the  pureness  of 
Thy  hands;"  i.e.,  by  Thy  Divine  righteousness. 
[E.  v.,  in  taking  'X  in  its  usual  meaning  of 
"  island,"  gives  a  rendering  which  is  seen  at 
once  to  be  altogether  unsuitable. — E.] 

DOCTRINAL   AND    ETHICAL. 

1.  Eliphaz  in  the  second  part  of  this  new  dis- 
course is  prompted  to  discuss  somewhat  more 
thoroughly  than  before  the  proposition  advanced 
by  Job  (ch.  xxi.)  toucliing  the  frequent  contra- 
diction between  the  moral  desert  and  the  out- 
ward lot  of  men,  wliich  he  does  indeed  only  by 
representing  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked,  the 
existence  of  wiiich  lie  cannot  deny,  as  only 
apparent,  and  quickly  passing  away  (vers.  15- 
20).  Following  upon  this  discussion,  which  has 
in  it  little  that  is  personal,  and  which  concerns 
itself  rather  with  the  subject-matter,  he  resumes 
the  tone  of  fatherly  admonition  and  persuasion 
by  promises  of  good  found  in  his  first  discourse, 
instead  of  continuing  the  purelj'  threatening 
tone  of  the  second  (ch.  xv. ),  closing  even  with  a 
prophetic  picture  so  full  of  light,  that  it  quite 
rivals  in  the  freshness  and  glow  of  its  color.9 
that  found  at  the  close  of  the  first  discourse  (ch. 
v.  17  seq.),  and  breathes  a  spirit  which  cer- 
tainly proves  him  to  be  in  his  way  Job's  sincere 


CHAP.  XXII.   1-30. 


403 


well-wisher.  In  all  these  particulars,  ami  to 
this  extent,  Eliphaz,  the  oldest  of  Job's  friends 
and  their  leader,  here  at  the  beginning  of  the 
third  act  of  the  colloquy  exhibits  progress  for  (he 
bfttcr  in  Ids  u'ay  of  thinking — a  progress,  more- 
over, to  which  Job  himself  contributes  by  the 
skill  with  which  he  vindicates  himself,  and  the 
moral  superiority  of  his  spirit.  On  the  other 
hand,  however,  it  must  be  said  that  he  is  guilty 
of  misunderstanding  and  of  misrepresenting  in  a 
one-sided  manner  Job's  doubts  resulting  from 
the  disproportion  between  human  desert  and 
happiness  (vers.  13,  14),  and  so  perverts  them, 
as  though  Job  had  advanced  frivolous  epicurean 
conceptions  of  the  Deity,  and  thus  denied  a  spe- 
cial Providence,  leaving  the  destinies  of  men  on 
earth  to  be  ruled  over  by  accident.  In  close 
connection  with  this  gross  misconception  of  Job's 
opinions,  and  serving  to  explain  it,  is  the 
re-affirmation  which  he  makes  in  the  First  Divi- 
sion through  the  medium  of  a  downright  syllo- 
gism (vers.  2-5)  of  grievous  crime  on  the  part 
of  Job  as  the  ground  of  his  sufierings,  proceed- 
ing so  far  even  as  to  name  particular  sins  of 
which  he  arbitrarily  assumes  him  to  be  guilty, 
and  pushing  his  charges  to  the  most  outrageous 
excess  (vers.  G-9).  In  both  these  respects  we 
see  an  advance  on  the  part  of  the  speaker  in  an 
evil  direction,  an  increasing  bitterness,  a  con- 
stant stubborn  refusal  to  entertain  the  truth. 
We  accordingly  find  in  tliis  discourse  in  one 
direction  certainly  an  apparent  preparation  for 
a  peaceful  solution  and  harmonious  reconcilia- 
tion of  the  conflict;  but  in  another  direction, 
and  that  the  very  one  which  is  important  and 
decisive,  it  simply  contributes  to  the  heighten- 
ing of  the  conflict,  and  by  inciting  Job  to  bitter- 
ness, makes  it  more  and  more  impossible  for  the 
sorely  tried  sufferer  to  enter  upon  a  truly  calm 
and  convincing  exhibition  of  tlie  goodness  of  his 
cause,  and  thus  points  with  a  necessity  which 
ever  becomes  more  and  more  imperative,  to  the 
final  intervention  of  a  higher  Arbiter  as  the  only 
way  of  unraveling  the  entangled  coil  of  the  con- 
troversy. 

2.  In  consequence  of  this  advance  both  in  a 
good  and  an  evil  direction,  this  new  discourse 
of  Eliphaz  bears  in  a  much  higher  degree  than 
his  two  former  ones  (he  character  of  a  peculiar 
double-sidedness,  and  self-contradiction  in  its 
expressions.  Considered  in  itself  it  is  "the 
purest  truth,  expr>  ssed  in  the  most  striking  and 
beautiful  form;  but  as  an  answer  to  the  speech 
of  Job  the  dogma  of  the  friends  itself  is  destroyed 
in  it,  by  the  false  conclusion  by  which  it  is 
obliged  to  justify  itself  to  itself"  (Delilzsch). 
In  one  respect  its  expressions  breathe  the  spirit 
of  a  genuine  prophet,  of  a  divinely  enlightened 
teacher  of  wisdom  of  the  patriarchal  age.  But 
in  anotlier  respect,  in  tliat,  namely,  which  con- 
cerns the  sharply  malicious  tendency  which  they 
reveal  against  Job.  tlicy  seem  like  the  sayings 
of  a  fa^se  prophet,  and  even  of  a  passionate  ac- 
cuser and  spiteful  suspecter  of  suff'ering  inno- 
cence. They  have  a  double  sound  to  them,  like 
the  expressions  of  one  wlio  is  at  once  a  Moses 
and  a  Balaam.  "Accorling  to  their  general 
substance  tliesc  speeches  are  genuine  diamonds; 
according  to  their  special  application  'hey  are 
false  ones"  (Delitzsch). — Eliphaz  gives  utterance 


to  the  purest  and  most  elevated  conceptions  of 
God,  and  His  infinitely  wise  and  righteous  deal- 
ings. At  the  very  beginning  of  the  first  division 
he  describes  His  blessed  all-sufiiciency  ;  at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  His  heaven-high  exal- 
tation, His  majesty  comparable  to  the  unchange- 
able brilliancy  of  the  stars;  and  in  the  third 
division  he  sets  forth  with  incomparable  and 
truly  impressive  power  His  fatherly  gentleness 
and  compassion,  which  willingly  hears  the 
prayer  of  the  penitent  sinner.  And  what  he  af- 
firms in  respect  to  the  inexorable  rigor  with 
which  the  justice  of  the  same  God  inflicts  pun- 
ishment, as  it  was  manifested  in  judgment  upon 
the  sinners  of  the  primeval  world,  upon  the  un- 
godly antediluvians  (vers.  15-18),  even  that  pro- 
duces an  impression  all  the  more  deep  and  for- 
cible in  that  it  has  for  its  setting  those  splendid 
descriptions  radiating  forth  their  mild  brilliancy. 
Yet  after  all  that  inviting  description  of  the  di- 
vine all-sufficiency  is  used  in  the  service  of  a 
low,  external  and  vulgar  theory  of  retribution, 
which  is  deduced  from  it  by  an  audacious  so- 
phism, and  an  unexampled  logical  leap  (see  on 
ver.  5).  After  all  that  admonitory  reference  to 
the  majestic  movement  of  God  as  the  All-seeing 
Rulerof  the  universe,  and  the  inexorable  Avenger 
of  the  wicked,  slioots  wide  of  the  mark  in  so  far 
as  it  is  aimed  at  Job,  for  it  was  neither  true 
that  Job  had  denied  the  special  Providence 
and  Omniscience  of  God  (as  Eliphaz  in  vers. 
13,  14,  by  a  crafty  process  of  deduction,  re- 
proached him  with  doing),  nor  that  his  gins 
were  of  such  a  character  that  they  could  even 
approximately  be  compared  with  those  of  the 
insolent  blasphemers  and  deniers  of  God  in 
Noah's  time.  Finally,  the  beautiful  words  of 
promise  in  the  closing  division,  with  their  refer- 
ence to  God's  goodness  as  Father,  and  v  ith  their 
counsel  to  seek  the  love  of  this  God  as  tlie  most 
precious  of  all  treasures  (vers.  24,  25),  are  want- 
ing in  all  true  power  of  consolation  for  Job,  and 
lose  entirely  their  apparent  value  in  consequence 
of  that  which  precedes  them.  For  if  Job  is  to 
seek  God  as  bis  heavenlj'  treasure,  it  is  presup- 
posed that  hitherto  he  has  loved  earthly  trea- 
sures more  than  was  right,  nay,  that  he  has 
been  guilty  of  the  sins  and  transgressions  of 
grasping  tyrants,  as  was  intimated  in  the  first 
division  (vers.  6-9).  And  if  Job  had  really 
sinned  so  wantonly,  and  subscribed  to  the  athe- 
istic sentiments  of  the  generation  that  was 
destroyed  by  the  deluge,  then  all  ndvice  to 
repent  and  return  to  the  Heavenly  Father  would 
be  for  him  practically  useless;  at  least  from  the 
stand-point  of  Eliphaz,  characterized  as  it  was 
by  the  pride  of  legal  virtue,  such  an  exhortation, 
together  with  the  promise  of  good  which  accom- 
panied it,  could  scarcely  have  been  uttered  sin- 
cerely. [Should  we  not,  however,  make  allow- 
ance for  the  perplexing  dilemma  in  which  the 
friends  found  themselves  placed?  Was  there 
not  a  constant  strife  between  the  deductions  of 
their  logic  and  the  instincts  of  their  affection? 
Is  it  strange  that  the  rigor  of  the  former  should 
be  continually  qualified  by  the  tendprness  of  the 
latter?  And  does  not  our  poet  skillfully  avail 
himself  of  this  inconsistency  to  relieve  what 
would  otherwise  be  the  intolerable  harshness  of 
their  position  T — E.] 


494 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


3.  This  two-fold  character  appertaining  to 
the  utterances  of  Eliphaz,  it  is  evident,  increases 
largely  the  difficulty  of  the  homiletic  expounder 
of  this  chapter,  especially  if  he  would  not  sim- 
ply seize  upon  and  bring  forth  single  pearls  or 
gems,  but  consider  the  beautiful  glittering  jewel 
as  a  whole.  For  in  order  to  a  correct  apprecia- 
tion, and  a  truly  fruitful  application  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  discourse,  which  is  not  wanting  in 
richness,  it  is  indispensable  to  avoid  as  much  as 
possible  any  mutilation  of  so  well-connected  a 
■whole,  and  to  note  everywhere  not  only  what  is 
true,  but  also  what  is  false  and  one-sided  in  the 
utterances  of  the  speaker.  The  Moses  and  the 
Balaam  sides  of  the  prophet  must  be  exhibited 
together.  Any  other  treatment,  any  one-sided 
favorable  representation  of  the  speaker's  cha- 
racter would  contradict  the  evident  purpose  of 
the  poet,  which  is  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  this  discourse  to  present  truth  and  error 
blended  and  amalgamated  together.  This  is 
especially  indicated  by  the  circumstance  that 
Eliphaz  at  the  close  of  the  discourse  appears 
wholly  in  the  character  of  a  pseudo-prophet,  of 
the  order  of  Balaam,  and  is  compelled  unwil- 
lingly to  prophesy  the  issue  of  the  controversy, 
and  that  too  as  one  that  is  decidedly  unfavora- 
ble to  him  and  his  associates.  "He  who  now, 
considering  himself  as  'pJ,  preaches  penitence 
to  Job,  shall  at  last  stand  forth  ^pJ  'X,  and  will 
be  one  of  the  first  who  need  Job's  intercession 
as  the  servant  of  God,  and  whom  he  is  able 
mediatorially  to  rescue  by  the  purity  of  his 
hands"  (Delitzsch — comp.  above  on  vers.  29, 30). 

HOMILETICAL   AND    PRACTICAL. 

Ver.  2  seq.  Brentius:  This  is  indeed  a  most 
beautiful  exhortation  to  repentance  which  Eli- 
phaz here  delivers;  but  what  is  it  to  Job  ?  Eli- 
phaz therefore  sins  in  this  direction,  because 
that  by  these  words  he  falsely  charges  Job  with 
iniquity  and  impiety,  and  this  with  no  other 
reason  for  so  doing  than  that  he  sees  him  to  be 
afflicted.  .  .  .  Everything  is  well  said,  but  car- 
nally understood.  For  carnal  wisdom  thinks 
that  in  this  life  blessing  attends  the  godly  in 
temporal  affairs,  but  a  curse  the  ungodly ; 
whereas  truth  teaches  that  in  this  life,  to  the 
godly,  the  blessing  accompanies  the  curse,  life 
death,  salvation  damnation;  while,  on  the  con- 
trary, to  the  ungodly,  the  curse  accompanies 
the  blessing,  death  life,  damnation  salvation. 

Ver.  6  seq.  Starke  (after  the  Tiibingen 
Bible  and  Zeyss) :  To  withhold  a  pledge  which 
has  been  received,  and  to  oppress  the  poor,  are 
heinous  sins,  which  cry  out  to  heaven  (Ex.  xxii. 
26  seq.).  To  sin  against  the  widows,  the  orphans, 
the  poor,  the  needy,  etc.,  infallibly  brings  down 
severe  punishment  from  God,  as  One  who  has 
His  eye  specially  on  those.  Sir.  xxxv.  18  seq. 

Ver.  12  seq.  Coccetus:  It  is  an  old  error 
that  God  dwells  in  the  highest  summit  of  hea- 
ven, and  touches  those  things  which  are  lower 


only  by  a  certain  force  impressed  on  those  things 
which  are  nearest  to  Himself,  and  gradually 
transmitted  from  them  ; — an  error  which  Scrip- 
ture refutes  when  it  says  that  God  is  a  God  at 
hand,  and  not  a  God  afar  off  (Jer.  xxiii.  23  seq  ), 
for  no  part  of  creation  is  nearer  to  God  than 
any  other. — Woiilfarth  :  "God  is  too  exalted 
to  trouble  himself  about  the  affairs  of  men:" 
thus  do  many  still  think,  and  walk  accordingly 
in  the  path  of  unbelief,  sin  and  destruction. 
Only  the  Tempter  can  persuade  them  to  this. 
Just  because  God  is  the  most  exalted  Being, 
nothing  is  hidden  from  Him ;  and  He  knows 
even  our  most  secret  actions,  our  most  hidden 
wishes,  our  most  silent  suflFerings  (Jer.  xxiii.  23 
seq.;  Ps.  cxxxix.  1  seq.;  Matt.  vi.  8;  1  John 
iii.  20,  etc.). 

Ver.  17  seq.  Starke:  As  it  is  the  wish  and 
longing  of  the  godly,  that  God  would  draw  nigh 
to  them,  so,  on  the  contrary,  the  burden  of  the 
song  of  the  ungodly  is:  "Depart  from  us!" 
They  xvould gladly  leave  to  God  His  heaven,  if  He 
would  only  leave  to  them  their  earthly  pleasure. — 
God  oftentimes  seeks  to  allure  the  wicked  to 
repentance  by  multiplying  their  earthly  posses- 
sions ;  if,  however.  He  does  not  succeed  in  this, 
it  results  only  in  their  heavier  condemnation. 
When  they  think  that  they  are  most  firmly 
established,  God  suddenly  casts  them  down,  and 
brings  them  to  nought  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  19). 

Ver.  19.  Wohlfarth:  May  the  Christian  also 
rejoice  in  the  destruction  of  sinners?  Eliphaz, 
in  accordance  with  the  way  of  thinking  in  his 
time,  speaks  of  the  pleasure  of  the  righteous 
when  sinners  are  seized  by  the  hand  of  the  Lord. 
Christ  wept  in  sight  of  Jerusalem  over  its  har- 
dened inhabitants,  and  said:  "How  often,"  etc. 
(Matt,  xxiii.  37;  Luke  xix.  42  seq.).  .  .  When, 
therefore,  the  Lord  blesses  the  righteous,  rejoice, 
0  Christian !  but  do  not  mock  at  the  sinner,  but 
sr.ve  him  when  thou  canst  do  it  (James  v.  19, 
20), — when  not,  mourn  for  him  as  thy  brother, 
whose  fate  demands  pity. 

Vers.  23-25.  Starke  :  What  sin  tears  down, 
God's  grace  builds  up  again.  Having  this,  you 
are  rich  enough !  The  world's  treasure  and 
comfort  are  silver  and  gold,  empty  and  perisha- 
ble things;  but  the  children  of  God's  only,  high- 
est, and  best  portion  is  God  Himself  (Ps.  Ixxiii. 
2-5  seq.). — V.  Gerlach:  If  thou  dost  cling  with 
the  heart  to  God,  thou  canst  throw  away  thy 
gold,  or  lose  it  without  concern;  the  Almighty 
still  remains  thy  perennial  treasure ;  whereas, 
on  the  contrary,  ivilhout  Him  the  most  laborious 
cares  and  watchings  avail  nothing. 

Ver.  27.  V.  Gerlach  :  The  paying  of  the 
vows,  which  is  elsewhere  presented  more  as  a 
duty,  appears  here  as  a  promise:  God  will  ever 
grant  thee  so  much,  that  thou  shalt  be  able  to 
fulfill  all  thy  vows  ! 

Ver.  30.  Jo.  Lange  :  The  intercession  of  a 
righteous  man  is  so  potent  with  God,  that  on 
account  of  it  He  spares  even  evil-doers,  and 
visits  them  not  with  punishment  (Gen.  xviii.  23 
seq.;  Ezek.  xiv.  14  seq.). 


CHAPS.  XXIII— XXIV.  495 


B.— Job:  Seeing  that  God  withdraws  Himself  from  him,  and  that  moreover  His 
allotment  of  men's  destinies  on  earth  is  in  many  ways  most  unequal,  the 
incomprehensibleness  of  His  ways  may  hence  be  inferred,  as  well  as  the 
short  sightedness  and  oue-sidedness  of  the  external  theory  of  retribution 
held  by  the  friends. 

Chap.  XXIII— XXIV. 

1.  The  wish  for  a  judicial  decision  of  God  in  his  favor  is  repeated,  but  is  repressed  by  the  thought 

that  God  intentionally  withdraws  from  him,  in  order  that  He  may  not  be  obliged  to  vindi- 
cate him  in  this  life. 

Chap.  XXIII. 

1  Then  Job  answered,  and  said : 

2  Even  to-day  is  my  complaint  bitter: 
my  stroke  is  heavier  than  my  groaning. 

3  0  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  Him  I 
that  I  might  come  even  to  His  seat ! 

4  I  would  order  my  cause  before  Him, 
and  fill  my  mouth  with  arguments. 

5  I  would  know  the  words  which  He  would  answer  me, 
and  understand  what  He  would  say  unto  me. 

6  "Will  He  plead  against  me  with  His  great  power? 
No ;  but  He  would  put  strength  in  me. 

7  There  the  righteous  might  dispute  with  Him ; 
so  should  I  be  delivered  forever  from  my  judge. 

8  Behold  I  go  forward,  but  He  is  not  there ; 
and  backward,  but  I  cannot  perceive  Him  ; 

9  on  the  left  hand  where  He  doth  work,  but  I  cannot  behold  Him  ; 
He  hideth  Himself  on  the  right  hand  that  I  cannot  see  Him. 

10  But  He  knoweth  the  way  that  I  take : 

when  He  hath  tried  me,  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold. 

11  My  foot  hath  held  His  steps. 

His  way  have  I  kept,  and  not  declined. 

12  Neither  have  I  gone  back  from  the  commandment  of  His  lips  ; 

I  have  esteemed  the  words  of  His  mouth  more  than  my  necessary  food. 

13  But  He  is  in  one  mind,  and  who  can  turn  Him  ? 
and  what  His  soul  desireth,  even  that  He  doeth. 

14  For  He  perforraeth  the  thing  that  is  appointed  for  me : 
and  many  such  things  are  with  Him. 

15  Therefore  am  I  troubled  at  His  presence: 
when  I  consider,  I  am  afraid  of  Him. 

16  For  God  raaketh  my  heart  soft, 
and  the  Almighty  troub^eth  me. 

17  Because  I  was  not  cut  oflT  before  the  darkness, 
neither  hath  He  covered  the  darkness  from  my  face. 

2.  The  darkness  and  unsearchableness  of  God's  wnys  to  be  recognized  in  many  other  instances  of 

an  unequal  distribution  of  earthly  prosperity,  as  well  as  in  Job's  case. 

Chap.  XXIV. 
1       Why,  seeing  times  are  not  hidden  from  the  Almighty, 
do  they  that  know  Him  not  see  His  days  ? 


496  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


2  Some  remove  the  landmarks  ; 

they  violently  take  away  flocks,  and  feed  thereof. 

3  They  drive  away  the  ass  of  the  fatherless, 
they  take  the  widow's  ox  for  a  pledge. 

4  They  turn  the  needy  out  of  the  way ; 

the  poor  of  the  earth  hide  themselves  together. 

5  Behold,  as  wild  asses  in  the  desert, 

go  they  forth  to  their  work,  rising  betimes  for  a  prey : 

the  wilderness  yieldeth  food  for  them  and  for  their  children. 

6  They  reap  every  one  his  corn  in  the  field  : 
and  they  gather  the  vintage  of  the  wicked. 

7  They  cause  the  naked  to  lodge  without  clothing, 
that  they  have  no  covering  in  the  cold. 

8  They  are  wet  with  the  showers  of  the  mountains, 
and  embrace  the  rock  for  want  of  a  shelter. 

9  They  pluck  the  fatherless  from  the  breast, 
and  take  a  pledge  of  the  poor. 

10  They  cause  him  to  go  naked  without  clothing, 
and  they  take  away  the  sheaf  from  the  hungiy ; 

11  which  make  oil  within  their  walls, 

and  tread  their  wine-presses,  and  suffer  thirst. 

12  Men  groan  from  out  of  the  city, 

and  the  soul  of  the  wounded  crieth  out : 
yet  God  layeth  not  folly  to  them. 

13  They  are  of  those  that  rebel  against  the  light ; 
they  know  not  the  ways  thereof, 

nor  abide  in  the  paths  thereof. 

14  The  murderer  rising  with  the  light 
killeth  the  poor  and  needy, 

and  in  the  night  is  as  a  thief. 

15  The  eye  also  of  the  adulterer  waiteth  for  the  twilight, 
saying,  No  eye  shall  see  me : 

and  disguiseth  his  face. 

16  In  the  dark  they  dig  through  houses, 

which  they  had  marked  for  themselves  in  the  daytime : 
they  know  not  the  light. 

17  For  the  morning  is  to  them  even  as  the  shadow  of  death  : 

If  one  know  them,  they  are  in  the  terrors  of  the  shadow  of  death 

18  He  is  swift  as  the  waters  ; 

their  portion  is  cursed  in  the  earth  : 

he  beholdeth  not  the  way  of  the  vineyards. 

19  Drought  and  heat  consume  the  snow'  waters : 
so  doth  the  grave  those  Avhich  have  sinned, 

20  The  womb  shall  forget  him  ;  the  worm  shall  feed  sweetly  on  him ; 
he  shall  be  no  more  remembered  ; 

and  wickedness  shall  be  broken  as  a  tree. 

21  He  evil  entreateth  the  barren  that  beareth  not : 
and  doeth  not  good  to  the  widow. 

22  He  draweth  also  the  mighty  with  his  power : 
he  riseth  up,  and  no  man  is  sure  of  life. 

23  Though  it  be  given  him  to  be  in  safety,  whereon  he  resteth  ; 
yet  his  eyes  are  upon  their  ways. 

24  They  are  exalted  for  a  little  while,  but  are  gone 

and  brought  low  ;  they  are  taken  out  of  the  way  as  all  others, 


CHAP,  xxiii-xxiv. 


497 


and  cut  off  as  the  tops  of  the  ears  of  corn. 
25  And  if  it  be  not  so  now,  who  will  make  me  a  liar, 
and  make  my  speech  nothing  worth  ? 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  Instead  of  replying  directly  to  the  injuri- 
ous accusations  of  Eliphaz  in  eh.  xxii.  G  sq. ; 
Job  here  recurs  first  of  all  to  the  wish  which  he 
has  already  uttered  several  times  (especially  in 
chs.  ix  and  xiii.),  that  God  Himself  might  ma- 
nifest Himself  as  Umpire  and  as  Witness  of  his 
innocence,  and  so  end  authoritatively  the  con- 
troversy which  in  each  successive  stage  was  be- 
coming more  and  more  involved.  This  wish  is, 
however,  immediately  repressed  by  the  thought 
that  God  purposely  keeps  Himself  removed  from 
him,  in  order  to  make  him  drink  the  cup  of  his 
sufferings  to  the  dregs  (ch.  xxiii. ).  And  in  con- 
nection with  the  mournful  fact  that  hh  state  is 
so  cheerless  and  so  full  of  suffering,  and  fur- 
nishes living  proof  that  God  withholds  the  ex- 
ercise of  His  retributive  justice,  he  arrays  forth- 
with (in  the  second  and  longer  division  of  his 
discourse,  ch.  xxiv. ),  numerous  facts  of  a  simi- 
lar character,  which  may  be  observed  in  the 
sphere  of  human  life  in  general.  In  particular 
he  sets  forth  many  examples  of  the  prosperity 
of  the  wicked,  continuing  to  extreme  old  age,  or 
even  to  the  end  of  life.  He  dwells  with  evident 
satisfaction  on  his  description  of  these  examples, 
in  order  in  this  way  to  establish  and  illustrate 
most  fully  the  incomprehensibleness  of  the  di- 
vine ways. — The  whole  discourse,  apart  from 
the  two  principal  divisions,  which  coincide  with 
the  customary  division  by  chapters,  is  divided 
into  smaller  strophes  of  four  verses  each  (in  one 
case  of  five)  in  accordance  with  the  strophe- 
divisions  of  Ewald,  as  well  as  of  Stickel  and  De- 
litzsch,  which  in  the  present  case  are  entirely 
in  harmony. 

2.  First  Division.  Repetition  of  the  wish,  here- 
tofore uttered,  that  God  might  appear  to  rescue 
and  to  vindicate  him,  together  with  a  self-sug- 
gested objection,  and  an  expression  of  doubt 
whether  the  wish  would  be  realized:  ch.  xxiii. 

First  Strophe:  Vers.  2-5.  Even  to-day  my 
complaint  is  still  bitter. — Both  the  authority 
of  the  Ancient  Versions,  such  as  the  Targ., 
Pesh.,  Vulg.  [E.  v.],  and  also  the  comparison 
with  former  passages,  such  as  ch.  vii.  11 ;  x.  1, 
Javor  the  view  that  '"^O  signifies  "  bitterness," 
and  is  thus  synonymous  with  "^0,  the  possibility 
of  which  is  shown  by  the  cognate  radical  rela- 
tion of  the  verbs  rT^D  and  "^"^O,  which  occa- 
sionally interchange  forms;  comp.  Delitzsch  on 
the  passage.  If  we  take  the  word  however  in 
its  ordinary  signification  of  "  frowardness,  per- 
verseness,"  we  get  a  suitable  meaning:  "my 
complaint  is  still  ever  froward"  (ever  bids  de- 
fiance, maintains  its  opposition),  i.  e.,  againct 
such  exhortations  to  penitence  as  those  of  Eli- 
phaz (or  in  opposition  to  God,  ns  Hahn,  Olshau- 
sen,  etc.,  explain).  On  the  other  hand  we  can 
make  no  use  of  the  reading  of  the  LXX. :  «  r^f 
X^ipoc  iJ-ov  Cy^),  nor  yet  of  Ewald's  conjecture 
derived  from  it — ITO,   •'  by  reason  of  His  hand 

T   •  *^ 

is  my  complaint"  [so  Copt,  and  Merx]. — My 
32 


hand  lies  heavy  on  my  groaning:  i.e.,  I 
am  driven  to  the  continuous  outbreak  of  my 
groaning,  I  must  all  the  time  force  forth  groans 
(not:  my  hand  thrusts  down  my  groaning,  forces 
it  back;  Hirzel).  Since  this  rendering  yields  a 
meaning  that  is  entirely  suitable,  and  suffers 
from  no  particular  difiiculty  as  to  the  language, 
it  is  unnecessary  either  with  the  Targ.  [E.  V!], 
to  understand  'T  of  "  the   hand  of  God  which 

•T 

strikes  me"  (the  suffix  '-  sensu  ohj.)  or  (with 
the  LXX.  and  Pesh.)  [Merx]  to  read  IT.  (Ac- 
cording to  E.  v.,  Ges.,  Ber.,  Noyes,  Schlottm., 
Ren.,  Rod.,  7J7  is  comparative:  "  the  hand  upon 
me  is  heavier  than  my  groaning,"  which  gives 
a  suitable  meaning,  at  least  if  we  take  """lO  in 
the  sense  of  bitterness.  The  objection  to  it  i^. 
however,  as  stated  by  Delitzsch,   that  "  n"II}J 

7j,'  T  is  an  established  phrase,  and  commonly 
used  of  the  burden  of  the  hand  upon  any  one, 
Ps.  xxxii.  4  (comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  7;  and  the  con-' 

nection  with  /X,  1  Sam.  v.  6,  and  Dtl?,  1  Sam. 
V.  11"). — E.].  It  remains  to  be  said  that  the 
clause  defining  the  time,  Dt'n  DJ,  "even  to- 
day," belongs  to  both  halves  of  the  verse,  and 
for  the  same  reason  it  expresses  the  more  gene- 
ral sense,  "even  now,  even  always,"  (comp.  ch. 
iii.  24).  The  supposition  that  the  colloquy  had 
lasted  several  days,  and  that  in  particular  the 
present  third  course  of  the  same  had  begun  one 
day  later  than  the  one  preceding  is  scarcely  ad- 
missible on  the  strength  of  their  expression, 
which  is  certainly  not  to  be  pressed  too  far, 
(against  Ewald,  2d  Ed.,  and  Dillmann). 

Ver.  3.  Oh  that  I  but  knew  how  to  find 
Him.— The  Perf.   ''T\''J'T  with  the  following  Im- 

perf.  consec.  (inx^fpX))  expresses  the  principal 
notion  contained  in  Job's  wish:  utinam  scirem 
(locum  ejus),  et  invenirem  eum  =  utinam  possim  in- 
venire  eum!  Comp.  the  similar  construction  in> 
chap,  xxxii.  22;  also  Gesen.,  ^142,  (^139),  3,  c. 
The  rendering  of  Dillmann  :  "  Oh  that  I,  having; 
known  (where  He  is  to  be  found),  might  find 
Him,"  (in  accordance  with  Ewald,  |  357  b)  gives- 
essentially  the  same  sense. — HJOP  in  the  second' 
member  means  by  itself,  a  fr;ime,  stand,  setting 
up;"  here  specifically,  "seat,  throne,"  i.  e.,  tihe 
judgment  seat  of  God,  as  the  sequel  shows. 

Ver.  4.  In  regard  to  DSt^/O  ^^J^,  causam  in- 
struere,  comp.  ch.  xiii.  18;  in  regard  to  rWIDIJl 
(lit.  "  objections,  reproofs  " )  in  the  speeific  sense 
of  "legal  arguments,  grounds  of  justification," 
see  Ps.  xxxviii.  15  [14];  also  above  ch.  xiii.  3. 

Second  Strophe :  Vers.  6-9.  The  doubt  as  to 
the  possibility  of  such  a  protective  interposition 
of  God,  begins  again  to  appear.  This  (ver.  6) 
takes  first  of  all  the  form  of  a  shrinking  reflec- 
tion on  the  crushing  effect  which  God's  nrajesty 
and  infinite  fulness  of  power  might  easily  exert; 
upon  him  ;  a  thought  which  has  already  emerged 
twice  before  (ch.  ix.  34;  xiii.  21),  and  which  in 


498 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


this  place  Job,  supported  by  the  consciousnesa 
of  his  innocence,  repudiates  and  tramples  under 
foot.  Would  He  in  omnipotence  then 
contend  with  me  ?  Nay!  He  would  only 
regard  me:   (.  e.,  only  give  heed  to  me  (D-ti^'i 

scil.  yi;  comp.  eh.  iv.  20;  here  in  union  with  3 
to  express  the  cleaving  of  the  Divine  regard  to 
him,  comp.  3  njS,  oh.  vi.  28):  only  grant  me  a 
hearing,  and  as  the  result  thereof  acquit  me. 
[^N,  "nothing  but;"  intensive;  the  very  thing 
that  He  would  do,  hence  the  thing  that  He  would 
assuredly  do].  To  render  the  Imperfect  verbs 
3'y  and  U^V^  as  expressive  of  a  wish:  "shall 
He  contend  with  me?"  i.  e.,  shall  I  wish,  that 
He  would  contend  with  me?  (Hirzel.  Ew.,  Dillm., 
etc.),  is  altogether  too  artificial,  and  not  at  all 
required  by  the  connection.  [The  E.  V.,  Bar., 
Carey,  supply  "strength"  (n^)  after  Dtj'':  God, 
so  far  from  using  His  power  to  crush  Job,  would 
strengthen  him  to  plead  his  cause.  But  the  el- 
lipsis of  37  is  already  justified  by  ch.  iv.  20, 
and  the  antithesis  thus  obtained  between  a  and 
b  is  more  direct  and  natural. — E.]. 

Ver.  7.  Then  (DK?  as  in  ch.  xxxv.  12;  Ps. 
xiv.  5;  Ixvi.  6,  and  often  in  a  temporal  sense  ; 
then,  when  such  a  judicial  interposition  of  God 
should  take  place)  w^ould  a  righteous  man 
plead  (lit.,  "be  pleading,"  n^lj,  partic.)  with 
Him:  i.  e.,  it  would  be  shown  that  it  is  a  right- 
eous man  who  pleads  with  him  ;  and  I  should 
forever  escape   my   Judge;  i.  e.,  by  virtue 

of  this  my  uprightness.  £073  is,  like  lobo  ch. 
XX.  20,  intensive  of  Kal. 

Vers.  8,  9.  The  joyful  prospect  is  suddenly 
swept  away  by  the  thought  that  God  is  nowhere, 
in  no  quarter  of  the  world  to  be  found. — Yet 
(jn,  "yet  behold,"  in  an  adversative  sense,  as 
in  ch.  xxi.  IG)  if  I  go  eastw^ard,  He  is  not 
there,  etc.  Dip  ("  toward  the  front,  =  toward 
Ihe  east  ")  and  "I'lHX  (toward  the  rear,  =  tow- 
ard the  west,"  comp.  ch.  xviii.  20),  refer  to  the 
t-astern  and  western  quarters  of  the  heavens, 
even  as  the  following  "left"  and  "right"  refer 
to  the  northern  and  southern. — If  He  works 
northward,  I  behold  (Him)  not;  if  He 
turns  southward  I  see  it  not.  bl5<3tJ', 
"toward  the  left"  is  an  adverbial  local  clause, 
qualifying  'inty^'3,  as  also  pD',  qualifying  ^b;''- 
The  former  verb  expresses  its  customary  mean- 
ing: •"  to  work,  to  be  active,  efficient,"  which 
suits, here  very  well  (comp.ch.  xxviii.  26),  so  that 
every  different  rendering,  ase.ff.,  taking  T^ty 
""V/}."^^^'  "  to  tfike  His  way"  (Bluraenfeld)^ 
or  =  "  to  hide  Himself"  (Umbreit),  or  =  TM2V, 

T    T 

"to  incline  Himself,  to  turn  Himself"  (Ewald), 
seemsuncalled  for.  On  the  other  hand  the  com- 
mon sigaifieation  of  ^Op — "to  veil  Himself,"  i-< 
l"ss  suitable  in  b  [soE.V.,  Lee,  Con.,  Ber.,  Rod., 
Elz.,  e<c.],  than  the  signification  "  bending,  turn- 
ing aside  "  adopted  by  Saadia,  Schultens,  Ewald, 
Dclitzsch,  efc,  after  the  Arabic.  If  this  latter 
definition  deserves  here  the  preference,  there  is 


the  less  probability  that  Ihe  passage  contains 
any  reference  to  the  |0n  "^/in,  ("  the  chambers 
of  the  South,"  ch.  ix.  9),  or,  generally  speak- 
ing, to  any  celestial  abode  of  God  as  set  forth  in 
heathen  theologies  or  cosmogonies.  Rather  does 
the  poet  conceive  of  God  as  omnipresent,  as 
much  so  as  the  poet  of  the  139th  Psalm,  in  his 
similar  description  (vers.  8-10).  [Gesenius  and 
Carey  translate  b  :  "  He  veileth  the  South,  etc.," 
but  less  appropriately,  the   construction   of  TO' 

being  evidently  the  same  with  /ISOty,  which  is 
unquestionably  adverbial. — E.] 

Third  Strophe:  vers.  10-13.  The  reason  why 
God  withdraws  Himself:  although  He  knows 
Job's  innocence,  He  nevertheless  will  not  aban- 
don His  purpose,  once  formed,  not  to  allow  Him- 
self to  be  found  by  Him.  ["  He  conceals  Himself 
from  him,  lest  He  should  be  compelled  to  ac- 
knowledge the  right  of  the  8ufi"erer,  and  to  with- 
draw His  chastening  hand  from  him."  Delitz.] 

Ver.  10.  For  He  know^s  well  my  accus- 
tomed way. — '^'^^  ^."?."?>  ^i'-  "  tlie  way  with 
me,"  i.  e.,  the  way  which  adheres  to  me,  which 
is  steadfastly  pursued  by  me  (comp.  Ps.  cxxxix. 
24;  Ew.,  g  287  c),  or:  "  the  way  of  which  I  am 
conscious"  ["  which  his  conscience  (aweiSTjaig) 
approves  {avfifiaprvpel)  "],  as  Delitzsch  explains, 
referring  to  ch.  ix.  35 ;  xv.  9. — If  He  should 
prove  me  (""JJllS,  an  elliptical  conditional 
clause;  comp.  Ewald,  §  357,  b),  I  should  come 
forth  as  gold,  i.  e.,  out  of  His  crucible;  a  very 
strong  and  bold  declaration  of  his  consciousness 
of  innocence,  for  which  Job  must  hereafter  (ch. 
xlii.  6)  implore  pardon. 

Ver.  11.  My  foot  hath  held  firm  to  His 
step  (inx,  as  elsewhere  ^Or>,  Ps.  xvii.  5;  Prov. 
V.  5)  ["  The  Oriental  foot  has  a  power  of  grasp 
and  tenacity,  because  not  shackled  with  shoes 
from  early  childhood,  of  which  we  can  form  but 
little  idea."  Carey]  :  His  w^ay  I  have  kept, 
and   turned   not  aside.     IDH,  Jussive  Hiph. 

from  nOJ,  in  the  intransitive  sense  of  deflectere, 
as  in  Ps.  cxxv.  5;  Is.  xxx.  11. 

Ver.  12.  The  commandment  of  His  lips 
— I  have  not  departed  from  it. — t^'pH,  in- 
transitive, like  T}t2r\  in  the  verse  preceding.  In 
regard  to  the  construction  (antecedent  placing 
of  a  nominative  absolute)  comp.  ch.  iv.  6.  More 
than  my  (own)  law  I  have  observed  the 
saying  of  His  mouth ;  have  accordingly  set 
them  fir  above  all  that  I  have,  of  my  own  will, 
desired  or  prescribed  for  myself.  [Bernard  ex- 
plains the  preposition  D  here  to  mean:  "by 
reason  of  my  rule,"  i.  e.,  by  reason  of  my  having 
made  it  a  rule.  This  however  obscures  the 
striking  contrast  between  'pn  and  Vi)"'"^?^- — 
E.].  With  'pn  we  may  compare  the  "law  in 
the  members"  warring  aorainst  ihe  Divine  law, 
Rom.  vii.  23.  [E.  V.  takes  'pn,  as  in  Gen. 
xlvii.  22;  Prov.  xxx.  8,  in  the  sense  of  one's 
"allowance  of  food;"  Ewald  also  translate4  by 
"  Gebiihr  "  ("  that  which  as  a  distinguished  rich 
man  I  have  the  right  to  require  in  my  relations 
to  other  men,  and  inv  claims  upon  them  ").  The 
consideration  of  Job's  greatness  and  power 
should   be  borne   in   mind  with  the   rendering 


CHAPS.  XXIII— XXIV. 


499 


"law."  The  "law"  which  Job  had  everheld  sub- 
ordinate to  the  Divine  precepts  was  the  will  of  a 
prince. — E.].  J3}f  "  to  lay  up,  preserve,"  is  here 
substantially  equivalent  with  "^^V,  comp.  Ps.  cxix. 
1 1 ;  in  view  of  which  parallel  passage  it  is  not  ne- 
cessary with  the  LXX.  instead  of  ^P'i^'^  to  read 
'p'n3,  kv  T(f>  koAtcj  fioi>  eKpvipa  /yr/juara  avrov. 

Ver.  13.  Nevertheless  He  remaineth 
(pver)  the  same,  and  ■who  ■ro-ill  turn  Him: 
viz.,  from  His  purpose;  comp.  ch.  ix.  12;  xi.  10. 
nnxs  Nim,  not:  "He  remaineth  by  one  thing" 
(Hirzel,  Del.)  [Lee,  Noyes,  Carey],  for  this 
would  have  been  expressed  by  the  neuter  form 
nnxS  (comp.  ch.  ix.  22) ;  but  the  3  is  3  essentise 
(Gesen.  ^  154  [§  151]  3,  a),  and  the  thought  ex- 
pressed is  that  of  the  unchangeableness,  the  con- 
stancy of  God  (not  the  oneness,  or  the  absolute 
superiority  of  God,  as  the  Vulg.,  Targ.,  Starke, 
who  refers  to  Gal.  iii.  20,  Schultens,  Ewald, 
Schlottmann,  [Ges.,  Ber.,  Rod.,  Elz.]  explain, 
but  against  the  context.  With  b  compare  the 
well-known  expression  :  "  He  spake,  and  it  was 
done,  etc.,"  Ps.  xxxiii.  9.  [The  unchangeable 
purpose  of  God  of  which  Job  here  speaks  is  evi- 
dently the  purpose  to  inflict  8ufi"ering  on  him,  a 
purpose  to  which  He  inflexibly  adheres,  notwith- 
standing He  knows  Job's  integrity,  and  finds 
through  His  crucible  that  the  sufferer  is  pure 
gold.— E.]. 

Fourth  Strophe:  vers.  14-17.  Truly  ('3  as 
in  ch.  xxii.  26),  He  vrill  accomplish  my  des- 
tiny, "'pn,  wilh  suffix  of  the  object,  means 
here  that  which  has  been  decreed,  ordained  con- 
cerning me.  And  much  of  a  like  kind  is 
■with  Him — i.  e.,  "has  been  determined  by 
Him,  lies  in  His  purpose,"  (comp.  ch.  ix.  35:  x. 
18,  XV.  9).  The  "much  of  that  kind  "  spoken  of 
refers  not  specifically  to  Job's  sufferings  (Um- 
breit,  Delitzsch,  etc.),  as  rather  to  all  that  is  ana- 
logous thereto,  to  all  decrees  of  a  like  charac- 
ter regarding  men  in  general. 

Ver.  15.  Therefore  do  I  tremble  (lit.  "I 
am  terrified,  troubled")  before  His  face  ;  if 
I  consider  it,  I  am  afraid  before  Him. 
pi3j7><.  is  an  elliptical  hypothetical  antecedent, 
as  is  the  case  in  ver.  10  b.  We  are  to  supply  as 
the  object  to  be  considered  the  unfathomable 
decree  of  God,  by  virtue  of  which  he  must 
suffer. 

Ver.  16.  And  God  hath  made  my  heart 
faint  [lit.  "soft"]  (Tj^n  Hiph.  from  1)^,  Deut. 
XX.  3,  etc.),  and  the  Almighty  has  con- 
founded me.  The  emphasis  rests  in  the  sub- 
jects 7X  and  nCf,  which  are  purposely  placed 
first  in  both  members.  It  is  God  Himself,  who 
by  His  incomprehensibly  harsh  and  stern  treat- 
ment has  plunged  him  in  anguish  and  terror  ; 
his  suffering  considered  in  itielf  by  no  means 
exerts  such  a  crushing  influence  upon  him  (see 
tbp  vers,  following). 

Ver.  17.  For  I  am  not  dumb  before  the 
darkness,  nor  yet  before  myself  ■whom 
thick  darkness  has  covered — t.  e.,  the  dark- 
ness of  my  calamity  (comp.  ch.  xxii.  11),  and 
my  own  face  and  form  darkened  and  disfigured 
by  my  sufferings  (comp.   ch.   xix.    13  seq.)   are 


not  able  to  strike  me  dumb  (with  horror);  only 
the  thought  of  God  can  do  this,  who  with  His 
incomprehensible  decree  stands  behind  this  my 
suffering!  Observe  the  significant  contrast  be- 
tween the  ■nE^n-'JnrD  of  this  ver.  and  the  rj30  of 

■  ■     '  T  T   ■ 

ver.  15  a;  as  well  as  moreover  the  antitlietic  re- 
lation, which  obtains  between  this  passage  and 
the  statement  of  Eliphaz  in  ch.  xxii.  11  that  Job 
seemed  not  to  mark  at  all  the  terrible  dai-kness 
of  his  misery.  Either  of  these  retrospective  re- 
ferences of  the  passage  is  lost  sight  of  if,  with 
most  of  the  ancients  (LXX..  Vulg.,  Lutli.)  [E. 
V.  Ges.,  Scott,  Noyes,  Ber., -Ren.,  Rod.,  Elz  ]  we 
render:  "because  I  was  not  cutoff  (HOi'J  de- 
leri,perire,  as  in  ch.  vi.  17)  before  the  darkness 
came,  and  He  has  not  covered  the  darkness  from 
my  face"  \i.  e.,  has  not  covered  me  in  the  grave, 
so  that  I  might  never  have  faced  this  suffering]. 
The  signification:  "to  become  dumb,  to  be 
brought  to  silence,"  is  the  only  one  that  is  suit- 
able here;  we  should  then  have  to  think  (with 
Delitzsch,  etc.)  of  an  inward  destruction  by  ter- 
ror and  confusion. 

3.  Second  Division :  ch,  xxiv.  An  extended 
description  of  the  many  incomprehensible  things 
in  what  God  does  as  ruler  of  the  universe,  be- 
ginning with  the  many  instances  in  which  He 
permits  the  innocent  and  defenceless  to  be  op- 
pressed and  persecuted  by  their  powerful  ene- 
mies :  vers.  1-12. 

Fifth  Strophe :  vers.  1-4.  Why  are  times 
not  reserved  by  the  Almighty  ?—i.  e.  times 
of  reckoning  with  good  and  evil ;  judicial  terms, 
at  which  He  displays  His  retributive  justice.  In 
regard  to  the  use  of  "[pTi,  "reserving"  [storing 
up]  in  the  sense  of  "appointing,  fixing,"  comp, 
ch.  XV,  20;  xxi.  19.  The  question  is  of  course 
so  intended  as  to  require  no  answer,  or  a  nega- 
tive one.  So  also  in  the  second  member:  and 
do  His  friends  (lit.  "His  knotcers"  [acquaint- 
ances], they  who  are  His,  who  know  Him,  and 
He  them,  comp.  ch.  xviii.  21;  Ps.  xxxvi.  11 
[10]  )  not  see  His  days?— The  "days"  of 
God  here  are  His  judgment  days,  the  days  in 
which  He  reveals  Himself  in  judicial  rigor 
against  his  enemies,  and  in  beneficent  mercy  to-, 
ward  His  holy  ones  (comp.  Ezek.  xxx.  3,  also  the 
expression,  the  "days  of  the  Son  of  Man"  in 
Luke  xvii.  22).  This  verse  also  seems  to  con- 
tain a  retrospective  reference  to  the  last  dis- 
course of  Eliphaz,  especially  to  ch.  xxii.  19;  by 
the  ancients,  moreover,  who  ^^ere  troubled  more 
particularly  about  the  Wr\}!),  "terms,  judicial 
periods,"  it  was  variously  misunderstood,  and 
erroneously  translated.  [The  construction 
adopted  by  E.  V.,  Con.,  etc.:  "Why,  seeing 
times  are  not  hidden  from  the  Almighty,  do  they 
that  know  Him  not  see  His  days?  "  is  a  less  na- 
tural and  simple  rendering  of  the  original  than 
that  given  above.  Conant  objects  that  "this 
question  is  not  pertinent  here.  The  point  of  in- 
quiry is  not,  why  are  such  times  of  retribution 
not  appointed  by  God  ;  but  why,  if  they  are  ap- 
pointed by  Him,  as  alleged,  do  not  good  men 
witness  them?"  Job  however  does  deny,  by 
implication,  that  there  is  any  retribution,  or 
time  reserved  for  it,  with  the  Almighty.  The 
plienomena  of  human  life,  he  argues,  indicate 
that  God  cares  not  how  men  sin,  or  suffer.    The 


500 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


second  member  of  tbe  verse  puts  the  thought  of 
the  first  in  a  still  more  striking  light.  The  in- 
dications of  retributive  justice  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  world,  are  such  that  not  even  God's 
familiars,  who  are  in  His  secret,  can  discern 
tbe  days  whereon  they  occur. — E.]. 

Ver.  2.  Landmarks  they  remove  [or,  are 
removed  ;  vb.  impersonal]  flocks,  they  plun- 
der, and  feed.  From  this  point  on  begins  the 
specific  description  of  the  many  deeds  of  vio- 
lence, oppression  and  persecution  permitted  by 
God.  The  vers,  immediately  following  (3,  4) 
describe  the  wicked  agents  who  commit  such 
deeds,  vers.  5-8  the  wretched  ones  who  suffer 
from  them,  and  thence  on  interchangeably,  now 
the  persecutors  and  now  the  persecuted,  the 
verbs  used  being  put  in  the  3d  person  plural 
Perfect.  In  respect  to  the  wickedness  of  remo- 
ving landmarks,  (^J''t2'J=yD2,  from  J=ID)  comp. 
Deut.  xix.  14  ;  xxvii.  17  ;  Prov.  xxii.  28 ;  xxiii. 
10.  In  regard  to  the  plundering  and  carrying 
off"  of  herds,  comp.  oh.  xx.  19.  ["They  steal 
flocks,  '>'"1^1  i.  e.,  they  are  so  bare-faced,  that 
after  they  have  stolen  them,  they  pasture  them 
openly."   Delitzsch]. 

Yer.  3,  JilJ,  "to  drive  away,"  as  in  Is.  xx.  4; 
73n,  "to  distrain,  to  take  as  a  pledge"  as  in 
Ex.  xxii.  25  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  6 ;  comp.  below  ver. 
9  (whereas  on  the  other  hand  in  ch.  xxii.  6  the 
word  is  used  in  a  somewhat  difl^erent  sense). 
[The  ass  of  the  orphan,  and  the  yoke-ox  of  the 
widow  are  here  referred  to  as  the  most  valuable 
possession,  and  principal  dependence  of  those 
unfortunate  ones. — E.]. 

Ver.  4.  The  poor  they  thrust  out  of  the 
■way — i.  e.,  out  of  the  way,  in  which  they  have 
the  right  to  walk,  into  roadless  regions  (comp. 
ntan  in   a   similar  sense  in  Amos  v.   12).     All 

T     •  ' 

together  (in"  as  in  ch.  iii.  18)  the  wretched 
of  the  land  must  hide  themselves. — So  ac- 
cording to  the  K'ri :  1*7.'!*."''^^.,  while  the  K'thibh 
''N"]1JJl^  would,  according  to  Ps.  Ixxvi.  10;  Zeph. 
ii.  3  designate  the  "afflicted,"  the  "suff'erers"  of 
the  land,  which  seems  less  suitable  liere.  The 
Pass.  ^k^3n  denotes  what  these  unfortunate  ones 
are  compelled  to  do ;  comp.  ch.  xxx.  7. 

Sixth  Strophe ;  vers.  6-8.  Description  of  the 
miserable  condition  into  which  the  oppressed 
and  persecuted  are  brought  by  those  wicked  ones 
(not  of  another  class  of  evil-doers  apart  from 
those  previously  spoken  of,  as  ancient  exegesis 
for  the  most  part  assumed,  and  as  latterly 
Rosenm.,  Umbr.,  Vaih.  [Lee,  Barnes,  Carey, 
Scott,  etc.']  explain).  As  is  evident  from  the 
more  extended  description  in  ch.  xxx.  1-8  of  the 
unsettled,  vagabond  life  of  such  unfortunates, 
tbe  poet  has  here  before  his  eyes  the  aborigines 
of  the  lands  east  of  the  Jordan,  who  were  driven 
from  their  homes  into  the  desert,  possibly  the 
remnant  of  the  ancient  Horites  [cave-dwellers]  ; 
comp.  what  is  said  more  in  detail  belpw  on 
ch.  xxx.  Behold,  vyild  asses  iu  the  wilder 
ness  {i.  c.  as  wild  asses  ;  comp.  ch.  vi.  5  ;  xi. 
12;  xxxix.  5  seq.),  they  go  forth  in  their 
daily  work  (lit.  "work;"  comp.  Ps.  civ.  23), 
seeking  after  prey  (']."'tD,  booty,  prey,  a  liv- 
ing,  as  in  Prov.  xxxi.  15)  ["from   ^^D  in  the 


primary  signification  decerpere  describes  that 
which  in  general  forms  their  daily  occupation  as 

they  roam  about The  idea  of  waylaying 

is  not  to  be  connected  with  the  expression." 
Del.];  the  steppe  [HDIJ^,  the  wide,  open,  desert 
plain]  is  to  them  (lit.  "to  him,'"  viz.,  to  each 
one  of  them),  [or  "to  him  as  father  of  the  com- 
pany," Del.,  or  possibly  the  sing.  1 7  is  used  to 
avoid  the  concurrence  of  DH 7  with  DH/  imme- 
diately following:  Hirzel]  bread  for  their 
children — (Q'^i^*^.  ^^  in  ch.  i.  19;  xxix.  5) 
["  the  steppe,  with  its  scant  supply  of  roots  and 
herbs,  is  to  him  food  for  the  children;  he 
snatches  it  from  it,  it  must  furnish  it  to  him  " 
(Del.)  thus  accounting  for  the  use  of  '^^'3].  A 
striking  description  of  the  beggar,  vagabond 
life  of  these  troglodytes,  the  precursors  of  the 
gipsies,  or  South-African  Bushmen  of  to-day. 
[Of  the  D'N^p,  onagri  (Kulans),  with  which 
these  are  compared,  Delitzsch  says :  "  Those 
beautiful  animals,  which,  while  young,  are  diffi- 
cult to  be  caught;  which  in  their  love  of  freedom 
are  an  image  of  the  Beduin,  Gen.  xvi.  12;  in 
their  untractableness  an  image  of  that  which 
cannot  be  bound,  ch.  xi.  12;  and  from  their 
roaming  about  in  herds  in  waste  regions,  are 
here  an  image  of  a  gregarious  vagrant,  and  free- 
booter kind  of  life."   Del.] 

Ver.  6.  In  the  field  they  reap  (so  accord- 
ing  to  the  K'ri  ni^fp"';  the  K'thibh  n'2(p2  would 
be  rendered  by  some  such  expression  as  "they 
make    for     a    harvest")    the     cattle-fodder 

[iV/S,  as  in  ch.  vi.  5,  mixed  fodder  for  the  cat- 
tle,/arrfl^ro]  ;  lit.  "his  cattle-fodder,  i.  e.  that  of 
the  ^'lyi  mentioned  in  b.  [Most  explain  this  to 
mean  that  these  miserable  hirelings  seek  to 
satisfy  their  hunger  with  the  fodder  grown  fir 
the  cattle.  Delitzsch  on  the  ground  that  "  1i*p 
does  not  signify  to  sweep  together,  but  to  reap 
in  an  orderly  manner;  and  if  they  meant  to 
steal  why  did  they  not  seize  the  better  portion 
of  the  produce?"  supposes  that  the  "rich  evil- 
doer hires  them  to  cut  tbe  fodder  for  his  cattle, 
but  does  not  like  to  entrust  the  reaping  of  the 
better  kinds  of  corn  to  them."  This  view,  how- 
ever, seems  less  natural  than  the  former,  and 
less  in  harmony  with  the  parallelism.  See  be- 
low on  b. — E.].  And  they  glean  the  vine- 
yard of  the  wicked.  U'p/  serotinos  fructiis 
colligere  (Rosenm.),  to  glean  the  late-ripe  fruit, 
i.  e.  stealing  it.  The  meaning  can  scarcely  be 
that  this  was  done  in  the  service  of  the   rich 

evil-doer,  in  which  case  the  verb  7_71>'  racemari 
would  rather  have  been  used  (against  Delitzsch). 

Ver.  7.  Naked  (Dllj;,  adverbial  accusative, 
as  in  ver.  10;  comp.  7711:',  ch.  xii.  17,  19)  they 
pass  the  night  without  clothing,  '730  lit. 
"  from  the  lack  of,"  comp.  ver.  8  b.  and  ver.  10. 

Ver.  8.  .  .  .  And  shelterless  (from  lack 
of  shelter)  they  clasp  the  rock. — ^p2r\,  they 
"embrace"  the  rock,  in  that  shivering  they 
crouch  beneath  it  as  their  shelter.  Comp.  the 
phrase,  "embracing  the  dunghill"  {rnezabil). 
Lam.  iv.  6. 


CHAPS.  XXIII— XXIV. 


501 


Seven/h  Strophe:  vers.  9-12.  Resuming  the 
description  of  the  tyrannical  conduct  of  those 
men  of  power  described  in  vers.  2-4.  They 
tear  the  orphan  from  the  breast. — "^^  here 
the  same  as  Ity,  as  also  in  Is.  Ix.  IG  ;  Ixvi.  11. 
Correctly  therefore  the  LXX.:  airb  fiaarov — 
whereas  to  render  TiJ'  in  its  customary  significa- 
tion of  "destruction,  ruin  "  (as  e.  g.  by  Ramban, 
etc.)  [="from  the  shattered  patrimony"], 
yields  no  satisfactory  meaning.  The  act  of 
tearing  away  from  the  breast  is  conceived  of  as 
the  violent  deed  of  harsh  creditors,  who  would 
satisfy  their  claims  by  bringing  up  the  orphan 
children  as  slaves.  And  v/hat  the  miserable 
one  has  on  they  take  away  as  a  pledge. — 
A  tenable  meaning,  and  one  that  will  agree  well 

with  ver.  10  is  obtained  only  by  regarding  7>'1 
as  an  elliptical  expression  for  7j^  ''V^??!:  "and 
what  is  on  the  miserable  one,"  i.  e.  What  he 
wears,  his  clothing  (Ralbag,  Gesen.,  Arnh., 
Vaih.,  Dillmann)  [Rod.,  Bernard,  Noyes].  With 
the  thoug'nt  may  then  be   compared   Mic.  ii.  9; 

in  respect  to  /3n  see  above  on  ver.  3.  The 
other  explanations  which  have  been  given  are 
lens  suited  to  the  connection,  if  not  absolutely 
impossible,  such  as:  "they  take  a  pledge  above 
[beyond  the  ability  of]  the  sutFerer"  (Hirzel); 
"they  take  for  a  pledge  the  suckling  (ij,^]  of  the 
poor")  (Kamphausen)  [Elzas]  ;  "with  the  poor 
they  deal  basely,"  or  "  knavishly "  (Umbr., 
Del.),  which    latter  rendering    however    would 

make  it  seem  strange  that  the  verb  73n  has  only 
a  short  while  before  been  used  twice  (ver.  3,  and 
oh.  xxii.  6)  in  the  sense  of  distraining.  [To 
which  add  Dillmann's  objection  that  this  inter- 
pretation seems  "colorless,"  out  of  place  in  the 
series  of  graphic,  concrete  touches  of  which  the 
description  is  composed.  It  may  also  be  said 
of  the  explanation  of  E.  V.  Ewald,  Schlott., 
Renan,  Conant,  etc.,  "they  impose  a  pledge  on 
the  sufferers,"  that  it  is  less  vivid  than  that 
adopted  above.  It  must  be  admitted  on  the 
other   hand   that    the    assumption    that    7^= 

ly  "ll!/X  is  somewhat  doubtful. — E.]. 

Vers.  10-12  again  bring  into  the  foreground 
as  subject  those  who  are  maltreated  by  the 
proud  oppressors.  These  are  however  no  longer 
represented  as  the  wretched  inhabitants  of 
steppes  or  caves,  but  as  poor  serfs  on  the  estates 
of  the  rich,  and  are  thus  represented  as  being  in 
inhabited  cities  and  their  vicinity.  Naked  they 
(the  poor)  slink  about,  without  clothing. — 

Comp.  ver.  7,  and  in  respect  to  '^^'i^,  "to  slink," 
see  ch.  xxx.  28.  And  hungry  they  bear 
the  sheaves — i.  e.  for  the  rich,  whose  hired 
service  they  perform,  who  however  allow  them 
to  go  hungry  in  their  service,  and  thus  become 
guilty  of  the  crying  sin  of  the  merces  retenta  la- 
borum  (Deut.  xxv.  4;  1  Tim.  v.  18,  etc.).  [The 
English  translators,  misled  probably  by  the  Piel, 

OvH,  which  they  took  to  be  transitive,  have 
made  the  "oppressors"  of  the  vers,  preceding 
the  subject  of  ver.  10.  '^711  however  is  always 
"to  walk  about,  to  go  to  and  fro"   (so   also  in 


Prov.  viii.  20).  Taking  it  in  this  sense  here, 
the  subject  is  naturally  "the  poor;"  and  Ntyj  in 
the  second  member  is  simply  "to  bear,  not  "  to 
take  away  from." — E.] 

Ver.  It.  Between  their  walls  (hence  under 
their  strict  supervision)  they  must  press  out 
the  oil  ('"^"nV-'  Hiph.  denom.,  only  here)  ; 
they  tread  the  wine-vats,  and  suffer 
thirst  (while  so  engaged — Imperf.  consec.  comp. 
Ewald,  §842,  a).  A  further  violation  of  the  law 
that  the  mouth  of  the  ox  must  not  be  muzzled. 

Ver.  12.  Out  of  the  cities  the  dying 
groan. — So  according  to  the  reading  O'j}'? 
(Pesh.,  1  Ms.  of  de  Rossi's,  and  some  of  the 
older  editions),  which  word  indeed  elsewhere 
means  "the  dead,"  but  which  here,  as  the  pa- 
rallel of  the  following  D'/^H  ("  wounded, 
pierced  to  death,"  comp.  Ezek.  xxvi.  15  :  Jer.  li. 
22)  may  very  well  be  taken  to  mean  the  dying, 
those  who  utter  the  groaning  and  rattling  of  the 
death  struggle  [see  Green,  §266,  2,  a].  So  cor- 
rectly Umbreit,  Ew.,  Hirz.,  Vaih.,  Stick.,  Hei- 
ligst.,  Dillmann  [Schlott.,  Renan,  Noyes.  Others 
(Carey,  Elzas,  etc.)  in  the  weaker  sense  :  "  mor- 
tals."] The  usual  reading  □''i^P,  "men,"  yields 
a  suitable  rendering  only  by  disregarding  the 
masoretic  accentuation,  and  connecting  this 
D'HO  as  subj.  with  'p5<r  (so  Jer.,  Symniachus, 
Theod.).  In  that  case,  however,  it  should  be 
translated  not  by  the  colorless  and  indefinite 
term  "people"  \_Leute'\  (Hahn,  etc.)  but  by 
"men  [Mannen,  viri'\,  warriors,"  and  under- 
stood (with  Del.)  of  the  male  population  of  a 
city,  "whom  a  conqueror  would  put  to  the 
sword."  This  however  would  remove  the  dis- 
course too  far  out  of  the  circle  of  tiiought  in 
which  it  has  hitherto  removed.     [According  to 

the  Masor.  punctuations  Crip  "^^V}?.  would  be 
"  out  of  an  inhabited,  thickly  populated  city," 
a  thought  which  has  no  place  in  the  connection. 
Gesenius,  followed  by  Conant,  takes  TJ^  (II 
Lex.)  in  the  sense  of  "anguish  :"  "for  anguish 
do  the  dying  groan."  But  the  second  member  : 
"  and  the  soul  of  the  wounded  cries 
out,"  brings  up  before  us  a  scene  of  blood,  in- 
volving the  slaying  of  a  multitude,  for  which  we 
should  have  been  unprepared  without  the  men- 
tion of  the  "city"  in  the  first  member. — E.]. 
Yet  God  regards  not  the  folly ! — nS3i7\, 
lit.  ["insipidity],  absurdity,  insulsilas  (chap.  i. 
22),  a  contemptuous  expression  which  seems 
very  suitable  here,  serving  as  it  does  to  describe 
tersely  the  violence  of  the  wicked,  mocking  at 
the  moral  order  of  the  universe,  and  still  remain- 

ingunpunished.  The  punctuation  ribpH,  "prayer, 

supplication"  (Pesh.,  some  MSS.)  [Con.,  Noyes, 
Good,  Elzas],  may  also  be  propcny  passed  by 
without  consideration.  In  regard  to  the  abso- 
lute use  of  D'tyX/  (supply  1373,  comp.  ch. 
xxii.  22),  "he  regards  not,"  see  ch.  iv.  20;  Is. 
xli.  20 ;  and  especially  Ps.  1.  23,  where,  pre- 
cisely as  here,  the  expression  is  construed  with 
the  accus.  of  the  object.  [The  rendering  of 
E.  V. :  "yet  God  layeth  (=imputeth)  not  folly 
to  them,"  is  not  essentially  different,  but  is  less 


502 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


expressive.  Oppression  ravages  the  earth  ;  in 
the  wilderness,  among  rocks  and  caves,  in  fields 
and  vineyards,  in  villages  and  cities,  men  suffer, 
groan,  die— and  all  this  chaotic  folly,  this  dark 
anomaly,  this  mockery  of  the  Divine  order— God 
heeds  it  not!— E.] 

4.  Second  Division :  Second  Half:  vera.  16-Z^. 
Continuation  of  the  preceding  description,  m 
which  special  prominence  is  given  to  those  evil- 
doers who  commit  their  crimes  in  secret,  and 
escape  for  a  long  time  the  divine  punishment, 
which  surely  awaits  them. 

Eighth  Strophe:  vers.  13-17.  Those  (HDn, 
emphatically  contrasting  the  present  objects  of 
the  description,  as  a  new  class  of  evil-doers, 
with  those  previously  mentioned)  are  rebels 
against  the  light,  or:  "are  become  rebels," 
etc.;  for  so  may  the  clause  3  VH  with  3  essen- 
tial, comp.  ch.  xxiii.  13)  be  taken,  unless  we 
prefer  to  explain  :  "  are  become  among  apostates 
from  the  light,"  i.  e.  have  acquired  the_nature 


they  have  no  fellowship  with  it,  as  children  of 
night  and  of  darkness.  The  rendering  of  the 
Targ.  and  of  some  of  the  Rabbis  (approximately 
also  of  the  Vulg.)  [also  of  E.  V.]:  "which 
(houses)  they  had  marked  for  themselves  in  the 
daytime,"  is  opposed  by  the  fact  that  Dnn  sig- 
nifies always  obsignare,  never  designare ;  comp. 
ch.  xiv.  17;   xxxvii.  7. 

Ver.  17.  For  to  them  all  deep  darkness 
is  morning ;  i.  e.  when  the  deepest  darkness 

of  the  night  [TW^h'i,  comp.  ch.  iii.  5)  begins, 
then  they  enter  upon  their  day's  work  [the 
drawing  on  of  the  night  is  to  them  what  day- 
break is  10  others] — a  striking  characteristic  of 
the  epya  tov  androvg,  in  which  _these  evil-doers 
engage.     Umbreit   and   Hirzel    [and    so   E.   V. 

Ber.,  Con.]  unsuitably  take  not  mo"?};,  but  "Ipa 
as  subject:  "the  morning  is  to  them  at  once 
deep  darkness."  Against  this  explanation  it 
may  be  urged  that  I'lPI^  means  not  "at  once,'' 


of  such  (Del.,  Dillm.)  [in  either  case  TTTI  is  not     ^ut  as  in  ch.  ii.  11 ;  ix.  32,  etc.,   "all  together. 


the  mere  copula,  but  expresses  a  process  of 
beconwig].  l'lN-'7.iO,  "apostates,  revolters 
from  the  light,  enemies  of  the  light,"  are  essen- 
tially the  same,  as  "children  of  the  night" 
(Rom.  xiii.  12;  1  Thess.  v.  6;  Eph.  v.  8,  etc.— 
Will  not  know  its  ways ;  i.  e.  the  ways  of 
the  light,  for  it  is  more  natural  to  refer  the  suf- 
fix in  V3"\l,  as  well  as  in  VflUTIJ  to  IIX  than 

T  T    :  T  . 

to  "God." 

Ver.  14.  At  the  dawn  (11X^,  sub  lucem,  cum 
diluculo,  toward  the  break  of  day,  before  it  is 
yet  broad  daylight)  the  murderer  riseth  up. 
n^y^,  one  who  makes  a  trade  of  murder,  who 
kills  to  steal,  like  the  English  garotter ;  for  the 
wealthy  oppressor  is  no  longer  (down  to  ver.  18) 
the  subject  of  the  discourse. — [He  slays  the 
poor  and  needy:  because  of  their  defence- 
less condition  ;  not  of  course  for  plunder,  but  to 
gratify  his  bloodthirsty  disposition.] — And  in 
the  night  he  acts  like  a  thief,  or:  'he 
,  becomes  as  the  thief,"  i.  e.  in  the  depths  of 
'  night,  when  there  is  no  one  to  cross  his  path, 
he  plies  the  trade  of  a  petty,  common  thief,  com- 
mitting burglary,  etc.  For  the  Jussive  Tl'. 
instead  of  TVJ)^,  comp.  above  ch.  xviii.  12;  xx. 
23,  etc.  [poetic  form]  ;  and  for  inx,  instead  of 
ninN,  ch.  xxiii.  9. 

Ver.  15.  And  the  adulterer's  eye  watches 
(lOty,  observare,  to  be  on  the  watch  for,  to  lurk 
for)  the  twilight,  i.  e.  the  evening  twilight, 
before  the  approach  of  which  he  does  not  ply 
his  craft;  comp.  Prov.  vii.  9.  ^l  here  crejnis- 
culum;  see  above  on  chap.  iii.  9  — And  puts  a 
veil  over  the  face:  lit.  "and  lays  on  a  cover- 
ing of  the  face,"  i.e.,  some  kind  of  a  veil;  — 
hardly  a  mask,  of  which  oriental  antiquity  had 
no  knowledge:  comp.  Delitzsch  on  the  passage. 

Ver.  16.  They  break  in  the  dark  into 
houses;  lit.  "he,"  or  "one  breaks  in;"  the 
indefinite  Bubj.  of  ir>n.  is,  as  the  plurals  in  the 
following  members  show,  an  entire  band  of 
thieves. — They,  w^ho  by  day  keep  them- 
selves shut  up,  know  not  the  light,  i.  e. 


all  in  a  body." — Because  they  know  the 
terrors  of  deep  darkness;  i.  e.  are  familiar 
with  them,  as  other  men  are  with  the  open  day; 
comp.  ver.  16  c;  ch.  xxxviii.  16.  The  sing, 
again  makes  its  appearance  here  [T^^  '3,  lit. 
"for  he  (or  one)  knows,"  etc.'],  because  stress  is 
laid  on  the  fact  that  every  member  of  this  wicked 
band  has  this  familiarity  with  the  darkness  of 
night.  [According  to  the  rendering  of  E.  V., 
Hirzel,  etc.,  here  rejected,  the  meaning  would  be 
that  morning  or  daylight  would  bring  terror  to 
these  evil-doers,  the  fear  i.  e.  of  being  detected 
and  condemned.  In  the  second  member  '^"'3^  '3 
would  then  be  antecedent,  either  general : 
"when  one  can  discern"  (Con.),  or  particular: 

"if  one  know  them"  (E.  V.)  and  HloS^  nln"?!, 
the  consequent — "terrors  of  death-sliade  !"  The 
other  rendering,  however,  has  on  the  whole  the 
advantage  of  greater  simplicity,  and  agreement 
with  usage  and  the  context. — E.] 

Ninth  Strophe:  vers.  18-21.  The  judgment 
which  will  overtake  the  wicked  who  have  been 
thus  far  described.  This  judgment  Job  describes 
here  proleptically,  for  in  vers.  22-24  a  he  returns 
once  again  to  their  haughty,  insolent  conduct 
before  the  judgment  eomes,  in  order  to  bring  out 
the  thought  that  a  long  time  usually  elapses 
before  it  overtakes  them.  This  strophe  sets 
forth,  in  the  first  place,  and  this  intentionally  in 
strong  language,  which  in  the  mouth  of  Job  is 
quite  surprising,  that  a  grievous  punishment 
and  certain  destruction  infallibly  awaits  them ; 
but  that  such  destruction,  for  the  most  part,  is 
long  delayed,  is  maintained  in  the  following 
strophe,  which,  however,  in  ver.  24  again 
resumes  the  description  of  the  destruction.  The 
language  does  not  permit  us  with  the  LXX., 
Vulg.,  Pesh.,  Eichh.,  Dathe,  Unibr.,  Vaih,  etc., 
to  take  these  verses  in  an  optative  sense,  as  a 
description  of  the  punishment,  which  ought  to 
befal  evil-doers:  thus  at  the  outset  in  ver.  18  we 

have  Nn  Sp,  not  KIH  Sp  'H^ ;  and  so  through- 
out every  sign  of  the  optative  form  of  speech  is 
wanting.  It  is  possible,  but  the  same  is  not 
indicated  with  sufi&cient  clearness  by  the  author, 


CHAPS.  XXIII— XXIV. 


503 


and  for  that  reason  is  altogether  too  artificial,  to 
take  vers  18-:21  (with  Ewald,  Hirzel,  Schlottm., 
V.  Gerlach,  Heiligstedt,  Dillmann)  as  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  well-merited  judgment  inflicted  on 
the  wicked,  ironically  attributed  by  Job  to  his 
opponents,  Job's  own  opinion  on  the  opposite 
side  being  in  that  case  annexed  to  it  in  ver.  22 
peq.  See  against  this  opinion,  as  well  as  against 
the  related  opinion  of  Stickel,  Bottcher,  Hahn, 
fie,  the  remarks  of  Delitzsch  [ii.  33:  "(1)  There 
is  not  the  slightest  trace  observable  in  vers.  18- 
21  that  Job  does  not  express  his  own  view.  (2) 
There  is  no  such  decided  contrast  between  vers. 
18-21  and  vers.  22-25,  for  ver.  19  and  ver.  24 
both  affirm  substantially  the  same  thing  con- 
cerning the  end  of  the  evil  doer.  In  like  man- 
ner it  is  not  to  be  supposed  with  Stickel,  Low., 
Bottch.,  Welte  and  Hahn,  that  Job,  outstripping 
the  friends,  as  far  as  ver.  21,  describes  how  the 
evil-doer  certainly  often  comes  to  a  terrible  end, 
and  in  ver.  22  seq.,  how  the  very  opposite  of 
this,  however,  is  often  witnessed ;  so  that  this 
consequently  furnishes  no  evidence  in  support 
of  the  exclusive  assertion  of  the  friends.  More- 
over, ver.  24  compared  with  ver.  19,  where  there 
is  nothing  to  indicate  a  direct  contrast,  is  opposed 
to  it;  and  ver.  22,  which  has  no  appearance  of 
referring  to  a  direct  contrast  with  what  has 
been  previously  said,  is  opposed  to  such  an 
antithetical  rendering  of  the  two  final  stro- 
phes."] 

Ver.  18.  His  course  is  S'wift  on  the  face 
of  the  waters :  i.  e.  lightly  and  swiftly  is  he 
born  hence,  as  one  who  is  swept  away  irresisti- 
bly by  the  flood ;  comp.  ch.  ix.  26 ;  Hos.  x.  7. 
[Carey  curiously  conjectures  that  this  ver. 
speaks  of  pirates  I] — Accursed  is  their  por- 
tion in  the  land;  or:  "a  curse  befals,"  etc. 
(Dillm.).  [In  German:  Im  Fluge  ist  er  dahin 
auf  Wassers  Flache  ;  verflucht  wird  ihr  Grund- 
siiick  im  Lande ;  or  according  to  Dillmann: 
Flucht  trifi"t,  etc.,  whereby,  continues  Ziickler, 
the  paronomasia  between  77p'?  find  ip_  is  still 
more  clearly  expressed.  This  paronomasia  it  is 
impossible  to  reproduce  in  English  without 
slightly  paraphrasing  the  one  term  or  the  other. 
The  above  attempts  to  combine  the  verbal  play 
with  fidelity  to  the  German  original:  "  his  course 
is  swift"  for  "im  Fluge  dahin,"  and  "accursed" 
for  "verflucht."]  Whether  a  divine  curse,  or  a 
curse  on  the  part  of  men,  is  intended,  seems 
doubtful :  still  parallel  passages,  such  as  ch.  v. 
3 ;  xviii.  20,  favor  the  latter  view.  The  inter- 
change of  plur.  and  sing,  occurs  here  as  in  ver. 
16. — He  enters  no  more  on  the  way  of  the 
vineyard;  lit.  "he  turns  no  more  into  the  way 
to  the  vineyard"  (comp.  1  Sam.  xiii.  18);  t.  e. 
there  is  an  end  of  his  frequent  resorting  to  his 
favorite  possession,  and  in  general  of  his  enjoy- 
ment of  the  same.  Observe  that  from  here  on 
wealthy  evil-doers  again  form  the  prominent 
subject  of  the  description ;  in  this  differing  from 
vers.  13-17. 

Ver.  19.  Drought  and  heat  carry  off  [' /H" 
lit.  "bear  away  as  plunder"]  the  snow^-w^ater 
(comp.  ch.  vi.  16  seq.) :  so  the  underworld 
those   who   have   sinned. — INDFI,   a  rela- 

T  T 

tive  clause,  which  is  at  the  same  time  the 
object  of  the  verb  in  the  first   member,  which 


extends  its  influence  also  to  the  second  mem- 
ber. As  to  the  sentiment,  comp.  Ps.  xlix. 
13  [12]  21  [20];  also  ver.  18  a;  not  however 
ch.  xxi.  23,  where  rather  the  euthanasia  [of  the 
subject]  is  described,  not  his  sudden  end  with- 
out deliverance. 

Ver.  20.  The  w^omb  forgets  him,  (whereas) 
the  w^orms  feed  sweetly  on  him. — The  two 
short  sentences  which  constitute  this  member 
stand  in  blunt  contrast  to  each  other.  pHO  here 
sensu  activo :  to  taste  anything  with  pleasure, 
delectari  aliqua  re  (lit.  "to  suck" — hence  the 
meaning  "sweet").  So  then  is  iniquity 
broken  like  the  tree — {i.  e.  like  a  shattered, 
or  felled  tree ;  comp.  Ecclea.  xi.  3  ;  Dan.  iv.  7 
seq.;  also  above  ch.  xix.  10).  Instead  of  the 
wicked  man  his  injurious  conduct  (H/IJ^,  comp. 
on  ch.  V.  10)  is  here  mentioned  as  having  come 
to  an  end,  while  ver.  21  again  speaks  in  the 
concrete  concerning  the  evil-doer  himself,  iu 
order  to  point  to  his  heinous  blooilguiltiness  as 
the  cause  of  his  punishment.  ["The  funda- 
mental thought  of  the  strophe  is  this,  that  nei- 
ther in  life  nor  in  death  had  he  sufi'ered  the  pun- 
ishment of  his  evil-doing.  The  figure  of  the 
broken  tree  (broken  in  its  full  vigor)  also  cor- 
responds to  this  thought ;  comp.  on  the  other 
hand  what  Bildad  says,  ch.  xviii.  16 :  "  his 
roots  dry  up  beneath,  and  above  his  branch  is 
lopped  off"  (or:  withered).  The  severity  of 
his  oppression  is  not  manifest  till  after  his 
death."   Delitzsch]. 

Ver.  21.  He  who  hath  plundered  (lit. 
"fed  upon,  devoured,"  comp.  ch.  xx.  26)  the 
barren,  that  beareth  not  (who  has  therefore 
no  children  to  protect  her),  and  hath  done  no 
good  to  the  widow — but  on  the  contrary  has 
shown  him.self  hard  of  heart  towards  her.  On 
the  form  rp;;  comp.  Gesen.  g  70  [§  69],  2, 
Rem.  [Green,  \  150,  2].  [The  Participial  form 
n^T  introducing  the  characteristics  of  the  class 
and  followed  by  finite  verb  according  to  Gesen. 
I  131,  Rem.  2]. 

Tenth  Strophe:  vers.  22-25.  And  yet  He 
preserveth  long  the  men  of  might  by  His 
strength — i.e.,  but  truly  (1  before  "^WO  is  at 
once  adversative  and  restrictive).  He  (God, 
comp.  ver.  23)  often  greatly  prolongs  the  life  of 
such  mighty  evil-doers  (D'ySN,  comp.  Is.  xlvi. 
12)  ["  the  strong,  who  bid  defiance  not  only  to 
every  danger,  (Ps.  Ixxvi.  6)  but  also  to  all  di- 
vine influences  and  noble  impulses."  Delitzsch]. 
On  IjiyO  as  applied  to  the  agency  of  God  in 
prolonging  life  comp.  Is.  xiii.  22;  Ps.  xxxvi. 
11;  Ixxxv.  6  [5].  Such  an  one  rises  up 
again,  although  despairing  of  life — when  he 
had  already  despaired  of  continuing  in  life.  [So 
far  from  using  his  power  to  crush  the  mighty 
villains  of  earth,  God  uses  it  to  bring  them  tri- 
umphantly through  those  crises  in  which  they 
themselves   had   given   up  all  hope  — E.J     1^71 

J'DN^-  subordinate  circumstantial  clause,  comp. 
Ewald,  §  341,  a. — j"n,  Aramaizing  piur.  like 
jwD,  ch.  iv.  2.  [According  to  E.  V.  and  most 
commentators  the  subject  of  ver.  22  is  still  the 
wicked  man,  ^JE'O  being  taken  to  mean:  "to 
draw,  drag"  as  a  captive  ;  or   "to  hold,  bind;" 


501 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


or  "  to  destroy.  '  He  subjugates  the  mighty, 
and  puts  all  in  terror  for  their  very  life.'  The 
interpretation  given  above  however  is  more  in 
accord  with  the  proper  meaning  of  '^t^O,  with 
ver.  23  understood  as  having  God  for  its  sub- 
ject ;  and  is  specially  favored  by  the  considera- 
tion that  it  gives  more  distinct  expression  to  the 
thought,  so  important  to  Job's  argnmtnt  here  of 
the  lenythening  out  of  the  life  and  prosperity  of  the 
evil-doer,  and  of  the  long  delay  of  his  punishment. 
The  omiss  onof  the  Divine  Name  is  so  characteris- 
tic of  our  book  as  to  present  no  difiBculty. — E.]. 

Ver.  23.  He  grants  him  safety  (lit.  '«He 
(God)  grants  to  him  to  be  in  safety;  permits  him 
to  be  at  his  ease  [nD37,  adverbial,  of  the  state 
or  condition  He  grants  him  to  be  in];  so  that 
he  is  sustained  (ji'^"!],  expressing  the  conse- 
quence of  that  divine  grant  of  security),  and 
His  (God's)  eyes  are  upon  their  ways — in 
order,  namely,  to  keep  them  therein,  and  to 
bless  and  protect  them ;  comp.  7^  ^T^'^'^'  ch.  x. 
3.  [God's  eyes,  says  Job,  follow  the  prosper- 
ous evil-doer  with  watchful  interest,  to  see  that 
he  does  not  step  out  of  the  path  of  security  and 
success!  According  to  the  orher  interpretation, 
which  continues  thti  evil-doer  as  the  subject,  the 
meaning  is  that  the  oppressor  allows  lo  those 
who  are  in  his  power  only  a  transient  respite, 
watching  for  every  pretence  or  opportunity  to 
injure  them.  See  Scott.  The  full-toned  sufBx 
^•T'-  seems  chosen  for  emphasis. — E.]. 

Ver.  24.  They  rise  high— a  little  while 
only,  and  they  are  gone.  1D\  3  Plur.  Perf. 
from  D0"l=DO,  to  raise  oneself,  to  mount  up- 
ward "  (Ew.  I  114  a;  comp.  Gesen.  ^  67  [§  66] 
Hem.  1  [Green,  |  139,  1],     D^TO  with  following 

1  for  the  consequent,  forms  a  short  sentence  by 
itself,  as  in  Ps.  xxxvii.  10.  As  to  lirxi  "then 
he  is  no  more,"  comp.  Gen.  v.  24.  The  inter- 
change of  numbers  as  in  ver.  16  and  ver.  18. 
And  they  are  bow^ed  down  (concerning 
OSn   [Aramaizing]     Hoph.    from    Tj^DO,    comp. 

Gesen.  ?  67  [§  66],  Rem.  1);  like  all  they 
perish  (i.  e.  like  all  other.'!),  and  as  the  top 
of  the  ears  [of  grain:  i.  e.  the  grain-bearing 
he  id  of  the  wheat-stalk]  they  w^ither. — p}f3p\ 
lit.  "they  shrivel  together"  (Niph.  Reflex,  from 
Kal ;  comp.  ch.  v.  16)  i.  e.,  they  perish.  There 
is  no  reference  to  the  componere  artus  of  the  dead 
[Ges.  "to  gather  oneself  up,  composing  the 
body  and  limbs  as  in  death,"  wljich  here  would 
mean  to  die  in  the  course  of  nature,  not  by  vio- 
lence, or  suddenly],  nor  to  the  "  housing,"  i.  e. 
the  burial  of  the  dead  (comp.  Ezek.  xxix.  5). 
The  expression  is  rather  a  figure  taken  from  ve- 
getable life,  like  the  following  17D',  "they  wi- 
ther like  the  heads  of  grain  ;"  see  on  ch.  xlii.  2. 
[It  may  be  claimed  with  reason  that  the  connection 
here  favors  the  definition,  "to  be  cut  oflF,"  the  ori- 
ental custom  of  reaping  being  to  cut  off  the  tops, 
leavinglong  stalks  standing  in  the  field.]  Itisnot 
altogether  in  the  sense  of  euthanasia,  therefore, 
of  an  easy,  painless  death,  as  described  in  ch. 
xxi.  23,  that  the  present  passage  is  to  be  under- 
stood (against  Ewald,  Dillmann,  etc.,  also  Del.). 
It  rather  resumes  the  description  in  ver  ISseq  , 
although  in  less  forcible  language,  and  in  such 


a  way  as  to  set  forth  a  natural  death,  such  as 
all  die,  rather  than  that  ciused  by  a  divine 
judgment,  such  as  often  falls  upon  the  wi'^ked. 

Ver.  25.  And  should  it  not  be  so  (1D.X  N^-DXI 
as  in  ch.  ix.  24)  v^ho  Tvill  convict  me  of 
falsehood,  and  make  my  speech  of  no  ef- 
fect?— The  phrase  bx"?  WV  (instead  of  which 
Symm.,  Vulg.,  Pesh.  read  hvh<'\:!)  is  precisely 
the  same  with  e\g  fi7/dev  Ti.-&h>(u,  or  our  :  "bring 
to  nought,"  comp.  Ewald,  §  286,  g;  321,  b.  The 
whole  question  is  a  triumphant  expression  of 
the  superiority  which  Job  vividly  felt  himself  to 
possess  over  his  opponents,  especially  in  the 
views  derived  from  experience  which  he  had 
just  urged  respecting  the  incomprehensible 
dealings  of  God  with  the  destinies  of  men. 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

1.  The  significance  of  the  present  discourse 
of  Job  lies  essentially  in  its  descriptive  treatment 
of  ethical  and  anthropological  themes,  some 
passages  even  describing  matters  of  interest  in 
the  history  of  civilization  (ch.  xxiv.  5  seq.), 
whereas  the  speculative  and  theological  element 
becomes  subordinate.  The  latter  is  restricted 
almost  exclusively  to  the  first  and  shorter  Divi- 
sion, which  is  occupied  with  the  mysiery  of 
Job's  own  destiny  of  suffering,  just  as  the  se- 
cond Division  is  occupied  with  the  obverse  side 
of  this  mystery,  the  prosperity  and  impunity  of 
the  wicked.  That  which  the  first  Division  says 
touching  the  inexplicableness  of  his  sufferings 
is  substantially  only  a  repetition  of  the  wish,  al- 
ready several  times  uttered,  that  God  by  His 
personal  intervention  might  decide  the  contro- 
versy, and  confirm  his  innocence,  combined  with 
a  statement  of  the  reasons  why  this  wish  couli 
not  be  realized.  On  the  first  of  these  reasons,  to 
wit:  that  on  account  of  the  overwhelming  ma- 
jesty pertaining  to  the  appearance  of  God,  the 
Unapproachable  and  Almighty  One,  it  would  be 
impossible  for  him  to  put  in  his  answer  before 
Him  (ch.  xxiii.  6)  he  does  not  dwell  this  time  as 
on  two  former  occasions  (ch.  ix.  34;  xiii.  21)  ; 
he  merely  touches  it  with  suggestive  brevity. 
His  consciousness  of  innocence  is  too  strong  to 
allow  him  to  give  way  long  to  this  thought ; 
thanks  to  the  incessant  assaults  and  accusations 
of  the  friends,  it  has  become  consolidated  and 
strengthened  to  such  a  degree  that  in  ch.  xix.  (as 
indeed  had  been  the  case  before  here  and  there, 
especially  in  ch.  xvi.  17  ;  xvii.  9)  it  even  found 
utterance  in  decided  exaggeration,  and  drove 
him  to  extreme  assertions  touching  his  absolute 
blamelessness  and  immaculateness,  for  which  he 
must  hereafter  implore  pardon.  Among  these 
assertions  we  find  the  following:  that  he  would 
come  forth  out  of  God's  trial  of  him  like  gold, 
that  he  would  never  swerve  from  His  ways,  that 
he  had  always  observed  the  words  of  His  mouth 
more  than  his  own  law  (ch.  xxiii.  10-12).  All 
the  more  emphatic  however  is  the  stress  which 
he  lays  on  the  other  reasons  why  that  wish 
seems  to  him  incapable  of  realization.  God,  he 
thinks,  purposely  withdraws  Himself  from  him. 
It  is  deliberately  and  with  good  reason  that  He 
keeps  Himself  at  a  distance  and  hidden  from 
him,  it  being  novr  His  settled  purpose  to  make 


CHAPS.  XXIII— XXIV. 


605 


him  drain  his  cup  of  suffering  to  the  dregs  (ch. 
xxiii.  13  seq.).     ["Job's  suspicion  against  God 
is  as  dreadful  as   it  is  childish.     This  is  a  pro- 
foundly tragic  stroke.    It  is  not  to  be  understood 
as  the  sarcasm  of  defiance  ;  on  the  contrary,  as 
one  of  the  childish  thoughts  into  which  melan- 
choly bordering    on    madness    falls.     From  the 
bright  height  of  faith  to  which  Job  soars  in  ch. 
xix.  25  seq.,  he  is  here  again  drawn  down  into 
the  most  terriBle  depth  of  conflict,  in  which,  like 
a  blind  man,  he  gropes  after  God,  and  because 
he  cannot  find  Him  thinks   that  He  flees  before 
him  lest  He   should  be  overcome  by  him.     The 
God  of  the  present  Job  accounts  his  enemy ;  and 
the  God  of  the  future  to  whom  his  faith  clings, 
who  will  and  must  vindicate  him  so  soon  as  He 
onlyallows  Himself  to  be  found  and  seen — thisGod 
is  not  to  be   found."  Delitzscli.].     It  is  not  the 
invisible  essence  of  God  in  general,  not  that  He 
cannot  be  discovered  by  those  who  seek  Him  on 
earth  east  or  west,  north  or  south  (vers.  8-9) — it 
is  not  the  pure  spirituality  and  the  divine  om- 
nipresence, which  extinguishes  his  hope  in  God's 
interposition  to  vindicate  and   to  redeem    him. 
The    thought  of    that  divine  unsearchableness, 
which  he  beautifully  descr.bes  in  a  way  that  re- 
minds us  of  Ps.  cxxxix.  7-9,  as  wellasof  Zophar's 
first  discourse  (ch.  xi.  8-9),  could  have  had  no- 
thing terrible  or  cheerless  for  him.     Just  as  lit- 
tle (as  he  expressly  declares  in  the  closing  verse 
of  the  First  Part,  ch.  xxiii.  17)  would  the  con- 
templation of  his  woful  physical  condition,  and 
the  tragical  calamities  of  his  outward  life  have 
sufficed  to  plunge  him  into  the  fear  of  death  and 
duoib    despair.     That  which  fills  him  with  dis- 
may  and  terror,  that   which  makes    his    heart 
faint,  and  removes  the  prospect  of  his  deliver- 
ance to  the  indefinite  future,  is  that  same predesti- 
natianism,  that  same  dread  of  a  mysterious,  inex- 
orable, and  as  regards  himself  malign  decree  of 
God,  which   had    already    extorted    repeatedly 
from  him  a  cry  of  lamentation,  and  which  had 
formed   the   dark  back-ground  which   so    often 
emerges  behind  his  meditations  thus  far  (comp. 
ch.  vi.  9  seq.;  vii.  12  seq.;  ix.  22  sqq.;  x.  13  seq.; 
xiii.  ISseq.  ;xvi.  12sq. ;  xix.  6seq.).   No  comfort- 
ing, brightening,  alleviating  thought,  no  joyous 
soaring   of  hope  in  God's  compassion,  bringing 
help  however  late,  is  to  be  seen  anywhere  in  this 
discourse,  as  was  the  case  e.  g.  in  ch.  xvii.  and 
xix.     On  the  contrary  the  Second  Division  of  the 
discourse  lays  out  before  us  a  much  wider  circle 
of  phenomena  and  sentiments  at  variance  with 
u  righteous  and  merciful  activity  on  the  part  of 
God.     The  experience  which  he  had,  or  believed 
that  he  had,  of  God's  treatment  of  him  as  unsym- 
pathetic and  harsh,  as  being  a  mere  exhibition  of 
divine  power,  without  the  slightest  trace  of  jus- 
tice or  fatherly  kindness — this  experience  he  ut- 
ters in  the  general  proposition  :   "that  God  had 
appointed  no   times  of  judgment,  would  let  His 
friends  see  no  days  on  this  earth  in  which  He 
would  exercise  righteous  retribution"  (ch.  xxiv. 
1).     This   proposition  he  expands  into  an   elo- 
quent  description    of    the    manifold    injustice, 
which  mea  of  the  most  diverse  classes  inflict  on 
one  another,  while  the  wrongs  of  the  outraged 
and  oppressed  weaker  party  are  never  redressed 
or  avenged  (ch.  xxiv.  2  seq).     Toward  the  end 
of  this  pictiire,  which  is  true  in  a  sense,  although 


one-sided  in  its  tendency,  he  changes  his  tone 
somewhat  to  be  sure,  and  by  strongly  emphasiz- 
ing the  certainty  that  a  rigid  judgment  of  God 
will  at  the  last  terminate  the  course  of  the 
wicked  (vers.  18-21,  24),  qualifies  the  preceding 
accusation  against  the  divine  justice.  Even  this 
however  is  by  no  means  a  surrender  to  the  doc- 
trine of  a  retribution  in  this  life,  as  taught  by 
the  friends.  The  chief  emphasis  even  in  this 
passage  rests  rather  on  the  long  delay  ("jiyo  ver. 
22  a)  in  interposing  for  such  punishment,  on  the 
long  duration  of  their  impunity  from  punish- 
ment, or  even  on  the  not  uncommon  prolonga- 
tion of  this  state  down  to  their  natural  death,  to 
which  they  are  subjecC  in  common  with  all  men 
(ver.  24;  see  on  the  ver.).  Job  here  certainly 
concedes  something  to  his  opponents,  essentially 
however  not  much  more  than  he  had  conceded 
already  in  ch.  xxi.  where  (ver.  17  seq.  ;  28  seq.) 
without  denying  the  fact  of  the  final  punishment 
of  the  ungodly,  he  had  represented  it  as  much 
more  commonly  the  case  that  they  were  spared 
any  judicial  inflictions  down  to  the  end  of  their 
life.  The  triumphant  exclamation  with  which 
ha  ends  his  speech:  "who  will  convict  me  of 
falsehood?"  is  intended  simply  to  confirm  this 
fact  of  experience,  in  accordance  with  which 
this  impunitas  hominum  sceleratorum  is  the  general 
rule,  whereas  their  justa  punitio  is  the  excep- 
tion, at  least  in  this  world. 

2.  Job  however  does  concede  somewhat  more 
here  than  there ;  he  at  least  dwells  longer  on  the 
punishment  of  the  ungodly,  as  a  fact  which  is 
not  altogether  unheard  of  in  the  course  of  humaa 
destiny — whether  the  passage  in  which  he  de- 
scribes it  be  only  a  free  quotation  of  the  lan- 
guage of  his  opponents,  as  the  later  commenta- 
tors in  part  exclaim  (see  on  ver.  18  seq.),  of  the 
expression  of  his  own  conviction.  And  this  in- 
dicates clearly  enough  progress  for  the  better  ia 
his  temper  of  mind  and  mode  of  thought,  a  pro- 
gress which  is  still  further  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  in  the  preceding  description  of  God  as  re- 
straining Himself  in  the  infliction  of  punishment 
a  calm  tone  of  objective  description  has  a  deci- 
ded predominance,  and  nothing  more  is  to  be 
discerned  of  his  former  passionate,  at  times 
even  blasphemous  complaints  touching  the  ty- 
rannical harshness  and  cruel  vindictiveness  of 
the  Almighty  in  persecuting  him  with  poisoned 
arrows,  sword-thrusts,  and  merciless  scourgings. 
The  terrible  fatalistic  phantom  of  a  God  exer- 
cising only  His  power,  and  not  also  His  justice 
and  love,  which  had  formerly  tortured  him,  has 
unmistakably  assumed  a  milder  form,  of  a  less 
threatening  aspect  than  heretofore.  In  conse- 
quence of  this,  as  well  as  by  virtue  of  the  calm 
dignity  which  enables  him  to  meet  with  com- 
plete serenity  the  violent  assaults  and  detrac- 
tions of  Eliphaz,  and  to  avoid  all  controversy  of 
a  bttter  personal  character,  his  superiority  over 
his  opponents  becomes  ever  more  apparent,  his 
statements  and  arguments  drive  with  ever 
greater  directness  at  the  only  possible  solution 
of  the  controversy,  and  even  where  he  is  one- 
sided, as  particularly  in  his  description,  in  many 
respects  impressive,  of  the  course  of  the  wicked, 
and  of  the  needy  ones  whom  they  persecute  (ch. 
xxiv,  2-17),  his  discussion  has  great  value,  and 
a  fascinating  power  which  is  all  the  stronger  by 


506 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


virtue  of  the  comparatively  calm  objective  tone 
of  the  treatment.  It  is  in  these  indications  of 
the  growing  purity  and  clearness  of  the  suffer- 
er's spiritual  frame,  that  the  practical  and  ho- 
miletic  lessons  of  the  present  section  can  be 
most  advantageously  studied. 

HOMILETICAL  AND   PRACTICAL. 

Ch.  xxiii.  ver.  3  seq. — Oecolampadius  (on 
■ver.  7):  This  word  "disputing"  or  "reprov- 
ing" expresses  confidence  rather  than  impa- 
tience or  an  unfavorable  estimate  of  God.  But 
if  we  blame  this  in  Job,  we  must  also  blame 
what  John  and  others  say;  "  if  our  hearts  con- 
demn us  not,  then  have  we  confidence  toward 
God."  And  wherefore  does  Christ  command  us 
to  lift  up  our  heads  at  His  coming  ?  Zeyss  : 
Faith  and  a  good  conscience  are  the  two  chief 
jewels  of  a  Christian  (1  Tim.  i.  6).  Happy  he 
who  has  kept  these.  When  oppressed  he  can 
appear  with  confidence  before  God. 

Ver.  8  seq.  Brentius  :  Although  God  fills  all 
things,  and  is  all  in  all,  we  cannot  approach 
Him,  nor  find  Him  without  a  Mediator  ;  whether 
we  seek  Him  before  or  behind,  to  the  right  hand 
or  to  the  left.  He  is  always  afar  off,  we  never 
lay  hold  upon  Him.  For  even  if  we  should  at- 
tempt to  approach  Him  without  a  mediator,  we 
are  deterred  from  having  access  to  Him  in  part 
by  the  darkness  in  which  He  dwells,  in  part  by 
His  power  and  majesty,  in  part  by  His  justice. 

Ver.  13  seq.  Zeyss:  As  God  is  one  in  His  na- 
ture, so  also  is  He  unchangeable  in  His  will 
(Num.  xxiii.  19;  1  Sam.  xv.  29).  Let  us  there- 
fore submit  ourselves  in  humility  and  obedience 
to  His  good  and  holy  will !  The  cross  which 
He  lays  upon  us  is  always  less  than  our  sins  de- 
serve ;  His  chastisements  are  tempered  with 
mercy  ;  Ps.  ciii.  10. — v.  Gerlach  (on  ver.  17) : 
In  the  consciousness  of  the  treatment  which  he 
receives  from  the  incomprehensible  God,  who 
has  irrevocably  determined  every  man's  destiny, 
Job  is  penetrated  by  the  profoundest  terror  be- 


fore this  God.  It  is  not  his  calamity  in  itself, 
not  even  his  own  experience  of  the  extremity  to 
which  this  calamity  has  brought  him  from  which 
he  shrinks.  What  a  deep  glance  is  here  given 
us  into  the  heart  of  a  sorely  tried  servant  of 
God,  who  in  his  complaints  and  struggles,  spite 
of  all  suffering,  thinks  only  of  God,  and  fears 
nothing  so  much  as  that  the  fellowship  of  his  God 
having  been  withdrawn  from  him,  his  God 
should  become  a  terror  to  him. 

Ch.  xxiv.  2  seq.  Wohlfarth:  How  should 
the  contemplation  of  the  unnumbered  sins,  with 
which  God's  fair  earth  is  stained,  affect  us? 
Job  was  led  thereby  into  temptation  to  doubt 
God's  justice.  Let  it  not  be  bo  with  us,  who, 
enlightened  by  Christ,  should  see  therein 
rather:  (a)  a  melancholy  proof  of  the  con- 
tinual inclination  of  our  nature  to  evil,  and 
of  the  slothfulness  of  our  spirit  to  etrive  against 
the  same ;  [b)  a  toucliing  evidence  of  the  long- 
suffering  and  patience  of  God;  (c)  an  earnest 
warning  to  be  on  our  guard  against  every  temp- 
tation;  ((f)  an  emphatic  reminder  of  the  day  of 
judgment,  which  will  recompense  every  man 
according  to  his  works. 

Ver.  17.  Starke:  As  works  of  the  light  are 
accompanied  by  a  joyful  conscience  and  good 
courage,  so  on  the  other  hand  with  works  of 
darkness  there  is  nothing  but  fear,  anguish  and 
terror.  For  even  the  abandoned  are  not  without 
an  inward  punishment  in  the  conscience. — V. 
Gerlach:  For  sinners,  who  shun  the  light,  the 
light  of  day  itself  is  darkness,  since  through 
their  departure  from  the  eternal  light  of  God, 
they  bear  about  with  them  night  in  their  souls 
(comp.  Matt.  vi.  23;  John  xi.  10),  and  thus  they 
feel  its  terrors  even  in  the  midst  of  the  bright- 
ness of  the  day. 

Ver.  23  seq.  Starke:  Be  not  secure,  if  a 
sin  passes  unpunished ;  it  is  not  on  that  account 
forgotten  by  God.  The  happier  the  ungodly 
are  for  a  time,  the  more  dangerous  is  their  con- 
dition, and  the  more  severely  will  they  be  pun- 
ished at  last. 


//.  Bildad  and  Job-:  Chap.  XXV— XXVI. 

A. — Bildad:  Again  setting  forth  the  contrast  between  God's  ezaltation  and 

human  impotence. 

Chapter  XXV. 
1.  Man  cannot  argue  with  God. 

Verses  2-4. 

1  Then  answered  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  said : 

2  Dominion  and  fear  are  with  Him, 
He  maketh  peace  in  His  high  places. 

3  Is  there  any  number  of  His  armies  ? 

and  upon  whom  doth  not  His  light  arise  ? 

4  How  then  can  man  be  justified  with  God  ? 

or  how  can  he  be  clean  that  is  born  of  a  woman  ? 


CHAPS.  XXV— XXVI. 


507 


2.  Man  is  not  pure  before  God :  vers.  5,  6. 

5  Behold  even  to  the  moon,  and  it  shineth  not ; 
yea,  the  stars  are  not  pure  in  His  sight. 

6  How  much  less  man,  that  is  a  worm ; 
and  the  son  of  man,  which  is  a  worm  ? 

B. — Job:  Rebuke  of  his  opponent,  accompanied  by  a  description,  far  Burpasslng 
his,  of  the  exaltation  and  greatness  of  Qod. 

Chapter  XXVI. 

1.  Sharp  rebuflf  of  Bildad:  vers.  1-4. 

1  But  Job  answered,  and  said : 

2  How  hast  thou  helped  him  that  is  without  power  ? 
how  savest  thou  the  arm  that  hath  no  strength  ? 

3  How  hast  thou  counselled  him  that  hath  no  wisdom  ? 
and  how  hast  thou  plentifully  declared  the  thing  as  it  is? 

4  To  Avhom  hast  thou  uttered  words  ? 
and  whose  spirit  came  from  thee  ? 


2.  Description  of  the  incomparable  sovereignty  and  exaltation  of  God,  given  to  surpass  the  far 
less  spirited  effort  of  Bildad  in  this  direction:  vers.  5-14. 

5  Dead  things  are  formed 

from  under  the  waters,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof. 

6  Hell  is  naked  before  Him, 

and  destruction  hath  no  covering. 

7  He  stretcheth  out  the  north  over  the  empty  place, 
and  hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing. 

8  He  bindeth  up  the  waters  in  His  thick  clouds ; 
and  the  cloud  is  not  rent  under  them. 

9  He  holdeth  back  the  face  of  His  throne, 
and  spreadeth  His  cloud  upon  it. 

10  He  hath  compassed  the  waters  with  bounds, 
until  the  day  and  night  come  to  an  end. 

11  The  pillars  of  heaven  tremble, 
and  are  astonished  at  His  reproof. 

12  He  divideth  the  sea  Avith  His  power, 

and  by  His  understanding  He  smiteth  through  the  proud. 

13  By  His  spirit  He  hath  garnished  the  heavens  ; 
His  hand  hath  formed  the  crooked  serpent. 

14  Lo,  these  are  parts  of  His  ways : 

but  how  little  a  portion  is  heard  of  Him  ? 

but  the  thunder  of  His  power  who  can  understand  ? 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  Job's  reply  to  the  last  assaults  of  Eliphaz 
had  certainly  avoided  all  personality,  but  had  at 
the  same  time  asserted  his  complete  innocence 
in  very  strong,  almost  objectionable  language 
(ch.  xxiii.  10-12).  It  is  more  particularly  to 
this  vulnerable  point  that  Bildad  turns  his  atten- 
tion in  this,  his  last  discourse,  which  limits 
itself  to  showing  how  unbecoming  it  is  for  man 
— this  miserable  worm  of  the  earth — to  arrogate 
to  himself  any  right  whatever  before  God,  or  to 


impute  to  himself  any  justice.  In  substance, 
accordingly,  he  lays  down  only  two  propositions, 
and  that  without  enlarging  on  them,  to  wit:  (1) 
Man  cannot  argue  with  God,  the  Almighty;  (2) 
Before  God,  the  Holy  One,  man  cannot  be  pure. 
In  this  discourse,  which  closes  the  series  of 
attacks  on  Job,  he  describes  the  divine  greatness 
and  exaltation,  a  description  which  is  decidedly 
meagre,  made  up  only  of  repetitions  of  what 
Eliphaz  had  said  in  his  former  discourses  (comp. 
ch.  iv.  17  seq. ;  xv.  14  seq.).  No  wonder  that 
Job  discovers  the  opportunity  thus  presented  to 
him,  and  in  his  reply,  first  of  all,  addresses   to 


508 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


the  speaker  a  sharp,  bitterly  satirical  rebuff, 
and  then  meets  bis  propositions  in  regard  to 
God's  greatness  and  holiness,  not  by  denying 
them,  but  by  surpassing  them  with  a  far  more 
magnificent  and  eloquent  description  of  the  same 
divine  attributes.  [And  note  particularly  that 
as  Bildad's  illustrations  of  his  theme  are  drawn 
from  the  heavenly  hosts  and  luminaries,  Job  in 
his  reply  dwells  pi-incipally,  though  not  exclu- 
sively on  God's  greatness  aa  manifested  in  the 
heavens  above. — E.] — The  Strophe-scheme  of 
both  discourses  is  very  simple,  Bildad's  discourse 
containing  only  two  strophes,  the  first  of  three, 
the  second  of  two  verses;  Job's  discourse  con- 
taining four  strophes,  each  of  three  verses. 

2.  The  last  disamrse  of  Bildad:  ch.  xxv.  Man 
can  neither  argue  with  God,  nor  is  he  pure 
before  Him. 

First  Strophe:  vers.  2-4 — Dominion  and 
fear  are  vrith  Him,  who  maketh  peace  in 

His  high  places. — 7t!??pn,  lit.  "to  wield  domi- 
nion, to  exercise  sovereignty,"  a  substantive 
Inf.  absol.  Hiph. ;  comp.  Ewald,  §  166,  e. — [nniJ 
is  added  in  order  to  set  forth  the  terrible 
majesty  of  this  sovereignty. — Schlott.] — VDi"103 
cannot  be  understood  as  a  more  precise  qualifi- 
cation of  the  subject:  "  He  in  His  high  places. 
He  who  is  enthroned  in  the  heights  of  heaven  " 
(Reimarus,  Umbreit,  Hahn).  It  is  rather  a 
local  qualification  of  the  action  affirmed  of  the 
subject.  It  accordingly  describes  the  peace 
founded  by  God  as  established  in  the  heights  of 
heaven,  and  so  having  reference  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  heaven,  and  pre-supposing  their  former 
strife.  Bear  in  mind  what  was  said  above  by 
Job  of  God's  "judging  those  in  heaven"  (ch. 
xxi.  22),  and  comp.  Is.  xxiv.  21 ;  also  below  ch. 
xxvi.  13. — It  is  a  weakening  of  the  sense  which 
is  scarcely  justified  by  the  language  to  under- 
stand the  passage  as  teaching  God's  agency  in 
harmonizing  either  the  elements  of  the  heavenly 
Kosmos  (the  perpetually  recurring  cycle,  the 
wonderfully  ordered  paths  of  the  stars,  comp. 
Clemens  Rom.  1  Cor.  xix.),  or  the  discord  of  the 
heavenly  spirits,  conceived  of  only  in  the  most 
abstract  possible  manner,  but  in  truth  continu- 
ally averted  by  God,  and  thus  as  teaching  the 
maintenance,  not  the  making  or  institution,  of 
peace  (so  Seb.  Schmidt,  J.  Lange,  Starke,  etc.). 
["  Ewald  explains  the  words  of  the  heavenly 
powers  and  spirits  represented  by  the  innume- 
rable host  of  the  stars,  which  might  indeed 
some  time  be  at  war  among  themselves,  but 
which  are  ever  brought  again  by  the  Higher 
Power  into  order  and  peace.  But  nothing 
whatever  is  said  elsewhere  of  such  a  discord  as 
now  coming  to  pass  in  the  upper  world.  All 
analogies  point  rather  to  a  definite  fact  which  is 
assigned  to  the  beginning  of  creation."  Schlott.]. 
Ver.  8.  Is  there  any  number  to  His 
armies  ?  —  Vinj,  synonymous  with  VN3V, 
which  is  used  elsewhere  in  this  sense,  are  God's 
hosts  or  armies,  the  stars,  first  of  all,  indeed, 
the  heavenly  armies,  together  with  the  an- 
gels which  rule  and  inhabit  them  (comp. 
above  oa  ch.  xv.  15).  Whether  also  the  lower 
forces  of  nature,  such  as  lightnings,  winds, 
etc.  (comp.  ch.  xxxviii.  19  seq.  ;  Ps.  civ. 
4,    etc.)    are     intended,    as     Dillmann     thinks 


is  doubtful  in  view  of  the  indefiniteness 
of  the  figurative  form  of  expression.  And 
upon  whom  does  not  His  light  arise  ? — 
The  emphatic  suffix  ehu  in  'HIIX  (comp.  'n'J'J^, 
ch.  xxiv.  "23)  puts  His  light,  to  wit  God's  own 
light,  in  contrast  with  the  derived  lower  light 
of  His  hosts.  The  expression  is  scarcely  to  be 
understood  of  the  sunlight,  which  indeed  itself 
belongs  to  the  number  of  these  D"l-nj  :  neither 
can  Dip'  be  taken=n^r  (neither  here,  nor  ch. 
xi.  17).  It  is  inadmissible  accordingly  to  refer 
the  words  to  the  rising  sun,  as  a  sign  of  the  fa- 
therly beneficent  solicitude  of  God  for  His  earthly 
creatures  (comp.  Matth.  v.  45.  So  against  Mer- 
cier,  Hirz.  Hahn,  Schlott.,  etc.).  We  are  to  un- 
derstand them  rather  of  that  absolutely  supra- 
terrestrial  light  in  which  God  dwells,  whicb  He 
wears  as  His  garment,  by  which  indeed  He  ma- 
nifests His  being.  His  heavenly  doxa  (Ps.  civ. 
2  ;  Ezek.  i.  27  seq.  ;  1  Tim.  vi.  16,  etc.).  In  re- 
spect to  this  light  Bildad  asks:  ".upon  whom 
does  it  not  arise?  "  The  question  is  not :  "whom 
does  it  not  surpass  ?"  ["  over  whom  (t.  e.  which 
of  these  beings  of  light)  does  it  not  rise,  leaving 
it  behind,  and  exceeding  it  in  brightness  ?  "  De- 
litzsch],  for  Dip  would  scarcely  be  appropriate 
for  this  thought,  since  the  degree  of  light  is  not 
measured  by  its  height  (against  Ewald,  Heiligst., 
Del.) — but:  "upon  whom  does  it  not  dispense 
blessings  and  happiness?"   (Dillm.) 

Ver.  4.  How  could  a  mortal  be  just 
with  God — (comp.  ch.  ix.  2) :  i.  e.  how  could 
he  appear  before  Him,  to  whose  absolute  power 
all  heavenly  beings  are  subject,  arguing  with 
Him,  and  making  pretensions  to  righteousness  1 
The  second  member,  with  which  ch.  iv.  17  ;  xv. 
14  may  be  compared,  stands  connected  with  the 
principal  thought  of  the  discourse,  which  imme- 
diately follows,  to  the  effect  that  no  man  pos- 
sesses purity  or  moral  spotlessness  before  God. 

Second  Strophe :  vers.  5-6. 

Ver.  6.  Behold,  even  the  moon,  it  shineth 
not  brightly,  and  the  stars  are  not  pure 
in  His  eyes. — ny  1^,  lit.  '•  even  to  the  moon, ' 
i.  e.  even  as  regards  the  moon.  In  the  following 
Nvl  the  1  is  the  Vav  of  the  apodosis ;  comp. 
Gesen.  §145  [§  142j,  2;  and  see  above  ch.  xxiii. 
12.      vTIX'^/n'  from    /HN,  an  alternate  form, 

found  only  here,  of  //T],  to  be  bright,  to  shine; 
comp.  ch.  xxxi.  26.  Gekatilia's  attempt  to  ren- 
der the  verb — "  to  pitch  a  tent,"  is  inadmissible, 
for  that  must  have  read  Dt!/  /HXI,  in  order  to  yield 
the  meaning — "  He  pitcheth  not  his  tent." — 
The  clause — "in  His  eyes" — in  the  second 
member,  belongs  also  to  the  first.  Comp.  the 
parallel  passages  already  cited  in  ch.  iv.  and 
XV. — Furthermore  it  is  only  the  physical  light, 
the  silver-white  streaming  brilliancy  oi  the  stars, 
which  is  here  put  beside  the  absolute  glory  of 
God's  light  (which  is  at  once  physical  and  ethi- 
cal). Scarcely  is  there  reference  to  the  angels 
as  inhabiting  the  stars,  and  to  their  moral  pu- 
rity (against  Hirzel) ;  from  which  however  no- 
thing can  be  inferred  unfavorable  to  the  theory 
that  the  stars,  i.  e.,  the  heavenly  globes  of  the 
starry  world,  are  inhabited  by  angels. 

Ver.  6.  Much  less  then  ("3  ^^N,  as  in  ch. 


CHAPS.  XXV— XXVI. 


509 


XV.  16)  mortal  man,  the  •worm,  etc.  In  re- 
gard to  these  figures  of  the  maggot  and  the 
worm,  as  setting  forth  the  insignificance,  weak- 
ness, and  contemptibleness  of  man,  comp.  Ps. 
xxii.  7  [6]  ;  also  Is.  liii.  2,  and  similar  descrip- 
tions. 

3.  Job's  rejoinder :  ch.  xxvi.  First  Division 
(and  Strophe) :  vers.  2-4 :  Sharp  ironical  re- 
buke of  Bildad. 

Ver.  2.  How  haat  thou  helped  the  po'W- 
erless  !  "Hp  here,  like  np,  is  equivalent  to  an 
ironical — "Ilowwell!  How  excellent  1"  (comp. 
ch.  xix.  28).     HD-X/,  lit.  "no-power"  is  abstr. 

pro  conc.=the  powerless  ;  so  also  in  6TJ?-K7=the 
etrengthless,  the  feeble;  and  in  ver.  3  a  PDDn  K/ 

=the  unwise,  ignorant.  By  these  three  pa- 
rallel descriptive  clauses  Job  means  of  course 
himself,  as  the  object  of  the  well-intended,  but 
perverted  attempts  of  the  friends  to  teach  him 
(not  God,  as  Mercier,  Schlottm.,  «^c.  explain)  [as 
though  Bildad  had  regarded  God  as  too  feeble  to- 
maintain  His  own  cause.  But  against  this  ex- 
planation the  choice  of  verbs,  if  nothing  else, 
would  be,  as  Delitzsch  argues,  decisive]. 

Ver.  3.  .  .  .  .  and  hast  declared  wisdom 
in  abundance  (J'lS,  lit.  "for  multitude") 
["an  ironical  hit  at  the  poverty-stricken  brevity 
of  B.'s  speech."  Dillm.].  iTU^Ii^,  here  as  in 
cli.  V.  12  may  be  rendered  by  "  that  which  is  to 
be  accomplished,"  provided  it  be  referred  to  the 
intellectual  world,  and  so  understood  as  vera  et 
realis  sapientia  (J.  H.  Mich.).  Here  indeed  the 
word  is  used  ironically  of  its  opposite. 

Ver.  4.  To  whom  hast  thou  uttered 
■words? — i.  e.  whom  hast  thou  been  desirous 
of  reaching  by  thy  words  ?  for  whom  were  thy 
elaborate  speeches  coined  ?  was  it,  possibly,  for 
me,  who  have  not  been  touched  by  them  in  the 
least  ?  So  correctly  the  LXX. :  rivi  avfjyyeiXag 
pijUara,  and  the  Vulg.  :  quern  docere  voluisti?  The 
translation:  '^  with  whose  assistance  (^D-HN)  hast 
thou  utttered  these  words?"  (Arnh.  Hahn) 
[Con.]  seems  indeed  to  be  favored  by  b,  but  is 
condemned  by  the  construction  of  the  verb  TJH 
elsewhere  in  our  book  with  a  double  accusative 
(so  also  ch.  xxxi.  37;  comp.  Ezek.  xliii.  10),  and 
does  not  agree  so  well  with  what  precedes. — 
And  whose  breath  went  forth  from  thee? 
— i.  e.  from  what  kind  of  inspiration  (inbreath- 
ing) hast  thou  spoken?  is  it  the  divine  ?  Num 
Deo  inspirante  locutus  es  ?  The  question  involves 
a  biting  irony ;  for  the  speech  of  Bildad,  so  poor 
and  meagre  in  thought,  merely  repeating  a  little 
of  what  Eliphaz  had  said  already,  might  look 
accordingly  as  though  it  had  been  inspired  by 
the  latter. 

4.  Second  Division  :  vers.  5-14:  Eclipsing  and 
surpassing  the  description  given  by  Bildad  of 
the  exaltation  and  majesty  of  God  by  one  far 
more  glorious. 

Second  Strophe:  vers.  5-7.  While  Bildad's 
description  took  its  start  from  heaven,  and  its 
stars.  Job  begins  by  appealing  to  the  realm  of 
shades,  together  with  its  subterranean  inhabi- 
tants as  witnesses  of  the  divine  omnipotence  and 
majesty,  in  order  from  this  depth,  the  lowest 
foundation  of  all  that  is,  to  mount  upward  to  the 


heavenly  world — The  shades  are  made  to 
tremble. — D'NiJI  are  not  "giants,"  as  the  An- 
cient  Versions  render  the  word,  but  in  accord- 
ance with  the  root  HDT  ("to  be  slack,  relaxed, 
exhausted,"  comp.  Ewald,  ^  65,  e),  "  weak,  pow- 
erless," namely,  the  marrovvless  and  bloodless 
shades  or  forms  of  the  underworld,  the  wretched 
inhabitants  of  the  realm  of  the  dead ;  so  also  in  Ps. 
Ixxxviii.;  11  [10];  Prov.  ii.  18;  ix.  18,  and  often: 
Is.  xxvi.  14,  19;  comp.  ch.  xiv.  9  seq.  [It  seems 
every  way  reasonable  to  associate  with  the  idea 
of  weakness,  nervelessness,  etc.,  here  given  to  the 
word  that  of  gigantic  stature,  when  we  remem- 
ber that  this  same  word  did  denote  a  race 
of  earthly  giants,  and  that  the  tendency  of  the 
imagination  to  magnify  the  spectral  forms  of  the 
dead  is  so  common,  if  not  universal.  So  Good: 
"The  spectres  of  deified  heroes  were  conceived, 
in  the  first  ages  of  the  world,  to  be  of  vast  and 
more  than  mortal  stature,  as  we  learn  from  the 
following  of  Lucretius : 

Quippe  et  enimjam  turn  divGm  mortalia  secla 
Egregias  animo  fades  vigilante  videbant  ; 
Et  magia  in  somnis  mirando  corporis  actu." 

This  idea  will  certainly  add  to  the  gloomy 
sublimity  of  the  description  here.  Let  one  ima- 
gine the  gigantic  "marrowless,  bloodless  phan- 
toms or  shades  below  writhe  like  a  woman  in 
travail  as  often  as  the  majesty  of  the  heavenly 
Ruler  is  felt  by  them,  as  perhaps  by  the  raging 
of  the  sea,  or  the  quaking  of  the  earth."  De- 
litzsch. "  That  even  these  beings,  although  oth- 
erwise without  feeling  or  motion,  and  situated  at 
an  immeasurable  distance  from  God's  dwelling- 
place  are  sensible  of  the  effects  of  God's  activity, 
— this  is  a  much  stronger  witness  to  God's  great- 
ness than  aught  that  B.  had  alleged."  Hirzel]. 
Of  these  shades,  living  far  from  God  in  the 
depths  under  the  earth  and  under  the  seas 
(comp.  b:  "beneath  the  waters  and  their  inlia- 
bitants"),  it  is  here  said:  "they  are  put  in  ter- 
ror, they  are  made  to  tremble  and  quake  "  (n/ilT', 

Pul.  from  7in,  comp.  Ewald,  ^  141  b),  an  expres- 
sion which,  like  Ps.  cxxxix.  8;  Prov.  xv.  11,  is 
intended  to  describe  the  energy  of  the  divine 
omnipotence  as  illimitable  and  filling  all  things, 
extending  even  down  to  Sheol.  Comp.  also 
James  ii.  19,  a  passage  otherwise  related  to  the 
one  before  us,  and  perhaps  suggested  by  it,  but 
having  a  different  purpose.  [The  rendering  of 
E.  V.  needs  but  to  becompared  with  the  aljove  to 
show  how  erroneous  and  unsatisfactory  it  is. 
-E.]. 

Ver.  6.  Naked  is  the  underworld  before 
Him  (comp.  Heb.  iv.  13:  Trd/ra  6s  yv/^ivH  Kal  re- 
rpflj7A«(7//ffa  ToZf  b(p'& a'kfio'i^  nvrov),  and  the 
abyss  of  hell  has  no  covering  (for  Him). 
Comp.  on  Prov.  xv.  11,  a  passage  parallel  to 
this  in  matter,  where  jn^^.  {^^^-  "destruction, 
annihilation")  stands   precisely  as   here   as   a 

synonym  of  /i*!r'>  ^^^^  ^^-  cxxxix  8,  and  be- 
low ch.  xxxviii.  17.  [The  definition,  "  destruc- 
tion, annihilation  "  here  given  for  |n3N  is  of 
course  not  to  be  understood  in  the  metaphysical 
sense  of  the  extinction  of  being.  It  is  the  de- 
struction of  life,  as  enjoyed  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  ;  the  extinction  of  light,  the  derangement 


CIO 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


of  order,  the  wasting  away  of  all  vital  energy 
and  beauty.  Hence  as  /iXt?  describes  the  un- 
derworld as  the  insatiable  receptacle  of  the  de- 
parted, demanding  and  drawing  men  into  itself, 
orcus  rapax,  tn^'*.  gives  us  a  glimpse  yet  deeper 
into  its  abysmal  horrors,  its  destructive,  wast- 
ing potencies.  Hence  the  fearful  significance 
with  which  in  Rev.  (ix.  11)  it  is  applied,  as  the 
Hebrew  equivalent  to  the  Greek  Apollyon,  to  the 
angel  of  the  bottomless  pit. — E.]. 

Ver.  7.  Who  stretcheth  out  the  north- 
ern heavens  over  empty  space. — The  Par- 
ticiples in  this  and  the  two  following  verses  at- 
tach themselves  to  God,  the  logical  subject  of  the 
ver.  preceding  [and  are  used  to  describe  the  di- 
vine activity  herein  specified  as  continuous]. 
Our  rendering  of  p32^  in  the  sense  of  the  north- 
ern heavens,  the  northern  half  of  the  heavenly 
vault,  has  decisively  in  its  favor  the  verb  TM^l, 
which  is  never  used  of  the  stretching  out  or  ex- 
pansion of  the  earth,  or  a  part  of  it,  but  always 
of  the  out-stretching  of  the  heavenly  vault, 
which  is  conceived  of  as  a  tent ;  comp.  chap.  ix. 
8 ;  Is.  xl.  22  ;  xliv.  24  ;  Zech.  xii.  1 ;  Ps.  civ.  2, 
etc.  It  would  be  singular,  moreover,  if  Job  had 
first  mentioned  only  a  part  of  the  earth,  the 
northern,  and  not  until  afterwards  had  men- 
tioned it  as  a  whole,  however  true  it  might  be 
that  the  popular  notion  of  oriental  antiquity, 
which  represented  the  north  of  the  earth  as  a 
part  of  it  which  abounded  most  in  mountains, 
and  was  highest  and  heaviest,  would  seem  to  fa- 
vor this  view  (against  Hirzel,  Ewald,  Heillgst., 
Schlottmann,  Dillmann).  [Ewald  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  corresponding  Hindu  notion  concern- 
ing the  north.  Schlottmann  thinks  such  a  re- 
ference to  the  north  as  the  heaviest  part  of  the 
earth  best  suited  to  the  connection.  Dillmann 
argues  that  it  could  not  properly  be  affirmed  of 
the  heavens,  that  they  are  stretched  out  over  the 

inh].  The  reference  of  jlSY  to  the  northern 
hemisphere  of  the  heavens  (Umbreit,  Vaih.,  Hahn., 
Olsh.,  Del.,  etc.)  is  favored  also  by  this  conside- 
tion  in  addition  to  those  already  mentioned,  that 
all  the  more  important  constellations  which  our 
book  mentions  (the  Bear,  Pleiades,  etc.)  belong 
to  this  northern  hemisphere,  and  that  moreover 
among  other  people  of  the  ancient  world,  the 
"pole"  (i.e.  the  north  pole),  and  "heaven," 
are  used  as  synonyms  ;  so  especially  among  the 
Romans  (Varro,  de  L.  L.  vii.  2,  g  14  ;  Ovid,  Fast. 
6,  278;  Horace,  and  other  poets).  The  correct 
view  was  substantially  givea  by  Brentius  :  Sy- 
necdoche, a  part  for  the  whole ;  for  Aquino, 
which  is  Septentrio  [North]  is  used  for  the 
whole  heaven  or  firmament.  Hangeth  the 
earth  upon  nothing:  HO'/S,  not  anything 
[lit.  "not-what"]=nothing,  here  substantially 

synonymous  with  "the  empty  space,"  ^HH  (comp. 
Gen.  i.  2),  hence  denoting  the  endless  empty 
tpnc;  in  which  the  earth  (which  according  to 
vi.r.  10  is  conceived  of  as  a  flat  disk,  rather  than 
as  a  ball),  together  with  the  overarching  north- 
ern heavens,  hangs  freely.  The  cosmological 
conception  of  the  suspension  of  the  earth  in  the 
empty  space  of  the  universe  (with  which  may  be 
compared    parallel  representations    from     the 


classics,  such  as  Lucretius  II.,  GOO  seq..  Ovid, 
Fast.  II.,  269  seq.)  does  not  conflict  with  the 
mention  of  the  "  pillars  of  the  earth  "  in  ch.  ix. 
6,  for  the  reason  that  the  "  pillars  "  are  con- 
ceived of  as  the  inner  roots  or  bones,  the  skele- 
ton as  it  were  of  the  body  of  the  earth.  It  is 
only  quite  indirectly  that  the  passage  before  us 
can  be  used  to  prove  the  creation  of  the  world 
out  of  nothing.  We  may  suggest  as  worthy  of 
note  the  descriptions,  which  remind  us  of  the 
one  before  us,  in  the  more  recent  oriental  poets, 
as  e.  g.  the  Persian  Ferideddin  Attar  (in  v.  Ham- 
mer, Geschichte  der  schiJnen  Redektlnste  Persiens, 
p.  141, 143): 

"  Pillarless  he  spreads  oat  the  heavens 

A  canopy  above  the  earth 

What  bears  the  atmosphere  ?   'Tis  nothing, 
Nothing  on  nothiag,  and  only  nothing;" 

also  the  Arabian  Audeddin  Alnasaph  {de  reli- 
gione  Sonnitar.,  princ.  v.  2) : 

"Out  of  a  breath  He  made  the  heavens;" 
and  already  in  the  Koran,  in  its  Sur.  13,  v.  2, 
it  is  said  :  "  It  is  Allah,  who  has  built  the  hea- 
vens on  high,  without  founding  it  on  visible 
pillars."     Comp.  Umbreit  on  the  ver. 

Third  Strophe:  vers.  8-10.  Who  bindeth 
up  (or  "shuts  in,"  comp.  Prov.  xxx.  4,  c)  the 
w^aters  in  His  clouds :  which  accoraingly 
are  regarded  as  vessels  [bags,  bottles,  etc.']  or 
transparent  enclosures  for  the  waters  of  the 
heavens  above :  vyithout  the  clouds  burst- 
ing under  them  (the  waters)  ;  i.  e.  so  that  the 
weight  of  these  masses  of  water  does  not  cause 
them  to  pour  themselves  forth  in  torrents  of 
rain  out  of  their  cloud-vessels,  implying  that 
this  is  as  God  expressly  wills  and  orders  it ; 
comp.  Gen.  vii.  11  ;  viii.  2.  ["  By  which  noth- 
ing more  or  less  is  meant  than  that  the  physical 
and  meteorological  laws  of  rain  are  of  God's  ap- 
pointment."  Del.]. 

Ver.  9  ["describes  the  dark  and  thickly 
clor.ded  sky  that  showers  down  the  rain  in  the 
appointed  rainy  season."  Del.]  Who  en- 
shroudeth  the  outside  of  His  throne — lit. 
"  of  the  throne,"  for  T]D3,  as  in  1  Kings  x.  19 
is  for  HOD,  scarcely,  as  Hirzel  thinks,  by  an  er- 
ror of  transcription  for  nj<pl).  But  unques- 
tionably "the  throne"  is  simply="//is  throne," 
God's  throne  in  heaven  (comp.  Is.  Ixvi.  1  ;  Matt. 
V.  34).  It  is  said  of  the  face  or  outside  ("Jp)  of 
this  throne,  i.  e.,  that  side  of  it  which  is  turned 
towards  this  earth,  that  God  "  encloses "  or 
"enshrouds"  it  by  causing  the  clouds  to  come 
between  it  and  the  earth.  irif<p,  Piel  from  TDX, 
used  here  of  the  artificial  veiling,  or  unclosing, 
draping  it  as  it  were)  ["THX  signifies  to  take 
hold  of,  in  architecture  to  hold  together  by 
means  of  beams,  or  to  fasten  together.  .  .  then 
also  as  usually  in  Chald.  and  Syr.  to  shut  (by 
means  of  cross-bars,  Neh.  vii.  3),  here  to  shut 
off  by  surrounding  with  clouds'."  Del.  Hence 
not  exactly  "  to  hold  back,"  E.  V.  but  to  "fasten 
up."  Merx  understands  the  verb  of  bearing, 
holding  up,  and  the  verse  to  set  fortti  the  mira- 
cle that  God  bears  up  the  throne  on  which  He 
sits  But  in  that  case  "iD  would  be  superfluous. 
E.].  Spreading  over  it  His  clouds— this 
member  of  the  verse  explaining  the  former. 
vhj;  refers  to  iXp3  '33,  and   the  quadril.  verb 


CHAP.  XXV— XXVI. 


511 


?E?">£3  is  Inf.  Absol.  and  may  thus  be  rendered  in 
Latin  hj  ezpendendo,  in  our  language  by  the  Pres. 
Active  Participle  (comp.  Ew.  §141,c;  and  Del.  on 
the  ver.)  [According  to  others,  e.ff.,  Dillmann, 
Green,  §189  a,  the  vb.  is  preterite.  Gesenius 
(Lex)  regards  the  quadriliteral  as  a  mixed  form, 
from  iyi3  and  I">3.  Delitzsch  argues  forcibly 
against  this,  and  regards  it  as  an  intensive  form 
of  K/13,  formed  by  prosthesis,  and  an  Arabic 
change  of  Sin  into  Shin.] 

Ver.  10  [passes  from  the  waters  above  to  the 
waters  below].  He  hath  rounded  off  (encir- 
cled, jn,   comp.  the  iyvpuaev  of    the  LXX.)  a 

bound  (pn  as  in  ch.  xiv.  5)  for  the  face  of 
the  -water,  to  the  ending  of  the  light  be- 
side the  darkness  :  or  "  to  the  extremity  " 
(the  confines,  the  boundary  line)  of  the  light 
with  the  darkness,  ad  lucis  usque  tenebrarumque 
confinia  (Pareau).  So  correctly  Del.  and  Dill. 
[E.  V.  Con.,  Words.,  Carey,  Renan.,  Rod.  Merx], 
while   most  moderns   (Rosenm.,    Ewald,   Hirz., 

Schlottm.,  Hahn,  etc.)  take  ri'SDn-H^'  by  itself 
in  an  adverbial  sense,  "  most  perfectly,  most 
accurately,"  (comp.  ch.  xxviii.  3),  take  lix 
either  as  a  remoter  accus.  of  Jn  (so  Hirz.),  or 

as  Genit.  to  pn,  standing  at  the  head  of  the 
clause  in  the  construct  state  (so  Ewald).  In 
either  case,  however,  we  get  a  construction 
which   is   much    too   harsh.     As   proving    that 

^  :?^j]'"'^J:l  is  by  no  means  necessarily  used  ad. 
verbially,  comp.  above  ch.  xi.  7.  The  meaning 
of  the  verse  will  be  rightly  apprehended  only  by 
referring  it  not  to  the  limit  in  time  between  light 
and  darkness,  i.  e.  to  the  regular  succession  of 
day  and  night  (Schlottm.),  but  to  the  limit  in 
fpace,  the  line  separating  between  the  light  and 
dark  regions  of  the  heavenly  circle,  which  runs 
along  the  surface  of  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  en- 
circling the  earth.  "That  is  to  say  this  descrip- 
tion, like  that  in  Prov.  viii.  27,  has  for  its  basis 
the  conception,  prevalent  also  among  the  classic 
nations,  and  down  into  the  middle  ages,  that  the 
earth  is  encompassed  all  around  by  water,  or  a 
sea, — that  upon  this  earth-encircling  ocean  is 
marked  out  the  circle  of  the  celestial  hemis- 
phere, along  which  the  sun  and  stars  run  their 
course  (so  that  a  part  of  the  water  lies  within 
this  circle) — that  the  region  of  the  stars,  of  the 
light,  lies  inside  of  this  circle,  and  that  the 
region  of  darkness  begins  outside  of  it;  comp. 
Voss  on  Virg.  Ocorg.  I.,  240  seq."   Dillm. 

Fourth  Strophe:  vers.  11-13. — The  pillars  of 
heaven  are  made  to  tremble,  and  are 
astonished  at  His  rebuke. — "Pillars  of  hea- 
ven" is  the  name  which  the  poet  gives  to  the 
mountains  towering  upon  high,  which  seem  as 
it  were  to  bear  up  the  arch  of  heaven ;  comp. 
the  ancient  classic  legend  of  Atlas,  and  see  above 
on  ch.  ix.  6.  In  speaking  of  these  pillars  as 
"moved  to  trembling"  (133'n^,  Piel.  from  ^n, 
Tivdaaeiv)  ["the  signification  of  violent  and  quick 
motion  backwards  and  forwards  is  secured  to 
the  verb"  by  forms  in  the  Targ.,  Talm.  and 
Arabic. — Del.],  and  as  fleeing  in  astonishment 
before  God's  rebuking  thunder  (comp.  Ps.  civ. 
7;  Is.  L  2;  Nah.  i.  4),  the  poet  describes  here 


the  phenomenon  of  an  earthquake,  or  that  of  a 
tremendous  thunderstorm  (comp.  Ps.  xxix. ;  also 
Rev.  vi.  12  seq.;  xx.  11). 

Ver.  12.  By  His  power  He  frightens  up 
the  sea. — ^y^  here  not  intransitive  as  in  ch. 
vii.  6;  but  transitive  in  the  sense  of  "frighten- 
ing up,  arousing,"  rapdaaeiv  (comp.  Is.  li.  15; 
Jer.  xxxi.  35) ;  hardly  in  the  sense  of  intimida- 
ting, or  putting  at  rest,  as  some  expositors 
(Umbreit,  Dillm.  [Conant,  Carey,  Rod.],  etc.) 
render  the  verb  after  the  LXX.  [unrirravaev). 
[E.  V.  "divideth"  (and  so  Bernard)  here,  and 
in  all  the  passages  cited:  but  unsupported  and 
less  suitably.] — And  by  His  understanding 
He  smites  Rahab  in  pieces. — Comp.  on  ch. 
ix.  13,  where  already  it  was  shown  to  be  neces- 
sary to  understand  3nT  (LXX.:  to  Kf/ror)  of  a 
colossal  demon-monster  of  legendary  antiquity 
(not  of  Egypt,  nor  of  the  raging  fury  of  the  sea, 
to  which  yr\D,  "to  shatter,  to  dash  in  pieces" 
would  not  be  suitable). 

Ver.  13.  By  His  breath  the  heavens 
become  bright:  lit.  "are  brightness,"  m32^. 
a  substantive  found  only  here,  which,  however, 
does  not  denote  a  permanent  quality  of  the  hea- 
vens (Rosenm.),  but  one  that  is  transiently 
[occasionally]  produced  by  God  [by  His  breath 
He  scatters  the  clouds,  and  brightens  the  face 
of  heaven] ;    His  hand  hath  pierced  the 

fleeing  serpent. — ri/Vn,  Po.  from  77n,  Is.  li. 
9,    hence  perforavit,    trucidavit ;    not   Pil.    from 

7in  or  rT\,  so  that  it  would  express  the  idea 
of  forming,  creating  as  the  Targ.,  Jer.,  Rosenm., 
Arnh.,  Vaih.,  Welte,  Renan  [E.  V.,  Con.,  Noy., 
Ber.,  Rod.],  explain.  For  here  again  the  dis- 
course treats  not  of  a  creative  energy  of  God,  but 
of  one  that  is  exercised  as  a  part  of  the  estab- 
lished order  of  nature,  and  in  all  probability  it 
discusses  the  same  theme  as  that  to  which  ch. 
iii.  8  refers,  to  wit,  the  production  of  eclipses  of 
the  sun  and  moon.  For  the  popular  superstition 
prevalent  at  the  time  of  the  composition  of  our 
book  conceived  of  this  phenomenon  as  consist- 
ing in  the  attempt  of  a  dragon-like  dark  mon- 
ster to  swallow  up  these  luminaries,  accompa- 
nied by  an  intervention  of  GoJ,  who  slays  or 
strangles  this  monster  ["so  that  it  was  custo- 
mary to  say,  when  the  sun  or  moon  was  eclipsed: 
'The  Dragon,  or  the  Flying  Serpent,  has  wound 
around  it;'  and  on  the  other  hand  when  it  was 
released  from  the  obscuration:  'God  has  killed 
the  Dragon.'"  Dillm.]  It  is  to  this  exercise  of 
God's    power,    bringing    deliverance,    that    tne 

clause  IT  nSVn  refers,    while   ri'ia  Z'TM   (the 

T  T   :  -       •  T  T    T       ^ 

same  expression  also  in  Is.  xxvii.  1)  denotes  the 
monster  referred  to,  which  is  represented  aa 
seized  upon  in  the  act  of  fleeing  (before  God), 
hence  as  "a  fugitive,  fleeing  serpent."  In  that 
parallel  passage  in  Isaiah,  the  LXX.  rightly 
translate  by  b0iv  <pevyovTa,  while  their  rendering 
in  the  passage  before  us,  dpaKovrn  aTioardrr^v, 
whether  we  regard  the  language  or  the  thought, 
is  equally  inadmissible  with  the  coluber  tortuosua 
of  the  Vulg.  [followed  by  E.  V.  "crooked  ser- 
pent"], or  the  serpentem  vectem  of  the  same  ver- 
sion in  Is.  xxvii.  1  (comp.  the  d(pn>  avyiO.eiovTay 
"the  barring  serpent,"  of  Symmachus). 


512 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Ver.  14.  A  recapitulating  closing  verse,  stand- 
ing  outside   of  the    schema    of  strophes. — Lo, 

these  (HyX  pointing  backwards,  as  in  ch.  xviii. 
21)  are  the  enda  of  His  ways;  or,  "of  His 
way,"  according  to  the  K'thibh  ;  the  same  wa- 
vering between  12")T  and  101T  to  be  seen  also 
in  Prov.  viii.  22.  The  "ends"  or  "borders" 
(Delitzsch)  [Conant,  Words.,  etc.,]  of  God's  ways 
are  the  extreme  outlines  of  what  He  is  doing  in 
governing  the  world,  those  intimations  of  His 
heavenly  activity  which  are  lowest,  and  nearest, 
and  most  immediately  accessible  to  our  power 
of  apprehension. — And  what  a  faintly  whis- 
pering word  (it  is)  that  we  hear!— |'Oty-no^ 
"l^"!,  lit.  "and  what  a  whisper  of  a  word."  For 
this  combination  of  HD  with  a  substantive  in 

T 

apposition,  comp.  Ps.  xxx.  10;  Is.  xl.  18;  and 
for  V^t^  with  3  of  the  attentive  hearing  of 
anything,  see  above  ch.  xxi.  2;  also  ch.  xxxvii. 
2;  Gen.  xxvii.  5;  Ps.  xcii.  12.  Against  the 
partitive  rendering  of  13,  advocated  by  Schlott. 
and  Delitzsch,  may  be  urged  the  plur.  form 
V3"T1,  preferred  by  the  Masoretes,  as  well  as 
the  probability  that  to  express  this  meaning  the 
preposition  tO  would  rather  have  been  used. 
[Here  again,  as  in  ch.  iv.  12,  the  incorrect  ren- 
dering of  E.  v.:  "How  little  a  portion  is  heard 
of  Him."  mars  the  poetic  beauty  and  graphic 
contrast  of  the  passage.  On  f  Diy  Wordsworth 
remarks:  "We  feel  as  it  were  a  zephyr  of  God's 
Presence  walking  in  the  garden  of  this  world  in 
the  cool  of  the  day."]— But  the  thunder  of 
His  omnipotence  (according  to  the  K'ri 
vmiDJ,  "his  energies")  who  can  under- 
stand ?  i.  e.  the  full,  unmodified  manifestation 
of  His  energies,  the  unsmothered  "thunder- 
course"  of  His  heavenly  spheres  (comp.  what 
Raphael  says  in  the  Prologue  to  Faust)  would 
be  unbearable  by  ua,  frail,  sinful  children  of 
earth.  ["Job  could  not  have  uttered  in  nobler 
language  his  deep  feeling  of  the  degree  in  which 
the  divine  glory  surpasses  all  human  knowledge. 
There  resounds  in  it  in  truth  an  echo  of  the  far- 
off  divine  thunder  itself,  and  before  this  the  poet 
has  the  friends  now  become  entirely  dumb." 
Schlottm.] 

DOCTRINAL,    ETHICAL  AND  HOMILETICAL. 

1.  That  which  Bildad  brings  forward  against 
Job  in  ch.  xxv.  is  so  meagre,  and  possesses  so 
little  novelty,  that  it  may  be  said,  that  in  his 
discourse  the  opposition  of  the  friends  dies  the 
death  of  exhaustion,  and  that  the  bitter  irony 
of  Job's  rejoinder  to  it  seems  fully  justified. 
For  the  real  problem  which  underlies  the  whole 
controversy — the  great  mystery  touching  the 
frequency  with  which  the  innocent  suffer,  which 
Job  had  again  set  forth  so  eloquently  just  before 
— that  problem  Bildad  certainly  does  not  consi- 
der. He  avoids  indeed  those  bitter  personalities 
and  odious  accusations  against  Job  wi«h  which 
Eliphaz  had  made  his  exit  just  before  in  a  man- 
ner that  was  altogether  unworthy,  and  takes  his 
leave  of  the  sufferer,  whom  he  himself  also  had 
heretofore  violently  assailed,  in  a  way  that  is 


relatively  friendly — in  a  way  in  which  the  final 
peaceful  termination  of  the  conflict  (ch.  xlii. 
7-9)  is  remotely  intimated.  That  which  Bildad 
actually  brings  forward  is  a  truth  which  does 
not  at  all  touch  the  real  point  at  issue,  which 
Job  himself  has  on  former  occasions  expressly 
conceded  (see  ch.  ix.  2;  xiv.  4),  the  same  truth 
which  Eliphaz  had  in  his  first  two  discourses 
prominently  emphasized,  and  in  the  renewed 
statement  of  which,  at  this  time,  Bildad  closely 
copies  even  the  expressions  of  his  older  associate. 
He  "only  reminds  Job  of  the  universal  sinful- 
ness of  the  human  race  once  again,  without 
direct  accusation,  in  order  that  Job  may  himself 
derive  from  it  the  admonition  to  humble  himself; 
and  this  admonition  Job  really  needs,  for  his 
speeches  are  in  many  ways  contrary  to  that 
humility  which  is  still  the  duty  of  sinful  man, 
even  in  connection  with  the  best  justified  con- 
sciousness of  right  thoughts  and  actions  towards 
the  holy  God"  (Del.). 

2.  Of  the  fact  that  Job  is  still  wanting  in  pro- 
per humility,  and  in  a  profound  perception  of 
sin,  he  at  once  proceeds  to  give  evidence  in  his 
rejoinder  in  ch.  xxvi.  In  this  he  appears  as 
decisively  victorious  over  his  opponents,  who 
have  shown  themselves  totally  unequal  to  the 
problem  to  be  solved,  while  he,  by  his  emphatic 
reference  to  the  incomprehensibleness  and  un- 
searchableness  of  God's  ways,  had  made  at  least 
an  important  advance  towards  its  solution, 
and  had  shown  his  appreciation  of  the  mys- 
tery as  such  in  its  entire  significance.  But 
he  makes  his  vanquished  opponents  duly 
sensible  of  this  superiority  which  he  had 
over  them,  when  in  replying  to  Bildad,  the 
last  speaker  of  the  number,  he  wields  the 
weapon  of  sarcasm  in  a  way  that  is  altogether 
merciless,  and  seeks  to  humiliate  him  by  a  eu- 
logy of  tlie  divine  omnipotence  and  exaltation 
which  is  visibly  intended  to  surpass  and  eclipse 
that  which  had  been  said  by  him.  It  is  true 
indeed  that  this  very  description  in  its  incom- 
parable grandeur  gives  us  to  understand  clearly 
enough  how  e?>tirely  filled  and  carried  away  Job 
is  by  its  infinitely  elevated  theme,  and  how  by 
virtue  of  his  flight  to  this  height  of  an  inspired 
coniemphition  of  God,  every  thought  respecting 
the  unrelenting,  or  even  vindictive  persecution 
of  his  opponents  disappears,  so  that  the  closing 
reference  to  the  unattainable  height  and  glory 
of  the  divine  nature  and  activity  (ver.  14)  is  un- 
accompanied by  any  expression  whatever  of  tri- 
umphant pride,  or  bitter  enjoyment  of  their 
discomfiture  (comp.  V.  Gerlach  below,  Homi- 
letic  Remarks  on  ch.  xxvi.  2  seq.).  The  pure 
and  undivided  enihusiasin  with  which  he  sur- 
renders himself  to  the  contemplation  of  the  Di- 
vine has  manifestly  an  ennobling,  purifying,  and 
elevating  influence  on  his  spirit.  It  shows  that 
he  is  not  far  reniove<l  at  length  from  the  goal  of 
a  perfectly  correct  and  true  solution  of  the  dark 
mystery  which  occupies  him.  It  makes  it  ap- 
parent that  essentially  one  thing  is  lacking  to 
him  that  he  may  press  upward  through  the  dark 
scenes  of  his  contiict  to  the  light  of  pure  truth 
and  peace  with  God,  and  that  is— a  humble  sub- 
mission beneath  the  dealings  of  the  only  wise 
and  true  God,  dealings  which  are  righteous  even 
towards  him,  sincere  repentance  and  confession 


CHAPS.  XXV— xxvr. 


513 


of  the  eri'ors  and  failures  of  which  he  had  been 
guilty  even  during  the  hot  conflict  of  suffering 
through  which  he  had  passed,  that  "repenting 
in  dust  and  ashes "  to  which  God's  treatment 
brought  him  at  last,  as  one  who  had  been  af- 
flicted by  his  Heavenly  Father,  not  indeed  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  ordinary  standard  of  retribu- 
tion, but  nevertheless  not  unjustly,  not  without 
a  remedial  and  loving  purpose. 

3.  That  which  is  of  greatest  interest  in  the 
two  short  sections  preceding  not  only  to  the 
scientific,  but  also  to  the  practical  and  homiletic 
expositor,  are  those  elements  of  a  poetic  cosmo- 
logy and  physical  theology,  which  in  Bildad's 
discourse  are  presented  more  briefly  and  more 
in  the  way  of  suggestion,  but  which  in  that  of 
Job  are  exhibited  in  a  more  developed  and  com- 
prehensive form.  It  is  that  material  which  at 
an  earlier  day  was  treated  by  Baur  in  his  Syste- 
ma  Mundi  Jobxum  (Hal.  1707),  Scheuchzer  in 
his  Jobi  Physica  Sacra,  etc.,  and  which  to  this 
day  is  a  theme  of  no  small  interest  in  its  theolo- 
gical aspects  as  well  as  in  those  related  to  cos- 
mology and  the  history  of  civilization.  The  fact 
that  certain  mythological  representations,  and 
in  particular  a  few  traces  of  astronomical  myths, 
are  scattered  over  this  magnificent  picture  of 
creation,  and  that  the  teachings  of  modern 
science  concerning  the  mechanism  of  the  hea- 
vens cannot  be  derived  from  it,  cannot  injure  the 
peculiarly  high  value  of  the  description,  nor  de- 
stroy its  utility  for  practical  purposes.  It  is  in 
at^y  case  a  view  of  the  universe  of  incontroverti- 
ble grandeur,  which  in  all  that  is  described  in 
ch.  xxvi.  5-13  beholds  only  the  "fringes"  of 
God's  glory  as  they  hang  over  on  earth  (comp. 
Is.  vi.  1),  only  a  few  meagre  lineaments  of  the 
entire  divine  manifestation,  only  a  muffled  mur- 
mur echoing  from  afar  off  as  a  poor  substitute 
for  the  thunder  of  His  omnipotence.  And  in  re- 
spect to  the  purity  and  correctness  of  its  repre- 
sentations in  detail,  this  physical  theology  of 
Job  ranks  sufficiently  high,  as  is  shown  by  that 
which  is  said  of  "hanging  the  earth  upon  noth- 
ing" (ver.  7),  a  description  of  the  fact  no  less 
surprising  than  the  following  descriptions  of  me- 
teorological and  geological  processes  are  poeti- 
cally bold  and  elevated. 

Particular  Passages. 
Ch,  XXV.  4seq.  Cocceius  :  Although  in  our 
eyes  the  stars  may  seem  Ka^apov  tl  cTl7.[i£Lv  (to 
shine  with  some  degree  of  purity],  nevertheless 
even  they  are  outside  of  God's  habitation,  being 
esteemed  unworthy  to  adorn  His  dwelling-place. 
.  .  .  How  therefore  can  miserable  man,  who  is 
mortal  and  diseased  and  liable  to  death,  who  is 
a  son  of  Adam,  who  is  no  worthier  than  a  worm, 
or  a  grub,  who  is  made  of  earth,  who  crawls  on 
the  earth,  who  lives  by  the  earth,  who  is  at 
once  foul  and  defiled,  ....  who  in  a  word  is 
as  far  below  the  stars,  as  the  worm  is  below 
himself — how  shall  he  dare  or  be  able  to  face 
God  in  His  court,  and  on  equal  terms  to  argue 
with  Him  ?  Let  him,  along  with  the  moon  and 
the  stars,  keephimself  in  his  own  station,  and  he 
will  enjoy  God's  favors  ;  but  let  him  attempt  to 
exalt  himself,  and  he  will  be  crushed  by  the 
weight  of  the  divine  majesty. — V.  Gekl.\ch  :  As 
the  hosts  of  heaven  are  types  of  the  pure  spirits 


of  heaven,  so  is  their  brightness  a  type  of  the 
holiness  of  the  inhabitants  of  heaven,  just  as  im- 
mediately after  (in  ver.  6)  the  mortality  and 
wretchedness  of  man  is  a  type  of  his  sinfulness. 
In  this  contra-position  there  lies  a  profound 
truth:  Holiness  and  shining  brightness,  and  sin 
and  death's  corruption  correspond  to  each  other. 
In  his  frailty  and  mortality  man  has  an  inces- 
sant reminder  of  his  sin  and  corruption  ;  in  see- 
ing his  outward  lot  he  should  humble  himself 
inwardly  before  God. 

Ch.  xxvi.  2-4.  Wohlfarth:  After  that  Job 
has  ironically  shown  to  his  friend  the  irrelevancy 
of  his  reply,  he  takes  a  nobler  revenge  upon 
him,  by  delivering  a  much  worthier  eulogy  on 
God  s  exalted  greatness,  of  which  notwithstand- 
ing and  during  his  suffering  he  has  a  most  vivid 
and  penetrating  conviction. — V.  Gerlach  :  Job's 
frame  of  mind  bordering  on  pride,  which  causes 
him  altogether  to  misunderstand  that  which  is 
glorious  and  exalted  in  Bildad's  last  discourse, 
belongs  to  the  earthly  folly  which  clings  to  him, 
which  is  to  be  stripped  away  from  him  by  the 
sufferings  and  conflicts  of  his  inner  man,  and 
which  does  at  last  really  fall  away  from  him. 
The  splendid  description  which  follows,  and  es- 
pecially its  humble  conclusion  (ver.  14),  proves 
in  the  meanwhile  that  the  fundamental  disposi- 
tion of  Job's  heart  was  different  from  that  which 
the  particular  expressions  uttered  by  him  in  his 
more  despondent  moods  would  seem  to  indicate. 
Ch.  xxvi.  7seq.  Brentius  :  The  fact  that  God 
stretches  out  the  heavens,  and  supports  the 
earth,  without  the  aid  of  pillars,  is  a  great  ar- 
gument in  proof  of  His  power  (Ps.  cii.  26).  The 
poets  relate  that  Atlas  supports  heaven  on  his 
shoulders;  but  we  acknowledge  the  true  Atlas, 
the  Lord  our  God,  who  by  His  word  supports 
both  heaven  and  earth. — Wohlfarth  :  The  look 
to  heaven  which  Job  here  requires  us  to  take, 
does  not  indeed  reach  upwards  to  the  throne  of 
the  Eternal  (ver.  7  seq.).  But  although  we  can- 
not now  behold  Him,  who  dwells  in  His  inacces- 
sible light,  we  can  nevertheless  feel  His  near- 
ness, recognize  His  existence,  experience  His 
influence,  see  His  greatness  and  majesty,  when 
we  pray  to  Him  as  the  Being  who  stretches  out 
the  heavens  above  the  earth  like  a  tent,  at  whose 
beckoning  the  clouds  open  and  water  the  thirsty 
earth,  who  has  given  to  the  water  its  bounds, 
etc.  As  the  work  bears  witness  to  its  master,  so 
does  the  universe  to  its  Creator,  Preserver,  and 
Ruler  (Ps.  xix.  5);  and  no  despairing  one  has 
ever  beheld  the  eternal  order  which  stands  be- 
fore him,  and  its  mysterious,  but  ever  beneficent 
movements,  no  sinner  desiring  salvation  has  ever 
tarried  in  the  courts  of  this  great  temple  of  God, 
without  being  richly  dowered  with  heavenly 
blessings 

Ch.  xxvi.  14.  Oecolampadius  :  These  tokens 
of  divine  power  however  great  will  nevertheless 
rightly  be  esteemed  small,  as  being  hardly  a 
slight  whisper  in  comparison  with  the  mighty 
thunder.  There  is  nothing  therefore  so  fright- 
ful, but  faith  will  be  able  to  endure  it,  when  it 
thus  exercises  itself  in  the  works  of  God's  power, 
especially  with  the  word  of  promise  added. — 
Wohlfarth  :  We  can  survey  only  the  smallest 
portion  of  God's  immeasurable  realm  !  What  '\a 
the  knowledge  of   the   greatest    sages  but  the 


514  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


short-sighted    vision    of   a  worm!       Our    earth    do  we  know  of  Him;  how  great  is  the  sum  of 


is  a  grain  of  sand  in  the   All,   the  "drop  of 
a  bucket,"   as  the  prophet  says  ;  and  how  little 


that   which   is  hidden  from   us  !     (1  Cor.  xiii. 
9  seq.). 


III.  Job  alone :  His  dosing  address  to  the  vanquished  friends.  Chap.  XXVII— XXVIII. 

a.  Reneioed  asseveration  of  his  innocence,  accompanied  by  a  reference  to  his  joy  in  God,  which  had  not 

forsaken  him  even  in  the  midst  of  his  deepest  misery.     Chap,  xxvii.  1-10. 

1  Moreover  Job  continued  his  parable,  and  said  : 

2  As  God  liveth,  who  hath  taken  away  my  judgment ; 
and  the  Almighty,  who  hath  vexed  my  soul ; 

3  all  the  while  my  breath  is  in  me, 

and  the  spirit  of  God  is  in  my  nostrils  ; — 

4  my  lips  shall  not  speak  wickedness 
nor  my  tongue  utter  deceit. 

5  God  forbid  that  I  should  justify  you  : 

till  I  die  I  will  not  remove  mine  integrity  from  me, 

6  My  righteousness  I  hold  fast,  I  will  not  let  it  go  : 
my  heart  shall  not  reproach  me  so  long  as  I  live. 

7  Let  mine  enemy  be  as  the  wicked, 

and  he  that  riseth  up  against  me  as  the  unrighteous. 

8  For  what  is  the  hope  of  the  hypocrite,  though  he  hath  gained, 
when  God  taketh  away  his  soul  ? 

9  Will  God  hear  his  cry 

when  trouble  cometh  upon  him  ? 
10  Will  he  delight  himself  in  the  Almighty  ? 
will  he  always  call  upon  God  ? 

b.  Statement  of  his  belief  that  the  prosperity  of  the  ungodly  cannot  endure,  but  that  they  must  infallibly 

come  to  a  terrible  end.      Vers.  11-23. 

Ill  will  teach  you  by  the  hand  of  God  ; 

that  which  is  with  the  Almighty  will  I  not  conceal. 

12  Behold,  all  ye  yourselves  have  seen  it  ; 
why  then  are  ye  thus  altogether  vain  ? 

13  This  is  the  portion  of  a  wicked  man  with  God, 

and  the  heritage  of  oppressors,  which  they  shall  receive  of  the  Almighty. 

14  If  his  children  be  multiplied,  it  is  for  the  sword  ; 
and  his  offspring  shall  not  be  satisfied  with  bread. 

15  Those  that  remain  of  him  shall  be  buried  in  death ; 
and  his  widows  shall  not  weep. 

16  Though  he  heap  up  silver  as  the  dust, 
and  prepare  raiment  as  the  clay  ; 

17  he  may  prepare  it,  but  the  just  shall  put  it  on, 
and  the  innocent  shall  divide  the  silver. 

18  He  buildeth  his  house  as  a  moth, 

and  as  a  booth  that  the  keeper  maketh. 

19  The  rich  man  shall  lie  down,  but  he  shall  not  be  gathered ; 
he  openeth  his  eyes,  and  he  is  not  1 

20  Terrors  take  hold  on  him  as  waters, 

a  tempest  stealeth  him  away  in  themight. 


CHAPS.  XXVII— XXVIII.  615 


21  The  east  wind  carrieth  him  away,  and  he  departeth: 
and  as  a  storm  hurleth  him  out  of  his  place. 

22  For  God  shall  cast  upon  him,  and  not  spare: 
He  would  fain  flee  out  of  his  hand. 

23  Men  shall  clap  their  hands  at  him, 
and  hiss  him  out  of  his  place. 

c.  Declaration  that  true  Wisdom,  which  alone  can  secure  real  well-being,  and  a  correct  solution  of  the 
dark  enigmas  of  man's  destini/,  is  to  be  found  nowhere  on  earth,  but  only  with  God,  and  by  means 
of  a  pious  submission  to  God.     Chap,  xxviii. 

1  Surely  there  is  *&  vein  for  the  silver, 
and  a  place  for  gold  where  they  fine  it. 

2  Iron  is  taken  out  of  the  earth. 

and  brass  is  molten  out  of  the  stone. 

3  He  setteth  an  end  to  darkness, 
and  searcheth  out  all  perfection  : 

the  stones  of  darkness,  and  the  shadow  of  death. 

4  The  flood  breaketh  out  from  the  inhabitants  ; 
even  the  waters  forgotten  of  the  foot : 

they  are  dried  up,  they  are  gone  away  from  men. 

5  As  for  the  earth,  out  of  it  cometh  bread  : 
and  under  it  is  turned  up  as  it  were  fire. 

6  The  stones  of  it  are  the  place  of  sapphires  : 
and  it  hath  dust  of  gold. 

7  There  is  a  path  which  no  fowl  knoweth, 
and  which  the  vulture's  eye  hath  not  seen. 

8  The  lion's  whelps  have  not  trodden  it 
nor  the  fierce  lion  passed  by  it. 

9  He  putteth  forth  his  hand  upon  the  rock ;  , 

10  He  cutteth  out  rivers  among  the  rocks  ; 
and  his  eye  seeth  every  precious  thing. 

he  overturneth  the  mountains  by  the  roots. 

11  He  bindeth  the  floods  from  overflowing  ; 

and  the  thing  that  is  hid  bringeth  he  forth  to  light. 

12  But  where  shall  wisdom  be  found? 

and  where  is  the  place  of  understanding  ? 

13  Man  knoweth  not  the  price  thereof: 
neither  is  it  found  in  the  land  of  the  living. 

14  The  depth  saith.  It  is  not  in  me ; 
and  the  sea  saith.  It  is  not  with  me. 

15  It  cannot  be  gotten  for  gold, 

neither  shall  silver  be  weighed  for  the  price  thereof. 

16  It  cannot  be  valued  with  the  gold  of  Ophir, 
with  the  precious  onyx,  or  the  sapphire. 

17  The  gold  and  the  crystal  cannot  equal  it: 

and  the  exchange  of  it  shall  not  be  for  jewels  of  fine  gold. 

18  No  mention  shall  be  made  of  coral,  or  of  pearls  ; 
for  the  price  of  wisdom  is  above  rubies. 

19  Tlie  topaz  of  Ethiopia  shall  not  equal  it, 
neither  shall  it  be  valued  with  pure  gold. 

20  Whence  then  cometh  wisdom  ? 

and  where  is  the  place  of  understanding  ? 

21  Seeing  it  is  hid  from  the  eyes  of  all  living, 
and  kept  close  from  the  fowls  of  the  air. 

22  Destruction  and  death  say, 

we  have  heard  the  fame  thereof  with  our  ears. 

23  God  understandeth  the  way  thereof, 
and  He  knoweth  the  place  thereof. 


516 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


24  For  He  looketli  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
and  seeth  under  the  whole  heaven  ; 

25  to  make  the  weight  for  the  winds; 

and  He  weigheth  the  waters  by  measure. 

26  When  He  made  a  decree  for  the  rain, 

and  a  way  for  the  lightning  of  the  thunder ; 

27  Then  did  He  see  it,  and  declare  it ; 

He  prepared  it,  yea,  and  searched  it  out. 

28  And  unto  man  He  said  : 

Behold,  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  that  is  wisdom ; 
and  to  depart  from  evil  is  understanding. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  Inasmuch  as  the  opposition  of  the  friends 
is  silenced,  before  the  last  of  the  number 
attempts  a  third  reply,  the  victor,  after  a  short 
pause,  takes  up  his  discourse,  "in  order  that, 
by  collecting  himself  after  the  passion  of  the 
strife,  he  might  express  with  greater  calmness 
and  clearness  the  convictions  which  have  been 
formed  within  him  as  results  of  the  colloquy 
thus  far,  and  so  to  give  to  the  colloquy  the 
internal  solution  which  was  wanting"  (Dillm.). 
It  is  not  so  much  a  triumphant  self-contempla- 
tion, or  a  pathetic  monologue,  that  he  delivers, 
but  a  genuine  didactic  discourse,  addressed  to  the 
vanquished  friends,  which,  like  the  discourses 
of  the  previous  discussion,  is  cast  in  the  form, 
characteristic  of  the  Chokmah,  of  a  series  of 
proverbs.  It  is  hence  expressly  termed  in  the 
introductory  verse  (ch.  xxvii.  1)  a  continuation 
of  the  "  Mashal,  i.  e.  of  the  proverbial  discourse" 

(in  regard  to  7K^D  riNC',  "to  utter,  lit.  to  raise 
a  proverb ;"  comp.  Num.  xxiii.  7,  where  the 
same  expression  is  applied  to  a  prophetic  vatici- 

nium  of  Balaam's).  [" /IJ'O  is  speech  of  a  more 
elevated  tone  and  more  figurative  character ; 
here,  as  frequently,  the  unaffected  outgrowth 
of  an  elevated  solemn  mood.     The  introduction 

of  the  ultimatum  as    r\D'3  reminds  one  of  "  the 

T    T 

proverb  [el-imthel)  seals  it  in  the  mouth  of  the 
Arab,  since  in  common  life  it  is  customary  to 
use  a  pithy  saying  as  the  final  proof  at  the  con- 
clusion of  a  speech."  Delitzsch.] — The  follow- 
ing are  the  contents  of  this  proverbial  discourse, 
which  is  somewhat  extended,  and  which,  espe- 
cially in  its  last  principal  division,  is  exceed- 
ingly lofty  and  poetic:  (1)  An  emphatic  asseve- 
ration of  his  own  innocence,  which  he  has  made 
repeatedly  during  the  previous  colloquy,  and 
which  he  now  puts  forth  as  attested  by  his  con- 
tinued experience  of  God's  friendship,  and  his 
joy  in  God  (ch.  xxvii.  2-10);  (2)  A  description 
— imitating  and  surpassing  the  similar  descrip- 
tions of  the  friends  in  chs.  xv. ;  xviii. ;  xx.,  etc. 
— of  the  fearful  divine  judgment,  which  must  of 
necessity  overtake  the  ungodly,  and  in  view  of 
which  he  indeed  has  every  reason  to  adhere  ear- 
nestly and  zealously  to  Goil's  ways  (ch.  xxvii. 
11-23);  (3)  An  exhibition  of  the  nature  of  true 
wisdom,  which  alone  can  furnish  correct  solu- 
tions of  the  dark  enigmas  of  this  earthly  life, 
and  which  is  here  set  forth  as  a  blessing  abso- 
lutely supra-sensual,  to  be  obtained  only  through 


God,  and  the  closest  union  with  Him  (ch.  xxviii.). 
— These  three  sections  are  diflferently  divided, 
the  two  former  consisting  of  three  short  stro- 
phes (of  three  to  five  verses),  the  third  of  three 
long  strophes  (two  of  eleven,  and  one  of  six 
verses). 

2.  First  Section:  The  asseveration  of  his  inno- 
cence: ch.  xxvii.  2-10. 

First  Strophe:  vers.  2-4. — As  God  liveth 
(lit.  "living  is  God!"  a  well-known  Hebrew, 
and  also  Arabic  formula  of  adjuration)  [the  only 
place  where  Job  resorts  to  the  oath],  •who  hath 
taken  a-way  from  me  my  right,  and  the 
Almighty  who  hath  vexed  my  soul;  lit. 
"who  hath  made  bitter  my  soul"  (LXX. :  6 
'mKp6aag,  comp.  Col.  iii.  19:   niKpnlvFa^ai). 

Ver.  3.  For  still  all  my  breath  is  in  me, 
and  God's  breath  is  in  my  nostrils,  i.  e.  I 
am  still  possessed  of  enough  freshness  and  vigor 
of  spirit  to  know  what  I  say,  to  be  a  responsible 
witness  in  behalf  of  my  innocence.  The  older 
expositors,  and  among  the  moderns  Schlottmann 
[Good,  Noyes,  Conant,  Bernard,  Carey,  Rodwell, 
Elzas,  Renan,  Merx,  and  so  E.  V.]  take  the 
verse  not  as  a  parenthetic  reason  for  the  adjura- 
tion in  ver.  2,  but  as  the  antecedent  of  ver.  4 : 
"so  long  as  my  breath  is  yet  in  me,"  etc.  But 
in  that  case  the  contents  of  the  oath  would  have 
a  double  introduction,  first  by  ^2,  then  by  DN. 

Moreover   the  words  '3  "HOlI/J  Tiy"72),  as    the 

•  T  :   •  T 

parallel  passages,  2  Sam.  i.  9;  Hos.  xiv.  3,  show, 
have  not  in  the  least  the  appearance  of  an 
adverbial  antecedent  determination  of  time. — 
[The  older  rendering  is  certainly  to  be  preferred. 
(1)  It  expresses  a  thought  much  more  suitable 
for  incorporation  into  an  oath.  "As  God  lives 
— while  I  live — I  will  speak  only  the  truth" — is 
natural.  "As  God  lives — and  I  take  this  oath 
because  I  am  fully  competent  to  stand  up  to 
what  I  am  swearing — my  lips  shall  not,"  etc. — 
is  decidedly  unnatural.  (2)  The  language  at 
once  suggests  the  simple  idea  of  //y/w^— " breath 
CriDiyj)  yet  in  me — the  breath  of  Eloah  in  my 
nostril."  This  is  scarcely  the  language  one 
would  use  in  describing  a  particular  imcard  con- 
dition. (3)  ''2  is  simply  transitional,  intro- 
ducing after  the  oath  a  thought  preparatory  to 
the  principal  thought  introduced  by  DK,  a  con- 
struction which  Delitzsch  admits  to  be  possible, 
though  what  there  is  perplexing  in  it,  it  is  difii- 
cult  to  see.  (4)  ~S3  is  used  adverbially  as  in 
Ps.  xxxix.  6;  xlv.  14;  Eccles.  v.  15;  here — 
"wholly  as  long  as"  (see  Gesenius  and  Fiirst). 
It  thus  strengthens  the  expression  in  a  way  that 


CHAPS.  XXVII— XXVIII. 


6i; 


is  altogether  appropriate  to  the  strong  feeling 
which  prompts  the  oath. — E.] 

Ver.  4  gives  the  contents  of  the  oath,  which 
the  following  verses  unfold  still  more  specifically 

and  comprehensively.  In  regard  to  H/l^,  lit. 
"perverseness,"  hence  "falsehood,  untruthful- 
ness," and  its  synonym  iT'OI,  comp   ch.  xiii.  7. 

Second  Strophe:  vers.  5-7. — Par  be  it  from 
me  (lit.  "for  a  profanation  be  it  to  me,"  comp. 
Ew.  I  329,  a)  to  grant  that  you  are  in  the 
right: — wherein  is  seen  in  the  second  member 
— until  I  die  I  will  not  let  my  innpcence 
be  taken  away  from  me  (lit.  "I  will  not  let 
it  depart  from  me"),  i.  e.  I  will  not  cease  from 
asserting  it  continually. 

Ver.  6.  In  regard  to  PliJ^n  in  a,  meaning  "to 
let  something  go,  to  let  it  fall,"  comp.  ch.  vii. 
19. — My  heart  reproacheth  not  one  of  my 
days. — ^"in,  lit.  "to  pluck,  to  pick  oif,"  carpere, 

vellicare.  33/  here  is  unquestionably  synony- 
mous substantially  with  "conscience."  So 
Luther  translated  it  both  here  and  in  Josh.  xiv. 
7;  comp.  also  1  Sam.  xxiv.  6  [6]  ;  2  Sam.  xxiv. 
10,  where  it  may  also  be  translated  "conscience" 
(see  in  general  Vilmar,  Theolog.  Moral.  I.,  p.  G6). 
Most  modern  commentators  rightly  take  jD  in 
'73'i3,  as  partitive — "one  of  my  days;"  the  tem- 
poral rendering  of  the  expression  adopted  by 
the  ancients,  as  also  by  Ewald  (;=while  I  live, 
in  omni  vita  mea,  Vulg.)  [E.  V.],  necessitates  the 
harsh  and  scarcely  admissible  rendering  of  ^"^H'' 
as  intransitive,  or  as  reflexive  ("does  not  blame 
itself,"  Ewald)  [E.  V.  supplies  "me"].  It 
remains  to  be  said,  that  this  asseveration  of 
innocence  (like  that  in  ch.  xxiii.  10  seq.)  is,  in 
some  measure,  exaggerated,  when  compared 
with  the  mention  which  Job  makes  earlier  of 
"the  sins  of  his  youth,"  ch.  xiii.  26. 

Ver.  7.  Mine  enemy  must  appear  as  the 
■wicked,  and  mine  adversary  as  the  un- 
righteous :  viz.  as  the  penalty  of  their  falsely 
suspecting  and  disputing  my  innocence.  Only 
this  optative  rendering  of  the  Jussive  'H^  is 
suited  to  the  context,  not  the  concessive:  "though 
mine  enemy  be  an  evil-doer,  I  am  none"  (Hirz.). 

As  to  DDprilp,  comp.  ch.  xx.  27;  Ps.  lix.  2. 
["The  idea  conveyed  in  D'S^  is  hostility/  of  feel- 
ing ;  in  D?3pr\3,  hostility  of  action,  and  that  ini- 
tiative. It  is,  to  some  extent,  expressive  of 
unprovoked  assault."   Carey.] 

Third  Strophe :  vers.  8-10.— For  what  is  the 
hope  of  an  ungodly  man  w^hen  He  cutteth 
off,  when  Eloah  draweth  out  his  soul  ? — 
This  question  is  to  be  understood  from  the  two 
former  discourses  of  Job,  in  which,  when  con- 
fronting death  he  placed  his  hope  with  animated 
emphasis  on  God,  as  his  final  deliverer  and 
avenger  (chs.  xvii.  and  xix.).  In  contrast  with 
f^uch  a  joyful  hope  reaching  out  beyond  death, 
the  evil-doer  has  nothing  more  to  hope  for,  when 
once  God  has  cut  oflf  his  thread  of  life,  and 
drawn    out    his   soul   out   of  the   mortal   body 

enclosing  it  (7tJ'''  Imperf.  apoc.  Kal.  from  n)^, 
extrahere,    cognate    with    im    and    iW3).     The 


figurative  expression:  "cutting  off  the  soul," 
has  always  for  its  basis  the  same  conception  of 
the  body  as  a  tent,  and  of  the  internal  thre.-id 
of  life  as  the  tent-cord,  which  we  came  across 
in  ch.  iv.  21.  Possibly  the  expression:  "draw- 
ing out"  has  the  same  explanation,  although 
this  seems  to  have  rather  for  its  basis  the  com- 
parison of  the  body  to  a  sheath  for  the  soul  (Dan. 
vii.  15),  so  that  accordingly  we  have  a  transi- 
tion from  one  figure  to  another.  [E.  V.  (after 
the  Vulgate,  Syr,,  Targ.),  Gesenius  in  Thes., 
Fiirst,  Con.,  Ber.,  Merx,  Rod.,  Elz.,  translate 
i^'HT  ^3  "though  he  hath  gained"  soil,  riches, 
or  "though  he  despoil."  The  meaning  "to 
plunder"  or  "gain"  is  certainly  more  in  har- 
mony with  the  usage  of  the  verb  in  Kal,  and 
avoids  the  mixture  of  metaphor  according  to  the 
other  construction. — E.] 

Vers.  9,  10.  "Will  God  hear  his  cry  ?  .  .  . 
Can  he  delight  himself  in  the  Almighty? 
etc.  The  meaning  of  these  questions  is  that 
to  him  there  shall  be  neither  the  hearing  of  his 
prayers,  nor  a  joyful,  trustful  and  loving  fellow- 
ship with  God  (JiJ^J^n  as  in  ch.  xxii.  26).  Job 
accordingly  claims  for  himself  both  these  things 
(comp.  ch.  xiii.  16),  and  thereby  leaves  out  of 
the  account  transient  obscurations  of  his  spirit, 
like  that  in  consequence  of  which  he  mourns 
(ch.  xix.  7)  that  his  prayer  is  not  heard. 

3.  Second  Section:  Description  of  the  inevita- 
ble overthrow  of  the  wicked  :  vers.  11-23.  The 
striking  correspondence  which  this  description 
by  Job  seems  at  first  sight  to  exhibit  with  the 
well-known  descriptions  of  the  friends,  especially 
in  the  second  series  of  the  colloquy,  and  this 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Job  himself  only 
just  before,  in  chs.  xxi.  and  xxiv.,  has  main- 
tained the  happiness  of  the  wicked  to  the  end 
of  their  life,  have  led  some  to  assume  a  transpo- 
sition, or  confusion  of  the  text  (Kennicott,  Stuhl- 
mann,  Bernstein,  [Bernard,  Wemyss,  Elzas] ; 
comp.  Introd.  §  9,  1) ;  others,  to  suppose  that 
Job  is  here  simply  repeating  the  opinion  of  his 
opponents,  without  purposing  to  make  it  hia 
own  (Eichhorn,  Vas  Buch  Uiob  libers.,  etc.,  1824; 
Bockel,  2d  Ed.  1830).  But  the  contradiction  to 
Job's  former  utterances  is  only  apparent,  for: 
(1)  The  opinion  that  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked 
cannot  endure  has  been  repeatedly  put  forth 
even  by  himself,  at  least  in  principle  (comp.  ch. 
xxi.  16;  xxiii.  15;  xxiv.  12;  comp.  also  below 
ch.  xxxi.  3  seq.).  (2)  The  erroneous  and  objec- 
tionably one-sided  utterances  regarding  God  aa 
a  hard-hearted  persecutor  of  innocence,  and 
author  of  the  prosperity  of  many  evil-doers, 
which  he  has  heretofore  frequently  put  forth, 
needed  to  be  counteracted  by  the  truths  which 
supplement  and  rectify  these  one-sided  errors. 
(3)  It  was  of  importance  to  Job,  not  so  much  to 
instruct  the  friends  in  regard  to  the  fact  that 
the  impending  destruction  of  the  ungodly  was 
certain — for  that  they  had  long  known  this  fact 
is  expressly  set  forth  in  ver.  12 — as  rather  to 
place  this  phenomenon  in  the  right  light,  in 
opposition  to  the  perverted  application  which 
they  had  made  of  it,  and  to  exhibit  its  profound 
connection  with  the  order  of  the  universe  as 
established  by  the  only  wise  God.  This  end  he 
accomplishes    by   subsequently    introducing    a 


518 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


description  of  true  wisdom  and  understanding, 
a  treasure  deeply  hidden,  and  to  be  possessed 
only  tlirough  the  fear  of  God,  and  humble  sub- 
mission to  Him. — This  is  the  end  which  Job  has 
in  view  in  the  present  discourse.  It  is  not 
necessary  (with  Brentius  and  others  of  the  older 
expositors,  also  Schlottmann)  to  find  in  it  a 
warning  purpose,  i.  e.,  the  purpose  to  set  before 
the  friends  the  end  of  those  who  judge  unjustly, 
and  who  render  unfriendly  decisions,  with  a 
view  of  terrifying  them — a  purpose  of  which 
there  is  nowhere  any  indication,  and  for  which 
there  would  seem  to  be  no  particular  motive, 
seeing  that  the  discussion  has  come  to  an  end, 
and  that  any  attempt  to  move  the  vanquished 
opponents  by  warnings  would  be  cruelly  and 
most  injuriously  at  variance  with  the  concilia- 
tory mildness  which  this  last  discourse  of  Job's 
elsewhere  breathes. 

[a.  The  attempts  to  relieve  the  difficulty  con- 
nected with  the  passage  before  us  by  changing 
and  transposing  the  text  are  arbitrary  and 
unsatisfactory,  producing  abrupt  connections,  or 
rather  breaks,  and  a  confusion  of  thought  and 
impression  more  serious  than  that  which  it  is 
sought  to  remove. 

b.  Especially  does  it  betray  a  total  want  of 
appreciation  of  the  author's  skill  in  managing 
the  plot  and  development  of  the  drama  to  force 
in  Zophar  for  a  third  speech.  The  logical  and 
rhetorical  exhaustion  of  the  friends  could  not 
well  be  more  effectively  indicated  than  by  the 
way  in  which  the  colloquy  on  their  part  tapers 
and  dwindles — first  in  the  short,  and  so  far  as 
ideas  are  concerned,  poverty-stricken  speech  of 
Bildad,  and  finally  in  the  complete  dumbness  of 
Zophar,  perhaps  of  all  three  the  most  consum- 
mate master  of  words. 

c.  The  theory  that  Job  is  here  going  over  the 
ground  of  the  friends,  and  repeating  their  posi- 
tion, is  disproved  negatively  by  the  absence  of 
anything  to  indicate  such  a  course,  and  posi- 
tively by  the  straightforward  earnestness  and 
deep  feeling  which  pervade  the  passage,  as  well 
as  by  what  he  says  in  the  introductory  verses 
11,  12. 

d.  Regarded  as  Job's  own  earnest  affirmations 
the  following  considerations  should  be  borne  in 
mind. 

(1)  As  shown  above  by  Zockler,  isolated  state- 
ments have  already  proceeded  in  harmony  with 
the  representation  given  here.  At  the  same 
time  it  cannot  be  denied  that  this  is  much  the 
most  extended  and  emphatic  expression  by  Job 
of  the  view  here  set  forth,  and  that  it  is  in  form 
much  more  nearly  allied  to  the  representations 
of  the  friends.     But : 

(2)  It  is  no  part  of  the  poet's  plan  to  preserve 
Job's  unalterable  consistency.  Job's  experiences 
are  most  various,  and  his  utterances  change 
with  them.  They  strike  each  various  chord  of 
sorrow,  joy,  doubt,  confidence,  despair,  hope, 
fear,  yearning,  victory.  Through  all  it  is  true 
there  is  an  underlying  unity  and  identity  of 
character;  but  the  variations  exist,  and  are  full 
of  dramatic  interest  and  importance,  and  yet 
more  of  sacred  practical  suggestiveness. 

(3)  These  inconsistencies  still  further  prepare 
the  way  for  a  termination  and  solution  of  the 
controversy.     As  Umbreit  has  shown,  "without 


the  apparent  contradiction  in  Job's  speeches, 
the  interchange  of  words  would  have  been  end- 
less;" or  as  Delitzsch  has  stated  it :  "  Had  Job's 
stand-point  been  absolutely  immovable,  the  con- 
troversy could  not  possibly  have  come  to  a  well- 
adjusted  decision,  which  the  poet  must  have 
planned,  and  which  he  also  really  brings  about, 
by  causing  his  hero  still  to  retain  an  impertur- 
bable consciousness  of  his  innocence,  but  also 
allowing  his  irritation  to  subside,  and  his  ex- 
treme harshness  to  become  moderated." 

(4)  In  the  particular  passage  before  us,  Job's 
utterance  is  to  be  explained  largely  in  the  light 
of  the  victory  which  he  has  just  achieved.  In 
the  hour  of  triumph  a  great  soul  is  moderate, 
calm,  just.  So  here  Job  shows  the  greatness  of 
his  strength  by  conceding  to  the  friends  the 
truth  in  their  position,  and  by  stating  that  truth 
with  a  power  equal  to  their  own.  It  is  a  mas- 
terly touch  of  the  poet's  art  that  shows  itself 
here  in  this  picture  of  a  great  soul  in  the  hour 
of  victory. 

(5)  There  is,  however,  as  suggested  above  by 
Zockler,  a  still  more  conscious  and  controlling 
purpose  in  the  following  description.  Job  de- 
scribes the  certain  destruction  of  the  wicked, 
not  mainly  in  the  way  of  concession  to  the 
friends,  but  rather  for  his  oum  vindication.  The 
friends  had  portrayed  such  descriptions  to  show 
how  much  there  are  in  the  evil-doer's  fate  to 
remind  of  Job's  calamities.  Job  takes  up  the 
theme  to  show  how  unlike  his  fate,  with  all  its 
tragic  lineaments,  and  the  abandoned  sinner's. 
He  still  holds  fast  to  his  righteousness,  is  heard 
by  God,  delights  in  God,  ia  on  terms  of  intimacy 
with  God,  is  competent  to  instruct  in  behalf  of 
God  ; — the  wicked  man  has  a  very  different  por- 
tion with  God!  As  ever  therefore  Job  is  not 
merely  eloquent,  but  cogent;  and  when  he 
accepts  their  conclusions,  it  is  to  overwhelm 
them  yet  more  completely  with  their  own  argu- 
ments.— E.] 

First  Strophes:  vers.  11-13.  Introduction  to 
the  following  description. 

Ver.  11.  I  •win  teach  you  concerning 
God's  hand:  i.  e.  concerning  His  doings.  His 
mode  of  working.  In  regard  to  2  with  verbs 
of  teaching  or  instructing,  comp.  Ps.  xxv.  8,  12; 
xxxii.  8;  Prov.  iv.  11  (Ew.  ^  217,  /).— The 
mind  of  the  Almighty  -will  I  not  conceal 
from  you:  lit.  "what  is  with  the  Almighty, 
that  which  forms  the  contents  of  His  thoughts 
and  counsels;"   comp.  ch.  x.  13;  xxiii.  10,  etc. 

Ver.  12.  See  now,  all  ye  yourselves 
[DPX  emphatic]  have  seen  it,  have  become 
familiar  with  it  by  observation  (HTn,  as  in  ch. 
XV.  17),  so  that  ye  do  not  need  to  learn  the  thing 
itself,  but  only  to  acquire  a  more  correct, 
unprejudiced  understanding  of  it.  The  second 
member  points  to  the  latter:  "and  why  are  ye 
then  vain  with  vanity  ?"  i.  e.  so  altogether  vain, 
so  completely  entangled  in  perverse  delusion  ? 
(Ew.  ^  281,  a). 

Ver.  13  announces  the  theme  treated  of  in  the 
passage  following,  in  words  which  purposely 
convey  a  reminder  of  the  language  used  by  one 
of  the  opponents,  Zophar,  at  the  close  of  his  dis- 
course (ch.  XX.  29). 

Second  Strophe :  vers.  14-18.     The  judgment, 


CHAPS.  XXVII— XX VIIL 


519 


upon  the  family,  possessions,  and  homestead  of 
the  evil-doer. 

Ver.  14.  If  his   children  multiply  (it  is) 

for  the  sv7ord.  3'in~'lD7  sc.  OT.  In  respect 
to  107,  found  only  in  Job,  comp.  ch.  xxix.  21 ; 
xxxviii.  40;  xl.  4  (Ew.  g  221,  b). 

Ver.  16.  The  remnant  of  those  who  are  his 
shall  be  buried  by  the  pestilence. — VT'lti'' 
"his  escaped  ones"  (comp.  chap.  xx.  21,  26),  are 
the  descendants  still  remaining  to  him,  after  that 
the  sword  and  famine  have  already  thinned  their 
ranks.  This  remainder  the  Pestilence  will  carry 
off,  that  third  destroying  angel,  in  addition  to 
the  sword  and  famine,  mentioned  also  in  Jer. 
xiv.  12;  XV.  2;  xviii.  21;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  13;  Lev. 
xxvi.  25seq.  Here,  as  also  in  Jer.  xv.  2,  this  is 
simply  designated  "death"  (rilO);  and  by  the 
phrase,  "in  death  (or  by  death)  they  are  buried," 
allusion  is  made  to  the  quick  succession  of  death 
and  burial,  which  is  customary  in  such  epidemics 
(comp.  Amos  vi.  9seq.).  This  bold  and  truly 
poetic  thought  is  destroyed  if,  with  Bottcher,  we 
take  r>1D3  to  mean  in  momento  mortis,  or  if,  with 

Olshausen  [Merx],  we  arbitrarily  insert  a  X/ 
before  ^''^PV  [Carey  explains:  ^'They  shall  be 
sepulchred  by  Death.  This  is  literal,  and  a  bold 
figure,  by  which  is  signified  that  they  should 
have  no  other  burial  than  such  as  Death  should 
give  them  on  the  open  field,  where  they  bad 
fallen,  either  by  sword  or  by  famine."  This, 
however,  is  somewhat  too  artificial  and  modern]. 
And  his  -widovrs  weep  not — to  wit,  in  fol- 
lowing the  coffin,  because  by  reason  of  the  fright- 
ful raging  of  the  disease,  funeral  solemnities  are 
not  observed.  "His  widows"  may  mean,  both 
the  principal  wives  and  concubines  of  the  head 
of  the  family,  and  those  of  his  deceased  sons  and 
grandsons;  these  latter  even,  in  a  certain  sense, 
belonging  to  him,  the  patriarch.  Comp.  the  lite- 
ral repetition  of  this  member  in  Ps.  Ixxviii.  64, 
where  the  twofold  possibility  mentioned  here  is 

not  recognized,  because  the  VrijD7^t  there  refers 
to  the  "people,"  D^. 

Ver.  16.  If  he  heapeth  up  for  himself  sil- 
ver as  the  dust,  etc. — The  same  figures  used 
to  designate  material  regarded  as  worthless  on 
account  of  its  great  quantity  in  Zech.  ix.  3. 

Ver.  17.  Apodosis  to  the  preceding  verse,  ex- 
pressing the  same  thought  as,  e.y.,  Ps.  xxxvii. 
29,  34;  Eccles.  ii.  16. 

Ver.  18.  He  hath  built,  like  a  moth,  his 
house,  and  like  a  booth,  which  a  watch- 
man puts  up  (in  a  vineyard,  or  an  orchard, 
Isa.  i.  8).  The  point  of  comparison  for  both 
members  is  the  laxity,  frailty,  destructibility  of 
such  structures,  which  are  intended  to  be  broken 
up  soon. 

Third  Strophe:  Vers,  19-23.  He  li-eth  down 
rich,  and  doeth  it  not  again. — So  according 

to  the  reading  flpX'  K'Sl  (=^''prj,  which  already 
the  LXX.  (koI  oh  npoa'&r^aEt),  Itala,  and  Pesh. 
followed,  which  is  favored  by  parallel  passages, 
such  as  chap.  xx.  9;  xl.  5,  and  is  accordingly 
preferred  by  the  leading  modern  commentators, 
such  as  Ewald,  Hirzel,  Delitzsch,  Dillmann  [Ke- 


nan, Rod  well,  Merx].  The  renderings  based  on 
the  reading  ^pX\  Nvl  are  not  so  good;  as,  e.y., 
"and  yet  nothing  is  taken  away"  (Schnurr., 
Umbreit,  Stick.  [Elzas,  Wemyss:  "but  he  shall 
take  nothing  away"]; — "and  he  is  not  buried" 
(Ilalbag,  Rosenmiiller,  Schlottmann)  [Noyes, 
E.  v.:  "he  shall  not  be  gathered,"  and  so  Con., 
Lee,  Scott,  etc.  Carey  explains  the  familiar 
phrase,  '-to  be  gathered  (to  one's  fathers,  etc.)," 
not  of  being  buried  in  the  grave,  but  of  being  re- 
moved to  the  place  of  spirits.  The  objections  to 
referring  the  clause  to  the  rich  man's  burial,  as 
stated  by  Delitzsch,  are,  that  the  preceding 
strophe  has  already  referred  to  his  not  being 
buried,  and  that  the  relation  of  the  two  parts  of 
the  verse  in  this  interpretation  is  unsatisfactory]. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  reading  ^DN]  iih], 
"and  takes  not  with  him"  (Jerome,  and  some 
MSS.).  Openeth  his  eyes — and  is  gone! 
(comp.  chap.  xxiv.  24). — This  further  description 
of  the  sudden  end  of  the  wicked  relates  to  the 
morning,  the  time  of  awakening,  as  the  preceding 
clause  refers  to  the  evening  hour  of  going  to 
bed. 

Ver.  20.  The  multitude  of  terrors  (i.  e.,  the 
sudden  terrors  of  death;  comp.  chap,  xviii.  14; 
XX.  25)  like  the  waters  (like  the  torrents  of  a 
sudden  overflow — comp.  chap.  xx.  28;  Jer.  xlvii. 
2;  Ps.  xviii.  6  [4])  overtakes  him  {y^r\,  3d 

Perf.  sing.  fem.  referring  to  the  plur.  mn73; 
comp.  chap.  xiv.  19).  On  b  comp.  chap.  xxi. 
18. 

Ver.  21.  Further  descriptive  expansion  of  the  ' 
figure  of  a  tempest:    The  east  wind  lifteth 
him  up. — This  wind  being  elsewhere  frequently 
described   as   particularly  violent  and  descrip- 
tive; comp.  chap.  i.  19;  xv.  2;  xxxviii.  24;  Isa. 

xxvii.  8;  Ezek.  xxvii.  26.  Concerning  ^jS'l,  ut 
pereat,  comp.  chap.  xiv.  20;  xix.  10. 

Ver.  22.  The  subj.  of  ^Styjl  can  be  only  God, 
the  secret  Author  of  the  whole  judgment  of  wrath 
here  described.  Of  Him  it  is  said:  He  hurleth 
upon  him  without  sparing — to  wit,  arrows; 
comp.  chap.  xvi.  13;  and  in  regard  to  the  ob- 
jectless ^'71^^=" to  shoot,"  see  Num.  xxxv.  20, 
Before  His  hand  must  he  flee — lit.  "must  he 
fleeing  flee." — The  Inf.  Absol.  expresses  the 
strenuousness  and  yet  the  futility  of  his  various 
attempts  to  flee  (Del.:  "before  His  hand  he  fleeth 
hither  and  thither"). 

Ver.  23.  They  clap  their  hands  at  him — 
rejoicing  at  his  calamity  and  mocking  him; 
comp.  chap,  xxxiv.  87;  Lam.  ii.  15;  Nah.  iii.  19. 

The  plural  suffixes  in  'ID'/J?  and  iD'33  are  used 
poetically  for  the  sing.,  as  in  chap.  xx.  23;  xxii. 
2.  "The  accumulation  of  the  terminations  hno 
and  omo  gives  a  tone  of  thunder  and  a  gloomy 
impress  to  this  conclusion  of  the  description  of 
judgment,  as  these  terminations  frequently  oc- 
cur in  the  book  of  Psalms,  where  moral  depra- 
vity is  mourned  and  divine  judgment  threatened 
{e.g.,  in  Psalms  xvii.;  xlix.;  Iviii.;  lix.;  Ixxiii)." 
Del  They  hiss  him  out  of  his  place — so 
that  he  must  leave  his  dwelling-place  (comp. 
chap.  viii.  18)  in  the  midst  of  scorn  and  hissing 


520 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


(comp.  Zeph.  ii.  15;  Jer.  xlix.  17).  Or  "out 
of  his  home"  (Hirz.),  which  renderiug  gives 
essentially  the  same  meaning. 

4.  Third  Sectioji:  lirst  Strophe.  Chap,  xxviii. 
1-11.  The  difficulty,  indeed  the  absolute  im- 
possibility, of  attaining  true  wisdom  by  human 
skill  and  endeavor,  described  by  means  of  an  il- 
lustration taken  from  mining,  which  gives  man 
access  to  all  valuable  treasures  of  a  material 
sort,  but  which  can  by  no  means  put  him  in  pos- 
session of  that  spiritual  good  which  comes  from 
God.  The  question — whence  the  author  had  ac- 
quired so  accurate  a  knowledge  of  mining  as  he  here 
displays,  seeing  that  the  land  of  the  Israelites  was 
comparatively  poor  in  mineral  treasures  (comp. 
Keil,  Bibl.  Archliol.,  p.  35seq.,  38)?  may  be  an- 
swered, on  the  basis  of  Biblical  and  extra-Bibli- 
cal sources  of  information,  as  follows:  (1)  The 
Jews  in  Palestine  could  not  have  been  absolutely 
strangers  to  the  business  of  mining,  seeing  that 
in  Deut.  viii.  9  there  is  expressly  promised  to 
them  "a  land  whose  stones  are  iron,  and  out  of 
whose  hills  thou  mayest  dig  brass."  (2)  Both 
Lebanon  in  the  north,  and  the  Idumean  moun- 
tains in  the  south-east  of  Palestine  proper,  had 
copper  mines,  the  particular  location  of  these  be- 
ing at  Phunon,  or  Phaino,  Num.  xxxiii.  42seq., 
in  the  working  of  which  it  is  certain  that  the 
Jews  were  occasionally  interested;  comp.  Vol- 
ney's  Travels;  Ritter,  Erdkunde  XVII.  1063; 
Gesenius,  Thes.  p.  1095;  v.  Rougemont,  Bronze- 
zeit,  p.  87.  (8)  The  Israelites  possessed  iron 
pits,  possibly  in  South  Lebanon,  where  in  modern 
times  such  may  still  be  found,  together  with 
smelting  furnaces  (Russegger,  Reise  I.  779,  778 
Beq.),  but  certainly  in  the  country  east  of  the 
Jordan,  where,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
Josephus,  de  B.  Jud.  IV.  8,  2,  there  was  an 
"  irou  mountain"  [aiSrjfiovv  bpor)  north  of  Moabi- 
tis,  the  "Cross  Mountain,"  ELMi'rad  of  to-day, 
between  the  gorges  of  the  Wadi  Zerka  and  Wadi 
Arahun,  west  of  Gerash;  a  mountain  district  in 
■which  in  our  own  century  iron  mines  have  been 
■worked  here  and  there  (v.  Rougemont,  I.  c; 
Wetzstein  in  Delitzsch,  II.  90-91).  (4)  Jerome 
testifies  to  the  existence  of  ancient  gold  mines  in 
Idumea  \Opp.  ed.  Vail.  III.  183).  (5)  The 
Israelites  might  also  come  occasionally  into  con- 
nection with  the  copper  and  iron  mines  of  the 
Sinai-peninsula,  in  the  development  of  which  the 
Egyptian  Pharaohs  were  conspicuously  ener- 
getic (comp.  Aristeas  v.  Haverkamp,  p.  114; 
Lepsius,  Briefe,  p.  335  seq.;  Ritter,  Erdkunde  XIV. 
784  seq  ;  v.  Rougemont,  I.e.*  (0)  What  has  been 
said  above  by  no  means  excludes  the  possibility 
that  in  this  description  the  poet  in  many  parti- 
culars took  for  his  basis  traditional  reports  con- 
cerning the  mines  of  distant  lands,  e.  g.  concern- 
ing the  gold  mines  of  Upper  Egypt  and  Nubia 
(Diodorus  iii.  11  seq.),  concerning  the  gold  and 
silver  mines  of  the  Phenicians  in  Spain  (1  Mace, 
viii.  8;  Plin.  iii.  4;  Diod.  v.  35  seq.),  concern- 
ing the  emerald  quarries  of  the  Egyptians  at 
Berenice,  and  other  deposits  of  precious  stones, 


*  The  name  Mafkat,  "Land  of  Copper,"  which  the 
Egyptians  gave  to  the  Sinaitic  peninsula  on  account  of  tliose 
mines,  is  of  hite  explained  liy  Briigsch  to  mean  "Land  of 
Turquois,"  it  being  assumed  hy  him  that  tnrquoia  was  Iho 
principal  product  of  the  ancient  Eeyptian  mines  in  that  re- 
gion. Comp.  H.  Urugscli,  WtnideruHil  uach  den  Turkisminen 
der  Hi)iai=Halbittsel,  18U8,  2d  Ed.,  p.  UGseq. 


more  or  less  remote.  Comp.  above  Introd.  §  7, 
b;  and  see  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  subject  in 
Delitzsch  ii.  86-89 ;  to  some  extent  also  the 
mining  experts  who  have  commented  on  the 
following  verses,  such  as  v.  Weltheim  (in  J.  D. 
Mich,,  Orient.  Bibl.  23,  7  seq.),  and  Rud.  Nasse 
[Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1863,  p.  105  seq.) 

Ver.  1.  For  there  is  for  the  silver  a  vein 
[Germ.  Fundort,  place  where  it  is  found],  and 
a  place  for  the  gold,  •which  they  refine. — 
The  connection  between  this  section  and  the 
preceding,  which  is  indicated  by  the  causal  ^2 
"for,"  is  this:  The  phenomenon  described  ia 
ch.  xxvii.  11-23,  that  the  wicked — with  whom, 
according  to  vers.  2-10  Job  is  not  to  be  classed 
— meet  with  a  terrible  end  without  deliverance, 
is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  they  do  not 
possess  true  wisdom,  which  can  be  acquired 
only  through  the  fear  of  God,  which  cannot, 
like  the  treasures  of  this  earth  (the  only  object 
for  which  the  wicked  plan  and  toil),  be  dug  out, 
exchanged  or  bought.  The  proposition  intro- 
duced by  ■'3  accordingly  assigns  a  reason  first 
of  all  for  that  which  forms  the  contents  of  ch. 
xxvii.  11-23  ("the  prosperity  of  the  ungodly 
cannot  endure"),  but  secondarily  and  indirectly 
also  that  which  is  announced  in  ch.  xxvii.  2-10 
(Job  is  an  upright  man,  and  one  who  fears  God, 
whose  joy  in  God  does  not  forsake  him  even  in 
the  midst  of  the  deepest  misery).  ["  The  mise- 
rable end  of  the  ungodly  is  confirmed  by  this, 
that  the  wisdom  of  man,  which  he  has  despised, 
consists  in  the  fear  of  God ;  and  Job  thereby 
attains  at  the  same  time  the  special  aim  of  his 
teaching,   which  is  announced   at  ch.  xxvii.  11 

by  SXT':]  DJnX  miN;  viz.  he  has  at  the  same 
time  proved  that  he  who  retains  the  fear  of  God 
in  the  midst  of  his  suflFerings,  though  those  suf- 
ferings are  an  insoluble  mystery,  cannot  be  a 

J^U?"! And  if  we  ponder  the  fact  that  Job 

has  depicted  the  ungodly  as  a  covetous  rich  man 
who  is  snatched  away  by  sudden  death  from  his 
immense  possession  of  silver  and  other  costly 
treasures,  we  see  that  ch.  xxviii.  confirms  the 
precedini;  picture  of  punitive  judgment  in  the 
following  manner:  silver  and  other  precious 
metals  come  out  of  the  earth,  but  wisdom,  whose 
value  exceeds  all  these  earthly  treasures,  is  to 
be  found  nowhere  within  the  province  of  the 
creature;  God  alone  possesses  it,  and  from  God 
alone  it  comes  ;  and  so  far  as  man  can  and  is  to 
attain  to  it,  it  consists  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord 
and  the  forsaking  of  evil."  Delitzsch.]  The 
first  verses  of  the  chapter  indeed  down  to  tke 
11th,  present  nothing  whatever  as  yet  of  tliat 
which  serves  directly  to  establish  those  antece- 
dent propositions,  they  simply  prepare  the  way 
for  the  demonstration  proper,  by  describing  the 
achievements  of  art  and  labor  in  the  accumula- 
tion by  men  of  their  treasures,  by  means  of 
which  nevertheless  wisdom  can  not  be  found. 
Hence  "3  may  appropriately  be  rendered  "for 
truly"  (the  "but"  in  ver.  12  corresponding  to 
the  "truly").  This  connection  between  ch. 
xxviii.  and  xxvii.  is  erroneously  exhibited,  when 
any  subordinate  proposition  of  ch.  xxvii.  is 
regarded  as  that  which  is  to  be  established  (as 
e.  g.,  according  to  Hirzel,  the  question  in  ver. 


CHAPS.  XXVII— XXVIII. 


621 


12:  "why  are  ye  so  altogether  vain?  why  do 
ye  adhere  to  so  perverse  a  delusion?"  or  accord- 
ing to  Schlottmann  the  purpose  to  warn  against 
(he  sin  of  making  unfriendly  charges,  which  he 
thinks  is  to  be  read  between  the  lines  in  the 
description  vers.  11-23).  These  false  concep- 
tions of  the  connection,  alike  with  the  total 
abandonment  of  all  connection,  which  has  led 
many  critics  to  resort  to  arbitrary  attempts  to 
assign  to  ch.  xxviii.  another  position  (e.  g.  ac- 
cording to  Pareau  after  ch.  xxvi. ;  according  to 
Stuhlmann  after  ch.  xxv.)  or  to  question  alto- 
gether its  genuineness  (Knobel,  Bernstein — • 
comp.  Introd.  \  9,  1) — all  these  one-sided  con- 
ceptions rest,  for  the  most  part,  on  the  assump- 
tion that  it  is  the  divine  wisdom,  which  rules  the 
universe,  whose  unsearchableness  is  described 
in  our  chapter,  and  not  rather  wisdom  regarded 
as  a  human  possession,  as  a  moral  and  intellectual 
blessing  bestowed  by  God  on  men,  connected 
with  genuine  fear  of  God.  Comp.  Doctrinal 
and  Ethical  Remarks,  No.  1.  [E.  V.'s  rendering 
of  "'3  by  "surely"  overlooks  the  connection, 
and  was  probably  prompted  by  the  difficulty 
attending  it].  —  N^flO,  lit.  "outlet"  (comp.  1 
Kings  X.  28),  the  place  where  anything  may  be 
found,  synonymous  with  the  following  DlpO — ■ 

The  word  ^p?'  is  a  relative  clause :  gold,  which 
they  refine,  or  wash  out.  In  regard  to  ppf,  lit. 
"to  filter,  to  strain,"  as  a  technical  term  for 
purifying  the  precious  metals  from  the  stone- 
alloy  which  is  mixed  with  them,  comp.  Mai.  iii. 
3;  Ps.  xii.  7  [6]  ;  1  Chron.  xxviii.  18.  Comp. 
the  passage  relative  to  the  gold  mines  of  Upper 
Egypt,  describing  this  process  of  crushing  fine 
the  gold-quartz,  and  of  washing  it  out,  this  pro- 
cess accordingly  of  "gold-washing,"  as  prac- 
tised by  the  ancients,  in  Diodor.  iii.  11  seq.,  as 
well  as  the  explanations  in  Klemm's  Allgem. 
Kulturgesch.  V.  503  seq.,  and  in  M.  Uhlemann, 
Egypt.  Allerthumskunde,  II.  148  seq. 

Ver.  2.  Iron  is  brought  up  out  of  the 
ground.  — 13^'  here  of  the  interior  or  deep 
ground,  not  of  the  surface  as  in  ch.  xxxix.  14; 
xli.  25  [33],  and  stone  is  smelted  into  cop- 
per.—  p^^'  here  not  as  in  ch.  xli.  15  Partic. 
Pual  of  pV'',  but  as  in  ch.  xxix.  6  Imperf.  of 
p1i'=py'  (the  3d  pers.  sing.  masc.  expressing 
the  indefinite  subj.).  [Gesenius  not  so  well 
makes  the  verb  transitive:  "and- stone  pours 
out  brass."] 

Ver.  3.  He  has  put  an  end  \UW  still  the 
indefinite  bubj.,  but  as  the  description  becomes 
more  individual  and  concrete,  it  is  better  with 
E.  V.  to  use  from  this  point  on  the  personal 
pron.  "he"]  to  the  darkness,  viz.  by  tiie 
miner's  lamp;  and  in  every  direction  (lit. 
"  to  each  remotest  point,  to  every  extremity,  in 
all  directions")  [not  as  E.  V.  "all  perfection," 
which  is  too  general,  missing  the  idiomatic  use 
of  the  phrase;  nor  adverbially:  "to  the  utmost," 

or  "most  closely:" — "IT/Dn?  might  be  used 
thus  adverbially,  but  n'SDn-SD*?  is  to  be  ex- 
plained according  to  mi-737,  Ezek.  v.  10,  'to 
all   the  winds.' "  Delitzsch]  —  he    scarcheth 


the  stones  of  darkness  and  of  death-shade, 

i.  e.  the  stones  under  the  earth,  hidden  in  deep 
darkness.  X^H  before  "^p.in  refers  back  to  the 
indefinite  subj.  of  D^,  who  is  continued  through 
ver.  4,  and  again  in  vers.  9-11. 

Ver.   4.     He    breaketh     [opencth,    cutteth 
through]    a   shaft   away    from   those    'who 

sojourn  (above).  iTM,  elsewhere  river,  val- 
ley [river-b'ed]  {Wadi),  is  here — as  is  already 
made  probable  by  the  verb  ]*^3,  pointing  to  a 
violent  breaking  through  (comp.  cli.  xvi.  14), 
and  as  is  made  still  more  apparent  by  the  third 
member  of  the  verse — a  mining  pasyage  in  the 
earth,  and  that  moreover  a  perpendicular  shaft 
l-ather    than   a   sloping   gallery.       "1J-D>|0,    lit. 

"away  from  one  tarrying,  a  dweller,"  i.  e. 
removed  from  the  human  habitations  found 
above,  removing  from  them  ever  further  and 
deeper  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  [Schlott- 
mann understands  by  "1J  the  miner  himself 
dwelling  as  a  stranger  in  his  loneliness;  i.  e.  his 
shaft  sinks  ever  further  from  tlie  hut  in  which 
he  dwells  above.  The  use  of  1J  is  doubtless  a 
little  singular,  and  Schlottmann's  explanation 
may  be  accepted  so  far  as  it  may  serve  to  ac- 
count for  it  by  the  suggestion  that  those  who  do 
live  in  the  vicinity  of  mines  are  naturally  D*TJ, 
sojourners,  living  there  to  ply  their  trade  and 
shifting  about  as  new  mines  or  veins  are  dis- 
covered.— E.] — Who  are  forgotten  of  every 

step,  lit.  "of  a  foot"  (bjV'JO),  i.  e.  of  the  foot 
or  step  of  one  travelling  above  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth  [hence:="  totally  vanished  from  the 
remembrance  of  those  who  pass  by  above"],  not 
the  foot  of  the  man  himself  that  is  spoken  of,  as 
though  his  descent  by  a  rope  in  the  depths  of 
the  shaft  were  here  described  (V.  Leonhardt  in 
Umbr.  and  Hirzel).  [On  this  use  of  JO  after 
T\3iy},  comp.  Dent.  xxxi.  21;  Ps.  xxxi.  13; 
"forgotten  out  of  the  mind,  out  of  the  heart"]. 
Moreover  D^n22/3n  are  identical,  according  to 
the  accents,  with  the  indef.  subj.  of  V^D  (the 
interchange  between  sing,  and  plur.  ace.  to  Ew. 
^  319,  a);  hence  the  meaning  is:  those  who 
work  deep  down  in  the  shafts  of  the  mines. 
They  are  agaan  referred  to  in  the  finite  verbs  in 
c,  which  continue  the  participial  construction: 
they  hang  far  aw^ay  from  men,  and  swing. 

IvT  from  77T  (related  to  77?)  deonum  pendcre, 
according  to  the  accents,  accompanies  C^UXO 
(meaning  the  same  with  'nJ'Dj.^O),  not  1J?J,  as 
Hahn  and  Schlottm.  think.  The  adventurous 
swinging  of  those  engaged  in  digging  the  ore 
out  of  the  steep  sides  of  the  shafts,  hanging 
down  by  a  rope,  is  in  these  few,  simple  words 
beautifully  and  clearly  portrayed.  It  is  the 
Fituatiou  described  by  Pliny  (II.  N.  xxxiii,  4, 
21:  is  qui  cxdit,  funibus  pendet,  ut  procul  intuenti 
species  lie  ferarum  quidem,  sed  a/i/uin  fiat.  Pen- 
dentes  majori  ex  parte  librant  et  lineas  itineri  prx- 
ducunt,  etc.  [The  above  rendering,  adopted  by 
all  modern  exegetes,  gives  a  meaning  so  appro- 
priate to  the  language  and  connection,  and  withal 
60  beautiful,  vivid  and  graphic  that  it  seems 
Strange  that  all  the  ancient  and  most  of  the 


622 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


modern  versions  of  Scripture,  including  E.  V., 
should  have  so  completely  darkened  the  mean- 
ing.    The  source  of  the  difficulty  lay  doubtless 

in  /FIJ  which  being  taken  in  its  customary 
meaning  of  "river,  flood,"  threw  everything 
into  confusion.  Add  to  this  a  probable  want 
of  familiarity  with  mining  operations  on  the 
part  of  the  early  translators,  and  the  result  will 
not  seem  so  surprising. — E.] 

Ver.  5  states  what  the  miners  are  doing  in 
the  depths. — The  earth — out  of  it  cometh 

forth  the  bread-corn  (Dri/  as  in  Ps.  civ.  14), 
but  under  it  it  is  overturned  like  fire :  i.  «. 

as  fire  incessantly  destroys,  and  turns  what  is 
uppermost  lowermost.  ["  Man's  restless  search, 
which  rummages  everything  through,  is  com- 
pared to  the  uhrestrainable  ravaging  fire." 
Del.]  Instead  of  103  Jerome  reads  103:  "is 
overturned  with  fire,"  which  some  moderns  pre- 
fer (Hirz.,  Schlott.),  who  find  a  reference  here 
to  the  blasting  of  the  miners.  But  this  is  too 
remote.  ["  The  principal  thought  is  the  process 
of  breaking  through  ;  the  means  are  not  so  much 
regarded;  and  fire  was  not  the  only  means." 
Dillmann.  Some  commentators  have  fancied  in 
this  verse  a  trace  of  what  modern  criticism  calls 
"sentimentalism,"  as  though  Job  were  protest- 
ing against  ruthlessly  ravaging  as  with  fire  the 
interior  of  that  generous  earth  which  on  its  sur- 
face yields  bread  for  the  support  of  man.  Job 
is,  however,  fixing  his  attention  solely  on  the 
agent — man,  who  not  satisfied  with  what  grows 
out  of  the  earth,  digs  for  treasure  into  its  deep- 
est recesses. — E.] 

Ver.  6.  The  place  of  the  sapphire  [p'^V>'!^ 
as  in  ver.  1  a,  the  place  where  it  may  be  found) 
are  its  stones,  viz.  the  earth's,  ver.  5;  in  the 
midst  of  its  stones  is  found  the  sapphire,  which 
is  mentioned  here  as  a  specimen  of  precious 
stones  of  the  highest  value. — And  nuggets  of 
gold  (or  "gold  ore,"  hardly  "gold-dust"  as 
Hirzel  thinks)  become  his,  viz.  the  miner's 
(so  Schult.,  Rosenm.,  Ewald,  Dillmann).  Or: 
"  nuggets  of  gold  belong  to  it,"  the  place  (DlpO) 
where  the  sapphire  is  found  (Hahn,  Schlottm., 
Delitzsch).  The  reader  may  take  his  choice 
between  these  two  relations  of  13 ;  the  brevity 
of  the  expression  makes  it  impossible  to  decide 
with  certainty. 

Ver.  7.  The  path  (thither)  no  bird  of  prey 
hath  known  [and  the  vultures  eye  hath 
not  gazed  upon  it].  i'riJ  is  a  prefixed  nora. 
absol.  like  V^.^  in  ver.  5.  It  may  indeed  also 
be  taken  as  in  opposition  to  DlpO  in  ver.  6 
(hardly  to  3ni  nna^',  as  Ewald  thinks),  in 
which  case  the  rendering  would  be:  "ihe  path, 
which  no  bird  of  prey  hath  known,"  etc.  (Del.). 
But  that  "the  place  of  the  sapphire"  should  be 
immediately  afterwards  spoken  of  as  a  "path," 
looks   somewhat   doubtful.      Concerning  ^PDTU/ 

□  -T : 

comp.  on  ch.  xx.  9. — [The  rendering  of  E.  V.: 
"There  is  a  path  which  no  fowl  knoweth,"  etc., 
is  vague  and  incorrect  in  so  far  as  it  leads  the 
mind  away  from  the  deposits  of  treasure,  which 
are  tlie  principal  theme  of  the  passage. — E.] 
Ver.  8  carries  out  yet  further  the  description 


begun  in  ver.  7  of  the  inaccessibleness  of  the 
subterranean  passage-ways.  The  proud  beasts 
of  prey  (lit.  "sons  of  pride;"  so  also  in  ch.  xli. 
26  [34])  have  not  trodden  it.— That  this 
finely  illustrative  phrase  ["sons  of  pride"] 
refers  to  the  haughty,  majestically  stepping 
beasts  of  prey  ["seeking  the  most  secret  retreat, 
and  shunning  no  danger,"  Del.],  appears  clearly 

enough  from  the  parallel  use  of  ^ni^  in  b  (comp. 
ch.  iv.  10). 

Ver.  9.  On  the  flint  (the  hardest  of  all 
stones)  he  lays  his  hand  (the  subject  being 
man,  as  the  overturner  of  mountains  ;  see  b,  and 
respecting  the  use  there  of  J2'")t!'p,  radicilus, 
"from  the  root,"  comp.  above  ch.  xiii.  27;  xix. 
28.  ["3  T  rn^  something  like  our  "to  take 
in  hand,"  of  an  undertaking  requiring  strong 
determination  and  courage,  which  here  consists 
in  blasting,  etc.  Del.]  How  the  hand  is  laid 
on  flint  and  similar  hard  stones  is  described  by 
Pliny  I.  c. :  Occursant  silices ;  hos  igne  et  aceto 
rumpunt,  ssepius  vero,  quoniavi  id  euniculos  fumo 
et  vapore  strangulat,  csedunt  fractariis  CL.  libraa 
habeniibus,  etc. 

Ver.  10.  Through  the  rocks  he  cutteth 
passages. — D'''li<',  an  Egyptian  word,  which 
signifies  literally  water-canals,  must  here,  like 

7nj  in  ver.  4,  signify  subterranean  passages  or 
pits  for  mining.  And  further,  according  to  b, 
what  is  intended  are  galleries,  horizontal  exca- 
vations, in  which  the  ore  is  dug  out,  and  pre- 
cious stones  discovered.  The  word  can  scarcely 
be  used  of  wet  conduits,  or  canals  to  carry  off 
the  water  accumulating  in  the  pits,  of  which 
Job  does  not  begin  to  speak  until  the  following 
verse  (against  v.  Weltheira,  etc.).  [The  render- 
ing "rivers"  (E.  V.,  Con.,  Car.,  Rod.,  etc.) 
would  be  still  more  misleading,  because  more 
vague,  than  "canals,"  which  is  not  without 
plausible  arguments  in  its  favor.  Add  however 
to  Zockler's  arguments  in  favor  of  the  render- 
ing "passages,  galleries,"  the  sequence  in  the 
second  member:  And  his  eye  sees  every 
precious  thing;  which,  as  Delitzsch  says,  "is 
consistently  connected  with  what  precedes,  since 
by  cutting  these  cuniculi  the  courses  of  the  ore 
(veins),  and  any  precious  stones  that  may  also 
be  embedded  there,  are  laid  bare." — E.] 

Ver.  11.  That  they  may  not  drip  he  stops 
up  passage-Tways.  —  "'330,  lit.  "away  from 
dripping"  [weeping],  or:  "against  the  drip- 
ping," i.  e.  against  the  oozing  through  of  the 
water  in  the  excavations,  to  which  the  shafts 
and  galleries,  especially  when  old,  were  so  easily 
liable.  li'3n,  as  elsewhere  W2Vi,  to  stop  or  dam 
up,  to  bind  up  surgically  (comp.  2'3n,  the  sur- 
geon, or  wound-healer  in  Is.  iii.  7;  i.  6). 
r\1inj  seems  in  general  to  mean  the  same  as 
D'bnj  above,  and  D'^^i^'  ver.  10,  to  wit,  excava- 
tions, shafts,  pits,  galleries.  Nevertheless  it 
may  also  denote  "the  seams  of  water"  breaking 
through  the  walls  of  these  excavations,  thus 
directly  denoting  that  which  must  be  stopped 
up  (Del.). — And  so  (through  all  these  efiorts 
and  skilful  coutrivances)   he  brings   to   the 


CHAPS.  XXVII— XXVIII. 


523 


light  that  ■which  was  hidden — a  remark  in 
the  way  of  recapitulation,  connecting  back  with 
the  beginning  of  the  description  in  ver.  1,  and 
at  the  same  time  forming  the  transition  to  what 
follows.  Respecting  noS^'H,  comp.  ch.  xi.  6 ; 
I'lX,  Ace.  loci  {or  "^'Mih.^  ' 

T 

5.  Continuation  :  Second  Strophe :  vers.  12-22. 
Application  of  the  preceding  description  to  wis- 
dom as  a  higlier  good,  unattainable  by  the  out- 
ward seeking  and  searching  of  men.  ["Most 
expositors  since  Schultens,  siae.ff.  Hirz.,  Schlott., 
etc  ,  assume  out  of  hand  that  the  Wisdom  treated 
of  here  is  the  divine  wisdom,  as  tlie  principle 
which  maintains  the  moral  and  natural  order  of 
the  universe.  But  that  the  divine  wisdom  is  to 
be  found  only  with  God,  not  with  a  creature,  is 
something  so  very  self-evident,  and  the  exalta- 
tion of  the  divine  wisdom  above  all  human  com- 
prehension was  a  proposition  so  universally 
recognized,  being  also  long  since  maintained 
and  conceded  by  both  the  contending  parties  of 
our  book  (chs.  xi.  and  xii.),  that  it  is  not  appa- 
rent why  Job  should  here  lay  such  stress  upon 
it."  Dillm.] 

Ver.  12.  But  ■wisdom — ■where  is  it  found? 

And  w^here   (lit.  "from  where?"     TNO  as  in 

ch.  i.  7,  and  jD  accompanying  NVO  as  in  Hos. 

xiv.  9  [8])  is  the  place  of  understanding? 

nODnn,   with  the  article,  because  wisdom  is  to 
T  :  T  - 

be  set  forth  as  the  well-known  highest  good  of 
man.  With  the'  principal  term  PIDpn  is  con- 
nected nr3  as  an  alternate  notion,  as  is  often 

T     •  ' 

the  case  in  Proverbs,  especially  chs.  i.-ix.  The 
first  term  denotes  wisdom  rather  on  its  practical 
side,  as  the  principle  and  art  of  right  thinking 
and  doing,  or  as  the  religious  and  moral  recti- 
tude taught  by  God ;  the  second  (with  -which 
DJilDn,  Prov.  viii.  1,  and  nj;i,  Prov.  i.  2,  alter- 
nate) pre-eminently  on  the  theoretic  side  as  the 
correct  perception  and  way  of  thinking  which 
lies  at  the  basis  of  that  right  doing.  Comp.  the 
Introd.  to  the  Solomonic  Literature  of  Wisdom, 
^  2,  Note  3  (Vol.  X.,  p.  7  of  this  series). 

Ver.  13.  No  mortal  kno^ws  its  price. — 
"^l^i!.  (fi'oni  "j'^i*  vers.  17,  19)  means  lit.  equiva- 
lent, price,  value  for  purcliase  or  exchange,  the 
same  with  T'np  elsewhere.  The  LXX.  proba- 
bly read  HS^l,  which  reading  is  preferred  by 
some  moderns,  e,  g.,  by  Dillmann,  as  agreeing 
better  with  ver.  12. 

Ver.  14.  With  "  the  land  of  the  living"  [ver, 
13]  i.  e.,  the  earth  inhabited  by  men  (comp.  Ps. 
xxvii.  13;  Is.  xxxviii.  11,  etc.)  are  connected  the 
two  other  regions  beneath  heaven,  in  which  wis- 
dom might  possibly  be  sought'  (1)  The  "Deep" 
(Dinr^)    i.  e.,   the    subterranean   abyss    with  its 

waters,  out  of  which  the  visible  waters  on  the 
surface  of  the  earth  are  supplied  (Gen.  vii.  11 ; 
xlix.  2.5):— (2)  The  "Sea"  {D'  ='^tceav6c)  as 
the  chief  reservoir  of  these  visible  waters. 

Ver.  lo.  Pure  gold  is  not  given  for  it. — 
liJD  is  the  same  with  'TIJD    3nr,   1  Kings  vi.  20 ; 

:  ;         T  T  ° 

X.  21,  not  "shut  up"  [^  carefully  preserved], 
but  according  to  the  Targ.  "  purified  "  gold  {au- 
rum  colatum,  purgatum),  hence  gold  acquired  by 
heating,  or  smelting;  comp.  Diodor.  I.  c. 


Ver.  16.  In  regard  to  the  gold  of  Ophir  (here 
T'3iX  Dn3,  fine  gold  of  Ophir)  comp.  ch.  xxii. 
24;  respecting  the  onyx  stone  (DPISJ',  lit.  "pale, 
lean")  comp.  the  commentators  on  Gen.  ii.  12. 

Vei's.  17-19.  Further  description  of  the  in- 
comparable and  unattainable  value  of  wisdom, 
standing  in  a  similar  connection  with  vers.  15, 
10,  as  Prov.  iii.  15  witli  Prov.  iii.  14. — Gold 
and  glass  are  not  equal  to  it. — '\'^y  intrans. 
with  Accus. — sequare  aliquid,  as  in  ver.  19;  Ps. 
Ixxxix.  7.  In  respect  to  the  high  valuation  of 
glass  by  the  ancients  (ri'DOI,  or  as  some  MSS., 
Ed's.,  and  D.  Kimchi  read — rcpOI)  comp.  Wi- 
ner, Reahv.,  Vol.  I.,  432  [and  Eng.  Bib.  Dic- 
tionaries, Art  "Glass"].     In  respect  to  miDjl 

in  b,  "exchange,  equivalent,"  comp.  ch.  xv.  31; 
XX.  18. 

Ver.  18.  Corals  and  crystal  are  not  to  be 
named,  not  to  be  mentioned,  i.  e.,  in  comparison 
with  it,  with  wisdom  (in  regard  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  passive  IDT'  with  the  accus.,  comp. 
Gesen.,  g  143  [^  140]"^!,  a).  W'^Zl^,  (lit.  "ice," 
like  the  Arab,  gibs)  denotes  the  quartz-crystal, 
which  was  regarded  by  the  ancients  as  a  pre- 
cious stone,  and  supposed  to  be  a  product  of  the 
cold  ;  Pliny,  //.  N.  XXXVII.  2,  9.— The  niONn, 
the  mention  of  which  precedes,  seem  to  be  "co- 
rals," an  explanation  favored  by  what  is  conjec- 
tured to  be  the  radical  signification  of  this  word, 
"horns  of  bulls,  or  of  wild  oxen  "  (from  DN"1 — 
comp.  Pliny  XIII.  51),  as  well  as  by  its  being 
placed  along  with  the  less  costly  crystal;  comp. also 
Ezek.  xxvii.  16,  where  indeed  corals  from  the 
Red  Sea  and  the  Indian  Ocean  are  mentioned  as 
Tyrian  articles  of  commerce.  On  the  contrary 
D^rJi*  in  b  must  be,  according  to  Prov.  iii.  15  ; 
viii.  11;  XX.  1.5;  xxxi.  10,  an  exchangeable 
commodity  of  extraordinary  value,  which  de- 
cides in  favor  of  the  signiticatiou  ''pearls"  as- 
signed (although  not  unanimously)  to  this  word 
by  tradition,  however  true  it  may  be  that  iu 
Lam.  iv.  7  corals  seem  rather  to  be  intended  (or 
perhaps  red  peai-ls  artificially  prepared,  like  the 
Turkish  rose-pearls  of  to-day).  Comp.  Carey 
[who  agrees  in  rendering  niDNI  by  "corals," 
and  doubtfully  suggests  "mother-of-pearl"  for 
ty'pj].  Delitzsch  renders  the  former  of  the  two 
words  by  "  pearls,"  the  second  by  "  corals"  [so 
J.  D.  Michaelis,  Rodiger,  Geseniiis,  Fiirst ;  tho 
two  latter  regarding  mONT  and  D'J'JD  as  equi- 
valent. See  also  in  Smith's  Bib.  Die, — Art's., 
"Rubies,"  "Pearls,"  "Coral"].  The  word 
■^typ,  "acquisition,  possession,"  (from  Ti^O,  "to 
draw  to  oneself")  only  here  in  the  0.  T.  ;  re- 
lated are  p'dri,  Gen.  xv.  2,  and  p'dm,  Zcph. 
ii.  9. 

Ver.  19.  The  topaz  from  Ethiopia  (Cush) 
is  not  equal  to  it. — The  rendering  topaz  (ro- 
nd^iov)  for  T^^^a2  is  established  by  the  testimony 
of  most  of  the  ancient  versions  in  this  passage, 
as  well  as  in  Ex.  xxviii.  17;  Ezek.  xxviii.  13. 
It  is  also  favored  by  the  statement  of  Pliny 
(xxxvii.  8)  that  the  topaz  comes  principally  from 
the  islands  of  the  Red  Sea,  as  also  by  the  pro- 
bable identity  of  the  name  m03  with  the  San- 


524 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Bcrit  pita,  yellow  (comp.  Gesen.)  [and  see  the 
Lexicons,  Delitzsch,  Csirey,  etc  ,  on  the  probable 
transposition  of  letters  in  tiie  Hebrew  and  Greek 
forms].  In  regard  to  b,  comp.  the  very  similar 
passage  in  ver  10  a). 

Ver.  2U  again  takes  up  the  principal  question 


the  subject  God  [should  be  'li^iJy.T.Z  if  ^^^  verse 
were  antecedent].  Furthermore  the  Divine 
"looking  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,"  etc.,  \er. 
24,  would  need  a  telic  qualification,  refer- 
ring the  divine  omniscience  [God"*  looking 
every  where   and    seeing   every   thing]    to    the 


propounded    in   ver.    12.     The  1  in  HODnni   is  |  creation  and  preservation  of  the  order  of  nature, 


consecutive,  and  maybe  rendered  by  "then" 
(Ew.,  ^  348,  a). 
Ver.  21.   It  is  hidden  (n07;'31,  lit.,   "and 

moreover,  and  further  it  is  hidden")  from  the 
eyes  of  all  living,  i.  ^.,  especially  of  all  living 
beings  on  the  earth;  'r\~l3  as  in  ch.  xii.  10; 
XXX.  33.  Of  these  «' living"  b  then  particularly 
specifies  the  sharp-sighted,  winged  inhabitants 
of  the  upper  regions  of  the  air ;  comp.  above 
ver.  7. 

Ver.  22  follows  up  the  mention  of  that  which 
is  highest  with  that  of  the  lowest:  Hell  and 
the  abyss  [lit.  "destruction  and  death"]  say, 
r\'^':i  in  connection  with  {l^ri^  (see  on  ch.  xxvi. 
6)  means  the  7-ea/w  of  death,  the  abyss;  comp. 
ch.  xxxviii.  17;  Ps.  ix.  14  [13j;  Rev.  i.  18.  For 
the  rest  comp.  above,  ver.  14;  for  to  say  that 
they  [destruction  and  death]  have  learned  of 
wisdom  only  by  hearsay  is  substantially  the 
same  with  saying,  as  is  said  there  of  the  sea  and 
the  deep,    that  they  do  not  possess  it.     ["The 

"Tl  h2  T^'O  nOlpi,  ver.  21,  evidently  points 
back  to  the  ir>'  HriNl  "^p"  ^2  ver.  10.  In  ver. 
11  it  is  said  that  man  brings  the  most  secret 
thing  to  light.  In  ver.  22  that  Divine  wisdom  is 
hidden  even  from  the  underworld."   Schlott.]. 

6.  Conclusion :  Third  Strophe:  Vers.  22-28. 
The  final  answer  to  the  question,  where  and  how 
wisdom  is  to  be  found:  to  wit,  only  with  God, 
and  through  the  fear  of  God.  ["  The  last  of 
these  three  divisions  (of  the  chap. )  into  which 
the  highest  truths  are  compressed  is  for  empha- 
sis the  shortest,  in  its  calmness  and  abrupt  end- 
ing the  most  solemn,  because  the  thought  finds 
no  expression  that  is  altogether  adequate,  float- 
ing in  a  height  th.it  is  immeasurable,  but  opening 
a  bouhdless  field  for  farther  reflection."   E wald.  ] 

Ver.  23.  God  knows  the  way  to  it,  and 

He  knows  its  place.— D'hSn  and  ^n,  in 
emphatic  contrast  with  the  creatures  mentioned 
in  ver.  13  seq.,  and  ver.  21  seq.  The  suSix  in 
n3Tl  is  objective  (comp.  Gen.  iii.  24)  "  the  way 

to  it." 

Vers.  24,  25  constitute  one  proposition  which 
illustrates  and  explains  the  Divine  possession  of 
wisdom  by  a  reference  to  God's  agency  in  cre- 
ating and  governing  the  world  (so  correctly 
Evvakl,  Arnh.,  Dillni.)  [E.  V.,  Conarit,  Rodman]. 
Against  connecting  ver.  25  with  what  follows, 
more  immediately  with  ver.  26,  and  then  regard- 
ing vers.  25,  26  together  as  constituting  the  pro- 
tasis of  ver.  27  lies  the  objection  that  PitJ'j^l 
cannot  properly  be  translated  either  "  wAc«  He 
made,"  or  "in  that  He  made,"   as   well  as   the 

fact  that  the  gerundive  Infinitive  with  7  cannot 
be  put  before  its  principal  verb,  together  with 
the  absence  of  a  suffix  after  Pi'^'^^'^n  referring  to 


in  order  that  it  might  not  be  understood  as  de- 
claring the  omniscience  of  God  in  a/tslracto. 
That  He  may  appoint  to  the  wind  its 
w^eight,  and  w^eigh  the  water  by  measure. 
— The  careful  "measurement"  of  wind  and  wa- 
ter, i.  e.,  their  relative  apportionment,  govern- 
ment, and  management  (^comp.  Isa.  Ix.  12),  is  a 
peculiarly  characteristic  example  of  God's  wise 
administrative  economy  in  creation :  "  Who  sends 
the  wind  upon  its  course,"  etc.  Instead  of  the 
Infinitive  the  finite  verb  appears  in  6,  and  that 
in  the  Perf.  form,  \3Pi,  because  the  expression 
of  purpose  passes  over  into  the  expression  of 
sequence,  precisely  as  in  chap.  v.  21  (see  on 
the  v.). 

Ver.  26  seq.  As  the  wisdom  of  God  furnishes 
the  means  and  basis  of  His  government  of  the 
world,  so  in  the  exercise  of  His  creative  power 
was  it  the  absolute  norm,  and  is  in  consequence 
thereof  the  highest  law  for  man's  moral  action, 
positively  and  negatively  considered.     When 
He  appointed  for  the  rain  a  law^  (when  and 
how  often  it  should  fall,  where  it  should  cease; 
comp.  Gen.  ii.  5)  and  for  the  thunder-flash 
a  path  (i.e.,  through  the  clouds;  comp.  chap, 
xxxviii.  25),  then  savr  He  it  and  declared 
it — i.  e.,  in  thus  exercising  at  the  beginning  His 
creative  power.  He  beheld  it,  contemplated  it  (we 
are  to  read  HXI  with  Mappiq  in  PI),  as  His  eter- 
nal pattern,  according  to  which   He  made,  or- 
dered, and  ruled    His  creatures,  and  declared  it 
(T\'>2D''^,  lit.  "and  enumerated  it"),  i.e.,  unfolded 
its  contents  before  men  and  His  other  rational 
creatures  throughout  the  whole  creation,  which  in 
truth  is  nothing  else  than  such  a  "development 
and  historical  realization"  of  the  contents  of  eter- 
nal wisdom.    The  attempt  of  Schult.,  Ew.,  Dillm. 
to  explain  "13D  as  meaning  "to  number  through, 
to  review  all  over"    (after  ch.  xxxviii.  37;  Ps. 
cxxxix.  18)  is  less  natural. — He  established 
it,  and  also  searched  it  out,  i.  e.,  He  laid  its 
foundations  in  the   creation   (comp.   Prov.  viii. 
22,  23,  where  both  verbs,  DJp  and  "jDJ,  convey 
the  same  idea  of  founding,  establishing  wisdom 
as  ton  here),  brought  it  to  its  complete  actual- 
ization in  creation,   and   then  reviewed   all  its 
individual  parts    to  see  whether  they  all  bore 
the    test    of  His  examination.     Comp.   what   is 
said  in  Gen.  i.  31«:   "And  God  saw   everything 
that  He  had  made,  and  behold,  it  was  very  good." 
— Or  again:    '^Jfeset  it  up   before   Himself,"   for 
more   attentive    contemplation    (Tpn  according 
as  in  chap.  xxix.  7),  and  searched  it  out  tho- 
roughly, exploring  its  thoughts    (so    Woltf   and 
Dillniann)  [the  latter  of  whom  says:    "He  set  it 
up  for  contemplation,  as  an   artist  or  an   archi- 
tect puts  up  before  himself  the  H'JDP'  ]•     I'-  i^ 
not  necessary,  with  some  MSS.  and  Eds.  to  read 
nrDn,  instead  of  nj'pn,  as  Doderl.  and  Ew.  do. 
Ver.  28.  And  said  to  man:  Behold,  the 
fear  of  the  Lord  is  wisdom,  etc. — He  would 


CHAP.  XXVII— XXVIU. 


52.-) 


accordingly  not  reserve  to  Himself  the  wisdom 
which  had  served  Him  as  a  pattern  of  creation, 
but  would  communicate  it  to  the  human  race 
which  He  had  made  and  put  into  His  world, 
which  He  could  do  only  by  setting  it  before 
them  in  the  form  of  an  original  command  to  fear 
God  and  to  depart  from  evil  (^"^O  110,  comp. 
ch.  i.  2;  Prov.  iii.  7;  xvi.  6.  Instead  of  riNT 
^jnx,  very  many  MSS.  and  old  editions  read 
nirr  j\  which  reading  seems  to  have  in  its 
favor:  (1)  That  mri',  occurring  only  twice  else- 
vsfhere  in  our  book,  might  easily  be  set  aside  as 
being  too  singular;  (2)  that  ''J^X  in  Jehovah's 
own  mouth  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  the  Old 
Testament,  not  even  in  Amos  vi.  8;  (8)  that  the 
parallels  of  the  primitive  saying  before  us  in  the 
Proverbs  and  in  the  Psalms  constantly  exhibit 
nin'  nxy  (comp.  Prov.  l.  7;  iii.  7;  ix.  10;  xvi. 
6;  Ps.  cxi.  10). — On  the  other  side  it  is  true  the 
Masorelic  tradition  expressly  reckons  this  pas- 
sage among  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
passages  of  the  Old  Testament,  where  ""inx  is 
not  only  to  be  read,  but  is  actually  written 
instead  of  niiT'  (Buxtorf,  Tiberias,  p.  245).  As 
regards  the  thought,  it  makes  no  difference 
■whether  we  read  "fear  of  the  Lord"  ("the  Lord 
of  all,"  Del.),  or  "fear  of  Jehovah  (Jahveh)." 
[It  may,  however,  be  said,  that  there  is  an  espe- 
cial appropriateness  in  the  use  of  ""JIX  here,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  God  is  spoken  of  in  con- 
nection with  the  creation,  as  the  product  of  wis- 
dom;  and  not  only  so,  but  God  in  His  Lord- 
ship, His  supremacy,  His  claim  to  be  feared,  i.  e. 
revered  and  obeyed,  whence  'JIX  is  used  rather 

than  ni'7X  or  D'H  ?X.  God  is  'jnx  by  virtue 
of  the  divine  HODn  which  He  has  "established" 
in  nature.  It  is  man's  HODn  to  recognize  the 
divine,  and  to  tear  'JTX. — E.] 

DOCTRINAL,  ETHICAL  AND  HOMILETICAL. 
1.  According  to  the  connection  of  the  Third 
Section  of  this  discourse  with  the  two  preceding, 
as  explained  in  the  remarks  on  ch.  xxviii.  1,  it 
can  admit  of  no  doubt  that  the  wisdom  described 
in  it  is  conceived  of  as  essentially  a  human 
acquisition,  as  a  blessing  bestowed  on  man  by 
God,  consisting  in  the  fear  of  God  and  in  right- 
eousness of  life.  This  connection  lies  indeed  in  this 
— that  in  order  to  prove  that  which  is  said  in 
ch.  xxvii.  12  seq.  of  the  perishable  prosperity 
of  worldly-minded  sinners,  the  uselessness  of 
all  accumulation  of  earthly  treasures  is  shown, 
it  being  entirely  out  of  their  power  to  secure 
the  possession  of  true  wisdom,  and  of  that 
enduring  prosperity  which  is  connected  with  it. 
In  addition  to  this  connection  with  ch.  xxvii., 
the  human  character  of  this  wisdom,  rather  than 
its  hypostatic  character,  or  that  which  belongs 
to  it  as  a  divine  attribute,  is  shown  secondly  by 
the  way  in  which  the  same  is  represented  in 
vers.  1.5-19  as  ?•  possession,  being  compared 
with  other  possessions,  treasures  and  costly 
jewels,  and  tlae  question  submitted  how  its  pos- 
session ("jti'O,  ver.  18)  is  to  be  attained.  To 
which  may  be  added,  thirdly,  the  consideration 
that  it  could  scarcely  be  the  speaker's  purpose 


to  demonstrate  the  unscarcbableness  and  unfa- 
thomableness,  from  a  sensuous  and  earthly  point 
of  view,  of  an  attribute,  or  a  hypostasis  of  God, 
because  this  fact  is  self-evident,  and  because 
the  whole  tendency  of  his  discourse  was  not  the- 
oretic and  speculative,  but  practical,  aiming  at 
the  establishment  of  right  principles  to  influence 
human  struggle  and  action. — The  view  accord- 
ingly held  by  quite  a  number  of  modern  exegctcs 
since  the  time  of  Schultens  (especially  Ilirzel, 
Schlottmann,  Hahn,  also  W.  Wolff's  article — 
Die  Anfange  tier  Logoslehre  im  A.  T.  in  the  Zcil- 
schrift  fur  Lulh.  Theol.  u.  Kirche,  1870,  p.  217 
seq.),  that  the  object  of  the  description  in  ch. 
xxviii.  is  the  wisdom  of  God  as  exerciscil  in  the 
universe,  as  the  divine  principle  sustaining  the 
moral  and  natural  order  of  the  universe,  is  erro- 
neous, to  say  notliing  of  the  fact  that  in  that 
case  one  might  find  here,  with  A.  Merx  {Das 
Gedicht  von  Iliob,  etc.,  p.  42)  a  "concealed  po- 
lemic "  against  the  doctrine  of  Wisdom  as  set 
forth  in  the  Solomonic  Proverbs. 

2.  We  cannot  say  indeed  of  this  theory,  to  wit, 
that  ch.  xxviii.  discourses  of  the  Sapimlia  sciagra- 
phica,  God's  wisdom  in  creation  and  the  govern- 
ment of  the  world — that  it  is  altogether  incorrect. 
In  the  concluding  verses  Job  evidently  lifts  him- 
self from  his  contemplation  of  wisdom  as  a  hu- 
man possession  to  the  description  of  its  arche- 
type, the  absolute  divine  wisdom,  by  means  of 
which  God  has  established  alike  the  physical 
and  the  moral  order  of  the  universe.  The  pas- 
sage in  vers.  23-28  comes  into  the  closest  con- 
tact with  the  two  well-known  descriptions  of 
the  Book  of  Proverbs  which  are  occupied  with 
this  eternal  world-regulating  wisdom — Prov.  iii. 
l'.J-26,  and  Prov.  viii.  22  seq.  It  resembles  them 
particularly  in  the  fact  that  a  preliminary  medi- 
tation on  the  human  reflection  and  emanation 
of  this  primordial  wisdom,  on  the  practical 
Chokmah  of  the  God-fearing,  righteous  man, 
prepares  the  way  for  it,  precisely  as  in  those 
two  passages.  The  "knowledge  of  the  place" 
of  the  Creative  Wisdom,  which  ver.  28  ascribes 
to  God,  reminds  the  reader  of  Prov.  viii.  30,  in 
like  manner  as  that  which  is  said  of  its  medi- 
ating agency  in  determining  the  laws  of  wind, 
water,  rain  and  thunder  (vers.  24-26)  reminds 
him  of  Prov.  iii.  19  seq.;  viii.  27  seq.  And 
what  is  said  of  "seeing  and  declaring,"  "estab- 
lishing," or  "setting  up  and  searching  out"  the 
heavenly  architectress  in  ver.  27,  precisely  as 
in  Prov.  viii.  22  seq.,  presents  Wisdom  as  the 
infinitely  many-sided  pattern  of  the  KTiaiq  koitjjov, 
as  the  ideal  world,  or  the  divine  imagination  of 
all  things  that  were  to  be  created,  as  the  com- 
plex unity  of  all  the  creative  ideas  or  archetypes 
present  to  God  from  eternity.  This  divine  cre- 
ative primordial  wisdom,  as  described  here,  and 
in  the  two  parallel  passages  in  the  Solomonic 
writings  (and  not  less  in  those  passages  of  the 
Apocrypha  which  in  some  respects  are  still  more 
full,  viz.  Sirach,  ch.  xxiv.,  and  Wisilom,  ch.  vii. 
-ix),  IS  without  question  closely  related  to  the 
idea  of  the  Logos  given  in  the  New  Testament, 
[t  is  very  true  that  the  idea  of  Wisdom,  espe- 
cially in  the  passage  before  us,  the  oldest  af  all 
pertaining  to  the  subject,  has  not  yet  shaped 
itself  into  a  form  of  existence  so  concretely  per- 
sonal, and  a  filial  relation  to  God  so  intimate 


526 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


and  so  indicative  of  similarity  of  nature,  as  cha- 
racterize the  Johannean  Logos.  It  appears 
rather  simply  as  an  "impersonal  model"  for 
God  in  His  creative  activity,  while  the  New 
Testament  Logos  is  the  "personal  architect" 
working  in  accordance  vcitli  that  model,  "the 
deraiurg  by  which  God  has  called  the  world  into 
existence  according  to  that  ideal  which  was  in 
the  divine  mind"  (Del.).  But  notwithstanding 
this  its  undeveloped  character,  the  Chokmah  of 
our  passage  is  the  unmistakable  substratum  and 
the  immediate  precursor  of  the  revealed  percep- 
tion of  a  personal  Word,  and  of  an  only-begOtten 
Son  of  God.  And  as  the  older  exegesis  and  the- 
ology was  already  in  general  correct  in  refer- 
ring our  passage  to  the  Divine  in  Christ  (the 
ao^ia  Tov  i?EoD,  Matt.  xi.  19;  Luke  xi.  49)  the 
attempts  of  more  recent  writers  to  deny  any 
genetic  connection  of  ideas  between  it  and  the 
New  Testament  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  and  in 
general  to  regard  human  wisdom  as  the  only  ob- 
ject described,  even  in  vers.  23-28  (e.  ff.  Bruch, 
Weisheitslchrc,  etc.,  p.  202;  V.  Hofmann,  Schrift- 
beiv.l:  95seq.  ;  Luthardt,  Apologetische  Vortrage 
iiber  die  Ileilswahrheiten  des  Christenth.,  2d  Ed.  p. 
227),  have  rightly  evoked  much  opposition. 
Comp.  Philippi,  Kirchl.  Glaubenslehre  IL  192 
seq. ;  Kahnis,  Luth.  Dogm.  I,  316  seq.  ;  III,  209 
seq. ;  Bucher,  Des  Johannes  Lehre  vom  Logos, 
1856 ;  also  B.  Couve,  Les  Origines  de  la  Doctrine 
du  Verbe,  Toulouse,  1869,  p.  36  seq.  The  latter 
indeed  denies  in  respect  to  the  present  passage 
(in  which,  like  Hofmann,  he  is  inclined  to  find 
merely  a  poetic  personification  of  human  wis- 
dom) that  it  is  related  in  the  way  of  preparation 
to  the  New  Testament  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  but 
admits  this  in  respect  to  the  parallel  passages 
in  Proverbs,  and  the  later  passages.  Against 
Merx's  view,  which  in  part  is  similar,  see  above 
No.  1,  near  the  end. 

3-  Taken  in  connection  with  the  preparatory 
train  of  thought  in  ch.  xxvii.  this  description  of 
wisdom,  or  more  strictly,  of  the  way  to  true 
wisdom,  forms  one  of  the  most  important,  artis- 
tically elaborated  portions  of  the  whole  poem. 
It  is  a  suitable  conclusion  to  the  first  principal 
division  of  the  poem,  or  the  entanglement  which 
results  from  the  controversial  passage  between 
Job  and  his  friends,  taking  the  form  of  a  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  in  which  Job,  after  victoriously 
repelling  all  the  assaults  of  his  enemies,  states 
his  position  on  all  the  chief  points,  about  which 
the  controversy  had  revolved,  in  a  manner  full 
at  once  of  a  calm  dignity  and  the  consciousness 
of  victory.  The  one  favorite  proposition  of  his 
opponents, — that  his  suffering  could  not  be  un- 
deserved— he  solemnly  and  unqualifiedly  repels 
by  again  asseverating  his  complete  innocence 
(ch.  xxvii.  2-10).  In  asserting  here  that  his 
conscience  does  not  hold  up  before  him  one  of 
his  former  days  as  worthy  of  blame  or  punish- 
ment (ver.  6)  he  transgresses  in  a  one-sided 
manner  the  bounds*  of  that  which  could  be 
maintained  with  strict  truth  concerning  himself 
(comp.  ch.  xxvi.  13),  and  so  causes  that  foul 
spot  to  appear  clearly  enough  on  his  moral  con- 
duct and  consciousness,  for  which  he  must  needs 
implore  forgiveness.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
confession  which  follows  of  his  belief  in  that 
other    favorite  proposition  of    his  opponents — 


that  the  wicked  are  punished  in  this  life  (ch. 
xxvii,  11-23) — seems  to  go  too  far  in  an  opposite 
direction;  for  after  what  he  has  said  repeatedly 
heretofore  in  favor  of  the  teachings  of  experi- 
ence touching  the  temporal  prosperity  of  the 
ungodly,  he  could  not  properly  concede  the 
point  which  he  now  maintains,  and  that  so  com- 
pletely without  qualification.  The  first  half  of 
his  discourse  accordingly  seems  liable  to  the 
charge  of  being  egregiously  one-sided  and  of  de- 
parting from  strict  actual  truth  in  two  respects 
— in  declaring  that  Job's  suffering  was  whollj, 
and  in  every  respect  unmerited,  and  in  admitting 
that  even  in  this  life  there  is  a  divine  judgment 
awaiting  the  wicked,  from  which  they  cannot 
escape.  The  second  principal  division  of  the 
discourse  prepares  the  way  at  least  for  supple- 
menting and  correcting  both  of  these  one-sided 
representations  through  its  elevated  eulogy  on 
true  wisdom,  founded  on  constant  undivided  sur- 
render to  God,  however  much  there  may  be  still 
that  needs  purifying  and  improving.  He  dwells 
with  special  emphasis  on  the  fact  that  the  eager 
striving  and  longing  of  the  wicked  reaches  not 
only  after  earthly  treasures  and  jewels,  such  as 
are  to  be  procured  out  of  the  depths  of  the 
earth  only  with  much  toil  and  effort.  He  thus 
intimates  that  their  whole  prosperity,  being 
founded  on  such  earthly  treasures  (comp.  ch. 
xxvii.  16),  is  in  itself  perishable,  unreal,  a  mere 
phantom,  and  emphasizes  all  the  more  strongly 
in  contrast  with  it  the  incomparable  worth  of  a 
prosperity  consisting  in  the  fear  of  God  and  in 
strict  rectitude,  in  surrendering  oneself  wholly 
to  that  which  is  divine,  in  the  pursuit  of  hea- 
venly treasures,  in  a  word  in  true  wisdom,  the 
image  and  emanation  of  the  eternal  divine  wis- 
dom of  the  Creator,  a  prosperity  of  so  high  an 
order  that  he  would  possess  it  as  the  foundation, 
and  at  the  same  time  as  the  fruit  of  his  inno- 
cenoe,  and  that  it  would  not  forsake  him  even 
now,  in  the  midst  of  his  fearful  sufferings  and 
conflicts.  There  is  much  in  this  train  of  thought 
that  is  not  brought  out  with  such  clearness  as 
might  be  desirable.  Some  of  it  must  even  be 
read  between  the  lines  as  being  tacitly  taken 
for  granted,  particularly  that  which  refers  to 
Job  as  having  formerly  possessed  and  as  still 
possessing  this  heavenly  practical  wisdom,  and 
also  to  its  relation  to  his  temporary  misei-y.  But 
although  the  discourse  may  lack  that  close  con- 
secutiveness  and  thorough  completeness  of  plan 
which  modern  philosophic  poets  or  thinkers 
might  have  impressed  upon  it,  it  nevertheless 
forms  a  truly  suitable  conclusion  to  the  prece- 
ding controversies,  and  at  the  same  time  a  stri- 
king transition  to  the  gradual  solution  of  the 
whole  conflict  which  now  follows.  As  regards 
its  significance  in  the  structure  of  the  poem  it 
maybe  termed  "Job's  Eulogy  on  Wisdom,"  in 
which  he  announces  his  supreme  axiom  of  life, 
and  characteristically  gives  to  his  vindication 
against  the  friends  its  harmonious  peroration, 
and  its  seal.  It  appears  in  the  structure  of  the 
book  as  "  the  clasp  which  unites  the  half  of  the 
(5t(7ic  with  the  half  of  the  Ziwf,"  and  on  which 
the  poet  has  characteristically  inscribed  the 
well-known  axiom  of  the  Old  Testament  Chok- 
mah— "The  fear  of  God  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom"   (Delitzsch). 


CHAPS.  XXVII— XXVIII. 


527 


4.  For  the  homilcfic  treatment  of  this  section  it 
is  more  important  to  call  attention  to  the  close 
family  relationship  existing  between  this  eulogy 
of  Job's  on  wisdom  and  such  New  Testament 
passages  as  Paul's  eulogy  on  Love  (1  Cor.  xiii.), 
our  Lord's  admonition  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  to  seek  treasures  in  heaven  (Matt.  vi.  19 
seq  ),  the  similar  exhortations  of  Paul  and 
James  (1  Tim.  vi.;  James  v.),  than  to  take  pains 
to  exhibit  the  plan  of  the  section,  lacking  as  it  is 
in  complete  thoroughness,  and  to  show  its  sub- 
tle, oftentimes  completely  hidden  connections 
with  the  previous  course  of  the  colloquy.  A 
large  number  of  hearers  would  scarcely  be  pre- 
pared to  follow  with  profit  such  elaborate  disqui- 
sitions concerning  the  niceties  of  plan  in  the 
discourse,  and  by  reason  of  the  not  inconsidera- 
ble expenditure  of  time  requisite  for  such  an  ob- 
ject, they  would  be  quite,  or  almost  quite  un- 
touched by  so  much  beauty  and  impressive 
power  as  the  details  of  the  discourse  present.  A 
division  of  the  whole  into  smaller  sections,  at 
least  into  the  three,  which  constitute  the  natural 
partition  of  the  discourse,  seems  here  also  to  be 
required  for  homiletic  purposes,  in  order  that 
every  part  of  it  may  be  suitably  appreciated  and 
unfolded. 

Particular   Passages. 

Chap,  xxvii.  2  sq.  V.  Gerlach  :  If  by  God's 
grace  a  holy  man  then  (under  the  Old  Dispensa- 
tion) kept  his  life  pure,  and  observed  God's 
commandments,  albeit  in  weakness,  to  which  the 
speeches  of  Job  himself  bear  witness  (this  very 
confession  especially),  it  was  of  the  highest  im- 
portance that  this  his  life  should  not  be  judged 
falsely,  that  he  should  be  recognized  as  God's 
visible  representative,  as  a  revealer  of  His  law, 
as  a  support  of  God's  servants  such  as  were 
weaker,  not  free  from  blame.  Such  a  prince 
among  God's  saints  on  earth  as  Job  lived  pre- 
eminently for  God's  people,  and  he  could  not, 
without  throwing  all  into  confusion,  deny  his 
position,  could  not  through  false  humility  sur- 
render his  righteousness,  which  for  very  many 
was  the  righteousness  of  God  himself;  he  must 
on  occasion  declare  boldly  that  his  enemies  were 
also  enemies  of  God.  Hence  his  showing  him- 
self on  the  spot  in  this  confession  as  a  victor 
after  the  struggle  was  not  only  a  comfort  to  the 
sorely  tried  man,  but  also  of  importance  for  the 
complete  establishment  of  that  which  he  af- 
firmed. 

Ch.  xxvii.  10.  Brentius:  When  he  says  that 
the  hypocrite  does  not  always  call  upon  God,  he 
has  reference  to  the  duty  of  praying  without 
ceasing  (1  Thess.  v.  17).  For  where  there  is 
faith,  prayer  is  never  suspended,  although  one 
should  be  asleep,  or  should  be  doing  something 
else.  Unbelief  indeed  never  prays,  except  with 
the  mouth  only;  but  such  praying  cannot  reach 
through  the  clouds. 

Ch.  xxvii.  13  seq.  Osiander:  God  does  not 
forget  the  wickedness  of  the  ungodly,  but  pun- 
ishes it  in  His  own  time  most  severely,  and 
generally  even  in  this  life  (Ex.  xxxii.  34).  .  .  . 
The  destruction  of  the  ungodly  is  therefore  to 
be  waited  for  in  patience.  Although  these  think 
that  vjhen  misfortune  befalls  them,  it  comes  by 


chance,  it  does  nevertheless  come  from  God 
because  of  their  sin  (Am.  iii.  6). 

Ch.  xxviii.  1  seq.  Zeyss:  If  men  are  so  inge- 
nious, and  so  indefatigably  industrious  in  dis- 
covering and  obtaining  earthly  treasures,  how 
much  more  should  they  toil  to  secure  heavenly 
treasures,  which  alone  can  give  true  rest  to  our 
souls,  make  us  rich  and  happy  (Matt.  xvi.  26)! 
— Brentius:  All  else  in  the  nature  of  things, 
however  deeply  hidden,  can  be  searched  out  and 
valued  by  human  labor  and  industry  ;  the  wis- 
dom of  God  alone  can  neither  be  sought  out,  nor 
judged  by  human  endeavor.  Although  the  veins 
of  silver  and  gold  lie  hidden  in  the  most  secret 
recesses  of  the  mountains,  they  are  nevertheless 
discovered  by  great  labor,  and  riches,  which 
incite  to  so  many  evils,  are  dug  out.  In  like 
manner  iron,  however  it  may  be  hidden  in  the 
most  secret  depths  of  the  earth,  can  nevertheless 
be  discovered  ;  but  no  one  anywhere  has  found 
the  wisdom  of  God  by  human  endeavor. 

Ch.  xxviii.  12  seq.  Oecolampaoius:  Corpo- 
real substances,  of  whatsoever  kind,  can  be 
found  somewhere.  Wisdom  is  of  another  order 
of  being:  you  can  ascertain  neither  its  place 
nor  its  price.  In  vain  will  you  journey  to  the 
Brahmins,  to  Athens,  to  Jerusalem  ;  although 
you  cross  the  sea,  or  descend  into  the  abyss, 
you  but  change  your  skies,  not  your  soul. 
Neither  schools,  nor  courts,  nor  temples,  nor 
monasteries,  nor  stars,  will  make  one  wiser. 

Ch.  xxviii.  23-28.  Oecolampadius  (on  ver. 
27):  Not  that  we  should  think  of  God  so  child- 
ishly, as  though  in  His  works  He  had  need  of 
deliberation  or  of  an  external  pattern,  but  in 
His  nature  He  has  such  productiveness  that  He 
both  wills  and  produces  at  one  and  the  same 
time  (Ps.  xxxiii.  9). — Cocceius  :  Distinguish 
between  the  wisdom  which  is  the  patera  and 
the  end,  and  that  which  is  the  shadow  [image], 
and  the  means.  The  former  is  witli  God,  is 
God,  and  is  known  only  to  God ;  the  latter  is 
from  God  in  us,  a  ray  of  that  Wisdom.  In  like 
manner,  we  are  said  to  be  kolvuvoI  &eiar  (pvoEug 
(2  Pet.  i.  4),  i.  e.  through  having  God's  image, 
being  one  with  Him,  and  enjoying  Him. — Jac. 
BoEHME  (according  to  Hamberger,  Lehre  J. 
Bohme's,  p.  55) :  Wisdom  is  a  divine  imagination, 
in  which  the  ideas  of  the  angels  and  souls  and 
all  things  were  seen  from  eternity,  not  as  already 
actual  creatures,  but  as  a  man  beholds  himself 
in  a  mirror. — W.  Wolff  [Die  Anfcingc  der  Logos- 
lehre,  etc.  Zeitschrift  f.  LxUh.  Theol.,  1870,  p. 
220):  What  is  wisdom?  It  is  not  measuring 
space  with  the  help  of  mathematics,  it  is  not 
contemplating  cells  through  the  microscope,  it 
is  not  even  resolving  things  into  their  original 
substance,  and  determining  their  relations  one 
to  another,  but  it  is  having  an  insight  into  their 
nature,  having  full  knowledge  of  their  original 
condition.  Yea,  more;  absolute  wisdom  is 
essentially  creative.  We  can  search  out  indeed 
God's  thoughts  (in  His  creation),  but  we  cannot 
gather  up  any  truth  into  a  vital  point,  out  of 
which  anything  can  proceed  or  originate  ;  we 
cannot  (to  use  the  language  of  J.  Bohme)  "com- 
press it  into  a  centre."  .  .  .  God  alone  has  that 
creative  wisdom.  He  must  know  it,  for  He  has 
it  first  and  foremost  in  Himself.  It  is  not  disco- 
vered and  searched  out  by  Him,  but  it  is  in  His 


528  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


being  (Prov.  \iii.  25  seq.)  It  was,  and  is,  in 
the  same  eternal  form  in  which  God  is:  uncre- 
ated, divinely  internal. — V.  Gerlach  (on  ver. 
28):  "He  who  would  learn  the  secrets  of  the 
mighty  must    keep   watch   diligently   at   their 


gates,"  eays  with  truth  an  eastern  proverb. 
Without  the  living  moral  foUowship  of  the  heart 
with  God  it  is  vain  to  desire  to  know  wisdom, 
which  comes  only  from  Him,  and  belongs  only 
to  Him. 


SECOND  CHIEF  DIVISION  OF  THE  POEM. 

DISENTANGLEMENT  OF  THE  MYSTERY  THROUGH  THE  DISCOURSES  OF  JOB,  ELIHU 

AND  JEHOVAH. 

Chapteks  XXIX— XLII.  6. 

First  Stage  of  the  Disentanglement. 

Chaps.  XXIX— XXXI. 

Job's  Soliloquy,  setting  forth  the  truth  that  his  suffering  -was  not  due  to  his  moral 
conduct,  that  it  must  have  therefore  a  deeper  cause.  [The  negative  side  of 
the  solution  of  the  problem.] 

1.  Yearning  retrospect  at  the  fair  prosperity  of  his  former  life. 

Chapter  XXIX. 

a.  Describing  the  outward  appearance  of  this  former  prosperity. 

Vers.  1-10. 

1  Moreover,  Job  continued  his  parable,  and  said : 

2  O  that  I  were  as  in  months  past, 

as  in  the  days  when  God  preserved  me ; 

3  when  His  candle  shined  upon  my  head, 

and  when  by  His  light  I  walked  through  darkness ; 

4  as  I  was  in  the  days  of  my  youth. 

when  the  secret  of  God  was  upon  my  tabernacle ; 

5  when  the  Almighty  was  yet  with  me, 
when  my  children  were  about  me  ; 

6  when  I  washed  my  steps  with  butter, 
and  the  rock  poured  me  out  rivers  of  oil ; 

7  when  I  went  out  to  the  gate  through  the  city, 
when  I  prepared  my  seat  in  the  street ! 

8  The  young  men  saw  me,  and  hid  themselves ; 
and  the  aged  arose,  and  stood  up. 

9  The  princes  refrained  talking, 

and  laid  their  hand  on  their  mouth. 

10  The  nobles  held  their  peace, 

and  their  tongue  cleaved  to  the  roof  of  their  mouth. 

b.  Pointing  out  the  inward  cause  of  this  prosperity — hia  benevolence  and  integrity. 

Vers.   11-17. 

11  When  the  ear  heard  me,  then  it  blessed  me ; 
and  when  the  eye  saw  me,  it  gave  witness  to  me : 

12  because  I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried ; 

and  the  fatherless,  and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him. 


CHAPS.  XXIX— XXXr.  529 


13  The  blessing  of  hira  that  was  ready  to  perish  came  upon  me : 
and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy. 

14  I  put  on  righteousness,  and  it  clothed  me : 
ray  judgment  was  as  a  robe  and  a  diadem. 

15  I  was  eyes  to  the  blind, 
and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame. 

16  1  was  a  father  to  the  poor ; 

and  the  cause  which  I  knew  not  I  searched  out. 

17  And  I  brake  the  jaws  of  the  wicked, 
and  plucked  the  spoil  out  of  hia  teeth. 

c.  Describing  that  feature  of  his  former  prosperity  which  he  now  most  painfully  misses,  viz.,  the  universal 
honor  shown  to  him,  and  his  far-reaching  influence:  vers.  18-25. 

18  Then  I  said,  I  shall  die  in  my  nest, 

and  I  shall  multiply  ray  days  as  the  sand. 

19  My  root  was  spread  out  by  the  waters, 
and  the  dew  lay  all  night  upon  my  branch. 

20  My  glory  was  fresh  in  me, 

and  my  bow  was  renewed  in  ray  hand. 

21  Unto  rae  men  gave  ear,  and  waited, 
and  kept  silence  at  my  counsel. 

22  After  my  words  they  spake  not  again ; 
and  my  speech  dropped  upon  them. 

23  And  they  waited  for  me  as  for  the  rain  ; 

and  they  opened  their  mouth  wide  as  for  the  latter  rain. 

24  If  I  laughed  on  them,  they  believed  it  not ; 

and  the  light  of  my  countenance  they  cast  not  down. 

25  I  chose  out  their  way,  and  sat  chief, 
and  dwelt  as  a  king  in  the  army, 

as  one  that  comforteth  the  mourners. 

2.   Sorrowful  description  of  hia  present  sad  estate. 

Chapter  XXX. 
a.   The  ignominy  and  contempt  he  receives  from  men:  vers.  1-15, 

1  But  now  they  that  are  younger  than  I  have  me  in  derision, 
whose  fathers  I  would  have  disdained 

to  have  set  with  the  dogs  of  my  flock. 

2  Yea,  whereto  might  the  strength  of  their  hands  profit  me, 
in  whom  old  age  was  perished  ? 

3  For  want  and  famine  they  were  solitary ; 
fleeing  into  the  wilderness 

in  former  time  desolate  and  waste. 

4  Who  cut  up  mallows  by  the  bushes, 
and  juniper  roots  for  their  meat. 

5  They  w^ere  driven  forth  from  among  men, 
(they  cried  after  them  as  after  a  thief)  ; 

6  To  dwell  in  the  cliffs  of  the  valleys, 

in  caves  of  the  earth,  and  in  the  rocks. 

7  Among  the  bushes  they  brayed  ; 

under  the  nettles  they  were  gathered  together. 

8  They  were  children  of  fools,  yea,  children  of  base  men ; 
they  were  viler  than  the  earth. 

9  And  now  am  I  their  song, 
yea,  I  am  their  byword. 

10  They  abhor  me,  they  flee  far  from  me, 
and  spare  not  to  spit  in  my  face. 
34 


530  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


11  Because  He  hath  loosed  my  cord,  and  afflicted  me, 
they  have  also  let  loose  the  bridle  before  me. 

12  Upon  my  right  hand  rise  the  youth ; 
they  push  away  my  feet, 

and  they  raise  up  against  me  the  ways  of  their  destruction. 

13  They  mar  my  path, 

they  set  forward  my  calamity, 
they  have  no  helper. 

14  They  came  upon  me  as  a  wide  breaking  in  of  waters ; 
in  the  desolation  they  rolled  themselves  upon  me. 

15  Terrors  are  turned  upon  me  : 
they  pursue  ray  soul  as  the  w'ind : 

and  my  welfare  passeth  away  as  a  cloud. 

b.   The  vnspeakable  misery  which  everywhere  oppresses  him:  vers.  16-23. 

16  And  now  my  soul  is  poured  out  upon  me ; 

the  days  of  affliction  have  taken  hold  upon  me. 

17  My  bones  are  pierced  in  me  in  the  night  season ; 
and  my  sinews  take  no  rest. 

18  By  the  great  force  of  my  disease  is  my  garment  changed : 
it  bindeth  me  about  as  the  collar  of  my  coat. 

19  He  hath  cast  me  into  the  mire, 

and  I  am  become  like  dust  and  ashes. 

20  I  cry  unto  Thee,  and  Thou  dost  not  hear  me : 
I  stand  up,  and  Thou  regardest  me  not. 

21  Thou  art  become  cruel  to  me ; 

with  Thy  strong  hand  Thou  opposest  Thyself  against  me. 

22  Thou  liftest  me  up  to  the  wind  ; 
Thou  causest  me  to  ride  upon  it, 
and  dissolvest  my  substance. 

23  For  I  know  that  Thou  wilt  bring  me  to  death, 
and  to  the  house  appointed  for  all  living. 

c.   The  disappointment  of  all  his  hopes:  vers.  24-81. 

24  Howbeit  he  will  not  stretch  out  his  hand  to  the  grave, 
though  they  cry  in  his  destruction, 

25  Did  not  I  weep  for  him  that  was  in  trouble  ? 
was  not  ray  soul  grieved  for  the  poor  ? 

26  When  I  looked  for  good,  then  evil  came  unto  me ; 
and  when  I  waited  for  light,  there  came  darkness. 

27  My  bowels  boiled,  and  rested  not : 
the  days  of  affliction  prevented  me. 

28  I  went  mourning  without  the  sun  : 

I  stood  up,  and  I  cried  in  the  congregation. 

29  I  am  a  brother  to  dragons, 
and  a  companion  to  owls. 

30  My  skin  is  black  upon  me, 

and  my  bones  are  burned  with  heat. 

31  My  harp  also  is  turned  to  mourning, 

and  my  organ  into  the  voice  of  them  that  weep. 

3.  Solemn  asseveratiou  of  his  innocence  in  respect  to  all  open  and  secret  sins. 

Chapter  XXXI. 
a.    JTc  has  abandoned  himself  to  no  wicked  lust:  vers.  1-8. 

1  I  made  a  covenant  with  mine  eyes ; 
why  then  should  I  think  upon  a  maid? 

2  For  what  portion  of  God  is  there  from  above  ? 

and  what  inheritance  of  the  Almighty  from  on  high? 


CHAPS.  XXIX— XXXI.  531 


3  Is  not  destruction  to  the  wicked  ? 

and  a  strange  punishment  to  the  workers  of  iniquity  ? 

4  Doth  not  He  see  my  ways, 
and  count  all  my  steps  ? 

5  If  I  have  walked  with  vanity, 

or  if  my  foot  hath  hasted  to  deceit ; 

6  let  me  be  weighed  in  an  even  balance, 
that  God  may  know  mine  integrity. 

7  If  my  step  hath  turned  out  of  the  way, 
and  mine  heart  walked  after  mine  eyes, 
and  if  any  blot  hath  cleaved  to  mine  hands ; 

8  then  let  me  sow,  and  let  another  eat ; 
yea,  let  my  offspring  be  rooted  out. 

b.  He  has  acted  uprightly  in  all  his  domestic  life:  vers.  9-13, 

9  If  mine  heart  have  been  deceived  by  a  woman, 
or  if  I  have  laid  wait  at  my  neighbor's  door  ; 

10  then  let  my  wife  grind  unto  another, 
and  let  others  bow  down  upon  her. 

11  For  this  is  a  heinous  crime ; 

yea,  it  is  an  iniquity  to  be  punished  by  the  judges. 

12  For  it  is  a  fire  that  consumeth  to  destruction, 
and  would  root  out  all  mine  increase. 

13  If  I  did  despise  the  cause  of  my  man-servant,  or  of  my  maid-servant, 
when  they  contended  with  me ; 

14  what  then  shall  I  do  when  God  riseth  up  ? 

and  when  He  visiteth,  Avhat  shall  I  answer  Him  ? 

15  Did  not  He  that  made  me  in  the  womb  make  him? 
and  did  not  One  fashion  us  in  the  womb  ? 

c.  He  has  constantly  practised  neighborly  kindness  and  justice  in  civil  life',  vers.  16-23. 

16  If  I  have  withheld  the  poor  from  their  desire, 
or  have  caused  the  eyes  of  the  widow  to  fail ; 

17  or  have  eaten  my  morsel  myself  alone, 
and  the  fatherless  hath  not  eaten  thereof: 

18  (for  from  my  youth  he  was  brought  up  with  me,  as  with  a  father, 
and  I  have  guided  her  from  my  mother's  womb  ;) 

19  if  I  have  seen  any  perish  for  want  of  clothing, 
or  any  poor  without  covering ; 

20  if  his  loins  have  not  blessed  me, 

and  if  he  were  not  warmed  with  the  fleece  of  my  sheep  ; 

21  if  I  have  lifted  up  my  hand  against  the  fatherless, 
when  I  saw  my  help  in  the  gate ; 

22  then  let  mine  arm  fall  from  my  shoulder  blade, 
and  mine  arm  be  broken  from  the  bone ! 

23  For  destruction  from  God  was  a  terror  to  me, 
and  by  reason  of  His  highness  I  could  not  endure. 

d.  He  has  not  violated  his  more  secret  obligations  to   God  and  his  neighbor:  vers.  24-32. 

24  If  I  have  made  gold  my  hope, 

or  have  said  to  the  fine  gold,  Thou  art  my  confidence ; 

25  if  I  rejoiced  because  my  wealth  was  great, 
and  because  mine  hand  had  gotten  much; 

26  if  I  beheld  the  sun  when  it  shined, 
or  the  moon  walking  in  brightness ; 

27  and  my  heart  hath  been  secretly  enticed, 
or  my  mouth  hath  kissed  my  hand  : 


532 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


28 


29 
30 


this  also  were  an  iniquity  to  be  punished  by  the  judge  ; 

for  I  should  have  denied  the  God  that  is  above. 

If  I  rejoiced  at  the  destruction  of  him  that  hated  me, 

or  lifted  up  myself  when  evil  found  him : 

( — neither  have  I  suffered  my  mouth  to  sin 

by  wishing  a  curse  to  his  soul :) 

31  if  the  men  of  my  tabernacle  said  not, 

O  that  we  had  of  his  flesh  !  we  cannot  be  satisfied. 

32  The  stranger  did  not  lodge  in  the  street : 
but  I  opened  my  doors  to  the  traveller. 


e.  He  has  been  guilty  furthermore  of  no  hypocrisy,  or  mere  semblance  of  holiness,  of  no  secret  violence,  or 
avaricious  oppression  of  his  neighbor :  vers.  33-40. 

33  If  I  covered  my  transgressions  as  Adam, 
by  hiding  mine  iniquity  in  my  bosom  : 

34  did  I  fear  a  great  multitude, 

or  did  the  contempt  of  families  terrify  me, 

that  I  kept  silence,  and  went  not  out  of  the  door  ? 

35  0  that  one  would  hear  me  I 

behold,  my  desire  is  that  the  Almighty  would  answer  me, 
and  that  mine  adversary  had  written  a  book. 

36  Surely  I  would  take  it  upon  my  shoulder, 
and  bind  it  as  a  crown  to  me. 

37  I  would  declare  unto  Him  the  number  of  my  steps ; 
as  a  prince  would  I  go  near  unto  Him. 

38  If  my  laud  cry  against  me, 

or  that  the  furrows  likewise  thereof  complain ; 

39  If  I  have  eaten  the  fruits  thereof  without  money, 
or  have  caused  the  owners  thereof  to  lose  their  life ; 

40  Let  thistles  grow  instead  of  wheat, 
and  cockle  instead  of  barley. 

The  words  of  Job  are  ended. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  Although  introduced  by  the  same  formula 
as  the  discourse  immediately  preceding  (comp. 
ch.  xxix.  1  with  xxvii.  1),  this  last  long  series  of 
Job's  utterances  exhibits  decidedly  a  ueTd/Jaaig 
eif  aXXo  yevog,  a  form  and  method  esssentially 
new  in  comparison  with  the  former  controver- 
sial and  argumentative  discourses  of  the  collo- 
quy. They  are  not  once  addressed  to  the 
friends,  who  since  ch.  xxv.  have  been  entirely 
silenced,  and  have  not  been  provoked  to  further 
reply  even  by  the  elaborate  instructions,  which 
he  imparts  to  them  in  ch.  xxvii.  xxviii.  In- 
stead of  this  they  frequently  appeal  to  God,  and 
present,  especially  in  the  last  section,  a  long 
series  of  solemn  asseverations  or  adjurations 
uttered  before  God.  They  thus  appear,  in  con- 
trast with  the  interlocutory  character  of  the  dis- 
courses hitherto,  as  a  genuine  soliloquy  by  Job, 
which  both  by  its  contents  and  by  its  conspicu- 
ous length,  forms  a  suitable  transition  to  the  fol- 
lowing discourses,  or  groups  of  discourses  by 
Elihu  and  Jehovah,  which  are  in  like  manner  of 
considerable  length.  The  three  principal  sec- 
tions are  a  yearning  retrospect  to  the  happy 
past  (ch.  xxix.),  a  description  of  the  sorrowful 
present  (ch.  xxx.),  and  solemn  asseverations  of 
innocence  in  presence  of  the  divine  judge,  or 


God  of  the  Future  (ch.  xxxi.).  These  divisions 
are  very  obvious,  and  justify  the  divisions  into 
chapters  founded  on  them  as  corresponding 
strictly  to  that  intended  by  the  poet  himself. 
Neither  can  there  be  much  doubt  in  regard  to 
the  more  special  sub-division  of  these  chief  di- 
visions. The  first  and  the  seeond  contain  re- 
spectively three  long  sub-divisions  or  strophes, 
of  8-9  verses  each  (once  only,  ch.  xxx.  1  seq.  of 
15  verses,  which  long  strophe  indeed  may  also 
be  divided  into  two  shorter  ones  of  8  and  7 
verses.  In  the  third  part  there  appear  quite 
distinctly  five  groups  of  thought  of  7-8  (once 
of  9)  verses  each. 

2.  First  Division :  The  prosperity  of  the  past : 
ch.  xxix.  ["  It  is  very  thoughtfully  planned  by 
the  poet  that  Job,  by  this  description  of  his  for- 
mer prosperity,  unintentionally  refutes  the  accu- 
sations of  his  friends,  inasmucli  as  it  furnishes 
a  picture  of  his  former  life  very  dift'erent  from 
that  wliich  they  had  ventured  to  assume.  We 
have  here  the  picture  of  a  rich  and  highly  dis- 
tinguished chief  of  a  tribe  [or  patriarch],  who 
was  happy  only  in  spreading  abroad  happiness 
and  blessing."   Sohlottmann]. 

First  Strophe;  vers.  2-10:  The  outward  ap- 
pearance of  this  former  prosperity. 

Ver.  2.  Oh  that  it  were  to  me  [Oh  that  I 
were]  as  in  months  of  yore  !  lit.  "who  gives 
(makes)  me  like  the  months  of  the   past,"  who 


CHAPS.  XXIX— XXXI. 


633 


puts  me  back  in  the  happy  condition  of  that 
time  (so  Rosenm.,  AVelte,  Vaih,  elc).  Or,  with 
the  dative  rendering  of  the  suffix  in  "'JJn;'  (as  iu 
Is.  xxvii.  4;  Jer.  ix.  1),  "who  gives  to  me  like 
the  months  of  the  past,"  i.  e.  who  makes  me  to 
live  over  such!  (so  usually).  On  the  construc- 
tion in  b  (the  constr.  state  "'O'D  before  the  rela- 
tive clause),  comp.  Geseuius,  ^116,  [§114],  3. 
[Green,  §255,  2]. 

Ver.  3.  When  it  (viz.)  His  lamp  shone 
above  my  head. — nn3,  Inf.  Kal  of  vbn  with 
the  vowel  a  weakened  to  i  (Ewald,  §  255,  a) 
[Green,  §  139,  2],  not  Inf.  Hiph.  as  Bottcher 
would  render  it,  when  after  the  Targ.  he  trans- 
lates:  "when  He  caused  His  lamp  to  shine." 
This  Hiphil  rendering  could  only  be  justified  if 

(with  Ewald  in  his  comm.)  we  should  read  wHB 
(wnnS).  ["Probably  alluding  to  the  custom 
of  suspending  lamps  in  rooms  or  tents  over  the 
head.  The  language  of  this  ver.  is  of  course 
figurative,  and  implies  prosperity  and  the  di- 
vine favor."  Carey].  On  the  anticipation  of  the 
subject  ''"'3_  by  the  suffix,  comp.  Ew.,  §  309,  c. 
Delitzseh  quite  too  artificially  refers  the  suffix 
in  '''iTM  to  God,  and  takes  Tip  as  a  self-cor- 
rective, explanatory  permutative :  "wheu  He, 
His  lamp  shone,  etc." 

Ver.  4.  As  I  was  in  the  days  of  my  har- 
vest.— 'liJ'^.^,  "as,  according  as,"  resumes  the 
simple  2  in  TTTD  and  "'D'J,  ver.  2.  "The  days 
of  the  harvest  "  are,  as  ver.  5  b  shows,  a  figura- 
tive expression  for  ripe  manhood  ["the  days  of 
my  prime"  Carey],  the  seias  virilis  suis  fructibus 
foela  et  exuberans  (Schultens)  :  comp.  Ovid  Metam. 
XV.  200.  [The  rendering  of  E.  V.  "in  the 
days  of  my  youth"  (after  Symmach.  and  the 
Vulg.)  is  less  correct,  as  is  shown  by  the  reference 
above  to  ver.  5  b,  the  time  referred  to  beingthat 
when  he  had  his  children  about  him,  as  well  as 
by  the  word  ']"in  itself,  which  means  the  time 
when  the  ripe  fruit  is  gathered].  When 
Eloah's  friendship  was  over  my  tent ;  i.  e. 
dispensed  protection  and  blessing  above  my  ha- 
bitation. HID  here  meaning  "familiarity,  con- 
fidential intercourse,"  (as  in  ch.  xix.  19 ;  Ps. 
XXV.  14  ;  Iv.  15  [14]  ;  Prov.  iii.  22),  not  the  ce- 
lestial council  of  God,  as  in  ch.  xv.  8  (against 
Hirzel).  ["  mD3  either  by  ellipsis  for  IID  T\Vr\2 
or  HID  having  the  force  of  an  active  [verbal] 
noun,  '*His  being  familiar."  Dillm. — Carey's 
explanation,  though  pushing  the  literal  render- 
ing a  little  too  far,  is  striking:  "lit.  in  the  seat  or 
cushion  of  God  being  at  my  tent ;  i.  e.,  when  God 
was  on  such  terms  of  familiar  intercourse  with 
me  that  he  had,  as  it  were,  his  accustomed  seat 
at  my  tent"]. 

Ver.  5.  On  children  as  a  most  highly  valued 
blessing,  placed  here  next  to  God  Himself,  comp. 
Ps.  cxxvii.  3seq.;  cxxviii.  3.  Concerning  D'lJ^J 
in  this  sense  (not  in  that  of  "servants,")  see 
above  ch.  i.  19;  xxiv.  5. 

Ver.  G.  When  my  steps  w^ere  bathed  in 
cream  (comp.  ch.  xx.  17,  where  however  we 
have  the  full  form  DX'Dn),  and  the  rock  be- 

T  :   V  ' 

side  me  poured  out  streams  of  oil ;  thai 
which  elsewhere  was  barren  poured  out  costly 


blessings,  and  that  close  by  his  side,  so  that  he 
was  not  compelled  to  go  far;  comp.  Dcut. 
xxxii.   13. 

Vers.  7-10.  The  honor  and  dignity  which  he 
then  enjoyed.  When  I  went  forth  to  the 
gate  up  to  the  city.  1;^ty  is  equivalent  to 
(T^i'CJ,  towards  the  gate  (comp.  ch.  xxviii.  11; 
Gen.  xxvii.  3),  not:  "out  at  the  gate"  (as  be- 
low, ch.  xxxi.  34  nnS),  for  Job's  residence  was 
in  the  country,  not  in  the  city  with  W^l^'O.  For 
this  same  reason  he  speaks  here  of  his  going  up 
n^p  ''7j^,  "up  to  the  city;"  for  the  city  adjoin- 
ing to  him,  was  on  an  eminence,  as  was  usually 
the  case  with  ancient  cities.  [Comp.  Abraham's 
relations  to  Hebron,  as  indicated  in  Gen.  xxiii.]. 
In  respect  to  the  use  of  the  space  directly  inside 
the  gates  of  these  cities  as  a  place  for  assem- 
blies of  the  people,  comp.  above,  ch.  v.  4  ;  also 
xxxi.  4;  Prov.  i.  21;  viii.  3,  and  often.  Whert 
I  prepared  my  seat  in  the  market.  Jiri") 
the  open  space  at  the  gvte,  as  in  Neh.  viii.  1,  3, 
16,  etc.  On  the  construction  (the  cliange  from 
the  Infin.  to  the  finite  verb),  comp.  ver.  3;  cb. 
xxviii.  25. 

Ver.  8.  Then  the  young  men  saw  me, 
and  hid  themselves ;  ;.  e.  as  soon  as  they 
came  in  sight  of  me,  from  reverential  awe. 
And  the  gray-headed  rose  up,  remained 
standing — until  I  myself  liad  sat.  ["A  most 
elegant  description,  and  exhibits  most  correctly 
the  great  reverence  and  respect  which  was  paid, 
even  by  the  old  and  decrepit,  to  the  holy  man  in 
passing  along  the  streets,  or  when  he  sat  in 
public.  They  not  only  rose,  which  in  men  so 
old  and  infirm  was  a  great  mark  of  distinction, 
but  they  stood,  they  continued  to  do  it,  though 
the  attempt  was  so  difficult."  Lowth].  On  the 
construction,  comp.  Ewald,  ^285,  b. 

Ver.   9.  Princes  restrained   themselves 

from  speaking  (D'v??  "^"^i^,  as  in  ch.  iv.  2; 
xii.  15),  and  laid  the  hand  on  their  mouth, 
imposed  on  themselves  reverential  silence  ;  comp. 
ch.  xxi.  5.  ["What  is  meant  is  not  that  those 
who  were  in  the  act  of  speaking  stopped  at  Job's 
entrance,  but  that  when  he  wished  to  speak,  even 
princes,  i.  e.  rulers  of  great  bodies  of  men,  or 
those  occupying  the  highest  offices,  refrained 
from  speech."   Dillmann]. 

Ver.  10.  The  voice  of  nobles  hid  itself, 
lit.  "hid  themselves,"  for  the  verb  INSHJ  is  put 

T  :  V         ^ 

in  agreement  with  the  plur.  dependent  on  /Ip 
as  the  principal  term,  as  in  the  similar  cases  iu 
oh.  XV.  20;  xxi.  21;  xxii.  12.  [Comp.  Green, 
§277]. — D'TJJ  lit.  "those  who  are  visible" 
(from  1JJ)  i.  e.  conspicuous,  noble  [^nobiles'].  On 
b  comp.  passages  like  Ps.  cxxxvii.  6;  Ezekiel 
iii.  20. 

Continuation,  Second  Strophe:  vers.  11-17. 
Job's  active  benevolence  and  strict  integrity  as 
the  inward  cause  of  his  former  prosperity. 

Ver.  11.  For  if  an  ear  heard — it  called 
me  happy  — lit.  "for  an  ear  heard,  and  then 
called  me  happy;"  and  similarly  in  the  second 
member.  The  object  of  the  hearing,  as  after- 
wards of  the  seeing,  is  neither  Job's  speeches  in 
the  assembly  of  the  people  ["if  this  ver.  were  a 
continuation  of  the  description  of  the  proceed- 


534 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


ings  in  the  assembly,  it  would  not  be  introduced 
by  ''3"  Dillm.],  nor  his  prosperity  (Hahn,  De- 
litzscb),  but  as  ver.  12  seq.  shows,  his  whole 
public  and  private  activity.  [For  the  reason 
mentioned  by  Dillmann  'JD  is  better  translated 
"for"  than  "when"  (E.  V.)].  In  regard  to 
"l^K  "to  pronounce  happy,"  comp.  Prov.  xxxi. 
28;  Cant.  vi.  9.  In  regard  to  T^H,  to  bear  fa- 
vorable testimony  to  any  one,  comp.  fiaprvpelv 
Tivi  Luke  iv.  22;  Acts  xv.  8. 

Ver.  12.  For  I  delivered  the  poor,  that 
cried,  and  the  orphan,  who  had  no  helper 

O'b  ^T^~{<bl  a  circumstantial  clause,  comp.  Ew., 
§  331).  [The  clause  "  is  either  a  third  new  ob- 
ject (so  E.  V.)],  or  a  close  definition  of  what 
precedes:  the  orphan  and  (in  this  state  of  or- 
phanhood) helpless  one.  The  latter  is  more 
probable  both  here  and  in  the  Salomonic  pri- 
mary passage  Ps.   Ixxii.  12 ;  in  the  other  case 

lS  nT;r-pX  ntyNI  might  be  expected."  Delitz.]. 
The  Imperfects  describing  that  which  is  wont  to 
be,  as  also  in  vers.  13,  16.  As  to  the  sentiment, 
comp.  Ps.  Ixxii.  12. 

Ver.  13.  The  blessing  of  the  lost  (lit.  "of 
one  lost,  perishing;"  1|?1i<  as  in  ch.  xxxi.  19; 
Prov.  xxxi.  6)  came  upon  me ;  i.  e.,  as  b 
shows,  the  grateful  wish  that  he  might  be  blessed 
from  such  miserable  ones  as  had  been  rescued 
by  him,  hardly  the  actual  blessing  which  God 
bestowed  on  him  in  answer  to  the  prayer  of  such 
(comp.  Hermas,  Past.  Simil.  2). 

Ver.  14.  I  had  clothed  myself  ■with  righ- 
teousness, and  it  with  me  ;  i.  e.,  in  propor- 
tion as  I  exerted  myself  to  exercise  righteous- 
ness (P.7?f)  toward  my  neighbor,  the  same  [righ- 
teousness] took  form,  filled  me  inwardly  in  truth 
["  it  put  me  on  as  a  garment,  i.  e.,  it  made  me  so 
its  own,  that  my  whole  appearance  was  the  re- 
presentation of  itself,  as  in  Judg.  vi.  34,  and 
twice  in  the  Chron.,  of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  it 
is  said  that  He  puts  on  any  one,  induit,  when  He 
makes  any  one  the  organ  of  His  own  manifesta- 
tion," Delitzsch.  "  Righteousness  was  as  a  robe 
to  me,  and  I  was  as  a  robe  to  it.  I  put  it  on, 
and  it  put  me  on  ;  it  identified  itself  with  me." 
Words.]  Not:  "  and  it  clothed  me,"  as  Rosen- 
miiller,  Arnh.,  Umbr.  [E.  V.,  Schlottm.,  Carey, 
Renan,  Rod.,  Elz.,  elc.'\,   arbitrarily  render  the 

second  WjI,  thereby  producing  only  a  flat  tau- 
tology. [Ewald  also:  "  it  adorned  me." — The 
other  rendering  is  adopted,  or  approved  by  Ge- 
sen.,  Fiirst,  Delitzsch,  Dillmann,  Wordsworth, 
Noyes  in  his  Notes].  The  figure  of  being  clothed 
with  a  moral  quality  or  way  of  living  to  repre- 
sent one  as  equipped,  or  adorned  therewith, 
(comp.  Isa.  xi.  5;  li.  9;  llx.  17;  Ps.  cxxxii.  9), 
is  continued  in  the  second  member,  where  Job's 
strict  righteousness  and  spotless  integrity  (this 
is  what  t3i3K^?p  means;  comp.  Mic.  iii.  8)  are  re- 
presented as  "  a  mantle  and  a  tiara  (turban) ;" 
comp.  Is.  Ixi.  10. 

Ver.  15.  Comp.  Num.  x.  31.  To  be  anybody's 
eye,  ear,  foot  (here  "  feet"),  etc.,  is  of  course  to 
supply  these  organs  by  the  loving  ministration 
of  help,  and  to  make  it  possible  as  it  were  to  dis- 
pense with  them. 


Ver.  16.  On  a  comp.  Is.  ix.  5;  xxii.  21. — 3X 
and  D'yiOX  seem  to  form  a  paronomasia  here. 
— And  the  cause  of  the  unknown  [the 
strangers,  the  friendless]  I  searched  out,  i.  e., 
in  order  to  help  them  as  their  advocate,  provided 

they  were  in  the  right. — ^P}^^'^  ^,  attributive 
clause,  as  in  ch.  xviii.  21  ;  Is.  xli.  3 ;  Iv.  5,  and 
often.  [E.  v.,  "  the  cause  which  I  knew  not" 
is  admissible,  and  gives  essentially  the  same 
sense  ;  but  the  other  rendering  is  to  be  prefer- 
red, as  furnishing  a  better  parallel  to  the  "blind, 
lame,  poor,"  preceding. — The  man  whom  nobody 
knew,  or  cared  for.  Job  would  willingly  take  for 
his  client. — E.]. 

Ver.  17.  I  broke  the  teeth  of  the  wicked 
(the  cohortative,  mStyXT,  as  in  ch.  i.  15;  xix. 
20),  and  out  of  his  teeth  I  plucked  the 
prey. — For  the  description  of  hardhearted  op- 
pressors and  tyrants  (or  unrighteous  judges,  of 
whom  we  are  to  think  particularly  here),  under 
the  figure  of  ravaging  wild  beasts,  from  which 
the  prey  is  rescued,  comp.  Pa.  iii.  8  [7] ;  Iviii.  7 
[G],  etc. 

4.  Conclusion :  Third  Strophe :  Vers.  18-25. 
The  honor  and  the  influence  which  Job  once  en- 
joyed, and  the  loss  of  which  he  mourns  with  es- 
pecial sorrow. 

Ver.  18.  And  so  then  I  thought  [said]  : 
With  my  nest  ["together  with  my  nest,"  as 
implying  a  wish  that  he  and  his  nest  might  pe- 
rish together,  would  be  "  unnatural,  and  diame- 
trically opposed  to  the  character  of  an  Arab,  who 
in  the  presence  of  death  cherishes  the  twofold 
wish  that  he  may  continue  to  live  in  his  children, 
and  that  he  may  die  in  the  midst  of  his  family," 
Delitzsch]  (or  also  :  "  in  my  nest ")  shall  I  die  ; 
i.  e.,  without  having  left  or  lost  my  home,  toge- 
ther with  my  family,  and  property  (comp.  Ps. 
Isxxiv.  4  [3]),  hence  in  an  advanced,  happy  old 
ag3. — And  like  the  phenix  have  many 
days:  lit.,  "  make  many,  multiply  my  days." 
The  language  also  would  admit  of  our  rendering 

7in  "sand,"  understanding  the  expression  to 
refer  to  the  multiplication  of  days  like  grains  of 
sand;  comp.  "  as  the  sand  of  the  sea  "  in  1  Ki. 
V.  9  [iv.  29  applying  to  Solomon's  wisdom]  and 
often;  also  Ovid,  Metam.  XIV.  136 seq. :  quot  ha- 
bcret  corpora  pulvis,  tot  mihi  natales  contingere  vana 
rogavi.  But  against  this  interpretation,  which 
is  adopted  by  the  Targ.,  Pesh.,  Saad.,  Lutlier, 
Umbreit,  Gesenius,  Stickel,  Vaih.,  Hahn,  [E.  V., 
Con.,  Noy.,  Ber.,  Carey,  Words.,  Renan,  Rod- 
well,  Merx],  and  in  favor  of  understanding  /in 
of  the  phenix,  that  long-lived  bird  of  the  well- 
known  oriental  legend  (so  most  moderns  since 
Rosenmiiller)  may  be  urged:  (1)  The  oldest 
exegetical  tradition  in  the  Talmud,  in  the  Midra- 
shim,  among  the  Masoretes  and  Rabbis  (espe- 
cially Kimchi) ;  (2)  the  versions — manifestly 
proceeding  out  of  a  misconception  of  this  phenix 
tradition — of  the  LXX. :  uanep  aTEXe,\og  (poiviKoc; 
of  the  Itala:  sicut  arbor  pahnx,  and  of  the  Vulg.  : 
sicut  palma;  (3)  and  finally  even  the  etymology 

of  the  word  /in  (or  1\X\,  as  the  Rabbis  of  Na- 
hardearead,  according  to  Kimchi)  which  itwouM 
seem  must  be  derived  (with  Bochart)  from   nT\ 


CHAPS.  XXIX— XXXI. 


335 


torguere,  volvere,  and  be  explained  "circulation, 
periodic  return,"  and  even  in  its  Egyptian  form 
Koli  (Copt.  :  alloc)  is  to  be  traced  back  to  this 
Shemitic  radical  signification  (among  the  ancient 
Egyptians  indeed  the  chief  name  of  the  phenix 
was  beni,  hierogl.  bano,  beniio,  which  at  the  same 
time  signifies  "palm").  The  phrase — "to  live 
as  long  as  the  phenix"  is  found  also  among  other 
people  of  antiquity  besides  the  Egyptians,  e.  g., 
among  the  Greeks  {(poivLKOQ  Itt]  ftiovv,  Lucian, 
Ilermot.,  p.  53);  and  the  whole  legend  concern- 
ing the  phenix  living  for  five  hundred  years, 
then  burning  itself  together  with  its  nest,  and 
again  living  glorified,  is  in  general  as  ancient  as 
it  is  widely  spread,  especially  in  the  East.  There- 
fore it  can  neither  seem  strange,  nor  in  any  way 
objectionable,  if  a  poetical  book  of  the  Holy 
Scripture  should  make  reference  to  this  myth 
(comp.  the  allusions  to  astronomical  and  other 
myths  in  ch.  iii.  9;  xxvi.  28).  Touching  the 
proposition  that  the  Egyptian  nationality  of  the 
poet,  or  the  Egyptian  origin  of  his  ideas  does 
not  follow  from  this  passage,  see  above,  Introd., 
§  7,  6  (where  may  also  be  found  the  most  im- 
portant literary  sources  of  information  respect- 
ing the  legend  of  the  phenix). 

Vers,  ly,  20  continue  the  expression,  begun 
in  ver.  18,  of  that  which  Job  thought  and  hoped 
for.  [According  to  E.  V.,  ver.  19  resumes  the 
description  of  Job's  former  condition :  "  My  root 
was  spread  out,  etc.''  But  these  two  verses  are 
so  different  from  the  passage  preceding,  (vers. 
11-27),  in  which  Job  speaks  of  his  deeds  of  be- 
neficence, and  from  the  passage  following  (vers. 
21-25)  in  which  he  describes  his  influence  in  the 
public  assembly,  and  so  much  in  harmony  with 
ver.  18,  in  which  he  speaks  of  his  prospects,  as 
they  seemed  to  his  hopes,  that  the  connection 
adopted  by  Zockler,  and  most  recent  expositors, 
is  decidedly  to  be  preferred. — E.]. 

Ver.  19.  My  root  w^ill  be  open  tcwarda 
the  water;  i.  e.,  my  life  will  flourish,  like  a 
tree  plentifully  watered  (comp.  chap.  xiv.  7  seq.; 
xviii.  16),  and  the  dew  will  lie  all  night  in 
my  branches  (comp.  the  same  passages;  also 
Gen.  xxvii.  39 ;  Prov.  xix.  12  ;  Ps.  cxxxiii.  3, 
etc.) 

Ver.  20.  Mine  honor  ■will  remain  (ever) 
fresh  with  me  (HOU  =  66^a,  consideration, 
dignity,  honor  with  God  and  men — not  "soul" 
as  Haha  explains  ["  to  which  W'\V\  is  not  ap- 
propriate as  predicate,"  Del.],  and  my  bow 
is  renewed  in  my  hand — the  bow  as  a  sym- 
bol of  robust  manliness,  and  strength  for  action, 
comp.  1  Sam.  ii,  4;  Ps.   xlvi.   10   [9];  Ixxvi.  4 

[3] ;  Jerem.  xlix.  35;  li.  56,  etc.—'yhnr],  to 
make  progress,  to  sprout  forth  (ch.  xiv.  7) ;  here 
to  renew  oneself,  to  grow  young  again.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  supply,  e.g.,  T\3,  as  Hirzel  and 
Schlottmann  do,  on  the  basis  of  Isa.  xl.  31, 

Ver.  21  seq.,  exhibit  in  connection  with  the 
joyful  hopes  of  Job,  just  described,  which  flowed 
forth  directly  out  of  the  fulness  of  his  prosperity, 
and  in  particular  of  the  honor  which  he  enjoyed, 
a  full  description  of  this  honor,  the  narrative 
style  of  the  discourse  by  '^ONI,  ver.  18,  being 
resumed.     Vers.  21-23  have  for  their   subject 


'  others  than  Job  himself,  the  members  of  his  tribe, 
not  specially  those  who  took  part  in  the  assem- 
blies described  in  vers.  7-10;  for  which  reason 
it  is  unnecessary  to  assume  a  transposition  of 
the  passage  after  ver.  10. 
Ver.  21.    They    hearkened    to    me,  and 

waited  (^vH],  pausal  form,  with  Dagh.  eupho- 
nic for  lbn%  comp.  Gesen.  §  20,  2  c),  and  list- 
ened silently  to  my  counsel  (lit.  "and 
were  silent  for  or  at  my  counsel"). 

Ver.  22.  After  my  words  they  spoke  not 
again — lit.  "they  did  not  repeat"  (IJiy',  non 
iterabant).  On  6  comp.  Deut.  xxxii.  2;  Cant.  iv. 
11;  Prov.  V.  3. 

Ver.  23.  Further  expansion  of  the  figure  last 
used  of  the  refreshing  [rain-like]  dropping  of 
his  discourse.     They  opened  their   mouth 

wide  as  for  the  latter  rain. — The  jyipSo,  or 
latter  rain  in  March  or  April,  is,  on  account  of 
the  approaching  harvest,  which  it  helps  to  ripen, 
longed  for  with  particular  urgency  in  Palestine 
and  the  adjacent  countries;  comp.  Deut.  xi.  14; 
Jer.  iii.  3;  v.  24;  Joel  ii.  23;  Hos.  vi.  3,  etc. 
On  na  ">i^3='']Nt^,  to  gape,  pant,  comp.  Psalm 
cxix.   131. 

Ver.  24.  I  laughed  upon  them  when  they 
despaired — lit.  "when  they  did  not  have  con- 
fidence" (p??Xn,  absol.  as  in  Isa.  vii.  9;  comp. 
Psalm  cxvi.  10;  and  U'pN"_  is  a  circumstantial 
clause  without  1 — this  lacking  1,  however,  being 
supplied  in  many  MSS.  and  Eds.).  The  mean- 
ing can  be  only:  "even  when  they  were  de- 
spondent, I  knew  how  to  cheer  them  up  by  my 
friendly  smiles."  This  is  the  only  meaning  with 
which  the  second  member  agrees  which  cannot 
harmonize  with  the  usual  explanation :  "  I  smiled 
at  them,  they  believed  it  not"  (LXX.,  Vulg., 
Saad.,  Luther  [E.  V.,  Noy.,  Rod.,  Ren.,  Merxj,' 
and  most  moderns).  [•'  The  reverence  in  which 
I  was  held  was  so  great,  that  if  I  laid  aside  my 
gravity,  and  was  familiar  with  them,  they  could 
scarcely  believe  that  they  were  so  highly  Iio- 
nored;  my  very  smiles  were  received  with  awe" 
Noyes].  And  the  light  of  my  countenance 
[i.  e.,  my  cheerful  visage,  comp.  Prov.  xvi.  15) 
they  could  not  darken;  lit.  "they  could  not 
cause  to  fall,  cast  down,"  comp.  Gen.  iv.  5,  6- 
Jer.  iii.  12. — ["However  despondent  their  posi- 
tion appeared,  the  cheerfulness  of  my  counte- 
nance they  could  not  cause  to  pass  awav." 
Del.]  ^ 

Ver.  25.  I  would  gladly  take  the  way  to 
them  (comp.  chap,  xxviii.  23) ;  i.  e.,  I  took  plea- 
sure in  sitting  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  in 
taking  part  in  affairs.  This  is  the  only  meaning 
that  is  favored  by  what  follows; — the  rendering 
of  llahn  and  Delitzsch:  "1  chose  out  for  them 
the_  way  they  should  go"  ["I  made  the  way 
plain  which  they  should  take  in  order  to  get  out 
of  their  hopeless  and  miserable  state."  Del. 
This  is  the  meaning  also  suggested  by  E.  V.]  is 
opposed  by  the  consideration  that  nPia,  "to 
choose,"  never  means  "to  prescribe,  determine, 
enjoin."  In  the  passage  which  follows,  "sitting 
as  chief"   (B'Nt)  is  immediately  defined  more  in 

the  concrete  by  the  clause,  nnJ2  f]p2,  "like  a 


536 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


king  in  the  midst  of  the  army;"  but  then  the 
altogether  too  military  aspect  of  this  figure 
(comp.  chap.  xv.  24;  xix.  12)  is  again  softened 
by  making  the  business  of  the  king  surrounded 
by  his  armies  to  be  not  leading  them  to  battle, 
but  "comforting  the  mourners."  Whether  in 
this  expression  there  is  intended  a  thrust  at  the 
friends  on  account  of  their  unskilful  way  of  com- 
forting (as  Evvald  and  Dillmann  think),  may  very 
much  be  doubted. 

Second  Division :  The  wretchedness  of  the  present. 
Chap.  XXX.  First  Strophe  (or  Double  Strophe). 
vers.  1-15.  The  ignominy  and  contempt  Avhich 
he  receives  from  men,  put  in  glaring  contrast 
with  the  high  honor  just  described.  The  con- 
trast is  heightened  all  the  more  by  the  fact  that 
the  men  now  introduced  as  insulting  and  mock- 
ing him  are  of  the  very  lowest  and  most  con- 
temptible sort;  being  the  same  class  of  men 
whose  restless,  vagabond  life  has  already  been 
described  in  ch.  xxiv.  4-8,  only  more  briefly 
than  here. 

Ver.  1.  And  now  they  laugh  at  me  •who 
are  younger  than  I  in  days — ^the  good-for- 
nothing  rabble  of  children  belonging  to  that 
abandoned  class.  What  a  humiliation  for  him 
before  whom  the  aged  stood  up!  ["  The  first 
line  of  the  verse  which  is  marked  off  by  Mercha- 
Mahpach  is  intentionally  so  disproportionately 
long  to  form  a  deep  and  long-breathed  beginning 
to  the  lamentation  which  is  now  begun."  Del.] 
They  •whose  fathers  I  •would  have  dis- 
dained to  set  with  the  dogs  of  my  flock 
(U^    ri'ii',  "to  make  like,  to  put  on  a  level  with," 

not  to  set  over,  i^  ^^^,  praeficere,  as  Schultens, 
Rosemn.,  Schlottm.  explain).  From  this  strong 
expression  of  contempt  it  does  not  follow  that 
Job  was  now  indulging  in  hauglity  or  tyrannical 
inhuman  thoughts  [the  considerate  sympathy 
expressed  by  Job  in  ch.  xxiv.  4-8  regarding  this 
game  class  of  men  should  be  borne  in  mind  in 
judging  of  Job's  spirit  here  also;  yet  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  pride  of  the  grand  dignified 
old  Emir  does  flash  through  the  words. — E.  j,  but 
only  that  that  rabble  was  immeasureably  desti- 
tute, and  moreover  morally  abandoned,  thievish, 
false,  improvident,  and  generally  useless. 

Ver.  2.  Even  the  strength  of  their  hands 
— what  should  it  be  to  me? — i.  e.  "and 
even  (LXX.  iml  ys)  as  regards  themselves,  those 
youngsters,  of  what  use  could  the  strength  of 
their  hands  be  to  me?"  Why  this  was  of  no  use 
to  him  is  explained  in  b:  for  them  full  ripe- 
ness is  lost,  i.e.,  enervated, miserable  creatures 
that  they  are,  they  do  not  once  reach  ripe  manly 

vigor  (n7^.  as  in  ch.  v.  20).  [Hence  not  "old 
age,"  as  in  E.  V.,  which  is  both  less  correct  and 
less  expressive.]  Why  they  do  not,  the  verses 
immediately  following  show. 

Ver.  3.  Through  •want  and  hunger  (they 
are)  starved;  lit.  they  are  "a  hard  siilf  rock" 

OloSj,  as  in  ch.  xv.   34)  ;  they,  who  gnaw 

the  dry  steppe;  i.  e.,  gnaw  away  ("^PJ^  as  in 
ver.  17)  what  grows  there;  comp.  ch.  xxiv.  6; 
which  have  long  been  a  •wild  and  a  w^il- 
derness. — According  to  the  parallel  passages 
ch.  xxxviii.  27  ;  and  Zeph.  i.  xv.  nxit:/D!|   TMiVd 


unquestionably  signifies  "  waste  and  devasta- 
tion," or  "wild  and  wilderness"  (comp.  inn 
inai,  Gen.  i.  2;  Hi^noi  r\p)2,  Nah.  ii.  11:  and 
similar  examples  of  assonance).  The  dp_i^_  pre- 
ceding however  is  difficult.  Elsewhere  it  is  an 
adverb  of  time  :  "  the  past  night,  last  evening 
[and  so,  yesterday],"  but  here  evidently  a  sub- 
stantive, and  in  theconstr.  state.  It  is  explained 
to  mean  either:  "  the  yesterday  of  wasteness  and 
desolation,"  i.e.,  "that  which  has  long  been 
wasteness,"  etc.  (Ilirzel,  EwaUl)  [Schlott.,  Re- 
nan,  to  whom  may  be  added  Good,  Lee,  Carey, 
Elzas,  who  connect  iJ'']2X  with  the  participle, 
translating — "who  yesterday  were  gnawers," 
etc.l,  or:  "the  night,  the  darkness  of  the  wil- 
derness" (Targ.,  Rabbis,  Gescn.,  Del.)  [Noyes, 
Words.,  Barnes,  Bernard,  Rodwell,  the  last  two 
taking  K'ON,  ^'d,  and  '\i/D  as  three  independent 
nouns, — "gloom,  waste,  desolation"].  Of  these 
constructions  the  former  is  to  be  preferred,  since 
darkness  appears  nowhere  else  (not  even  in  Jer. 
ii.  6,  31)  as  a  characteristic  predicate  of  the  wil- 
derness," and  since  especially  the  "gnawing  of 
the  darkness  of  the  wilderness"  produces  a 
thought  singularly  harsh.  Dillmann's  explana- 
tion: "already  yesterday  a  pure  wilderness" 
(where  therefore  there  is  nothing  to  be  found 
to-day),  is  linguistically  harsh;  and  Olshausen's 
emendation — '>D1  ^lU  ]*"}X  —  arbitrary.  [E.  V. 
following  the  LXX.  Targ..  and  most  of  the  old 
expositors,  translates  Q'P'i>'n  "  fleeing,*'  a  ren- 
dering which  besides  being  far  less  vivid  and 
forcible,  is  less  suitable,  the  desert  being  evi- 
pently  their  proper  habitation.  plj?  in  the 
sense  of  "grtawing"  reminds  of  ^1£3,  ch.  xxiv. 
5.  It  will  be  seen  also  that  E.  Y.  follows  the 
adverbial  construction  of  VOU,  but  "  the  wilder- 
ness informer  time  desolate  and  waste"  suggests 
no  very  definite  or  consistent  meaning.  If  ad- 
verbial, the  force  of  K/OX  must  be  to  enhance  the 
misery  and  hopelessness  of  their  condition. 
They  lived  in  what  was  not  only  now,  but  what 
had  long  been  a  desert — a  fact  which  made  the 
prospect  of  getting  their  support  from  it  all  the 
more  cheerless. — E.]. 

Ver.  4.  They  who  pluck  the  salt-wort 
by  the  bushes — in  the  place  tlierefore  where 
such  small  plants  could  first  live,  despite  the 
scorching  heat  of  the  desert  sun;  in  the  shadow, 
that  is,  of  larger  bushes,  especially  of  tliat  pe- 
rennial, branchy  bush  which  is  found  in  tlie  Sy- 
rian desert  under  the  name  siti,  of  which  Wetz- 

stein  treats  in  Delitzsch. — HIvJO  is  the  orach,  or 
salt-wort  (also  sea-purslain,  atriplex  halimus  L., 
comp.  LXX.:  d'Ai/ja),  a  plant  which  in  its 
younger  and  more  tender  leaves  furnishes  some 
nourishment,  although  of  a  miserable  sort ; 
comp.  Athenseus,  Deipnos.  IV.,  IGl,  where  it  is 
said  of  poor  Pythagoreans:  a.h//a  rpuyovrsg  Kal 
KdKO.  roiavra  avTiTityovrec. — And  broom-roots 
are  their  bread. —That  the  root  of  the  broom 
(genista  monosperma)  is  edible,  is  indeed  asserted 
only  here;  still  we  need  not  doubt  it,  nor  read 

e.g.,  Dl^n^)  "iii  order  to  warm  themselves," 
(Gesenius),  as  though  here  as  in  Ps.  cxx.  4,  only 
the  use  of   the  broom  as  fuel  was  spoken  of. 


CHAPS.  XXIX— XXXI. 


537 


Comp.  Michaclis.  Kexie  orient.  Bill.  V,  45,  and 
V/elzsteiu  in  Del.  [II.,  143. — And  see  Smith's 
Bib.  Die,  "Juniper,"  " ^Mallows"]. 

Ver.  5.  Out  of  the  midst  (of  men)  they 
are  hunted,  e  medio  pelluntur.  13,  lit.  that 
which  is  witiiin,  i.  e.,  here  the  circle  of  human 
social  life,  human  society. — They  cry  after 
them  as  (after)  a  thief.  35 J3,  as  (hough  they 
were  a  thief:  comp.  "1£D"33,  ch.  xxix.  23. 

'  T    T    - 

Ver.  6.  In  the  most  horrid  gorges  they 
must  dwell — lit.  "in  the  horror  of  the  gorges 
(in  horridissima  vallium  regione ;  comp.  cli.  xli. 
22;  Ewald,  g  313,  c)  it  is  for  them  to  dwell ;" 
comp.  Geseri.,  §  132  (^  129],  Rem.  1. — In  holes 
of  the  earth  and  of  the  rocks.  Hence  they 
were  genuine  troglodytes  ;  see  below  after  ver. 
8.  Concerning  Ii3j7,  "earth,  ground,"  see  oa 
ch.  xxviii.  2. 

Ver.  7.  Among  the  bushes  they  cry  out. 
pnj  above  in  ch.  vi.  6  of  the  cry  of  the  wild  ass, 
here  of  the  wild  tones  of  the  savage  inhabitants 
of  the  steppes  seeking  food, — not  their  senno 
barbarns;  Pineda,  Schlottmann  [who  refers  to 
Herodotus'  comparison  of  the  language  of  the 
Ethiopian  troglodytes  to  the  screech  of  the  night- 
owl.  According  to  Delitzsch  the  word  refers  to 
their  cries  of  lamentation  and  discontent  over 
their  desperate  condition.  There  can  be  but 
little  doubt  that  the  word  is  intended  to  remind 
us  of  the  comparison  of  these  people  to  wild 
asses  in  ch.  xxiv.  5,  and  so  far  the  rendering  of 
E.  V.  "bray,"  is  not  amiss].  Under  nettles 
(brambles)  they  herd  together;  lit.  "they 
must  mix  together,  gather  themselves."  ISIost 
of  the  modern  expositors  render  the  Pual  as  a 
strict  Passive,  with  the  meaning,  "they  are 
poured  [or  stretched]  out,"  which  would  be 
equivalent  to — "they  lie  down"  [or  are  pros- 
trate] ;  comp.  Amos  vi.  4,  7.  But  both  the  use 
of  r\DD  in  such  passages  as  1  Sam.  xxvi.  19; 
Is.  xiv.  1,  and  the  testimony  of  the  most  ancient 
Versions  (Vulg.,  Targ.,  and  indeed  the  LXX. 
also:  dir/TcjvTo)  favor  rather  the  meaning  of 
herding,  or  associating  together.  ["But  neither 
the  fut.  nor  the  Pual  (instead  of  which  one 
would  expect  the  Niph.,  or  Hithpa.)  is  favora- 
ble to  the  latter  interpretation;  wherefore  we 
decide  in  favor  of  the  former,  and  find  sufficient 
support  for  a  Ileb. -Arabic  flDD  in  thd  significa- 
tion effundere  from  a  comparison  of  ch.  xiv.  19 
and  tlie  present  passage."  Del.]. 

Ver.  8.  Sons  of  fools,  yea,  sons  of  base 
men, — both  expressions  in    opposition    to    the 

subject  of  the  preceding  verse.  73J  is  used  as  a 
collective,  and  means  the  ungodly,  as  in  Ps.  xiv. 

1. — Du'-wjI,  equivalent  to  ignobiles,  infames,  a 
construction  similar  to  that  in  ch.  xxvi.  2  [lit. 
"sons  of  no-name"]  ;  comp.  §286,  g. — They 
are  whipped  out  of  the  land  ;  lit.  indeed 
an  attributive  clause — "who  are  whipped,"  etc.; 
hence  exiles,  those  who  are  driven  forth  out  of 
their  own  home.  [The  rendering  of  E.  V., 
"they  were  viler  than  the  earth  "  was  doubtless 
suggested  by  the  use  of  the  adjective' NjDJ  in 
the  sense  of  "afflicted,  dejected"].  In  view  of 
the  palpable  identity  of  those  pictured  in  these 
verses  with  those  described  in  ch.  xxiv.  4-8,  it 


is  natural  to  assume  the  existence  of  a  particu- 
lar class  of  men  in  the  country  inhabited  by  Job 
as  having  furnished  the  historical  occasion  and 
theme  of  both  descriptions.  Since  now  in  both 
passages  a  troglodyte  way  of  living  (dwelling 
in  clefts  of  the  rock  and  in  obscure  places,  comp. 
above  ch.  xxiv.  4,  8)  and  the  condition  of  having 
been  driven  out  of  their  former  habitations 
(comp.  ch.  xxiv.  4)  are  mentioned  as  prominent 
characteristics  of  these  wretched  ones,  it  be- 
comes particularly  probable  that  the  people  inten- 
ded are  the  Choreans,  or  Chorites  (Luther:  Ilorites) 
[E.  v.:  "  Horims"]  who  dwelt  in  holes,  (lie  abo- 
rigines of  the  mountain  region  of  Seir,  who 
were  in  part  subjugated  by  (he  Edomites,  in  part 
exterminated,  in  part  expelled  (comp.  Gen. 
xxxvi.  5;  Deut.  ii.  12,  22).  Even  if  Job's  home 
is  to  be  looked  for  at  some  distance  from  Edom- 
itis,  e.  g.  inHauran  (comp.  on.  ch.  i.  l)aconsider- 
able  number  of  such  Chorites  (D""")!!!,  i.  e.  dwellers 
in  holes,  or  caves)  might  have  been  living  in  his 
neighborhood;  for  driven  out  by  the  Edomites, 
(hey  would  have  fled  more  particularly  into  the 
neighboring  regions  of  Seir-Edom,  and  here  in- 
deed again  they  would  have  betaken  themselves 
to  (lie  mountains  with  their  caves,  gorges,  where 
they  would  have  lived  (he  same  wretched  life  as 
their  ancestors,  who  had  been  left  behind  in 
Edom.  It  is  less  likely  that  a  cave-dwelling 
people  in  Hauran,  different  from  these  remnants 
of  (he  Horites,  are  intended,  e.  g.  (he  I(ureans, 
who  were  notorious  for  their  pover(y,  and  way- 
laying mode  of  life  (Del.  and  We(zst.). 

Ver.  9.  In  the  second  half  of  the  Long  Strophe, 
which  also  begins  with  HPiM  Job  turns  his  at- 
tention away  from  (he  wretches  whom  he  has 
been  elaborately  describing  back  to  himself. 
And  now  I  am  become  their  song  of  de- 
rision, I  am  become  to  them  for  a  by- 
W^ord. — nrjJ,  elsewhere  a  stringed  instrument, 
means  here  a  song  of  derision,  ffiXAof  (comp. 
Lam.  iii.  14;  Ps.lxix.  13  [12],  7170,  malicious, 
defamatory  speech,  referring  to  the  subject  of 
(he  same  (LXX.:  dpv'X.'ATjfj.a). 

Ver.  10.  Abhorring  me,  they  remove  far 
from  me  ((o  wit,  from  very  abhorrence),  yea, 
they  have  not  spared  my  face  w^ith  spit- 
ting; i.  e.  when  at  any  time  (hey  come  near  me, 
it  is  never  without  (csdfying  (heir  deepest  con- 
tempt by  spitting  in  my  face  (Matt.  xxvi.  67; 
xxvii.  3(3).  An  unsuitable  softening  of  (he  mean- 
ing is  attempted  by  those  expositors,  who  find 
expressed  here  merely  "a  spitting  in  his  pre- 
sence"    (Hirzel,    Umbreit,    Sclilottmann) ;   this 

meaning  would  require  'JiJ/  rather  (ban  'J3D. 
Comp.  also  above  ch.  xvii.  6,  where  Job  calls 
himself  a    t3"p37  r\3ri  for  the  people. 

Ver.  llseq.  show  why  Job  had  been  in  suoh 
a  way  given  over  to  be  mocked  at  by  the  most 
wretched,  because  namely  God  and  the  divine 
powers  which  cause  calamity  had  delivered  him  over 
to  the  same.  For  these  are  the  principal  subject 
in  vers.  11-14,  not  those  miserable  outcasts  of 
human  society  just  spoken  of  (as  Rosenm.,  Um- 
breit, Hirzel,  Sticket,  Sclilotim.,  Del.  [Noy  , 
Car.,  Rod.  and  ajipy.  E.  V.]  pxplain).  The  cor- 
rect  view    is    given   by   LXX.   and    Vulg.,    and 


538 


THE   BOOK  OF  JOB. 


among  the  moderns  by  EwaUl,  Arnh.,  Hahn, 
DiUm.,  eic.  For  He  hath  loosed  my  cord. 
So  according  to  the  K'ri  '"'H],  on  the  basis  of 
which  we  may  also  explain :  "  For  He  hath 
loosed,  slackened  my  string,"  which  would  be  an 
antithetic  reference  to  ch.  xxix.  20  b,  even  as  by 
the  translation  "cord"  there  would  be  a  retro- 
spective reference  to  ch.  iv.  21  ;  xxvii.  8.  If 
following  the  K'thibh  we  read  i"^ri',  the  expla- 
nation would  be:  "He  has  loosed  His  cord,  or 
rein,  with  which  he  held  the  powers  of  adversity 
chained,"  with  which  however  the  following 
clause:  "and  bowed  me"  would  not  agree  re- 
markably well  [not  a  conclusive  objection,  for 
713^  might  very  appropriately  and  forcibly  de- 
scribe the  way  in  which  his  nameless  persecu- 
tor, God  doubtless,  would  overpower,  trample 
him  ddwn,  by  letting  loose  His  horde  of  calami- 
ties upon  Job.  Comp.  Ps.  Ixxviii.  8  [7].  Co- 
nant  not  very  diflFerently :  "because  he  haslet 
loose  his  rein  and  humbled  me  ;"  i.  e.  with  un- 
checked violence  has  humbled  me.  Ewald,  less 
naturally:  "  He  hath  opened  («.  e.  taken  off  the 
covering  of)  His  string  (=:hi3  bow).  Elizabeth 
Smith  better  :  "  He  hath  let  go  His  bow-string, 
and  afflicted  me."  C!^??  ^^  ^^^  sense  of  letting 
loose  a  bow,  or  bow-string  however,  is  not  used 
elsewhere,  and  ""Jil^'J  would  hardly  be  a  suita- 
ble description  of  the  effect  of  shooting  with  the 
bow. — E.].  And  the  rein  have  they  let 
loose  before  me;  i.  e.,  have  let  go  before 
me  (persecuting  me).  The  subject  of  this,  as  of 
the  following  verses,  is  indisputably  God's  hosts 
let  loose  against  Job,  the  same  which  in  the  si- 
milar former  description  in  ch.  xix.  12  were  de- 
signated his  D"7'"'J  (comp.  also  ch.  xvi.  9,  12- 
14).  The  fearful,  violent,  and  even  irresistible 
character  of  their  attacks  on  Job,  especially  as 
described  in  vers.  13,  14,  is  not  suited  to  the  mi- 
serable class  described  in  vers.  1-8.  They  are 
either  angels  of  calamity,  or  at  least  diseases  and 
other  evils,  or,  generally  speaking,  the  personi- 
fied agencies  of  the  Divine  wrath,  that  Job  has 
here  in  mind. 

Ver.  12.  On  the  right  there  rises  up  a 
brood,  or  troop,  nnpp,  or  according  to  an- 
other reading  nnia,  llt.  "a  sprouting,  a  luxu- 
riant flourishing  plant."  [E.  V.,  after  the  Targ. 
Rabbis,  "  the  youth,"  which  is  both  etymologi- 
cally  and  exegetically  to  be  rejected. — E.]  This 
calamitous  brood  (of  diseases,  elc.)  rises  on  the 
riyhl,  in  the  sense  that  they  appear  against  Job 
as  his  accusers  (couip.  ch.  xvi.  8)  ;  for  the  ac- 
cusers before  a  tribunal  took  tlieir  place  at  the 
right  of  the  accused;  comp.  Zech.  lii.  1;  Ps. 
cix.  G. — They  push  away  my  feet,  i.  e.,  they 
drive  me  ever  further  and  further  into  straits, 
they  would  leave  me  no  place  to  stand  on.  (Ew- 
ald's  emendation  D/J"] — "they  let  loose  their 
feet,  set  them  quickly  in  motion" — is  unneces- 
sary ) — And  cast  up  against  me  their  de- 
structive ways,  in  that  they  heap  up  their 
siege-walls  against  me,  the  object  of  their  block- 
ade and  hostile  assaults.  77D,  as  in  ch.  xix.  12, 
a  passage  which  agrees  almost  verbally  with  the 
one  before  us,  and  so  confirms  our  interpretation 
of  the  latter  as  referring  to  the  Divine  persecu- 
tions as  an  army  beleaguering  him.     [Noi  only 


is  this  view  favored  by  such  a  use  of  llie  same 
language  as  has  been  used  elsewhere  (ch.  xix.) 
of  the  Divine  persecutions,  but  also  by  the  lan- 
guage itself.  It  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  Job 
should  dignify  the  spiteful  gibes  and  jeers  of  that 
rabble  of  young  outcasts  by  comparing  them  to 
the  solemn  accusations  of  a  judicial  prosecution, 
or  the  regular  siege  of  an  army. — E.] 

Ver.  13.  They  tear  down  my  path ;  i.  e., 
by  heaping  up  their  ways  of  destruction  they 
destroy  my  own  heretofore  undisturbed  way  of 
life. — They  help  to  my  destruction  (comp. 
Zech.  i.  15) — they  to  w^hom  there  is  no  hel- 
per: i.  e.,  who  need  no  other  help  for  their  work 
of  destruction,  who  can  accomplish  it  alone.  So 
correctly  Stickel,  Hahn,  while  most  modern  ex- 
positors find  in  c  the  idea  of  helplessness,  or  that 
of  being  despised  or  forsaken  by  all  the  world, 
to  be  expressed.  Ewald  however  [so  Con.]  ex- 
plains :  "  there  is  no  helper  against  them"  (ap- 
pealing to  Ps.  Ixviii.  21);  and  Dillmann  doubts 
whether  there  can  be  a  satisfactory  explanation 
of  the  text,  which  he  holds  to  be  corrupt. 

Ver.  14.  As  through  a  w^ide  breach  ('t*.')??^) 
an  elliptical  comparison,  like  3iJ3  ver.  5)  they 
draw  nigh  [come  on] ;  under  the  crash 
they  roll  onwards,  i.  e.,  of  course  to  storm 
completely  the  fortress  ;  comp.  ch.  xvi.  14.  The 
"crash,"  HXIE',  is  that  of  the  falling  ruins  of 
the  walls  [breached  by  the  assault]  not  that,  e. 
g.,  of  a  roaring  torrent,  as  Hitzig  explains  (Zeit- 
schr.der  D. — J/.  G.,  IX.  741),  who  at  the  same 
time  attempts  to  give  to  |'^i3  the  unheard  of  sig- 
nification, "  forest  stream."  [Targ.  also;  "like 
the  force  of  the  far-extending  waves  of  the  sea," 
after  which  probably  E.  V.,  "  as  a  wide  break- 
ing-in  of  waters."  But  the  fig.  is  evidently  that 
of  an  inrushing  army. — E.] 

Ver.  15.  Terrors  are  turned  against  me; 
i.  e.,  sudden  death-terrors;  comp.  cli.  xviii.  11, 
14;  xxvii.  20;  they  pursue  like  the  storm, 
(like  an  all-devastating  hurricane)  my  dignity 
rr}3"1J)  [not  "soul,"  E.  v.,  probably  after  the 
analogy  of  1131)  frequently  in  Psalms]  that,  viz., 
which  was  described  in  ch.  xxix.  20  seq.  The 
3d  sing.  fem.  ^T)j^  referring  to  the  plur.  1117173 
as  in  ch.  xiv.  19;  xxvii.  20,  and  often. — And 
(in  consequence  of  ail  that)  like  a  cloud  my 
prosperity  is  gone;  i.  e.,  it  has  vanished  as 
quickly  and  completely — leaving  no  trace — as  a 
cloud  vanishes  on  the  face  of  heaven.  Comp. 
ch.  vii.  9;  Isa.  xliv.  22.  [Paronomasia  between 
3J^  and  m3J7 :   "  my  prosperity  like  a  vapor  has 

vanished  "]. 

G.  Continuation.  Second  Strophe:  The  un- 
speakable misery  of  the  sufferer:  vers.  lG-23. — 
And  now  (the  thir  1  HP^M,  comp.  vers.  1  and 
8)  my  soul  is  poured  out  within  me,  dis- 
solving in  anguish  and  complaint,  flowing  forth 
in  tears  ["  since  the  outward  man  is,  as  it  were, 
dissolved  in  the  gently  flowing  tears  (Isa.  xv.  3) 
his  soul  flows  away  as  it  were  in  itself,  for  the 
outward  incident  is  but  the  minifesiations  and 

results  of  an  inward  action."  Del.]  On  ^7^. 
"with  me,  in  me,"  comp.  ch.  x.  1;  Ps.  xlii.  5 
[E.  v.,  too  literally — "upon  me"]. — Days  of 
suffering  hold  me  fast,  i.  e.,  in  tlieir  power, 


CHAPS.  XXIX— XXXI. 


539 


they  will  not  depart  froTi  me  with  their  evil  ef- 
fects f"  "'JJ''  with  its  verb,  and  the  rest  of  its  de- 

*-         •  t; 

rivativos  is  the  proper  word  for  suflFering,  and 
especially  the  passion  of  the  Servant  of  Jeho- 
vah." Del.] 

Ver.  17.  The  night  pierces  my  bones. — 
["The  night  has  been  personified  already,  ch. 
iii.  2;  and  in  general,  as  Herder  once  said.  Job 
is  the  brother  of  Ossian  for  personifications: 
Night,  (the  restless  night,  ch.  vii.  3  seq.,  in  which 
every  malady,  or  at  least  the  painful  feeling  of 
it  increases)  pierces  his  bones  from  him."  Del.] 
Or  a  translation  which  is  equally  possible,  "  by 
night  my  bones  are  pierced"  [E.  V.,  etc.'\,  inas- 
much as  IpJ  can  be  Niph.  as  well  asPiel.  '^J^O, 
lit.  "  away  from  me,"  i.  e.,  "so  that  they  are  de- 
tached from  me." — And  my  gnaw^ers  sleep 
not;  i.  e.,  either  "my  gnawing  puins,"  or  "my 
worms,  the  maggots  in  my  ulcers;"  comp.  HOT 
ch.  vii.  5  ["  and  which  in  the  extra  biblical  tra- 
dition of  Job's  disease  are  such  a  standing  fea- 
ture, that  the  pilgrims  to  Job's  monastery  even 
now-a-days  take  away  with  them  thence  these 
supposed  petrified  worms  of  Job."  Del.]  In  any 

case  ''^P>*  is  to  be  explained  after  "^p^  ver.  3. 
The  signification  "veins"  (Blumenth),  or  "nerves, 
Binews  "  (LXX.,  vevpa,  Parchon,  Kimchi)  [E.V.] 
is  without  support. 

Ver.  18.  By  omnipotence  my  garment  is 
distorted;  i.  e.,  by  God's  fearful  power  I  am  so 
emaciated  that  my  garment  hangs  about  me  loose 
and  flapping,  no  longer  looking  like  an  article 
of  clothing  (comp.  ch.  xix.  20).  This  is  the  only 
interpretation  (Ewald,  Delitzsch,  Dillm.,  Kamp- 
hausen,  [E.  V.,  Con.,  Words.,  Ren.]  etc.),  that 
agrees  with  the  contents  of  the  second  member, 
not  that  of  the  LXX.,  who  read  ii'ijri'  instead 
of  E'SniT',  and  understood  God  to  be  the  sub- 
ject: ~o?.?i>)  lax^''-  (■■Ke'X.alieTO  fiov  ttjq  cToli'i^',  nor 
that  of  Hirzel :  "  by  omnipotence  my  garment  is 
exchanfjed"  i.  e.,  for  a  sack  ;  nor  that  of  Schult. 
and  Schlott. :  "  it  [i.  e.,  the  suffering,  the  pain) 
is  changed  into  [become]  my  garment,"  etc. 
[with  the  idea  of  disguise,  disfigurement]. — It 
girds  me  round  like  the  collar  of  my 
[closely-fitting]  coat;  i.  e  ,  my  garment,  which 
nowhere  fits  me  at  all,  clings  to  my  body  as 
closely  and  tightly  as  a  shirt-collar  fastens 
around  the  neck.  ["'J^?^!'  cingit  me,  is  not 
merely  the  falling  together  of  the  outer  garment, 
which  was  formerly  filled  out  by  the  members 
of  the  body,  but  its  appearance  when  the  sick 
man  wraps  himself  in  it;  then  it  girds  him,  fits 
close  to  him  like  his  shirt-collar."  Del.]  The 
LXX.  already  translate  ''i]>Jni)  '33  correctly : 
uaTzep  TO  mpiarouiov  tov  ;j;<rwi^of  /jov  (Vulg.  quasi 
capitium  tunicse]  [E.  V.]. — To  render  "'33  "as," 
or  "  in  proportion  to  "  yields  no  rational  sense 
(comp.  also  Ex.  xxviii.  o2). 

Ver.  19.  He  (God)  hath  cast  me  into  the 
mire  (a  sign  of  the  deepest  humiliation,  comp. 
ch.  xvi.  15)  so  that  I  am  become  like  dust 
and  ashes  (in  consequence  of  the  earth-like, 
dirty  appearance  of  my  skin,  comp.  ch.  vii.  6, 
a  theme  to  which  he  recurs  again  at  the  close  of 
the  chapter,  ver.  30) 

Vers.  20-23.  A  plaintive   appeal  to   God,  en- 


treating help,  but  entreating  it  without  a  hope 
of  being  heard  by  God. — I  stand  there  (pray- 
ing) and  Thou  lookest  fixedly  at  me,  viz., 
without  hearing  me.  This  is  the  only  interpre- 
tation of  the  second  member  which  agrees  well 
with  the  first,  not  that  of  Ewald:  "if  I  remain 
standing,  then  Thou  turnest  Thy  attention  to 
me,"  in  order  to  oppose.  [Ewald  preferring  the 
reading  p3r\ni].  It  is  absolutely  impossible 
with  the  Vulg  ,  Saad.,  Gesen.,  Umbreit,  Welte, 
[E.  v.,  Ber.]  to  carry  over  the  N7  of  the  first 
member  to  p^fim — "I  stand  up,  and  Thou  re- 
gardest  me  not."  ["  The  effect  of  X7  cannot 
be  repeated  in  the  second  member,  after  a  change 
of  subject,  and  in  a  clause  which  is  dependent 
on  the  action  of  that  subject."  Con."] 

Ver.  21.  Thou  changest  Thyself  to  a 
cruel  being  to'wards  me, — TTDf?  sxvus,  comp. 
ch.  xli.  2  [10],  also  the  softened  3]i<  in  the  deri- 
vative passage.  Is.  Ixiii.  30 — On  D£3iy  in  b, 
[with  the  strength  of  Thy  hand  Thou 
makest  war  upon  me],  comp.  ch.  xvi.  9. 

Ver.  22.  Raising  me  upon  a  stormy  wind 
(as  on  a  chariot,  comp.  2  Kings  ii.  11)  [not 
exactly  "to  the  wind"  (E.  V.,  Con.,  Words., 
etc.),  as  though  Job  were  made  the  sport  of  the 
wind,  ludibrium  ventis,  but  flung  upon  it,  and 
whirled  by  it  down  from  the  heights  of  his  pros- 
perity.— E.].  Thou  causest  me  to  be  borne 
away  (comp.  ch.  xxvii.  21),  and  makest  me 
to  dissolve  in  the  crash  of  the  storm. — 
The  last  word  is  to  be  read  after  the  K'thibh, 
with  EwalJ,  Olsh.,  Del.,  etc.,  r\^'dr\,  and  to  be 
regarded  as  an  alternate  form  of  HN^tyn,  or 
nx.^n  (comp.  xxxvi.  29),  and  hence  as  being 
essentially  synonymous  with  PlXliZ/,  Prov.  i.  27, 
"tempest,"  and  as  to  its  construction  an  accus. 
of  motion,  like  fjlO  in  the  following  verse. 
[Ges.,  Umbr.,  Noyes,  Carey,  read  H^.^ij^,  "Thou 
terrifiest  me,"  a  verb  unknown  in  Ilcb.,  and 
even  in  Ch.-ildee  used  only  in  Iihpeal.  See  De- 
litzsch.] The  K'ri  rvtr\  (of  which  the  LXX. 
have  made  H^Tiyj"!)  would  give  a  meaning  less 
in  harmony  with  a:  "Thou  causest  well-being 
to  dissolve  for  me"  [E.  V.:  "  Tliou  dissolvest 
my  substance."  But  ihe  other  rendering  is  a 
far  more  suitable  close  to  the  whole  description, 
which  is  fearfully  magnificent,  besides  being 
entitled  to  the  ordinary  preference  for  the 
K'thibh]. 

Ver.  23.  I  know  that  Thou  wilt  bring 
me  to  death  (or  "bring  me  back" — yWT^  in 
the  sense  of  2W,  ch.  i.  21)  ["death  being  rep- 
resented as  essentially  one  with  the  dust  of  death, 
or  eveu  with  non-existence,"  Delitzsch,  who, 
however,  denies  that  2\U  always  and  inexorably 
includes  an  "again"],  into  the  house  of 
assembly  for  all  living. — The  latter  expres- 
sion, which  is  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  of 
ch.  iii.  17  seq.,  is  in  apposition  to  niO,  and  this 
is  used  here  as  a  synonym  of  ni^p ,  as  in  ch. 
xxviii.  22. 

Concluaion:  Third  Strophe:  vers.  24-31:  The 
diappointmcnt  of  all  his  hopes. 

Ver.  24.  But  still  doth  not  one  stretch 
out  the  hand  in  falling  ? — '^i^  here  an  adver- 


540 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


sative  particle,  as  in  ch.  xvi.  7;  it),  however, 
interrogative  for  i<Sn,  comp.  ch.  ii.  10  b.  The 
view  that  "'J?3  is  compounded  of  3  and  ''^|> 
"ruin,  fall,  destruction"  (comp. 'Mic.  i.  6,  also 
the  more  frequent  plur.,  D";?,  ruins),  is  favored 
by  the  parallel  expression  1Tp3  in  the  second 
member.    T  vhll)  finally,  in  the  sense  of  stretch- 

T  ~  T 

ing  out  tlie  bands  in  supplication,  prayer,  is  at 
least  indirectly  supported  by  Ex.  xvii.  11  seq., 
and  similar  passages  (such  as  Ex.  ix.  29;  1 
Kings  viii.  88;  Is.  i.  15;  Ixv.  2,  e^c.).— Or  in 
his  overthrow  (will  one  not  lift  up)  a  cry  on 

that  account? — The  interrogative  N7=N7n 
extends  its  influence  still  over  the  second  mem- 
ber. The  suffix  in  1T33  refers  back  to  the 
indefinite  subject  in  nViJ?',  and  belongs  there- 
fore to  the  same  one  overtaken  by  the  fall,  and 
threatened  with   destruction  (T3  as  in  ch.  xii. 

6).     Respecting  JhS    "on    that  account,   there- 
fore," see  Ewald,  §^217,  d;  and  on  ;^1U^=n;nt;/, 
"a  cry,"   comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  19  a. — It  is  possible 
that  instead   of  the   harsh   expression  yyd  |n7 
we  should  read  something  like  VS^\  ^  (accord- 
ing to  Lillmann's   conjecture).     On  the    whole 
the  explanation  here  propounded  of  this  verse, 
which  was  variously  misunderstood  by  the  an- 
cient   versions    and   expositors,    gives   the    only 
meaning  suited  to  the  context,  for  which  reason 
the  leading  mo<lern  commenlators    (Ewald,   Hir- 
zel,  Delitzsch,  Dillmann,  and  on  the  whole  Hahn, 
etc.)  adhere  to  it.      [Delitzsch  thus  explains  the 
connection  :   "He  knows  that  he  is  being  hurried 
forth  to  meet  death  ;   he  knows  it,    and   has  also 
already    made    himself    so    familiar    with    this 
thought,  that  the  sooner  he  sees  an  end  put  to 
this  his  sorrowful  life,  the  better — nevertheless 
does  one  not  stretch  out  one's  hand  when  one  is 
falling?   ...   or  in  his  downfall  raise  a  cry  for 
help?"     As  Dillmann  remarks,  this  meaning  is 
striking    in    itself    (besides    being    simple    and 
natural),  and  is  in  admirable  harmony   with  the 
context.     The  E.  V.,  after  some  of  the  Rabbis, 
takes  ""J^  in  the  sense  of  "grave,"   although  the 
meaning  of  its  rendering  is  obscure.     It  would 
seeni  to  be  that  God  will  not  stretch    out  His 
hand,  in   the  way  of  deliverance,  to  the  grave, 
although  when  He   begins   to  destroy,  men  cry 
out   for  mercy.     Wordsworth  translates:   "But 
only  will  He  (God)  not  stretch  out  His  hand   (to 
help,  see  Prov.  xxxi.  20;   Hab.  iii.  10)  upon  me, 
who  am  like  a  desolation  or  a  ruin?     And  will 
not  crying  therefore  (reach  Him)  in  His  destruc- 
tion of  me'.''' — Others  (Ges.,  Con.,  Noyes,  Carey, 
take  ''i?_3  (from  PJ.'!!)  to  mean  "prayer:"  "Yea, 
there  is  no  prayer,   when  He  stretches   out  the 
hand  :  nor  when  He  destroys  can  they  cry  for 
help,"  which  is  not,  so  well  suited  to  tlie  connec- 
tion, and  is  against  the  parallelism  which  makes 
it  probable  that  3  before  ''j;  is  a  preposition  as 
before  Ti3. — E.] 

Ver.  25.  Or  did  I  not  weep  for  him  that 
was  in  trouble?  lit.  for  "the  hard  of  day," 
for  " him  that  is  afflicted  by  a  day"'    (a   day  of 


calamity).  On  h  comp.  ch.  xix.  12,  15  seq.  The 
dn-.  7,£y.  DJJ?,  "  to  be  troubled,  grieved,"  ia  not 
different  in  sense  from  DJX,  Is.  xix.  10. 

Ver.  2G.  For  I  hoped  for  good,  and  there 
came  evil,  tic. — For  the  thought  comp.  Is.  lix. 

9;  Jer,  xiv.  19.  Respecting  n^rrxi  (Iniperf. 
cons.  Piel),  comp.  Ewald,  \  232,  h,;  the  strength- 
ening n~  in  the  final  vowel  as  in  ch.  i.  15. 

Ver.  27.  In  regard  to  tlie  "boiling"  (nDI  as 
in  ch.  xli.  23  [31])  of  the  bowels,  comp.  Lam.  i. 
20;  ii.  11;  Is.  xvi.  11;  Jer.  xxxi.  20,  etc.  ["My 
bowels  boiled,"  E.  V.,  does  not  quite  express 
the  Pual  ^nn'^,  "are  made  to  boil,"  the  result 
of  an  external  cause.]  On  D^P,  "to  encounter 
any  one,  to  fall  upon  him"  [E.  V.  "prevent" 
obsolete],  comp.  Ps.  xviii.  6  [5]. 

Ver.  28.  I  go  along  blackened,  w^ithout 
the  heat  of  the  sun,  i  e.  not  by  the  heat  of 
the  sun,  not  as  one  that  is  burnt  by  the  heat  of 
the  sun.  Since  T\T!}T\  (comp.  Cant.  vi.  10;  Is. 
XXX.  26)  denotes  the  sun  as  regards  its  heat, 
'n  X73  (instead  of  which  the  Pesh.  and  Vulg. 
read  HOn  N73)  is  not  to  be  explained  "without 
the  sun-lighfr^in  inconsolable  darkness"  (so 
Hahn,  Delitzsch,  Kamp.)  [and  probably  E.  "V.: 
"  I  went  mourning  without  the  sun  "]  ;  which  is 
all  the  less  probable  in  that  lip  can  scarcely 
denote  anything  else  than  the  dirty  appearance 
of  a  mourner,  covered  with  dust  and  ashes 
(comp.  ch.  vii.  6),  such  a  blnckening  of  the  skin 
accordingly  as  would  present  an  obvious  contrast 
with  that  produced  by  the  heat  of  the  sun.     On 

l^T}  comp.  ch.  xxiv.  10. — I  stand  up  in  the 
assembly,  complaining  aloud,  giving  free 
expression  to  my  pain  on  account  of  my  suffer- 
ings. vHp  here  indeed  not  of  the  popular 
assembly  in  the  gates — for  the  time  was  long 
since  passed,  when  he,  the  leper,  might  take  his 
place  there  (comp.  ch.  xxix.  7  seq.) — but  the 
assembly  of  mourners,  who  surrounded  him  in, 
or  near  his  house,  and  who,  we  are  to  under- 
stand, were  by  no  means  limited  to  the  three 
friends.     The  opinion  of  Hirzel  and  Dillmann, 

that  7np3  means  publice,  is  without  support ; 
7np3,  Prov.  xxvi.  26  argues  against  this  signi- 
fication, rather  than  for  it,  for  there  in  fact  the 
language  does  refer  to  an  assembly  of  the  peo- 
ple, not  to  any  other  gathering. 

Ver.  29.  I  am  become  a  brother  to  jack- 
als [Vulg.,  E.  v.:  "dragons'  ],  a  companion 
of  ostriches  [E.  V.  here  as  elsewhere  incor- 
rectly "owls"],  i.  e.  in  respect  to  the  loud, 
mournful  howling  of  these  animals  of  the  desert 
(see  Mic.  i.  8).  The  reference  is  not  so  well 
taken  to  their  solitariness,  although  this  also 
may  be  taken  into  the  account  ;  for  tlie  life  of  a 
leper,  shut  off  from  all  intercourse  with  the  pub- 
lic, and  put  out  of  the  city,  must  at  all  times  be 
comparatively  deserted,  notwithstanding  all  the 
groups  of  sympathizing  visitors,  who  might 
occasionally  gather  about  him.  [See  note  in 
Delitzsch  ii.  171  ;  also  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.  "Dra- 
gon," "Ostrich."] 


CHAPS.  XXIX— XXXT. 


541 


Ver.  30.  My  skin,  being  black,  peels  off 
from   me:  lit.    "is    become   black,   from    uie." 

'7j?0  as  in  ver.  17 ;  tbe  blackness  of  the  skin 
(produced  by  the  heat  of  the  disease)  as  in 
Ter.  19  [where,  however,  it  la  referred  rather 
to  the  dirt  adhering  to  it];  comp.  ch.  vii. 
6. — Respecting  mn  from  Tin,  "to  glow,  to 
be  hot,"  comp.  Ezek.  xxiv.  11 ;  Is.  xxiv.  6. 

Ver.  31  forms  a  comprehensive  close  to  the 
whole  preceding  description:  And  so  my 
harp  (comp.  ch.  xxi.  lli)  v^as  turned  to 
mourning,  and  my  pipe  (comp.  the  same  pas- 
sage) to  tones  of  lamentation;  lit.  "to  the 
voice  of  the  weeping."  Job's  former  cheerful- 
ness and  joyousness  (comp.  ch.  xxix.  24)  appears 
here  under  the  striking  emblem  of  the  tones  of 
musical  instruments  sounding  forth  clearly  and 
joyously,  but  now  become  mute.  Similar  de- 
scriptions in  Ps.  XXX.  12  [11];  Lam.  v.  15; 
Amos  viii.  10,  etc.  ["  Thus  the  second  part  of 
the  monologue  closes.  ...  It  is  Job's  last 
sorrowful  lament  before  the  catastrophe.  What 
a  delicate  touch  of  the  poet  is  it  that  he  makes 
this  lament,  ver.  31,  die  away  so  melodiously. 
One  hears  the  prolonged  vibration  of  its  elegiac 
strains.  The  festive  and  joyous  music  is  hushed  ; 
the  only  tones  are  tones  of  sadness  and  lament, 
mesto fiehiley  Delitzsch]. 

Third  Division:  Job's  asseveration  of  his  inno- 
cence in  presence  of  the  God  of  the  future :  cli.  xxsi. 

First  Strophe:  Vers.  1-8.  The  avoidance  of  all 
sinful  lust,  which  he  had  constantly  practiced. — 
A  covenant  have  I  made  with  mine  eyes, 
and  ho^A^  should  I  fix  my  gaze  on  a  maid- 
en? i.  e.,  with  adulterous  intent  (comp.  npbg  to 
iiri^vfirjaai  avTTp,  Matth.  v.  28;  comp.  Sir.  ix. 
6).  The  whole  verse  affirms  that  Job  had  not 
once  violated  the  marriage  covenant  in  which  he 
lived  (and  which,  ch.  ii.  9 — comp.  ch.  xix.  17 — 
shows  to  have  been  monogamous)  by  adulterous 
inclinations,  to  say  nothing  of  unchaste  actions. 
In  respect  to  the  significance  of  this  utterance  of 
a  godly  man  in  the  patriarchal  age,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  history  of  morals  and  civilization, 
comp.  below  "Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks." 

The  words  D;r||"7  n'"13  np  (S  instead  of  "flX 
or  "DJk')  are  literally  rendered:  "  to  prescribe,  to 
<f/c/a<e  a  covenant  to  the  eyes.  Job  appears  ac- 
cordingly as  the  superior,  prescribing  to  his  or- 
gan of  vision  its  conduct,  dictating  to  it  all  the 
conditions  of  the  agreement.  It  is  unnecessary, 
and  even  erroneous,  to  translate  the  verbs  as 
pluperfects  ("1  had  made  a  covenant —  .  .  how 
should  1  have  looked  upon,"  etc. — so  e.g.,  Um- 
breit,  Hahn,  Vaih.).  for  Job  would  by  no  means 
describe  these  principles  of  chastity,  which  he 
observed,  as  something  belonging  merely  to  the 
earlier  past. 

Vers.  2-4  continue  the  reflections,  beginning 
with  ver.  1  b,  which  had  restrained  him  from 
unchaste  lusts,  and  this  in  the  form  of  three 
questions,  of  which  the  first  (ver.  2)  is  answered 
by  the  second  and  third  (vers.  3  and  4). — And 
( — thus  did   I   think — )  v/hat  -wrould  be   the 

dispensation  of  Eloah  from  above  ? — pSn 

is  the  portion  assigned  by  God,  the  dispensation 
of  His  just  retribution;  comp.  ch.  xx.  29  ;  xxvii. 


13,  where  also  may  be  found  the  parallel  nSflJ. 
"inheritance."  Onl^jyo,  "  from  above,"  comp. 
ch.  xvi.  19;  xxv.  2;  and  in  particular  such  New 
Testament  passages  as  Rom.  i.  18  (ut'  ovpavov), 
James  i.  17  {iwu&kv),  etc. 

Ver.  8  seq.  The  answer  to  that  question  itself 
given  in  the  form  of  a  question.     On  TX  comp. 

above  on  ch.  xxx.  12;  on  bu?,  ch.  xviii.  21  ;  on 
nOJ  "calamity,"  Obad.  12. 

Ver.  4.  Doth  not  He  (X^n,  referring  back 
to  niTN,  ver.  2)  [and  emphatic:  He — doth  He 
not  see,  etc.']  see  my  ways,  and  doth  He  not 
count  all  my  steps? — Comp.  Ps.  cxxxix.  2 
seq.  It  was  accordingly  the  thouglit  of  God  as 
the  omniscient  heavenly  Judge,  which  influenced 
Job  to  avoid  most  rigidly  even  such  sinful  desires 
and  thoughts  as  were  merely  internal! 

Vers.  5-8.  The  first  in  the  scries  of  the  many 
adjurations,  beginning  with  DX,  in  which  Job 
continues  the  assertion  of  his  innocence  to 
the  close  of  the  discourse. — If  I  have  walked 
[had  intercourse]  w^ith  falsehood  (XlC^ 
here  as  a  synonym  of  the  following  HO^O,  not 
simply  "vanity"  [E.  V.]  but  "  falsi  liood,  a 
false  nature,  lying")  and  my  foot  hath  has- 
tened  to  deceit. — JSTim  from  a  verb  Htyn, 

~  1 T    T 

not  found  elsewhere;  and  signifying  not  "  to  be 
silent,"  but  "  to  hasten  "  (like  l^^in)  is  an  alter- 
nate form  of  the  more  common  D'-IFI  (comp.  tOj"!, 
1  Sam.  XV.  19,  from  a  root  T\Oj,\  synonymous 
with  G7). 

Ver.  6.  Parenthetic  demand  upon  God,  that 
He  should  be  willing  to  prove  the  truth  of  Job's 
utterances  (not  the  consequent  of  the  hypothetic 
antecedent  in  the  preceding  verse,  as  Delitzsch 
[E.  v.],  would  make  it).— Let  Him  (God) 
w^eigh  me  in  a  just  balance  ;  or  "  in  the  ba- 
lance of  justice,"  the  same  emblem  of  the  deci- 
sive Divine  judgment  to  which  the  inscription  in 
the  case  of  13elshazzar  refers  (Dan.  v.  25),  an  I 
which  appears  in  the  proverbial  language  of  the 
Arabs  as  "the  balance  of  works;"  in  like  man- 
ner among  the  Greeks  as  an  attribute  of  Themis^ 
or  Dike,  etc. 

Ver.  7.  Continuation  of  the  asseveratory  an- 
tecedent in  ver.  5,  introduced  by  an  Inipcrf.  of 
the  Past — expressing  the  continuousness  of  the 
actions  described — interchanging  with  the  Pert". 
(as  again  below  in  vers.  13,  1(1-20,  etc.) — If  my 
steps  turned  aside  from  the  w^ay,  i.  e.,  from 
iheriffht  way,  prescribed  by  God  (comp.  ch.  xxiii. 
11),  which  is  forsaken  when,  as  the  thought  is 
expressed  in  b,  one  "  walks  after  his  own  eyes," 
i.  e.,  allows  himself  to  be  swayed  by  the  lusts  of 
the  eye  (comp.  Jer.  xviii.  12;  1  John  ii.  16). — 
And  a  spot  cleaved  to  my  hands,  to  wit,  a 
spot  of  immoral  actions,  especially  such  as  are 
avaricious.  Comp.  Ps.  vii.  4  [3]  seq.  ;  Deut. 
xiii.  17,  etc. — D^XD  instead  of  the  usual  form 
□10  (comp.  ch.  xi.  15),  found  also  Dan.  i.  4. 

Ver.  8.  Consequent:  then  shall  I  sow  and 
another  eat;  i.  e.,  the  fruits  of  my  labor  shall 
be  enjoyed  by  another,  instead  of  myself  (be- 
cause 1  have  stained  it  by  ilie  fraudulent  appro- 
priation of  the   property  of  others);  the  same 


542 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


thought  as  above  in  ch.  xxvii.  16  seq. ;  comp. 
Lev.  xxvi.  16;  Deut.  xxviii.  33  ;  Amos  v.  ll,e/c. 
— And  may  my  products  be  rooted  out ! 
D'X^fXy  used  here  not  of  children,  offspring  [E. 
v.]  (as  in  ch.  v.  25;  xxi.  8;  xxvii.  14),  but  ac- 
cording to  a  of  the  growth  of  the  soil  as  planted 
by  the  owner,  which  so  far  as  it  shall  not  fall 
into  the  hands  of  others  shall  be  destroyed  (comp. 
Is.  xxxiv.  1 ;  xlii.  5). 

9.  Continuation.  Second  Strophe:  Vers.  9-15. 
The  righteousness  which  he  had  exercised  in  all 
the  affairs  of  his  domestic  life. — If  my  heart 
has  been  befooled  on  account  of  [or  en- 
ticed towards]  a  "vyoman  ;  i.  e.,  a  married 
woman, — for  the  sins  of  which  Job  here  acquits 
his  conscience  are  those  of  the  more  flagrant  sort, 
like  David's  transgression  with  Bathsheba,  not 
simple  acta  of  unchastity,  such  as  were  described 
above  in  ver.  1. — As  to  b,  comp.  ch.  xxiv.  15,  and 
particularly  Prov.  vii.  7  seq. 

Ver.  10.  Consequent:  Then  let  my  wife 
grind  for  another;  i.  e.,  not  simply  grind  with 
the  hand-mill  for  him  as  his  slave  (Ex.  xi.  5; 
Isa.  xlvii.  2;  Matth.  xxiv.  41),  but  according  to 
the  testimony  of  the  Ancient  Versions  (LXX., 
Vulg.,  Targ.)  and  the  Jewish  expositors — it  re- 
fers to  sexual  intercourse  in  concubinage — this 
obscene  sense  being  still  more  distinctly  ex- 
pressed in  b. — r"!nX,  Aram.  plur.  as  in  ch.  iv. 
2  ;  xxiv.  22. 

Vers.  11,  12.  Energetic  expression  of  detesta- 
tion for  the  sin  of  adultery  just  mentioned. — For 
such  a  thing  (X^rj)  [this]  would  be  an  in- 
famous act,  and  that  (X'ri)  a  sin  [crime  to 
be  brought]  before  the  judges. — So  accord- 
ing to  the  K'thibh,  which  with  N-IH  points  back 
to  that  which  is  mentioned  in  ver.  9,  but  with 
H'T\  points  back  to  nQT,  "  transgression,  deed  of 
infamy"  ["  the  usual  Thora-word  for  the  shame- 
less, subtle  encroachments  of  sensual  desires," 
Pel.],  while  the  K  ri  unnecessarily  reads  N^H  in 

"both  instances — □'Vya  pp  would  be,  so  written 
(with  J1>/  in  the  absol.  state)  =  crimen,  et  crimen 
quidem  judienm  (comp.  Gesen.,  §  116  [^  114]. 
Rem.).  Still  the  conjecture  is  natural  that  we 
are  to  read  either,   as  in  ver.  28  ''riH    "A]^    er. 

•  :       '    T 

judiciale,  or,  D'VyS  |1^,  cr.judicum.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  expression  is  furthermore  similar  to 
ivoxoQ  ri)  Kpiaei,  Matth.  v.  21  seq. 

Ver.  12.  For  it  would  be  a  fire  which 
w^ould  devour  even  to  the  abyss,  i.  e.,  which 
would  not  rest  before  it  had  brought  me,  con- 
sumed by  a  wicked  adulterous  passion,  to  me- 
rited punishment  in  the  abyss  of  hell;  comp. 
Prov.  vi.  27  seq.;  vii.  26 seq. ;  Sir.  ix.  8;  James 
iii.  6,  and  in  respect  to  p^^X  see  above  ch.  xxvi. 
6;  xxviii.  22, — and  which  would  root  out 
all  my  increase,  i.  e.,  burn  out  the  rootsbeneath 

it.  The  3  before  ^nxori~73  may  be  expressed 
by  the  translation :  "and  which  should  under- 
take the  act  of  outrooting  vpon  my  whole  pro- 
duce,," (Delitzsch)  [Beth  obj'ccti,  corresponding  to 
the  Greek  genitive  expressing  not  an  entire  full 
coincidence,  but  an  action  about  and  upon  the 
object.     See  Ewald,  ^  217]. 

Ver.  13 seq.    A  new   adjuration  touching  the 


humane  friendliness  of  Job's  conduct  toward 
his  house-slaves.  If  I  despised  the  right  of 
my  servant,  of  my  maid — if  those  who  were 
often  treated  as  absolutely  without  any  rights, 
certainly  not  on  the  basis  of  the  INIosaic  law 
(comp.  Ex.  xxi.  1  seq.,  20  seq.).  Job,  the  pa- 
triarchal saint,  appears  accordingly  in  tbis  re- 
spect also  as  a  fore-runner  of  the  theocratic 
spirit;  comp.  Abraham's  relations  to  Eliezer, 
Gen.  XV.  2  ;  xxiv.  2  seq. 

Ver.  14.  What  should  I  do  when  God 
arose?  etc.  Umbreit,  tttickel,  Vaih.,  Welte,  De- 
litzsch [E.  V.  Con.,  Carey,  Noy.,  Words.,  Merx], 
correctly  construe  this  verse  as  the  apodosis  of 
the  preceding,  here  exceptionally  introduced  by 
1,  not  as  a  parenthetic  clause,  which  would  then 
have  no  consequent  after  it  (Ewald,  Hirzel,  Dill- 
mann),  [Schlottmann,  Renau,  Rod.,  Elz.].  In 
respect  to  the  "rising  up"  of  God,  to  wit,  for 
judgment,  comp. ch.xix.  25;  on  HpU  to  "inquire 
into,"  comp.  Ps.  xvii.  3;  on  S'U'n,  "to  reply," 
ch.  xiii.  22. 

Ver.  15.  In  the  womb  did  not  my  Ma- 
ker make  him  (also),  and  did  not  One 
(inX,  one  and  the  same  God)  fashion  us  in 
the  belly?  ^^30'1,  syncopated  Pilel-form,  with 
suffix  of  the  1st  pers.  plur.,  for  l^jyO'l  (Ewald, 
§81,  a;  comp.  §  250,  a).  For  "the  thought 
comp.  on  the  one  side,  ch.  x.  8-12;  on  the  other 
side  the  use  made  of  the  identity  of  creation  and 
community  of  origin  on  the  part  of  masters  and 
servants  as  a  motive  for  the  humane  treatment 
of  the  latter  by  the  former  in  Eph.  vi.  9  (also 
Mai.  ii.  10).  [The  position  of  ^022  gives  some 
emphasis  to  the  thought  that  Jhe  womb  is  the 
common  source  of  our  earthly  life,  or  as  De- 
litzsch expresses  it,  that  God  has  fashioned  us 
in  the  womb  "in  an  equafly  animal  way,"  a 
thought  "which  smites  down  all  pride." — E.]. 

Continuation.  Third  Strophe;  vers,  16-23: 
His  righteous  and  merciful  conduct  toward  his 
neighbors,  or  in  the  sphere  of  civil  life  (comp. 
above  ch.  xxix.  12-17).  After  the  first  hypo- 
thetic antecedent,  in  ver.  16,  follows  immediately 
the  parenthesis,  in  ver.  18,  then  three  new  an- 
tecedent passages,  beginning  with  2X  (or  X7-DKj, 

until  finally,  in  ver.  22,  the  common  consequent 
of  these  four  antecedents  is  stated.  If  I  re- 
fused to  the  poor  their  desire  [or,  if  I  held 
back  the  poor  from  their  desire]  (i'JO  con- 
strued otherwise  than  in  ch.  xxii.  7 ;  comp. 
Eccles.  ii.  10;  Num.  xxiv.  11);  and  caused 
the  vridow's  eyes  to  fail — from  looking  out 
with  yearning  for  help;  comp.   ch.  xi.  20;  xvii. 

5;  and  in  particular  on  XV)2  comp.  Lev.  xxvi. 
16;   1  Sam.  ii.  33. 

Ver.  18.  Parenthesis,  repudiating  the  thought 
that  he  could  have  treated  widows  or  orphans 
so  cruelly  as  he  had  just  described — introduced 
by  '3  in  the  signification — ■"  nay,  rather"  comp. 
Ps.  cxxx.  4;  Mich,  vi.4,  and  often).  Nay  indeed 
from  my  youth  he  grew  up  to  me  as  to  a 
father,  viz.,  the  orphan;  the  position  of  the  sub- 
jects in  respect  to  those  of  ver.  16  and  ver.  17 
is  chiastic  [inverted].  The  suffix  in  'J^nj  has 
the  force  of  a  dative  (Ewald,  §  315,  b),  and  3X3 


CHAPS.  XXIX— XXXI. 


543 


is  an  elliptical  comparison  for  iN7~i03.     The 

conjecture  of  Olshausen,  who  would  read  'J^"!-! 
"  he  honored  [magnified]  me,"  is  unnecessary. 
And  from  the  womb  I  ^was  her  guide. — 
Occasioned  by  the  parallel  expression  "'"^T^?  in 
a,  the  meaning  of  which  it  is  intended  to  inten- 
sify, the  phrase  'QX  jp3p,  "from  my  mother's 
womb,"  t.  e.  from  my  birth,  presents  itself  as  a 
strong  hyperbole,  designed  to  show  that  Job's 
humane  and  friendly  treatment  of  widows  and 
orphans  began  with  his  earliest  youth  ;  he  had 
drank  it  in  so  to  speak  with  his  mother's  milk, 
["So  far  back  as  he  can  remember,  he  was  wont 
to  behave  like  a  father  to  the  orphan,  and  like  a 
child  to  the  widow."  Del.]. 

Ver.  19.  If  I  saw  the  forsaken  one  [or: 
one  perishing]  without  clothing,  etc.  n^ix 

as  in  ch.  xxix.  13;  Vr'pj  ^.s  in  ch.  xxiv.  7.  The 
second  member  OJI  j'XI  forms  a  second  object 
to  nx'^X,  lit.  "  and  (saw)  the  not-being  of  the 
poor  with  covering." 

Ver.  20.  In  respect  to  the  blessing  pronounced 
by  the  grateful  poor  (the  blessing  described  as 
proceeding  from  his  warmed  hips  and  loins, 
which  in  a  truly  poetic  manner  are  named  in- 
stead of  himself)  comp.  ch.  xxix.  13. 

Ver.  21.  If  I  shook  my  hand  over  the 
orphan  (with  intent  of  doing  violence,  comp. 
Is.  xi.  15;  xix.  16)  ["as  a  preparation  for  a 
crushing  stroke"],  because  I  saw^  my  help 
in  the  gate  («'.  e.  before  the  tribunal,  comp.  ch. 
xxix.  7) — a  reference  to  the  bribery  which  he 
had  practicpd  upon  the  judges,  or  to  any  other 
abuse  of  his  great  influence  for  the  perversion 
of  justice. 

Ver.  22.  Consequent,  corresponding  immedi- 
ately to  ver.  21,  but  having  a  wider  reference  to 
all  the  antecedents  from  ver.  16  on,  even  though 
the  sins  described  in  the  former  ones  of  the 
number  were  not  specially  committed  by  the 
hand,  or  arm.  Then  let  my  shoulder  fall 
from  Its  shoulder-blade.  —  '\r\3  signifies 
shoulder,  or  upper  arm,  even  as  ^"^TN  in  b  de- 
signates the  arm.  U3W  is  the  nape,  which  sup- 
ports the  upper  arm,  or  shoulder  (together  with 
the  shoulder-blades);  nJp  "a  pipe,"  but  used 
to  denote  the  shoulder-joint  to  which  the  arm  is 
attached;  less  probably  the  hollow  bone  of  the 
arm  itself  (against  Delitzsch).  Concerning  the 
n  raphatum  in  the  suffixes  HODC?  and  HJp,  comp. 
Ewald,  ?,  21,  f;  247,  d. 

Ver.  23.  Assigning  the  reasoa  for  what  pre- 
cedes, sustaining  the  same  relation  to  ver.  22, 
as  ver.  11  seq.  to  ver.  10.  For  the  destruc- 
tion of  God  (comp.  ver.  8)  is  a  tenor  forme 
(''St<  meaning  "in  mine  eyes,"  comp.  Eccles.  ix. 
13),  and  before  His  majesty  (  |p  compar. ; 
Pi^Ji'  as  in  ch.  xiii.  11)  I  am  powerless — I  can 
do  nothing,  I  possess  no  power  of  resistance. 
Job  emphasizes  thus  strongly  his  fear  and  entire 
impotence  before  God,  in  order  to  show  that  it 
would  be  morally  impossible  for  him  to  be  guilty 
of  such  practices,  as  those  last  described.  The 
hypothetic  rendering  of  the  verse:   "  for  terror 


might  [or  ought  to]  come  upon  me,  the  destruc- 
tion of  God"  (Del.,  Kaniph.)  is  impossible. 

11.  Continualion.  Fourth  Strophe:  vers.  24- 
32.  Job's  conscientiousness  in  the  discliarge  o." 
his  more  secret  obligations  to  God  and  liis  neigh- 
bor. Within  this  stroplie,  vers.  24-28  constitute 
first  of  all  one  adjuration  by  itself,  consisting  of 
three  antecedents  with  DX,  to  which  ver.  1^8  is 
related  as  a  common  consequent.  (According  to 
the  assumption  of  Ewald,  Dillmann,  Hahn,  etc., 
that  ver.  28  is  only  a  parenthesis,  and  that  a 
consequent  does  not  follow  within  the  present- 
strophe,  the  discourse  would  be  too  clumsy). 
Job  here  expresses  his  detestation  of  two  new 
species  of  sins:  avarice  (vers.  24-25),  and  the 
idolatry  of  the  Sabian  astrology,  which  are  here 
closely  united  together  as  the  worship  of  the 
glittering  metal,  and  that  of  the  glittering  stars ; 
comp.  Col.  iii.  6. 

Ver.  24.  If  I  set  up  gold  for  my  confi- 
dence, etc.     On  "gold"  and  "fine  gold"  comp. 

ch.  xxviii.  16  ;  on  bp3  and  nCD^O,  ch.  viii.  14. 
Respecting  the  masc.  "I'SJ  used  as  a  neuter  in 
ver.  25  b,  of  that  which  is  great,  considerable  in 
number  or  amount,  comp.  Ew.,  §  172,  h. 

Ver.  26.  If  I  saw  the  sunlight  ("ilX,  "the 
light"  simply,  or  "the  light  of  this  world," 
John  xi.  9;  used  also  of  the  sun  in  ch.  xxxvii. 
21;  Hab.  iii.  4;  comp.  the  Greek  onar,  Odyss. 
III.  355,  and  often),  how  it  shines  ("2)  as  in 
ch.  xxii.  12),  and  the  moon  walking  in 
splendor,      "^p'   a   prefixed   accus.    of  nearer 

specification  to  ^771  hence  used  as  an  adverb, 
splendide  (Ewald,  g  279,  a),  ["n^'  is  the  moon 
as  a  wanderer  (from  niX=m)  I.e.,  night-wan- 
derer, noctivaga.  .  .  .  The  two  words  ^/.^  "^p' 
describe  with  exceeding  beauty  the  solemn  ma- 
jestic wandering  of  the  moon."   Del.] 

Ver.  28.  And  my  heart  ■was  secretly  be- 
guiled, so  that  I  threw  to  them  (to  these 
stars,  having  reference  to  the  heathen  divinities 
represented  by  them,  hence  the  D'Ot^n  N3i*, 
Deut.  iv.  19)  a  kiss  by  the  hand  (lit.  "  <o 
that  I  touched — wiih  a  kiss — my  hand  to  my 
mouth;"  respecting  this  sign  of  adoratio,  or 
npocKvvrjatg,  comp.  1  Kings  xix.  18  ;  Hos.  xiii. 
2;  also  riin.  H.  N.  XXVIII.,  2,  5:  Inter  adoran- 
dum  dexicram  ad  osculum  referimus  et  totum  corpus 
circumagimus  ;  and  Lucian  nEpl  bpx'/tyEuc,  who  re- 
presents the  worshippers  of  the  rising  gun  in 
AVestern  Asia  and  Greece  as  performing  their 
devotion  by  kissing  the  h&nd  {r//v  x^i  pa  Kiaavrcc), 
In  the  case  of  Job  it  was  the  worship  of  the  stars 
as  practiced  by  the  Araniteans  and  Arabians 
(the  Himjarites  in  particular  among  the 
latter  worshipping  the  sun  and  moon 
[Urotal  and  Alilat'\  as  their  chief  divi- 
nities) which  might  from  time  to  time  pre- 
sent itself  to  him  in  the  form  of  a  temptation  to 
apostatize  from  one  invisible  God;  comp.  L. 
Krehl,  Die  Religion  der  vorislamitischen  Araher, 
1868;  L.  Diestel,  Der  monotheiamus  des  iillesten 
Heidenthum.1,  Jahrb'dcher  fur  deutsche  Theologie, 
1860,  p.  709  seq.  Against  Ewald's  assumption 
that  there  is  here  an  allusion  to  the  Parsee  wor- 
ship of  the  sun,   and  that  for  that  reason  our 


544 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


book  could  not  have  been  written  before  the  7tli 
Cent.  B.  C,  it  may  be  said,  that  the  kissing  of 
the  hand  does  not  appear  in  the  Zoroastrian 
ritual  of  prayer,  and  also  that  the  sun  and  moon 
are  represented  in  the  Avesta  as  genii  created 
by  Ahuramazda,  and  consequently  not  as  being 
themselves  gods  to  be  worshipped.  Equally 
arbitrary  with  this  derivation  of  the  passage 
from  the  Zend  religion  hy  Ewald,  is  DillmaHn's 
assertion,  that  it  was  only  from  the  time  of  King 
Ahaz,  and  still  more  under  Manasseb,  that  the 
adoration  of  the  "host  of  heaven"  began  pro- 
perly to  exercise  a  seductive  influence  on  the 
people  of  Israel,  and  that  it  was  only  from  that 
point  on  that  it  could  be  regarded  as  a  sign  of 
particular  'ieligious  purity  "that  one  had  never, 
not  even  in  secret,  yielded  to  this  temptation." 
As  though  our  poet  did  not  know  perfectly  well 
what  traits  he  ought  to  introduce  into  the  pic- 
ture of  his  hero,  who  is  consistently  represented 
as  belonging  to  the  patriarchal  age!  Comp. 
against  this  unnecessary  assumption  of  an  ana- 
chronism, of  which  the  poet  had  been  guilty,  in 
the  history  of  civilization  or  religion,  the  Intro- 
duction, §  6,  II.,  /. 

Ver.  28.  Consequent  (see  above):  This  also 
■were  a  crime  to  be  punished;  lit.  "a  judi- 
cial crime,  one  belonging  to  the  judge;"  comp. 
on  ver.  11 ;  and  respecting  the  thought,  Ex.  xvii. 
2  seq.— Because  I  should  have  denied  the 
God  above  (ver.  2) ;  lit.  "I  should  have  denied 
[acted  falsely]   in  respect  to   the   God   above; 

7  E?n3  means  here  the  same  with  3  l?n3  else- 
where (eh.  viii.  18;  Is.  lix.  13). 

Vers.  29,  30.  A  new  asseveration  with  an  oath 
repudiating  the  suspicion  that  he  had  exhibited 
toward  his  enemies  any  hate  or  malice.  For 
this  hypothetic  antecedent,  as  well  as  for  all 
those  which  follow,  beginning  with  DK  down  to 
ver.  38,  the  special  consequent  is  wanting;  not 
until  ver.  38  seq.  does  this  series  of  antapodota 
[antecedents  or  protases]  reach  its  end.  The 
consequent  in  ver.  40,  however,  is,  in  respect  of 
its  contents,  suited  only  to  the  antecedent  pas- 
sage immediately  preceding,  in  vers.  38,  39,  and 
not  also  to  the  verses  preceding  those. — Vers. 
30,  32  and  35-37  are  accordingly  mere  pnrenthe- 
ses. — If  I  rejoiced  over  [or  in]  the  destruc- 
tion (T3  as  in  ch.  xxx.  24)  of  him  that  bated 
me. — That  the  love  of  our  enemies  was  already 
required  as  a  duty  under  the  Old  Dispensation 
is  shown  by  Ex.  xxiii.  4;  Lev.  xix.  18  (the  lat- 
ter passage  not  without  a  characteristic  limita- 
tion), but  still  more  particularly  by  the  Chok- 
mah-literature,  e.  g.  Prov.  xx.  22;  xxiv.  17  seq.; 
XXV.  21  seq. 

Ver.  31.  Yet  I  did  not  (X71  with  an  adver- 
sative meaning  for  the  copula)  allovr  my  pal- 
ate (which  is  introduced  here  as  the  instrument 
of  speech,  as  in  ch.  vi.  30  [where,  however,  it  is 
rather  the  instrument  of  tasting,  and  so  is  used 
for  the  fncultj'of  moral  discrimination])  to  sin, 
by  a  curse  to  ask  for  his  life ;  i.  e.  by  cur- 
sing to  wish  for  his  death. 

Ver.  31  seq.  He  has  also  continually  shown 
himself  r/c7)frou«  and  hospitable  towards  his  neigh- 
bor.— If  the  people  of  my  tent  (*.  e.  my 
household  associates,  my  domestics)  were  not 


obliged  to  say:  where  would  there  be 
one  who  has  not  been  satisfied  with  his 
flesh?  lit.  "who  gives  one  not  satisfied  with 
his  flesh?"  \r}\  'D  as  in  ch.  xiv.  4;  ]}2VJ}, 
Partic.  Niph.  in  the  accus.  depending  on  jD'  'O 
(comp.  also  ver.  35,  and  above  ch.  xxix.  2). — 
'^'^'\l/2  here  means  the  same  with  ir\n3t3,  1  Sam. 

T  :  T  :  ■ 

XXV.  11,  the  flesh  of  his  slaughtered  cattle.  The 
figurative  expression:  "to  eat  any  body's  flesh" 
in  the  sense  of  backbiting,  calumniating  (ch. 
xix.  22)  is  not  to  be  found  here. 

Ver.  32.  The  stranger  did  not  pass  the 
night  without ;  I  opened  my  doors  to  the 

traveller. — n|]Kb  might  of  itself  signify— 
"towards  the  street"  (Stickel,  Delitzsch).  But 
since  this  qualification  would  be  superfluous, 
n^i^  is  rather  to  be  taken  as=n|]J<  tl^'N  or  H^X. 
As  to  the  thought,  comp.  the  accounts  of  the 
hospitality  of  Abraham  at  Mamre,  of  Lot  at 
Sodom,  of  the  old  man  at  Gibeah  (Gen.  xviii.  19; 
comp.  Heb.  xiii.  2;  Judg.  xix.  15  seq.);  also 
the  many  popular  anecdotes  among  the  Arabs 
of  divine  punishments  inflicted  on  the  inhospita- 
ble ("to  open  a  guest-chamber"  is  in  Arabic 
the  same  as  to  establish  one's  own  household), 
and  the  eulogies  of  the  hospitality  of  the  departed 
in  the  Egyptian  Book  of  the  Dead.  Comp.  VVetz- 
stein  in  Delitzsch  [ii.  198],  Brugsch,  Die  egypt. 
Grcibenvelr,  1868,  p.  32  seq.;  L.  Stern,  Das  egi/pf. 
Todtengericht,  in  ^^  Ausland,'"  1870,  p.  1081  seq. 

12.  Conclusion:  Fifth  Strophe:  vers.  33-40-  — 
Job  is  not  consciously  guilty  even  of  the  hypo- 
critical concealment  of  his  sins,  nor  of  secret 
misdeeds — a  final  series  of  asseverations,  which 
is  not  only  related  to  the  preceding  enumeration 
(as  though  the  same  were  incomplete,  and  might 
be  supposed  to  have  been  silent  in  regard  to 
some  of  Job's  transgressions),  but  which  simply 
links  itself  to  all  the  preceding  assertions  of  his 
innocence,  and  concludes  the  same. 

Ver.  33.  If  I  covered  after  the  manner 
of  men  my  wickedness;  D1X3,  after  the 
way  of  the  world,  as  people  generally  do  ;  comp. 
Ps.  Ixxxii.  7  and  Hos.  vi.  7;  for  even  in  the  lat- 
ter passage  this  explanation  is  more  natural 
than  that  which  implies  a  reference  to  Gen.  iii. 
8:  "as  Adam  (Targum,  Schult.,  Rosenm.,  Hit- 
zig,  Umbr.,  v.  Hofm.,  Del.)  [E.  V.,  Good,  Lee, 
(^on.,  Schlott.,  Words.,  Carey,  etc.;  and  comp. 
Pusey  on  Hos.  vi.  7.  Conant  observes  of  the 
rendering  ut  homo  that  "there  is  little  force  in 
this.  On  the  contrary  there  is  pertinency  and 
point  in  the  reference  to  a  striking  and  well- 
known  example  of  this  ofi^ense,  as  a  notable 
illustration  of  hs  guilt."  Such  a  reference  to 
primeval  history  in  a  book  that  belongs  to  the 
literature  of  the  Chokmah  is,  as  Delitzsch 
remarks,  not  at  all  surprising.  And  certainly 
the  extra-Israelitish  cast  of  the  book  is  no  objec- 
tion to  the  recognition  of  so  widely  prevalent  a 
tradition  as  that  of  the  Fall  in  the  monotheistic 

East.]— Hiding  (pOoS,  Ew.  §  280,  d)  in  my 
bosom  my  iniquity. — 211  is  a  poetic  equiva- 
lent of  P'n,  found  only  here  (but  much  more 
common  in  Aram.). 

Ver.  34,  closely  connected  with  the  preceding 


CHAPS.  XXIX— XXXI. 


5^5 


verse,  declares  the  motive  which  might  have 
influenced  Job  to  hide  his  sins,  viz.  the  fear  of 
men. — Because  I  feared  the  great  multi- 
tude.— |1Dn  here  as  fem.,  comp.  Ew.  ^  174,  b; 
yyy  here  (otherwise  than  in  oh.  xiii.  25)  intran- 
sitive "to  be  afraid,"  with  accus.  of  the  thing 
feared.  On  b  and  c  comp.  ch.  xxiv.  16.  The 
"tribes"  [mniJK/O]  whose  contempt  he  fears 
(M3  as  in  ch.  xii.  5,  21)  are  the  nobler  families, 
his  own  peers  in  rank,  to  be  excluded  from 
social  intercourse  with  whom  because  of  infa- 
mous crimes  would  cause  him  apprehension. 
With  his  "holding  his  peace,"  and  "not  going 
forth  at  his  door"  (in  c) — signs  betraying  an 
evil  conscience,  Brentius  strikingly  compares 
the  example  of  Demosthenes,  who  (according  to 
Plutarch,  Demosth.  25)  on  one  occasion  made  a 
sore  throat  a  pretext  for  not  speaking,  whereas 
in  truth  he  had  been  bribed,  and  who  was  put 
to  the  blush  by  an  exclamation  from  one  of  the 
people:  "He  is  not  suflFering  from  a  sore  throat, 
but  from  a  sore  purse  {ovx  vt^o  cvvny xv<^  <i^^'  vrr' 
dp-yvpdyxffC  eiAfj^'dai).  [E.  V.  renders  the  verse 
interrogatively:  "did  I  fear?"  etc.;  i.  e.  "if  I 
corered  my  transgression,  etc.,  was  it  because  I 
feared  the  multitude?"  The  objection  to  this 
rendering,  however,  is  that  it  is  less  in  harmony 
with  the  adjuratory  tone  of  the  context.  Not  a 
few  commentators  render  this  verse  as  the  im- 
precation corresponding  to  ver.  22 :  "  Then  let  me 
dread  the  great  assembly,"  etc.  So  Schultena, 
Con.,  Noyes,  Wemyss,  Carey,  Good,  Lee,  Barnes, 
Elzas. — (Patrick  makes  34  c  the  apodosis :  "  Then 
let  me  hold  my  peace,  and  go  not  forth,"  etc.). 
It  seems  more  natural  however  to  regard  the 
"dread  of  the  great  assembly,"  and  the  contempt 
of  the  great  families  of  the  land,  as  causes  of 
the  cowardly  hypocrisy  of  ver.  33,  rather 
than  as  its  consequences. — Moreover,  what  the 
discourse  loses  as  regards  completeness  of  struc- 
ture, it  gains  in  impressiveness  and  energy  by 
the  frequent  parentheses  and  breaks,  which  cha- 
racterize this  final  strophe  according  to  the  view 
taken  in  the  comm.,  and  adopted  by  Ewald, 
Dillmann,  Delitzsch,  Schlottm.,  Rodwell,  Words- 
worth, Renan. — E.] 

Vers.  35-37.  The  longest  of  the  parentheses 
which  interrupt  the  asseverations  of  our  chap- 
ter, a  shorter  parenthesis  being  again  incorpo- 
rated even  with  this  (ver.  35  b). — O  that  I  had 
one  V7ho  •would  hear  me!  to  wit,  in  this  as- 
sertion of  my  innocence.  In  this  exclamation, 
as  also  in  the  following  Job  has  God  in  view, 
for  whose  judicial  interposition  in  his  behalf  he 
accordingly  longs  here  again  (as  previously,  ch. 
xiii.  and  xvi.  seq.)— Behold  my  signature 
(lit.  "  my  sign  ") — let  the  Almighty  answer 
me. — The  meaning  of  this  exclamation  which 
finds  its  way  into  this  tumult  of  feeling  can  only 
be  this:  "  There  is  the  document  of  my  defense, 
with  my  signature!  Here  I  present  my  written 
vindication — let  the  Almighty  examine  it  (comp. 
ver.  6),  and  deliver  His  sentence!"  \in  means 
lit.  "my  mark,  my  signature"  [not  "my  de- 
sire," (E.  v.,  after  Targ.  and  Vulg. ),  as  tliough 
it  were  connected  with  mxri] ;  comp.  the  com- 
mentators on  Ezek.  ix.  4. — The  cross-form  of 
this  sign  (H  =  f ),  which  has  there  a  typical  sig- 
nificance, would  have  no  significance  in  this  pas- 
35 


sage.     Rather  is  it  the  case  that  Tav  here,  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  conventional,  proverbial  way  of 
speaking  (as  tiwa  among  the  Arabs  signifies  any 
branded  sign,  whether  or  not  it  be  precisely  in 
the  form  of  a  cross),  has  acquired  by  synedocho 
the  meaning — "a  written  document  with  signa- 
ture attached,  a  writing  subscribed,  and  for  that 
reason  legally  valid  ;"  and  that  Job  means  by 
this  writing  all  that  he  has  hitherto  said  in  his  own 
justification,  the  sum  total  of  his  foregoing  asse- 
verations of  innocence,  that  it  is  therefore  an 
apologetic   document,    a  judicial    vindication,     to 
which  he  refers  by  this  little  word  in — this  ap- 
pears from  the  contrast  with  the  accusation  or 
indictment,  of  his   opponent,  which  is  immedi- 
ately mentioned  in  c.     The  supposition  that  Job 
was  ignorant  of  writing,  and  for  that  reason  was 
compelled  to  put  a  simple  f  for  his  signature  can 
be  inferred  from  the  passage  only  by  nn  inap- 
propriate perversion  of  the  proverbial  and  figu- 
rative meaning  of  the  language.     Moreover  cb. 
xix.  23  seq.  can  be  made  to  lend   only  an  appa- 
rent support  to  this  supposition. — And   (that  I 
had)  the  writing  which  mine  adversary  has 
■written!  —Grammatically  this  third  uuuiber — 
njl  13D1 — is  connected  with  the  first  as  a  secon.l 
accus.  to  l^r\]   "'Ip;    but  according  to  its  logical 
import,  it  is  conditioned  by  the  pecond  member; 
or,  wliich  is  the'  same  thing,  b  is  simply  a  gram- 
matical   parenthesis,   but  at   the   same    time   it 
serves  to  advance  the  thought.    The  "  writing  of 
the  adversary  "  can  only  be  the  written  charge, 
in    which  Job's  adversary,  i.  e.,  God    (not  the 
three  friends,  as  Delitzsch  explains,  against  the 
context)  has  laid  down  and  fixed  upon  against 
him.     Tiiia  charge  of  God's  he  wislies  to  see  over 
against  his  written  defense,  for  which  he  is  at 
once  ready,  or  rather  which  he  has   already  ac- 
tually prepared.     Most  earnestly  does  he  yearn 
to  know  what  God,  whom  he  must  otherwise  hold 
for  a  persecutor  of  innocence,  really  has  against 
him.     It  is  only  from  this  interpretation  of  the 
words  (adopted  by  Ew.,  Hirz.,   Heiligst.,  Vaih., 
Dillm.)  [Schlott.,  Noy.,  Car.,  Con.,  Rodw.,  Bar., 
Lee,   all  agreeing  as   to   sense,    but   with  slight 
variations  as  to  construction]  that  any  available 
sense  is   obtained, — not  from   taking  the   third 
member  as  dependent  on  jH    in  the  second,  in 
which  case  13p  must  denote  either  the    "wit- 
ness of  God  to  Job's  innocence   written   in   his 
consciousness"     (Hahn,    and    similarly    Arnli., 
Slickel),  or  the  charge  preferred  against  Job  by 
Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and   Zophar   (Del.)  neither  of 
which  explanations  is  suitable,  for  the  following 
verses  show  that  Job  is  here  speaking  of  some- 
thing which  he  does  not  yet  have,  but  only  wishes 
tor.  —  In  respect  to  the  use  of  writing,  which  is 
here  again  presupposed  injudicial  proceediuo's, 
comp.  on  cli.  xiii.  26. 

Vers.  36,  37  declare  what  Job  would  do  with 
that  charge  of  his  divine  adversary,  for  which 
he  here  longs;  he  would  wear  it  as  a  trophy,  or 
as  a  distinguishing  badge  of  honor  "  on  his 
shoulders  "  (comp.  Isa.  ix.  5,  xxii.  22),  and  bind 
it  around  as  an  ornament  for  his  head,  lit.,  "as 
crowns,"  i.  e.,  as  a  crown  consisting  of  diadems 
rising  each  out  of  the  other  (min>' — comp.  Rev. 
xix.  12); — comp.  on  the  one  side  ch.  xxix.  14; 
Isa.  Ixi.  10;  on  the  other  side  Col.  ii.    14  (the 


546 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


handwriting  which  was  blotted  out  by  Christ 
through  His  being  lifted  up  on  the  cross). — And 
further:  The  number  of  my  steps  would 
I  declare  to  Him  ;  i.  e.,  before  Him,  the  Di- 
vine Adversary  (who  however  is  at  the  same 
time  conceived  of  as  Judge,  as  in  ch.  xvi.  21) 
would  I  conceal  none  of  my  actions,  but  rather 
would  I  courageously  confess  all  to  Him  (TJ*? 
as  in  Ps.  xxxviii.  19;  respecting  the  constrnc- 
tion  with  a  double  accus.,  comp.  above  ch.  xxvi. 
4). — Like  a  prince  ■would  I  dra\v  near  to 
Him;  (.  c  ,  draw  nigh  to  Him  with  a  firm  stately 
step  (3."??  intens.  of  Kal,  comp.  Ezek.  xxxvi.  8), 
as  becomes  a  prince,  not  an  accused  person  con- 
scious of  guilt;  hence  with  a  princely  free  and 
proud  consciousness,  not  with  that  of  a  poor 
sinner. 

Vers.  38-40  follow  up  the  general  assertion, 
that  his  conscience  was  not  burdened  with  se- 
cret sins,  with  a  more  particular  example  of  his 
freedom  from  covert  blood-guiltiness.  He  knows 
himself  to  be  innocent  In  particular  of  the  wick- 
edness of  removing  boundaries  by  violence,  and 
of  the  heaven-crying  guilt  of  secret  murder,  such 
as  he  might  possibly  have  committed  (after 
Ahab's  example,  1  Kings  xxi.  1  seq.  ;  comp. 
above  ch.  xxiv.  2 ;  Isa.  v.  8)  in  order  to  acquire 
a  piece  of  land  belonging  to  a  weaker  neighbor. 
That  Job  should  close  this  series  of  asseverations 
of  innocence  with  the  mention  of  so  heinous  a 
crime  will  appear  strange  only  so  long  as  we  do 
not  realize  just  how  his  opponents  thus  far  had 
judged  in  respect  to  the  nature  and  occasion  of 
his  suffering  in  consequence  of  their  narrow- 
minded,  external  theory  of  retribution.  Their 
judgment  indisputably  was — and  Eliphaz  had 
once,  at  least,  expressed  it  very  openly  and  de- 
cidedly (see  ch.  xxii.  6-9): — Because  Job  has  to 
endure  such  extraordinary  suffering,  it  must  be 
that  he  is  burdened  with  some  grievous  sin,  some 
old  secret  bloody  deed  of  murder,  rapine,  etc.  ! 
It  is  into  this  way  of  thinking  of  theirs  that  Job 
■enters  when  he  concludes  his  answer  with  the 
mention  of  just  such  a  case,  one  which  might 
eeem  sufficiently  probable  according  to  a  human 
estimate  of  the  circumstances,  and  so  intention- 
»lly  reserves  to  the  end  the  solemn  repudiation 
of  that  suspicion,  which  might  very  easily  cleave 
to  him,  and  which,  if  well-founded,  must  have 
affected  him  most  destructively.  The  whole  dis- 
course— which  indeed  in  its  last  division  (ch. 
xxxi.)  is  essentially  a  self- vindication  of  the 
harshly  and  grievously  accused  sufferer — thus 
acquires  an  emphatic  ending,  which  by  the  sig- 
nificant assonances  that  occur  in  the  closing  im- 
precation, ver.  40,  reaches  a  very  high  degree 
of  impressiveness,  and  produces  a  thrilling  ef- 
fect on  those  who  heard  and  read  it.  This  rhe- 
torical artistic  design  in  the  close  of  the  discourse 
is  ignored,  whether  (with  Hirzel  and  Heiligst.) 
we  assume  that  it  was  the  poet's  purpose,  that 
Job's  discourse,  which  with  ver.  38  seq.,  had 
taken  a  new  start  in  further  continuation  of  the 
neries  of  asseverations  touching  his  innocence, 
phould  seem  to  he  interrupted  by  the  sudden  ap- 
pearance of  Jehovah  (ch.  xxxviii.),  which  takes 
place  with  striking  effect  (comp.  Introd.,  ^  10, 
>Io.  1,  and  ad.  1) ;  or  assume  a  transposition  of 
vers.  38-40  out  of  their  original  connection,  as 


was  done  by  the  Capuchin  Bolducius  (1637), 
who  would  remove  the  three  verses  back  so  as  to 
follow  ver.  8;  by  Kennicott  and  Eichhorn,  who 
would  place  them  after  ver.  25  ;  by  Stuhlmann, 
who  assigned  their  position  before  ver.  35,  and 
latterly  by  Delitzsch,  who  leaves  undetermined 
the  place,  where  they  originally  belonged. 

Ver.  38.  If  my  field  cries  out  concern- 
ing me  (for  vengeance,  on  account  of  the  wicked 
treatment  of  its  owner;  comp.  ch.  xvi.  18;  Hab. 
ii.  11),  and  all  together  its  furro^ws  •weep 
(a  striking  poetic  representation  of  the  figure 
of  crying  out  against  one). 

Ver.  39.  If  I  have  eaten  its  strength  (/.  e. 
its  fruit,  its  products,  comp.  Gen.  iv.  li^i  -with- 
out payment,  and  have  blow^n  out  the 
soul  of  its  owner,  i.  e.  by  any  kind  of  violence, 
by  direct  or  indirect  murder,  have  "caused  him 
to  expire;"  comp.  ch.  xi.  20;  and  the  proverb- 
ial saying:  "to  snuff  out  the  candle  of  one's 
life." 

Ver.  40.  Consequent,  and  emphatic  close: 
Briars  must  (then)  spring  up  (for  me)  instead 
of  wheat,  and  stinking  weeds  instead  of 
barley  (the  strong  word  nt!^X3  only  here, 
"odious  weeds,  darnel").  As  to  meaning,  ver. 
8  is  similar;  but  the  present  formuU  of  impre- 
cation is  incomparably  harsher  and  stronger 
than  that  former  one,  as  is  shown  by  the  dou- 
bled assonance,  first  the  alliteration  T\'\2T\  and 
nin,  and  then  the  rhyme  H"*;?!^  and  HtyJO — 
The  short  clause :  "the  words  of  Jnb  are  ended," 
which  the  Masorotes  have  inappropriately  drawn 
into  the  network  of  the  poetic  accentuation, 
could  scarcely  have  proceeded  from  the  poet 
himself  (as  Carey  and  Hahn  think,  of  whom  the 
former  is  inclined  even  to  regard  them  as  Job's 
own  final  dixi),  but  stand  on  the  same  plane  of 
critical  value,  and  even  of  antiquity  with  the 
inscription  at  the  end  of  the  second  book  of 
Psalms  (Ps.  Ixxii.  64),  or  with  the  closing  words 
of  Jer.  li.  64.  The  LXX.  have  changed  the 
words  to  Koi  knavaaro  'Ii),i  pljjiaaiv,  in  order  to 
bring  them  into  connection  with  the  historical 
introductory  verses  in  prose  which  follow  (ch. 
xxxii.).  But  according  to  their  Hebrew  con- 
struction they  do  not  seem  to  incline  at  all  to 
such  a  connection.  Jerome  already  recognized 
their  character  as  an  annotation  of  later  origin  ; 
they  found  their  way  into  his  translation  only 
by  subsequent  interpolation. — All  Heb.  WSS. 
indeed,  as  well  as  the  ancient  oriental  versions 
(Targ.,  Pesh  ,  etc  ),  exhibit  the  addition,  which 
must  be  accordingly  of  very  high  antiquity. 

DOCTRINAL  AND  ETHICAL. 
1.  Measured  by  the  Old  Testament  standard, 
the  height  of  the  moral  consciousness  which  Job 
occupies  in  this  splendid  final  monologue  deserves 
our  wonder,  and  is  even  incomparable.  He  says 
much,  and  says  it  boldly,  in  behalf  of  the  puriiy 
of  his  heart  and  life.  He  affirms  this  with  sucli 
ardor  and  fulness  of  expression,  that  at  times 
he  seems  to  forget  himself,  and  to  contrailict  his 
former  confessions  touching  his  participation  i  i 
the  univer.xal  depravity  of  tlie  race,  as  found  in 
ch.  xiii.  2ij;  xiv.  4  (see  e.  g.  ch  xxix.  14;  xxxi. 
5-7,  35  seq.).  He  even  rel<pses  at  one  time,  into 
that  tone  of  presumptuous  accusation  of  God  as 


CHAPS.  XXTX— XXXI. 


64" 


the  merciless  persecutor  of  innocence,  and  seems 
to  find  the  only  divine  motive  for  his  grievous 
lot  to  be  a  supposed  pleasure  by  God  in  the 
infliction  of  torture,  a  one-eided  exercise  of  His 
activity  as  a  God  of  power,  without  any  co-ope- 
ration from  His  righteousness  and  love  (ch.  xxx., 
especially  ver.  11  seq.,  18,  20  seq.).  But  if  in 
this  there  is  to  be  recognized  a  remainder  of  the 
unsubdued  presumption  of  the  natural  man  in 
him,  and  a  lack  of  proper  depth,  sharpness  and 
clearness  in  his  consciousness  of  sin,  such  as  is 
possible  only  under  the  New  Dispensation,  he 
occupies  a  high  place  notwithstanding  in  the 
roll  of  Old  Testament  saints.  He  appears  still, 
and  that  even  in  the  protestation  of  innocence 
which  he  makes  in  his  own  behalf  in  this  his 
last  discourse,  as  a  genuine  prince  in  the  midst 
of  the  heroes  of  faith  and  spiritual  worthies  of 
the  time  before  Christ,  as  one  who,  when  he  suf- 
fered, had  the  right  to  be  regarded  as  an  inno- 
cent suflFerer,  and  to  meet  with  indignation  every 
suspicion  which  implied  that  he  was  making 
expiation  for  secret  sins,  as  the  wicked  must  do. 
2,  This  moral  exaltation  of  Job  is  seen  already 
in  the  way  in  which  in  ch.  xxix.  he  describes 
his  former  prosperity.  Among  all  the  good 
things  of  the  piist  ^Yllich  he  longs  to  have  back, 
he  gives  the  pre-eminence  to  the  fellowship  and 
blessing  of  God,  the  fountain  of  all  other  good 
(ver.  2  seq).  In  describing  the  distinguished 
estimation  in  which  he  was'  then  held  among 
men,  it  is  not  the  external  honor  as  such  which 
he  makes  most  prominent,  but  the  beneficent 
influence,  which,  by  virtue  of  that  distinction  he 
was  able  to  exert,  the  works  of  love,  of  right- 
eousness and  of  mercy,  in  which  he  was  then 
able  to  seek  and  to  find  his  happiness,  as  the 
father  and  guide  of  many  (ch.  xxix.  12-17).  In 
the  midst  of  his  bitterest  complaints  on  account 
of  the  greatness  of  his  losses  and  the  depth  of 
bis  misery,  there  come  groanings  that  he  can  no 
more  do  as  he  was  wont  to  do — weep  with  the 
distressed,  and  mourn  with  the  needy,  in  order 
to  bring  them  comfort,  counsel  and  help  (ch. 
XXX.  2-5).  And  what  a  noble  horror  of  the  sins 
of  falsehood,  of  lying  and  deception,  of  adulte- 
rous unchasfity,  of  cruelty  towards  servants  and 
all  those  needing  help  in  any  way,  sounds  forth 
through  the  asseverations  of  his  innocence  in 
the  31st  chapter!  With  what  penetrative  truth 
and  beauty  does  he  grasp  the  two  forms  of  idol- 
atry, the  worship  of  gold  on  the  part  of  the  ava- 
ricious, and  the  worship  of  the  stars  by  the 
superstitious  heathen,  as  two  ways — only  in 
appearance  far  removed  from  eaeh  other,  but  in 
truth  most  closely  united  together — of  denying 
the  one  true  and  living  God  (vers.  24-28)!  How 
decidedly  he  maintains  the  necessity  of  showing 
love  even  to  one's  enemies,  to  say  nothing  of 
one's  fellow-men  in  general,  known  or  unknown, 
neighbors  or  foreigners  (ver.  29  seq.)!  With 
what  indignation  does  he  repel  the  suspicion  of 
secret,  hypocritically  concealed  sins  and  deeds 
of  violence,  again  solemnly  appealing  in  the 
same  connection  to  God  to  be  a  witness  to  the 
purity  of  his  conscience  and  to  be  a  judge  of  the 
innocence  of  his  heart  (ver.  -33  seq.)!  The  man 
who  could  thus  bear  witness  to  his  innocence 
could  be  a  virtuous  man  of  no  ordinary  sort. 
He  was  far  from  being  one  of  the  common  class 


of  righteous  men  known  in  ancient  times.  Such 
an  one,  far  from  being  subject  to  the  curse  of 
wicked  slander  and  calumny,  could  not  be  reck- 
oned among  ordinary  sinners,  or  as  a  crafty 
hypocrite. 

3.   That,    however,    which'  exalts  Job   higher 
than  all  this  is  that  which  is  said  by  him  in  the 
beginning  of  ch.  xxxi.   (ver.  1  seq.;  comp.  ver. 
7)  in  respect  to  his  avoidance  on  principle  even  of 
all  sins  of  thought,  and  impure  lusts  of  the  heart. 
"A  covenant  have  I  made  for  my  eyes,  and  how 
should  I  fix  my  gaze  on  a  maiden?"     He    who 
shows  such  earnestness  as  this  in  ol)eying  the  law 
of  chastity,  in  avoiding  all  sinful  lust,  in  extir- 
pating even  the   slightest  germs  of  sin   in   the 
play  of  thought,  and  in  the  look  of  the  eyes — he 
strives  after  a  holiness  which   is   in   fact  better 
and  more  complete  than  the  law  of  the  Old  Dis- 
pensation, with  its  prohibitions  of  coveting  that 
which  belongs  to  another  (Ex.  xx.  17;  Deut.  v. 
21),  could  teach.     He  shows  himself  to  be   on 
the  way  which   leads  directly  to   that  pure   as 
well  as  complete  righteousness  and  godlikeness, 
which  has  for  its  final  aim  purity  of  heart  as  the 
foundation  and  condition  of  one  dsiy  beholding 
God,  and  which,   in  its  activity   towards  men, 
takes  the  form  of  that  perfect  love  which  seeks 
nothing  but  good  and  blessing  even  for  enemies, 
and  devotes  itself  wholly   and  unreservedly   to 
tlie  kingdom  of  God — on  the   way,    in   short,    to 
that  holiness  and  purity  of  heart  which  Christ 
teaches   and    prescribes   in    the    Sermon    on   the 
Mount.     The  fact  that  Job   gives  utterance  to 
such  high  and  clear  conceptions    of  rectitude, 
virtue  and  holiness,   is   of  especial  interest  for 
the  reason  that  not  one  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples recognized  by  him  is  referred  expressly 
to  the  Sinaitic  law;  but,    on   the   contrary,    the 
extra-Israelitish  pre-Mosaic  patriarchal  charac- 
ter of  his   religious  and   ethical  consciousness 
and  activity  is  preserved  throughout,  and  with 
conscious  consistency  by  the  poet  in  the  descrip- 
tion before  us  (comp.  above  on  ch.  xxxi.  24-27). 
In  the  strict  accuracy  with  which  this  represen- 
tation mirrors  the  characteristic  features  of  the 
inner,  as  well  as  of  the  outer  life  of  the  patri- 
archal age,  and  in  the  fidelity  with  which  the 
East  cherishes  and  preserves  the  traditions  of 
the  primeval  world  in  genernl,  these  utterances 
of  a  man  who  survived  in  the  recollections   of 
posterity  as  a  moral  pattern  of  the  setas  patriar- 
charuni,    acquire  indirectly    even    an  apologetic 
importance  which  is  not  insignificant,  in  so  far  as  it 
proves   the  impossibility  of  conceiving   histori- 
cally of  the  moral  civilization  of  the  patriarchs 
otherwise  than  as  resting  on  the  foundation  of 
posi'ive  revelation,     Comp.   Delitzsch    [II.   172 
seq.]:   "Job   is  not   an   Israelite,  he  is  without 
the  pale  of  the  positive,  Sinaitic  revelation  :  his 
religion  is  the  old  patriarchal  religion,  which 
even  in  the  present  day  is  called  din  Ibrahim 
(the  religion  of  Abraham,  or  din  el-bedu  (the  re- 
ligion  of  the  steppe)   as  the    religion  of   those 
Arabs  who  are  not  Moslem,  or  at  least  influenced 
by  the  penetrating  Islamism,   and  is  called  by 
Mejanishl  e^  A(i«f/"ye,  as  the  patriarchally  ortho- 
dox religion.     As  little  as  this  religion,  even  in 
the  present  day,  is  acquainted  with   the  specific 
Mohammedan  commandments,  so  little  knew  Job 
of  the  specifically  Israelitish.     On  the  contrary. 


548 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


his  confession,  which  he  lays  down  in  this  third 
monologue,  coincides  remarkably  with  the  ten 
commaNdraents  of  piety  [el-fel(lh)  peculiar  to  the 
din  Ibrahim,  although  it  differs  in  this  respect, 
that  it  does  not  give  the  prominence  to  submis- 
sion to  the  dispensations  of  God,  that  tesliin 
which,  as  the  whole  of  this  didactic  poem  teaches 
by  its  issue,  is  the  study  of  the  perfectly  pious; 
also  bravery  in  defense  of  holy  property  and 
rights  is  wanting,  which  among  the  wandering 
tribes  is  accounted  as  an  essential  part  of  the 
hehhet  er-rik  (inspiration  of  the  Divine  Being) 
t.  e.  active  piety,  and  to  which  it  is  similarly  re- 
lated, as  to  the  binding  notion  of  '  honor'  which 
was  coined  by  the  western  chivalry  of  the  mid- 
dle ages.  Job  begins  with  the  duty  of  chastity. 
Consistently  with  the  prologue,  which  the  drama 
itself  nowhere  belies,  he  is  living  in  monogamy, 
as  at  the  present  day  the  orthodox  Arabs,  averse 
to  Islamism,  are  not  addicted  to  Moslem  poly- 
gamy. With  the  confession  of  having  maintained 
this  marriage  (although,  to  infer  from  the  pro- 
logue, it  was  not  an  over-happy,  deeply  sympa- 
thetic one)  sacred,  and  restrained  himself  not 
only  from  every  adulterous  act,  but  also  from 
adulterous  desires,  his  confessions  begin.  Here, 
in  the  middle  of  the  Old  Testament,  without  the 
pale  of  the  Old  Testament  vS/ioc,  we  meet  just 
that  moral  strictness  and  depth,  with  which  the 
Preacher  on  the  Mount  (Matt.  v.  27  seq.)  opposes 
the  spirit  to  the  letter  of  the  seventh  command- 
ment." As  Biblical  parallels  to  the  strict  ob- 
servance of  the  law  of  monogamic  chastity  in  the 
patriarchal  age,  as  the  passage  before  us  affirms 
it  of  Job,  m.ay  be  mentioned  Isaac  and  Joseph, 
as  also  Moses  and  Aaron. 

4.  The  fact  that  Job  towards  the  end  of  his 
monologue  (not  quite  at  the  end  of  it — see  above 
on  ch.  xxxi.  38  seq.)  repeats  his  previously  ut- 
tered wish  for  a  judicial  interposition  of  God  in 
his  behalf  is  significant  in  so  far  as  in  this  de- 
mand the  triumph  of  his  consciousness  of  inno- 
cence, by  virtue  of  which  he  knows  that  he  is  se- 
cured against  all  dangers  of  defeat,  expresses 
itself  most  strongly  and  clearly;  and  in  this 
same  connection  the  practical  goal  of  his  apolo- 
getic testimony  hitherto  is  evident  in  his  press- 
ing on  to  the  conclusion  of  tbe  entire  action. 
This  conclusion  of  the  action  does  not  indeed 
follow  immediately,  inasmuch  as  a  human 
teacher  of  wisdom  next  makes  his  appearance 
as  the  harbinger  of  Jehovah's  appearance, — pre- 
paring tlie  way  for  it.  This  however  takes 
place  exactly  in  the  way,  and  with  the  result 
which  Job  himself  has  wij<hed  and  hoped  for — 
the  trial  to  which  God  finally  condescends  at 
Job's  repeated  request,  being  such  as  yields  for 
its  result  not  a  clean  victory  for  Job,  but  rather 
a  thorough  humiliation  of  the  pride  and  pre- 
sumption, hitherto  unknown  to  himself.  But 
even  this  incongruity  between  Job's  desire  and 
the  way  in  which  God  grants  it,  corresponds 
perfectly  to  the  poet's  plan,  and  is  a  most  bril- 
liant evidence  of  the  purity  and  loftiness  of  his 
religious  and  moral  way  of  thinking,  in  which 
a  conscience  so  wonderfully  delicu/e  and  enlightened 
as  that  which  Job  had  disclosed  in  these  his  closing 
discourses  nevertheless  appears  as  in  need  of  repen- 
tance, and  unable  to  secure  from  God  a  verdict  of 
unconditional  justification.      In    like    manner  as 


Christ  declared  to  that  young  man  who  boasted 
that  he  had  kept  all  the  commandments  of  the 
law  from  his  youth  up,  that  one  thing  was  lack- 
ing, even  to  give  up  all  his  earthly  possessions, 
and  to  secure  an  imperishable  treasure  in  hea- 
ven (Mark  xviii.  21,  and  the  parallel  passages), 
our  poet  first  introduces  Elihu,  as  a  representa- 
tive of  the  highest  that  human  wisdom  can  teach 
and  accomplish  apart  from  a  divine  revelation, 
and  then  the  revealing  voice  of  God  Himself, 
crying  out  to  his  hero  a  humiliating — "One 
thing  thou  lackest!"  This  one  thing  which 
Job  yet  lacked  in  order  to  be  acknowledged  by 
God  as  His  well-beloved  servant,  and  to  be  re- 
ceived again  into  His  favor,  is  to  humble  him- 
self beneath  God's  mighty  hand,  willingly  to  ac- 
cept all  His  dispensations  as  wise,  gracious,  and 
just,  to  be  thoroughly  delivered  from  that  sinful 
self-exaltation,  in  which  he  had  dared  to  find 
fault  with  God,  and  to  be  enraged  against  His 
alleged  severity.  This  was  the  last  thing  be- 
longing to  him  which  he  must  give  up,  the  last 
remnant  of  earthly  impure  dross,  from  which  the 
gold  of  his  heart  must  be  set  free,  in  order  that 
he  might  become  partaker  of  the  divine  grace  of 
justification.  In  order  really  and  completely  to 
comprehend  the  divine  wisdom,  which  in  ch. 
xxviii.  he  had  so  strikingly  described  as  a  pre- 
cious treasure  in  heaven  transcending  all  earthly 
jewels,  in  order  actually  to  travel  the  hidden 
way  to  her,  with  that  accurate  knowledge  of  it 
which  he  had  there  portrayed,  this  one  thing 
was  still  lacking  to  him: — the  humble  acknow- 
ledgment that  even  in  his  case  God  had  acted  al- 
together justly,  altogether  lovingly,  altogether 
as  a  Father.  To  the  possession  of  this  one  pre- 
cious pearl  he  was  led  forward  by  Elihu  and  Je- 
hovah through  the  two  remaining  stages  in  the 
solution  of  the  problem. 


In 


HOMILETICAL   AND    PRACTICAL. 

unfolding  the  rich  contents    of  the  three 


preceding  chapters  according  to  their  connection 
with  the  entire  structure  of  the  poem,  and  in  as- 
signing to  these  contents  their  true  position  in 
the  inner  progress  of  the  action,  it  will  be  well 
to  bestow  special  attention  on  the  parallel  just 
now  indicated  (Doctrinal  and  Ethical  llemarks, 
No.  4)  between  Job  and  the  richyoung  man.  Job, 
earnestly  and  honestly  striving  after  the  king- 
dom of  God,  after  an  eternal  fellowship  of  the 
life  with  God,  with  this  in  view  receiving  and 
enumerating  all  the  moral  treasures  of  his  spirit 
and  of  his  life,  who  notwithstanding  his  wealth 
in  such  treasures  is  discovered  to  be  not  yet  just 
before  God; — or,  more  briefly:  Job,  the  Old 
Testament  seeker  after  happiness,  contemplating 
himself  in  the  mirror  of  the  law  (Job,  the  proto- 
type of  that  rich  man,  to  whose  perfection  one 
thing  was  yet  lacking); — such  might  be  the 
statement  of  the  theme  of  a  comprehensive  me- 
ditation on  the  material  before  us,  according  to 
its  relations  to  that  which  precedes,  and  to  that 
which  follows.  The  length  of  the  discourse  in- 
deed would  necessitate  a  division  into  several 
parts,  of  which  any  one  could  not  very  well  ex- 
ceed the  limits  of  one  of  the  three  chapters.  The 
practical  expositor  will  find  the  richest  yi  :ld  of 
fruitful  hortatory  motives  in  the  two  bright  pic- 


CHAPS.  XXIX—XXXI. 


540 


tures  which  constitute  the  opening  and  the  close 
of  the  long  soliloquy  (ch.  xxix.  and  xxxi.), 
whereas  the  gloomy  night-piece  which  they  en- 
close (ch.  XXX.)  seems  in  this  respect  relatively 
poor,  and  when  compared  with  the  similar  de- 
scriptive lamentations  in  Job's  previous  dis- 
courses, exhibits  scarcely  anything  that  is  es- 
sentially new. 

Particular  Passages. 

Ch,  xxix.  2  seq.  Cocceics:  Job  indeed  in 
this  place  seems  not  so  much  to  desire  his  former 
happiness,  as  to  contrast  the  pleasure  of  a  good 
conscience  and  of  a  friendship  with  God  formed 
in  youth,  with  his  present  fearful  sufferings.  ,  . 
He  wishes  for  his  former  condition,  adorned  as 
it  was  with  tokens  of  divine  favor,  not  for  the 
Bake  of  those  tokens,  to  wit,  plenteousness  and 
sweetness  of  life,  but  for  the  sake  of  that  of 
which  they  were  the  seal.  .  .  He  distinguishes 
between  his  own  chief  good,  and  the  things  con- 
nected with    it He  brings  forward  his 

riches  as  a  testimony  of  the  past,  not  as  a  ne- 
cessity of  the  present.  For  he  knew  that  even 
a  beggar  can  delight  in  God. — V.  Gerlach: 
That  which  constitutes  the  kernel  of  the  descrip- 
tion here  again  is  the  constant  nearness  of  God, 
the  consciousness  of  His  approbation,  the  cer- 
tainty of  His  guidance  ;  this  is  accompanied  by 
the  happy  recollection  that  he  had  employed  the 
honor  which  God  had  granted  to  him,  the  riches 
which  He  had  bestowed  on  him,  only  to  bless 
others:  in  short  his  position  was  that  of  a 
princely,  royal  representative  of  God  on  earth. 

Ch.  xxix.  18  seq.  Cramer:  On  earth  there  is 
nothing  that  endures;  if  it  goes  well  with  any 
one,  let  him  suspect  that  it  may  go  ill  with  him 
(Sir.  ii.  26). — V.  Gerlach:  In  Job's  allusion  to 
the  ancient  legend  of  the  phoenix,  there  lies  a 
certain  irony:  I  had  hoped  in  respect  to  the 
permanence  of  my  happiness  that  which  was 
most  incredible,  most  impossible,  etc. 

Ch.  XXX.  1  seq.  Brentius  :  From  all  these 
things  (enumerated  in  the  preceding  chapter), 
Job's  authority  is  eulogized,  that  we  may  learn 
with  what  honor  God  sometimes  distinguishes 
the  pious.  But  in  this  chapter  we  are  taught 
with  what  a  cross  He  afflicts  them  that  they  may 
be  tried  ;  for  it  behooves  the  godly  to  be  proved 
on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  as  Paul  says 
2  Cor.  vi.  7  (comp.  Phil.  iv.  12).  But  this  is 
written  for  our  instruction,  that  we  may  learn 
that  nothing  in  the  whole  world,  however  excel- 
lent, endures,  but  that  all  things  go  to  ruin;  for 
both  the  heavens  and  the  earth  will  perish,  how 
much  more  carnal  glory,  authority  and  happi- 
ness (Is.  xl.). — Idem  (on  ver.  12):  Temptation 
is  two-fold,  on  the  right  hand,  and  on  the  left. 
We  are  tempted  on  the  right  when  fleshly  joys, 
health,  riches,  majesty,  glory  abound — a  tempta- 
tion which,  as  it  is  most  agreeable  to  the  flesh, 

80  also  is  it  most   dangerous We    are 

tempted  on  the  left  by  crosses,  afflictions  and 
evils  of  whatever  sort,  more  safely,  however, 
and  with  less  danger,  for  we  are  more  readily 
taught  by  the  cross  than  destroyed  by  it. — 
Zetss:  To  be  the  objects  of  extreme  contempt 
and  ridicule  from  the  world  is  to  pious  believers 


a  great  tribulation,  and  inflicts  deep  wounds  on 
their  hearts,  but  even  in  this  they  must  become 
like  Christ  their  head  (fleb.  xii.  8)! — Idem  (on 
ver.  15):  When  God  afflicts  His  children  in  the 
body,  or  by  some  other  grievous  outward  cala- 
mity, this  is  seldom  unaccompanied  by  inward 
trials,  anguish,  fear  and  terror:  it  is  with  them, 
as  with  the  Apostle — without  fightings,  within 
fears  (2  Cor.  vii.  5). 

Ch.  xxxi.  1  seq.  OECOLAMPADins:  He  sets 
before  our  eyes  one  who  is  absolutely  righteous 
in  every  particular;  for  a  man  will  not  escape 
the  wrath  of  God,  if  he  is  merciful  to  the 
wretched,  while  at  the  same  time  he  pollutes 
himself  with  various  lusts  and  crimes.  He 
accordingly  indulges  in  holy  boasiing  that  he 
liad  been  blameless  in  the  law,  that  he  had  kept 
his  members  from  abominable  sins,  and  devoted 
himself  to  the  service  of  righteousness,  keeping 
his  eyes  from  lusting  after  a  woman,  his  tongue 
from  guile  and  falsehood,  his  hands  and  feet 
from  cruelty,  violence,  revenge  and  rapacity. 
For  he  who  puts  such  a  watch  upon  his  senses, 
he  will  easily  be  perfected  in  all  things. — 
Starke:  Forasmuch  as  it  is  through  the  ej'es, 
for  the  most  part,  that  whatsoever  excites  the 
lust  finds  its  way  into  the  heart.  Job  naturally 
begins  with  his  watchfulness  over  this  sense; 
from  which  it  may  be  seen  that  he  understood 
the  divine  law  far  better  than  the  Pharisees  in 
the  time  of  Christ  (Matt.  v.  27  seq.). 

Ver.  16  seq.  Starke:  He  who  does  good  to 
the  poor  will  not  remain  unblessel  (Ps.  xli.  2 
[1]  seq.).  Clothing  the  naked  is  a  deed  of  mer- 
cy (Is.  Iviii.  7  seq.)  which  Christ  will  hereafter 
praise  on  the  last  day  (Matt.  xxv.  36). 

Ver.  24  seq.  Oecolampadius  :  See  what  a 
chain  of  virtues  he  links  together,  and  what 
innocence  he  preserves  through  all  things!  It 
is  not  those  only  who  acquire  riches  by  plunder 
and  lawlessness  who  incur  God's  wrath,  but 
those  even  who  trust  in  riches  honestly  acquired, 
and  who  prefer  them  to  God,  so  that  they  become 
their  idol  and  their  mammon.  .  .  .  The  pious 
and  grateful  man  would  say:  I  have  received 
from  God;  but  they  whose  God  is  gold,  have  no 
God. — Starke  :  It  was  a  proof  of  great  constancy 
on  the  part  of  Job  to  serve  the  true  God  faith- 
fully in  the  midst  of  idolaters,  and  to  be  most 
solicitous  to  show  the  more  subtle  idolatry  of 
avarice  as  well  as  the  more  gross  idolatry  of  sun 
and  stars. 

Ver.  35  seq.  Osiander:  Even  godly  people 
have  flesh  and  blood,  and  often  say  things  of 
which  they  must  afterwards  repent,  and  which 
they  themselves  cannot  praise.  —  Wohlfarth: 
'*I  will,  I  can  render  an  account  before  the 
Lord" — thus  speaks  Job  in  the  consciousness 
that  he  has  never  committed  a  gross  sin — nay, 
has  even  shunned  most  carefully  the  minor  and 
more  secret  ofiTenses.  Was  he,  however,  quite 
so  sure  of  this?  Was  he  in  truth  so  absolutely 
blameless  before  God,  to  whom  we  must  confess: 
"  Lord,  when  I  have  done  all  things,  I  am  still 
an  unprofitable  servant!  Who  can  mark  the 
number  of  his  transgressions?"  etc.  There 
belongs  in  truth  more  to  this  than  a  man  gene- 
rally believes  when  he  calls  God  aw  a  witness. 


"50  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


The  Second  Stage  of  the  Disentanglement. 
Chapter  XXXII.— XXXVII. 

Elihu's  Discourses,  devoted  to  proving  that  there  can  be  really  no  undeserved  suf- 
fering, that  on  the  contrary  the  sufferings  decreed  for  those  who  are  appa- 
rently righteous  are  dispensations  of  divine  love,  designed  to  purify  and 
to  sanctify  them  through  chastisement :  The  first  half  of  the  positive  solution 
of  the  problem. 

introduction:   elihu's   appearance,    and    the    exordium   OP   HIS   DISCOURSE, 
GIVING   THE   REASONS    FOR   HIS    SPEAKING. 

Chap.  XXXII.  1— XXXIII.  7. 

1.  Elihu's  appearance  (related  in  prose). 

Chapter  XXXII.  1-6  a. 

1  So  these  three  men  ceased  to  answer  Job,  because  he  was  righteous  in  his  own 

2  eyes.     Then  was  kindled  the  wrath  of  Elihu  the  son  of  Barachel  the  Buzite,  of  the 
kindred  of  Ram ;  against  Job  was  his  wrath  kindled,  because  he  justified  himself 

3  rather  than  God.     Also  against  his  three  friends  was  his  wrath  kindled,  because 

4  they  had  found  no  answer,  and  yet  had  condemned  Job.     Now  Elihu  had  waited 

5  till  Job  had  spoken,  because  they  were  elder  than  he.     When  Elihu  saw  that  there 

6  was  no  answer  in  the  mouth  of  these  three  men,  then  his  wrath  was  kindled.     And 
Elihu  the  son  of  Barachel  the  Buzite  answered  and  said  : 

2.  An  explanation  addressed  to  the  previous  speakers,  showing  why  he  had  taken  part  in  their 

controversy :  vers.  6-10. 

6  6  I  am  young,  and  ye  are  very  old ; 
wherefore  I  was  afraid, 
and  durst  not  show  you  mine  opinion. 

7  I  said,  Days  should  speak, 

and  multitude  of  years  should  teach  wisdom. 

8  But  there  is  a  spirit  in  man ; 

and  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  giveth  them  understanding. 

9  Great  men  are  not  always  wise  ; 
neither  do  the  aged  understand  judgment. 

10  Therefore  I  said,  Hearken  to  me ; 
I  also  will  show  mine  opinion. 

3.  Setting  forth  that  he  was  justified  in  taking  part,  because  the  friends  had  showed,  and  still 

showed  themselves  unable  to  refute  Job:  vers.  11-22. 

11  Behold,  I  waited  for  your  words  ; 
I  gave  ear  to  your  reasons, 
whilst  ye  searched  out  what  to  say. 

12  Yea,  I  attended  unto  you, 

and  behold,  there  was  none  of  you  that  convinced  Job, 
or  that  answered  his  words. 

13  Lest  ye  should  say :  "  We  have  found  out  wisdom  : 
God  thrusteth  him  down,  not  man." 

14  Now  he  liath  not  directed  his  words  against  me ; 
neither  will  I  answer  him  with  your  speeches. 


CHAP.  XXXII.— XXXVII.  C61 


15  They  were  amazed,  they  answered  no  more : 
they  left  off  speaking. 

16  When  I  had  waited  (for  they  spake  not, 
but  stood  still,  and  answered  no  more)  ; 

17  I  said,  I  will  answer  also  my  part, 
I  also  will  show  mine  opinion. 

18  For  I  am  full  of  matter, 

the  spirit  within  me  constraineth  me. 

19  Behold,  ray  belly  is  as  wine  which  hath  no  vent, 
it  is  ready  to  burst  like  new  bottles. 

20  I  will  speak,  that  I  may  be  refreshed : 
I  will  open  my  lips  and  answer. 

21  Let  me  not,  I  pray  you,  accept  any  man's  person, 
neither  let  me  give  flattering  titles  unto  man. 

22  For  I  know  not  to  give  flattering  titles  : 

in  so  doing  my  Maker  would  soon  take  me  away. 

4.  A  special  appeal  to  Job  to  listen  calmly  to  him  [Elihu],  as  a  mild  judge  of  his  guilt  and  weak- 
ness: chap,  xxxiii.  1-7. 

1  Wherefore,  Job,  I  pray  thee,  hear  my  speeches, 
and  hearken  to  all  my  words. 

2  Behold,  now  I  have  opened  my  mouth, 
my  tongue  hath  spoken  in  my  mouth. 

3  My  words  shall  be  of  the  uprightness  of  my  heart ; 
and  my  lips  shall  utter  knowledge  clearly. 

4  The  Spirit  of  God  hath  made  me, 

and  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  hath  given  me  life. 
•5  If  thou  canst  answer  me, 

set  thy  words  in  order  before  me,  stand  up. 

6  Behold,  I  am  according  to  thy  wish  in  God's  stead : 
I  also  am  formed  out  of  the  clay. 

7  Behold,  my  terror  shall  not  make  thee  afraid, 
neither  shall  my  hand  be  heavy  upon  thee. 


FIRST  discourse:  of  mans  guilt  before  god. 

Chap.  XXXIII.  8-33. 
a.  Preparatory :  Reproof  of  Job' s  confidence  tn  his  entire  innocence:  vers.  8-11. 

8  Surely  thou  hast  spoken  in  mine  hearing, 

and  I  have  heard  the  voice  of  thy  words,  saying : 

9  I  am  clean  without  transgression, 

I  am  innocent,  neither  is  there  iniquity  in  me. 

10  Behold,  He  findeth  occasions  against  me, 
He  counteth  me  for  His  enemy : 

11  He  putteth  my  feet  iu  the  stocks. 
He  marketh  all  my  paths. 

b.  Didactic  discussion  of  the  true  relation  of  sinful  men  to  Ood,  who  seeks  to  warn  and  to  save  them  by 
manifold  dispensations  and  communications  from  above:  vers.  12-30. 

12  Behold,  in  this  thou  art  not  just : 

I  will  answer  thee,  that  God  is  greater  than  man. 

13  Why  dost  thou  strive  against  Him  ? 

for  He  giveth  not  account  of  any  of  His  matters. 

14  For  God  speaketh  once,  yea  twice, 
yet  man  perceiveth  it  not. 


552 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


15  In  a  dream,  in  a  vision  of  the  night, 
when  deep  sleep  folleth  upon  men, 
in  slumberings  upon  the  bed  ; 

16  then  He  openeth  the  ears  of  men, 
and  sealeth  their  instruction, 

17  that  He  may  Avithdraw  man  from  his  purpose, 
and  hide  pride  from  man. 

18  He  keepeth  back  his  soul  from  the  pit, 
and  his  life  from  perishing  by  the  sword. 

19  He  is  chastened  also  with  pain  upon  his  bed, 
and  the  multitude  of  his  bones  with  strong  pain  : 

20  so  that  his  life  abhorreth  bread, 
and  his  soul  dainty  meat. 

21  His  flesh  is  consumed  away,  that  it  cannot  be  seen  ; 
and  his  bones  that  were  not  seen  stick  out. 

22  Yea,  his  soul  draweth  near  unto  the  grave, 
and  his  life  to  the  destroyers. 

23  If  there  be  a  messenger  with  him, 

an  interpreter,  one  among  a  thousand, 
to  show  unto  man  his  uprightness  ; 

24  then  He  is  gracious  unto  him,  and  saith, 
Deliver  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit : 
I  have  found  a  ransom. 

25  His  flesh  shall  be  fresher  than  a  child's  ; 
he  shall  return  to  the  days  of  his  youth : 

26  he  shall  pray  unto  God,  and  He  will  be  favorable  unto  him ; 
and  he  shall  see  His  face  with  joy ; 

for  He  will  render  unto  man  His  righteousness. 

27  He  looketh  upon  men,  and  if  any  say, 

I  have  sinned,  and  perverted  that  which  was  right, 
and  it  profited  me  not ; 

28  He  will  deliver  his  soul  from  going  into  the  pit, 
and  his  life  shall  see  the  light. 

29  Lo,  all  these  things  worketh  God 
oftentimes  with  man, 

30  to  bring  back  his  soul  from  the  pit, 

to  be  enlightened  with  the  light  of  the  living. 


c.   Conclusion , 


Calling  upon  Job  to  give  an  attentive  hearing  to  the  discourses  by  which  he  would  further 
instruct  him:  vers.  31-33. 


31  Mark  well,  O  Job,  hearken  unto  me  ; 
hold  thy  peace,  and  I  will  speak. 

32  If  thou  hast  anything  to  say,  answer  me : 
speak,  for  I  desire  to  justify  thee. 

33  If  not,  hearken  unto  me  : 

hold  thy  peace,  and  I  shall  teach  thee  wisdom. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  On  the  general  subject  of  the  genuineness 
of  Elihu'p  discourses,  comp.  Introd.,  g  10,  as 
well  as  below,  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks. — 
The  circumstantiality  of  the  twofold  introduction 
to  these  discourses — first  that  of  the  author  in 
prose,  then  the   self-introduction  of  Elihu  (ch. 


xxxii.  6  b — xxxiii.  7)  which  latter  again  con- 
sists of  three  subdivisions — is  to  be  explained  by 
the  fact  that  in  Elihu  there  was  to  be  introduced 
the  representative  of  a  new  stand-point,  which 
had  not  yet  received  its  statement,  differing  as  it 
did  from  that  of  all  the  former  speakers.  For  nei- 
ther Job's  one-sided  denial  of  his  guilt  nor  the  blunt 
and  rough  way  in  which  he  had  been  attacked, 
satisfies  this  new  speaker.     He  appears  to  speak 


CHAPS.  XXXII— XXXVII. 


i:3 


for  and  against  Job,  whose  "  better  self"  he  in 
some  measure  represents  (comp.  Victor  An- 
drea, p.  139);  hence  the  three  stages  of  his  self- 
introduction:  (1)  the  caplatio  benevolentise  with 
which  he  begins ;  or  the  apology  for  his  youth 
addressed  to  all  the  former  speakers  (ch.  xxxii. 
0  6-10);  (2)  the  reprimand  administered  to  the 
three  friends,  as  having  shown  themselves  in- 
competent to  refute  Job  (vers.  11-22); — and  (3) 
the  appeal  to  Job  to  give  a  hearing  to  his  in- 
structions (ch.  xxxiii.  1-7)  an  appeal  full  of  ear- 
nest admonition  and  loving  encouragement.  The 
last  of  these  divisions  provides  a  direct  transi- 
tion to  i\\Q  first  of  Elihu's  discourses  proper  (ch, 
xxxiii.  8-33),  in  which  he  sets  forth  the  founda- 
tion of  Job's  suflFering — the  universal  sinfulness 
and  guilt  of  men  before  God,  this  discourse  again 
occupying  three  divisions,  of  which  the  middle, 
being  the  longest  (vers.  12-30),  contains  the  pro- 
per didactic  exposition  of  the  subject,  while  the 
first,  by  citing  the  propositions  of  Job  which  are 
to  be  refuted,  prepares  the  way  for  the  discus- 
sion; and  the  third  furnishes,  together  with  a 
practical  conclusion,  the  transition  to  the  di- 
dactic discourse  which  follows.  The  most  of 
these  divisions  are  at  the  same  time  coincident 
each  with  a  single  strophe,  except  that  the  long 
middle  sections  (ch.  xxxii.  11-22  and  ch.  xxxiii. 
12-30)  are  subdivided  into  several  strophes,  the 
former  into  two,  the  latter  into  four,  together 
with  a  short  epiphonema  of  two  verses  (vers. 
29-30). 

2.  Introduction  in  prose  (although  with  poetic 
accents — comp.  above,  §  3,  p.  264)  [the  poetic 
mode  of  accentuation  retained,  because  a  change 
in  the  middle  of  the  book,  and  especially  in  a 
piece  of  such  small  compass  appeared  awkward  : 
Del.]  ch.  xxxii.  1-6  a. — Then  the  three  men 
ceased  to  answer  Job.  This  notification  oc- 
curs first  here,  not  after  ch.  xxvi.  or  ch.  xxviii., 
because  it  was  only  through  the  last  monologues 
of  Job  that  the  defeat  of  the  three  opponents  be- 
came complete. — Because  he  was  righteous 
in  his  ovrn  eyes;  i.  e.,  because  he  would  not 
admit  that  his  suffering  was  in  any  degree  what- 
ever the  consequence  of  his  guilt ;  a  statement 
which  refers  back  in  particular  to  the  contents 
of  ch.  xxxi. 

Ver.  2.  Then  was  kindled  the  wrath  of 

Elihu,  the  son  of  Barachel,  etc.  Xiri''?*?, 
which  is  written  below  without  the  final  N  (ch. 
xxxii.  4;  xxxv.  1)  signifies — "my  God  is  he," 
and  appears  also  as  an  Israelitish  name  (1  Sam. 
i.  1;  1  Chron.  xii.  20).  The  Elihu  of  our  pas- 
sage is  a  Nahorite,  of  the  tribe  of  Buz  (H3),  who 
in  Gen.  xxii.  21  is  mentioned  as  the  brother  of 
Uz,  and  the  second  son  of  Nahor,  and  whose 
tribe,  according  to  Jer.  xxv.  23,  like  Dedan  and 
Tema,  belonged  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Arabian 
desert.  The  "family  of  Ram"  is  mentioned 
only  here.  The  identification  of  the  name  D"^ 
with  D"1X  is  inadmissible,  for  Dl  is  simply  the 
name  of  a  family,  not  of  a  people.  The  Aramaic 
origin  of  the  Buzites,  according  to  the  above  de- 
scription, admits  indeed  of  no  doubt,  and  the 
same  may  be  said  respecting  the  poet's  purpose 
in  that  connection  to  impart  an' Aramaic  coloring 
to  Elihu's  discourses.  Lightfootand  Rosenmiil- 
ler  curiously  imagine  that  under  the  character 


of  Elihu  the  poet  has  concealed  himself,  and  that 
this  explains  the  particularity  with  wliich,  in 
opposition  to  what  is  characteristic  of  the  book 
elsewhere,  he  describes  the  origin  of  the  new 
speaker.  This  detailed  account  of  Elihu's  gene- 
alogy is  undoubtedly  a  little  singular,  but  it  may 
be  satisfactorily  explained  by  the  poet's  desire 
to  represent  him  as  a  kinsman  of  the  same  race 
with  Job,  or  it  may  be  his  desire  to  di.stinguish 
between  him  and  some  other  well-known  person 
of  the  name.  In  respect  to  the  question  whether 
Elihu's  position  is  that  of  "  one  not  simply  near 
to  the  Abrahamitic  revelation,  but  of  one  stand- 
ing within  the  pale  of  it"  (as  Vilmar  thinks, 
I.  c),  nothing  definite  can  be  established  from 
the  genealogical  statement  before  us. — Respect- 
ing the  name  7XD"13  (instead  of  which  some 
MSS.  write  7XD;13,  with  a  latent  Daghesh),  it 
signifies — "may  God  bless!"  and  is  thus  distin- 
guished as  an  imperative  formation  from  the  in- 
dicative of  the  specifically  Israelitish  name  n0^3 
("Jehovah  blesseth") — Because  he  declared 
himself  righteous  before  God.  p^^  instead 
of  the  Hiph.  which  is  elsewhere  more  common 
in  this  signification,  occurs  again  ch.  xxxiii,  32, 
and  often  in  Jerem.  and  Ezek. — D'H/NO,  not 
"  more  than  God,  at  the  expense  of  God  "  (Ew., 
Delitz.)  [E.  v..  Con.,  Noy.,  Carey,  Words.,  «/c.], 
but  "  before,"  JO  accordingly  as  in  ch.  iv.  17. 
The  comparison  of  the  passage  in  ch.  xl.  8  is 
scarcely  sufiicient  to  confirm  the  former  ren- 
dering. 

Ver.  3  states  how  far  the  conduct  of  the  three 
friends  had  caused  Elihu's  discontent : — be- 
cause they  found  no  answer,  and  still 
condemned  Job.  So— taking  1  in  '^i^'p'^H 
adversatively — may  the  words  be  rendered  with 
the  greatest  probability  (so  Hirzel,  Ewald)  [E. 
v.,  Noy.,  Con.,  Carey,  Rodwell,  Elz.,  Schlottm,, 
Renan],  For  the  fact  that  the  friends  had  con- 
demned Job  notwithstanding  their  inability  to  an- 
swer him  aggravates  the  guilt  of  the  three  in 
Elihu's  eyes;  and  that  he  really  attributed  to 
them  double  guilt,  as  compared  with  Job,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  passage  which  follows,  and  which 
involves  more  rigid  censure  of  the  friends  (ver. 
11  seq. ;  15  seq.)  than  of  Job  (comp.  also  ver. 
6).  With  this  interpretation  agrees  essentially 
that  of  Delitzsch  and  Kamphausen:  "because 
they,  from  their  inability  to  answer  him,  con- 
demned him."  ["  The/u/.  consec.  describes  the 
condemnation  as  the  result  of  their  inability  to 
hit  upon  the  right  answer ;  it  was  a  miserable 
expedient  to  which  they  bad  recourse."  Del.]. 
The  language  admits  still  further  of  the  expla- 
nation of  Hahn  and  Dillmann  ( wit  h  the  influence 
of  the  negation  extended  to  the  second  member) : 
"  because  they  did  not  find  an  answer,  and  (con- 
sequently) did  not  condemn  him  [i.  e.,  secure 
his  condemnation,  by  "  stripping  him  of  his  self- 
righteousness  "].  The  opinion  of  the  Masoretes, 
that  in  this  passage  we  have  one  of  the  18  Tiq- 
quney  Sopherim  (comp,  on  ch.  vii.  20),  according 
to  which  we  should  read  DTlSxn-nJs  instead  of 
3i'J<~nN,  is  refuted  by  ch.  xl.  8,  where  it  is  not 
the  friends,  but  Job,  who  is  said  to  have  shown 
himself  to  be  one  who  had  condemned  God. 


:54 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Ver.  4.  But  Elihu  had  waited  for  Job  with 
words. — r\2T\  pluperf.,  comp.  Ewald,  §  135,  a; 
i.  e.,  he  had  waited  until  Job's  speeches  were 
ended,  until  he  had  spoken  his  last  word  in  the 
controversy,  the  reason  being: — because  they 

w^ere  older  than  he  in  days  (D'O'?,  as  in 
ch.  XXX.  1,  and  below  ver.  6),  i.  e.,  because  he 
was  the  youngest  of  all, — younger  than  all  the 
former  speakers, 

3,  First  section  of  Elihu^s  introduction :  captatio 
benevolentise,  addressed  to  all  the  former  speak- 
ers: vers.  6  6-10. — Young  am  I  in  days,  and 
ye  are  hoary  {Wp"]l}\  as  inch.  xii.  12;  xv.  10; 
sxix,  8) ;  therefore  I  was  afraid  and  feared, 

/nt  in  Heb,  elsewhere  "  to  crawl,"  here  in  the 
sense  of  "fearing,"  customary  in  Aramaic,  but 
not  met  with  elsewhere  in  the  0.  T.  [Carey:  "I 
did  slink"].  Also  ,^1  for  H^T  is  an  expres- 
sion peculiar  to  the  Aramaizing  constructions  of 
Elihu's  language  (comp.  again  vers.  10,  17 ;  ch, 
xxxvi,  3;  xxxvii.  16),  while  on  the  contrary 
nin  "  to  declare,  to  communicate,"  occurs  else- 

T  ■  '  ' 

where  in  our  book,  ["  It  becomes  manifest  even 
here  that  the  Elihu  section  has  in  part  a  peculiar 
use  of  the  language."  Del.]. 

Ver.  7.  Respecting  the  plur,  ^J^nV  with  3*1 
CJK',  comp,  ch.  xxi,  21. 

Ver.  8,  Still  the  spirit  It  is  in  mortal 
man  .  .  ,  which  gives  them  understand- 
ing,    |J3X  verum,  only  here  by  Elihu,  instead  of 

D7lN,  which  is  elsewhere  customary  in  this 
sense.  The  subjects  0J1  pn  and  nX\  mp3 
have  for  their  common  predicate  N'ri  with  Drir^ 
at  the  close  of  the  second  member  as  a  relative 
clause  of  closer  specification.  The  "  spirit  in 
man"  is  the  principle  of  his  life  and  thought 
wrought  into  him  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  here,  as 
also  in  ch,  xxvii.  3  ;  xxxiii.  4;  xxxiv.  14,  iden- 
tical with  the  "  breath  of  the  Almighty,"  the  Di- 
vine creative  breath  (Gen,  ii,  7);  comp,  also 
Eccl.  xii.  7.  [Noyes  happily  quotes  the  follow- 
ing from  Milton,  in  the  preface  to  his  Reason  of 
Church  Government,  urged  against  Prelaty :  "And 
if  any  man  think  I  undertake  a  task  too  difficult 
for  my  years,  I  trust,  through  the  supreme  en- 
lightening assistance,  far  otherwise;  for  my 
years,  be  they  few  or  many,  what  imports  it  ? 
8o  they  bring  reason,  let  that  be  looked  on"]. — 
K^JX  is  used  collectively,  as  is  evident  from  the 
plur.  suffix  in  h  referring  to  it. 

Ver.  9.  Not  the  aged  are  w^ise  ;  lit.  "not 
the  great"  (D'Jl^)  \_.'/randsevi'\,  i.  e.,  great  in 
years,  comp.  the  iroTivxpovint  of  the  LXX.,  also 
Gen.  XXV,  28 ;  and  '^''J^^  small  =  young,  above 
(ver.  6  b). 

Ver,  10.    Therefore  I  say:   Hearken  to 

me!  —  The  Imperfect  singular,  w'HJ^OK^,  is 
used  distributively,  applying  to  each  indivi- 
dual of  those  who  are  summoned  to  hear, 
(not  referring  specially  to  Job,  to  whom  Elihu 
does  not  address  himself  until  below  in  ch, 
xxxiii.  1  seq.).  The  ancient  versions,  except 
the  Targ.,  as  well  as  some  MSS.  read  \^'0\2J  — 
an  emendatiop  to  relieve  the  difficulty  [arising 


from  El.'s  addressing  the  friends  in  the  plur.  in 
the  next  verse],  I  also  w^ill  declare  my 
knowledge  (comp,  ver.  6,  b).  [Rather,  more 
modestly — "I  will  declare  my  knowledge,  even 
1."  Words,],  Respecting  the  appearance  of 
vain  self-praise,  of  which  Elihu  is  guilty  in  con- 
sequence of  these  and  the  preceding  expressions, 
comp,  below  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Remarks, 
No.  2. 

4.  Second  section  of  Elihu' s  introduction :  Show- 
ing his  claims  to  speak,  in  contrast  with  the 
friends,  as  the  feeble  and  incompetent  opponents 
of  Job:  vers,  11-22. — a.  Address  to  the  friends 
touching  their  lack  of  skill  in  refuting  Job, 
Behold,  I  w^aited  for  your  words;  or  for 
words  from  you."  Dp'^^T  are  not  the  words 
actually  uttered  by  them  (Stick.,  Hahn,  Schlott,), 
but  those  for  which  Elihu  had  waited  in  vain, 
expecting  that  they  would  produce  them,  more 
particularly  explained  in  b  as  being  their  words 
of  intelligence,  speeches  full  of  wisdom  (mjOH). 
The  construction  of  pX,  contracted  form  for 
I'TXX)  with  "y^  shows  clearly  enough  that  the 
object  of  the  hearkening  or  listening  was  wholly 
in  expectation.  Until  ye  might  find  out  re- 
plies, JyP*  *  second  parallel  term  to  D'lJl, 
can  denote  here  only  words  from  the  friends, 
suited  to  refute  Job,  such  words  as  they  had 
shown  themselves  unable  to  "search  out,"  or 
"to  think  out."     ("*pn). 

Ver,  12.  And  unto  you  I  gave  heed. — 

D^ni^  means  here  D^' 7X  ;  or  it  may  mean  giv- 
ing heed  until  they  should  produce  a  real  confu- 
tation of  Job.  [Carey  translates  H^  the  three 
times  it  occurs  in  vers.  10-11  "to  the  utmost 
of" — perhaps  a  little  too  artificially.  It  does 
however  express  more  emphatically  than  the 
simple  7  the  act  of  close  attention. — E.]. 

Ver,  13,  That  ye  may  not  say  ;  or  "  since 
ye  do  not  say,  etc." — Respecting  the  dissuasive 
particle  J3  "that  not,"  comp.  Ew.,  §  337,  b. 
W^e  found  ^yisdom  [i.e.,  with  Job):  God  can 
smite  him,  not  man, — That  is,  we  have  come 
upon  such  superior  wisdom  in  Job  that  only 
God  can  drive  him  out  of  the  field  (HIJ  discutere, 
dispellere,  used  elsewhere  of  the  chasing  of  chaflf, 
straw,  smoke — comp,  Ps.  i,  4 ;  Ixviii.  3  [2]) 
["chosen  here  with  great  propriety,  because 
after  every  answer  from  the  three  Job  showed 
himself  again  in  the  arena."  Dillm.].  Only 
this  explanation,  adopted  by  most  moderns, 
gives  a  meaning  that  is  intelligent,  and  suited  to 
the  context,  not  that  of  the  ancient  commenta- 
tors (also  more  recently  of  Rosenmiiller,  Arn- 
heim,  Welte,  etc.):  "Only  do  not  say  we  have 
brought  up  against  him  true  wisdom,  to  wit: 
that  God  Himself  contends  against,  and  routs 
him  out  of  the  field  (by  the  severe  sulFerings 
which  He  has  decreed  for  him"  [and  so  substan- 
tially Lee,  Bernard.  According  to  another  ex- 
planation the  second  member  is  spoken  by  Elihu, 
not  the  friends,  the  general  meaning  being: 
Ye  have  been  silenced,  lest  ye  should  become 
proud  and  boast  of  your  wisdom,  and  that  his 
defeat  may  come  "visibly  from  God  and  not  from 
men.  So  Good,  Wordsworth,  Carey,  Wemyss, 
Rodwell,  Barnes,  most  of  whom  make  the  first 


CHAPS.  XXXII— XXXVII. 


C55 


member  dependent  on  the  second;  e.  g.  Rod- 
well:  "Lest  ye  should  say — 'We  have  found 
out  wisdom,' —  El,  not  man,  shall  Yanquish 
him." — Schlottmann  explains:  ^'■Say  not:  We 
have  found  wisdom,  i,  e.  we  for  our  part  have  not 
erred,  we  have  hit  the  exact,  truth,  but  God  must 
smite  him,  not  man,  i.  e.  Job  is  so  obstinate  that 
the  most  exhaustive  proofs  of  our  doctrine  fail 
to  affect  him,  wherefore  God  only  can  convict 
him  of  his  error."] 

Ver.  14.  For  he  hath  not  arrayed  ■words 
against  me  ;  i.  e.  he  has  produced  no  argu- 
ment which  actually  convinces  me  of  his  inno- 
cence, "^"^if  sensu  forensi  as  in  ch.  xiii.  18  ; 
xxiii.  4.  The  whole  verse  introduced  by  N7l 
with  a  fin.  verb  following,  forms  a  clause  subor- 
dinate to  that  which  precedes,  like  ch.  xlii.  3 
(comp.  Ewald,  ^  341,  a). 

b.  A  declaration  respecting  the  unavoidable 
necessity  of  bis  taking  part  in  the  colloquy,  the 
friends  although  still  referred  to  being  spoken 
of  in  the  third  person. 

Ver.  15.  They  are  confounded,  they  an- 
swer no  more,  or  "without  answ*ing  again" 
(comp.  Ewald,  g  349,  a),  words  are  fled  away 
from  them,  i.  e.  have  deserted  them  ;  DTIJ-'D 
here  accordingly  intransitive;  "to  depart,  to 
wander  away,"  like  Gen.  xii.  8 ;  xxvi.  22, 
not  transitive,  as  in  chap.  ix.  5  (against 
Hirzel). 

Ver.  16.  And  should  I  (still)  await,  be- 
cause they  speak  not  ? — This  interrogative 

rendering  of  the  Perf.  consec.  ''J^7'!?'"^l  is  the 
only  one  that  yields  a  suitable  meaning,  not  the 
affirmative,  which  used  to  be  the  prevalent 
one,  "and  I  waited,  because,"  etc.,  by  which  the 
verse  would  express  a  quite  unendurable  tauto- 
logy with  vers.  11,  12. 

Ver.  17.  So  then  I  also  will  answer  my 
part,  i.  e.  what  comes  to  my  part  (comp.  ch.  xv. 
2;  Prov.  xviii.  23);  I  will  in  like  manner  throw 
the  weight  of  my  opinion  into  the  scales. 
["Elihu  speaks  more  in  the  scholastic  tone  of 
controversy  than  the  three."  Delitzsch.  The 
'JX~^X  twice  repeated  is  far  from  implying  con- 
ceit or  arrogance  on  the  part  of  the  speaker.  It 
is  possible  indeed  to  explain  it,  with  Barnes, 
*^  even  I,"  notwithstanding  my  youth  and  inex- 
perience, in  the  tone  of  modest  self-deprecia- 
tion. More  probably  however  it  indicates  ra- 
ther the  iJidependent,  individual  position  of  the 
speaker,  differing  as  it  did  from  the  rest,  as  we 
should  say — "on  my  part."  In  any  case,  as 
Schultens  remarks:  jucunda  et  decora  formula; 
scire  meum — quantum  mihi  guidem  sciere,  et  perci- 
pere  datum.  Frustra  sunt,  qui  hxc  ad  arrogantiam 
detorquent."  E.]  The  Put.  Hiph.,  DJ^X,  ex- 
presses as  e.  g.  Eccles.  v.  19  (see  on  the  passage) ; 
Hos.  ii.  23,  etc.,  the  strengthened  sense  of  Kal : 
"to  make  answer,  to  put  in  a  reply."  Ewald 
renders  quite  too  artificially:  "so  then  I  also 
plough  my  field "  (njJ,'X  Hiph.  from  the 
other  root  TJ^y,  "to  be  sunk"),  which 
would  be  proverbial  for — "I  also  begin  my 
speech." 

Ver.  18  seq.  describe  the  powerful  inward  im- 
pulse to  speak,   which  Elihu  discovers  in  him- 


self, and  which  makes  it  impossible  for  him  to  be 
silent.  The  spirit  (ver.  8)  constraineth  me 
in  my  in'ward  part;  lit.  "the  spirit  of  my  in- 
ward part,  of  my  belly"  ('JtS^),  comp.  ch.  xv. 
2,  35.  Respecting  the  scriptio  defectiva  ''^/P,  iu 
a,  comp.  on  ch.  i.  21. 

Ver.  19.  Behold,  my  interior  is  like  wine 
■which  is  not  opened,  i.  e.  to  wiiich  there  is 
no  vent,  so  that  it  threatens  to  burst  its  vessel. 
It  is  of  course  new,  fresh  wine  that  is  intended, 
as  in  the  parallel  New  Testament  passages, 
which  refer  to  this  place.  Matt.  ix.  17  ;  Luke  v. 
39,  which  show  moreover  that  the  "  new  bot- 
tles" in  b  can  be  none  other  than  such  as  are 
"filled  with  new  wine,"  so  that  the  attribute 
"new"  denotes  not  the  firmness  of  the  material 
of  the  bottles,  but  rather  the  age  and  the  quality 
of  their  contents.  Furthermore,  ^P^\  is  neither 
a  relative  clause  to  HUX  (Hirzel)  [Ges.,  Con.], 
nor  an  adverbial  subordinate  clause — "  when  it 
will  burst," — but  the  direct  predicate  of  '3C33. 
J  which  indeed  is  feminine,  but  here  with  the 
passive,  is  treated  as  the  grammatical  object; 
comp.  ch.  xxii.  9.     The  LXX.  read  D't^'^n,  and 

rendered  the  preceding  m^X  in  the  sense  of 
"bellows:"  (JaKep  (pvoTjrjjp  ;t;aA«fwf.  The  figure 
thus  arising  is  not  unsuitable ;  still,  according 
to  the  preceding  explanation,  there  is  no  suffi- 
cient ground  for  departing  from  the  ^lasoretio 
reading.     On  ver.  21   comp.  ch.  xiii.   8.     [The 

distinction  between  7X  and  X/  is  not  to  be 
overlooked  ;  the  former  expressing  the  subjec- 
tive wish,  or  purpose;  the  latter  the  objective 
fact.  E.]. 

Ver.  22  gives  the  reason  for  that  which  is  de- 
clared in  ver.  21,  b :  For  I  know  not  how  to 

flatter.  H^DX  is  logically  subordinate  to  the 
preceding  'n^T  X?,  and  is  used  accordingly  for 
the  Inf.  ni:j,  or  for  niJ^S  ;  comp.  Ewald,  §285, 
c. — Otherw^ise  my  Maker  ■would  speedily 
snatch  me  a'way  ;  lit.  "lift  me  up;'  'JXb'' 
[which  "seems  designedly  to  harmonize  with 
'JXIJ,'"  Delitzsch,  and  perhaps  involves  a  play  on 
Xi/X,  ver.  21;  Dillmann],  an  expression  derived 
from  a  stormy  wind ;  comp.  ch.  xxvii.  21 ;  2 
Kings  ii.  16.  The  Imperf.  here  with  a  modal 
force  [=would,  or  might];  comp.  Ewald, 
§136,/. 

6.  Third  section  of  Elihu's  Introduction  :  Call- 
ing on  Job  to  listen  calmly  to  the  discourses  of 
instruction  and  admonition  which  follow :  ch. 
xxxiii.  1-7. 

Ver.  1.  Nevertheless  hear  no'w,  O  Job, 
my  discourses.  D /^N1  interruptive,  and  in- 
troducing to  something  new,  like  verumtamcn ; 
com.  ch.  i.  11  ;  xi.  5  ;  xii.  7  ;  xiv.  18  and  often. 
The  particular  address  to  Job  by  name,  which  it 
is  true  occurs  only  in  the  mouth  of  Elihu  (be- 
sides here  again  in  ver.  31  and  ch.  xxxvii.  14), 
has  nothing  in  it  that  is  especially  surprising, 
seeing  that  in  every  case  it  serves  as  a  special 
summons  to  Job,  in  distinction  from  the  three 
friends. 


556 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Ver.  2.  The  circumstantiality  with  which 
Elihu  announces  here  the  beginning  of  his  dis- 
course is  by  no  means  without  significance.  It 
is  designed  to  call  attention  to  the  importance 
of  that  which  he  has  to  say  to  him,  and  it  may 
be  compared  in  this  respect  with  introductory 
formulas  of  the  New  Testament,  such  as  Matt. 
V.  2;  Acts  X.  34;  and  especially  2  Cor.  vi.  11. 
["  J/y  tongue  hath  begun  to  speak,"  lit.  my  tongue 
hath  spoken  in  my  palate  (the  latter  word  a 
synecdoche).  The  Pret.  ni3T  denotes  here  the 
present,  but  as  an  act  reaching  over  into  the 
present  out  of  the  past.  This,  we  have  judged, 
called  for  the  free  translation  which  we  have 
given."   Schlottm.] 

Ver.  3.  My  words  are  the  uprightness 
of  my  heart ;  they  are  the  honest  open  expres- 
Bion  of  the  thought  of  my  heart,  precisely  that 
therefore  which  Job  had  so  painfully  missed  in 
the  three  friends  (see  ch.  vi.  25). — And  the 
knoTvledge  of  my  lips — they  declare  it 
purely. — The  "knowledge  of  my  lips"  is  either 
prefixed  as  casus  nbsolutus,  "and  as  touching  the 
knowledge  of  my  lips — they  speak  it  purely;" 
or  as  the  object:  "and  what  my  lips  know, 
that,"  etc. — "in2  can  be  a  predicate  accusative 

["  and  knowledge  that  is  pure  my  lips  declare"], 
referring  to  r>^^,  which  is  elsewhere  also  used 
in  the  masculine  {e.g.  Prov.  ii.  10;  xiv.  6);  but 
it  can  just  as  well  be  taken  adverbially  (comp. 
Ewald,  I  279,  a). 

Ver.  4.  The  Spirit  of  God  hath  made  me, 
etc. — The  object  of  this  appeal  to  the  derivation 
of  Elihu' s  spirit  from  God's  Spirit  must  be  essen- 
tially the  same  with  that  of  the  similar  utterance 
in  ch.  xxxii.  8.  It  is  not  a  special,  nor  an  alto- 
gether wonderful,  prophetic  inspiration  that 
Elihu  here  asserts  for  himself;  he  simply  claims 
that  it  is  a  universal  human  wisdom  residing  in 
his  spirit  by  virtue  of  his  innate  dignity  as  a 
man,  on  the  basis  of  which  he  here  applies  him- 
self to  instruct  Job.  It  is,  so  to  speak,  the 
humanistic,  the  genuine  original  and  unper- 
verted  human  character  of  his  knowledge  and 
experimental  wisdom,  to  which  Elihu  appeals, 
when,  as  a  young  man,  he  presents  himself  to 
the  more  aged  Job  as  his  instructor.  It  is  to 
this  genuinely  human  character  of  his  wisdom 
that  he  calls  attention,  both  in  this  passage, 
where  he  emphasizes  the  divine  origin  of  his 
spiritual  life  (vers.  4,  5),  and  in  the  following, 
where  he  sets  forth  his  participation  in  the  ma- 
terial part  of  man's  nature,  in  his  earthly  human 
corporeity  (ver.  6  seq.).  The  older  Church  exe- 
gesis readily  availed  itself  of  this  verse  as  an 
argument  for  the  divine  trinity,  on  the  ground 
that  it  mentions  (1)  Deus  omnipotens :  (2)  Spi- 
ril.us  Dei  [=Sapientia  s.  filius);  and  (3)  Spiracu- 
lum  Dei  (=Sp.  Sanctus).  So  e.  g.  Cocceius  on 
the  passage ;  approximately  also  Starke. 

Ver.  6.  If  thou  canst,  then  answer  me 
{y^T\  as  in  ch.  xxxii.  14),  draw  up  against 

me  (HD'ij;?  scil.  P/P,  see  ch.  xxxii.  14;  'JiJ/' 
lit.  "before  me,"  here  "against  me"),  take 
thy  stand,  viz.  for  the  controversy,  take  thy 
post ;  the  same  expression  used  1  Sam.  xvii.  16 
of  Goliath's  putting  himself  in  a  military  attitude, 
and  challenging  the  Israelites  to  combat. — 
["The  very  ring  of  the  words  in  Heb.  has  in  I 


thenl  the  tone  of  haughty  defiance."  Schlott- 
mann.] 

Ver.  6.  Behold,  I  am  God's,  as  thou  art; 
i.e.,  I  stand  no  nearer  to  him;  I  am,  like  thee, 
His  creature.  [The  7  here  may  be  either  the 
7  of  possession,  dependence,  according  to  the 
explanation  just  given  (comp.  17,  ch.  xii.  16); 
or  the  7  of  relation:  "I  am  like  thee  in  rela- 
tion to  God."  In  our  relation  to  Him  we  are 
both  equal.  The  rendering  of  E.  V.,  Bernard, 
Barnes:  "Behold,  I  am  according  to  thy  wish 
in  God's  stead,"  is  much  less  suitable  to  the 
connection,  and  less  in  harmony  with  Elihu's 
claims. — E.  ] — Out  of  clay  w^as  I  also  formed : 
lit.  "out  of  clay  was  I  also  cut  otf,  nipped  off"" 
(Del.).  The  verb  ^*1p  (lit.  to  nip,  to  pinch), 
which  forcibly  and  onomatopoetically  describes 
the  action  of  the  potter  in  forming  liis  vessels, 
is  found  in  Pual  only  here.  Conip.  ch.  x.  9,  and 
the  parallel  passages  there  cited. 

Ver.  7.  Behold,  my  terror  will  not  affright 
thee:  i.  e.  in  view  of  this  my  genuinely  human 
and  earthlj%character,  thou  needest  not  fear  au 
unequal  contest  with  me,  as  would  be  the  case 
against  God,  whom  thou  didst  pray,  that  "  His 
majesty  might  not  terrify  thee."  The  passage 
contains  an  unmistakable  allusion  to  ch.  ix.  34 
and  xiii.  21, — to  the  latter  passage  also  by 
means  of  the  hapax  Icgom.  ^3{<,  "pressure, 
weight,"  which  appears  here  in  place  of  the 
like-sounding    ^2,    which    is    there  used.     The 

LXX.  [i]  x^'P  f^'''^')  U^-  ^-  ""'J  hand"]  read 
^D3  albo  in  the  present  passage,  but  disregard 
in  so  doing  the  Hebrew  usage,  which  is  wont 
everywhere  else  to  connect  the  verb  "^23  with 
T,  not  f]3, 

6.  The  first  speech  of  Elihu. — a.  Preference  to 
Job's  objectionable  language,  in  which  he  main- 
tains his  entire  innocence  in  opposition  to  God, 
his  hostile  persecutor:  vers.  8-11. — Surely, 
thou  hast  said  in  mine  hearing,  etc. — The 
restrictive  rendering  of  ')]X^"only"  [not  other- 
wise than]  (Ewald,  Hahn,  Dillmann,  etc.)  is  less 
suitable  here  than  the  affirmative:  "verily, 
surely"  (Rosenm.,  Hirzel,  Umbreit,  Delitzsch — 
in  general  most  of  the  moderns)  [and  to  E.  V.: 
"  To  say  anything  "Jl^^^  of  another  is  in  Hebrew 
equivalent  to  saying  it  not  secretly,  and  ho  as  to 
be  liable  to  misconstruction,  but  aloud  and  dis- 
tinctly."  Del.]. 

Vers.  9-11.  A  collection  of  several  objectiona- 
ble utterances  by  Job,  which  are  cited  in  part 
literally,  in  part  according  to  the  sense,  and 
with  the  refutation  of  which  all  that  follows  to 
the  close  of  these  discourses  is  occupied,  so  that 
these  three  verses  contain  to  some  extent  the 
common  theme  of  all  the  four  discourses  of  Elihu 
(comp.  below   on  ch.  xxxv.  1). — Pure   am  I, 

w^ithout  ("73  as  in  ch.  xxxi,  39)  wickedness. 
Comp.  ch.  ix.  21;  x.  7;  xvi.  17;  xxiii.  10; 
xxvii.  5  seq.  The  word  ^n  (lit.  tersus,  lotus, 
rubbed  down  smooth,  grown  fine)  used  here  in 
6  as  a  synonym  of  '^T,  was  not  used  by  Job,  and 
occurs  only  here.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
r\1N1JP,   "oppositions,    hostilities,    alienations" 


CHAPS.  XXXII— XXXIII. 


(comp.  Num.  xiv.  34)  in  ver.  10  a,  with  wliich 
are  to  be  compared  utterances  of  Job  like  those 
inch.  I.  13  seq. ;  xix.  11;  xxx.  21.  In  regard 
to  ver.  10  b  comp.  ch.  xiii.  24;  and  with  ver.  11 
comp.  ch.  xiii.  27,  which  passage  Elihu  quotes 
with  literal  accuracy,  doubtless  because  he  had 
taken  particular  offense  at  this  accusation  of 
God  as  Job's  jailer  and  most  crafty  watcher. 

7.  Continuation. — b.  Didactic  exhibition  of  the 
true  relation  of  sinful  men  to  God,  who  seeks  to 
turn  them  to  Himself  by  manifold  dispensations 
and  communications,  to  wit:  a.  By  the  voice  of 
conscience  in  dreams;  vers.  12-18.  —  Behold, 
in  this  thou  art  not  right,  I  answer  thee 
(not:  "  I  will  answer  thee,"  Hirzel  [E.  V.],  e^c). 

r\KI,  accus.  of  nearer  definition  to  r>pl}f~X7 
refers  to  the  citations  from  Job's  speeches  in 
vers,  9-11.  Respecting  Dl^f  in  the  signification 
"to  be  right,"  comp.  ch.  xi.  2.  The  second 
member  gives  the  reason  for  this  assertion  that 
Job,  with  his  suspicions  of  God's  greatness  and 
love,  was  in  the  wrong:  for  Uloah  is  greater 
than  mortal  man,  will  not  therefore  after  the 
manner  of  man,  play  the  part  of  a  hateful  or 
vindictive  persecutor  of  feeble  creatures.  [Del. 
explains:  "God  is  too  exalted  to  enter  into  a 
defence  of  Himself  against  such  vain-glorying 
interwoven  with  accusations  against  Him.  And 
for  this  reason  Elihu  will  enter  the  lists  for  God." 
But  a  deeper  and  more  satisfactory  meaning  is 
obtained  by  the  explanation  in  the  Commentary. 
God  is  too  great  to  be  actuated  by  the  petty  ma- 
lignities which  Job  had  imputed  to  Him,  Job 
was  wrong ;  God  is  just,  because  He  is  great." 
E.  V.  and  several  commentators  connect  '\}V^_ 
with  what  follows,  either  rendering  "'3  "that," 
or  "for"  with  Delitzscb's  explanation.  But  the 
Masoretic  accentuation  connects  it  with  what 
precedes,  and  this  harmonizes  better  with  the 
poetic  rhythm  of  the  verse,  and  with  the  weight 
of  thought  in  b. — E.] 

Ver.  13.  "Why  hast  thou  contended 
(non  instead  of  P?"],  Gesenius,  §  73  [^  72],  1) 
against  Him? — Such  striving  or  murmuring 
against  God  on  the  part  of  Job  had  found 
expression,  e.g.,  in  ch.  vii.  20;  x.  18;  xiii,  24 
Beq. — The  second  member  declares  the  ground 
or  contents  of  this  contention  against  God  to  be: 
that  [for]  He  gives  account  of  none  of 
His  doings;  lit.  "that  He  answers  not  (HJ;^ 
as  in  ch.  xxxii.  12;  xl.  2;  ix.  3)  all  His  words 
(or  matters,  V^J"!).  So  correctly  Gesenius, 
Umbreit.  Vaih.,  De'litzsch  [E.  V.,  Con.,  Words., 
Rod.,  Elz.,  Bar.,  Renan],  etc.,  while  the  expla- 
nations of  other  moderns  vary  widely,  e.  g.  "to 
all  his  (man's)  words  giveth  He  no  answer" 
(Hirzel,  Heiligst.,  Hahn)  [Carey  on  the  con- 
trary: "since  to  none  of  His  words  doth  man 
answer,"  i.  e.  man  is  deaf  when  God  speaks]; 
or  "that  all  his  words  to  Him  (suflBx  in  V"i5t 
referring  to  the  object)  He  easily  answers" 
(Stickel,  and  similarly  Welte);  or  "with  not  a 
single  word  does  He  answer"  (Schlottmann, 
Kamph.);  or  "that  He  makes  no  answer  to  all 
<Ay  words"  (Dillmann,  changing  V13T  to  ^''"}I3^), 

etc. 

Ver.  14.  For  (on  the  other  hand)  God  speak- 
eth  once  and  tv7ice  ;  i.  e.  many  times,  often, 


repeatedly;  comp.  ch.  xl.  5;  also  ch.  v.  19. 
Those  commentators  who  explain:  "in  many 
ways"  (Arnh.,  Hirz.,  Stick.,  Del.,  etc.)  make 
too  much  of  the  simple  form  of  enumeration 
used;  it  is  only  the  noT^v/iepug  of  the  divine  reve- 
lation, and  not  of  also  its  no?.vTf)67ro)r,  which  is 

here  spoken  of.  Respecting  the  3  before  DDX 
and  WP\\if,  comp.  besides  ch.  xl.  5,  also  Ps.  Ixii. 
12  [11].  The  subj.  of  the  follg.  m^V;  nS, 
which  the  Masoretic  accentuation  also  separates 
from  what  goes  before,  cannot  be  "God"  again, 
but  only  man,  used  indefinitely;  hence  "one 
perceiveth  it  not"  (11E/  with  a  neut.  suffix,  in 
the  general  meaning  of  observing,  perceiving, 
precisely  as  in  ch.  xxxv.  13).  This  short  claus^e 
stands  accordingly  in  a  limitative,  or  an  adver- 
sative relation  to  the  preceding  thought:  "07?/y 
man  observes  it  not,"  or  "yet  man,"  etc.  [E.  V.]. 
It  is  possible  also  to  render  it  as  a  circumstan- 
tial clause:  "without  any  one  observing  it" 
(Schlottm.).  ["God's  speech  is  unnoticed,  not 
recognized  by  the  senses,  understood  only  by 
the  susceptible  feelings."  Schlottmann.]  The 
explanation  of  this  verse  by  Schultens,  Ewald 
and  Vaihinger  is  peculiar  (comp,  the  Vulg.  and 
Pesh.):  "for  God  speaks  once — He  does  not 
glance  at  it  a  second  time"  [z.  e.  to  reconsider 
or  change  what  He  has  once  said].  Against 
this  is  (1)  the  Masoretic  accentuation;  (2)  the 
connection  with  ver.  15  seq.,  which  would  there 
stand  quite  torn  apart ;  (3)  the  fact  that  "Wd 
cannot  signify  revidere  (it  would  in  that  case 
have  to  be  changed  into  ^W). 

Ver.  15  seq.  now  mention — if  not  several 
kinds  (Hirzel,  Schlottm.,  Del.) — at  least  several 
examples  of  impressive  communications  from  God 
to  men,  or,  according  to  the  language  used  in 
ver.  14,  of  "speeches"  by  God.  The  first  in- 
stance mentioned  is  that  of  revelation  by  dreams, 
vers.  15-18,  which  Elihu  describes  in  language 
which  is  a  close,  and  in  part  a  literal  copy  of 
that  of  Eliphaz  (ch.  iv.  12-16).  The  statement 
prefixed  of  time  and  circumstance  (ver.  15)  is 
almost  literally  the  same  as  ch.  iv.  13  (see  on 
the  passage). 

Ver.  16.  Then  opens  He  the  ear  of  men  ; 
i.  e.  He  opens  their  understanding  for  His  con- 
fidential communications ;  the  same  phrase  in 
ch.  xxxvi.  10,  15;  1  Sam.  ix.  15,  and  often  — 
And  presses  a  seal  upon  their  instruction 

(TDlb,  an    alternate    form    of  ID^O,  found    only 

T  T  •' 

here);  i.  e.  He  impresses  upon  them  all  the 
more  deeply  the  earnest  admonitions  and  warn- 
ings which  He  administers  to  them  by  all  the 
various  experiences  of  life  (not  particularly  by 
painful  diseases  as  Ewald,  Hahn,  and  Dillmann 
explain,  on  the  strength  of  ver.  19  seq.);  He 
assures  them  by  such  dreams  and  visions  that 
they  are  to  recognize  such  serious  dispensations 
of  life  as  coming  from  Him,  as  rules  of  Ilia 
divine  agency  in  educating  men ;  comp.  ch. 
xxxvi.  10.  Note  how  according  to  this  Elihu 
regards  every  man  as  being  continually  subject 
to  the  operations  of  a  divine  discipline.  As  to 
Dnn  with  3  (different  from  D^n  with  nj.23,  ch. 
ix.  7),  comp.  ch.  xxxvii.  7.  Several  of  the 
ancient  versions  (LXX,,  Aqu.,  Pesh.)  and  Luther 


r58 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


translate  as  though  they  had  read  DJ|^n',  "He 
terrifies  them." 

Vers.  17,  18.  The  aim  of  this  nocturnal  open- 
ing of  the  ear,  and  sealing  of  the  divine  instruc- 
tion.—  In  order  to  Twithdraw  man  from 
transgression. — So  according  to  the  improved 
reading  Tyty'BD  (Hirz.,  Del.,  Dillm.,  etc.),  which 
is  sufficiently  attested  by  the  a-oGTpeil>at  av^pu- 
Tzov  arch  admiaq  avTov  [of  the  LXX.].  According 
to  the  common  reading  nty.J?I9>  ''*'^™  must  be 
regarded  as  subj.  of  Tpn/:  "that  he  may  put 
away  evil-doing."  In  respect  to  U'O^^O, /acinus, 
comp.  e.ff.  1  Sam.  xx.  19. — And  to  hide  pride 
from  man;  so  that  he  does  not  see  it,  and  so 
remains  preserved  from  it  (Hirzel,  etc.),  or: 
"so  that  he  becomes  unaccustomed  to  it"  (Del.). 
Concerning  the  syncopated  form  mil,  see  on  ch. 
sxii.  29.  It  is  unnecessary  to  amend  the  verb 
7^L)y  to  rivD',  "to  cause  to  disappear"  (Dill- 
mann),  or  to  nji'J],  "to  set  aside,  to  remove" 
(Bottcher). 

Ver.  18.  To  keep  back  his  soul  from  the 
grave,  i.  e.  to  preserve  him  from  death;  comp. 
Ps.  xvi.  10;  XXX.  4  [3],  10  [9].— And  his  life 
(irn  always  with  Elihu,  equivalent  to  D'^n  else- 
where ;  comp.  vers.  20,  22,  28)  from  perish- 
ing by  the  dart. — So  (with  Dillmaun)   [E.  V. 

"by  the  sword,"  but  Vnnf  rather  means  "mis- 
sile"] are  we  to  understand   the   phrase  "^3^ 

n7E/3,  which  occurs  only  here  and  ch.  xxxvi. 
12  (comp.  '^2}?  in  ch.  xxxiv.  20).  The  common 
explanation:  "to  precipitate  one's  self  into  [or 
upon]  the  dart"  [iruere  in  telum)  is  not  so  natu- 
ral, and  is  not  confirmed  by  the  expression 
PXWl  "yy^  in  ver.  28,  which,  although  of  simi- 
lar sound,  is  essentially  different  in  signification 
(against  Hirzel,  Delitzsch,  e^c).  ["Here  every- 
thing in  thought  and  expression  is  peculiar." 
Del.] 

8.  Continuation.  The  second  instance  of  the 
divine  visitation;  /3.  By  grievous  painful  dis- 
ease: vers.  19-22.  Ewald,  Hahn,  Dillmann, 
groundlessly  endeavor  to  treat  this  new  instance 
as  only  a  special  expansion  of  that  which  pre- 
cedes, because  that  already  in  ver.  16  reference 
is  made  to  severe  suffering  on  the  part  of  him 
to  whom  God  addresses  His  dream- revelation — 
an  inadmissible  forcing  of  the  meaning  of  IDD 
in  that  passage,  and  at  the  same  time  disproved 
by  the  1  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  verse, 
which  is  a  connective,  introducing  a  new 
thought,  not  an  explicative  particle,  referring 

back  to  IDO,  from    which    it  is   much    too    far 

T 

removed. — He  is  chastised  also  V7ith  pains 
on  his  bed.  ■while  the  strife  in  his  bones 
goes  on  continually. — So  according  to  the 
K'thibh  3""^=" strife,  contest"  [admirably  de- 
scribing disease  as  a  disturbance  of  the  equili- 
brium of  the  powers:  Del.],  and  in  accordance 
with  the  correct  rendering  of  |PX  (:=jr\''X, 
comp.  ch.  xxxii.  18)  as  predicate,  not  as  tlie 
attribute  of  n'T  ("and  by  the  continuil  con- 
flict,"  etc.),   for    the   latter   rendering    (Hirzel, 


Vaih.,  Del.)  is  forbidden  by  the  absence  of  the 
article  before  |nx.  Following  the  K'ri,  311. 
which  is  supported  by  the  ancient  versions,  and 
several  MSS.,  we  should  have  to  explain  (with 
Ewald,  Dillmann,  etc.):  "while  the  multitude 
of  his  limbs  is  still  vigorous  throughout"  (comp. 
ch.  xii.  19;  xx.  11).  [E.  V.:  "and  the  multi- 
tude of  his  bones  with  strong  (or  unceasing) 
pain."  So  Aben-Ezra,  Junius,  Tremellius,  Am. 
(Vulg. :  et  omnia  ossa  ejus  marcescere  Jacit),  but 
the  construction  of  inx  is  unnatural.] 

Ver.  20.  And  his  life  makes  bread  a 
loathing. — DHI  causative  Piel  of  the  verb  DHT. 
not  found  elsewhere  in  the  Hebrew,  which, 
according  to  the  Arabic,  signifies  "to  stink;" 
hence  to  cause  to  stink,  to  excite  loathing  (not 
as  intensive  of  Kal,  "to  be  disgusted,"  as  Ro- 
senm.,  Umbr.,  Vaih.,  Hahn,  etc.,  explain  it), 
rrn  again  is  here  not=craving,  hunger,  any 
more  than  the  parallel  K'fl]  in  b,  but  as  always- 
with  Elihu:  "life,  vital  energy."  Schlottmann 
truly  remarks :  "It  expresses  very  vividly  the 
thought  that  the  proper  vital  power,  the  proper 
■'4'vxVj  when  it  is  consumed  by  disease,  gives  one 
a  loathing  for  that  which  it  otherwise  likes  as 
being  a  necessary  condition  of  its  own  exist- 
ence." 

Ver.    21.     So  that    his   flesh   consumes 

away  [ID]  abbreviated  for  7D]'1,  comp.  Ew.  ^ 
233,  a)  that  it  cannot  be  seen,  lit.  "away 
from  seeing,"  or  "away  from  sightliness." 
Comp.  in  respect  to  'XT  (pausal  form  for  "X'l) 
1  Sam.  xvi.  12;  Is.  Hi.  14;  liii.  2.— And  his 
v^asted  limbs  are  scarcely  to  be  seen  any 
more  (or  "are  become  invisible").  So  follow- 
ing the  K'thibh  ''3K'1,  which  according  to  the 
Hebrew  root,  HS^,  "to  be  bare,"  expresses 
the  notion  of  bareness,  meagreness  (scarcely  as 
Gesen.,  Hirz.,  Del.,  etc.  think,  that  of  rottenness, 
putrefaction,  after  the  Aram.),  and  in  connec- 
tion with  the  genitive  Vr>i?0^J7  produces  the  col- 
lective notion:  "the  wasting  of  his  members^= 
his  wasted  members,"  with  which  the  plur.  pre- 
dicate, 1XT  X7,  agree  perfectly  well  (comp.  the 
similar  constructions  with  2^  or  TDDO  above, 
ch.  xxxii.  7;  xv.  20;  xxi.  21,  and  often).  The 
K'ri  ^2p],  "and  are  made  bare,"  owes  its  ori- 
gin to  the  attention  being  fixed  on  this  incor- 
rectly understood  plural  1XT.  ["After  iD]  and 
before  ^I^Pii^l  the  Perf.  witH  1  is  out  of  place." 
Dillm.]  In  respect  to  the  pointing  ^X^l,  with 
Dagh.  in  X,  comp.  Delitzsch  on  the  passage, 
and  Ewald,  g  21,  e.  [Green,  §  121,  1,  who, 
however,  inclines  to  regard  it  as  Mappik.  In 
either  case  its  function  is  to  indicate  the  guttu- 
ral quality  of  X,  here  to  be  carefully  observed, 
to  give  strength  to  the  description. — E.] 

Ver  22.  On  a  comp.  ver.  18. — And  his  life 
to  the  angels  of  death,  lit.  "the  slayers,  or 
destroyers"  (D'jTpp),  by  which  are  intended 
not  only  mortal  pains  (Rosenm.,  Schlottmann) 
[Barnes,  Carey],  but,  according  to  Ps.  Ixxviii. 
49;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  16;  1  Chron.  xxi.  15,  angelic 
powers    sent   from    God,    and    commissioned    to 


CHAPS.  XXXII— XXXIII. 


559 


destroy  men.  [The  former  explanation  "does 
not  commend  itself,  because  the  Eliliu  section 
has  a  strong  angelological  coloring  in  common 
with  the  book  of  Job."  Del.] 

9.  Continuation.  The  third  instance  of  the 
divine  visitation :  y.  By  sending  a  mediating 
angel  as  a  deliverer  out  of  distress,  and  so  hy  a 
wonderful  removal  of  the  painful  disease  and 
danger   of  death    fust   described:    vers.  23-28. — 

If  then  there  is  for  him  [V7j^,  "for,"  better 
than    "with   him"]    an   angel,   a    mediator 

(V^7D  here  otherwise  than  in  ch.  xvi.  20,  where 
it  was  used  in  malem  partem),  one  of  thou- 
sands, to  declare  to  man  his  duty  (lit. 
"his  uprightness,  his  right  way,"  comp.  Prov. 
xiv.  2). — Oecolampad.,  Schult.,  Schnurr.,  Bouil., 
Eichh.,    Rosenm.,   Welte,    v.   Hofmann    [Noyes, 

Barnes,  Carey]  understand  by  the  ]"'7P  '^^7?  a 
human  interpreter  of  the  will  of  God,  a  prophet, 
or  teacher  of  true  wisdom,  such  as  Job  had 
before  himself  in  Elihu.  But  the  ancient  refer- 
ence to  an  angel  (comp.  ch.  iv.  18)  to  which  the 
majority  of  moderns  also  adhere,  is  supported 
by  the  following  considerations.  (1)  The  men- 
tion, just  before,  of  the  angel  of  death,  to  which 
manifestly  there  is  now  about  to  be  introduced 

a  contrast.     (2)  The   contrast  with   DIX;  in  c, 

^     '  _  TT  :  ' 

as  well  as  the  ofiQce   of  delivering  from   death, 

with  which,  according  to  ver.  23,  the  ^X/O  is 
invested.  (3)  His  being  called  "one  of  a  thou- 
sand," which  would  scarcely  characterize  him 
as  a  man  of  an  extraordinary  sort,  such  as  can 
scarcely  be  met  with  as  one  among  a  thousand, 
but  rather  as  belonging  to  the  innumerable  hosts 
of  heaven — a  description,  accordingly,  which  is 
to  be  understood  not  according  to  Eccles.  vii. 
28,  but  according  to  Dan.  vii.  10;  Ps.  Ixviii.  18 
[17].  The  latter  designation,  moreover,  makes 
it  impossible  to  regard  this  mediating  or  inter- 
preting angel  (comp.  Gen.  xlii.  23;  Is.  xliii.  27; 
2  Chron.  xxxii.  31)  as  an  angel  of  peculiarly 
high  rank,  as  e.  g.  the  Mal'ak-Jehovah  of  the 
Pentateuch,  or  as  the  "Angel  of  the  Presence," 
or  the  Metathron  of  the  later  Jewish  literature, 
as  Schlottmann  and  Del.  [Lee,  Wordsw.,  Canon 
Cook  in   Smith's  Bib.  Die.]  think;   for  the  force 

of  the  clause  '^/^^"^JO  *inx  is  simply  to  put  this 
one  messenger  of  God  on  an  equality  with  many 
others,  whom  God  might  in  like  manner  entrust 
with  such  a  commission,  not  to  exalt  him  above 
them.  The  Messianic  meaning,  which  many 
expositors  attribute  to  the  verse  (even  among 
those  who  understand  the  ''D  '■D  of  a  human 
messenger  of  God,  e.  g.  Schultens,  Velthusen,  J. 
D.  Michaelis,  also  J.  Pye  Smith,  Script.  Testimony 
to  (he  Messiah.  I.  307,  the  last  indeed  only  tenta- 
tively, and  without  definitely  deciding  the  ques- 
tion), is  ai,cordingly  in  any  case  very  indirect 
an  I  general.  Moreover  a  special  Christological 
imticinium  of  the  kind  which  the  majority  of  the 
older  exegetes  maintained  (comp.  especially  J. 
D.  Michaelis:  De  angelo  interprete,  Hal.  1707), 
would  scarcely  seem  appropriate  in  the  mouth 
of  an  extra-Israelitish  sage  of  the  patriarchal 
era,  any  more  than  that  celebrated  verse  of  the 
CEdipus  Coloneus  of  Sophocles: 


"One  Boul,  in  my  opinion,  for  ten  thousand  will  sufTico 
To  malte  atonement,  if  with  kindly  feelings  it  draws  nigb," 

could  be  understood  as  Messianic  otherwise  than 
very  remotely  (comp.  Luthardt,  Apolog.  Vortrdge 
ii.  224), 

["In  the  extra-Israelitish  world  a  far  more 
developed  doctrine  of  angels  and  demons  is 
everywhere  found  than  in  Israel,  which  is  to  be 
understood  not  only  subjectively,  but  also  ohjec- 
tively  ;  and  within  the  patriarchal  history  after 

Gen.  xvi.  that  (DTlbx)  mn"'  "]N7D  appears,  who 
is  instrumental  in  effecting  the  progress  of  the 
history  of  redemption,  and  has  so  much  the 
appearance  of  the  God  of  revelation,  that  lie 
even  calls  Himself  God,  and  is  called  God.  He 
it  is  whom  Jacob  means,  when  (Gen.  xiviii.  15 
seq.),  blessing  Joseph,  he  distinguishes  God  the 
Invisible,   God    the   Shepherd,   i.  e.  Leader  and 

Ruler,  and  "the  Angel  who  delivered  (7Wn) 
me  from  all  evil ;"  it  is  the  Angel  who,  accord- 
ing to  Ps.  xxxiv.  8,  encampeth  round  about 
them  that  fear  God,  and  delivereth  them;  "the 
Angel  of  the  Presence,"  whom  Isaiah  in  the 
Thephilla,  ch.  Ixiii.  7  seq.,  places  beside  Jehovah 
and  His  Holy  Spirit  as  a  third  hypostasis.  Taking 
up  this  perception,  Elibu  demands  for  the  deli- 
verance of  man  from  the  death  which  he  has 
incurred  by  his  sins,  a  superhuman  angelic  me- 
diator. The  "Angel  of  Jehovah"  of  primeval 
history  is  the  oldest  prefigurement  in  the  history 
of  redemption  of  the  future  incarnation,  without 
which  the  Old  Testament  history  would  be  a 
confused  quodlibet  of  premises  and  radii,  without 
a  conclusion  and  a  centre  ;  and  the  angelic  form 
is  accordingly  the  oldest  form  which  tlie  hope 
of  a  deliverer  assumes,  and  to  which  it  recurs, 
in  conformity  to  the  law  of  the  circular  connec- 
tion between  the  beginning  and  the  end,  in  Mai. 
iii.  1."  Delitzsch. — See  further  Remarks  on 
ver.  24.] 

Ver.  24  is  not  the  apodosis  to  the  preceding 
verse  (Hirzel,  Hahn,  Delitzsch,  Kamphausen) 
[E.  v..  Con.,  Noyes,  Renan,  Rodwell],  for  God's 
commission  to  the  angel:  "Deliver  him,"  etc. — 
belongs  as  yet  to  the  preliminary  conditious  of 
the  deliverance,  which  is  first  described  in  ver. 
25.  The  conditional  particle  of  the  preeeding 
verse  accordingly  extends  its  influence  over  the 
present  verse :  and  (if)  He  hath  mercy  on 
him,  and  saith,  etc. — This  divine  commission 
presupposes  that  the  sorely  afflicted  one  has 
truly  repented,  and  laid  to  heart  the  salutary 
teachings  of  the  angel.  It  is  unnecessary  with 
Schlottmann  to  take  the  angel  as  the  subject  of 
this  brief  clause,  for  the  reason  that  the  exer- 
cise of  mercy  cannot  be  the  function  of  an  angel. 
— Deliver  him  from  going  down  into  the 
pit  (comp.  ver.  18  a),  I  have  found  a  ran- 
som, viz.  for  him.  ["One  is  here  reminded  of 
Heb.  ix.  12,  atuviav  Tivrpuaiv  ei'pd/^tevor."  Del.] 
By  this  is  meant  the  intercession  of  the  media- 
ting angel,  who  had  preached  repentance,  not 
in  vain,  to  the  sick  one,  and  had  ihorefor'! 
appeared  before  God,  interceding  in  his  behalf. 
Instead  of  ^"^^^."13  (from  a  root  i^'^2,  liberare, 
which  is  not  elsewhere  found,  and  which  is 
hardly  intelligible),  it  would  seem  natural  to 
read   either  IHli)  or  IPIXIS    (from    «n3=m3); 


&60 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


some  MSS.  show  ^nj,p3,  solve  eum,  which,  how- 
ever, would  be  suitable  only  in  case  the  angel 
addressed  were  the  angel  of  death.  [""133 
according  to  its  primary  notion  is  not  a  covering 
=::making  good,  more  readily  a  covering=can- 
celling  (from  133,  Talmud,  to  wipe  out,  away), 
but,  as  the  usual  combination  with  7^  shows, 
a  covering  of  sin  and  guilt  before  wrath,  pun- 
ishment, or  execution  on  account  of  guilt,  and 
in  this  sense  IvTpnv,  a  means  of  getting  free, 
ransom-money.  The  connection  is  satisfied  if 
the  repentance  of  the  chastened  one  (thus  e.  g. 
also  von  Hofm.)  is  understood  by  this  ransom, 
or  better,  his  affliction,  inasmuch  as  it  has 
brought  him  to  repentance.  But  wherefore 
should  the  mediatorship  of  the  angel  be  excluded 

from  the  notion  of  the  "^33?  Just  this  mediator- 
ship  is  meant,  inasmuch  as  it  puts  to  right  him 
who  by  his  sins  had  worked  death,  i.  e.  places 
him  in  a  condition  in  which  no  further  hindrance 
stands  in  the  way  of  the  divine  pardon.  If  we 
connect  the  mediating  angel,  like  the  angel  of 
Jehovah  of  the  primeval  history  with  God  Him- 
self, as  then  the  logos  of  this  mediating  angel  to 
man  can  be  God's  own  logos  communicated  by 

him,  and  he  therefore  as  ]"70,  God's  speaker 
(if  we  consider  Elihu's  discourse  in  the  light  of 
the  New  Testament),  can  be  the  divine  Logos 
himself,  we  shall  here  readily  recognize  a  pas- 
sage of  the  mystery  which  is  unveiled  in  the 
New  Testainent :  "God  was  in  Christ,  and  re- 
conciled the  world  unto  Himself."  A  presage 
of  this  mystery,  flashing  through  the  darkness, 
we  have  already  read  in  ch.  xvii.  3  (comp.  ch. 
xvi.  21;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  in  order  to  see 
how  this  anticipation  is  kindled  by  the  thought 
of  the  opposite,  ch.  ix.  33).  The  presage  which 
meets  us  here  is  like  another  in  Ps.  cvii. — a 
Psalm  which  has  many  points  of  coincidence  \ 
with  the  book  of  Job — where  in  ver.  20  we  find: 
♦  He  sent  His  word,  and  healed  them.'  At  ar.y 
rate  Elihu  expresses  it  as  a  postulate,  that  the 
deliverance  of  man  can  be  efi'ected  only  by  a  su- 
perhuman being,  as  it  is  in  reality  accomplished 
by  the  man  who  is  at  the  same  time,  and  from  all 
eternity  the  Lord  of  the  angels  of  light."  De- 
litzsch. 

In  addition  to  the  suggestions  which  may  be 
found  in  the  two  extracts  from  Delitzsch,  given 

above  in  favor  of  explaining  the  ^wO  !JX7D  of 
this  passage  in   the  higher  sense  of  the  0.  T. 

mri"'  wI3,  the  following  considerations  may  be 
urged: 

1.  To  understand  the  words  of  an  ordinary 
angel  furnishes  no  adequate  explanation  of  the 
description  here  given  of  him.  Especially  is  it 
difficult  to  understand  on  this  theory  why  he 
should  be  spoken  of  as  "  one  out  of  a  thousand." 
Is  it  (a)  simply  as  a  rhetorical  amplification  of 
the  word  "angel" — "one  of  the  innumerable 
hosts  ofheaven?"  (Renan).  But  this  would  be 
here  a  meaningless  rhetorical  flourish.  What 
has  his  being  one  of  a  countless  angelic  com- 
pany to  do  with  the  function  here  assigned  to 
him?  Is  it  (6)  as  a  more  precise  definition  of 
the  Maiakah,  to  indicate  that  he  is  an  angelic,  or 


celestial  messenger?  (Dillmann).  But  that 
would  have  been  expressed  in  more  definite  lan- 
guage. Is  it  (c)  restrictive — ^'but  one  among  a 
thousand?"  (Rodwell).  Apart  from  the  obscu- 
rity of  the  language  to  express  such  a  thought, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  the  force  of  such  a  restric- 
tion. Not  to  indicate  any  unwillingness  on  the 
part  of  the  angels  in  general,  for  that  would  be 
nothing  to  the  purpose.  It  could  only  serve  to 
magnify  God's  willingness  to  be  gracious — let 
but  one  mediator  appear,  and  God  will  have 
mercy.  But  to  this  there  are  several  decisive 
objections.  (1)  It  is  against  the  proper  view 
of  the  connection,  according  to  which  ver.  24  is 
not  the  consequent,  but  a  part  of  the  conditional 
antecedent.  (2)  It  seems  to  be  founded  on  the 
opinion  thai  m^litz  means  an  "intercessor"  (so 
Rodwell — "interceding  angel"),  whereas  he  is 
God's  representative,  not  man's.  (3)  It  lies 
outside  the  scope  of  the  passage.  The  sufferer 
has  in  the  verses  immediately  preceding  been 
brought  to  the  verge  of  the  grave.  But  all  at 
once  a  glorious  possibility  presents  itself — a  Mes- 
senger from  God,  to  show  the  sufl'erer  the  way 
of  right,  mercifully  commissioned  to  deliver 
him,  andlo!  he  is  rescued,  his  youth  renewed, 
and  he  beholds  the  face  of  God  in  joy!  To  in- 
terject the  thought  that  such  a  messenger  would 
be  only  one  of  a  thousand  like  himself,  would  be 
confusing  and  weakening.  The  same  objection 
would  apply  still  more  forcibly  if  we  should  take 
it  to  mean  (c?)  any  one  of  a  thousand. 

But  2:  understood  of  a  ^X/O  of  high  rank, 
the  words  are  significant.  They  indicate  dig- 
nity, superiority.*  He  is  One  out  of,  or  above 
(JO  combining  its  local  and  comparative  force)  a 
thousand,  or  thousands,  or  the  thousand.  Good 
explains:  "one  of  the  supreme  chyliad,  the  pre- 
eminent thousand  that  shine  at  the  top  of  the 
empyreal  hierarchy,  possessed  of  transcendent 
and  exclusive  powers,  and  confined  to  functions 
of  the  highest  importance."     Granting  that  this 

explanation  of  ^ /X  is  problematical,  it  may  still 
be  said  that  whether  we  take  it  indefinitely  for 
"a  thousand"  or  collectively  for  "thousands," 
i.  e.  all  the  angels,  the  phrase — "one  out  of  a 
thousand" — most  naturally  sugtjests  rat'eno=s, 
pre-eminence.  Ami  this  view  of  ii  ac  ords  with 
the  rest  of  the  description. 

(1)  The  term  V'7D,  in  such  a  connection, 
would  naturally  convey  the  idea  of  dignity.  He 
is  an  ambassador,  intermincius  (see  2  Chron. 
xxxii.  31),  an  angelic  envoy  endowed  with  an 
extraordinary  comujission— certainly  not  here, 
as  the  context  shows,  the  mt^re  mouthpiece  of 
another  (as  in  Gen.  xlii.  23). 

(2)  His  function — "  to  show  to  man  the  right 
way"  (iiis  rightness,  his  true  life) — suggests  at 
once  the  Prophkt  foretold  by  Moses  (Deut.  xviii. 
15  seq.),  one  wljo  should  interpret — declare — 
more  clearly  than  mere  man  could  the  will  of 
God  by  which  man  is  to  be  saved. 

(3)  His  remedial  commission,  it  will  be  seen, 
is  extraordinary:  (a)  In  its  origin,  in  the  spe- 
cial, solemn,  formal  manner  in  which  he  is  in- 
vested with  it.     (6)  In  its  nature — involving  as 


*  This  is  tlie  meaning  of  the  clause  assumed  by  the  com- 
mentators who  snppose  a  tinman  messenger  to  ho  referred 
to  ;  e.  g.  RosenmiilkT:  facit  u<i  dUjnilatem  <jua  commer.dandam. 


CHAPS.  XXXII— XXXIII. 


5GI 


it  does  deliverance  from  the  pit,  and  the  com- 
pletion of  man's  ransom — ^£53 — a  word  used 
ag.iin  by  Elihu  (ch.  xxxvi.  18)  in  the  most 
solemn  connection  with  reference  to  deliverance 
from  the  most  terrible  of  destinies  (comp.  also 
Ps.  xlix.  8,  and  the  use  of  the  cognates  "^33, 
D'lpJD,  and  ^^£33,  as  significant  of  the  expia- 
tion of  sin) :  (c)  In  its  results — especially  as  em- 
bracing reconciliation  with  God  (ver.  26). 

3.  Add  that  the  idea  of  Divine  Grace,  as  de- 
veloped so  remarkably  in  vers.  26-27,  comes  into 
more  fitting  connection  with  such  an  interpre- 
tation of  the  passage  as  involves  an  evangelic  an- 
ticipation of  the  revelation  of  grace  in  Christ, 
the  great  jieaiTT]^. 

4.  The  passage  is  not  indeed  to  be  constrained 
into  a  complete  exposition  of  Christ's  mediato- 
rial office.  Here,  as  elsewhere  in  our  book,  the 
truth  is  fragmentary,  obscure,  a  prophetic  hint, 
little  more  than  the  yearning  after  a  possibility. 
This  consideration  however  would  all  the  more 
Beem  to  put  it  in  the  category  of  such  passages 
as  ch.  xiv.  14  seq. ;  xvii.  3;  xix.  2")  seq.  It  id  a 
hypothesis,  hanging  on  an//" — tJ^^'DX — but  it  is  an 
7/",  the  answer  to  which  is  the  ^wien  of  the  Gospel. 

If,  as  shown  above,  the  language  itself 
points  in  the  highest  direction  liere  indicated, 
we  are  still  further  justified  in  taking  that 
direction  by  the  position  which  must  be  ac- 
corded to  Elihu' s  discourses  in  the  book.  As- 
suming here  their  genuineness,  they  must  be  re- 
garded as  a  part  of  the  solution  of  the  problem. 
So  regarded,  it  would  seem  strange  if  they  did 
not*  once  show  us  those  heights  of  aspiration 
and  faith,  of  which  Job's  words  have  already 
given  us  such  wonderful  glimpses.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  should  not  seem  to  us  strange  that  the 
young  sage,  the  precursor  of  Jehovah,  in  tlie  dis- 
entanglement of  the  book's  mystery,  whose  espe- 
cial mission  in  the  book  it  is  to  throw  the  light  of 
inspired  thought  on  the  mystery,  should  reflect 
upon  it  some  rays  from  themediatorialcROSS.E.]. 

Ver.  25.  Apodosis  to  ver.  23  seq.:  (then)  hia 
flesh  swells  •with  the  vigor  of  youth.  In 
respect  to  the  Perf.  quadril.  K'p^'?  "to  be  over- 
juicy,  to  swell,"  comp.  Evvald,  g  131,  g  [Green, 
1 180,  a].  "I^j  [peculiar  to  the  Elihu  section] 
here  and  in  ch.  xxxvi.  14,  instead  of  the  custo- 
mary D'^I^J.  The  to  before  this  word  is  used 
not  comparatively,  but  causally,  as  the  parallel 
thought  in  b  shows. 

Ver.  26.  If  he  prayeth  to  Ziloah,  He  ac- 
cepteth  him  graciously  (comp.  ch.  xxii. 
27),  and  causeth  him  to  behold  His  face 
"With  rejoicing,  or:  "so  that  he  sees  His 
face  with  rejoicing:"  bothrenderinss  are  equally 
possible,  according  as  we  render  XT1  as  imper. 
Kal,  or  Iliph.  The  rendering  of  Umbreit  and 
Ewald,  however,  is  inappropriate:  "and  He 
cause  his  face  to  look  upon  joy,"  because  3  HXI 
already  signifies  of  itself,  "to  see  joy"  (see  ver. 
28  b). — And  He  gives  back  again  to  man 
his  righteousness,  which  he  bad  lost;  not 
"requites  to  man  his  uprightness,"  as  Delitzsch 
(after  Luther)  translates,  for  ver  27  b  does  not 
agree  with  this.  Moreover  to  express  this  idea 
of  the  recompense  of  upr-ght  actions,  we  should 
30 


rather  expect  to  find  ir\pl^3.  The  idea  of  a 
righteousness  in  the  rescued  sinner,  restored  to 
him  by  God  as  a  free  gift,  is  peculiar  to  Elihu. 
It  at  least  retires  quite  into  the  background  in 
the  descriptions,  otherwise  quite  similar,  of  the 
three  friends,  such  as  ch.  v.  19  seq.  ;  viii.  21 ; 
xi.  15  seq.;  xxii.  23  seq.,  and  thus  character- 
izes Elihu's  religious  and  ethical  views  as  more 
free  from  legal  narrowness  and  externality. 

Ver.  27.  He  singeth  to  man,  and  saith. 
Tii",  abbreviated  Imperf.  from  "llty^TU/  (comp. 
ch.  xxxvi.  24).  D'iyjN~7j^,  lit.  "to  men,  ad- 
dressed to  them;"  comp.  Prov.  xxv.  20.  As  to 
the  thought,  however,  comp.  Ps.  xxii.  23  [22] 
seq. ;  li.  14,  and  often.  The  song  of  thanks- 
giving chanted  by  the  redeemed  and  justified 
one  [a  "psalm  in  nuce,"  Del.]  now  begins,  and 
extends  to  the  end  of  the  following  verse. — 
Still  it  w^as  not  recompensed  to  me  ;  lit. 
"it  was  not  made  equal  to  me,"  no7i  aequatiim  est 
mihi  (mt!?,  neuter  or  impersonal)  [E.  V. :  "  and 
it  profited  me  not"  (Syr.,  Targ.)  is  a  legitimate 
rendering  of  the  Heb.,  but  is  far  less  appropri- 
ate to  the  connection.  It  misses  entirely  the 
recognition  oi grace,  in  that  he  had  not  received 
the  just  recompense  of  his  sins.  The  rendering 
of  tlie  first  part  of  the  verse  is  also  more  forced, 
and  less  satisfactory,  when  Itt''  is  rendered : 
"Helooketh,"  and  ^pN'):  "and  if  any  say:" 
against  which  may  Btill  further  be  urged  the 
Vav.  consec.  here,  and  the  Perf.  HIS,  and  the 
K'thibh  'p/ilJ  in28a.— E.]. 

Ver.  28.  He  hath  redeemed  my  soul  (read 
with  the  K'thibh  ''2/£)J,  for  the  eucharistic  dis- 
course of  the  redeemed  one  is  still  continued 
here),  from  going  down  into  the  pit  (comp. 
ver.  18),  and  my  life  shall  enjoy  seeing 
the  light;  i.  e.  the  light  of  this  world  (John 
xi.  9),  which,  as  the  upper  world,  stands  here  in 
contrast  with  the  gloomy  "grave,"  and  so  also 
in  ver,  80;  comp.  ch.  iii.  16,  20.  Delitzsch, 
against  the  context,  and  with  an  interpolation 
of  thought:  "in  the  light  of  the  divine  (counte- 
nance, in  the  gracious  presence  of  God." 

10.  Conclusion :  first  of  all  (vers.  29,  30)  of 
the  second  chief  division — teaching  the  gracious 
and  righteous  dispensations  of  God  in  educating 
His  human  children  ;  and  then  (vers.  31-33)  of 
the  whole  discourse — the  last  sentence  being  a 
summons  to  Job  to  hear  attentively  the  dis- 
courses of  instruction  which  follow. — Behold, 
all  this  God  does — referring  back  to  all  of 
which  he  has  spoken  from  ver.  14  on,  with  a 
recurrence  in  particular  of  the  idea  of  repeated- 
ness  found  also  in  that  passage,  for  this  is  what 
is  expressed  there  by  nnXD  and  DTIti^J,  here 

by  t!'7tJ'  D'^i'S  bis  terque — an  expression  which 
on  account  of  the  lack  of  the  1  between  the  two 
adverbs  of  time,  the  ancient  versions  misunder- 
stood, and  so  read  as  though  it  were  V^'d  D'rD>'3 

'  °      _  T  •    T : 

["three  times;"  E.  V.  more  indefinitely  "often- 
times"]. 

Ver.  30.  On  a  comp.  ver.  18;  on  b,  ver.  28, 
and  Ps.  Ivi.  14  [13].  ["Hna  here  for  the  fifth 
time  in  this  speech,    without  being   anywhere 


5G2 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


interchanged  with  VlNp/  or  another  synonym, 
which  is  remarkable."  Del.]  "^IS^^,  syncopated 
form  of  the  Inf.  Niphal,  instead  of  I'lXn'?  [Gr., 
g  159,  2],  "that  he  may  be  lighted,  or  enlight- 
ened with  th^  light  of  life"  (in  contrast  with 
the  darku3ss  of  death,  with  which  he  had  already 
been  overshadowed. 

Ver.  31.  Attend,  O  Job,  and  hearken  to 
me. — This  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  a  sum- 
mons to  ponder  quietly  on  what  he  had  heard 
(Del.),  but  rather  to  listen  to  wliat  he  had  fur- 
ther to  communicate,  as  b  incontrovertibly 
proves. 

Ver.  32.  If  (however)  thou  hast  words, 
then  reply  to  me  (comp.  ver.  5) ;  speak,  for 
I  desire  thy  justification,  i.  e.  not  "that 
thou  shouldst  justify  thyself"  (Hirzel),  but  that 
thou  mayest  stand  vindicated,  I  wish  to  see  thee 
declared  righteous  (comp.  ch.  xxxii.  2,  with  ch. 
xxxiii.  26  c).  Here  also  again  the  normal  evan- 
gelical notion  of  justification,  in  contrast  with 
all  false  self-justification,  is  expressed  by  Elihu. 

Ver.  33.  If  not  (|;X  DK,  to  wit  j'bo,  comp. 
Gen.  XXX.  1),  then  do  thou  hear  me.  nnx 
emphatic:  "thou  on  thy  part." — Be  silent  (as 
in  ver.  31  b),  and  I  v/^ill  teach  thee  wisdom. 
nODn  here  instead  of  the  ^1  several  times  used 

T  :   T  ^  "■* 

in  the  introduction  (comp.  ch.  xxxii.  6  b,  10,  17; 
xxxiii. 3).  'ylVi,  "to  teach,"  as  in  ch.  xv.  5 

DOCTRINAL  AND  ETHICAL. 
1.  Partly  on  the  ground  of  Elihu's  circum- 
stantial self-introduction  in  ch.  xxxii.  C-xxxiii. 
7,  partly  on  the  ground  of  the  first  discourse  of 
admonition  and  instruction  which  immediately 
follows,  very  unfavorable  judgments  have  from 
ancient  times  down  to  our  own  been  delivered 
in  respect  to  the  person  and  the  religious  and 
ethical  stand-point  of  this  speaker.  Following 
the  example  of  Jerome,*  Gregory  the  Great,  at 
the  close  of  bis  exposition  of  the  first  discourse, 
•describes  Elihu  as  an  arrogans,  who  dum  vera  ac 
■inystica  loquitur,  subito  per  tumorem  cordis  quiedam 
mania  ac  siiperba  permiscet.  The  Venerable  Bede 
even  identifies  him  with  the  false  prophet  [ario- 
■ius)  Balaam, -j-  following  perhaps  the  guidance 
of  the  Rabbis,  for  in  the  Talmud  and  Midrash 
the  same  worthless  conceit  recurs  (as  in  like 
manner  it  seems  to  be  an  anonymous  Jewish 
writer,  who  recently  [in  Bernstein's  Analecten, 
Vol.  III.,  under  the  title,  Der  Satan  ah  Irrgeist 
und  £ngel  des  Lichls']  has  made  the  attempt  to 
represent  Elihu  as  Satan  in  disguise).  Olympi- 
odorus  judges  him  more  favorably,  but  is  still 
of  opinion  that  he  has  not  done  full  justice  to 
Job,  the  truly  pious  and  holy  man,  and  is  for 
that  same  reason  at  last  neither  praised  nor 
blamed  by  God  {Catena  in  Job,  ed.  Loud.  p.  484). 

*  Or  rather  of  tlie  I'scndo-Jerome,  i.  e.  of  that  preshj'fer, 
rhilippns,  whose  Expofilio  inierlinearia  on  our  liook,  f.mnd 
anioiig  the  works  of  Jeromp,  was  afterwards  revised  b.v  tlio 
Venerable  Bede  (coinp.  0pp.  Hieroni/mi,  ed,  Vallars,  Tom. 
II L,  Append,  p.  f95seq.). 

t  Sunt  alii  extra  ecclesiani,  qui  Christo  ejiisqn')  ec^leeise 
similiter  artversantur,  quorum  wiiaginem  pra'tulit  Balaam 
i!lH  ariolns,  «jui  -et  Eliiu  sirut  patruai  traditio  habet,  qui 
contra  ipsum  >.arictum  .loh  mul'a  improbe  et  injnriose  locn- 
fun  est,  in  tantuni  ut  e  iam  riispli-eri't  incoiiriritia  ejus  et 
in  iscipLiuoia  kiquac.tas  (Bdse  Opp.  td.  Basil.  111.,  c.  Cu2). 


Most  of  the  Jesuit  commentators  in  modern 
times  regard  Elihu  as  an  empty,  pufi'ed-up 
boaster,  whom  God  rightly  ignores,  and  whose 
hatred  against  Job  is  to  be  explained  from  his 
near  relationship  to  him,  his  Nahorite  descent; 
so  e.g.  Escobai  [Comment,  in  Biblia,  Tom.  IV.,  p. 
94,  125) ;  while  other  Roman  Catholic  exegetes, 
e.  g.  the  Capuchin  Volducius  {Comment.  Tom.  II., 
p.  445  seq.)  adjudge  him  to  be  in  the  right,  so 
ftir  as  all  that  is  essential  is  concerned. — Among 
Protestant  commentators  Luther,  so  far  as  may 
be  gathered  from  various  scattered  intimations, 
partly  from  his  translation  of  chs.  xxxii-xsxvii., 
partly  from  his  Introduction  to  the  book  of  Job, 
and  other  expressions  on  the  subject,  seems  to 
have  put  Elihu's  discourses,  as  respects  (heir 
theological  value  and  contents,  on  the  same 
plane  with  those  of  the  three  friends.  Vict. 
Strigel  renders  a  decidedly  unfavorable  verdict 
upon  them,  Elihu  being  to  him  an  exemplum  am- 
bitiosi  oratoris,  qui  plenus  sit  ostentalione  et  auda- 
cia  insinuata  in  mente.  Herder  calls  Elihu's 
speech,  in  comparison  with  the  majestic  thun- 
der-speech of  the  Creator,  "the  weak,  ram- 
bling talk  of  a  boy,"  and  says:  "Elihu,  a 
young  prophet,  intemperate,  bold,  alone  wise, 
draws  fine  pictures,  without  end  or  aim ; 
hence  no  one  answers  him,  and  he  stands 
there  as  a  mere  shadow "  ( Vom  Geist  der 
Ebr.  Pocsie,  p.  101,  142).  Umbreit's  language  is 
similar,  only  yet  stronger.  Elihu's  appearance 
he  describes  as  "  the  uncalled-for  stumbling  in 
of  a  conceited  young  philosopher  into  the  con- 
flict that  is  already  properly  ended,"  and  "the 
silent  contempt  with  which  he  is  allowed  to 
speak  is  the  merited  reward  of  a  babbler" 
{Komment.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  XXV  seq.).  In  like  man- 
ner Wohlfarth,  who  says  that  Elihu  is  "a  vain- 
glorious conceited  boaster,  as  it  were  a  spiritual 
Goliath!"  M.  Sachs  {Stud.  u.  Kritiken,  1834,  IV. 
p.  416  seq.),  and  A.  Hahn,  who  {Komnient.  p.  IS) 
calls  him  "a  most  conceited  and  arrogant  young 
man,  who  with  all  his  undeniable  scientific 
knowledge  is  boastful  and  officious"  [Noyes,  who 
calls  him  "forward"],  and  this  in  accordance 
with  the  purpose  of  the  poet,  who  represents  him 
as  such  a  character  intentionally.  The  judgment 
of  those  who  oppose  the  genuineness  of  the  Eli- 
hu-episode  is  naturally  to  some  extent  unfavora- 
ble. See  a  number  of  such  expressions  collected 
together  out  of  de  Wette's  Introduction,  in  Um- 
breit  (Z.  c.) ;  also  Eichhorn  in  Schlottinann,  p. 
54;  V.  Hofmann  in  Delitzsch  (II.,  240);  and 
very  recently  Dillmann's  closing  opinion  in  re- 
spect to  Elihu's  self-introduction  (p.  207):  "The 
impression  which  this  long  introductory  dis- 
course makes  on  the  reader  is  not  favorable; 
Elihu's  self-praise,  and  his  verbose  vaunting  of 
that  which  he  is  about  to  do,  is  somewhat  un- 
seemly," etc.  So  also  what  he  says  of  the  first 
discourse  (p.  304) — that  Elihu's  representation 
of  the  sufi'ering  of  Job  as  a  means  of  discipline 
and  improvement  employed  by  God  exhibits 
throtighout  nothing  new,  that  it  is  "pre- 
cisely the  same  method  of  explanation  as 
that  which  the  three  friends  had  adopted  in  the 
beginning  of  the  controversy,  which  Eliphaz  es- 
pecially, in  ch.  v.  17  seq.,  had  sharply  and  c!e;\rly 
expressed,"  and  which  Job  would  have  b 'en 
perfectly  justified  in  rejecing  as  unacceptable. 


CHAPS.  XXXII— XXXIII. 


563 


To  these  unfavorable  judgments  respecting  the 
character  of  their  speaker  there  may  indeed  be 
opposed,  a  number  equally  large  of  such  as  are 
favorable,  which,  finding  their  principal  support 
as  well  in  ch.  xxxii.  and  xxxiii.  see  in  Eliliu  a 
direct  forerunner,  not  only  on  the  negative,  but 
also  on  the  positive  side,  of  the  final  decision  of 
the  controversy  by  Jehovah.  So  already  Augus- 
tine, according  to  whom  Elihu  ut  primas  paries 
modeslise  habuit  ita  et  sapienlise  ;  Chrysostom,  who 
represents  him  in  two  respects — in  respect  of  his 
speech,  and  of  his  silence — as  an  eloquent  wit- 
ness to  true  wisdom;*  subsequently  Thomas 
Aquinas  {0pp.  Tom.  I.,  p.  137, 184,  ed.  Venet.), 
Brentius,  Oecolampadius,  Calvin,  Pareau  (see 
the  passage  quoted  out  of  his  commentary  above 
in  tlie  Introduction  |  10,  Remi)  Cocceius,  Se- 
bastian Schmidt,  Starke,  [Schultens,  Lightfoot, 
Bp.  Patrick,  Matt.  Henry],  etc.;  and  quite  re- 
cently in  particular  Schlottmann,  Riibiger  [De  I. 
Jobi  sent,  primaria),  Hengstenberg,  Viilk,  and 
the  greater  part  of  those  who  advocate  the  genu- 
ineness of  these  discourses  [to  whom  may  be 
added  some  even  of  the  opponents  of  their  genu- 
ineness, such  as  Davidson,  Introd.  II.,  pp.  210- 
213  ;  Delitzsch  II.,  239  seq.].  We  must  declare 
ourselves  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  latter  esti- 
mate of  the  value  and  import  of  this  section,  al- 
though it  seems  to  us  a  one-sided,  or  at  least  an 
incautious  statement  to  say  that  it  is  (according 
to  Hengstenberg' 8  Vortrage  ilber  das  Buck  Iliob,  p. 
27)  "the  throbbing  heart"  of  the  whole  poem, 
or  that  (according  to  v.  Gerlach,  A.  T.  III.,  86) 
these  discourses  "give  us  the  true  intent  of  the 
whole,  the  views  of  the  author  himself,  or  that 
Elihu,  unlike  the  three  friends,  is  introduced  as 
standing  within  the  pale  of  the  Abrahamitic  re- 
velation (so  Vilmar,  see  above  on  ch.  xxxii.  2). 
It  is  certainly  the  poet's  intention  that  Elihu 
should  be  regarded  as  a  factor  needing  to  be  cor- 
rected or  to  be  supplemented  by  the  entire  col- 
loquy, otherwise  he  would  not  actually  furnish 
such  very  important  supplementary  additions  as 
are  found  in  Jehovah's  discourses,  and  the  final 
action  in  the  epilogue.  But  he  does  unquestion- 
ably represent  him  as  a  speaker  who  approaches 
very  closely  the  complete  Divine  truth,  nearer 
than  any  one  of  the  preceding  speakers.  This 
is  seen  at  the  outset  in  the  way  he  introduces 
himself  in  these  two  chapters,  and  lays  down 
the  foundation  of  the  didactic  discussion  which 
follows. 

2.  Respecting  the  point,  that  in  Elihu's  self- 
introduction,  as  well  as  in  the  poet's  introduc- 
tion which  precedes  it  (ch.  xxxii.  2-6),  there  is 
nothing  that  is  unbecoming,  nothing  that  justi- 
fies the  charge  of  vanity,  or  an  overweening 
self-conceit,  or  idle  loquacity  against  Elihu,  see 
above  Introduction  \  10,  ati  6  and  7  seq.  Here 
attention  is  specially  called  to  tlie  fact  that  the 
frequency  and  confidence  with  which  he  puts  forth 
his  knoivh'dije  (ch.  xxxii.  6  6,  10,  17;  xxxiii.  3) 
was  indispensable,  inasmuch  as  it  was  precisely 
on  this  intellectual  possession  of  the  speaker  that 
his  right  to  make  his  appearance  along  with 
those  men  so  much  older  than  himself  rested, 
inasmuch  indeed  as,  if  he  had  not  been  endowed 


*  'EicaTepioflei'  ovv  avrov  ttji*  <T\)viat.v  <TTO\.)(6.C,ofi.iv  airo  r%<s 
(riyiis  OTTO  T€  t^^  StaAefeios.     Z>e  I'<Uieid.  Jvb.,  Homil.  iV.     _ 


with  an  extraordinary  fullness  of  knowledge  and 
wisdom,  he  could  not  have  escaped  tlie  reproach 
of  impudent  self-intrusion,  or  shameless  arro- 
gance. The  reader  is  still  further  reminded 
there  that  the  humility  and  modesty  of  Elihu 
appear  not  only  in  the  fact  that  as  the  youngest 
he  had  hitherto  been  silent,  but  also  in  tiie  fact 
that  at  the  close  of  his  self-introduction  he 
solemnly  declares  (ch.  xxxiii.  4-7)  that  it  is  his 
purpose  to  address  himself  to  Job  as  man  to  man, 
as  the  medium  accordingly  of  a  wisdom  which  is 
purely  human,  and  which  by  no  means  denies  its 
earthly  origin — not  as  though  he  were  about 
presumptuously  to  communicate  a  divi/ie  revela- 
tion which  should  confound  or  terrify  him,  in 
short  not  as  a  preacher  of  repentance,  or  a  pro- 
phet, thundering  upon  him  from  above  (see  the 
Exegetical  Remarks  on  the  above  passages.) 

3.  This  same  purely  human,  and  for  that  rea- 
son mild  and  humane  impress  stamps  itself  on 
the  beginning  of  his  didactic  expositions  in  the  first 
discourse.  Elihu  here  exhibits  himself  as  far 
less  of  a  legalist  than  the  three  censurers  of  Job 
who  have  preceded  him.  He  certainly  does 
maintain  against  Job  that  his  assertion  that  he 
is  altogether  pure  and  innocent,  and  his  other 
assertion,  that  God  is  cruelly  persecuting  him, 
are  without  justification  and  presumptuous  (ver. 
12  seq.).  But  instead  of  at  once  proceeding  to 
threaten  him  with  God's  direst  punishments  for 
his  conduct,  or  setting  before  his  eyes  that  ter- 
rible picture  of  the  irretrievable  destruction  of 
obstinate  evil-doers,  which  was  the  favorite 
theme  of  the  descriptions  of  his  predecessors,  he 
assumes  an  incomparably  gentler,  more  comfort- 
ing, more  affectionate  tone.  He  puts  in  the  fore- 
ground— herein  proving  himself  to  be  a  genuine 
teacher  of  wisdom,  an  aposile  of  the  real  Divine 
wisdom  revealed  in  theNew  Testament — the  idea 
of  the  IDIO  (ch.  xxxiii.  16),  i.  e.  of  chastisement, 
of  God's  discipline,  strict  and  yet  mild  as  that 
of  a  father,  attributes  to  Job's  grievous  suffering 
essentially  the  significance  which  is  conferred 
upon  it  by  such  a  disciplinary  standard  (such 
purifying  suffering  in  the  way  of  temptation,  in 
contrast  with  suffering  merely  in  the  way  of 
trial*),  and  in  a  friendly  way  points  out  to  Job 
how  near  God  is  to  him  in  the  midst  of  his 
misery,  and  how  little  reason  he  has  to  doubt 
His  help  and  deliverance.  He  then  describes 
this  deliverance  itself,  on  the  one  side  as  de- 
pending on  the  intervention  of  a  superhum.vn 
mediating  angel,  commissioned  to  declare  to  him 
the  merciful  and  gracious  will  of  God  (ver.  23 
seq.),  on  the  other  side  as  immediately  followed 


*  In  respect  to  the  distinction  bi-twoen  euff'Ting  for  tciajv 
tation, andsufforingtor  trial,  coinp.  Vilmar,  Pasl.-Tlie  I.,  Xi. 
(>2  seq.,  (also  Theolog.  Moral.  I.  174  soq.).  A  trinptatim  is,  ac- 
cording to  this  striking  discrimination,  wliicli  is  no  less  in- 
ptrnctive  th:in  Scriptural,  "  a  punitivu  act  of  God  (inllicted 
ihroTigh  Satan),  by  which  man  is  to  be  made  conscious  that 
in  his  inmost  soul  the  adversary  can  yet  find  points  of  con- 
tact, by  wliiih  to  allure  and  nrpe  him  onward.  By  the  temp- 
tation tlie  secret  sin  is  first  disclosed,  then  perceivid,  and 
finally  ov.-rcome  (comp.  Ps.  xc.  8)."  Tlio  object  of  a  trial 
on  the  other  hand  is  simply  to  prove  those  whom  Go  1  Iihs 
already  recognized  as  holy  and  good  to  bo  such.  Tin;  suffer- 
ing of  trial,  as  the  same  is  d'  scribed  especially  in  Ps.  xlii. 
and  Ivi.  (to  some  extent  also  in  the  book  of  Job, — a  fact  not 
sufficiently  recognized  by  Vilm.ar),  "does  not  exclude  too 
entire  nearness  of  God, and  tlie  cons.iousnessof  tliis  nearne-in, 
whereas  in  temptation  the  gracioi>s  nearn  ss  of  God  i-i  not 
only  not  realized,  but  on  the  contrary  Gol  appears  as  a  God 
afar  off,  as  an  angry  God,"  etc. 


564 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


by  the  gracious  rc-toration  of  bis  former  rigbt- 
eousness,  a  "justification"  (ver.  26  c;  ver,  32) 
wbicb  is  to  be  viewed  as  forgiveness,  or  a  sol- 
emn readmission  to  tbe  position  of  a  cbild  of 
God.  In  botb  tbese  utterances  respecting  tbe 
deliverance'  hypotbetically  promised  to  Job, 
Elihu  approximates  most  remarkably  the  fundamen- 
tal features  of  the  Neiv  Testament  revelation  of  sal- 
I'ation.  For  his  idea  of  justification  differs  from 
tbe  evangelical  Pauline  idea  only  in  tbe  absence 
of  a  direct  reference  to  tbe  crucified  and  risen 
Redeemer  as  the  ground  of  tbe  dcKai'jai^  [causa 
meritoria  justificationis).  His  supposition  that 
God  would  send  one  of  His  thousands  of  angels, 
as  a  mediating  power,  to  a  sorely  tried  and 
chastised  mortal,  to  rescue  and  convert  him, 
and  to  instruct  him  concerning  the  way  of  salva- 
tion, and  so  to  facilitate  bis  redemption  and 
restoration  to  the  energy  and  joy  of  a  new  life, 
comes  in  contact  indeed  only  remotely  with  tbe 
Messianic  idea.  For  certain  as  it  is  that  the 
mediatorial  angel  of  salvation  ia  put  essentially 
on  an  equality  with  the  angel  of  disease  and 
death  mentioned  just  before,  not  exalted  above 
him  (comp.  ver.  22  b,  with  Matt.  viii.  9,  and 
parallel  passages),  so  certain  is  it  that  the  pas- 
sage is  related  only  indirectly  to  the  idea  and 
fact  of  the  Gospel  revelation  of  the  divine-human 
mediator,  Jesus  Christ.  It  does  nevertheless 
unquestionably  stand  in  a  certain  typical  and 
prophetic  relation  to  the  New  Testament  ideas 
of  the  Messiah.  This  is  made  certain  by  tbe 
fact  that  the  commission  with  which  the  media- 
torial messenger  from  God  is  entrusted  is  not 
of  a  pliysical,  external  and  medicinal  character, 
but  before  all  redemptive  in  the  religious  and 
ethical  sense,  and  also  by  the  fact  that  the  mes- 
senger whom  Elihu  supposes  to  be  entrusted 
with  tbe  execution  of  this  divine  commission  is 
not  an  earthly  and  human,  but  a  heavenly, 
superhuman  being  (comp.  the  Excget.  Eem.  on 
ver.  23).  In  more  than  one  respect  accordingly 
does  this  speaker,  even  in  this  his  i:rst  didactic 
exposition,  show  bis  superiority  to  the  three 
friends.  He  reveals  a  higher  calling,  and  shows 
incomparably  greater  skill  than  tliey  in  pro- 
ducing an  enligbtening,  ennobling  and  elevating 
influence  on  the  mind  of  Job,  longing  as  he  does 
for  heavenly  comfort;  and  be  proves  himself  to 
be  in  truth  the  most  advanced,  the  most  richly 
furnished,  intellectually  the  largest  possessor 
of  the  human  Chokmah  among  the  four  who 
successively  encounter  Job  as  human  comforters 
and  teachers  of  wisdom.  Comp.  Starke's  re- 
marks: "Elihu  sees  much  deeper  into  the  mys- 
tery of  affliction  than  the  three  former  friends. 
He  is  much  more  discreet  and  reasonable  in  bis 
intercourse  with  Job  than  the  others;  be  does 
not  make  him  out  a  hypocrite,  or  one  who  is 
evidently  ungodly,  but  he  shows  how  by  afflic- 
tion God  would  purge  him  of  all  reliance  on  bis 
own  rigbteousness,  and  simply  point  him  to  the 
righteousness  of  the  Messiah.  What  he  says  so 
beautifully  ver.  23  in  respect  to  tbe  intercession 
of  the  mediator,  and  the  whole  context  clearly 
show  this  to  be  his  purpose." 

4.  In  a  homileiic  respect,  it  is  of  course  tbe 
second  half  of  the  section  here  embraced  by  us, 
or  cb.  xxxiii.  8-33,  that  furnishes  by  far  the 
richest  and  most  fruitful  material.     Here  Elihu, 


tbe  Aramaic  sage  of  tbe  patriarchal  age,  presents 
himself  as  tbe  proclaimer  of  truths  which  show 
many  points  of  contact  with  those  of  the  New 
Testament  system  of  redemption,  and  which  jus- 
tify us  in  regarding  him  as  an  unconscious  pro- 
phet of  Christ,  if  not  of  His  person,  at  least  of 
His  work.  Much  that  is  stimulating  may  never- 
theless be  derived  even  from  the  first  introduc- 
tory half,  especially  when  we  take,  as  our  high- 
est point  of  observation,  tbe  cii'cumstance  that 
Elihu  tliere  desires  to  apologize  for  his  youth, 
and  for  that  reason  sets  forth  so  much  in  detail 
the  necessity  for  his  speaking.  The  basis  for 
such  reflections  might  be  found  in  some  such 
parallel  as  Elihu — Jeremiah — Timothy  (comp. 
Jer.  i.  6;   1  Tim.  iv.  12). 

HOMILETICAL   AND   PRACTICAL. 
Particular  Passages, 

Ch.  xxxii.  2  seq.  Zeyss:  It  is  not  wrong  to 
show  wrath  against  evil,  especially  where  God's 
honor  is  concerned.  But  we  must  take  particu- 
lar care  that  such  a  holy  fire  of  righteous  anger 
be  not  mixed  with  the  strange  fire  of  earthly 
affections.  Eph.  iv.  2G. 

Ch.  xxxii.  6  seq.  Cocceius:  The  man  who  is 
about  to  plant  seed  in  his  field,  first  weeds  out 
noxious  herbs,  and  ploughs  thoroughly  the  sur- 
face of  the  soil.  He  who  expects  to  instil  his 
own  arguments  into  tbe  mind  of  another,  must 
first  mollify  it,  and  free  it  of  suspicion,  in  order 
that  afterwards  it  may  receive  more  eagerly 
that  which  is  to  be  communicated.  The  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  Elihu  seemed  to  be  tbe  suspi- 
cion of  arrogance  on  his  part,  and  bis  age,  and 
also  the  authority  of  the  friends,  and  their  opi- 
nion concerning  themselves.  He  attacks  the 
first  obstacle  in  these  verses,  etc. — Jo.  Lange  : 
In  true  wisdom,  that  which  is  of  importance  is 
— not  age,  but — the  illumination  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  If  young  people  have  a  clear  perception 
of  divine  tilings,  those  who  are  older  need  not 
be  ashamed  to  hear  them,  and  to  learn  from 
them. — V.  Gerlach:  The  illumination  of  tbe 
Holy  Ghost  is  not  confined  to  old  age.  This 
very  saying  (ver.  9)  shows  that  we  must  not 
take  offence  at  tbe  apparent  boastfulness  of 
Elihu's  words,  seeing  that  he  gives  the  glory 
not  to  himself,  but  to  God.  The  vivid,  copious, 
oriental  style  gives  to  the  discourse  a  different 
look  in  the  eyes  of  the  less  ardent  inhabitants 
of  the  West,  from  what  it  had  in  its  own  father- 
land. 

Ch.  xxxii.  18  seq.  Stakke:  The  man  whose 
heart  is  full,  bis  mouth  runs  over.  Let  a  man 
therefore  store  up  goodly  treasure  in  his  heart, 
and  he  will  speak  that  which  is  good  and  useful. 
— Dost  thou  find  in  thyself  a  strong  impulse  to 
say  or  do  something,  first  search  well  to  see 
whether  it  proceeds  from  a  good  or  an  evil  spirit 
(Rom.  viii.  14). — V.  Geklach:  At  the  close  he 
repeats  the  assurance  that  although  be  presumes 
to  speak,  and  to  rebuke  the  aged,  be  neverthe- 
less feels  himself  under  a  divine  compulsion, 
and  can  therefore  have  in  view  only  tbe  glory 
of  God,  not  that  of  any  man  whatsoever. 

Ch.  xxxiii.  4-7.  Brentius:  This  is  a  most 
potent  reason  why  one  should  not  despise  ano- 
ther, nor  treat  him  scornfully.     For  we  have  all 


CHAPS.  XXXII-XXXIII. 


565 


been  made  by  the  same  God,  through  the  same 
Word,  in  the  same  Spirit;  we  have  earth,  water, 
air,  heaven,  as  our  common  heritage.  But  if 
you  look  at  Christians,  they  have  a  still  closer 
bond  uniting  them  together;  for  in  Eph.  iv.  it 
is  said :  There  is  one  body,  one  spirit,  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism,  etc.;  and  in  Rom.  xiv. : 
Destroy  not  thy  brother,  for  whom  Christ  died. 
If  therefore  this  idea  were  treasured  up  deep  in 
our  faith,  it  would  without  difficulty  restrain  us 
from  wronging,  despising  or  slandering  our 
brethren,  if  we  verily  believed  that  our  brother 
is  of  such  dignity  that  Christ,  the  only-begotten 
Son  of  God,  for  his  sake  descended  from  heaven, 
and  poured  out  His  blood. 

Ch.  xxxiii.  15  seq.  Oecolampadius:  It  be- 
hooved that  this  way  (that  of  an  mroKaTiVtpig  by 
dreams)  should  have  been  the  first  and  most 
familiar  to  us,  so  that  written  communications 
would  have  been  superfluous,  the  Holy  Spirit 
writing  on  our  hearts.  But  after  that  we  had 
turned  aside  from  God  to  the  vanity  of  this 
world,  it  is  one  of  the  rarest  things  known. 
Philosophers,  ignoring  both  the  dignity  of  man 
and  the  harm  wrought  by  sin,  have  decided 
that  man  can  acquire  knowledge  only  through 
the  teaching  of  the  senses;  for  which  reason 
they  also  deride  the  gift  of  aKOKalvipK;.  Elihu  seems 
to  have  spoken  not  of  ordinary  dreams,  but  of  such 
as  visited  Abimelech  and  Laban. — Zeyss:  After 
that  God  had  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  man- 
ners spoken  to  the  fathers,  by  revelations,  visions, 
and  dreams,  etc.,  as  well  as  by  the  prophets,  He 
hath  at  last  spoken  to  us  by  His  Son.  He  there- 
fore who  values  his  own  happiness,  and  would 
escape  destruction,  let  him  believe  and  obey  the 
Word  of  God. — v.  Gerlach:  A  sufferer,  who 
lives  in  fellowship  with  God,  receives  from  Him 
in  dreams  of  the  night  (and  in  many  such  ways), 
instructive  intimations  respecting  the  divine  pur- 
poses in  his  calamities  ;  he  thus  learns  to  under- 
stand aright  what  God  would  say  to  him  in  such 
ways.  Elihu  intimates  here  (especially  in  ver. 
16)  that  Job  might  have  received  divine  commu- 
nications, without  observing  them, 

Ch.  xxxiii.  23  seq.  Cocceius:  This  passage 
makes  evident  to  us  the  faith  of  the  Ancient 
Church  touching  the  Mediator.  .  .  .  These  things 
indeed  are  spoken  by  Elihu,  in  accordance  with 
the  condition  of  those  times,  alviy/xaTuSeoTspoi' ; 
but  they  are  nevertheless  in  such  exact  accord- 
ance with  the  predictions  of  the  prophets,  and 
the  declarations  of  the  Apostles,  that  unless  it 
be  supposed  that  the  Holy  Spirit  wished  to  lead 
the  men  of  old  somewhere  else  than  towards  the 
mystery  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  teach  something 
else  than  the  same  forms  of  speech  would  convey 
in  later  times,  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt 
that  this  is  the  true  meaning  of  these  words  of 
Elihu,  which  had  proceeded  from  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  which  were  understood  by  himself  in 
accordance  with  his  own  standard.  Neither  in- 
deed was  there  anything  which  Elihu  could  more 
readily  or  suitably  impress  upon  Job.  For  al- 
though Job  had  clearly  enough  professed  faith 


in  a  Mediator,  especially  in  ch.  xix.  (?),  he  had 
nevertheless  not  so  evidently  touched  upon  the 
doctrine  concerning  Christ's  merits  and  satisfac- 
tion, nor  had  he  in  his  discussions  either  con- 
sidered this  usefulness  of  affliction,  which  Elihu 
sets  forth,  or  magnified  it  in  proportion  to  its 
worth. — Starke:  see  above  [Doctrinal,  etc.']  No. 
3. — WoHLFARTii:  Although  an  unprejudiced  ex- 
position cannot  find  in  these  words  the  doctrine 
of  an  atonement  through  Jesus  Christ,  wc  have 
nevertheless  so  obvious  a  reminder  of  Clirist 
here,  that  we  cannot  help  observing  it.  If  in 
ancient  times  men  placed  their  hope  in  the  in- 
tercession of  heavenly  spirits  with  God,  how 
much  more  glorious  the  consolation  which  we 
have,  who  can  say  with  exultation:  Wc  thank 
•Thee,  0  God,  that  Thou  hast  so  loved  the  world, 
etc.,  (John  iii.  16;  2  Cor.  v.  19-21;  1  Pet.  i. 
24). — V.  Gerlach:  We  are  not  to  infer  from  the 
language  here  used  that  there  is  a  particular 
angel,  whose  office  it  is  to  bring  the  prayers  of 
men  before  God ;  rather  does  the  expression — 
"one  of  a  thousand" — denote  one  of  the  many 
messengers  of  God,  who  are  appointed  to  watch 
over  the  life  of  His  people,  and  to  conduct  them 
to  eternal  bliss  (Heb.  i.  14).  It  does  however 
contain  the  thought  of  representation,  interces- 
sion before  God,  and  in  so  far  this  passage 
points  to  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and 
men  (1  Tim.  ii.  5),  and  likewise  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  intercedes  for  God's  children  with 
groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered  (Rom.  viii. 
26),  and  is  thus  an  anticipation  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. The  thought  to  which  Elihu  here  gives 
expression  is  essentially  related  to  that  which 
Job  has  already  expressed  in  ch,  xvii.  3;  xix. 
25,  although  it  is  by  no  means  the  same  thought 
.  .  .  .  But  here  the  thought  is  supplied  which 
is  there  wanting, — that  the  office  of  the  redeem- 
ing angel  is  not  so  much  to  attest  the  innocence, 
or  the  already  perfected  righteousness  of  men 
before  God,  but  rather  as  man's  advocate  to  in- 
tercede in  his  behalf  because  of  his  repentance. 
This  it  was  in  the  perception  of  whicli  Job  was 
as  yet  lacking. 

Ch.  xxxii.  26  seq.  From  the  regeneration 
and  quickening  of  the  Gospel  the  most  abundant 
fruits  grow.  First  prayer,  than  which  a  greater 
gift  can  scarcely  come  from  God  to  man. . ..  The  se- 
cond fruit  is  the  joy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is 
God's  sweet  face  gladdening  our  consciences.  .  . 
The  third  fruit  is  confession — not  that  which  is 
of  the  ear,  auricular,  but  the  (rue  confession  of 
the  heart,  the  acknowledgment  of  sins,  etc. — 
Starke:  So  beautifully  has  Elihu  seen  into  the 
ways  and  purposes  of  God,  even  in  the  midst  of 
trials,  and  where  it  seems  as  though  He  would 
destroy  and  cast  off  a  soul,  that  he  puts  forth 
the  assurance  that  it  all  has  no  other  end  in  view 
than  the  true,  eternal  deliverance  of  the  sufferer. 
And  this  was  exactly  the  plaster  for  Job's 
wounds,  in  order  that  his  pain  and  his  disquie- 
tude under  the  strokes  of  God's  hands  might  be 
assuaged  and  allayed,  while  he  should  be  led  to 
perceive  God's  faithfulness,  and  to  thank  Him 
for  it. 


566  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


SECOND  DISCOURSE. 

Proof  that  man  is  not  right  in  doubting  God's  righteousness: 
Chapter  XXXIV. 

a.  Opening :  Censure  of  the  doubt  of  God's  righteousness  expressed  by  Job  : 

Vers.  1-9. 

1  Furthermore  Elihu  answered  and  said  : 

2  Hear  ray  words,  O  ye  wise  men  ; 

and  give  ear  unto  me,  ye  that  have  knowledge. 

3  For  the  ear  trieth  words, 
as  the  mouth  tasteth  meat, 

4  Let  us  choose  to  us  judgment : 

let  us  know  among  ourselves  what  is  good. 

5  For  Job  hath  said :  "  I  am  righteous  ; 
and  God  hath  taken  away  my  judgment. 

6  Should  I  lie  against  my  right  ? 

my  wound  is  incurable  without  transgression." 

7  What  man  is  like  Job, 

who  drinketh  up  scorning  like  water  ? 

8  Which  goeth  in  company  with  the  workers  of  iniquity, 
and  walketh  with  wicked  men  ? 

9  For  he  hath  said :  "  It  profiteth  a  man  nothing 
that  he  should  delight  himself  with  God." 

b.  Proof  that  the  Divine  righteousness  is  necessary,  and  that  it  really  exist*. 

a.  From  God's  disinterested  love  of  His  creatures: 
Vers.   10-15. 

10  Therefore  hearken  unto  me,  ye  men  of  understanding  ! 
Far  be  it  from  God  that  He  should  do  wickedness  ; 

and  from  the  Almighty,  that  He  should  commit  iniquity ! 

11  For  the  work  of  a  man  shall  He  render  unto  him, 
and  cause  every  man  to  find  according  to  his  ways. 

12  Yea,  surely  God  will  not  do  wickedly, 
Neitlier  will  the  Almighty  pervert  judgment. 

13  Who  hath  given  Him  a  charge  over  the  earth? 
or  who  hath  disposed  the  whole  world  ? 

14  If  He  set  His  heart  upon  man, 

if  He  gather  unto  Himself  his  spirit  and  his  breath ; 

15  All  flesh  shall  perish  together, 

and  man  shall  turn  again  unto  dust. 

p.  From  the  idea  of  God  as  Ruler  of  the  world: 
Vers.  16-30. 

16  If  now  thou  hast  understanding,  hear  this  : 
hearken  to  the  voice  of  my  words. 

17  Shall  even  he  that  hateth  right  govern  ? 

and  wilt  thou  condemn  Him  that  is  Most  Just  ? 


CHAPS.  XXXIV— XXXV.  567 


18  Is  it  fit  to  say  to  a  king,  "  Thou  art  wicked?" 
and  to  princes,  "  Ye  are  ungodly  ?" 

19  How  much  less  to  Him  that  accepteth  not  the  persons  of  princes, 
nor  regardeth  the  rich  more  than  the  poor? 

for  they  all  are  the  work  of  His  hands. 

20  In  a  moment  shall  they  die, 

and  the  people  shall  be  troubled  at  midnight,  and  pass  away : 
and  the  mighty  shall  be  taken  away  without  hand. 

21  For  His  eyes  are  upon  the  ways  of  man, 
and  He  seeth  all  his  goings. 

22  There  is  no  darkness,  nor  shadow  of  death, 

where  the  workers  of  iniquity  may  hide  themselves. 

23  For  He  will  not  lay  upon  man  more  than  right ; 
that  he  should  enter  into  judgment  with  God. 

24  He  shall  break  in  pieces  mighty  men  without  number, 
and  set  others  in  their  stead. 

25  Therefore  He  knoweth  their  works, 

and  He  overturneth  them  in  the  night,  so  that  they  are  destroyed. 

26  He  striketh  them  as  wicked  men 
in  the  open  sight  of  others  ; 

27  Because  they  turned  back  from  Him, 
and  would  not  consider  any  of  His  ways  : 

28  So  that  they  cause  the  cry  of  the  poor  to  come  unto  Him, 
and  He  heareth  the  cry  of  the  afflicted. 

29  When  He  giveth  quietness,  who  then  can  make  trouble  ? 
and  when  He  hideth  His  face,  who  then  can  behold  Him  ? 
whether  it  be  done  against  a  nation,  or  against  a  man  only  : 

30  That  the  hypocrite  reign  not, 
lest  the  people  be  ensnared. 

c    Exhibition  of  Job's  inconsistency  and  folly  in  reproaching  God  with  injustice,  and  at  the  same  time  ap- 
pealing to  His  decision: 

Vers.  31-37. 

31  Surely  it  is  meet  to  be  said  unto  God — 

"  I  have  borne  chastisement,  and  will  not  ofiend  any  more : 

32  That  which  I  see  not  teach  Thou  rue : 

If  I  have  done  iniquity,  I  will  do  no  more." 

33  Should  it  be  according  to  thy  mind  ?     He  will  recompense  it,  whether  thou  refuse, 
or  whether  thou  choose ;  and  not  I : 

therefore  speak  what  thou  knowest. 

34  Let  men  of  understanding  tell  me, 
and  let  a  wise  man  hearken  unto  me. 

35  Job  hath  spoken  without  knowledge, 
and  his  words  were  without  wisdom. 

36  My  desire  is  that  Job  may  be  tried  unto  the  end, 
because  of  his  answers  for  wicked  men. 

37  For  he  addeth  rebellion  unto  his  sin, 
he  clappeth  his  hands  among  us, 

and  multiplieth  his  words  against  God. 


568  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


THIRD  DISCOURSE. 

Refutation  of  the  false  position  that  piety  is  not  productive  of  happiness  to  men 

Chapter  XXXV. 

a.   The  folly  of  the  erroneous  notion  that  piety  and  godliness  are  alike  of  little  advantage  to  men  : 

Vers,  1-8. 

1  Elihu  spake,  moreover,  and  said : 

2  Thinkest  thou  this  to  be  right, 

that  thou  saidst  "  My  righteousness  is  more  than  God's?" 
8  For  thou  saidst,  "  What  advantage  will  it  be  unto  thee  ?" 
and,  "  What  profit  shall  I  have  if  I  be  cleansed  from  my  sin?'* 

4  I  will  answer  thee, 

and  thy  companions  with  thee. 

5  Look  unto  the  heavens,  and  see ; 

and  behold  the  clouds  which  are  higher  than  thou. 

6  If  thou  sinnest,  what  doest  thou  against  Him  ? 

or  if  thy  transgressions  be  multiplied,  what  doest  thou  unto  Him  ? 

7  If  thou  be  righteous,  what  givest  thou  Him  ? 
or  what  receiveth  He  of  thine  hand  ? 

8  Thy  wickedness  may  hurt  a  man  as  thou  art, 
and  thy  righteousness  may  profit  the  son  of  man. 

b.  The  true  reason  why  the  deliverance  of  the  sufferer  is  often  delayed,  viz. : 

a.   The  lack  of  true  godly  fear  : 
Vers.  9-14. 

9  By  reason  of  the  multitude  of  oppressions  they  make  the  oppressed  to  cry : 
they  cry  out  by  reason  of  the  arm  of  the  mighty. 

10  But  none  saith,  "  Where  is  God,  my  Maker, 
who  giveth  songs  in  the  night ; 

11  Who  teacheth  us  more  than  the  beasts  of  the  earth, 
and  maketh  us  wiser  than  the  fowls  of  heaven?" 

12  There  they  cry,  but  none  giveth  answer, 
because  of  the  pride  of  evil  men. 

13  Surely  God  will  not  hear  vanity, 
neither  will   the  Almighty  regard  it. 

14  Although  thou  sayest,  thou  shalt  not  see  Him, 

yet  judgment  is  before  Him  ;  therefore  trust  thou  in  Him. 

p.  Dogmatic  and  presumptuous  speeches  against  Ood: 
Vers.  15,  IR. 

15  But  now,  because  it  is  not  so.  He  hath  visited  in  His  anger; 
yet  He  knoweth  it  not  in  great  extremity : 

16  Therefore  doth  Job  open  his  mouth  in  vain ; 
he  multiplieth  words  without  knowledge. 


CHAPS.  XXXIV— XXXV. 


669 


EXEQETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  Of  the  two  cbargea  which  Elihu  had 
brought  forward  against  Job  at  the  beginning 
of  his  first  discourse  (ch.  xxxiii.  9-11 — the  one, 
that  he  regarded  himself  as  perfectly  pure  and 
innocent, — the  other,  that  he  accused  God  of 
treating  him  with  cruel  severity — the  former  was 
subjected  to  particular  examination  in  the  first 
discourse.  The  three  remaining  discourses  of 
Elihu  are  devoted  to  the  examination  of  the 
Becond  charge  in  which  Job  represents  God  as  a 
cruel,  unjust,  and  unfriendly  persecutor  of  his 
innocence,  and  consequently  doubts  the  justice 
of  God's  actions  as  Ruler  of  the  Universe.  Of 
the  two  discourses  which  are  here  combined  to- 
gether, the  second  (ch.  xxxiv.)  controverts  Job's 
denial  of  the  justice  of  God's  conduct,  proving  that 
it  is  just  on  the  positive  side — a:  from  God's  ab- 
solutely unselfish  disinterested  love  towards  Ilis 
creatures,  and  b:  from  the  conception  of  God  as 
Ruler  of  the  universe  (vers.  10-30),  while  at  the 
same  time  on  the  negative  side  it  assails  the 
folly  and  self-contradiction  of  Job  in  doubting 
the  justice  of  the  God  to  whom  he  himself  ap- 
peals as  Supreme  Judge  (vers.  31-37).  The 
third  discourse  (ch.  xxxv.)  controverts  more  par- 
ticularly Job's  doubt  as  to  the  utility  of  piety,  his 
tendency,  as  repeatedly  manifested  by  him,  to 
call  it  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  a  man's 
actions  were  good  or  bad,  seeing  that  no  right- 
eous retribution  from  God  is  to  be  looked  for. 
In  opposition  to  this  dangerous  error,  which  ch. 
xxxiv.  9  had  already  put  forward  in  all  its  per- 
nicious force,  this  discourse  maintains  a :  that  such 
an  opinion  is  irrational,  and  absolutely  irrecon- 
cilable with  God's  wonderful  greatness  (vers. 
1-8),  and  then  defines  6, •  the  true  reason  why 
God's  righteous  and  saving  activity  is  so  often 
long  delayed,  the  reason  being  a:  that  he  who 
is  tried  by  such  doubts  is  often  wanting  in  true 
godly  fear  (vers.  9-14);  or  /?:  that  he  is  guilty 
of  speaking  arrogantly  and  dogmatically  against 
God,  as  had  been  the  case  in  particular  with 
Job  (vers.  15-16). — These  subdivisions  coincide 
for  the  most  part  with  the  single  strophes,  ex- 
cept that  some  of  the  longer  divisions  contain 
two  and  three  strophes  each. — Against  the  at- 
tempt of  Koster  and  Schlottmann  to  throw  sus- 
picion on  the  genuineness  of  chap.  xxxv.  1,  see 
below  on  the  passage. 

2.  The  second  discourse:  ch.  xxxiv.  a.  Opening  : 
vers.  1-9.  And  Elihu  began  and  said,  being 
incited  by  Job's  silence  [hence  IP'1  as  elsewhere 
— "  and  answered"],  who  had  nothing  to  reply 
to  that  which  El.  had  hitherto  brought  forward. 
So  again  in  ch.  xxxv.  1  (but  somewhat  differ- 
ently on  the  contrary  in  the  introduction  of  the 
fourth  discourse,  ch.  xxxvi.  1). 

Ver.  2.  Hear,  ye  wise  men,  my  words. 
The  "wise  and  knowing  ones"  here  appealed  to 
(comp.  ver.  10,  "men  of  understanding")  are 
neither  all  in  the  world  capable  of  forming  a 
judgment  (Hirzel),  nor  the  circle  of  listeners 
who  had  gathered  around  the  disputants,  i.  e.  to 
say,  all  those  present  with  the  exception  of  Job 
and  the  three,  all  "  impartial  experts,  whose  pre- 
sence is  assumed"  (Schlott.,  Del.,  Dillm.). 
There  is  no  reason  apparent  why  Job  and  the 


three  should  be  regarded  as  excluded  from  the 
number  of  the  wise  men  addressed;  except  that 
they  are  included  only  in  so  far  as  they  are  pre- 
pared to  lift  themselves  above  their  own  partisan 
stand-point  to  those  higher  points  of  view  estab- 
lished by  Elihu.  In  other  words  that  which  is 
really  wise  and  intelligent  in  them  is  set  over 
against  that  which  is  erroneous  and  in  need  of 
correction. 

Ver.  3.  For  the  ear  trieth  words.  Here 
Elihu's  own  ear  is  intended  as  well  as  that  of  the 
wise  men  addressed;  for  it  is  a  trial  of  the  truth 
in  common  to  which  he  would  summon  them  by 
this  appeal  to  the  natural  capacity  of  judgment, 
which  man  possesses.     In  regard  to  b,  comp.  ch. 

xii.  11.     Instead  of  the  form  l"?  DyO'  Sdk  found 

there,  we  have  here  iDiil  UJJD'' :  "proves,  tastes 
in  order  to  eat,"  i.  e.  when  it  would  eat  [or  ge- 
rundive, vescendo.'] 

Ver.  4.  The  right  would  w^e  choose  for 
ourselves ;  i.  e.  in  the  controversy  between 
God  and  Job  we  would  test,  find  out,  and  choose 
for  ourselves  that  which  is  right ;  con)p.  1  Thess. 
V.  21.  It  is  to  this  testing  and  choosing  in  com- 
mon that  the  "  knowing  among  ourselves  what  is 
good"  in  b  refers. 

Vers.  5-9.  The  special  theme  of  the  investiga- 
tion which  now  follows,  accompanied  by  the  ex- 
pression of  Elihu's  moral  indignation  over  the 
fact  that  Job  had  been  able  to  put  forth  such  ex- 
pressions. For  Job  has  said :  I  am  inno- 
cent ;  yet  God  has  taken  away  from  me 
my  right.  The  clause — "  I  am  innocent" — is 
simply  auxiliary  or  preparatory  to  what  follows. 
The  main  emphasis  rests  on  the  second  proposi- 
tion, which  is  taken  verbally  from  ch.  xxvii.  2  ; 
in  like  manner  as  ''jT^P^V  is  taken  from  ch.  xiii. 
18  (comp.  ch.  xxiii.  10;   xxvii.  7). 

Ver.  6.  In  spite  of  my  right  I  shall  lie  ; 

i.  e.  notwithstanding  (i^  as  in  ch.  x.  17;  xvi. 
17)  that  the  right  is  on  my  side,  I  shall  still  be 
[accounted]  a  liar,  if  I  maintain  it.  Job  had 
not  so  expressed  himself  literally  ;  nevertheless 
comp.  the  utterances,  related  in  meaning,  in 
ch.  ix.  20;  xvi.  8.  [E.  V.  "Should  I  lie  against 
my  right?"  i.  e.  confess  my  guilt  when  I  am 
innocent? — a  suitable  meaning,  but  less  forcible 
than  the  above  ;  and  here  it  is  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  Elihu  would  refer  to  the  strongest  ex- 
pressions which  Job  had  used.  Instead  of  the 
Masoretic  JjON  Carey  suggests  ^P^  :  "Con- 
cerning my  right  He  [God]  is  a  false  one." 
The  conjecture  however  is  unnecessary. — E.]. 
My  arrow  is  incurable,  i.  e.  the  arrow  of 
God's  wrath  sticking  in  me,  or  rather  the  wound 
occasioned  by  the  same  (comp.  ch.  vi.  4)  ;  this 
being  the  case  "  without  transgression,"  without 

C/S  as  in  ch.  viii.  11)  my  having  deserved  it; 
comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  9. 

Ver.  7  seq.  Sharp  rebuke  of  Job's  conduct  in 
thus  suspecting  the  divine  justice:  Where  is 
there  a  man  like  Job,  who  drinketh  scorn- 
ful speeches  like  w^ater? — Elihu  evidently 
borrows  this  harsh  figurative  expression  from 
one  of  the  earlier  discourses  of  Eliphaz  (ch.  xv. 
16),  with  a  considerate  limitation  however  of 
the  charge  there  brought  forward  to  Job's  scorn- 


670 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


ful  and  blasphemous  speeches  against  God  (J^'7), 
which  really  deserved  to  be  rebuked  thus  harshly, 
whereas   the  charge   of  Eliphaz,  that  he  drank 

"iniquity^'  {T\l^]^)  as  water,  besides  being  urged 
indirectly  and  covertly,  and  so  much  the  more 
irritatingly,  was  in  its  indefinite  and  general 
form  much  less  accurate  and  must  for  that  very 
reason  have  inflicted  a  much  more  cutting 
wound.  The  expression  being  thus  palpably 
borrowed  from  that  former  attack  on  Job,  the 
charge  which  from  antiquity  has  been  founded 
on  this  passage  of  immoderate  violence  and 
bluntness  on  the  part  of  Elihu,  is  certainly  un- 
merited (against  the  Pseudo-Jerome,  Gregory 
the  Great,  Beda,  etc.,  also  Delitzsch). 

Ver.  8.  And  goes  in  company  (lit.  "to  the 
company")  with  evil-doers,  and  is  wont  to 

go  about  with  men  of  wickedness.  r\Dhh), 
continuation  of  the  finite  verb  mxi ;  comp. 
Ewald,  §  351,  c.  What  is  meant  is,  of  cour.se, 
only  that  by  blasphemous  speeches,  such  as  might 
be  quoted  in  the  way  of  example,  he  lowers  him- 
self to  the  companionship  of  wicked  men  (comp. 
Ps.  i.  1  seq.),  that  accordingly  by  his  frivolous 
and  wanton  sins  of  the  tongue  he  puts  himself 
on  a  level  with  the  evil  world.  Elihu  does  in- 
tend an  actual  participation  by  Job  in  the  so- 
ciety of  evil-doers,  as  the  following  verse  clearly 
shows. 

Ver.  9.  For  he  saith :  A  man  hath  no 
profit  (comp.  ch.  xxii.  2),  if  he  lives  in 
friendship  with  God  (lit.  "from  his  having 
pleasure  with  God,"  i.  e.,  in  fellowship  with 
God ;  comp.  Ps.  1.  18).  Job  had  never  expressed 
himself  in  this  way  literally,  but  he  had  often 
uttered  this  sentiment;  e.  g.,  ch.  ix.  22  seq.  ; 
xxi.  7  seq.  ;  xxiv.  1  seq.  But  how  blameworthy 
such  frivolous  utterances  were,  he  himself  re- 
peatedly acknowledged  (ch.  xvii.  9;  xxi.  15; 
zxviii.  28),  without  however  ceasing  from  them. 

Continuation  :  Proof  that  God  really  is  right- 
eous in  His  dispensations :  (a)  from  His  love  to 
His  creatures  :  vers.  10-15. 

Ver.  10.  Therefore  men  of  understand- 
ing, hearken  to  me.  Lit.  "men  of  heart" 
(LXX.  cvreTol  Kaf)6iag)  ;  comp.  Delitzsch,  Biblical 
Psychology,  p.  293  ;  Beck,  Umriss  der  bibl.  Seelen- 
lehre,  3d  Ed.,  p.  99.     Par  from  God  be  w^ick- 

edness,  etc.  m'Sn  here  with  |D  of  the  thing 
abjured,  as  in  Gen.  xviii.  25.  In  the  third  mem- 
ber ni^l  is  used  by  abbreviation  for  '^Cj/^ ;  comp. 
ch.  XV.  3. 

Ver.  11.  Rather  ('3,  comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  14) 
man's  w^ork  He  recompenseth  to  him, 
and  according  to  a  man's  conduct  (lit. 
"way")  He  causeth  it  to  be  with  him,  lit. 
"He  causeth  it  to  find  him,  to  overtake  him" 
(N'yipn,  only  here  and  ch.  xxxvii.  13). 

Ver.  12.  Yea  verily(DJpN  f]N,  as  in  ch.  xix. 
4)  God  doth  not  act  wickedly,  doth  not  act 

as  a  yiy'^  (J^'tyT*  vh).  In  respect  to  b  comp. 
ch.  viii.  3. 

Ver.  13.  Who  hath  delivered  over  to 
Him  the  earth  ? — nyiK=|'1K  only  here,  and 
ch.  xxxvii.  12  [with  He  paragogic  therefore, 
not  directive;  see  Green,  §  61,  6,  a].     ~\p2  with 


7^',  of  the  person  and  accus.  of  the  thing,  denotes: 
To  trust  any  one  with  anything,  to  commit  any- 
thing  to  any  one,  to  deliver  over  to  one's  charge 
{TTKjTevEiv  Tivd  Ti) ;  comp.  Num.  iv.  27;  2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  23.  Without  sufl5cient  support  from  the 
language  Habn  explains:  "Who  besides  (or  ex- 
cept Him  cares  for  the  earth?"  and  similarly 
Ewald:  "who  investigates  the  earth  against 
him"  [t.  e.,  against  man,  in  order  to  punish  him 
when  necessary]  ?  And  who  hath  estab- 
lished (I'ouniled,  DtJ'   as  in  ch.  xxxviii.  6  :  Isa. 

^  T  ■      ' 

xliv.  7)  the  whole  globe  ?— The  answer  to  both 
these  questions  is  self-evident:  "None  other 
than  Himself."  This  reference  however  to  God's 
independent  glory,  and  to  the  relation  of  abso- 
lute causality  between  Him  and  all  that  has  been 
created,  is  made  in  order  to  exclude  as  strongly 
as  possible  the  thought  of  any  selfish,  or  unlov- 
ing conduct  whatever  on  the  part  of  God. 

Ver.  14.  If  He  should  set  His  heart  only 
upon  Himself,  gather  unto  Himself  (again) 
His  spirit  and  His  breath. — The  case  here 
supposed  is  an  impossible  one,  as  ver.  15  shows. 

The  twice-used  vSx  refers  both  times  to  God  as 

T  ■• 

subject,  not  merely  the  second  time  (as  Jerome, 
Targ.,  Pesh.,  Grotius,  Rosenm.,  Delitzsch  [E.  V. 
Scott,  Con.,  Lee,  Noyes]  explain).  In  respect  to 
the  withdrawal  of  His  spirit  and  breath,  comp. 
Ps.  civ.  29  seq. ;  Eccles.  xii.  7,  in  which  passages 
indeed  the  withdrawal  of  the  divine  vital  spirit 
spoken  of  is  not,  as  here  sudden  and  total,  but 
that  successive  and  gradual  process,  which  takes 
place  continually  in  the  death  of  individual  crea- 
tures. The  fact  therefore  that  God  does  not,  as 
He  well  might,  put  an  end  at  once  to  the  inde- 
pendent life  of  His  creatures,  but  gives  to  each 
one  of  them  a  respite  to  enjoy  life,  this  is  here 
brought  forward  as  proof  of  the  disinterested 
fatherly  love,  and  at  the  same  time  of  the  right- 
eousness of  His  conduct.  ["Elihu  says  this,  to 
assert  God's  sovereignty,  and  the  bearing  of  this 
on  the  main  argument  is,  if  God  be  sovereign, 
and  amenable  to  no  superior,  then  he  can  have 
no  motive  for  doing  what  is  otherwise  than  right. 
The  argument  is  not  unlike  that  of  Abraham, 
"  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right?" 
and  that  of  St.  Paul,  "Is  God  unrighteous  who 
taketh  vengeance  ?  God  forbid,  for  then  how 
shall  God  judge  the  world?"  Carey]. 

4.  Continuation.  The  divine  justice  proved: 
(;3)  from  the  conception  of  God  as  Iluler  of  the 
universe:  vers.  16-30. 

Ver.  16.  And  if  there  is  understanding 
(with  thee),  then  hear  this. — So  according  to 
the  punctuation  of  nr3  as  Milra,  preferred  by 
the  Targ.,  Pesh.,  Jer.,  and  in  general  most  of 
the  ancients,  as  well  as  the  moderns  [so  E.  V.]. 
If  the  word  be  rendered  as  Imperative,  the  pre- 
ceding DN1  should  be  taken  as  an  optative  parti, 
cle — "and  oh  that  thou  wouldst  observe,  oh  un- 
derstand now."  (Del.).  This  rendering  how- 
ever is  equally  destitute  of  support  from  the 
language  as  the  el  de  fiij  vovSerf/  of  the  LXX.,  and 
various  similar  renderings.  The  punctuation 
of  the  Masoretes  [as  Milel]  is  to  be  explained  by 
their  desire  to  remove  the  apparent  discourtesy 
and  insult  implied  in  the  expression — "  and  if 
there  is  understanding  with  thee."     But  this  by 


CHAPS.  XXXIV— XXXV. 


571 


no  means  implies  a  real  doubt  of  Job's  intelli- 
gonce.  In  regard  to  b  comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  8. 
■Will  even  an  enemy  of  the  right  be  able 
to  govern? — HX  here  meaning  "even,"  as  in 
ch.  xl.  8  seq.,  not  the  object  of  t^^ni  :  num  tram 
osor  judicii  refrenabit  (Schult.,  Umbr.,  Welte,  etc.), 
against  which  the  position  of  the  words  is  deci- 
sive. Rather  is  W2V\  here  objectless,  meaning 
to  bind,  to  hold  the  reins  of  authority,  to  govern, 
(as  elsewhere  "12^j;,  1  Sam.  ix.  17).  ["Right 
and  government  are  indeed  mutually  condi- 
tioned, without  right  everything  would  fall  into 
anarchy  and  confusion."  Delitzsch].  Or  wilt 
thou  condemn  {i.  e.,  declare  unjust ;  p''\i!'\T\ 
here  in  its  usual  sense,  ditfering  in  this  from 
ver.  12)  the  All-just;  lit.  "the  mighty  just 
One;"  comp.  Ewald,  §  270,  d. 

Ver.  18  seq.  He  who  exercises  justice  in  union 
with  omnipotence  is  now  more  particularly  de- 
scribed in  this  aspect  of  His  activity.  Him, 
Tvho  says  to  a  king:  Thou  worthless  one  ! 
So  according  to  the  reading  IDND,  which  is  at- 
tested, not  indeed  by  the  Masoretes,  but  by  the 
LXX.  and  Vulg.,  and  in  favor  of  which  most  of 
the  moderns  declare  (Hirz.,  Ew.,  Hahn.,  Stick., 
Vaih.,  Dillm.,  [Renan,  Elz.],  etc.).  The  Mas., 
Targ.,  Luth.,  Del.  [E.  V.,  Con.,  Car.,  Noy., 
Rod.,  Ber.,  Bar.,  Lee,  Schlott.],  etc.,  read  SoXH, 
Inf.  constr.  with  H  interrogative:  "ia  it  (fit)  to 
Bay  to  a  king — Thou  worthless  one,"  etc.?  But 
it  would  be  very  difiBcult  to  connect  the  clause 
0J1  ^lyx  in  ver.  18  with  such  a  question,  which 
would  express  a  conclusio  a  min.  ad  majua  (even 
to  a  human  king  one  would  not  dare  to  speak 
thus,  etc.). 

Ver.  19.  Him,  who  accepteth  not  the 
person  of  rulers  (comp.  ch.  xxxii.  21),  and 
knov7eth  not  {i.  e.,  considers,  regards  not  ; 
concerning  133  see  ch.  xxi.  29)  the  rich  be- 
fore the  poor,  i.  e.,  in  preference  to  the  poor 
(comp.  ch.  viii.  12).  God  exercises  this  strict 
impartiality,  because,  as  the  parenthetical  clause 
in  c  explains.  His  creatures  are  all  of  equal 
worth  to  Him. 

Ver.  20.  In  a  moment  they  perish,  even 
at  midnight,  i.  e.,  suddenly  and  unexpectedly, 
at  night,  (comp.  Ps.  cxix.  62;  and  for  the  thought 
ch.  xxvii.  19;  also  below  ver.  25).  Their  peo- 
ple are  shaken  and  pass  away. — The  sub- 
ject of  the  verse  is  those  who  are  expressly 
mentioned  first  in  the  third  member  as  "  the 
strong"  or  "mighty  ones,"  the  same  who  are 
specially  distinguished  in  the  two  preceding 
verses  as  kings,  princes,  rulers  and  rich  men, 
and  who  then  in  ver.  23  seq.  become  again  the 
principal  object  of  consideration.    The  clause  in 

b,  QV  ^Uf^[l\,  is  neither  (with  Ewald)  to  be  ex- 
plained "they  stagger  in  crotods,"  nor  (with 
Hirzel  and  others)  "■nations  are  shaken."  The 
word  DV  admits  of  neither  rendering;  in  con- 
nection with  the  princes  it  can  signify  only  their 
people,  their  subjects.  And  the  mighty  are 
removed  (lit.  "the  mighty  one  is,  e^c") — not 
by  the  hand  of  man,  i.  e.,  without  needing  to 
be  touched  by  hand,  referring  to  a  higher  invisi- 
ble power  as  cause;  comp.  ch.  xx.  27;  Zech.  iy. 


6;  also  the  expression  of  Daniel,  T  ^C)>?3,  Dan. 

viii.  25 ;  comp.  ii.  34. 

Vers.  21-24  give  the  reason  why  such  a 
mighty  administration  of  justice  on  the  part  of 
God  is  possible,  or  rather  why  it  actually  exists, 
by  calling  attention  to  His  omniscience.  In  re- 
spect to  ver.  21  comp.  ch.  xxxi.  4;  on  ver.  22  see 
ch.  xxiv.  13  seq.;  Ps.  cxxxix.  11  seq.;  and  pa- 
rallel passages. 

Ver.  23.  For  He  doth  not  long  regard 
man;  i.  e.,  He  needs  not  to  wait  a  long  time  for 
him,  until  he  submits  himself  to  His  judicial 
examination,  because  He  has  him,  like  all  His 
creatures,  continually  present  before  Him.  ["A 
single  thought  of  God,  without  the  uttering  of  a 
word,  is  enough  to  summon  the  whole  world  to 
judgment.  Job  had  earnestly  craved  for  leave 
to  enter  into  judgment  with  God  (see  ch.  xiii.  8; 
xvi.  21;  xxiii.  3;  xxxi.  35).  Elihu  replies  that 
God  of  His  own  accord,  finds  out  men  in  a  mo- 
ment, without  any  etfort,  and  summons  them  to 
judgment.  Job  ought  therefore  to  change  his 
tone,  and  say,  '  Enter  not  into  judgment  with 
thy  servant,  0  Lord,  for  in  Thy  sight  shall  no 
man  living  be  justified"  (Ps.  cxliii.  2).  Words- 
worth]. 11^  here  not  "  again  and  again,  a  long 
time  (Hirzel,  Del.  [Ber.,  Bar.,  Nov.,  Rod.]  etc.) 
[nor  "more  than  right,"  E.  V.,  Rushi,  Wolfsohn, 
Elzas],  but  simply,  "more,  yet,  again,"  as  e.  y., 
Is.  V.  4,  and  often. 

Ver.   24.  Respecting-  Ipn  ^1,  instead  of  X73 

"*n,  comp.  chap.  xii.  24;  xxxviii.  26.  [Pesh. 
Vulg.  E.  V.  Rod.  render  "without  number;" 
but  the  meaning  "  without  inquiry,"  without  un- 
dertaking a  long  process  of  investigation,  is  bet- 
ter suited  to  the  context.  E.].  In  respect  to  "inx 
in  b,  see  ch.  viii.  19;  Is.  Ixv.  15. 

Vers.  25-30  recur  to  the  previous  description 
of  God's  fearful  judgments  upon  the  mighty  of 
earth  (ver.  18  seq.).    Therefore  He  knoweth 

their  works. — |D7,  lit.  "therefore,  on  that  ac- 
count," means  here  "accordingly,  and  so, 
hence,"  as  a  formula  denoting  a  logical  inference 
from  that  which  precedes ;  comp.  ch.  xlii.  3. 
Rosenmiiller,  Umbreit  erroneously:  "Because 
that  He  knoweth  their  works ;"  for  which  mean- 
ing we  should  have  rather  *1C^X  ipi-  [Alike  in- 
correct is  the  rendering  "for" — r4oyes,  Barnes, 
Rod  well].  13l'0,  only  here  in  Elihu,  an  Ara- 
maizing  word,  used  interchangeably  with  TYZ'^^Ti. 

And  overthrows  them  in  the  night  {i.  e., 
suddenly;  comp.  ver.  20)  so  that  they  are 
crushed;  comp.  ch.  v.  4.  From  this  verb 
'^-^Dll  ^■^^  object  of  the  preceding  verb  ^£3n  is  to 
be  supplied   (Prov.  xii.  7).     The  object  cannot 

be  n 7'7,  (which  is  evidently  an  adverbial  spe- 
cification of  time),  as  Umbreit  renders  it:  "He 
changes  the  night,"  i.  e.,  into  day. 

Ver.  26.  Instead  of  the  wicked  He  scorns 
them,  i.  e.,  the  mighty;  lit.  "He  claps,  slaps 
them,"  p30  as  in  ver.  37,  used  metaphorically 
in  the  sense  of  scorning,  mocking;  comp.  the 
full  phrase  D;D|,  p3D  ch.  xxvii.  23.  [Vulg.,E. 
v.,  Rosenm.,  Del.,  Con.,  Car.,  Noy.,  ',tc.  render 
the  verb  "to  strike,  smite,"  but  less  in  accord- 
ance with  the  usage]. — D''^i;'')~rinr)  does  not 


572 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


mean  exactly  "in  the  place  of  execution  of  the 
wicked"  (Hirzel),  but  more  "in  the  stead,  after 
the  manner  of  the  wicked"  comp.  Vulg. :  quasi 
impios)  [and  E.  V.  "as  wicked  men"].  In  the 
place  VT^here  all  see  it;  lit.  "in  the  place  of 
those  seeing,"  i.  e.,  publicly,  in  propatulo.  [Gro- 
tius:  k-^edrpifftv  avrovg ;  Cocceius:  (1)  cum  pu- 
dore  el  ignominia  ;   (2)  in  excmplum'\. 

Vers.  27-28.  They,  who  for  that  reason 
turn  away  from  Him,  etc.  j3~7j.^  points  for- 
ward to  that  which  follows   (comp.  ch.  xx.    2), 

and  is  explained  in  N'DD/,  and  so  forth  (ver. 
28).  In  order  vividly  to  characterize  the  inso- 
lent, and  persistently  wicked  conduct  of  evil- 
doers, it  is  represented  as  their  purpose  to  con- 
tinue torturing  the  oppressed  until  their  cry 
pierces  through  the  clouds,  and  as  it  were  com- 
pels God  to  hear  it.  [If  p-'7X  IIJ/X  be  ren- 
dered "because"  (LXX.  E.  V.  Rosenm.,  Umbr., 

Hahn,  Con.,  etc.).  S^'^JPS  will  be  Inf.  epexeget. 
In  that  case  IK^^f—'^.  This  bow-ever  seems  a 
less  probable  construction  than  that  given 
above]. 

Ver.  29  seq.  And  if  He  giveth  rest  who 
will  condemn  (Him)  D'ptyn,  Hiph.  of  tDpt:^ 
in  the  sense  of  Is.  xiv.  7 ;  Judg.  v.  31,  hence 
"to  give  rest,"  viz.  by  resisting  and  overcoming 
the  violence  of  mighty  tyrants,  which  drives  the 
poor  to  cry  out  for  help  (comp.  Ps.  xciv.  13). 
Nim,  referring  to  God  is  prefixed  for  emphasis, 
as  is  the  case  also  with  ^D1  at  the  head  of  the 
following  interrogative  sentence,  which  signifies 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  object  to  that  which 
has  been  ordained  by  God,  or  to  condemn  it  (as 
e.  g.,  Job  had  undertaken  to  do  cb.  ix.  22  seq.). 
[This  is  the  meaning  of  ^'lyin  favored  by  all 
the  ancient  versions,  by  usage,  and  by  the  pa- 
rallelism, which  suggests  God  as  the  object  of 
the  verb  here,  as  in  6.  The  meaning  "  to  make 
trouble"  (E.  V.)  is  not  inappropriate  however: 
and  either  rendering  leads  to  the  same  result,  to 
wit,  a  rest  for  the  oppressed  against  which  op- 
pressors will  be  impotent].  The  structure  of 
the  second  parallel  member  is  essentially  the 
same :  if  He  hides  His  face  (in  wrath  above 
those  wicked  ones) — w^ho  will  behold  Him, 
again  find  Him  graciously  disposed  ?  To  the 
clause  0'J3  "^^'PJ'^  from  which  it  is  separated 
only  on  account  of  the  rhythm,  belongs  the 
close  specification  in  the  third  member,  together 
with  the  doubled  negative  statement  of  the  end 
aimed  at  in  ver.  30:  alike  above  a  people 
and  above  man  (^^2  serving  to  strengthen 
the  correlation  and  correspondence  expressed 
by  1 — 1),  in  order  that  ungodly  men  might 
not  rule  (|D=thatnot;  comp.2King8xxiii.33, 
K'ri),  not  (JO  by  ellipsis,  instead  of  the  repeti- 
tion of  '^^rap)  snares  of  the  people;  t.  «.,  un- 
godly misleaders,  who  would  plunge  the  people 
into  ruin;  comp.  Ex.  x.  7;   Hos.  v.  1. 

6.  Conclusion:  Exhibition  of  the  inconsistency 
and  folly  of  Job's  accusations  of  the  divine 
righteousness:  vers.  31-37. 

Vers.  31-32.  For  does  one  say  Indeed  to 
God— "I  expiate  without  doing  evil ;  what 


I  see  not,  that  show  Thou  me  ;  if  I  have 
done  iniquity  I  will  do  it  no  more." — So 
(in  essential  agreementwith  Schult.,  Ew..  Vaih., 
Heil.  Dillm.)  are  these  two  obscure  verses  to  be 
rendered,  which  have  been  variously  misunder- 
stood by  the  ancient  versions  of  expositors.  For 
(1)  '^'P^j?..  ■^er.  31  a,  can  only  be  3  Perf.  sing, 
with  n  interrogative  (comp.  ch.  xxi.  4;  Ezek. 
xxviii.  9),  not  Imperat.  Niph.  (^"IDXn,  dicen- 
dtim  est),  as  Rosenm.,  Schlottm.  [E.  V.  Noy  , 
Con.,  Rod.],  etc.,  take  it.  The  subject  of  this 
interrogative  mim  dicit  however  cannot  be  the 
^jn  DHX  of  the  preceding  verses,  but  is  indefi- 
nite, any  one  (comp.  ch.  xxi.  22;  xxx.  24  ). 
["It  is  observed  by  Scott  that  the  petition  and 
confession,  which  Elihu  recommends  to  Job, 
would  be  highly  improper  for  one  who  knows 
himself  to  be  guilty  of  heinous  crimes,  but 
highly  fit  for  a  person,  who  though  good  in  the 
main,  has  reason  to  suspect  somewhat  amiss  in 
his  temper  and  conduct,  for  which  God  is  dis- 
pleased with  him.  It  appears  plainly  that  Elihu 
did  not  suppose  Job  to  be  a  nicked  man,  suffering 
for  his  oppressions,  bribery,  inhumanity,  and 
impiety,  with  which  his  three  friends  had 
charged  him."  Noyes].  (2)  The  difficult  ex- 
pression 'JINtyj  is  most  simply  understood  of  the 
bearing  of  sins  in  respect  of  their  punishment,  an 
object  which  is  easily  supplied  out  of  the  asyn- 

detically  added  circumstantial  clause  /Snx  Nv; 
hence — "I    bear    (or  expiate),    without   doing 

evil."  (73n  as  e.  g.,  Nehem.  i.  7;  comp.  Dan. 
vi.  23).  This  rendering  of  the  second  member 
of  ver.  31  is,  on  account  of  its  simplir:ity,  and  the 
established  character  of  the  linguistic  construc- 
tion in  all  its  parts,  greatly  to  be  preferred  to 
any  other,  as  e.  g.,  to  that  of  Rashi,  Merc, 
Schlottmann  [E.  V.  Noyes,  Con.,  Rod.,  Bar.], 
etc.  "I  expiate,  I  will  do  evil  no  more;"  of 
Hirzel — "  Ibeartheyoke  of  punishment,  and  will 
not  cast  it  off;"  of  Hahn  and  Delitzsch — "I 
have  been  proud,  I  will  do  evil  no  more ;"  of 
Kamphausen  (who  following  the  LXX.  reads 
■"JTIXtiyj) — "I  have  practiced  oppression,  I  will 
take  a  pledge  no  more" — LXX.:  "I  have  re- 
ceived (scil.  blessings),  I  will  not  take  a 
pledge"],    etc.       (3)    The    elliptical    objective 

clause  ninx  n^n3  at  the  beginning  of  ver.  32 
is  according  to  Ew.,  ^333  b  to  be  explained: 
"that  which  lies  beyond  what  I  see,  teach  Thou 
me;"  i.e.,  that  which  lies  beyond  the  circle  of 
my  vision,  that  which  I  do  not  see,  teach  Thou 
me  respecting  it.  By  this  is  meant  the  errors 
unknown  to  the  speaker,  which  in  Ps.  xix.  13 
are  called  nnj^pJ — only  that  here  the  person 
introduced  as  speaking  is  not  a  truly  pious  and 
penitent  self- observer,  like  the  poet  of  that 
Psalm,  but  one  who  confesses  reluctantly,  who 
regards  himself  as  being,  properly  speaking, 
wholly  innocent,  and  who  (according  to  ver.  32) 
announces  himself  as  ready  to  repent  only  in  case 
(DN)  iniquity  should  be  proved  upon  him.  And 
on  the  whole  Job  had  indeed  heretofore  always 
expressed  himself  essentially  in  this  impenitent, 
rather  than  in  a  truly  contrite  way;  comp.  ch. 
yii.  20 ;  xix.  4,  etc. 


CHAPS.  XXXIV— XXXV. 


573 


Ver.  33.  Should  He  recompense  it  to 
thee  according  to  thy  will  (D^  as  ia  '"j^ij!?. 
ch.  xxiii  10;  xxvii.  11,  and  often),  that  thou 
hast  despised,  scil.  His  usual  way  of  recom- 
pensing. Tlie  question  may  also  be  expressed 
thus:  "Should  He  allow  thy  discontented  fault- 
finding, and  blaming  of  His  method  of  retribu- 
tion to  go  unpunished,  and  take  up  instead  with  a 
method  corresponding  to  thy  way  of  thinking?" 
which  is  equivalent  to  saying :  Should  He  change 
the  laws  of  His  righteous  administration  (his 
jxcstitid  retribuens)  to  please  thee? — SO  that  thou 
must  choose,  and  not  I  ?  i.  e.,  so  that  thou 
wouldst  have  to  determine  the  mode  of  retribu- 
tion, and  not  I  (God).  Instead  of  'JK  we  should 
properly  expect  N^n,  but  Elihu  here,  after  the 
manner  of  the  prophets,  introduces  God  Himself 
as  speaking,  and  thus  makes  himself  the  organ 
of  God  (so  correctly  Rashi,  Rosenm.,  Ewald, 
etc.).  ["The  abrupt  and  bold  personation  of  the 
Deity  in  the  first  person  ("and  not  I")  is  not 
unnatural  in  one  who  is  speaking  on  behalf  of 
God,  and  representing  his  just  prerogatives  and 
claims."  Con.].  And  what  know^est  thou 
then  ?  speak  ;  i.  e.,  in  respect  to  the  only  true 
method  of  retribution.  What  more  correct 
knowledge  than  all  others  canst  thou  claim  for 
thyself  respecting  this  obscure  province  of  the 
divine  way  of  retribution  ? 

On  ver.  84  comp.  vers.  2  and  10. 

Vers.  35-37  contain  the  speech  of  the  men  of 
understanding,  towhose  judgment  Elihu  appeals 
as  agreeing  with  his  own. 

Ver.  35.  Job  speaks  without  knowledge, 
and   his  w^ords  are   without    w^isdom. — 

TDtyn,  substant.   Inf.   absol.   Hiph.,  instead  of 
the  usual  form  ID'^T]  •  so  also  in  Jer.  iii.  15. 

Ver.  36.  O  would  that  Job  were  proved 
continually. — ""pj*  cannot  Bignify  "my  Fa- 
ther," as  though  it  were  an  address  to  God 
(Vulg.,  Saad.,  Luther  [Bernard],  etc.),  for  in 
Elihu's  mouth,  judging  by  numerous  parallels, 
we  should  rather  look  for  "  my  Maker,"  or  "  my 
God;"  and  the  address  "my  Father"  does  not 
once  elsewhere  throughout  the  Old  Testament 
proceed  from  a  single  person  to  God,  and  just 
here  would  have  but  little  propriety.  [Words, 
suggests  that  it  may  have  been  addressed  by 
Elihu,  as  a  young  man,  to  Job;  which  in  view 
of  the  mention  of  Job  immediately  after  in  the 
third  person,  would  be  singularly  harsh]. 
Hence  the  word  should  either  (with  Targ.,  Kim- 
chi,  Umbr.,  Schlottm.  [E.  V.],  etc.)  be  derived 
from  a   subst.     HIIX,   "wish,"   to    be   assumed, 

V  T 

and  to  be  rendered  either  "my  desire  is,"  or  "I 
desire;"'  or — which  is  in  any  case  to  be  preferred 
—  with  DiJJ.,  Ew.,  Del.,  Dillm.,  be  rendered  as  an 
interjectional  optative  particle, synonymous  with' 
^7,  and  resting  on  a  root  tJ'^  or  "'13. — Etymologi- 
cally  related  jire  the  well  known  ""S  in  the  formula 
"JIX  '3,  (qiiseso  domine),  on  the  other  side  the 
optative  interjection,  still  very  common  with  the 
Syrian  Arabs  of  Damascus,  aii  (which  is  for- 
mally intiicted  abi,  tebi,  jebi;  nebi,  tebU,  Jebil)  ; 
comp.  the  elaborate  and  learned  discussion  of 
Wetzstein  in  Delitzsch,  p.  431  seq. — In  respect 
to  nVJ  IJ^,   "continually,"  or  "to  the  extreme 


end,"  comp.  the  similar  ni'il7  in  ch.  xxiii.  7. 
What  Elihu  here  desires  for  Job  is  not  that  the 
chastisements  inflicted  on  him  should  increase 
in  severity,  that  his  sufferings  should  continu- 
ally grow  more  intense  (such  cruelty  would  in 
connection  with  his  mild  and  friendly  treatment 
of  Job  elsewhere  be  simply  inconceivable).  It 
is  rather  that  the  divine  operation  of  proving 
his  heart  and  working  on  his  conscience  now 
going  on  (comp.  Ps.  cxxxix.  23 ;  also  |n3  in  ch. 
vii.  18)  should  be  carried  on  until  he  had  been 
brought  at  last  to  confess  his  guilt,  and  to  hum- 
ble himself  beneath  tiie  hand  of  God  (comp. 
Brentius,  and  von  Gerlach  below,  llomiletical 
Remai'ks).  The  reason  why  Elihu  desires  that 
he  may  thus  continue  under  the  influence  of  the 
divine  process  of  proving  and  punishing  him, — ■ 
or  more  accurately,  why  he  introduces  the  men 
of  understanding  as  uttering  this  wish  in  what 
they  say,  is  given  in  ver.  36  b  taken  together 
with  ver.  37:  on  account  of  his  answ^ers 
after  the  manner  of  w^icked  men  (  Pi^2'diy 
"replies,"  viz.  to  the  speeches  of  the  friends  . 
rebuking  him;  comp.  ch.  xxi.  34;  3  here  signi- 
fying "in  the  manner,  after  the  fashion  of"). 

Ver.  87.  Because  he  addeth  to  his  sin 
transgression  (;'.  e.  by  his  presumptuous 
speeches  against  God)  [hence  }?p2  here  may  be 
rendered  "blasphemy"],  in  the  midst  of  ua 
he  mocks  ("claps"  [his  hands  in  scorn]  ;  see 
on  ver.  26),  and  multiplieth  his  speeches 
against  God. — 3V,  imperf.  apoc.  Hiph.  (as 
in  ch.  X.  17)  is  used  instead  of  the  unabbrevi- 
ated Imperf.,  like  DtlTII  ch.  xiii.  27,  instead  of 
Qt?n\  or   like  it:'',  ch.   xxxiii.   27,   e^c  — SxS, 

Vt-  t  ••  t 

"towards  God,  aguinst  God,"  refers  back  both 
to  this  3^''  and  to  p13D'' ;  for  the  mocking  is 
also  described  as  being  against  God. 

6.  The  third  discourse :  ch.  xxxv.  First  Half: 
The  folly  of  the  erroneous  notion  that  piety  and 
ungodliness  are  alike  of  little  profit:  vers.  1-8. 
In  respect  to  ver.  1,  comp.  ch.  xxxiv.  1.  The 
conjecture  of  Koster  and  Schlottmann,  that  the 
verse  is  a  later  interpolation,  because  ch.  xxxv. 
gives  evidence  of  being  a  simple  appendage  to 
ch.  xxxiv.,  has  no  foundation.  For  with  just  as 
good  right  might  ch.  xxxiv.  also  be  regarded  as 
a  simple  appendage  to  ch.  xxxiii.,  because  the 
theme  of  this  second  discourse  has  also  received 
expression  at  the  beginning  of  the  discourse 
preceding  (ch.  xxx.  9  sq.).  All  four  discourses 
are  closely  bound  together,  and  ch.  xxxiii.  9-11 
contains  the  common  point  of  procedure  for  all 
alike  (see  on  the  passage). 

Vers.  2-3  formulate,  in  an  interrogative  form, 
the  special  theme  of  the  discourse,  as  a  repeti- 
tion of  that  which  has  already  been  said  (ch. 
xxxiv.  9). — Hast  thou  considered  this 
(nXT  pointing  forwards  to  ver.  3)  to  be  right 
(ch.  xxxiii.  10),  and  spoken  of  it  as  "my 
righteousness  before  God"  (JO  coram,  as 
in  ch.  iv.  7 ;  xxxii.  2),  that  thou  sayest, 
w^hat  advantage  is  it  to  thee  (po  as  iu 
ch.  xxxiv.  9),  "Tvhat  doth  it  profit  me  more 
than  my  sin?" — As  frequently  with  Elilui, 
the  direct  interrogation  interchanges  here  with 


574 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


the  indirect  (comp.  e.g.  xxxiv.  33).  The  force 
of  the  whole  question,  moreover,  is  that  of  a 
strong  negation:  a  righteous  man  speaks  not 
thus.  [The  construction  here  given  of  these 
two  verses  seems  awkward  and  artificial.  Ex- 
tremely so  in  particular  is  it  to   render  JTIOX 

Sxo  'p^V  "(hast  thou)  defined  it  as  'my  right- 
eousness before  God'  that  thou  hast  said,"  elc. 
And  besides  how  can  it  be  said  that  he  had  made 
bis  saying  that  there  is  no  profit  in  holiness  a 
part  of  his  righteousness  before  God?  Here, 
moreover,  it  cannot  well  be  denied  that  the 
comparative  sense  of  jp,  "my  righteousness  is 
more  than  God's,"  makes  the  proposition  intro- 
duced by  J^'^?^  more  complete  and  forcible. 
Had  he  designed  to  say:  "  I  am  righteous  before 
God,"  he  would  have  used  the  verb  ^"^P^2^ 
(which  Olshausen  indeed  proposes  to  read), 
rather  than  'P'li^.  The  meaning  of  the  claim 
which  Job  had  made,  according  to  Elihu,  is  not 
that  his  character  was  more  righteous  than  that 
of  God,  but  that  his  cause,  as  against  God,  was 
more  just  than  that  of  his  Almighty  antagonist. 
In  ver.  3  Elihu  gives  the  proof,  or  rather  the 
specification  in  support  of  his  charge.  Job  had 
denied  that  there  was  any  profit  in  holiness  : — 
in  other  words  he  had  charged  God  with  indif- 
ference to  moral  character  in  his  treatment  of 
men.  The  rendering  of  E.  V.  is  to  be  preferred 
except  in  the  last  clause,  where  |0  is  again 
comparative,  and  which  should  be  rendered,  not 
— "what  profit  shall  I  have  if  I  be  cleansed 
from  my  sin?"  but — "what  profit  shall  I  have 
more  than  by  my  sin?" — E.] 

Ver.  4.  I  -will  answer  thee  ■words  (comp. 
ch.  xxxiii.  32),  and  thy  companions  with 
thee,  i.  e.  Eliphaz,  Bildad  and  Zophar,  who 
have  shown  themselves  incompetent  to  contend 
with  thee  eflFectively,  and  who  deserve  to  be 
reprimanded  together  with  thee  (^'SJ'.).  We  are 
scarcely  to  render  ^*3J7  (with  Dillmann,  etc.), 
"who  are  with  thee."  Still  more  impossible  is 
it  to  understand  by  D'^n  not  the  three  friends, 
but  all  others  associated  with  Job  in  sentiment 
and  character,  the  tlj^  'l^JX  of  ch,  xxxiv.  8,  36 
(Umbr.,  Heil.,  Vaih.,  Del.),  for  D"';rT  constantly 
denotes  throughout  the  book  the  three  friends 
of  Job  (cli.  ii.  11;  xix.  21;   xxxii.  3;  xlii.  7). 

Vers.  5-8.  Refutation  of  the  ensnaring  pro- 
position that  it  is  useless  to  be  pious  by  calling 
attention  to  God's  blessed  self-sufficiency  in  His 
heavenly  exaltation,  the  contemplation  of  which 
shows  that  of  necessity  man  only  can  derive 
profit  from  his  righteousness  (a  thought  wliich 
had  been  already  expressed  by  Job  himself,  ch. 
vii.  20;  and  by  Eliphaz,  ch.  xxii.  2  seq.). 

Ver.  5.  Look  up  to  heaven,  and  see,  etc. 
— In  the  same  wny  that  Zophar  (cii.  xi.  7  seq.) 
points  Job  to  the  height  of  the  heavenly  vault, 
and  its  loftiest  luminous  fleece-like  clouds  (which 
is  what  D'pniy  means  here,  not  precisely  a 
eynonym  of  "heaven,"  or  of  the  "ether,"  as 
Vaihinger,  Delitzsch,  etc.,  say),  in  order  to  illus- 
trate God's  absolute  exaltation  above  the  world. 

On  ver.  6  seq.  comp.  ch    vii.  20;   xxii.  2  seq. 
Ver.    8.  To  man  like  thee  thy  wicked- 


ness availeth  (i.  e.  it  produces  its  effects  on 
him),  and  for  a  son  of  man  thy  righteous- 
ness.— By  the  "son  of  man"  Job  himself,  or 
one  of  his  kind,  is  again  intended.  The  expres- 
sion serves  to  set  forth  their  need  of  help,  and 
frailty  in  contrast  with  the  exaltation  and  bles- 
sedness of  God. 

7.  Continuation  mid  close. — Second  ITalf:  The 
true  reason  why  sufferers  remain  for  a  long  time 
unheard,  to  wit:  a.  Their  lack  of  genuine  reve- 
rence for  God;  b.  The  presumptuousness  of 
their  speeches  against  God. 

a.  Vers.  9-14.  On  account  of  the  multi- 
tude of  oppressions  they  cry  out,  they 
wail  because  of  the  violence  (lit.  "because 
of  the  arm,"  J^HI  as  in  ch.  xxii.  8)  of  the 
mighty  (D'S^  here  in  another  sense  than  in 
ch.  xxxii.  9).  The  Hiph,  Ip'i^P  in  the  sense  of 
Kal,  or  as  intensive  of  Kal  (comp.  ch.  xix.  7  ; 
xxxi.  18)  [not  Hiphil  proper,  "  they  make  the 
oppressed  to  cry,"  (E.  V.)  which  is  unsuitable 
in  connection  with  it:?^  ^''"^?.]-  ^'p'i^dj,\  "op- 
pressions," as  in  Am.  iii.  9;  Eccles.  iv.  1. 

Ver.  10  seq.  introduce  the  refutation  of  this 
objection  [contained  in  ver.  9,  to  wit,  that  op- 
pression goes  unpunished,  hence  that  the  wicked 
fare  no  worse  than  the  righteous],  by  calling 
attention  to  the  guilt  of  the  suffering.  But 
they  do  not  say  (as  they  could  say) — Where 
is  Eloah  my  creator  ?  This  is  the  question 
asked  by  those  who  seek  God  (comp.  Jer.  ii.  6, 
8).  ^ii'^  intensive  plur.,  as  in  Is.  xxii.  11;  liv. 
6;  Ps.  cxlix.  2.  "Who  giveth  songs  in  the 
night;  i.  e.,  by  granting  sudden  and  wonderful 
deliverance  (comp.  ch.  xxxiv.  2.5). 

Ver.  11.  Who  teaches  us  more  than  the 
beasts  of  the  earth — not  "by  them,  as  our 
mute  instructors"  (llahn,  Delitzsch),  but  with  a 
comparative  rendering  of  jD,  "  in  preference  to 
the  beasts,  esteeming  us  worthy  of  higher  honor 
and  blessing  than  they."  The  form  ^^3*70  is 
either  an  error  of  transcription,  or  syncopated 
from  UpyXp  ;  comp.  f|^X  in  ch.  xv.  5.  On  b 
comp.  ch.  xii.  7,  where  in  like  manner  the  men- 
tion of  the  birds  of  heaven  is  parallel  to  that 
of  the  beasts  of  the  field.  [A  pregnant  passage. 
The  instinctive  cry  of  distress  for  relief  is  not 
the  prayer  which  God  requires.  The  former 
goes  up  from  the  brute  creature  (comp.  Ps.  civ. 
21  ;  Joel  i.  20 ;  Ps.  cxlix.  9)  ;  man's  prayer 
should  be  worthy  of  a  rational  being,  should 
proceed  from  the  recognition  of  God  the  creator, 
and  from  gratitude  for  His  interposition  in  our 
behalf  in  the  night  of  calamity.  If  (as  he  pro- 
ceeds to  show)  man's  prayers  are  not  heard,  it 
is  because  they  are  too  much  the  cry  of  animal 
instinct,  not  the  outpouring  of  the  heart,  con- 
scious of  its  wants,  of  God,  and  of  His  good- 
ness.— E.]. 

Ver.  12.  There  cry  they — but  He  answ^era 
not  (or:  "wiihout  indc  d  God's  answering 
llipm") — on  account  of  the  pride  of  the 
evil. — Respecting  the  construction  of  tlie  verb 
p>'jr  with  ''pS'p,  "before,"  or  "on  account  of,'' 
comp.  Is.  xix.  20.  [It  seems  most  natural  to  put 
'^230  here  in  close  conneciion  with  T\2J,'\  "  He 
will  not  answer"  (so  as  to  save  them)  from    the 


CHAP.  XXXIV— XXXV. 


575 


force  of  wicked  men.  To  make  the  pride  of  the 
oppressors  tlie  reason  why  God  refuses  to  hear 
the  oppressed,  although  the  affirmation  in  itself 
might  be  made,  would  be  out  of  harmony  here. 
The  reason  as  Elihu  more  explicitly  declares  in 
ver.  13  is  in  (he  oppressed  themselves. — E.]. 

Ver.  13.  The  reason  why  God  does  not  hear 
those  oppressed  when  they  cry:  Only  vanity 
(i.  e.,  nothingness,  empty,  fruitless  complaining 
[with  "^X  restrictive — "  that  which  is  only  empti- 
ness, that  crying  which  has  no  heart  in  it"]) 
God  heareth  not — but  on  the  other  hand  (for 
this  is  the  unspoken  antithesis)  He  doth  hear  the 
righteous,  pious  prayer.  And  the  Almighty 
regardeth  it  not — viz.,  that  crying  and  com- 
plaining. The  neut.  suffix  in  n^^^lty]  does  not 
refer  to  the  masc.  H)\!/,  but  to  the  crying  spoken 
of  in  the  preceding  verse.  Respecting  '^W  "to 
behold,  observe,"  comp.  ch.  xxxiii.   14. 

Ver.  14.  Much  less  then  (would  He  hear 
thee)  when  thou  sayest:  thou  beholdest 
Him  not;  i.  e.,  He  intentionally  withdraws 
himself  from  thee;  comp.  ch.  xxiii.  8  seq.  In 
respect  to  ^2  ^X  quanta  minus  (here  more  pre- 
cisely quanta  minus  si,  comp.  ch.  iv.  19;  ix.  14; 
Ezek.  XV.  5.  Neither  the  language  nor  the  con- 
text justifies  the  rendering  of  Schlottmann  and 
Delitzsch  [also  E.  V.],  who  take  ''3  ^H  to  mean 

"although,"  etiamsi,  which  moreover  receives  no 
support  from  Nehem.  ix.  18.  The  cause  lies 
before  Him,  and  thou  waitest  (in  vain)  on 
Him  ; — this  being  the  continuation  of  the  indi- 
rect address  begun  in  a. — pi  (instead  of  which 
elsewhere  we  have  ^H),  "the  cause  in  contro- 
versy, the  case  on  trial,"  as  also  ^7in  "to 
wait"  (instead  of  which  elsewhere  /PI'),  are 
both  expressions  peculiar  to  Elihu.  Hirzel, 
Schlottmann,  Delitzsch  [E.  V.  Scott,  Noyes, 
Barnes,  Words.,    Ren.,  Rod.],  etc.,   render  this 

second     member    as    an    admonition    to    Job 

"the  controversy  lies  certainly  before  God,  but 
thou  shouldst  calmly  await  His  decision."  But 
this  is  rendered  impossible  by  the  tone  of  stern 
censure  in  ver.  15  seq.     Still  more  out  of  the 

question  (on  account  of  VJSy)  is  the  rendering 
of  Ewald  who  takes  ^J'llD'il  and  77inj1  as  ad- 
dressed to  God. 

/3. — vers.  15-16.  The  complaint  of  Job,  above 
cited,  in  respect  to  God's  assumed  withdrawal 
and  concealment  of  Himself,  gives  Elihu  occa- 
sion to  refer  to  Job's  presumptuous  and  dogmatic 
speeches  as  another  reason  for  his  being  unheard. 
And  now,  because  His  anger  has  not  yet 
punished  (lit.  "because  there  is  not  [or  no- 
thing], which  His  anger  has  punished  [visited]  ; 
i.  e.,  because  His  anger  has  not  yet  interposed 
to  punish — comp.  Ew.,  §  321,  b),  should  He 
not  nevertheless  be  well  acquainted 
with  presumption? — In  respect  to  1,^0  with 
J^T  comp.  Ps.  cxsxix.  14,  and  respecting  3  in 
the  sense  of  "about"  (to  know  about  anything), 
comp.  above,  ch.  xii.  9. — 1^3,  iustead  of  which 
the  LXX.  and  Vulg.  read  i'C^3,  seems  to  signify 
according  to  the  Arabic,  "arrogance,  presump- 
tion," possibly   also    "foolishness"    (the   same 


with  n 73n  used  elsewhere) ;  scarcely  however 
"multitude,  mass,"  as  the  Rabbis  explain  [nor 
"  extremity,"  as  E.  V.  renders  it].  The  word 
is  intended  to  designate  Job's  presump- 
tuous, intemperate  speeches  against  God.  The 
passage  is  in  substance  correctly  rendered  by 
Ewald,  Delitzsch  and  Dillmann, — only  that  the 
last  named  conjectures  6  to  be  a  free  citation 
from  Job's  former  discourses  (say  from  ch.  xxiv. 
12),  and  thus  needlessly  obscures  the  explana- 
tion of  the  verse  (to  the  extent  that  he  conjec- 
tures either  a  corruption  of  the  word  E/3,  or  the 
loss  of  two  half  verses  from  between  a  and  b. 
The  commentators  follow  different  constructions 
of  the  passage,  which  in  some  particulars  vary 
greatly  among  themselves,  but  which  are  largely 
agreed  in  taking  ver.  15  as  protasis,  and  ver.  16 
as  apodosis:  on  the  basis  of  which  construction 
Ilahn  e.  g.  translates:  "  Especially  now,  because 
He  (God)  does  not  have  regard  for  his  (Job's) 
anger,  and  does  not  trouble  himself  about 
wicked  arrogance.  Job  opens,  etc.,'"  (and  so 
Kamph, ;  while  Rosenm.,  Stick.,  Hirz.,  Schlottm., 
[Carey,  with  others  who  take  WD  in  the  sense 
of  "transgression,"  as,  e.g.,  Conant,  Noyes, 
Barnes,  Rodwell,  Renan]  take  13X  in  ver.  15  a 
as  subj.  and  understand  by  it  God^s  anger.  But 
ver.  16  cannot  be  the  apodosis  of  ver.  15,  partly 
because  of  the  way  the  subject  Jrxi  is  prefixed, 
and  partly  because  the  thought  is  rather  the  de- 
livery of  a  final  judgment  in  respect  to  the 
whole  manner  of  Job's  appearance  :  But  Job 
opens  his  mouth  in  vain  {i.  e.,  uselessly,  to 

no  purpose;  S^H  as  in  ch.  ix.  29;  xxi.  34),  and 
unintelligently   multiplieth   words.— The 

"opening  of  the  mouth  "  is  not  mentioned  here 
as  a  gesture  of  scorn  (as  e.  g.,  in  Lam.  ii.  16; 
iii.  46),  but,  as  explained  by  the  second  member, 
as  a  symbol  or  means  of  unintelligent  babbling 
and  loquacity.  T^pH  here  and  ch.  xxxvi.  31 
^na'in,  (ch.  xxxiv.  37). 

DOCTRINAL  AND   ETHICAL. 

The  many  points  of  contact  between  the  two 
discourses  here  considered  and  those  of  the  three 
friends,  especially  in  the  words  of  blame  and  re- 
proof addressed  to  Job  have  furnished  those  ex- 
positors in  ancient  and  modern  times,  whose 
judgment  respecting  Elihu  has  been  in  general 
unfavorable,  with  abundant  material  for  their 
disparaging  judgments,  and  their  attacks.  That 
Elihu  is  a  servile  imitator,  a  mere  reproducer 
and  compiler  of  what  has  been  said  by  previous 
speakers;  that  in  repeating  he  weakens  in  many 
ways  the  statements  of  his  predecessors;  that  he 
cites  Job's  expressions,  when  he  would  contro- 
vert them,  inaccurately,  or  in  such  a  way  as  al- 
together to  distort  them  ;  that  he  endijavors  to 
surpass  the  three  friends  in  the  intemperate  se- 
verity of  his  attacks  on  Job,  etc.,  these  and  the 
like  are  the  unfavorable  judgments  of  the 
critics  from  the  pseudo-Jerome,  Gregory,  and 
Bede,  down  to  Dillmann,  and  indeed  even 
more  considerate  and  favorably  disposed 
critics  fall  in,  at  least  in  part,  with  this  tone 
of  remark.  Thus  Delitzsch  asserts,  at  least  in 
respect  to  ch.  xxxvii.,  that  the  absence,  in  thia 


S76 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


third  discourse  of  Elihu,  of  the  "bold  original 
figures"  of  the  previous  discourses,  indicates  on 
the  part  of  this  discourse  as  compared  with  the 
remainder  of  the  poem  "a  deficiency  of  skill,  as 
now  and  then  between  Koheleth  and  Solomon;" 
that  not  one  of  its  thoughts  is,  strictly  speaking, 
new,  that,  on  the  contrary,  in  one  chief  thought 
we  have  simply  the  repetition  of  what  was  said 
in  a  previous  discourse  of  Eliphaz,  to  wit,  that 
the  piety  of  the  pious  profits  himself;  in  the 
other — to  wit,  that  the  pious,  in  his  necessity, 
does  not  put  forth  useless  cries,  but  lifts  him- 
self in  prayer  to  God — a  repetition  of  what  Job 
had  said  in  his  last  discourse,  ch.  xxvii.  9  seq. 
But  nevertheless  Delitzsch  is  obliged  to  admit 
that  "Elihu  deprives  these  thoughts  of  their 
hitherto  erroneous  application."  He  is  con- 
strained to  acknowledge  that  the  quickened  con- 
sciousness of  sin  and  guilt,  which  Elihu  in  this 
discourse  occasions  for  Job,  is  perfectly  in  place, 
and  must  touch  Job's  heart,  especially  in  so  far 
as  it  teaches  him  to  seek  the  cause  of  his  long- 
continued  sufferings,  and  of  the  failure  of  hia 
prayers  hitherto  to  be  heard  in  himself,  in  the 
inadequacy  of  his  own  purity  and  piety,  in  his 
lack  of  true  submissiveness  to  God's  righteous 
decree — and  not  in  any  severity  on  the  part  of 
God.  And  still  more  favorable  is  his  judgment 
respecting  the  value  of  the  argument  in  his  sec- 
ond discourse,  directed  principally  against  Job's 
presumptuous  doubt  of  the  divine  justice;  re- 
specting which  he  acknowledges  that  "Elihu 
does  not  here  coincide  with  what  has  been 
already  said  (especially  ch.  xii.  15  seq.),  with- 
out applying  it  to  another  purpose ;  and  that 
his  tlieodicy  differs  essentially  from  that  pro- 
claimed by  the  friends.  It  is  not  derived  from 
mere  appearance,  but  lays  hold  of  the  very 
principles.  It  does  not  attempt  the  explanation 
of  the  many  apparent  contradictions  to  retribu- 
tive justice  which  outward  events  manifest,  as 
agreeing  with  it;  it  does  not  solve  the  question 
by  mere  empiricism,  but  from  the  idea  of  the 
Godhead  and  its  relation  to  the  world,  and  by 
such  inner  necessity  guarantees  to  the  mysteries 
still  remaining  to  human  short-sightedness  their 
future  solution"  (II.,  p.  266,  comp.  p.  270). 
When  we  see  one  of  the  weightiest  opponents  of 
the  genuineness  of  the  whole  Elihu-section 
stripping  of  all  its  force  and  value  that  charge 
against  these  two  chapters  which  is  most  fre- 
quently brought  forward,  and  most  persistently 
urged,  the  complaint  that  it  is  deficient  in  ori- 
ginality, and  that  its  character  is  simply  that 
of  a  compilation  and  reproduction,  we  shall  not 
find  it  difficult  to  reply  to  the  remaining  objections 
made  to  the  inward  value  and  authenticity  of  the 
two  discourses.  As  regards  (a)  the  absence  of 
ornament,  the  lack  of  original  figures  and  similes 
which  Del.  urges  as  an  objection,  at  least  so  far 
as  ch.  XXXV.  is  concerned,  it  may  be  very  much 
questioned  whether  the  poet  himself  did  not  in- 
tend this  as  a  characteristic  of  the  utterances  of 
Elihu  here,  whether,  that  is,  this  unadorned 
simplicity  does  not  on  the  one  side  render  effec- 
tive support  to  that  which  Elihu  has  to  say 
against  Job's  intemperate  speeches,  greatly  in- 
creasing its  impressiveness,  its  power  to  speak  to 
the  heart,  and  to  quicken  the  conscience,  while, 
on  the  other  side,  it  is  intended  to  form  a  con- 


trast  to  the  final  discourse  which  follows  (ch. 
xxxvi.-xxxvii.),  in  which  the  wealth  of  pictur- 
esque illustration,  bold  imagery,  and  artistic 
rhetorical  turns,  which  are  characteristic  of  the 
book  elsewhere,  reappears  in  higher  measures, 
and  in  a  way  which  quite  eclipses  the  splendor 
of  the  art  of  figurative  representation  as  exer- 
cised by  the  preceding  speakers.  In  other 
words,  it  may  be  questioned,  whether  it  is  not 
the  poet's  purpose  to  introduce  Elihu,  the 
preacher  of  repentance,  as  speaking  as  plainly, 
simply,  and  with  as  little  art  as  possible,  but  on 
the  contrary  to  introduce  Elihu,  the  inspired  eu- 
logist and  glorifier  of  God,  as  surpassing  the 
former  speakers  in  the  power,  loftiness  and 
adornment  of  his  discourse,  nay,  even  as  rival- 
ling in  this  respect  the  representation  of  Jeho- 
vah himself.  (6)  As  regards  the  assertion  that 
Elihu  quotes  those  utterances  of  Job,  which  he 
opposes,  incorrectly,  and  so  as  to  distort  them, 
this  is  by  no  means  the  case,  as  a  close  compari- 
son of  the  quotations  in  question  not  only  with 
similar  utterances  of  Job's  or  with  such  as  are 
verbally  identical,  but  also  with  the  meaning  of 
his  language,  teaches,  and  as  the  exegesis  of  the 
particular  passages  has  already  shown. 

And  finally  (c);  that  Elihu  here  exhibits 
himself  as  still  more  inconsiderate  and  intem- 
perate, in  his  censure  of  Job  than  the  three 
friends,  rests  on  the  misinterpretation  of  par- 
ticular passages  which,  when  rightly  judged  ac- 
cording to  their  connection,  reveal  Elihu  as 
being  mildly  disposed  toward  the  person  of  his 
opponent.  So  in  particular  that  passage,  harsh 
in  some  respect",  which  he  has  borrowed  from 
the  second  discourse  of  Eliphaz,  and  subjected 
to  a  peculiar  modification,  where  he  speaks  of 
"  drinking  scorn  like  water"  (ch.  xxxiv.  8  seq., 
see  on  the  passage).  So  again  the  wish,  uttered 
at  the  close  of  the  second  discourse  (or  rather 
put  in  the  mouth  of  certain  men,  who  are  there 
introduced  as  speaking),  that  Job  "might  be 
continually  proved  to  the  end,"  in  respect  to 
which  the  necessary  remarks  have  already  been 
made  in  explaining  the  passage.  So  again  the 
strong  language  at  the  close  of  ch.  xxxv.  the  se- 
verity of  which  is  due  simply  to  the  circum- 
stance that  Elihu  here  gives  expression  to  his 
indignation  against  that  which  was  really  most 
objectionable  and  criminal  in  Job,  his  presump- 
tuous and  intemperate  speeches  against  God,  as  a 
cruel,  unsympathizing  Being.  There  is  scarcely 
one  of  the  objections  which  in  these  respects 
have  been  made  to  the  discourses  of  Elihu,  par- 
ticularly the  two  discourses  before  us,  which 
may  not,  with  apparently  equal  justice,  be 
urged  against  the  concluding  discourses  of  God, 
in  which  we  also  find  a  repetition  of  much  of 
the  thought  in  the  previous  chief  divisions  (the 
same  being  cited  in  part  literally,  in  part  freely), 
and  in  which  Job's  fundamental  moral  fault,  the 
arrogance  and  insolent  presumption  of  his  heart 
against  God,  is  just  as  energetically  arraigned, 
without  for  that  reason  occasioning  any  reason- 
able doubts  touching  the  genuineness  and  origi- 
nality of  that  section. 

HOMILETICAL   AND    PRACTICAL. 
The  practical  and  homiletic  material,  which 
these  two  intermediate  discourses   furnish,   ia 


ciiArs  XXXIV— XXXV, 


small,  compared  with  that  which  may  be  found 
in  many  other  sections.  Nevertheless  the  treat- 
ment of  the  two  fundamental  thoughts — that 
God  deals  righteously,  notwithstanding  all  ap- 
pearances to  the  contrary — and  that  true  piety 
is  always  and  infallibly  blessed — gives  rise  to 
many  thoughts  of  peculiar  theological  and  moral 
value,  showing  that  these  two  chapters  are  mines 
of  genuine  revealed  wisdom,  and  that  they  fur- 
nish much  wholesome  stimulus. 

Particular  Passages. 

Ch.  xxxiv.  1  (xxxv.  1):  Vict.  Andrea:  From 
this  point  on  Job  learns  before  all  else  to  be  si- 
lent. Without  saying  a  word,  he  simply  takes 
believingly  to  heart  whatever  is  now  made  clear 
to  him.  In  this  way  he  really  becomes  another 
man  than  he  has  been  heretofore,  so  that  at  last, 
because  his  frame  of  mind  is  become  truly  ac- 
ceptable to  God,  he  is  ready  to  be  completely  de- 
livered from  his  suffering,  and  to  be  doubly 
blessed  by  God. 

Ch.  xxxiv.  2  seq.  Brentius  (on  ver.  3):  No 
man,  however  spiritual,  has  the  right  to  judge 
the  Word  of  God,  but  only  the  word  of  man,  i. 
e.,  to  determine  whether  what  men  teach,  de- 
clare, and  decree,  is  the  word  of  God.  E.g., 
Christ  shed  His  blood  for  our  sins — it  is  per- 
mitted to  no  men  to  sit  in  judgment  on  this  say- 
ing, but  it  is  the  duty  of  all  men  to  yield  them- 
selves captive  to  this  saying,  and  to  believe  it. 
In  the  meanwhile  however  many  persons  put 
forth  many  and  various  opinions  in  respect  to 
this  saying,  etc. — Zeyss:  We  are  to  use  our  ears 
and  mouth  not  only  for  the  necessities  of  the 
body,  but  also  for  those  of  the  soul,  first  of  all 
however  that  we  may  hear  and  speak  God's 
word.  .  .  We  are  to  prove  and  to  judge  whether 
that  which  is  spoken  be  right  or  wrong,  in  ac- 
cordance with  God's  Word,  or  not  in  accordance 
with  it. 

Ch.  xxxiv.  12  seq.  v.  Gerlach:  In  what  be- 
longs to  another  it  is  possible  for  one  to  do  in- 
justice; but  if  God  should  do  injustice  to  any 
one,  He  would  injure  Himself,  destroy  His  own 
property,  for  all  is  His.  A  profound,  a  lofty 
thougiit!  No  one  can  conscientiously  belie-him- 
self,  dojustice  to  himself.  AUthat  wecall  injustice 
becomes  possible  only  because  man  has  his  equal 
as  a  free  being  beside  himself,  and  has  to  do  with 
the  property  of  others  on  earth.  This  (injustice) 
is  impossible  with  God,  just  for  the  reason  that 
all  belongs  to  Him. — Andreae:  In  opposition  to 
Job's  assertion,  that  it  is  of  no  profit  to  a  man 
with  God  to  live  a  pious  life,  Elihu  maintains 
calmly  and  firmly  the  irrefragable  truth — that 
both  the  holiness  of  God,  which  excludes  every 
thought  of  tyranny,  and  His  justice,  which  al- 
ways renders  to  each  oqq  his  own,  yea  even  and 


His  love,  by  which  He  maintains  the  whole  world 
in  existence,  belong  inseparably  to  the  divine 
nature  itself,  so  that  Job's  speeches  condemn 
themselves. 

Ch.  xxxiv.  20  Req.  Starke  (according  to  the 
Weim.  Bib.,  and  Cramer):  God  has  power 
enough  to  bring  the  proud  and  the  mighty  to 
the  punishment  which  is  meet  for  them.  The 
raging  of  all  His  foes  is  vain:  God  can  destroy 
them  quickly.  He  knows  our  need,  however, 
and  gives  close  attention  to  it. — Andreae:  God 
does  not  need  to  institute  long  inquiries  respect- 
ing the  sins  of  men;  He  has  immediate  know- 
ledge of  all  that  they  do,  and  executes  His 
mighty  judgments,  without  needing  the  help  of 
men.  .  .  .  lie  punishes  or  spares,  as  He  may 
think  best  in  His  unsearchable  Power  and  Wis- 
dom. 

Ch.  xxxiv.  36  seq.  Brentius:  Elihu  does  not 
imprecate  any  evil  on  Job,  but  asks  that  he  may 
be  led  to  the  acknowledgment  of  his  own  blas- 
phemy, a  result  which  can  be  brought  about  only 
by  the  cross  and  afflictions.  Hence  when  he 
prays  that  he  may  be  afflicted  (crucified)  unto 
the  end,  he  at  the  same  time  prays  that  he  may 
repent,  for  affliction  (the  cross)  is  the  school  of 
repentance. — v.  Gerlach:  God  is  asked  to 
prove  and  to  search  out  Job  "even  to  the  end," 
i.  e.,  most  deeply  and  thoroughly.  Not  that 
Elihu  supposes  him  to  be  guilty  of  such  sins  as 
the  friends  had  conjectured  in  his  case;  but  he 
nevertheless  misses  in  him  the  profound  percep- 
tion of  secret  sins,  and  wishes  for  him  accord- 
ingly what  the  Psalmist  wishes  for  himself 
(Ps.  cxxxix.  23). 

Ch.  xxxv.  9  seq.  Brentius:  May  we  not  in- 
fer that  God  is  present  with  us  and  that  He  fa- 
vors us,  in  that  "  prona  cum  spectent  animalia 
cetera  terram,  Os  homini  sublime  dedit,  coslumque 
videre,  Jussit  et  erecto  ad  cidera  tollere  vultus."  For 
when  He  made  the  beasts  and  birds  aXoya,  He 
created  us  men  so  that  we  might  be  wise,  en- 
dowed with  reason,  and  lords  of  creation.  Who 
then,  pondering  these  things  deeply  in  his  mind, 
would  not  in  affliction  call  upon  the  Lord,  or  hope 
for  His  aid? — Wohlfarth:  We  must  above  all 
things  show  ourselves  thankful  for  the  spiritual 
endowments  with  which  God  has  distinguished 
man  (above  all  the  beasts),  by  cultivating  them 
with  the  utmost  diligence,  and  by  using  them 
for  God's  glory,  and  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world. — Andreae:  God  can  cause  a  joyous  song 
of  jubilee  to  spring  forth  out  of  the  deepest  night 
of  8ufi"ering.  provided  we  only  understand  His 
gracious  purposes.  All  of  these  tend  to  the  same 
end,  to  lift  us  men  to  something  better  and 
higher  than  the  brute,  which  knows  not  God. 
But  presumptuous  cries  and  empty  prayers  will 
never  find  a  hearing  with  God. 


87 


578  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


FOURTH  DISCOURSE. 

A  vivid  exhibition  of  the  activity  of  God,  which  is  seen  to  be  benevolent,  as  wel] 

as  mighty  and  just,  both  in  the  destinies  of  men,  and  in  the  natural 

world  outside  of  man. 

Chaps.  XXXVI— XXXVII. 

Introduction:  announcing  that  further  important  contributions  are  about  to  be  made  to  the  yindi- 
cation  of  God. 

Chapter  XXXVI.  1-4. 

1  Elihu  also  proceeded  and  said : 

2  Suffer  me  a  little,  and  I  will  show  thee 
that  I  have  yet  to  speak  ou  God's  behalf. 

3  I  will  fetch  my  knowledge  from  afar, 

and  will  ascribe  righteousness  to  my  Maker. 

4  For  truly  my  words  shall  not  be  false  ; 

he  that  is  perfect  in  knowledge  is  with  thee. 

a.   Vindication  of  the  divine  justice,  manifesting  itself  in  the  destinies  of  men  as  a  power  benevolently 
chastening  and  purifying  them:  vers.  6-21. 

a.  In  general :  vers.  5-16. 

5  Behold  God  is  mighty,  and  despiseth  not  any ; 
He  is  mighty  in  strength  and  wisdom. 

6  He  preserveth  not  the  life  of  the  wicked  ; 
but  giveth  right  to  the  poor. 

7  He  withdraweth  not  his  eyes  from  the  righteous ; 
but  with  kings  are  they  on  the  throne  ; 

yea,  He  doth  establish  them  forever,  and  they  are  exalted. 

8  And  if  they  be  bound  in  fetters, 
and  be  holden  in  cords  of  affliction  ; 

9  then  He  sheweth  them  their  work, 

and  their  transgressions  that  they  have  exceeded. 

10  He  openeth  also  their  ear  to  discipline, 

and  commandeth  that  they  return  from  iniquity. 

11  If  they  obey  and  serve  Him, 

they  shall  spend  their  days  in  prosperity, 
and  their  years  in  pleasures. 

12  But  if  they  obey  not,  they  shall  perish  by  the  sword, 
and  they  shall  die  without  knowledge. 

13  But  the  hypocrites  in  heart  heap  up  wrath ; 
they  cry  not  when  He  bindeth  them. 

14  They  die  in  youth, 

and  their  life  is  among  the  unclean. 

15  He  delivereth  the  poor  in  his  affliction 
and  openeth  their  ears  in  oppression. 

/?.  In  Job's  change  of  fortune  in  particular  :  vers.  16-21. 

16  Even  so  he  would  have  removed  thee  out  of  the  strait 
into  a  broad  place,  where  there  is  no  straitness  ; 

and  that  which  should  be  set  on  thy  table  should  be  full  of  fatness. 


CHAPS.  XXXVI— XXXVII.  579 


17  But  thou  hast  fulfilled  the  judgment  of  the  wicked  ; 
judgment  and  justice  take  hold  on  thee. 

18  Because  there  is  wrath,  beware  lest  He  take  thee  away  with  His  stroke; 
then  a  great  ransom  cannot  deliver  thee. 

19  Will  He  esteem  thy  riches  ?  no,  not  gold, 
nor  all  the  forces  of  strength. 

20  Desire  not  the  night, 

when  people  are  cut  off  in  their  place. 

21  Take  heed,  regard  not  iniquity : 

for  this  hast  thou  chosen  rather  than  affliction. 


b.   Vindication  of  the  divine  justice,  revealing  itself  in  nature  as  supreme  power  and  wisdom  i 
Chaps.  XXXVI.  22— XXXVII.  24. 

a.   The  wonders  of  nature,  as  revelations  of  divine  wisdom  and  power : 
Verse  22— Chapter  XXXVII.  13. 

22  Behold,  God  exalteth  by  His  power ; 
who  teacheth  like  Him  ? 

23  who  hath  enjoined  Him  His  way? 

or  who  can  say,  Thou  hast  wrought  iniquity  ? 

24  Remember  that  thou  magnify  His  work, 
which  men  behold. 

25  Every  man  may  see  it ; 
man  may  behold  it  afar  off. 

(1)  Rain,  clouds,  and  thunder:  verse  26 — ch.  xxxvii.  5. 

26  Behold,  God  is  great,  and  we  know  Him  not, 
neither  can  the  number  of  His  years  be  searched  out. 

27  For  He  maketh  small  the  drops  of  water ; 

they  pour  down  rain  according  to  the  vapour  thereof; 

28  which  the  clouds  do  drop, 

and  distil  upon  man  abundantly. 

29  Also  can  any  understand  the  spreading  of  the  clouds, 
or  the  noise  of  His  tabernacle  ? 

30  Behold,  He  spreadeth  His  light  upon  it, 
and  covereth  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

31  For  by  them  judgeth  He  the  people  ; 
He  giveth  meat  in  abundance. 

32  With  clouds  He  covereth  the  light ; 

and  commandeth  it  not  to  shine  by  the  clouds  that  Cometh  betwixt. 

33  The  noise  thereof  showeth  concerning  it, 
the  cattle  also  concerning  the  vapour. 

Chapter  XXXVII. 

1  At  this  also  my  heart  trembleth, 
and  is  moved  out  of  his  place. 

2  Hear  attentively  the  noise  of  His  voice, 
and  the  sound  that  goeth  out  of  His  mouth, 

3  He  directeth  it  under  the  whole  heaven, 
and  His  lightning  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

4  After  it  a  voice  roareth  : 

He  thundereth  with  the  voice  of  His  excellency  ; 
and  He  will  not  stay  them  when  His  voice  is  heard. 

5  God  thundereth  marvellously  with  His  voice  ; 

great  things  doeth  He,  which  we  cannot  comprehend. 


580 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


(2)  The  forces  of  winter,  such  as  snow,  rain,  the  north-wind,  frost,  etc.  :  vers.  6-13. 

6  For  He  saith  to  the  snow  :  Be  thou  on  the  earth  ; 
likewise  to  the  small  rain, 

and  to  the  great  rain  of  His  strength. 

7  He  sealeth  up  the  hand  of  every  man ; 
that  all  men  may  know  His  work. 

8  Then  the  beasts  go  into  dens, 
and  remain  in  their  places. 

9  Out  of  the  south  cometh  the  whirlwind ; 
and  cold  out  of  the  north. 

10  By  the  breath  of  God  frost  is  given ; 

and  the  breadth  of  the  waters  is  straitened. 

11  Also  by  watering  He  wearieth  the  thick  cloud; 
He  scattereth  His  bright  cloud ; 

12  and  it  is  turned  round  about  by  His  counsels ; 

that  they  may  do  whatsoever  He  commandeth  them 
upon  the  face  of  the  world  in  the  earth. 

13  He  causeth  it  to  come,  whether  for  correction, 
or  for  His  land,  or  for  mercy. 


p.  Final  admonitory  inferences  from  what  precedes  for  Job  :  vers.  14-24. 

14  Hearken  unto  this,  O  Job  ;  stand  still, 
and  consider  the  wondrous  works  of  God. 

15  Dost  thou  know  when  God  disposed  them, 
and  caused  the  light  of  His  cloud  to  shine  ? 

16  Dost  thou  know  the  balancings  of  the  clouds, 

the  wondrous  works  of  Him  which  is  perfect  in  knowledge?  - 

17  How  thy  garments  are  warm, 

when  He  qoieteth  the  earth  by  the  south  wind  ? 

18  Hast  thou  with  Him  spread  out  the  sky, 
which  is  strong,  and  as  a  molten  looking-glass  ? 

19  Teach  us  what  we  shall  say  unto  Him  ; 

for  we  cannot  order  our  speech  by  reason  of  darkness. 

20  Shall  it  be  told  Him  that  I  speak? 

if  a  man  speak,  surely  he  shall  be  swallowed  up. 

21  And  now  men  see  not  the  bright  light 
which  is  in  the  clouds  : 

but  the  wind  passeth,  and  cleanseth  them. 

22  Fair  weather  cometh  out  of  the  north  : 
with  God  is  terrible  majesty. 

23  Touching  the  Almighty,  we  cannot  find  Him  out. 
He  is  excellent  in  power  and  in  judgment. 

And  in  plenty  of  justice ;  He  will  not  afflict. 

24  Men  do  therefore  fear  Him  : 

He  respecteth  not  any  that  are  wise  of  heart. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  Instead  of  the  predominantly  ajithropological 
and  ethical  doctrine  of  the  three  preceding  dis- 
courses, Elihu  puts  forth,  in  this  his  closing  dis- 
course, reflections  which  are  pre-eminently  theolo- 
gical. God,  the  infinitely  mighty  and  wise  Being, 
who  is  at  the  same  time  just,  and  possessed  of 
fatherly  love,  stands  in  the  foreground  of  his 
descriptions,  alike  in  the  first  and  shorter  divi- 
sion (ch.  xxxvi.  5-21),  which  describes  His 
righteous  interposition  in  determining  the  lots 


of  mankind,  and  gives  further  expression  to  the 
favorite  thought  of  the  speaker  touching  the 
hand  of  God  chastising  men  with  severity  indeed, 
and  yet  ever  with  a  merciful  purpose,  and  in  the 
second  division,  which  is  twice  as  long  (ch. 
xxxvi.  22  to  ch.  xxxvii.  24),  which  treats  of  the 
mnjestic  manifestation  of  God's  activity  in  the 
wonders  of  His  creation,  first  in  the  way  of  de- 
scription (ch.  xxxvi.  22  to  ch.  xxxvii.  18)  then 
in  the  way  of  application,  closing  with  admoni- 
tory inferences  from  the  themes  of  his  description 
for  the  benefit  of  Job.  It  is  in  this  last  half  es- 
pecially that  this  fourth  discourse  of  Elihu  ex- 


CHAPS.  XXXVI— XXXVII. 


C81 


hibits  itself  as  the  immediate  preparation  for  tlie 
concluding  act  of  the  whole  poem,  providing  the 
transition  to  the  interposition  of  God.  This 
magnificent  physico-theological  section  is  vividly 
introduced  by  the  threefold  til  at  the  head  of 
each  of  tho  three  strophes — eh.  xxxvi.  22  seq.  ; 
26  seq.  ;  30  seq. ;  and  this  threefold  successive 
|ri  compels  us  to  find  the  beginning  of  this  sec- 
tion in  ver.  22,  and  not  (with  Ewald,  Vaihinger, 
Dillm.,  etc.)  in  ver.  26  (see  below  on  ver.  22). 
Add  to  this  the  predominance  throughout  the  de- 
scription of  the  references  to  the  majestic  phe- 
nomena of  lightning,  thunder,  storm  and  rain, 
and  the  conjecture  formerly  adopted  by  Cocceius, 
J.  H.  Michaelis,  Reimarus,  Starke,  Lange,  and 
latterly  by  Rosenmiiller,  Umbreit,  v.  Gerlach,  V. 
Andrea,  Schlottmann,  Bottcher  [Scott,  Noyes, 
Barnes,  Bernard,  Carey]  becomes  probable,  that 
tlje  poet  conceived  that  thunder-storm  out  of 
which  he  represents  God  as  speaking  to  Job,  ch. 
xxxviii.  1  sq.  as  already  beginnbig  during  this  last 
discourse  of  Elihu,  and  furnishing  him  in  many  par- 
ticulars with  the  occasion  and  material  for  his  de- 
scriptions. This  is  a  hypothesis,  which,  as  we 
shall  see,  serves  to  give  essential  help  in  under- 
standing not  a  few  of  the  details  of  the  splendid 
description — granting  that  the  absence  of  defi- 
nite historical  data  in  the  text  of  our  book,  or  in 
the  most  ancient  exegetical  tradition  makes  it 
impossible  that  it  should  be  regarded  as  more 
than  a  probability. 

2.  The  Introduction:  Ch.  xxxvi.  1-4:  An  an- 
nouncement that  further,  and  yet  more  impor- 
tant instruction  is  about  to  be  communicated  re- 
specting the  nature  and  operations  of  God  (comp. 
1  Cor.  xii.  31). — And  Elihu  continued  and 
spoke. — This  new  introductory  formula,  com- 
pared with  ch.  xxxiv.  1  and  ch.  xxxv.  1,  is  in- 
tended to  intimate  that  a  long  silence  on  the  part 
of  Job  did  not  this  time  precede.  [^O'l  not 
ji^M,  as  hitherto,  because  in  ch.  xxxv.  Job  was 
not  summoned  to  speak.  Dillmann.  "Elihu  had 
spoken  three  times,  i.  e.,  as  many  times  as  any 
of  the  other  friends,  but  Job  does  not  reply,  and 
he  proceeds.  The  silence  of  Job,  who  had  re- 
plied to  every  speech  of  the  three  friends,  is  a 
proof  that  Job  was  conscious  that  Elihu  had  rea- 
son on  his  side,  and  is  an  answer  to  thoae  who 
disparage  Elihu."   Wordsworth]. 

Ver.  2.  Wait  for  me  a  little,  and  I  will 
teach  thee ;  i.  e.,  hear  my  instructions  only  a 
little  while  longer  (not:  "let  me  first  collect 
my  thoughts  a  little;"  Hirzel).  "l'Jt;i  =  £3^0, 
used  also  in  Is.  xxviii.  10,  13.  '^^'^,  Aramaic, 
equivalent  to  the  Hebr.  /"'nin,  ezpectare. — For 
there  are  yet  -words  (to  be  said)  for  Hloah : 
i.  e.,  for  I  know  of  something  still  further,  and 

yet  better  to  say  in  justification  of  Eloah  (Hlbx 7, 

Dat.  commodi)  than  what  has  been  said  hitherto. 

Ver.  3.  I  ■will  fetch  my  knowledge  (comp. 

ch.  xxxvii.  16)  from  afar. — pimO/,  as  in  ch. 
xxxix.  29,  and  Isa.  xxxvii.  26,  "from  afar,"  al- 
tius  repetendo  (Merc.)  ["out  of  the  wide  realm 
of  history  and  nature."  Del.].  Elihu  has  al- 
ready in  mind  the  wonders  of  the  Divine  govern- 
ment in  nature  and  in  history,  in  view  of  which 


he  will  praise  God's  righteousness  (lit.  "give 
[=  ascribe]  right  to  his  Maker  ")  [7j^3  so  used 
only  here].  Hence  these  expressions,  which 
involve  no  empty  self-praise,  but  have  their  ba- 
sis in  the  inspiring  greatness  of  the  object  to  be 
described. 

Ver.  4.  For  one  faultless  in  kno-wledge, 
[lit.  kno-wledges]  stands  before  thee  ;  i.  e., 
one  who  has  studied  and  learned  to  know  God's 
greatness  in  His  works,  one  who  is  penetrated 
with  the  sense  of  the  Divine  exaltation,  and  who 
for  that  reason  is  raised  above  the  danger  of  go- 
ing astray,  or  speaking  falsehood.  ^IIJ-'"!  O'DJl 
here  cannot  signify  "an  honest  thinker  "  (Hir- 
zel, and  many  of  the  older  commentators)  for  in 
ch.  xxxvii.  16  it  [Cj^T  0"'?^']^]  is  used  of  the  per- 
fect knowledge  of  God.  ["As  Elihu  there  attri- 
butes absolute  perfection  of  knowledge  in  every 
direction  to  God,  so  here,  in  reference  to  the 
theodicy  which  he  opposes  to  Job,  he  claims 
faultlessness  and  clearness  of  perception."  Del.] 
The  Vulg.  renders  correctly  as  to  the  meaning  : 
et  pcrfecta  scientia  probabilur  libi. 

3.  First  Division  :  Proof  of  God's  righteous 
dealings  in  allotting  the  destinies  of  men  :  a.  In 
general:  vers.  5-15  (three  short  strophes:  vers. 
5-7;   8-12;   13-15). 

Ver.  5.  Behold  God  is  mighty,  yet  He 

disdaineth  nothing. — D^?]  ^\,  objectless, 
as  inch.  xlii.  6;  comp.  ch.  viii.  20.  Themeaningis, 
although  He  is  exalted  in  power  ("1'3f)  as  in  ch. 
xxxiv.  17),  He  nevertheless  does  not  disdain  to 
interest  Himself  even  in  the  smallest  of  His  crea- 
tures, and  to  maintain  its  right  inviolate  (comp, 
vers.  6,  7). — Mighty  is  He  in  strength  of 

understanding  (lit.  "of  heart,"  37  as  in  ch. 
xxxiv.  34),  i.  e.,  in  the  possession  of  an  all-em- 
bracing intellectual  energy,  by  virtue  of  which 
He  sees  through  right  and  wrong  everywhere, 
and  orders  everything  in  the  highest  wisdom; 
comp.  ch.  xii.  13. 

Ver.  6.  He  preserveth  not  the  ungodly 
in  life. — Comp.  ch.  xxxiv.  19  seq.,  as  also  Job's 
presumptuous  assertion  of  the  contrary  in  ch. 
xxiv.  22  seq.,  against  which  Elihu  here  de- 
clares himself.  [But  He  vfrill  grant  the  right 
of  the  afflicted]. 

Ver.  7  continues  the  affirmation  of  ver.  6  b. — 
And  (even)  -with  kings  on  the  throne  (comp. 
Ps.  ix.  5  [4]  He  makes  them  (i.  e.,  the  right- 
eous, or  "  the  afilicted  "  of  ver.  6  b,  for  both  con- 
ceptions here  flow  together  into  one)  to  sit 
dovrn  forever,  so  that  they  are  exalted. — 
Comp.  the  parallel  passages  as  to  thought — ch. 
V.  11  ;  1  Sam.  ii.  8;  Ps.  cxiii.  7,  etc.  Inasmuch 
as  the  particular  point  respecting  which  we 
should  look  for  something  to  be  said  here  is  how 
widely  God's  care  for  His  people  extends,  how 
high  He  can  exalt  them,  the  rendering  of  the 
Vulg.  and  of  Luther — "who  makes  kings  to  sit 
on  tho  throne  " — is  unsuitable,  as  also  that  of 
Ewald,  which  suffers  besides  from  too  great  ar- 
tificiality: "  Kings  for  the  throne,  i.  e.,  who  me- 
rit the  throne.  He  makes  to  sit  down,  etc." 

Vers.  8-12  constitute  a  single  period,  which 
develops  the  thought,  that  if  God  subjects  to  suf- 
fering His  righteous  ones  (who  continue  to  be 


582 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


the  logical  subject  here,  not  "the  ungodly,"  as 
Hahn  thinks),  He  does  this  with  a  view  to  their 
chastisement  and  purification — But  if  they 
are  bound  with  chains  (O'PT  to  be  under- 
stood figuratively,  comp.  ver.  13),  holden  in 
cords  of  distress;  comp.  ch.  xiii.  27;  Isa. 
xxviii.  22  ;  Ps.  cvii.  10  seq. 

Vers.  9,  10  are  with  Tremellius,  Cocceius, 
Schulfens,  Ewald,  Dillmann,  etc.,  to  be  construed 
as  still  belonging  to  the  protasis  ;  the  apodosis 

begins  with  IvD',  in  ver.  11  b,  the  first  verb  in 
the  whole  long  series  which  stands  without  1 
consecut.,  and  is  by  that  very  fact  marked  as  in- 
troducing the  apodosis.  [Most  commentators, 
(and  so  E.  V.),  introduce  the  apodosis  with  the 
beginning  of  ver.  9.  But  in  addition  to  the 
argument  from  the  use  of  the  Vav.  consec,  it 
would  seem  to  be  more  in  harmony  with  Eli- 
hu's  conception,  which  unites  the  discipline  with 
the  suflFering,  to  take  the  entire  process  described 
in  vers.  8-10  as  one  hypothesis,  finding  its  con- 
sequent in  ver.  11  b. — E.] — And  He  declareth 

to  them  their  doing. — ^VJ>,  maleficium,  evil- 
doing,  like  nil'J'D,  ch.  xxxiii.  17. — And  their 
transgressions,  that  ('3,  ^mo^^  objective)  they 
act  proudly  (nSJH',  lit.  to  show  themselves 
strong,  i.  e.  in  opposing  God):  "exceeded,"  E. 
V.  is  ambiguous,  the  intransitive  use  of  it  being 
rare. — 'E.].  In  respect  to  "the  opening  of  the 
ear  for  instruction"  (ver.  10  a),  comp.  ch.  xxxiii. 

16,    where  the  rarer  form  1DD  is  used  instead 

'  T 

of  the  usual  form  "ID^D  found  here.  [Lit.  "  to 
the  instruction,"  that  which  forms  the  design  of 
the  chastisement.] — And  commandeth  them 
to  turn  (lit.  "saith  to  them,  that  they  turn") 
from  vanity.  —  px,  emptiness,  nothingness, 
referring  to  the  manifold  sins  of  infirmity  into 
which  man  easily  falls,  even  when  the  essential 
spirit  of  his  heart  is  holy,  the  taints  proceeding 
from  daily  contact  with  the  vain  world  (comp. 
John  xiii.  10  seq.;  1  John  i.  9  seq.;  ii.  16),  by 
reason  of  which  the  purifying  discipline  of  God 
becomes  necessary. 

Vers.  11,  12:  double  apodosis  to  the  antece- 
dent propositions  contained  in  vers.  8-10,  ex- 
pressed bj'  means  of  two  subordinate  antecedent 
conditional  clauses,  introduced  by  DX,  together 
with  the  consequents  corresponding  to  each. 
This  construction,  which  partially  reminds  us 
of  ch.  viii.  5  seq.,  was  necessary,  because,  where 
disciplinary  suffering  is  divinely  appointed,  the 
result  in  every  case  involves  a  two-fold  possi- 
bility— either  that  the  one  who  is  chastised  should 
humble  himself,  and  be  made  better,  or  that  he 
should  continue  presumptuously  to  resist. — In 
respect  to  "13^^,  "to  humble  himself,  to  submit, 
to  betake  himself  to  obedience,"  comp.  1  Kings 
xii.  7;  Mai.  iii.  18;  Ps.  ii.  11. — In  respect  to 
D'P'JJJ,  amoena,    pleasantness,   comfort,   see  Ps. 

xvi.  6.  Respecting  XrW"^  "^^J^,  "to  perish  by 
the  dart"  (or  "in  the  dart"),  see  ch.  xxxiii. 
18. — On  r\yT  ^ /33,  "in  ignorance,"  or  "through 
ignorance,"  see  ch.  xxiv.  16;  also  iv.  21. 

Vers.  13-15  continue  yet  further  in  a  peculiar 
way  the  thought  of  the  last  two  verses,  the  pre- 


cedence being  given  here  to  the  lot  of  the  wicked, 
which  in  the  previous  verses  was  spoken  of  in 
the  second  place;  so  that  an  inverted  order  of 
thought  ensues — vers.  13,  14  corresponding  to 
the  contents  of  ver.  12,  ver.  15  to  that  of  ver. 
11. — And    the    impure    in    heart  cherish 

wrath. — ^X  ID'ii'',  soil.  D373  (comp.  ch.  xxii. 
22;  Ps.  xiii.  3  [2]  ;  Prov.  xxvi.  24),  or  possibly 
— "they  set  up  wrath,"  in  a  warlike  manner, 
against  God  as  their  enemy.  The  meaning, 
however,  can  scarcely  be:  "they  lay  up  with 
God  a  store  of  wrath,"  as  though  "^X  here  sig- 
nified not  men's  own  discontent,  but  the  divine 
wrath,  and  the  f^Tjaavpi'^eiv  bpyfjv  of  Rom.  ii.  5 
were  a  parallel  expression  (Aben-Ezra,  Rosenm. 
[E.  V.  app'y,  Con.,  Words.,  Carey],  etc.  [Con- 
sidered by  itself,  the  expression  ^X  U"^  would 
seem  to  be  most  simply  rendered  by  "  lay  up 
wrath."  But  the  second  member  of  the  verse, 
which  speaks  of  the  conduct  of  the  wicked  when 
God  afflicts  them,  favors  rather  the  explanation 
of  the  commentary. — Instead  of  showing  sub- 
mission to  God,  they  treasure  up  rebellious 
wrath  within.  This  rendering  of  D'E/  is  justi- 
fied by  the  reff.  given  above ;  and  of  HX  by  ch. 
xviii.  4  (comp.  also  DOn,  ver.  18) ;  and  the 
analogy  of  ^X'_^  and  HXJp  in  ch.  v.  4. — E.] — 
They  pray  not  (lit.  "cry  not,"  yy.!J,  according 
to  ch.  XXX.  20;  xxxviii.  41)  when  He  hath 
chained  them  (comp.  ver.  8),  so  that  they 
must  perish,  etc.  HDn  jussive,  expressing  the 
necessary  consequence  of  the  presumption  of 
the  dissolute.  Respecting  "^J^^S,  "in  youth,  in 
the  fresh  vigor  of  youth,"  comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  25. 
— And  their  life  is  among  the  polluted, 
i.  e.  like  that  of  the  polluted  (comp.  ch.  xxxiv. 
36).  The  Vulg.  correctly:  inter  effeminatos.  For 
the  word  D'tyip  refers  to  the  Syrian  Canaani- 
tish  temple-prostitutes  of  the  male  sex,  and  the 
verse  describes  the  effect  of  their  incontinence 
in  enervating,  debilitating  their  manhood,  and 
causing  them  to  decay  in  the  flower  of  their  age 
(comp.  Deut.  xxiii.  18;  1  Kings  xiv.  24;  xv.  12; 
xxii.  47  [46]).  The  reference  is  not  to  the  vio- 
lation of  women  or  maidens,  in  a  military  inva- 
sion (as  described  in  Gen.  xxxiv. ;  Judg.  xix., 
etc.).  The  point  of  comparison  lies  not  in  the 
violence,  but  in  the  prematureness  (and  shame- 
fulness)  of  the  death. 

Ver.  15.  But  He  delivereth  the  sufferer 
by  his  afQiction ;  i.  e.  He  rescues  at  last  out 
of  his  misery  the  man  who  quietly  and  willingly 
endures,  just  by  virtue  of  his  constant  endu- 
rance; He  makes  his  suffering  serve  as  a  means 
of  deliverance  and  a  ransom  to  him  (comp.  ver. 
18  b).     There  seems  to   be  a  play  upon  words 

intended  between  T*vn^  and  Vn^?  i"  *>  which 
may  be  approximately  rendered  [in  German]  by 
translating  with  Delitzsch :  Doch  den  Duldeaden 
entriickt  Er  durch  sein  Dulden,  und  offnet  durch 
Bedriickung  ihr  Ohr. 

4.  Proof  of  the  divine  righteousness,  ^.  spe- 
cially from  Job's  experiences:  vers.  16-21. — 
And  even  thee  he  lures  out  of  the  jaw^s 
of  distress. — So  correctly  most  of  the  moJoruj 


CHAPS.  XXXVI— XXXVII. 


583 


since  Schultens.  ^'DH  with  |?p  signifies,  as  in 
2  Chron.  xviii.  31,  "to  lure  away  from  anything, 
out  of  anything"  (not  "to  draw  out,"  as  the 
Pesh.,  Targ.,  Rabbis  explain,  nor  "to  rescue," 
as  the  Vulg.  renders  it).  [Wordsworth:  "He 
is  instigating  and  impelling  thee  by  means  of 
thy  affliction  into  a  state  of  greater  glory  and 
happiness."]  ^^'Pl!  ^^\  i^  used,  inasmuch  as 
^N  must  occupy  its  usual  place  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sentence,  for  ^HX  HX  iTDHI  [^X  serving 
to  connect  emphatically  the  particular  case  of 
Job  with  the  general  proposition  expressed  in 
the  preceding  verse.  Schlottm.J,  and  expresses 
not  a  future,  but  a  present  sense  [the  pret.  being 
used  either  because  Elihu  has  in  mind  God's 
purpose  in  decreeing  the  present  suffering  of 
Job  (Del.),  or  because  that  friendly  process  of 
alluring  is  conceived  of  as  having  begun  in  the 
past,  and  being  continued  in  the  present  (Schl.). 
The  expression  *iy~''£3p  figuratively  describes 
the  distress  as  a  monster,  with  open  jaws,  threa- 
tening or  attempting  to  swallow  him. — E.]. — 
Into  a  vride  place  under  'which  there  is 
no  narrowness ;  i.  e.  into  a  wide  place  ( ^riT 
femin.  accus.  of  the  place  aimed  at),  the  founda- 
tion of  which  exhibits  no  narrowness,  hence  sig- 
nifying "without  narrowness  in  its  foundation; 
or,  which  is  better,  a  wide  space,  in  place  of 
which  (nnn  as  in  oh.  xxxiv.  26)  is  no  narrow- 
ness, a  wide  place  broken  by  no  straits."  As 
to  the  figure  comp.  Ps.  iv.  2  [1];  xviii.  20  [19], 
etc.  [The  same  figure  is  implied  in  all  three 
terms,  "^i",  3nn,  and  p^flD,  the  last  from  pi:;, 
to  be  strait.] — And  the  setting  of  [=that 
which  is  set  on]  thy  table  (He  makes,  or  be- 
comes) fulness  of  fatness ;  the  same  fig.  to 
describe  a  stale  of  flourishing  prosperity  as  in 
Ps.  xxiii.  6  (comp.  Prov.  ix.  2 ;  Ps.  xxii.  27 
[26];  cvii.  9,  etc.)  flPJ  from  n=IJ,  "to  settle 
down,"  referring  to  that  which  is  set  down  on  a 
table,  or  served  for  it,  the  food  set  on  it.  Fat 
food  is  used  as  a  sign  of  feasts  which  are  parti- 
cularly expensive  and  abundant  in  Is.  xxv.  6 ; 
Iv.  2;  Gen.  xxvii.  28,  39.  Ewald,  Vaih.  and 
Dillm.  take  OH"]  in  the  second  member,  as  also 
nnj  in  the  third  (the  latter  in  the  sense  of 
"peace")  as  subj.  of  the  whole  proposition,  and 
thus  obtain  the  meaning :  "  Verily,  the  wide 
place  without  straits,  the  peace  of  thy  table  full 
of  fat,  has  misled  thee  more  than  sharp  distress" 
(Dillmann:  "away  from  the  mouth  of  distress" 
[?'.  e.  away  from  obeying  the  teachings  of  adver- 
sity]). But  this  thought,  involving  as  it  does  a 
serious  charge  against  Job„  is  poorly  connected 
with  what  goes  before,  and  is  rendered  impossi- 
ble by  the  clause  *iy~''3p,  which  in  connection 
with  iron  cannot  well  signify  anything  else 
than  "out  of  the  mouth  (jaws)  of  adversity." 

Ver.  17.  But  if  thou  art  filled  with  the 
judgment  of  the  wicked,  then  (truly)  will 
judgment  and  punishment  take  firm  hold, 
viz.,  on  thee,  will  not  depart  from  thee  (not — 
"  will  take  hold  upon  each  other,  follow  each 
other  by  turns  [as  Carey,  e.  g.,  explains,  "  the 
act  of  judgment  and  the  delivery  of  the  sentence 
are  very  closely  connected;"  or  according  to 
others  (e..  g.,  Barnes)  such  opinions  (those  of  the 


wicked)  would  be  rapidly  followed  by  judgment] 
— which  reciprocal  meaning  of  TpT\  would  have 
been  expressed  rather  by  the  Niph.  O0r>\  The 
first  member  is  in  any  case,  as  respects  the 
thought,  a  hypothetical  antecedent;  in  order  to 
be  a  strict  grammatical  antecedent  the  Pret. 
riX70  must  of  course  have  stood  at  the  begin- 
ning. pT  stands  in  a  in  the  sense  of  guilt  (Rosen- 
mliller,  Stickel,  Hahn),  or  of  a  "murmuring  judg- 
ment, presumptuous  decision"  respecting  God 
(Umbreit,  Hirzel,  Schlottmann,  Delitzsch,  etc.); 
only  in  b  does  it  denote  the  divine  sentence  of 
punishment.  In  no  case  does  it  express  in  both 
instances  precisely  the  same  meaning,  as  Ewald, 
Arnh.,  Dillmann,  etc.,  suppose.  ["He,  whom 
thou  dost  presume  to  judge  with  words,  will 
judge  thee  in  deed."  Schlottm.  The  rendering 
of  E.  v..  Good,  Lee,  Carey,  Renan,  etc. — "Thou 
hast  fulfilled  the  judgment  of  the  wicked,"  im- 
plying that  Job  had  realized  in  his  own  experi- 
ence the  full  measure  of  crime  or  of  punishment 
belonging  to  the  wicked,  is  certainly  too  harsh 
for  the  connection.  The  tone  of  the  passage  is 
strongly  admonitory  no  doubt,  but  such  a  senti- 
ment as  that  just  referred  to  would  carry  Elihu 
too  far  into  the  camp  of  the  opposition,  repre- 
sented by  the  friends. — E.]. 

Ver.  18  suitably  introduces  a  warning  to  fol- 
low the  threat  just  uttered.  Here  again  Elihu 
has  in  mind  the  chief  fault  of  Job, — his  presump- 
tuous complaining  against  God,  and  his  doubt 
of  God's  justice.— For  the  heat  (of  thy  afflic- 
tions) should  not  mislead  thee  by  its  great- 
ness; i.  e.,  should  not  cause  thee  to  err  in  re- 
spect to  God's  goodness  and  justice,  or  to  judge 
God  after  the  manner  of  the  wicked  (comp.  ver. 
17  a).  [There  seems  to  be  a  contrast  intended 
between  "jri'Dn  in  ver.  16,  and  ^n'D'  here. 
God  would  by  His  discipline  lure,  or  urge  him 
out  of  a  narrow  into  a  broad  place:  the  HDn  of 
this  ver.  would  urge  him  against  God. — E.]  Hahn 
correctly  thinks  the  heat  (HOn)  spoken  of  to  be 
the  heat  of  his  8ufi"erings.  The  passage,  as  ap- 
pears clearly  enough  from  b,  is  a  parallel  to  1 
Pet.  iv.  12(Jas.  i.  2seq.).  It  is  less  natural  to 
understand  PlOn  of  the  heat  of  his  passion  (De- 
litzsch) or  of  his  anger  [against  God]  (Stickel, 
Wclte,  Schlottm.  [Conant,  Wordsworth],  etc.), 
or  of  the  Divine  anger  (Roseum.,  Umbreit,  Dill- 
mann) [E.  v.,  Good,  Ber.,  Barnes,  Noyes,  Rod- 
well,  etc.'\, — although  these  renderings  cannot  be 
called  unsuitable.  On  the  contrary  the  attempt 
of  Ewald,  Hirzel,  Vaih.,  Heiligst.,  to  identify 
non  with  nxpn,  "cream"  (ch.  xxix.  6),  and 
that  in  the  sense  of  riches  ("may  thy  riches  not 
betray  thee  "),  is  alike  insipid  and  destructive 
of  the  sense.  It  may  remain  doubtful  whether 
p3ii'3  (Pausal  form  for  p3tJ'3),  signifies  "into 
scorn,  to  mock  and  deride"  (Stickel,  Umbreit, 
Hahn,  Schlottmann,  Delitzsch,  etc.)  or  "  through 
superfluity,  through  abundance  "  (Ewald,  Heil., 
Dillmann)  [Fiirst].  The  latter  rendering,  which 
regards  pSti'  as  a  dialectic  alternate  form  of 
p?.?.  (cli-  XX.  22)  seems  to  be  favored  both  by 
the  preposition  3  (not  /),  and  the  parallel 
^33~3T  in  the  second  member.     [To  the  above 


684 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


should   be    added    the   signification    "  stroke," 
■which  may  fairly  be  vindicated   for  pSt^  from 
the  use  of  the  alternate  form  pDD  just  referred 
to  inCommy.  (comp.  ch.  xxvii.  23  with  ch.  xxxiv. 
26,  37).     Thus    defined   it   may   be  taken   here 
(with  Kimchi,  Schult.,  etc.),  in  the  sense  of  the 
clapping  of  hands,  with  the  idea  of  expulsion,  or 
in  the  sense  of  "stroke,  chastisement,"  (E.  V., 
Merc,  Rosenm.,  Gesenins,  Carey,   Ber.,  Good, 
Noyes,  Barnes,   Rod.,   Elzas,    etc.).     The  latter 
■would  be  the  simpler.     In  that  case  HOn  may 
refer  to   the  divine    wrath,  which  is  the    view 
taken  by  most  of  those   who  thus   explain  PSlJ', 
3  being  explained  as  instrumental  (E.  V.  "  with 
His  stroke  ").     It  is  better  however  to  explain 
it  of  the  anger  or  passionate   discontent  of  man 
against  God  (comp.  ^X  above  in  ver.  13)  for  the 
reason  that  elsewhere  3  '"^'PD  means  uniformly 
to  excite  against.     Thus  Conant:   "  For  beware, 
lest  anger  stir   thee  up   against  chastisement." 
The  thought  thus  obtained  would  be  moreover 
altogether  suitable   to  the   connection.     Elihu's 
great  anxiety  is  that  Job  should  through  sub- 
mission  profit  by  his  chastisement,  and  that  on 
the  other  hand  he  should  not  by  a  rebellious  spi- 
rit resist,  and  so  frustrate  the  object  of  the  Di- 
vine discipline. — E.]. — And  let  the  abund- 
ance of  the  ransom  not  ensnare  thee  ;  i.  e. , 
let  not  the  fact  that   thou  must  reckon  up  so 
large  a  ransom  for   the  'expiation  of  thy  guilt, 
that  thou  must  make  such  a  severe  expiation  of 
the  same,  lead  thee  into  error  touching  the  good- 
ness of  God.     "^33  here  accordingly  in  a  some- 
■what  different  sense  from  ch.  xxxiii.  24.     The 
supposition  that  the  reference  is  to  Job's  "  vast 
■wealth"  in  earthly  possessions,  ■with  ■which  he 
might  erroneously  imagine  that  he  could  pur- 
chase his  release  from  God  (Ewald,  Hirz.,  Vaih. 
[Reuan],  etc. ),  is  decidedly  untenable,  and  would 
impute  to  Job  a  reliance  on  earthly  treasures, 
the  like  of  which  the  three  friends  even  had  not 
once  ventured    to   charge   upon   him,  much  less 
the  far  more  considerate  and  just  Elihu.   [Schl., 
with  better  reason,  assumes  that  the  reliance,  or 
ransom    intended   here   is   Job's    piety.     "  He 
might   think  in  some  measure  that  he  did  not 
need  to  be  very  exact  in  what  he  should  say  con- 
cerning God's  dealings,  because  he  could  put  all 
his  piety,  the  beneficent  use  which  lie  had  made 
of  all  his  treasures,  in  the  other  scale  of  the  ba- 
lance."    The   idea   of  Ziickler  on  the  contrary 
seems  to  be  that  God  requires  a  great  ransom  in 
the  sense  of  expiation,  before  the  sinner  can  be 
delivered.     Let  not  the  greatness  of  that  ransom, 
says  Elihu,  lead  thee  into  error,   i.  e.,  the  error 
of  doubting  the  goodness  of  God.     The  render- 
ing of  E.  v.,  "  then  a  great  ransom  cannot  de- 
liver thee,'    is  not  an  unsuitable  thought  in  the 
connection.     The  principal  objection  to  it  lies  in 
the  verb  HOJ,   which   cannot  well  be   rendered 
"  deliver."     Gesenius,   in  order   to  obtain  this 
meaning  explains  thus:   "a  great  ransom  cannot 
turn  thee  away,  scil.    from  the   Divine   punish- 
ment, so  as  to  avoid  it."     But  this  is  not  alto- 
gether natural,  and  such  a  form  of  expression 
occurs  nowhere  else.     This  rendering,  still  fur- 
ther, seems  to  hang  on  the  view  that  ^X  means 


the  Divine  anger,  and  that  3  ^'^\)  means  "  to 
take  away  with,"  against  which  see  above.  The 
negative  7X  moreover  does  not  favor  it ;  for  al- 
though it  might  have  been  used  inde&d  in  depen- 
dence on  J£),  still  such  a  construction  would  have 

been  less  natural  and  forcible  than  that  with  X7. 
It  must  be  confessed  that  no  interpretation  of 
the  verse  which  has  been  suggested  is  free  from 
diificulties,  and  Dillmann's  conjecture  of  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  text  is  not  altogether  without  rea- 
son.— E.J. 

Ver.  19seq.  continue  the  warning  against  im- 
patient and  discontented  conduct  in  distress. — 
Shall  thy  crying  put  thee  out  of  distress? 
— HW,  '-crying,"  as  in  ch.  xxx.  24  (comp.  ch. 

XXXV.  9,  and  above  ver.  13  b);  '^'})/,  a  more 
choice  word  to  express  the  idea  of  U^V  or  r\'\i/> 
"  to  place,"  (comp.  ch.  xxxvii.  19):  the  object 
of  '^'^^in  is  easily  supplied  by  "  thee,"  or  "  any 
one."  The  meaning  of  the  question  accordingly 
can  be  only:  "will  thy  crying,  thy  lamentation, 
thy  discontented  raging,  put  thee  in  non-dis- 
tress ("^i*3  K?,  equivalent  to  "^i'  i<73),  take 
theeout  of  distress?"  So  correctly  Stickel,  Hahn, 
Del,  All  other  renderings  depart  more  or  less 
from  the  meaning  required  by  the  contest:  as  e. 
^.  that  of  Hirz.:  "Will  thy  riches  suffice?  0,  not 
gold  ("Ilf3="l}f3,  chap.  xxii.  24seq.),  nor  all 
treasures,"  etc.  [Good:  "Will  then  thy  magni- 
ficence avail?  Not  gold,  nor,"  e/c]  ;  of  Schlott- 
mann:  "Will  thy  treasures  suffice?  0  not  in 
distress,"  etc.;  of  Ewald:  "Will  thy  riches 
equip  thee — without  distress — with  all  the  means 
of  power?"  of  Rosenmiiller,  Umbreit,  Ebrard 
[E.  v.:  Gesenius,  Fiirst,  under  1i."3,  though  dif- 
ferently under  ^l^',  Renan,  Noyes,  Roduell,  Co- 
nant: "Will  He  value  thy  riches  without  stint, 
and  all  the  might  of  wealth?"]  :  "Will  He  value 
thy  riches?"  etc.;  of  Dillmann:  "Will  He  set  in 
order  thy  cry  (of  supplication)  ?"  And  all  the 
efforts  of  strength  {i.e.,  of  thy  strength)? — 
To  ^]^y^,  which  is  made  sufficiently  determinate 
by  the  subject,  the  notion  of  "efforts  of  strength" 
is  here  suitably  appended  as  an  additional  sub- 
ject.    V'iNO  from  y^i^,  "to  be  strong,  firm,"  in 

connection  with  n3,  can  signify  only  a  physical 
application  of  strength,  not  "wealth  in  trea- 
sures;" comp.  n3  ]"'^i^,  chap.  ix.  4,  19. 

Ver.  20.  Pant  not  after  the  night,  "when 
(entire)  peoples  go  up  {i.e.,  fly  up  like  chaff 
before  the  tempest,  Isa.  v.  24;  Ps.  i.  4)  in  their 
place — i.  e.,  do  not  long,  as  thou  hast  foolishly 
done  (comp.  ch.  xiii.  l«sq.;  xxiii.  osq.;  xxiv. 
1,  12),  for  the  night  of  the  divine  judgment,  with 
its  terrors,  sweeping  away  entire  populations. 
In  respect  to  'IXty,  anhelare,  to  long  urgently  for 
any  thing,  comp.  ch.  vii.  2;  for  the  representa- 
tion of  the  divine  judgment  by  a  mght  of  terror, 
see  ch.  xxxiv.  20,  25;  xxxv.  10.  In  respect  to 
Dnnn,  "in  their  place,"  here  as  regards  the 
meaning="from  their  place,"  see  above,  v.  16. 
It  is  impossible,  with  De  Wette,  to  take  Di^nn 
as  standing  for  D*SJ^  ^H!'!-')   "'°  raise  up  people 


CHAPS.  XXXVI— XXXVII. 


)85 


in  the  place  of  people."  The  rendering  of 
Stickel  ami  Hahn  is  harsh,  and  much  too  artifi- 
cial: "when  people  come  uppermost,  witli  that 
which  is  under  them."  The  rendering  of  Do- 
litzsch,  however,    is   unnecessary,   which   taliea 

niSi'S  as  Inf.  Hiph.=ni'7^n'7:  "which  will  re- 
move peoples  from  their  place."  [The  rendering 
"in  their  place"  does  not  do  entire  justice  to  the 
expression  Dnnn,  which  is  exactly  rendered  by 
our  phrase,  "on  the  spot."  So  again  in  ch.  xl. 
12;  comp.  Hab.  iii.  16;  2  Sam.  ii.  23  ("and  ho 
died  on  the  spot");  vii.  10.  Tlie  rendering  of 
Conant  and  Carey:  "when  [Con.:  "where"] 
people  are  carried  off  below"  (to  the  world  be- 
low), involves  a  very  harsh  incongruity  between 
the  verb  ("go  up")  and  the  preposition  ("be- 
low"). Conant  argues  thatElihu  "is  not  speak- 
ing of  any  sudden  calamity  tliat  sweeps  whole 
races  of  men  to  the  grave.  This  would  be  out 
of  place  here,  for  Job  had  desired  no  such  thing. 
It  was  the  repose  of  the  grave  for  which  he 
longed;  for  that  night  of  death  where  successive 
generations  sink  down  to  the  world  beneath 
them."  Such,  it  is  true,  was  Job's  conception 
of  the  night  of  death.  But  Elihu  here  reminds 
him  that  the  night  of  death  would  be  at  the  same 
time  the  night  of  divine  judgment,  and  that  so 
terrible  is  that  judgment  that  it  can  sweep  off 
whole  peoples  on  the  spot ;  how  much  less  then 
could  he,  single-handed  and  alone,  hope  to 
face  it  without  perishing.  Let  him  rather  re- 
pent, etc.,  ver.  21. — E.] 

Ver.  21  concludes  these  warnings  against 
foolish  murmuring  ami  presumptuous  complain- 
ing (which  is  here  called  tlN,  "vanity,  wicked- 
ness," comp.  V.  10)  in  an  emphatic  way,  by  ex- 
pressing the  thought  found  in  Gen.  viii.  21,  and 
founded  on  the  universal  experience  of  the  race, 
that  the  heart  is  naturally  inclined  to  disobe- 
dience and  to  rebellion  against  God:  for  to  this 
thou  hast  desire  more  than  to  affliction. — 
to,  comparative,  as  iu  ch.  vii.  16,  not  causal,  as 

though  '3J?D  meant  "on  account  of  suffering,  in 
view  of  affliction"  (Vulg.,  Luther,  Slickel,  f/c), 
nor  again  instrumental  (Ewald:    "therefore  thou 

wast  proved  by  svffering.'^  7^  "in3  here  (other- 
wise than  in  2  Sam.  xix.  39  [38])  essentially  the 
same  with  3  *in3,  to  extend  one's  choice  to  any 
thing,  i.  e.,  to  be  inclined  towards  any  thing,  to 
have  a  desire  for  it. 

o.  Second  Division.  Proof  of  the  divine  right- 
eousness from  the  wonders  of  nature,  from  the 
power  and  wisdom  revealed  in  the  physical 
world. 

a.  Descriptive  part:  chs.  xxxvi.  22 — xxxvii.  13. 
Introduction  or  transition:  vers.  22-25  (the  first 
of  three  eight-lined  strophes,  vers.  22  sq.,  26  sq., 
30  sq.,  each  of  which  begins  with  JH,  and 
which  by  the  exact  equality  and  similarity  of 
their  structure  give  evidence  of  being  one  cohe- 
rent whole — a  structure  which  has  been  correctly 
recognized  by  Stickel  and  Delitzsch  [also  by 
Schlottmann,  Noyes,  Wordsworth,  Carey,  Rod- 
well],  but  ignored  by  Kost ,  Ewald,  Dillmann, 
etc.).  Behold,  God  worketh  loftily  in  His 
strength  [E.  V.:  Behold,  God  exalteth  by  His 


power;  but  less  suitably  to  the  connection,  this 
strophe  being,  as  has  just  been  shewn,  introduc- 
tory to  the  description  of  God's  power  iu  the 
physical  world,  rather  than  in  the  world  of  hu- 
manity.— E.]. — As  the  meditation  on  truths  lying 
in  the  realm  of  historical  or  ethical  theology, 
which  constitutes  the  preceding  section,  began 
with  a  in,  "behold"  (ver.  5),  vividly  pointing 
out  the  theme  of  discourse,  so  also  the  meditation 
which  is  here  introduced  on  truths  in  the  realm 
of  physical  theology.  The  conjecture  is  in  it- 
self sufficiently  probable,  that  some  phenomenon 
of  external  nature,  perhaps  a  thunder-storm, 
which  already  in  ver.  6  was  approaching,  but 
which  had  now  burst  forth,  with  lightning, 
thunder,  and  heavy  rain,  furnished  the  occasioQ 
to  this  sudden  and  vivid  transition  to  the  de- 
scription of  the  natural  world.  This  conjecture 
receives  a  strong  support  from  the  emphatic 
double  recurrence  of  the  ]T\,  first  in  ver.  26,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  description  of  the  rain,  and 
then  in  ver.  30,  in  the  transition  to  the  descrip- 
tion of  lightning  and  thunder.  The  probability 
is  still  further  increased  by  passages  like  chap, 
xxxvi.  33,  and  especially  by  chap,  xxxvii.  2sq. 
And  finally  it  receives  the  strongest  support  from 
the  article  before  mi'D  in  ch.  xxxviii.  1.  which 

T  T  : 

can  scarcely  be  explained  without  the  supposi- 
tion here  referred  to  (comp.  on  the  passage). 
Who  is  a  ruler  like  to  him? — The  usage  of 
the  language  would  justify,  and  indeed  would 
even  favor  rather  the  rendering  adopted  by  the 
Targ.,  Peshito,  Luther,  Schlottmann,  Delitzsch 
[E.  v.,  Lee,  Noyes,  Conant,  Bernard,  Kenan, 
llodwell,  Barnes],  etc.:  "Who  is  a  teacher  like 
Him?"  But  the  context,  and  especially  the 
^■'-it^'n  in  a,  seems  rather  to  favor  the  rendering 
supported  by  the  LXX.,  which  takes  71^10= 
Chald.  J^^O  (Dan.  ii.  47),  hence  to  mean  "lord, 
ruler."  The  Vulg.  attempts  to  give  an  explana- 
tion intermediate  between  the  6vvar!T7]c:  of  the 
LXX.  and  the  "teacher"  of  the  other  ancient 
versions  by  its  use  of  legislator:  quis  ei  similis  in 
Icgislatorihus?  [So  Wordsworth  combines  "Mas- 
ter and  Teacher ;"  Carey:  "Master,"  as  express- 
ing the  ambiguity  of  the  original.  Some  (e.g.. 
Good):  "And  who,  like  Him,  can  cast  down?" 
which  would  be  a  suitable  antithesis  to  the  E.  V.'s 
rendering  of  a;  "God  exalt eth  by  His  power," 
but  is  open  to  the  same  objection  ;  see  above.  In 
favor  of  the  sense  "teacher,"  Delitzsch  argues: 

"(1)  n;iia  from  r\-y\r[,  Ps.  xxv.  8, 12 ;  xxxii.  S) 

has  no  etymological  connection  with  "10;  (2)  it 
is,  moreover,  peculiar  to  Elihu  to  represent  God 
as  a  teaciier  both  by  dreams  and  dispensations 
of  affliction,  ch.  xxxiii.  14sq.;  xxxiv.  32;  and 
by  His  creatures,  xxxv.  11 ;  and  (3)  tiie  desig- 
nation of  God  as  an  incomparable  teacher  is  also 
not  inappropriate  here,  after  His  rule  is  described 
in  ver.  'I'l  a  as  transcendf  ntly  exalted,  which  on 
that  very  account  commands  to  human  research 
a  reverence  which  esteems  itself  lightly."  These 
considerations  at  least  show  that  the  educational 
disciplinary  functions  of  the  Divine  Kuler  are 
prominently  intended  here;  and  this  is  in  har- 
mony with  the  general  tone  of  this  strophe. 
-E.] 


:86 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Ver.    23.  Who  hath  appointed   to   Him 

His  Tvay  ? — 7;?  "1P3,  "to  charge  one  with  any 
thing,  to  prescribe  anything  to  any  one,"  as  in 
ch.  xxxiv.  13.  It  would  be  possible  also  to  ren- 
der it:  "Who  hath  inspected  for  Kim  His 
■way?"  (LXX.,  Vulg.,  Seb.  Schmidt,  Ewald, 
[Good],  etc.).  The  second  member  permits  both 
renderings. 

Ver.  24.  Remember  that  thou  exalt 
(X'Jii'n,  in  a  different  sense  from  ch.  xii.  23) 
His  doing,  which  men  have  greatly  sung. 
'\'^W  an  intensive  form  of  "^W,  denoting  singing 
often  repeated,  or  various  in  its  character.  The 
exhortation  to  the  praise  and  glorification  of  the 
exalted  activity  of  God  stands  in  significant  an- 
tithesis to  the  previous  warnings  against  sitting 
in  judgment  on  the  same.  [Here  again,  as  in 
ch.  xxxiii.  27  E.  V.  takes  the  verb  "IIC^  in  the 
sense  of  "behold,"  which  would  be  a  useless  and 
feeble  tautology  before  the  Hin  and  DOH  of  ver. 
25.— E.]. 

Ver.  25.  All  people  gaze  thereon  with 

delight  (13  referring  back  to  nj^3,  ver.  24  a  ; 
3  nrn  as  elsewhere  3  n3"l)  ;  mortals  behold 
it  from  afar; — i.  e.,  not — "they  ca7i  behold  it 
only  from  a  great  distance"  (so  Dillmann,  who 
would  compare  ch.  xxvi.  14),  but — they  dare  not 
contemplate  it  anear,  from  reverential  fear  be- 
fore the  unapproachableness  of  His  operations. 

6.  Continuation.  Description  of  the  storm,  to- 
gether with  the  mighty  phenomena  accompany- 
ing it,  such  as  rain,  clouds,  lightning,  thunder, 
etc. :  ver.  26 — chap,  xxxvii.  5  (three  strophes, 
the  first  two  consisting  of  4  verses  each,  the 
third  of  5). 

Vers.  25-20.  Behold,  God  is  exalted 
(X'Jty  as  in  ch.  xxxvii.  23,  elsewhere  only  in  the 
Aramaic  portions  of  the  0.  T.),  we  know^  not 
(e.  e.,  how  very  exalted  He  is) ;  the  number 
of  His  years  is  unsearchable  (lit.  "  as  for 
the  number  of  his  years — so  [1]  there  is  no 
searching ;"  respecting  the  1  introducing  the 
apodosis,  comp.  ch.  iv.  6  ;  xv.  17).  The  eternity 
of  God  is  here  introduced  as  the  explanatory 
ground  (not  as  a  mere  co-ordinate  "  moment," 
as  Dillmann  supposes)  of  the  divine  greatness 
and  wisdom.  As  the  Eternal  One,  God  has  the 
power  to  efiTect  all  the  glorious  wonders  in  the 
realm  of  His  creation  wliicb  are  enumerated  in  the 
passage  following;  comp.  ch.  xii.  12  scq.  [-'The 
Omnipotence  and  wisdom  of  God,  which  are 
everywhere  apparent  in  the  universe,  furnish  a 
testimony  to  God's  righteousness.  All  attributes 
of  the  Divine  Nature  are  rays  proceeding  from 
one  centre  ;  where  one  is,  there  also  of  necessity 
must  the  otliers  be.  How  can  the  Being  who 
everywhere  sliows  Himself  in  creation  to  be 
most  perfect,  be  defective  in  this  one  point  ? 
Every  witness  therefore  in  Nature  to  God's 
greatness  as  a  Creator,  rises  against  an  arraign- 
ment of  God's  riijhteousness.  Whoso  will  bring 
a  charge  against  God's  justice,  must  measure 
himself  with  the  Divine  Omnipotence. — At  first 
sight  it  may  seem  surprising  that  the  mind  of 
the  righteous  sufferer  is  directed  by  Eliliu  and 
by  Jehovah  himself,  to  the  wondrous  forma- 
tion of  the  clouds,  to  Thunder,  Lightning  and 
Snow,  and    to  the  War-horse,    the  Hawk,  and 


the  Eagle.  But  when  we  exarnine  the  matter 
more  carefully,  we  see  that  sucli  a  course  of  rea- 
soning is  excellently  fitted  to  its  purpose.  An 
Almighty  and  All-wise  God,  who  is  not  at  the 
same  time  righteous,  is  in  truth  an  inconceiva- 
ble impossibility.  For  this  reason,  the^  who 
impeach  God's  righteousness,  are  always  on  the 
high  road  to  doubt  His  existence.  Pelagianism 
leads  not  merely  to  the  destruction  of  the  true 
idea  of  God,  but  to  blank  Atheism  {^Hengstenberg). 
It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  God  rises 
from  an  appeal  to  the  signs  of  His  power  and 
goodness  in  the  visible  world,  and  refers  Job  to 
His  working  in  the  invisible  world,  in  the  domain 
of  spirits,  and  challenges  Job  to  a  comparison 
of  human  power  with  that  of  God  in  the  defense 
and  deliverance  of  mankind,  even  of  Job  him- 
self, from  his  spiritual  enemies.  See  below,  ch. 
xl.  6-15."   Wordsworth.]. 

Ver.  27.  For  He  draweth  up  the  water 
drops,  to  wit,  from  the  earth.  This  is  the  only 
rendering  of  J'^J"'.,  which  corresponds  to  the  se- 
cond member ;  not  that  of  the  LXX.,  Pesh., 
etc.  ;  "Jle  numbers  off;"  and  just  as  little  that 
of  Stickel  and  Delitzsch :  "  He  draws  off  [=let3 
fall]  the  drops,"  i.  e.,  out  of  the  upper  mass  of 
waters  [to  which  add  the  rendering  of  E.  V., 
Mercier,  etc.  "  He  maketh  small  the  drops  of 
water."  The  reference  seems  clear  to  the  first 
step  in  the  process  of  forming  the  rain,  by  which 
the  drops  are  attracted  (upward  of  necessity,  al- 
though that  does  not  lie  essentially  in  the  verb, 
for  which  reason  the  objection  of  Delitzsch  that 
it  means  attrahere  or  detrahere,  but  not  attrahere 
in  sublime,  falls  to  the  ground),  attracted,  that  is, 
towards  Him  who  is  the  Divine  cause. — E.].  So 
that  they  ooze  {]^f^,  lit.  "to  filter,  refine," 
comp.  ch.  xxviii.  1)  the  rain  with  His  mist, 
i.  e.,  the  mist  which  He  spreads  out  [t.  e.,  since 
a  mist  produced  by  it  (Gen.  ii.  6)  fills  the  ex- 
panse (JL^'P"'),  the  downfall  of  which  is  just  this 
rain."  Delitzsch].  In  respect  to  IX,  comp.  Gen. 
ii.  6;  in  respect  to  7,  "  with,"  (or  also  "on  ac- 
count of,  by  means  of")  comp.  ch.  xxxvii.  1  a. 
[E.  V.  "they  pour  down  rain  according  to  the 
vapor  thereof."  "  Pour  down"  for  Dpi  is  nei- 
ther sufiSciently  accurate  nor  expressive,  destroy- 
ing as  it  does  the  image  of  "  filtering"  which 
lies  in  the  verb.  "According  to"  maybe  ac- 
cepted for  7,  which  is  obscure.  According  to 
Gesenius,  it  indicates  the  vapor  as  the  origin 
of  the  rain — quie  orta  est  ex  vapor e  ejus:  and  so 
Conant.  According  to  others  it  denotes  the  state 
into  which  rain-drops  pass  in  falling.  Accord- 
ing to  Ewald  it  is  a  sign  of  the  accusative,  nx 
being  in  opposition  with  1£0D.  Is  it  not  natural 
to  find  in  vers.  27-28  a  description  of  the  succes- 
sive steps  in  the  formation  of  the  rain — first  (27 
a)  the  ascent  of  the  water-drops  in  evaporation 
— then  (27  b)  the  filtering  of  the  mist  whereby 
rain  is  produced,  then  (ver.  28)  the  fall  of  the 
rain  («)  in  general,  (A)  in  copious  abundance? 
If  this  view  be  correct,  the  best  explanation  of 

7  would  seem  to  be  that  it  denotes  possession, 
or  origin.  The  suffix  in  HX  moreover  is  better 
referred  to  God  than  to  the  rain,  especially  ao- 
cording  to  the  explanation  here  suggested. — E.j 


CHAPS.  XXXVI— XXXVII. 


587 


Ver.  28.  Which  the  high  clouds  drop 
down. — D'pnty  here  somewhat  difierendy  from 
ch.  XXXV.  5)  denoting  such  clouds  indeed  as  are 
high,  but  not  dry,  or  rainless ;  comp.  Prov.  iii. 
20.     Kespecting  the   construction  ("^tyx,   accus. 

of  material  to  Or)  comp.  Ewald,  §  281,  b.  In 
respect  to  b  [And  distil  upon  the  multitude 
of  men],  comp.  ch.  xxxvii.  12  seq. — [31  may 
(with  E.  V.)  be  taken  adverbially="  abun- 
dantly ;"  although  it  seems  betterwith  most  mo- 
derns to  take  it  as  an  adjective  describing  DIX 
"many  men."  In  this  case  as  well  as  the  other 
the  predominant  thought  seems  to  be  the  copi- 
ousness of  the  rain. — E.]. 

Ver.  29.  Yea  (^K  intensive,  as  elsewhere  ^X 
'3,  comp.  ch.  XXXV.  14)  can  one  understand 
the  spreadings  of  the  clouds  ?  their  ex- 
pansion, outspreading  over  the  vault  of  heaven 
(comp.  Ezek.  xxvii.  7;  Ps.  cv.  39;  not  "their 
burstings,"  which  't5'"]3p  could  signify  only  if 
we  were  at  liberty  to  derive  it  (with  Hirzel  and 
Stickel  [Conant,  Renon]  from  a  verb  ti'"1i3= 
D^3,  frangere. — The  loud  crashing  of  His 
pavilion  ? — The  thick,  deep  black  thunder- 
clouds are  here  conceived  of  as  the  "  tabernacle" 
behind  which  God  veils  Himself,  precisely  as  in 
Ps.  xviii.  12.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  "  tents  " 
(r\12p)  of  the  orientals  have  the  appearance  of 
being  predominantly  black  (comp.  on  Cant,  i^  5; 
iv.  1).  niXK'ri;  used  of  the  loud  crashing  of  the 
thunder  (referred  to  the  thunder-clouds,  pic- 
tured as  a  tabernacle),  hence  somewhat  differ- 
ently from  below,  ch.  xxxix.  7.  [The  magnifi- 
cent terseness  and  power  of  the  line  mXC^n 
'inJDD  should  be  noted. — E.]. 

Ver.  30  seq.  Special  description  of  the  pheno- 
mena of  thunder  and  lightning  in  the  storm,  as 
already  announced  in  ver.  29  h. — Behold,  He 
spreadeth  His  light  around  Himself;  ;'.  e. 
that  eternal,  heavenly  veil  of  light,  in  which 
God  dwells  continually  (Ps.  civ.  2,  etc.'),  and  out 
of  which  the  lightning-flashes  issue,  like  ray?, 
gleaming  through  the  clouds,  and  dividing  the^^; 

comp.  ver.  32;  chap,  xxxvii.  3.  [V7>',  as  here 
explained — around  or  over  Himself — the  suffix 
referring  to  God,  not  the  "  tabernacle," — "  upon 
it."  E.  v.] — And  with  the  roots  of  the  sea 
He  covereth  Himself  (nD3  with  accus. — 
"to  take  anything  as  a  covering,"  as  in  Jonah 
iii.  6).  The  "roots  of  the  sea"  are  the  masses 
of  water  drawn  upwards  out  of  the  sea,  into  the 
heavens  in  the  form  of  black  clouds,  and  here 
serving  God  as  a  veil  (so  correctly  Umbreit, 
Ewald,  Vaihinger,  Dillmann)  [Conant,  Noyes, 
who  renders:  "And  He  clotheth  Himself  with 
the  depths  of  the  sea"].  The  expression  is 
poetically  bold,  but  still  unmistakable  (comp. 
yS'SVJ  in  ch.  xiii.  27;  xxviii.  9.  By  D"n  we  are 
to  understand  neither  the  waters  of  the  heavens 
above  (Hirzel,  Schlottra.),  nor  the  sea  of  clouds 
(Hahn)  [Renan].  The  expression  denotes,  as 
always,  the  ocean,  regarded  as  the  source  of  the 
atmospheric  moistures  which  mount  up  from  it. 
The  language  does  not  refer  to  a  "covering  of 
the  foundations  of  the  sea  with  the  light  of  the 


lightning"  (Stuhlm.,  Delitzsch)  [Good,  Words- 
worth] ;  in  order  to  express  this  thought,  ano- 
ther 'I'lX  or  "^1X3  would  scarcely  have  been 
omitted  with  7103.  [Delitzsch  explains  his  view 
as  follows:  "The  lightning  in  a  thunder-storm, 
especially  when  occurring  at  night,  descends 
into  the  depths  of  the  sea,  like  snares  that  are 
cast  down  (DTIS,  Ps.  xi.  6),  and  the  water  is 
momentarily  changed,  as  it  were,  into  a  sea  of 
flame."  But  this  explanation  does  not  ade- 
quately account  for  the  use  of  1^11!/.  According 
to  another  explanation,  God  is  represented  as 
covering  the  depths  of  the  sea,  either  with 
waters  (Barnes),  or  with  darkness,  contrasting 
with  the  lightning  which  covers  the  sky  (Lee, 
Rodwell).  But  neither  of  these  explanations 
falls  in  naturally  with  the  description  of  the 
storm.  Renan:  "Now  He  covers  Himself  with 
His  lightnings  as  with  a  curtain ;  now  He  seems 
to  hide  Himself  in  the  depths  of  the  sea;"  his 
explanation  being:  "He  treats  here  of  the  alter- 
nations of  light  and  darkness  which  take  place 
in  storms.  The  clouds  are  compared  to  a  dark 
and  deep  sea."  There  is  nothing,  however,  to 
indicate  such  a  contrast  between  light  and  dark- 
ness. The  "light"  here  is  more  especially  that 
of  the  storm-lightning,  in  which  God  wraps  Him- 
self as  a  robe;  the  "ocean-roots"  are  the  storm- 
clouds,  conceived  of  as  the  waters  lying  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea,  which  God  has  lifted  up,  and 
gathered  around  Himself. — E.] 

Ver.  31.  For  therewith — with  lightnings 
and  clouds  (ver.  30) — He  judgeth  the  peo- 
ple, giveth  food  in  abundance. — "fSpO/ 
only  here,=the  expression  3'l'7,  usually  found 
elsewhere.  The  whole  verse — which  has  some- 
what of  a  parenthetic  character,  as  an  ethical 
and  theological  reflection  in  the  midst  of  a  pas- 
sage which  otherwise  is  purely  descriptive — 
which,  however,  is  not  (with  Olshausen)  to  be 
placed  between  vers.  28  and  29 — reminds  us  of 
Schiller: 

Aus  der  Wolko  quillt  der  Segen, 
Stromt  der  Regcii ; 
Aus  der  Wolke,  oline  Wahl, 
Zuckt  der  Strahl.* 

Ver.  32.  Both   hands  He  covereth  over 

•with  light,  and  sendeth  it  forth  against 
the  adversary. — This  is  a  more  specific  de- 
scription of  what  God  does  in  judging  the  people 
(ver.  31  a),  and  the  use  He  makes  therein  of  the 
lightning.  ["  God  is  represented  under  a  mili- 
tary figure  as  a  slinger  of  lightnings:  He  covers 
light  over  both  hands,  i.  e.  arms  both  completely 
with  light,  and  directs  it."  Delitzsch.]  Who 
the  adversary  is  (J^'J30,  LXX.,  Theod. :  oTau- 
r6Ji')  against  whom  He  sends  forth  the  light  (lit. 
"commands  it,  enacts  concerninar  it,"  rn]f  with 
7^,  as  often)  remains  undetermined,  and  needs 
not  to  be  inqtiired  into.  It  signifies  at  any  rate 
any  hostile  powers,  against  which  God  sends 
forth  His  lightnings;  comp.  Ps.  xviii.   14  seq.; 

*  From  the  c'oud  the  blessing  springeth, 
Rain  it  bringeth; 
From  thi)  cluiul  unasked  the  beam 
Doth  quivering  gleam. 


588 


THE  LOOK  OF  JOB. 


xi.  6;  Wisd.  xix.  12,  etc.  The  signification  of 
^I^'JiJO  elsewhere  [=intercessor,  Is.  lix.  16)  does 
not  suit  here.  The  change  of  the  word  into 
^^Jpp,  "point  of  attack"  (^ch.  vii.  20),  proposed 
by  Olshausen,  is  however  untenable.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  Hahn's  explanation  of  the  word 
in  this  sense.  Delitzsch  renders  it  peculiarly: 
"and  commissionelh  it  as  one  who  hitteth  the 
mark"  (3  as  3  esscntix,  and  ^'^JSn  after  Isai. 
liii.  6).  I^Delitzsch  connects  it  with  God,  as  "a 
sure  aimer." — Wordsworth  a  little  differently 
■with  the  lightning:  "lie  giveth  it  a  command 
as  an  assailant,  or  an  avenger." — Lee:  "He 
layeth  ITis  commands  upon  it  to  destroy." — 
Rosenmliller,  Stickel,  Elzas:  "He  commandeth 
it  where  to  strike."  Barnes,  Carey:  "  He  com- 
mandeth it  in  striking."  The  rendering  of 
E.  v.:  "With  clouds  (D'33  for  clouds  from 
their  fancied  resemblance  to  hands)  He  covereth 
the  light,  and  commandeth  it  not  to  shine  by  the 
cloud  that  Cometh  betwixt,"  pre-supposes  too 
much.  The  rendering  of  the  ('Commentary : 
"against  the  enemy,"  is  that  which  is  best  sup- 
ported by  the  etymology,  grammatical  form,  and 
connection. — E.] 

Ver.  33.  His  thunder-cry  announces 
Him;  lit.  "His  alarm-cry  makes  announce- 
ment (1  Sam.  xxvii.  11)  concerning  Him." 
ij^T  in  accordance  with  Ex.  xxxii.  17;  Mic.  iv. 
9;  not=^nj.n  [His  friend,  companion],  as  in- 
deed almost  all  the  ancient  versions  take  it 
[LXX. :  "The  Lord  will  declare  concerning  this 
to  His  friend"]  ;  also  among  the  moderns  Um- 
breit  and  Schlot'mann.  ["He  makes  known  to 
it  (scil.  the  light,  or  lightning)  His  friend."  So 
Barnes.]  Just  as  little  does  it  mean:  "His 
thought,  decree"  (Cocceius,  Bottcher,  Welte) 
[Elzas:  "By  it  He  announceth  His  will." — 
E.  v.,  Rosenra.,  etc.:  "The  noise  thereof  show- 
eth  concerning  it,"  taking  the  suffix  to  refer  to 
the  storm,  not  to  God ;  which  is  altogether  too 
insipid]. — The  cattle  even  (announce)  that 
He  is  on  the  march;  or:  "concerning  Him 
who  is  coming  upward."  This  is  beyond  a 
doubt  the   most    satisfactory  explanation  of  the 

difficult  closing  member  hVij,'-?^^  f|>{  ^^P^ ; — 
an  explanation  which  becomes  still  more  obvious 
if — instead  of  assuming,  as  ia  commonly  done 
(so  Rosenm.,  Stick.,  Ew.,  Vaih.,  Ileil.,  Delitzsch, 
etc.),  merely  a  general  reference  to  the  uneasy 
movements  of  animals  at  the  first  approach  of  a 
thunder-storm,  and  comparing  with  it  passages 
like  Virgil,'  Georg.  I.,  373  seq.  ;  Pliny,  //.  N. 
XVIII.,  35,  etc., — we  suppose  that  the  storm 
thus  far  described  had  occasioned  under  the 
eyes  of  the  assembly,  before  which  Elihu  speaks, 
a  certain  bewilderment  or  destruction  in  a  par- 
ticular herd  of  cattle; — if,  accordingly,  we 
assume  an  actual  occasion  to  have  been  given  for 
this  description — an  occasion  which  is  not  to  be 
more  particularly  defined,  and  so  derive  again 
out  of  the  passage  before  us  a  confirmation  of 
the  supposition  advanced  above  on  ver.  22.  In 
that  cise  wc  need  have  recourse  to  none  of  t^e 
artificial  and  violent  make-shifts,  into  the  adop- 
tion of  which  expositors  have  fallen  here,  as 
e.  g.  the  rendering   of  npp3  in  the  absolutely 


unheard  of  signification  of  "jealousy,  fury  of 
wrath"  (Ilahn:  "a  raging  of  wrath  announces 
Him  who  is  uprising;"  and  cotnp.  Schlottmann) ; 
the  changing  of  the  word  into  nppO  (llitzig), 
or  nilpO  (Bottcher,  Dillmann,  who  at  the  same 
time  read  H/IJ^  instead  of  hVi^:  "causing  His 
anger  to  rage  against  iniquity  "),  etc.  [Schlott- 
mann's  rendering,  referred  to  above  —  "and 
the  fury  of  wrath  against  iniquity  (or  against 
t  ransgressors)"  is  the  one  adopted  by  Fiirst,  Good, 
Lee,  Bernard,  Carey,  Elzas. — The  possible  va- 
rieties of  interpretation  of  the  verse  are  endless. 
See  the  more  important  set  forth  in  Schultens, 
Schlottmann,  and  Conant.  The  simplicity,  life- 
likeness,  and  appositeness  of  the  rendering 
adopted  in  the  Commy.  (and  by  Ewald,  Delitz. , 
Gesenius,  Renan,  Wordsworth,  Rodwell,  and  Co- 
nant— who  however  takes  nJpO  as  object,  rather 
than  subject — "  to  the  herds  ")  will  commend  it 
to  most. — E.]. 

Ch.  xxxvii.  1-5.  Further  description  of  the 
terror-working  power  of  the  thunder  and  light- 
ning. 

Ver.  1.  Yea,  because  of  this  (HXT^,  comp. 
ch.  xxxvi.  27),  my  heart  trembleth,  and 
quaketh  out  of  its  place;  lit.,  "springs,  or 
starts  up,"  comp.  ch.  vi.  9.  Why  this  should 
be  regarded  as  "an  exaggerated,  hardly  an  ele- 
gant expression"   (Dillmann),  is  not  apparent. 

Ver.  2.  Hear,  O  hear,  the  roar  of  His 
voice. — J^ID^  U'?^}  a  summons  to  hear  closely 
and  attentively,  comp.  ch.  xiii.  17 ;  xxi.  2.  The 
phenomena  of  the  thunder  and  lightning  seem,  at 
this  particular  moment  of  the  description,  so 
very  near  to  the  speaker  and  his  hearers,  that 
some  commentators,  as  Bottcher,  Schlottmann, 
Delitzsch,  have  found  here  at  least  an  indication 
of  the  probability  that  the  poet  presupposes  a 
storm  as  advancing  during  the  colloquy.  It  is, 
however,  evidently  not  an  approaching  thunder- 
storm to  which  the  description  refers,  but  one 
which  had  been  for  some  time  already  present, 
and  which  might  be  heard  now  loudly  roaring 
(see  a),  and  now  lowly  murmuring  or  rumbling 
(see  b)  [and  the  rumbling  |,njri,  E.  V.:  too  ge- 
neral— "sound")  that  goeth  forth  out  of 
His  mouth].  Comp.  what  Delitzsch  himself 
strikingly  says:    "The    five-fold   repetition    of 

7ip — a  word  of  sombre  sound,  for  which  our 
Stimme  [Voice]  is  a  miserable  substitute — calls 
to  mind  the  seven  riwip  in  Ps.  xxix."  Against 
Dillmann's  assertion,  that  if  the  poet  had  pur- 
posed to  represent  the  thunder-storm  mentioned 
in  ch.  xxxviii.  1  as  here  already  advancing,  Ife 
would  not  have  begun  his  series  of  physico-theo- 
logical  reflections  with  the  storm,  but  would 
have  reserved  it  for  the  conclusion,  it  may  be  ar- 
gued that  at  the  close  of  his  discourse,  and  after 
his  digression  in  respect  to  the  cold,  rain  season, 
etc.  (vers.  6-13),  Elihu  does  in  fact  again  repeat- 
edly take  up  the  phenomena  of  storms  and  at- 
mospheric changes;   comp.  on  ch.  xxxviii.  1. 

Ver.  3.  Under  the  whole  heaven  He 
leadeth  it  forth — or :  "  He  sends  ir  forth,  looses 
it"  (in7_t;/;,  Imperf.  Kal.  of  the  Aram.  r\1U),  i.  e., 
the  roaring  and  the  rumbling.     [The  definition 


CHAPS.  XXXVI— XXXVII. 


G80 


of  the  verb  here  adopted  is  preferred  bv  Ewald, 
Furst,  Del.,  Dillm.,  Hirz.,  Lee,  Carey,  Wordsw., 
etc.,  on  the  ground  that  it  !s  more  appropriate  as 
applied  to  the  thunder  (let  loose  through  the  im- 
measurable vault  of  heaven),  and  particularly  to 
the  zig-zag  course  of  the  lightning,  than  the  sig- 
nification "to  direct"  (from  1i!'\  which  rests  on 
the  fundamental  idea  of  straightness). — E.]. 
And  Hi3  lightning  (lit.  "His  light")  unto 
the  borders  of  the  earth. — In  respect  to 
Vixn  r\ii3J2),  see  on  chap,  xxxviii.  13.  As  to  the 
thought,  comp.  Luke  xvii.  24  and  parallel  pas- 
sages. 

Ver.  4.  After  it  roareth  the  sound  of  the 
thunder:  He  thundereth  with  the  voice 
of  His  majesty — lit.  "He  will  thunder" 
(°.I??1^'  voluntative,  as  also  J??C''  in  c). — And 
restraineth  them  not  {i.  e.,  the  lightnings,  the 
particular  rays  of  the  IIX  mentioned  in  ver.  3), 
when  His  voice  resounds  [lit.  is  heard]. 
— ^pi^,  not  "to  track  out,  to  follow  up"  (Sym- 
machus,  Vulg.,  Ewald  [who  renders  interroga- 
tively :  "  and  will  He  not  find  them  out  when 
His  voice  is  heard?"  i.  e.,  track  them  in  their 
hiding-places  with  His  thunder  and  lightning], 
but  in  accordance  with  the  Targ.,  33^.',  to  hold 
back,  refrenare,  cohibere  [the  idea  being  that  the 
roar  of  the  thunder  and  the  flash  of  the  lightning 
follow  in  quick  succession]. 

Ver.   5.    God    thundereth   marvellously 

with  His  voice. — niNvSJ  here  used  adverbi- 

T  :  • 
s\\y=mirabiltter,  as  in  Dan.  viii.  24  ;  Ps.  Ixv.  6; 
cxxxix.  14.  In  respect  to  b,  comp.  ch.  v.  9 ;  ix. 
10  ;  xxxvi.  26.  The  verse  ends  for  the  time  the 
description,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  storm,  and 
by  a  general  observation  respecting  God's  great- 
ness leads  the  way  to  the  following  examples  of 
the  same. 

7.  Continuation.  The  phenomena  of  winter, 
such  as  snow,  rain,  the  north  wind,  frost,  etc: 
ch.  xxxvii.  6-13. 

Ver.  G.  For  to  the  snow  He  saith — Pall 
to  the  earth. — mn  erroneously  rendered  "Be" 
by  the  LXX.,  Targ',  Pesh.  [E.  V.]  (on  the  con- 
trary,  correctly  by  Jerome — ut  descendat),  is  Im- 
perat.  of  niil,  "to  fall"  (lit.  "to  gape,  to 
yawn"),  a  root  obtaining  elsewhere  only  in 
Arabic  as  a  verb ;  hence  another  of  the  Arabisms 
of  this  Elihu  section,  as  in  ch.  xxxiv.  36;  xxxv. 
15,    etc.      In   the    two   following   members    the 

7  of  J/^J  extends  its  influence:  (also)  to  the 
rain-shower  (p^i,  a  heavy,  pouring  rain;  a 
stronger  term  than  100),  and  the  rain-show- 
ers of  His  strength— I.e.,  His  mighty,  pouring 
rain-showers    (the  plural    structure   similar    to 

Cia  Sip  in  ch.  XXX.  31 ;  comp.  Ewald,  ^  270,  c). 
The  rain,  being  by  far  the  most  common  form  in 
which  the  moisture  of  the  atmosphere  is  precipi- 
tated during  the  Syro-Arabian  winter,  where  it 
comes  down  particularly  in  the  late  autumn  (as 
the  early  rain),  and  in  the  early  spring  (as  the 
latter  rain),  is  by  the  double  designation  more 
strongly  emphasized  than  the  snow.  Comp.  still 
further,  as  a  parallel  in  thought,  Isa.  Iv.  10. 


Vers.  7-8  describe  the  eff"ects  of  the  cold  of 
winter  on  men  and  beasts.  ["The  wonders  of 
na'ure  during  the  rough  season  (^^n,  IMp,  Cant, 
ii.  11),  between  the  autumnal  and  veriinl  equi- 
noxes, arc  meant;  the  rains  after  the  autumnal 
equinox  (the  early  rain),  which  begin  the  sea- 
son, and  the  rains  before  the  vernal  equinox  (the 
late  rain,  Zeoh.  x.  11),  which  close  it,  with  the 
falls  of  snow  between,  which  frequently  produce 
great  desolation,  especially  the  proper  winter, 
with  its  frosty  winds  and  heavy  showers,  when 
the  business  of  the  husbandman,  as  of  the  no- 
mads, is  brought  to  a  sf and  still,  and  every  ono 
retreats  to  his  house  or  seeks  a  sheltering  cor- 
ner." Del.] 

Ver.  7.  The  hand  of  every  man  He  puts 
under  a  seal — so  that  it  is  disabled  from  car- 
rying on  field-work  (comp.  IIomeb,  Iliad,  XVI [. 
549  seq.:  of  pn  tc  ipyuv  av&puTTOvg  avtiravaev  trrl 
X&ovi).  Respecting  3  DHn,  comp.  ch.  xxxiii. 
16.  The  object  of  this  sealing  influence  of  the 
winter  frost  on  the  hands  of  men  is  :  that  all 
men  of  His  w^ork  may  come  to  know^ledge 
— i.  e.,  that  all  men  created  by  God  may  learn 
how  mighty  He  is,  and  how  entirely  dependen'. 
on  Him  they  are.  "Men  of  His  work"  is  a 
somewhat  singular  collocation  of  words,  wliich 
does  not  occur  elsewhere,  which,  however,  has 
its  parallel  in  the  expression,  "  sheep  of  His 
hand,"  Ps.  xcv.  7,  and  for  that  reason  is  not  of 
necessity  to  be  set  aside  in  the  way  of  conjecture. 
At  the  same  time,  the  rendering  of  the  Vulg.:  ut 
noverint  singuli  opera  sua,  furnishes  a  witness  not 
altogether  to  be  slighted  in  behalf  of  the  emenda- 
tion of  Olshausen,  favored  also  by  Delitzsch — 

..<-.  -  ■  r~:       T      •=-  -  - 

In  regard  to  ver.  8  [Then  creeps  the  beast 
into  his  covert,  and  in  his  lairs  doth  he 
remain]  comp.  Psalm  civ.  22,  where,  it  is  true, 
that  which  is  spoken  of  is  not  exactly  the  infla- 
ence  of  winter  in  causing  beasts  to  seek  oat, 
places  of  shelter. 

Ver.  9.  Out  of  the  secret  chamber  cometll 
the  storm — "'."ID'  "chamber"  [penetrale  cluus- 
trum)  denotes  the  enclosure  out  of  which  the 
storm-wind  rushes  forth,  as  in  chap,  xxxviii.  22 
(comp.  Psalm  cxxxv.  7)  mention  is  made  of  the 
"storehouses"  of  the  snow.  Comp.  ch.  ix.  9 — 
"chambers  of  the  south,"  with  which  expression 
the  one  before  us  is  not  to  be  identified  without 
further  qualification.  For  instead  of  storms  from 
the  south  or  south-east  (Rosenniiiller,  Umbreit, 
Vaihinger,  Welte,  Delitzsch)  [E.V.],  the  lan- 
guage here  refers  rather  to  storms  from  the 
north  or  north-east,  as  certainly  as  that  beiViw  in 
ver.  17  the  sultry  and  heating  quality  of  the 
south  wind  is  intended.  And  cold  from  the 
cloud-scatterers.  —  0'"?'?>  probably  Partic. 
Piel.  plnr.  from  HIT,  "to  sweep  away^  to  scat- 
ter," hence  dixperffcntes  (sci!.  venti),  the  cloud- 
Bweepers,  a  designation  of  violent  cold  storms 
(as  in  Arab,  darijat,  they  which  blow  away; 
Kor.  Sur.  51,  1),  which  indeed  are  also  to  be  re- 
garded as  coming  from  the  north  or  east;  comp. 
ch.  i.  19.  The  ancient  versions  seem  not  to  have 
understood  the  word  which  occurs  only  here. 
Thus  the  LXX.:  h-b  rCtv  aKpurr/piuv  (a  corruption 
perchance  of  apKri^uvl) ;  Vulg.:  ab  arcturo;  Aq., 


500 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Theod.:  hirb  Ma^oiip  (similarly  the  Targ.) 
[FUrst  and  Lee:  the  Northern  constellations; 
Mercian:  Septentriones ;  Good:  (he  Arctic  cham- 
bers;   Renan  :  the  north  winds,  etc.'\. 

Vcr.  10.  From  the  breath  of  God  there  is 
jrr  (impersonal  as  also  Prov.  xiii.  10)  ["there 
Cometh,  there  is  given"]  ice — viz.,  when  a  cold 
blast,  proceeding  from  God,  sweeps  over  the  face 
of  the  water,  by  means  of  which,  according  to  b, 
"the  breadth  of  the  waters  (is  brought)  into  a 
strait"  (comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  Iti),  i.e.,  is  solidified, 
and  80  fettered  as  it  were,  is  arrested  in  its  free, 
flowing  movement.  Precisely  thus  the  Arabic 
poet,  Montenebbi :  "  the  flood  is  chained  by  bands 
of  ice."  In  respect  to  the  apparent  contradiction 
between  this  representation  and  the  physical  fact 
of  the  expansion  of  freezing  water,  see  below  on 
chap,  xxxviii.  30. 

Vers.  11-13  return  to  the  description  of  the 
phenomena  of  clouds  and  rain,  occasioned  by  a 
new  phase  of  the  storm  just  taking  place,  con- 
sisting in  the  outpouring  of  rain  in  extraordinary 
abundance.  Schlottmann  correctly:  "The  storm 
in  its  magnificent  approach  drifts  victoriously 
before  all  the  senses  of  Elihu,  so  that  from  all 
other  images  brought  forward  as  they  are  with 
a  certain  haste,  he  ever  recurs  to  that  of  the 
storm"   (comp.  Del.). 

Yer.  11.  Also  he  loadeth  'V7ith  moisture 
the  clouds — comp.  ch.  xxvi.  8. — '''),  from  nil, 
signifies  "moisture,  wet,"  and  n'''^^n,  related  to 
rr^D,  "burden,"  is  "to  load,  to  make  heavy." 
All  explanations  which  take  ^13  as  one  word 
from  the  root  1*13  (or  m3)  are  against  the  con- 
nection, e.  ff,,  "serenity  [brightness]  dispels  the 
clouds"  (Targ.,  Rosenm.,  Umbreit  [Bernard, 
Barnes,  Elzas],  etc.);  frumentum  (13)  desiderat 
nubes  (Vulg.,  Symmach.);  ekIektoii  KaTawTirjaaeL 
veipDiT]  (LXX.,  and  similarly  Theod.,  Pesh.). 
[Gesenius,  Noyes:  "In  rain  He  casts  down  the 
thick  cloud."  Carey:  "By  (its)  watering  the 
thick  cloud  falleth  headlong."  But  the  vers. 
which  follow,  and  particularly  ver.  12  a,  are 
scarcely  consistent  with  the  idea  that  the  cloud 
has  cast  down  its  contents.  E.  V.  also  seems  to 
take  ^1  actively — "by  watering  He  wearieth  the 
thick  cloud ;"  the  meaning  being  apparently  that 
by  showering  down  its  contents  the  cloud  is 
wearied  or  worn  away ;  against  which  the  ob- 
jection just  noted  holds. — E.].  He  spreadeth 
far  and  -wide  the  clouds  of  His  light — i.  e., 
the  thunder-clouds,  pregnant  with  lightning, 
through  which  the  lightning  flashes;  comp.  ch. 
xxxvi.  29;  and  in  respect  to  ]"pn,  "to  scatter, 
to  spread  aibroad,"  comp,  chap,  xxxviii.  24. 

Ver.  12.  And  these — round  about  they 
turn  themselves. — Nim  cannot  refer  to  God 
(Rosenmiiller,  Schlottmann)  [Lee ;  also  Good 
and  Elzas,  who,  however,  both  render  m3pO 
"seasons"  (courses)].  It  can  be  referred  only 
to  |V,  or  3J',  "clouds,"  ver.  11.  [The  most 
natural  way  of  accounting  for  its  use  here  is  to 
understand  it  as  descriptive,  Elihu  pointing  out 
the  cloud  at  the  time — NIDI — "And  there  it  is! 


turning  round  about,  hither  and  thither,"  etc. 
Thus  understood,  it  would  be  better  to  adhere  to 
the  singular  rendering  of  "cloud"  in  ver.  11,  as 
being  more  individual  and  vivid. — E.].  r>i3pp, 
"round  about,"  as  elsewhere  30D,  or  r\13'3D. — 

•  T  •  : 

Piloted  by  Him  (lit.  "by  His  pilotings," 
the  clouds  being  thought  of  as  God's  ships,  or 
coursers  ;  comp.  Ps.  xviii.  11  [10]  seq.)  accord- 
ing to  their  doings — i.e.,  according  to  the 
actions  of  men,  God  having  established  a  strict 
economic  relation  between  those  actions  and  the 
agency  of  His  clouds  in  heaven,  now  yielding  a 
blessing   and  now  working  destruction.      This 

reference  of  the  suffix  in  ti^Val  to  men  fEwald, 

T  t:  |T  :  *■ 

Hirzel,  Heil.,  Dillm.)  is  favored  by  ver.  13,  as 
also  by  the  Masoretic  accentuation,  which  forbids 

the  connection  of  D7;?37  with  what  follows,  ac- 
cording to  the  view  which  finds  favor  with  the 
majority  of  modern  commentators — "  that  they 
may  do  whatever  he  commandeth  them  on  the 
face,"  etc.  [To  which  add  the  use  of  the  strongly 
individualizing  and  descriptive  Nin  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  verse,  after  which  it  is  altogether 
unlikely  that  the  plural  suSix  would  be  used, 
especially  seeing  that  again  in  ver.  13  b  the  sing, 
suffix  is  used,  inXYD^.— E.]  The  third  member 
expresses  the  object  of  the  verb  7j,'3 — Whatso- 
ever  He   commands  to   them   upon    the 

globe.  The  pleonastic  expression  ]*7?5  7-?^ 
[lit.  "the  habitable  land  (of)  the  earth  "]  occurs 
again  in  Prov.  viii.  Respecting  the  form 
n^lX,  comp.  already  ch.  xxxiv.  13. 

Ver.  13.  More  specific  statement  of  the  object 
for  which  God  steers  the  clouds  in  accordance 
with  the  conduct  of  men  :  be  it  for  a  scourge, 
when  it  is  (necessary)  for  His  earth,  or  for  a 

blessing,  He  causeth  it  to  come. — i}f  ixS-DK. 
is  not  co-ordinate  with  the  two  other  conditional 
clauses  (Rosenm.,  Umbreit,  Del.  [E.  V.,  Noyes, 
Words.,  Carey,  Rod.]  ;  "now  for  a  scourge,  now 
for  the  benefit  of  His  earth,  now  for  mercy," 
etc.),  but  subordinate  [as  is  proved  (1)  by  the 
decided  contrast  between  "whether  for  a 
scourge"  and  "or  for  mercy,"  each  at  the  be- 
ginning of  its  half-verse  ;  a  contrast  and  a  pro- 
portion of  parts  which  would  be  destroyed  by 
introducing  another  co-ordinate  DX  ;  (2)  by  the 
tautology  which  ensues  from  making  the  second 
clause  with  DX  co-ordinate,  there  being  really  no 
material  difl^erence  between  "  for  the  benefit  of 
His  land  "  (or  earth),  and  "for  mercy." — E.] 
The  earth  is  called  "His  earth,"  because  it  is 
God's  possession  (comp,  ch.  xxxiv.  13),  and  the 

7  before  12f  IX  diff"ers  from  the  ^  before  the  other 
two  nouns,  in  that  it  introduces  a  Dat.  commodi. 
In  respect  to  D3K'="  chastisement,"  comp.  ch. 
xxi.  9. 

8.  Conclusion.  b.  Application :  chap,  xxvii- 
14-24.  Instead  of  censuring  God,  or  quarreling 
with  Him,  Job  should  draw  from  His  wonderful 
operations  in  the  natural  world  the  right  con- 
clusion in  regard  to  the  mystery  of  his  sufl'ering. 


CHAPS.  XXXVI— xxxvn. 


591 


The  appeals  and  questions  addressed  to  Job  to 
the  end  of  the  discourse,  are  seriously  intended. 
An  unprejudiced  consideration  of  the  passage 
will  find  in  it  no  trace  of  "a  lofty  irony" 
(Schlottmann,  Ewald,  Dillmann). 

Yer.  14.  Hearken  unto  this,  O  Job, 
stand  still,  etc.  Both  "  this  "  (HXT),  and  the 
"  wonders  of  God  "  in  6,  point  not  to  what  fol- 
lows, but  to  the  contents  of  the  preceding  de- 
scriptions. 

Ver.  15.  Dost  thou  know  how  God  com- 

mandeth  them? — /}}  DIK',  as  in  Ex.  v.  8,  and 
often,  of  imposing  commands  upon,  not,  as  in 
ch.  xxxiv.  23,  of  "  setting  one's  thoughts  on  any- 
thing" (Rosenmiiller,  Hirzel,  Delitzsch  [Conant, 
Rodwell,  Gesenius;  i.  e.,  when  God  planned  (E. 
v.,  "disposed")  them]).  D1ty3  is  not  (according 
to  the  authorities  just  mentioned)  a  determina- 
tion of  time  when,  but  a  specification  of  the  ob- 
ject of  J'^nn,  this  specification  being  further 
enlarged  by  the  Perf.  consec.  ^'3ini.  [Accord- 
ing to  this  explanation  3  is  usedpartitively  af- 
ter J'T,  like  the  Greek  genit.  after  verbs  of 
knowing,  "  to  have  knowledge  of,"  hence  of  par- 
tial knowledge.   See  Ewald,  §  217,  3,  2,  y].  The 

suffix  in  DHw^  refers  back  either  to  the  "  won- 
ders of  God,"  ver.  14  b,  or  to  the  "clouds,"  ver. 
11  sq.  "Causing  the  light  of  the  clouds  to 
shine,"  in  b  (comp.  ch.  iii.  4;  x.  3,  etc.)  is  a  cir- 
cumlocution for  the  simple  idea  of  lightning ; 
comp.  ver.  11  b. 

Ver.  16.  Dost  thou  understand  the  ba- 
lancings of  the  clouds  ? — 'i^'^ilD  from  ii/hs 

=D7i3,  to  weigh  (Ps.  Iviii.  3  [2]),  to  poise,  a  si- 
milar structure  to  that  of  ^B'lilO,  ch.  xxxvi.  29, 
but  not  for  that  reason  to  be  regarded  as  an  in- 
terchangeable formof  that  word  (against  Ewald). 
Respecting  O'^T  C^'H  in  b,  comp.  on  ch.  xxxvi. 
4.  The  form  DlxSap'  instead  of  'Si  found  only 
here. 

Vers.  17,  18  introduce  a  new,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  last  digression  from  the  phenomena  of 
storms,  which  otherwise  constitute  throughout 
the  principal  theme  of  the  description.  Here  it 
is  to  the  phenomena  which  accompany  the  full 
blaze  of  the  summer  sun  beaming  in  a  perfectly 
serene  and  clear  sky,  that  the  speaker  digresses. 
The  ItS'X  of  ver.  17  is  not  a  conjunction  =  "'3 
(Rosenm  ,  Umbreif,  Hirzel)  [Good,  Lee,  Noyes, 
Renan,  Rodwell,  Barnes,  etc.,  and  E.  V.]  or  = 
DX  (Schlottmann),  but  a  pronoun  referring  to 
Job,  the  person  addressed,  and  introducing  a  re- 
lative clause,  precedent  to  the  interrogative  sen- 
tence in  ver.  18. — Thou,  whose  clothes  (be- 
come) hot,  when  the  earth  becomes  sultry 
(lit.  •'  becomes  calm,  still  ")  from  the  South  ; 
i.  e.,  not  merely  by  the  south-wind,  which  DHT 
could  not  signify,  but  by  the  united  influence  of 
the  solar  heat  and  the  torrid  winds.  So  cor- 
rectly Bolducius,  Ewald,  Stickel,  Hahn,  Delitz., 
Dillmann  [Carey,  and,  though  less  decidedly, 
Wordsworth],  except  that  some  of  these  commen- 
tators (Ewald,  Dillmann),  inappropriately  find  an 
ironical  meaning  in  the  words  [conveyed  to  some 


extent  also  by  Carey's  paraphrase — "  You,  Job, 
can  readily  enough,  feel  the  changes  of  the  wea- 
ther, but  you  cannot  give  any  explanation  of 
them."  The  rendering,  "  How  (i.  e.,  dost  thou 
know  how)  thy  garments  are  warm,  when,  etc.", 
is  certainly  insipid  enough.  In  favor  of  the 
rendering  adopted  above  see  further  on  ver.  18. 
The  rendering  of  6  with  E.  V.,  '■  when  He  qui- 
eteth  (Conant,  '  lulls ')  the  earth  by  the  south- 
wind,"  is  admissible,  although  on  account  of  the 
absence  of  the  suffix  after  ODUT}  the  subject  is 
more  probably  |'"1X,  with  the  verb  in  the  in- 
transitive sense — to  be  tranquil,  or  rather  in 
Hiph.  to  enjoy  tranquillity,  to  find  rest.  The 
appropriateness  of  the  language  of  this  verse  as 
descriptive  of  summer  heat  will  appear  from  the 
following  extract  from  Thomson's  Land  and  the 
Book  (Vol.  II.,  p.  312) :  "  The  sirocco  to-day  is 
of  the  quiet  kind,  and  they  are  often  more  over- 
powering than  the  others.  I  encountered  one  a 
year  ago  on  my  way  from  Lydd  to  Jerusalem. 
Just  such  clouds  covered  the  sky,  collecting,  as 
these  are  doing,  into  darker  groups  about  the 
tops  of  the  mountains,  and  a  stranger  to  the 
country  would  have  expected  rain.  Pale  light- 
nings played  through  the  air  like  forked  tongues 
of  burnished  steel,  but  there  was  no  thunder  and 
no  wind.  The  heat  however  became  intolerable, 
and  I  escaped  from  the  burning  highway  into  a 
dark-vaulted  room  at  the  lower  Bethhoron.  I 
then  fully  understood  what  Isaiah  (ch.  xxv.  5), 
meant  when  he  said.  Thou  shalt  bring  down  the 
noise  of  the  strangers  as  the  heat  in  a  dry  place, 
as  the  heat  with  the  shadow  of  a  cloud — that  is, 
as  such  heat  brings  down  the  noise,  and  makes 
the  earth  quiet — a  figure  used  by  Job  (ch.  xxxvii. 
17)  when  he  says.  Thy  garments  are  warm  when 
he  quieteth  the  earth  by  the  south  wind.  We 
can  testify  that  the  garments  are  not  only  warm, 
but  hot.  This  sensation  of  dry  hot  clothes  is 
only  experienced  during  the  siroccos,  and  on 
such  a  day,  too,  one  understands  the  other  ef- 
fects mentioned  by' the  prophet,  bringing  down 
the  noise,  and  quieting  the  earth.  There  is  no 
living  thing  abroad  to  make  a  noise.  The  birds 
hide  in  thickest  shades,  the  fowls  pant  under  the 
walls  with  open  mouth  and  drooping  wings,  the 
flocks  and  herds  take  shelter  in  caves  and  under 
great  rocks,  the  laborers  retire  from  the  fields, 
and  close  the  windows  and  doors  of  their  houses, 
and  travelers  hasten,  as  I  did,  to  take  shelter  in 
the  first  cool  place  they  can  find.  No  one  has 
energy  enough  to  make  a  noise,  and  the  very  air 
is  too  weak  and  languid  to  stir  the  pendent 
leaves  even  of  the  tall  poplars." — E.] 

Ver.  18.  Dost  thou  with  him  arch  over 
the  sky  ?  i.  e.,  dost  thou  with  Him  give  its 
vaulting  or  out-spanning  (Gen.  i.  7  sq.)  to  the 
firmament  of  clouds  (D^pn^  here  essentially  as 
in  ch.  XXXV.  5),  T?7hich  is  firm  as  a  molten 
mirror?  'NT  "mirror,"  the  same  as  HXIO  in 
Ex.  xxxviii.  8.  PiflD,  Partic.  Iloph.  from  pV 
(ch.  xi.  15),  indicating  the  preparation  of  the 
mirror  from  molten  and  polished  metal.  With 
this  representation  of  the  heavenly  firmament 
(^''P'^,  GTepeufia),  as  constituting  a  smooth,  shi- 
ning, and  solid  mirror,  may  be  compared,  as 
most  nearly  resembling  it,  the  representation  of 


392 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


it  as  transparent  sapphire  (Ex.  xxiv.  10),  or, 
more  remotely,  as  a  curtain  (Ps.  civ.  2)  or  gauze 
(Is.  xl.  22)  or  a  veil  (Ps.  cii.  27  [26]).  [It  should 
be  observed  that  the  description  here  given  of 
the  skies  is  especially  appropriate  to  the  daz- 
zling brilliancy  of  the  oriental  sky  in  summer, 
whence  the  well-known  comparison  of  the  sky  in 
a  season  of  heat  and  drought  to  "brass."  It 
will  thus  be  seen  that  those  two  verses,  (17  and 
18)  are  in  logical  connection.  Thou  who  art 
subject  to  the  influences  of  the  seasons,  whose 
garments  are  hot  in  summer,  when  the  earth  be- 
comes still  from  the  South,  canst  thou  claim  to 
be  associated  with  Him  who  spread  on  high  yon 
blazing  canopy,  solid  and  burnished  as  a  molten 
mirror?  the  comparison  being  with  the  molten 
metal  used  as  mirrors. — E.] 

Ver.  19.  Teach  ua  what  we  shall  say  to 
Him,  the  mighty  Author  and  Preserver  of  this 
magnificent  world-structure  ? — what  we  shall  say 
to  Him,  that  is,  when  we  would  argue  with  Him. 
We  can  set  forth  nothing  (lit.  "we  cannot 

— nS — set  forth,"  scil.  DwO)  by  reason  of 
darkness,  /.  e.,  because  of  the  darkness  of  our 
understanding;  comp.  Eccles.  ii.  14;  Is.  Ix.  2. 
In  respect  to  '^30,  prx,  propter,  comp.  chap, 
xxiii.  17. 

Ver.  20.  ShaU  it  be  told  Him  ("13?^  opta- 
tive) that  I  would  speak? — ["Greatly  in- 
creased vividness  is  imparted  to  the  discourse  by 
this  sudden  transition  from  the  first  person  plu- 
ral to  the  first  singular,  as  though  Elihu  would 
realize  on  the  instant,  in  his  own  person,  all  that 
was  fearful  in  that  which  he  assumes."  Schlott- 
mann]. — Or  did  ever  a  man  wish  to  be  de- 
stroyed? lit.,  "  did  he  say,  that  he  would  be 
(might  become)  destroyed?"  (comp.  xxxiv.  31). 
This  question  has  for  its  basis  something  like 
the  well-known  Old  Testament  idea  that  "no 
man  could  see  God  and  live."  See  Ex.  xix.  21  ; 
xxxiii.  20;  comp.  Gen.  xxxii.  30;  Judg.  vi.  22 
seq.  ;  xiii.  22. 

Ver.  21  seq.  refers  again  to  the  storm  which 
during  the  whole  discourse  is  visible  in  the  hea- 
vens, not  however  with  the  purpose  merely  to 
point  it  out  or  describe  it,  but  to  use  the  specta- 
cle which  the  storm  at  the  moment  presents  as  a 
symbol  of  Job's  condition  and  relation  to  God  at 
the  time. 

Ver.  21.  And  now  indeed  one  sees  not 
the  light,  w^hich  is  gleaming  brightly 
(1'ri3  only  here)  in  the  clouds;  i.  e.,  which 
notwithstanding  the  clouds  that  veil  it,  or,  which 
behind  the  clouds  shines  with  its  customary  bril- 
liancy. But  a  Twind  passeth  by  and  clear- 
eth  them  aw^ay  (dispels  these  clouds,  so  that 
it  becomes  quite  clear  again).  The  meaning  of 
the  passage  can  be  only  this — that  "  the  God  who 
is  hidden  only  for  a  time,  respecting  whom  one 
runs  the  risk  of  being  in  perplexity,  can  sud- 
denly unveil  Himself  to  our  surprise  and  confu- 
sion, and  that  therefore  it  becomes  us  to  bow 
humbly  and  quietly  to  His  present  mysterious 
visitation"  (Delitzsch).  To  reject  this  thought, 
which  is  so  clear,  and  so  strikingly  in  harmony 
with  the  connection,  and  to  substitute  for  it  the 
other  and  much  more  artificial  thought — "But 
now  one  cannot  look  upon  the  sunlight,  while  it 


shines  clearly  in  the  bright  clouds,  inasmuch  as 
the  wind  has  passed  over  it,  and  cleansed  it  of 
all  obscurity"  (Ros.,  Hirz.,  Ew.,  Dillm.,  [Schlott- 
mann,  Noyes,  Conant,  Lee,  Carey,  Wordsworth, 
Rodwell,  Elzas]  etc.), — is  not  to  assist  but  to  ob- 
scure the  comprehension  of  the  passage.  [The 
explanation  of  Delitzsch,  adopted  by  our  Commy. 
does  not  seem  quite  as  clear  as  Zockler  repre- 
sents it.  D'pTWy  is  used  by  Elihu  in  two  senses : 
(1)  in  ch.  xxxvi.  28  of  the  rain-clouds;  (2)  in 
ch.  xxxvii.  18  of  the  sky,  or  firmament.  De- 
litzsch takes  it  more  in  the  latter  sense  here, 
translating:  "the  sunlight  that  is  bright  in  the 
etherial  heights."  This  interpretation  however 
is  forbidden  by  the  DTDDm  of  c.  It  cannot  be 
said  that  the  wind  clears  the  etherial  heights. 
The  suffix  evidently  shows  that  the  "skies" 
here  spoken  of  include  the  lower  region  of 
clouds.  Moreover  the  explanation  itself  requires 
that  somewhere  in  the  verse  mention  should  be 
made  of  the  lower  clouds,  which  for  a  time  hide 
the  light.  But  if  D"pn^  must  include  these 
clouds,  which  are  blown  away  by  the  wind, 
Del.'s  explanation  becomes  inconsistent  with  the 
preposition  2,  which  certainly  cannot  mean,  ac- 
cording to  Zockler's  suggestion,  "behind  the 
clouds,"  or  above  them.  Moreover,  as  Dillmann 
justly  objects,  the  aspect  in  which  God  is  about 
to  be  presented  is  not  that  of  One  who,  having 
been  hidden  for  a  time  suddenly  reveals  Him- 
self, but  rather  that  of  One  whose  majesty  is  too 
terrible  for  contemplation,  and  whose  greatness 
is  unsearchable.  To  which  add  that  this  is  also 
the  prominent  thought  in  the  verse  just  preced- 
ing (ver.  20) ; — God  is  so  great  that  to  approach 
Him  is  to  risk  annihilation.  With  this  thought 
the  other  rendering  stands  in  better  connection, 
so  that  the  whole  train  of  thought  from  ver.  20 
on  may  be  freely  rendered  as  follows: — Shall  it 
be  announced  to  Him,  the  Eternal  King,  awful 
in  glory,  that  I  would  speak  to  Him  ?  Shall  I 
utter  the  desire  to  be  ushered  unto  His  pre- 
sence, whom  to  see  is  to  perish  ?  Even  now  men 
cannot  look  on  the  light — the  symbol  of  His 
glory — as  it  blazes  there  in  the  skies,  over  which 
the  wind  has  passed,  clearing  them  up;  ...  . 
much  less  can  they  gaze  on  His  terrible  majesty  ! 
Elihu  seems  to  speak  with  a  presentiment  of 
the  approaching  presence  of  God. — E.]. 

Ver.  22  continues  the  description  in  ver  21  c 
of  that  which  follows  the  obscuration  of  the  sun 
by  thunder-clouds:  From  the  north  comes 
forth  the  golden  brightness;  —  around 
Eloah  (hovers)  the  sublimest  splendor. — 
These  words  are  referred  by  most  modern  com- 
mentators (following  the  Vulg. :  ab  aqiiilone  au- 
rum  vtnii)  to  the  metal  gold,  which  comes  out 
of  the  lands  lying  to  the  north  (in  favor  of 
which  they  appeal  to  Herodotus,  III.,  116; 
Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  VI.,  11;  XXXIII.,  4),  and 
which  accordingly,  even  if  hard  to  obtain,  is 
nevertheless  at  all  times  accessible  to  men, 
whereas  God's  majesty  remains  forever  unap- 
proachable to  them.  But  whether  in  this  view 
we  find  the  tertium  comparaiionis  to  be  the  re- 
moteness of  the  northern  lands  (Ewald,  Hirzel, 
Vaihinger,  Welte)  [Schlottmann,  Lee,  Conant, 
Dillmann],  or  the  mysterious  obscurity  which 
veils  them  (Stickel,  Hahn,  Delitzsch),  the  com- 


CHAPS.  XXXVI— XXXVII. 


693 


parison  would  after  all  have  something  frigid 
about  it,  would  be  but  ill  suited  to  the  present 
passage,  and  would  agree  but  poorly  with  the 
other  intimations  of  the  Old  Testament  touching 
commercial  geography,  which  locate  the  princi- 
pal mines  of  gold  towards  the  south  rather  ; 
comp.  ch.  xxii.  24;  xxviii.  1,  6, 16.  The  correct 
rendering  has  already  been  indicated  by  the 
LXX.,  who  translate  3ni  by  vii^rj  xpvoavyuvvra, 
following  which  Luther  in  a  marginal  gloss  ex- 
plained the  term  to  mean  "fair  weather  like 
pure  gold  "  [and  so  E.  V.]  ;  and  similarly  Bren- 
tius,  Cocceius,  Starke,  Rosenraiiller,  Unibreit, 
Arnheim,  and  Bcittcher  (Aehrenl.,-p.  76),  [Noyes, 
Bernard,  Barnes,  Good,  Wemyss,  Carey,  Rod- 
well,  Elzas,  Renan],  but  with  the  subordinate 
variation  among  tliemselves,  that  some  of  them 
explain  the  JPtf  of  the   clear  sunlight  breaking 

forth  (Cocceius,  etc.,  Umbreit),  others  of  the 
golden-shining  clouds,  as  the  covering  of  Jehovah 
appearing  in  the  storm.  The  latter  modification 
of  this  meteorological  application  of  the  word,  in 
favor  of  which  may  be  cited  that  other  figurative 
rendering  of  the  word  "  gold  "  which  we  find  in 
Zech.  iv.  12,  where  gold  is  used  for  "pure  oil  " 
— must  in  any  case  be  preferred,  because  the 
sun  itself  could  not  be  described  as  coming 
|1£35fD,  and  because  the  explanation  of  this  JISVO 
as  meaning  "by  means  of  the  north-wind,"  is 
altogether  too  precarious,  and  equally  at  vari- 
ance with  usage  as  Umbreit's  translation — 
"from  heaven."  The  parallel  passages  pro- 
duced by  Schultens  out  of  Arabic  poets,  in  favor 
of  the  comparison  of  the  sunlight  with  gold,  as 
likewise  the  Latin  expressions  aurea  lux,  aureus 
.sol,  are  however  none  the  less  pertinent  for  il- 
lustration (comp.  "the  golden  sunlight"  with 
us),  for  it  still  remains  true  that  the  sun  is  the 
source  of  the  golden  splendor,  with  which  a  por- 
tion of  the  thunder-clouds  is  wont  to  shine  forth, 
when  the  storm  breaks  up,  and  the  clouds  begin 
to  retire  (comp.  Brentius  below  in  the  Homiletio 
Remarks  on  the  passage).  Moreover  according 
to  this  explanation  the  first  member  of  the  verse 
stands  to  the  second  in  the  relation  of  compari- 
son and  preparation.  From  the  north,  when  the 
winds  scatter  the  storm  (in  the  direction  of  the 
south)  there  burst  foi-th  clouds  of  light  shining 
with  the  brilliancy  of  gold,  an  emblem  of  the  in- 
comparable majesty  and  splendor  (Hin  N")1J 
comp.  Ps.  civ.  1)  of  the  light  in  which  God  is 
clothed.  There  is  no  reference  to  the  ancient 
mythological  conception  of  God's  dwelling-place 
being  in  the  north  (such  as  Bottcher  attributes 
to  the  passage),  nor  to  Ezekiel's  description  of 
the  chariot  of  cherubim  as  coming  from  the 
north.  There  may  possibly  have  been  certain 
meteorological  causes  of  a  local  character,  to  as- 
certain which  with  certainty  is  beyond  our 
power,  which  determined  the  poet  to  the  choice 
of  the  expression  ji32fJp,  which  in  any  case  has 
about  it  something  singular,  susceptible  only  of 
imperfect  explanation,  whether  JHt  be  under- 
stood in  a  mineralogical,  or  a  meteorological 
sense. 

Vers.  23,  24  conclude  the  entire  meditation  on 
God's    incomprehensibly   great   and   wonderful 
operations. 
38 


Ver.  23.     The   Almighty — we   find   Him 

not  — He  ever  remains  for  us  One  who  is  be- 
yond our  reach,  both  as  regards  the  perception 
of  our  senses  and  of  our  minds  (comp.  ch,  xxiii. 
3),  one  0rjf  oiKO)v  aTrpScjimv)  1  Tim.  vi.  17). 
[Who  is  great  in  power],  but  right  and 
the    fulness   of  justice    (np"lX-3l,  as  in  ch. 

"  ^     I TT :        T 

xxxiii.  19)  He  perverts  not — /.  e.,  with  all 
His  incomprehensibleness  He  still  continues  ever 
righteous  in  His  dealings — a  proposition  which 
brings  the  discourse  back  to  its  starling-point 
(ch.  xxxvi.  6).  The  phrase  H^l  DUl^'a  H^;;  in- 
stead of  ^)})  ntan,  which  is  usual  elsewhere,  be- 

T    • 

longs  to  the  Aramaizing  idioms  of  the  discourses 
of  Elihu  (comp.  the  Talmudic  TT  Hiljt^;  its  non- 
occurrence elsewhere  however  does  not  necessi- 
tate that,  in  disregard  of  the  Masoretic  accents,  we 
should  connect  Hpn^f-^ll  OSlifD)  with  NUt!'  in  6, 
in  which  case  the  objectless  clause  Hp^'  X?  will 
have  to  be  rendered  either — "  He  does  not  exer- 
cise oppression"  (Umbreit,  Schlottmann,  Kamp- 
hausen)  [E.  V.  ("He  will  not  afflict"),  Noyes, 
Conant,  Barnes,  Bernard,  Elzas,  Wordsworth, 
Good — who  makes  ''^"311  subj.],  or  as  a  relative 
clause — "which  He  doth  not  oppress"  (Stickel), 
or  after  the  reading  nj.l^.''_^/,  "lie  answereth 
not,  giveth  no  account  of  Himself"  (LXX., 
Peshito,  Rosenmiiller,  Hirzel,  Vaihinger)  [Lee, 
Carey,  Renan,  Rod  well].  The  explanation  of 
Hahn  would  seem  more  natural — "As  regards 
right  and  the  fulness  of  justice  He  doth  therein 
no  wrong." 

Ver.  24.  Therefore  do  men  fear  Him — i.  e., 
men  of  the  right  sort,  men  as  they  should  be, 
who  live  in  accordance  with  the  precepts  of  true 
wisdom  (ch.  xxviii.  28).  The  optative  render- 
ing of  the  Perf.  (Umbr.,  Vaihinger,  Stickel, 
Heiligstedt  [Good,  Lee,  Noyes,  Carey,  Renan, 
Rodwell],  etc.)  is  as  unnecessary  as  the  Impera- 
tive— "fear  Him"  is  inadmissible,  which  would 
have  been  written  IH-'lNI''  instead  IH^X^' 
(against  Arnheim,  Hahn).  On  the  contrary  the 
Perf.  is  used  here  as  in  ch.  xxxvi.  24,  25,  to  de- 
note a  public,  universally  recognized  fact  of  ex- 
perience.    He  doth  not  look  on  those  w^ho 

are  wise  in  their  own  conceit. — 3  7~''0Dn-73 

.. .  _      ^ 

lit.  "  all  the  wise  of  heart,"  i.  e.,  those  who 
on  the  ground  of  their  own  heart  (instead  of  on 
the  ground  of  the  fear  of  God)  hold  themselves 
to  be  wise,  omnes  qui  sibi  videntur  esse  sapientes 
(Vulg.).  The  censorious  element  of  the  expres- 
sion does  not  lie  strictly  in  37  (comp.  ch.  ix.  4 ; 
Prov.  xi.  29  ;  xvi.  21 ),  but  only  in  the  contrast  to 
the  notion  of  the  fear  of  God  expressed  ia  a, 
"Not  to  look  on"  any  one  is,  according  to  ch. 
XXXV.  13  b,  to  deem  him  worthy  of  no  notice-; 
of  no  gracious  well-wishing  in  liis  behalf.  The 
subject  of  this  verb  can  be  only  God ;  if  the  con- 
ceited were  subj.,  and  God  the  object  (Vulg,, 
Rosenmiiller,  Stickel)  [Bernard,  Carey]  instead 
of  nxy  the  text  would  read  rather  ^^5^."}'.-  An 
uncalled-for  "disparagement  of  Job  "  (Dillmn.), 
by  no  means  lies  in  this  closing  sentence  of 
Elihu's  discourses,  but  simply  a  final  admonition- 
dissuading  him  from  tliose  presumptuous  judg- 
ments respecting  God,  and  those  presumptuous" 


594 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


speeches  against  God,  against  which  the  polemic 
edge  of  these  discourses  had  been  principally 
turned,  and  that  with  entire  justice.  ["This  is 
the  sum  of  all  that  Elihu  had  to  say — that  God 
was  original  and  independent ;  that  He  did  not 
ask  counsel  of  men  in  His  dealings;  that  He  was 
great  and  glorious,  and  inscrutable  in  His  plans; 
and  that  men  therefore  should  bow  before  Him 
with  profound  submission  and  adoration.  .  .  . 
Having  illustrated  and  enforced  this  sentiment, 
Elihu,  overwhelmed  with  the  awful  symbols  of 
the  approaching  Deity  is  silent,  and  God  is  in- 
troduced to  close  the  controversy."  Barnes]. 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

The  prejudice  of  modern  critics  against  the 
contents  and  significance  of  Elihu' s  discourses 
in  general  has  in  many  instances  betrayed  them 
into  judgments  immoderately  harsh  even  in  re- 
spect to  this,  the  last  and  most  glorious  of  the 
Series.  Dillmann,  e.  g.,  gives  it  as  his  opinion 
that  "if  the  first  part  of  this  long  discourse 
groups  together  the  principal  thoughts  of  Elihu, 
the  second  travels  a  path  which  the  friends  have 
already  attempted  (e.  ^.,  in  ch.  v.,  xi.,xxv.);  and 
in  the  remainder  of  it  is  evidently  based  on  pas- 
sages of  the  discourses  of  God  in  chap,  xxxviii. 
seq.,  the  individual  beauties  of  which  in  their 
contents  and  application  are  thereby  in  part  an- 
ticipated. Forasmuch  as  Dillmann,  as  appears 
from  his  previous  discussions,  recognizes  at  the 
same  time  in  these  "principal  thoughts  of  Elihu 
grouped  together  in  the  first  part,"  little  or  no- 
thing that  IS  original,  this  opinion  of  his  is  as 
disparaging,  not  to  say  contemptuous,  as  it  can 
well  be.  Elihu  is  thereby  even  in  respect  to  the 
contents  of  this  his  final  discourse,  reduced  to 
the  position  of  a  mere  compiler,  destitute  of  in- 
dependence, who  borrows  the  ideas  and  beauties 
of  others,  and  without  remarkable  skill  seeks  to 
elaborate  them  for  his  own  purpose.  We  be- 
lieve that  the  detailed  exegesis  which  we  have 
given  above,  and.particularly  of  this  same  fourth 
discourse,  in  which  the  point  under  considera- 
tion has  claimed  thorough  examination  and  treat- 
ment from  us,  makes  it  unnecessary  for  us  now 
to  undertake  a  special  refutation  of  this  and  si- 
milar objections.  We  believe  that  we  have 
shown  in  respect  to  the  reflections,  predomi- 
nantly ethical  and  theological,  contained  in  the 
first  part  (chap,  xxxvi.  5-21),  that  they  repeat- 
edly set  forth  indeed  the  fundamental  thought 
of  these  discourses,  to  wit,  the  idea  of  a  reme- 
dial purifying  and  chastening  influence  of  di- 
vinely ordained  sufi'ering  on  the  pious;  that 
they  do  this  however  in  a  way  more  impressive 
and  soul-thrilling  than  any  previous  portion  of 
.the  whole  book ;  and  that  in  particular  the 
closing  verses  of  this  division  (vers.  16-21)  con- 
tain statements  in  respect  to  God's  loving  treat- 
ment in  "alluring  out  of  the  jaws  of  distress," 
in  respect  to  the  danger  of  allowing  oneself  to 
be  led  away  from  God  by  the  "heat"  of  sufi'er- 
ing, and  the  greatness  of  the  "ransom"  to  be 
paid  by  means  of  it,  in  respect  to  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  our  own  strivings  and  conflicts  and 
prayers  for  procuring  salvation,  in  respect  to  the 
natural  tendency  of  the  heart  to  do  and  to  utter 
vanity  rather  than  to  suffer  patiently,  such  as 


occur  in  the  like  combination  nowhere  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  such  as  belong  in  truth  to  the 
profoundest  utterances  ivhich  the  revealed  literature 
of  the  Old  Testament  has  produced  in  the  attempt  to 
solve  the  mystery  of  affliction  before  the  coming  of 
Christ. 

In  respect  to  the  Second  Part,  however,  we 
believe  that  we  have  shown: 

(1)  That  the  reflections  in  the  sphere  of  phy- 
sical theology  therein  contained,  so  far  from  de- 
serving the  reproach  of  lacking  originality, 
form  on  the  contrary  a  glorification  of  the  ma- 
jesty of  God  revealed  in  nature,  which  is  most 
harmoniously  adjusted  in  all  its  parts  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  poetically  lofty  and  unique  of 
its  kind. 

(2)  That  in  particular  the  description  of  the 
terrors  and  beauties  of  the  storm,  exhibiting  as 
it  does  in  masterly  combination  beauties  of  its 
own,  deserves  to  be  placed  beside  the  most  ele- 
vated passages  of  the  sort  which  the  Old  Testa- 
ment literature  has  produced  (e.  g.,  Ps.  xviii. 
Ps.  xxix.  etc.),  or  even  surpasses  them. 

(3)  That  the  independence  of  the  description, 
as  compared  with  the  contents — similar  in  part 
— of  Jehovah's  discourse  in  ch.  xxxviii.  seq.,  is 
vindicated  by  the  fact  that  its  character  is  al- 
most exclusively  meteorological,  being  limited  to 
the  atmospheric  phenomena  of  heat  and  mois- 
ture, and  that  its  objects  accordingly  coincide 
only  to  a  limited  extent  with  those  of  the  dis- 
courses which  follow. 

(4)  That  the  supposition — which  forces  itself 
upon  us  with  a  necessity  from  which  there  is  no 
escape — that  the  magnificent  description  here 
given  is  continued  throughout  by  the  sight  of  an 
actual  storm  in  the  heavens,  accompanied  by  an 
abundance  of  the  phenomena  of  thunder  and 
lightning,  furnishes  a  still  further  and  a  weighty 
contribution  to  the  evidence  in  favor  of  the  ori- 
ginality of  the  section  in  relation  to  what  fol- 
lows. 

(5)  That,  finally,  the  suggestive  conclusion  of 
the  whole,  where  the  natural  phenomena  imme- 
diately contemplated  are  symbolically  referred 
— and  that  no  less  naturally  than  impressively 
— to  God's  mysterious  operations  in  respect  to 
Job,  prepares  the  way  for  the  final  decisive  so- 
lution of  the  whole  problem  (see  especially  ch. 
xxxvii.  21  seq.).  The  way  in  which  this  result 
is  secured  banishes  the  last  remnant  of  doubt 
touching  the  genuineness  of  this  section,  while 
at  the  same  time  it  serves  to  corroborate  the 
view  of  this  whole  Elihu-episode  as  an  essential 
part  of  the  poet's  own  artistic  plan,  and  as  hav- 
ing a  close  organic  connection  with  ch.  xxxviii. 
seq.  In  sbort  we  believe  that  we  have  shown 
that  the  descriptions  of  nature  in  the  discourse 
before  us  may  be  ranked  with  the  best  and  most 
original  portions  of  Holy  Scripture  of  that  class. 
We  believe  that  such  a  man  as  Alexander  von 
Humboldt  showed  neither  poor  taste  nor  defec- 
tive judgment  in  sBsthetic  criticism,  when  in  the 
Second  Part  of  his  Cosmos  (Vol.  II.,  p.  414, 
Bohn's  Scientific  Library)  he  writes  with  refer- 
ence to  this  very  passage:  "Similar  views  of 
the  Cosmos  occur  repeatedly  in  the  Psalms  (Ps. 
Ixv.  7  seq.;  Ixxiv.  15  seq.),  and  most  fully  per- 
haps in  the  Slth  chapter  of  the  ancient,  if  not  ante- 
Mosaic  Book  of  Job.     The    meteorological  pro- 


CHAPS.  XXXVI— XXXVII. 


595 


cesses  which  take  place  in  the  atmosphere,  the 
formatiou  and  solution  of  vapor,  according  to 
the  changing  direction  of  the  wind,  the  play  of 
its  colors,  the  generation  of  hail  and  of  the  roll- 
ing thunder  are  described  with  individualizing 
accuracy;  and  many  questions  are  propounded 
which  we  in  tlie  present  state  of  our  physical 
knowledge  may  indeed  be  able  to  express  under 
more  scientific  definitions,  but  scarcely  to  an- 
swer satisfactorily.  The  book  of  Job  is  gene- 
rally regarded  as  the  most  perfect  specimen  of 
the  poetry  of  the  Hebrews,"  etc. 

2.  We  are  constrained  to  make  an  observation 
in  opposition  to  Delitzsch  respecting  the  anthro- 
pological, ethical,  and  soteriological  representa- 
tions of  the  First  Part  (and  indeed  of  the  whole 
discourse,  for  the  same  representations  appear 
also  in  the  Second  Part  towards  the  end;  see 
chap,  xxxvii.  12  seq„  19  seq.).  When  this  com- 
mentator, who  is  so  highly  esteemed  on  account 
of  his  exegesis  of  this  book,  maintains  (II.,  p. 
307  seq.)  that  Elihu,  a^  in  his  discourses  gene- 
rally, so  in  this  final  discourse  particularly, 
•'  takes  up  a  position  apart  from  the  rest  of  the 
book,  in  so  far  as  he  makes  Job's  sin  the  cause 
of  his  affliction  ;  while  in  the  idea  of  the  rest  of 
the  book  Job's  affliction  has  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  Job's  sin,  except  in  so  far  as  he  allows  him- 
self to  be  drawn  into  sinful  language  concerning 
God  by  the  conflict  of  temptation  into  which  the 
affliction  plunges  him" — we  believe  that  we 
must  reject  as  a  one-sided  representation  this 
way  of  characterizing  the  distinction  between 
the  solution  of  the  great  mystery  of  suffering 
given  by  Elihu  and  that  given  by  God,  or  taught 
by  the  whole  poem.  We  must  also  charge  with 
one-sidedness  the  statement  which  follows  in  im- 
mediate connection  with  this,  that  it  is  only  the 
assumed  "older  poet"  (?.  e.,  the  author  of  the 
poem  as  a  whole  omitting  Elihu's  discourses), 
and  not  Elihu,  who  discusses  as  his  theme  the 
mystery  of  affliction,  because  it  is  the  former 
only  who  exhibits  Job  as  sufi'ering  wholly  with- 
out guilt,  or  even  eveKEv  ^.iKaioabvriq,  whereas 
Elihu  "leaves  sin  and  suffering  together  as  in- 
separable, and  opposes  the  false  doctrine  of  re- 
tribution by  the  distinction  between  disciplinary 
chastisement  and  judicial  retribution.  We  must 
be  permitted  to  doubt  whether  on  Old  Testament 
grounds  a  suffering  purely  on  account  of  right- 
eousness (which  under  the  New  Testament 
■would  be  suffering  purely  on  account  of  Christ, 
the  genuine  suffering  of  martyrdom)  could  have 
been  anywhere  conceived  of,  much  less  set  forth 
with  poetic  elaboration.  For  the  "evil  thought 
and  imagination  of  man's  heart  from  his  youth," 
together  with  the  "secret  faults"  without  num- 
ber, and  the  "errors  which  cannot  be  under- 
stood"— all  this  was  rooted  too  firmly  and  deeply 
in  the  consciousness  of  every  thinker  within  the 
circle  of  the  Old  Testament  revelation  to  admit 
of  the  possibility  of  separating  oneself  in  any 
measure  from  this  all-embracing  sinfulness  and 
guilt  which  attaches  to  all  who  belong  to  our 
race.  Moreover  the  actual  issue  of  the  action 
of  the  poem  in  ch.  xlii.  shows  clearly  enough 
that  the  idea  that  "Job's  suffering  had  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  Job's  sin,"  was  not  that  of 
the  poet.  That  for  which  Job  is  there  obliged 
to  repent  in  dust  and  ashes  is  not  simply  his 


sinful  speaking  against  God,  but  beyond  ques- 
tion the  root,  which  lay  still  deeper,  of  these  in- 
dividual sinful  outbreaks — the  remainder  of  un- 
cxpiated  sin,  of  inward  impurity,  not  yet  wholly 
removed  by  purification,  from  which  he  suffered, 
and  the  presence  of  which  he  had  repeatedly  ac- 
knowledged. The  mission  of  Elihu,  as  appears 
with  pre-eminent  clearness  from  this  last  dis- 
course of  his,  is  none  other  than  to  prove  the 
inseparable  connection  between  those  criminal 
utterances  of  the  sorely-tried  sufferer  and  their 
deeper  ground  in  the  moral  nature,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  prove  the  unavoidable  necessity  of 
suffering  for  purification,  even  for  the  man  who 
is  comparatively  righteous.  In  other  words 
Elihu  sets  forth  the  educational  and  remedial 
value  of  the  afflictions  ordained  by  God  for  every 
one  who  is  visited  by  them,  even  for  him  who 
appears  to  be  most  innocent.  The  course  of  hia 
discussion  also  rests  on  the  doctrine  of  affliction, 
only  that  he  affirms  more  urgently  and  empha- 
sizes more  strongly  the  necessity  of  suffering  for 
all  grounded  in  the  sinfulness  of  all  that  is  done 
by  the  discourses  of  Jehovah  These  rather  lay 
the  chief  emphasis  on  the  unfathomableness  of 
the  divine  purpose  in  decreeing  suffering,  as 
also,  in  close  connection  with  this,  on  the  object 
of  suffering,  which  is  to  cultivate  and  to  con- 
firm the  obedience,  humility  and  truth  of  the 
pious.  In  short,  that  which  Elihu  seeks  to  de- 
monstrate is  that  the  significance  of  Job's  suf- 
fering is  predominantly  that  of  chastisement  and 
purification;  that  to  which  the  conclusion  of  the 
whole  poem  points  on  the  contrary  is  that  its 
significance  is  predominantly  that  of  probation. 
There  is  no  absolute  contrast,  but  essentially 
only  a  difference  of  degree  between  the  solution 
of  this  problem  which  Elihu  propounds,  and  the 
final  decision  of  Jehovah.  The  former  contem- 
plates the  affliction  laid  by  God  on  the  pious 
more  with  reference  to  its  final  and  supreme 
purpose  of  salvation,  or  which  is  the  same 
thing — the  former  undertakes  the  solution  of  the 
problem  from  a  soteriological  stand-point  which 
is  in  part  as  yet  that  of  the  law,  the  latter  from 
one  that  decisively  approximates  that  of  the 
New  Testament.  Comp.  above,  Introd.  §  10, 
ad  8. 

HOMILETICAL   AND   PRACTICAL. 

In  a  homiletlc  respect  both  divisions  of  the 
discourse,  the  anthropological-ethical  and  the 
physico-theological,  present,  much  that  is  in- 
structive and  Htimulating.  It  will  be  one  chief 
aim  of  the  practical  expositor  to  exhibit  vividly 
and  with  proper  care  the  reciprocal  influence  of 
both  elements  in  treating  of  such  passages  as  ch. 
xxxvi.  5,  IG,  22  seq. ;  xxxvii.  5,  12  seq.,  19  seq., 
22  seq. 

Particular  Passages. 

Chap,  xxxvi.  5 seq.  Zeltner:  Although  God 
is  the  Most  Mighty  One,  His  wisdom  and  good- 
ness do  not  permit  that  He  should  reject  and 
condemn  any  one  without  cause,  by  virtue  of  a 
bare  unconditional  decree.  His  righteousness 
vindicates  itself  alike  with  the  evil  and  the 
p'ous.  And  although  in  the  case  of  the  pious  ap- 
pearances indicate  that  He  has  forsaken  them,  the 
hour  never  fails  to  come  at  last  when  He  brings 


596 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


forth  their  cause,  and  establishes  their  right,  so 
that  they  behold  with  pleasure  His  grace. — v. 
Gerlach  :  Whereas  Elihu  has  previously  set  forth 
the  retribution  of  God's  righteousness,  which 
without  fail  overtakes  the  wicked,  so  now  he 
here  sets  forth  His  gracious  fatherly  guidance 
of  His  servants.  He  does  not  cast  them  off  at 
once  on  account  of  their  missteps,  for  He  is  also 
"  mighty  in  strength  of  heart,"  i.  e..  His  wisdom 
penetrates  all  things;  He  knows  therefore  how 
by  wondrous  ways  to  lead  them  to  the  right  goal. 

Chap,  xxxvi.  8  seq.  Bkentius  :  If  kings  or 
princes,  whether  in  liberty  or  in  captivity  and 
chains,  will  not  despise  the  instruction  of  the 
Lord,  but  will  rather  submit  to  Him  when  He 
admonishes  them  of  those  things  which  are  right, 
and  chastises  them  by  affliction,  and  repent  of 
their  wickedness,  then  shall  they  find  the  Lord 
favorable  to  them,  and  ready  to  forgive  whatever 
iniquities  they  had  before  committed.  ...  Of 
this  you  have  an  example  in  Manasseh. — ■V.  An- 
dkeae:  If  in  the  present  condition  of  things  in 
the  world  the  pious  must  at  times  languish  in 
misery,  this  is  in  order  that  they  may  persist- 
ently endure  in  the  right  way,  which  conducts 
them  to  that  blessed  goal.  He  who  rebels  against 
these  divine  methods  of  treatment,  will  thereby 
only  forfeit  the  blessing  which  ia  ever  conse- 
quent upon  such  suffering. 

Chap,  xxxvi.  22.  Oecolampadius:  The  invi- 
sible things  of  God  indeed  are  known  from  those 
things  which  are  seen,  but  all  the  knowledge 
which  is  attainable  to  us  now  is  imperfect.  We 
see  afar  off,  and  in  darkness,  and  through  a 
glass,  having  a  better  knowledge  of  what  God  is 
not  than  of  what  He  is.  We  are  not  able  to 
search  out  Hisjudgments,  but  we  know  Him  to 
be  the  Most  High,  and  the  Incomprehensible 
One.  However  much  accordingly  philosophers 
may  dispute  about  the  way  in  which  snow,  rain, 
lightning,  thunderbolts  are  produced,  they  are 
nevertheless  wholly  ignorant  by  what  decree  of 
God  they  are  brought  into  being.  It  is  other- 
wise however  that  our  theologian  [Elihu]  dis- 
courses concerning  the  secrets  of  nature.  He 
does  it  in  order  that  in  them  the  righteousness 
of  God  may  be  observed,  showing  kindness  to 
some,  afflicting  others.  But  by  God's  appoint- 
ment all  things  are  ordered  for  good  to  those 
who  are  good,  at  the  same  time  that  all  crea- 
tures work  evil  to  those  who  are  evil.  Andreae: 
The  same  storm  which  on  the  one  side  is  sent 
upon  the  lands  for  punishment  and  destruction 
is  at  the  same  time  appointed  on  the  other  side 
to  bless  them  abundantly,  and  to  make  them 
fruitful.  Thus  even  the  severest  judgments  of 
God  are  ever  to  be  regarded  as  at  the  same  time 
a  source  out  of  which  divine  grace  distils  forth. 

Chap,  xxxvii.  1  seq.  Cramer:  Thunder,  light- 
ning, and  storms,  are  to  be  our  open-air  preach- 
ers, and  preachers  of  repentance. — They  are 
God's  regalia,  and  emblems  of  His  divine  raa- 
jeqty. — Starke  :  When  God  thunders,  He,  as  it 
were,  speaks  to  us  in  wrath  (Ex.  xx.  19),  God 
would  have  us  recognize  Him  even  out  of  the 


storm,  and  all  the  more  at  such  a  time  pray  to 
Him  and  fear  Him  as  the  true  God.  ...  In  a 
heavy  thunder-storm  every  one  should  humble 
himself  before  God,  and  cry  to  Him,  beseeching 
Him  to  take  us  and  ours  into  His  gracious  pro- 
tection.— Wohlfarth:  Although  we  no  longer, 
like  the  ancients,  find  a  sign  of  the  personal  and 
visible  nearness  of  God  in  the  fearfully  beautiful 
natural  phenomenon  of  a  storm,  but  would  fain 
explain  this  (completely?)  by  the  laws  of  na- 
ture, it  declares  to  us  nevertheless  the  God  of 
power,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  and  disposes  us 
to  the  worship  of  Him,  who  gave  to  nature  her 
laws.  ...  If  by  its  terrors  the  storm  first  of  all 
declares  to  us  God's  majesty,  and  with  earnest 
warning  points  us  to  the  day  of  judgment,  when 
mighty  princes  will  tremble  like  the  least  of 
their  subjects,  it  at  the  same  time  declares  to  us 
the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  Most  High.* 

Chap,  xxxvii.  16  seq.  Weim.  Bibel:  God's 
works  and  wonders,  which  lie  in  nature  ami 
which  come  to  pass  daily,  are  rightly  perceivc-I 
and  learned  only  by  believers,  for  it  is  they  wli') 
by  the  contemplation  of  such  works  are  aroused 
to  give  praise  to  God. — Cocceius:  If  in  other 
matters,  which  happen  every  day,  man  is  not 
summoned  by  God  to  act  as  His  umpire  and  coun- 
sellor, and  if  no  one  can  demand  that  this  should 
be  done,  nor  presume  to  murmur  against  such 
an  arrangement,  it  is  just  that  man  should  not 
require  of  God  that  the  reason  of  the  divine  ad- 
ministration in  this  world  should  in  like  manner 
be  made  known  to  him,  but  that  he  should  ac- 
quiesce in  it  whether  he  understands  it  or  not, 
that  he  should  trust  God's  word,  and  in  patience 
await  His  blessing. 

Chap,  xxxvii.  21  seq.  Brentius:  The  true 
light,  which  is  God,  cannot  be  seen,  neither  does 
it  present  itself  to  eyes  of  flesh.  We  see  indeed 
a  certain  splendor  of  the  clouds,  we  see  the  light 
of  the  sun,  when  the  clouds  are  scattered  by  the 
winds,  we  see  also  gold  coming  from  the  North  ; 
i.  e.,  we  see  the  clouds,  resplendent  as  with  gold, 
and  bright  serenity,  proceeding  from  the  North. 
All  these  are  spectacles  from  which  the  pious 
mind  rises  to  the  praise  of  the  great  and  terrible 
God ;  and  as  the  heavens  declare  the  glory  of 
God,  so  men  from  the  divine  works  may  recog- 
nize and  glorify  the  true  God. — Umbreit  :  The 
comparison  here  given  is  incomplete,  but  may 
easily  be  understood,  and  may  be  more  particu- 
larly set  forth  thus:  As  the  sunlight,  when  it 
suddenly  bursts  forth  from  behind  a  thick  veil 
of  clouds,  dazzles  and  blinds  men"s  eyes,  so  also 
would  the  hidden  majesty  of  God,  if  once  it  were 
revealed  in  all  its  glory  to  mortal  man,  veil  his 
vision  with  darkness. 


*  There  is  much  on  these  points  of  practical  utility  accom- 
p.anied  indeed  by  much  which  Bcientifloally  consideied  is  un- 
tenable, absurd,  and  curious,  in  the  older  works  on  Natural 
Theo!oi;y,  by  Scheuchzer  (Phi/nica  Sncra,  I.,  c,  12),  Schmidt 
(Bibl  Ph:/sicus,  p.  112  seq.),  ,j.  A.  Fabricius  (Pi/rnlhenlooie, 
oili'r  anu^cixunij  r.iir  ErkidilniitK  (foUes  anis  liilrnchtimij  des  Feiiera, 
as  an  Appendix  to  Will.  Derham's  AKlrotheolngie,  etc.,  Ham- 
burg, 17G5);  P.  P.  Ahlwardt,  (^Brontolhenlogia ;  Betrachtungen 
iiber  Blitz  und  Donner,  Qresawald,  1745),  etc. 


CHAPS.  XXXVIII.  1— XLII.  6.  597 


The  Third  Stage  of  the  DlsentanglemerU. 

Chapter  XXXVIII.  1— XLII.  6. 

JEHOVAH'S  DISCOURSE. — The  aim  of  which  is  to  prove  that  the  Almighty  and 
Only  "Wise  God,  with  w^hom  no  mortal  man  should  dispute,  might  also  ordain 
suffering  simply  to  prove  and  test  the  righteous  :    (Second  Half  of  the  positive - 
solution  of  the  problem.) 

Chap.  XXXVIII.  1— XL.  5. 

First  Discourse  of  Jehovah  (together  with  Job's  answer) :      With  God,  the  Almighty  and  Only 
Wise,  no  man  m.ay  dispute.     Chap.  XXXVIII.  1 — XL.  5. 

1.  Introduction:  The  appearance  of  God;  His  demand  that  Job  should  answer  Him. 

Chap.  XXXVIII.  1-3. 

1  Then  the  Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind,  and  said : 

2  Who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel 
by  words  without  knowledge  ? 

3  Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man  ; 

for  I  will  demand  of  thee,  and  answer  thou  Me ! 

2.  God's  questions  touching  His  power  revealed  in  the  wonders  of  creation. 

Chap.  XXXVIII.  4— XXXIX.  30. 
a.   Questions  respecting  the  process  of  creation : 
Vers.  4-15. 

4  Where  wast  thou,  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth  ? 
declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding. 

5  Who  hath  laid  the  measure  thereof,  if  thou  knowest? 
or  who  hath  stretched  the  line  upon  it? 

6  Whereupon  are  the  foundations  thereof  fastened  ? 
or  who  laid  the  corner-stone  thereof: 

7  when  the  morning-stars  sang  together, 
and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  ? 

8  Or  who  shut  up  the  sea  with  doors, 

when  it  brake  forth,  as  if  it  had  issued  out  of  the  womb  ? 

9  When  I  made  the  cloud  the  garment  thereof, 
and  thick  darkness  a  swaddling-band  for  it ; 

10  and  brake  up  for  it  my  decreed  place, 
and  set  bars  and  doors, 

11  and  said.  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  further; 
and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed  ? 

12  Hast  thou  commanded  the  morning  since  thy  days ; 
and  caused  the  day  spring  to  know  his  place ; 

13  that  it  might  take  hold  of  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
that  the  wicked  might  be  shaken  out  of  it  ? 

14  It  is  turned  as  clay  to  the  seal ; 
and  they  stand  as  a  garment. 

15  And  from  the  wicked  their  light  is  withholden, 
and  the  high  arm  shall  be  broken. 


698  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


b.  Respecting  the  inaccessible  depths  and  heights  below  and  above  the  earth,  and  the  forces  proceeding  from 
'  them. 

Vers.  16-27. 

16  Hast  thou  entered  into  the  springs  of  the  sea  ? 
or  hast  thou  walked  in  the  search  of  the  depth  ? 

17  Have  the  gates  of  death  been  opened  unto  thee? 

or  hast  thou  seen  the  doors  of  the  shadow  of  death  ? 

18  Hast  thou  perceived  the  breadth  of  the  earth  ? 
declare  if  thou  knowest  it  all. 

19  Where  is  the  way  where  light  dwelleth  ? 

and  as  for  darkness,  where  is  the  place  thereof, 

20  that  thou  shouldest  take  it  to  the  bound  thereof, 

and  that  thou  shouldest  know  the  paths  to  the  house  thereof? 

21  Knowest  thou  it  because  thou  wast  then  born  ? 
or  because  the  number  of  thy  days  is  great  ? 

22  Hast  thou  entered  into  the  treasures  of  the  snow  ? 
or  hast  thou  seen  the  treasures  of  the  hail, 

23  which  I  have  reserved  against  the  time  of  trouble, 
against  the  day  of  battle  and  war  ? 

24  By  what  way  is  the  light  parted, 

which  scattereth  the  east  wind  upon  the  earth  ? 

25  Who  hath  divided  a  water- course  for  the  overflowing  of  waters, 
or  a  Avay  for  the  lightning  of  thunder ; 

26  to  cause  it  to  rain  on  the  earth,  where  no  man  is  ; 
on  the  wilderness,  wherein  there  is  no  man ; 

27  to  satisfy  the  desolate  and  waste  ground ; 

and  to  cause  the  bud  of  the  tender  herb  to  spring  forth  ? 

c.  Respecting  the  phenomena  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  wonders  of  the  starry  heavens. 

Vers    28-38 

28  Hath  the  rain  a  father  ? 

or  who  hath  begotten  the  drops  of  dew  ? 

29  Out  of  whose  womb  came  the  ice  ? 

and  the  hoaiy  frost  of  heaven,  who  hath  gendered  it  ? 

30  The  waters  are  hid  as  with  a  stone, 
and  the  face  of  the  deep  is  frozen. 

31  Canst  thou  bind  the  sweet  influences  of  Pleiades, 
or  loose  the  bands  of  Orion  ? 

32  Canst  thou  bring  forth  Mazzaroth  in  his  season  ? 
or  canst  thou  guide  Arcturus  with  his  sons  ? 

33  Knowest  thou  the  ordinances  of  heaven  ? 
canst  thou  set  the  dominion  thereof  in  the  earth 

34  Canst  thou  lift  up  thy  voice  to  the  clouds, 
that  abundance  of  waters  may  cover  thee  ? 

35  Canst  thou  send  lightnings,  that  they  may  go, 
and  say  unto  thee.  Here  we  are  ? 

36  Who  hath  put  wisdom  in  the  inward  parts  ? 

or  who  hath  given  understanding  to  the  heart  ? 

37  Who  can  number  the  clouds  in  wisdom? 
or  who  can  stay  the  bottles  of  heaven, 

38  when  the  dust  groweth  into  hardness, 
and  the  clods  cleave  fast  together  ? 


CHAPS.  XXXVIII.  1— XLII.  6.  5^9 


d.  Respecting  the  preservation  and  propagation  of  wild  animals,  especially  of  the  lion,  raven,  wild  goat, 
oryx,  ostrich,  war-horse,  hawk,  and  eagle. 

Chap.  XXXVIII.  39— XXXIX.  80. 

39  Wilt  thou  hunt  the  prey  for  the  lion  ? 
or  fill  the  appetite  of  the  young  lions, 

40  when  they  couch  in  their  dens, 

and  abide  in  the  covert  to  lie  in  wait  ? 

41  Who  provideth  for  the  raven  his  food  ? 
when  his  young  ones  cry  unto  God, 
they  wander  for  lack  of  meat. 

Chap.   XXXIX. 

1  Knowest  thou  the  time  when  the  wild  goats  of  the  rock  bring  forth  ? 
or  canst  thou  mark  when  the  hinds  do  calve  ? 

2  Canst  thou  number  the  months  that  they  fulfil  ? 
or  knowest  thou  the  time  when  they  bring  forth  ? 

3  They  bow  themselves,  they  bring  forth  their  young  ones, 
they  cast  out  their  sorrows. 

4  Their  young  ones  are  in  good  liking,  they  grow  up  with  corn  j 
they  go  forth,  and  return  not  unto  them. 

5  Who  hath  sent  out  the  wild  ass  free  ? 

or  who  hath  loosed  the  bands  of  the  wild  ass  ? 

6  Whose  house  I  have  made  the  wilderness, 
and  the  barren  land  his  dwellings. 

7  He  scorneth  the  multitude  of  the  city, 
neither  regardeth  he  the  crying  of  the  driver. 

8  The  range  of  the  mountains  is  his  pasture, 
and  he  searcheth  after  every  green  thing. 

9  Will  the  unicorn  be  willing  to  serve  thee, 
or  abide  by  thy  crib  ? 

10  Canst  thou  bind  the  unicorn  with  his  baud  in  the  furrow  ? 
or  will  he  harrow  the  valleys  after  thee  ? 

11  Wilt  thou  trust  him  because  his  strength  is  great  ? 
or  wilt  thou  leave  thy  labor  to  him  ? 

12  Wilt  thou  believe  him,  that  he  will  bring  home  thy  seed, 
and  gather  it  into  thy  barn  ? 

13  Gavest  thou  the  goodly  wings  unto  the  peacocks? 
or  wings  and  feathers  unto  the  ostrich  ? 

14  Which  leaveth  her  eggs  in  the  earth, 
and  warmeth  them  in  the  dust, 

15  and  forgetteth  that  the  foot  may  crush  them, 
or  that  the  wild  beast  may  break  them. 

16  She  is  hardened  against  her  young  ones,  as  though  they  were  not  hers: 
her  labor  is  in  vain  without  fear  ; 

17  because  God  hath  deprived  her  of  wisdom, 
neither  hath  He  imparted  unto  her  understanding. 

18  What  time  she  lifteth  up  herself  on  high, 
she  scorneth  the  horse  and  his  rider. 

19  Hast  thou  given  the  horse  strength  ? 
hast  thou  clothed  his  neck  with  thunder? 

20  Canst  thou  make  him  afraid  as  a  grasshopper? 
the  glory  of  his  nostrils  is  terrible. 


600 


THE  COOK  OF  JOB. 


21  He  pawetli  in  the  valley,  and  rejoiceth  in  his  strength : 
he  goetli  on  to  meet  the  armed  men. 

22  He  mocketh  at  fear,  and  is  not  affrighted  ; 
neither  turneth  he  back  from  the  sword. 

23  The  quiver  rattleth  against  him, 
the  glittering  spear  and  the  shield. 

24  He  swalloweth  the  ground  with  fierceness  and  rage; 
neither  believeth  he  that  it  is  the  sound  of  the  trumpet. 

25  He  saith  among  the  trumpets,  Ha,  ha! 
and  he  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off, 

the  thunder  of  the  captains,  and  the  shouting. 

26  Doth  the  hawk  fly  by  thy  wisdom, 

and  stretch  her  wings  toward  the  south  ? 

27  Doth  the  eagle  mount  up  at  thy  command, 
and  make  her  nest  on  high  ? 

28  She  dwelleth  and  abideth  on  the  rock, 

upon  the  crag  of  the  rock  and  the  strong  place. 

29  From  thence  she  seeketh  the  prey, 
and  her  eyes  behold  afar  off. 

30  Her  young  ones  also  suck  up  blood  ; 
and  where  the  slain  are,  there  is  she. 


8.   Conclusion  of  the  discourse,  together  with  Job's  answer,  announcing  his  humble  submission. 

Chapter  XL.  1-5. 

Chap.  XL. 

1  And  Jehovah  answered  Job,  and  said, 

2  Shall  he  that  contendeth  with  the  Almighty  instruct  Him? 
he  that  reprOveth  God,  let  him  answer  it. 

3  Then  Job  answered  the  Lord,  and  said, 

4  Behold,  I  am  vile;  what.shall  I  answer  thee? 
I  will  lay  mine  hand  upon  my  mouth. 

5  Once  have  I  spoken,  but  I  will  not  answer : 
yea,  twice ;  but  I  will  proceed  no  further. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  The  appearance  of  God,  which  Job  had  again 
and  again  expressly  wished  for,  a  wish  which 
recurs  in  eh.  xxiii.  3  seq.,  and  especially  towards 
the  en  lof  hislastdiscourse  (ch.  xxxi.  35),  and  for 
which  Elihu'spreachingof  doctrine  and  of  repent- 
ance had  prepared  the  way — this  appearance  now 
takes  place  during  that  storm,  of  fearful  beauty, 
which  had  supplied  the  last  of  Elihu's  discourses 
with  the  material  for  its  impressive  descriptions 
of  the  greatness  of  God  in  His  works.  This 
Divine  manifestation,  which  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood as  taking  place  corporeally  in  a  human 
form  ;  see  on  ch.  xxxviii.  1 — corresponds  more- 
over to  the  preparatory  representations  proceed- 
ing from  Elihu  in  this  respect,  that  like  those 
representations  it  bears  testimony  at  the  same 
time  in  behalf  of  Job  and  against  him.  It  testi- 
fies for  Job  in  that  it  brings  about  the  actual 
realization  of  the  ardent  longing  which  he  had 
so  often  uttered,  and  in  that  it  is  not  accompa- 
nied by  that  terrifying  and  crushing  effect  on 
the  bold  challenger  which  he  himself  had  several 
times  dreaded  as  possible  (ch.  ix.  34;  xiii.  21; 
xxiii.  6),  and  had  on  that  account  deprecated. 


It  testifies  against  him  by  means  of  the  deep 
humiliation  which  the  majesty  of  the  Almighty 
occasions  to  him,  by  means  of  the  consciousness 
wrought  within  him  of  his  own  insignificance 
and  limitation  in  contrast  with  this  fulness  of 
power  and  wisdom,  and  by  means  of  the  princi- 
ple which  in  this  very  way  is  brought  forth  into 
full  expression,  and  which  is  expressly  acknow- 
ledged by  him  at  the  close  of  this  first  address 
of  Jehovah — the  principle,  namely,  that  from 
henceforth  he  must  lay  aside  entirely  all  con- 
demnation of  God's  ways,  and  be  willing  to  sub- 
mit himself  in  absolute  humility  to  His  decree. 
— Again  the  rich  illustration,  elaborated  in  the 
most  elevated  style  of  poetic  discourse,  M'hich  in 
this  first  address  God  gives  of  His  all-transcend- 
ing majesty  in  contrast  with  man's  insignificance 
(clis.  xxxviii.  4 — xxxix.  30)  is  also  such  as  tes- 
tifies at  once  for  and  against  Job,  and  thus  con- 
tinues with  increased  emphasis  the  strain  already 
begun  by  Elihu  (especially  in  his  fourth  dis- 
course). On  the  one  side  it  serves  to  confirm 
the  previous  descriptions  given  by  Job  himself 
of  God's  greatness,  wonderful  power,  and  pleni- 
tude of  wisdom  ;  on  the  other  side  it  transcends 
tlie  same  in  the  incomparably  more  elevated  and 
impressive  power   of  its  representation,   under 


CHAPS.  XXXVIII.  1-XLII.  6. 


601 


the  influence  of  which  the  last  remainder  of 
insolent  pride  still  adhering  to  Job  must  of 
necessity  dissolve  and  disappear.  The  discourse 
forms  one  well-conceived,  harmoniously  con- 
structed whole,  consisting  of  two  principal  divi- 
sions of  almost  equal  length,  of  which  the  first 
(ch.  xxxviii.  4-38)  refers  to  the  creation  and  to 
inanimate  nature,  the  second  (chs.  xxxviii.  39; 
xxxix.  30)  to  the  animal  kingdom,  as  sources  of 
evidence  proving  the  divine  majesty.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  resolve  these  two  divisions  into  two 
separate  discourses,  as  is  done  by  Koster  and 
Schlottmann,  the  former  of  whom  even  deems  it 
necessary  to  resort  to  the  violent  operation  of 
transposing  the  conclusion  in  ch.  xl.  1-5,  and 
putting  it  after  ch.  xxxviii.  8G. — Each  of  these 
divisions  may  be  subdivided  into  three  strophe- 
groups,  or  long  strophes,  consisting  of  11-12 
verses  each,  which  may  again  be  subdivided, 
according  to  the  subjects  described,  into  subor- 
dinate strophes  or  paragraphs,  now  longer  and 
now  shorter.  Of  these  simple,  short  strophes 
the  three  long  strophes  of  the  first  principal 
division  [a,  b  and  c)  contain  respectively  three 
to  four,  whereas  the  last  two  long  strophes,  at 
least  of  the  second  chief  division,  which  dwell 
on  themes  derived  from  the  animal  world,  con- 
sist of  but  two  short  strophes  respectively. 

2.  The  Introduction  :  ch.  xxxviii.  1-3. — Then 
Jehovah  answered  Job  out  of  the  storm. 
— The  "answering"  or  "replying"  refers  back 
to  Job's  repeated  challenges,  and  especially  to 
the  last,  found  in  ch.  xxxi.  35:  "Let  the 
Almighty  answer  me!" — Dli^DnjD  (here,  as 
also  in  ch.  xl.  6  with  medial  J  ;  comp.  Ewald,  § 
9,  11,  c  [Green,  §  4,  a]  ;  which  the  K'ri  in  both 
cases  sets  aside)  "out  of  the  storm  (thunder- 
storm);" not  (as  Luther  translates)  "out  of  a 
storm."  It  is  beyond  question  an  unsatisfac- 
tory explanation  of  the  definite  article  to  say 
that  as  applied  to  mj?0  it  means  that  storm 
which  "always,  or  as  a  rule,  is  wont  to  announce 
and  to  accompany  the  appearance  of  God,  when- 
ever He  draws  nigh  to  the  earth  in  majesty  and 
in  the  character  of  a  judge"  (Dillmann).  In 
view  of  the  way  in  which  the  most  ancient  Old 
Testament  sources  describe  the  theophanies  of 
the  patriarchal  age  in  general,  this  generic  ren- 
dering of  the  article  is  not  at  all  suitable  (comp. 
also  1  Kings  xix.  11 :  "the  Lord  was  not  in  the 
wind").  The  only  explanation  of  the  n"i;,'Dn 
here,  as  well  as  in  ch.  xl.  6,  which  is  linguisti- 
cally and  historically  satisfactory,  is  that  which 
finds  in  it  a  reference  to  Elihu's  description  of  a 
violent  thunder-storm  in  his  last  discourse  (ch. 
xxxvi.  37) — a  reference  which  at  the  same  time 
confirms  not  only  our  interpretation  of  this  dis- 
course given  above,  but  also  its  genuineness, 
and  the  authenticity  of  Elihu's  discourses  in 
general.  Placing  ourselves  (along  with  the 
commentators  cited  above  on  ch.  xxxvi.)  on  this, 
the  only  correct  point  of  view,  we  see  at  once 
the  impossibility  of  viewing  "  God's  speaking  out 
of  the  storm"  as  taking  place  through  a  corpo- 
real appearance  of  Jehovah  in  human  form.  On 
the  contrary,  precisely  in  the  same  way  that 
Elihu's  description  pre-supposed  only  an  invisi- 
ble approach  and  manifestation  of  God  in  the 
storm-clouds,  in  their  thunder  and  lightning,  so 


also  here  a  similar  presence  and  self-manifesta- 
tion of  the  Highest  is  intended,  taking  place 
under  the  veil  of  those  mighty  phenomena  of 
nature;  hence  only  a  symbolical,  not  a  corporeal 
appearance  of  God.  For  this  reason  we  may 
with  some  propriety  describe  the  solution  of  the 
whole  problem  of  our  poem  which  is  introduced 
by  this  divine  appearance  as  "a  solution  in  the 
consciousness"  (Delitzsch).  In  any  case  the  the- 
ophany  which  eflFects  it  is  to  be  conceived  of  as 
one  in  which  God  "drew  near  to  the  earth 
veiled,  perceptible  indeed  to  the  ear,  and  in  His 
shining  veil  visible  to  the  eye,  but  nevertheless 
veiled,  and  not  presenting  a  bodily  appearance" 
(Ewald).  [In  accordance  with  the  explanation 
given  above  of  ch.  xxxvii.  21,  22,  the  mj,'D  out 
of  which  Jehovah  speaks  is  not  to  be  limited  to 
the  storm  while  raging,  but  refers  rather  to 
"the  dark  materials  of  the  storm  now  pacified," 
the  mountainous  cloud-masses  in  the  north, 
which  having  spent  their  thunder,  were  now 
looming  up  in  "terrible  mijesty,"  wliile  their 
open  rifts  disclosed  the  golden  irradiation  of  the 
sunlight,  a  scene  we  may  suppose  not  unlike 
that  described  by  Wordsworth  near  the  close  of 
the  Second  Book  of  the  Excursion.  Such  a 
scene,  just  preceded  as  it  had  been  by  the  awe- 
inspiring  phenomena  of  the  storm  at  its  height 
would  filly  usher  in  the  Divine  Presence,  from 
which  the  words  which  are  to  end  the  contro- 
versy are  about  to  proceed. — E.] 

Ver.  2.  Who  is  this  that  darkens  coun- 
sel: lit.  "who  is  this,  who  is  here  (Hr  TO, 
comp.  Gesenius,  §  122  [|  120],  2)  darkening 
counsel?"  TMi)}  without  the  article  (Instead  of 
Tf^i^}^,  or  instead  of  'rii'^^)  is  used  intentionally 
in  order  to  describe  that  which  is  darkened  by 
Job  qualitatively,  as  something  "which  is  a 
counsel  (or  a  plan),"  as  opposed  to  a  whim,  or 
a  cruel  caprice,  such  as  Job  had  represented 
God's  dealings  with  him  as  being.  ["  Two 
things  are  implied  in  what  is  here  said  to  Job  : 
that  his  suffering  is  founded  on  a  plan  of  God's, 
and  that  he  by  his  perverse  speeches  is  guiltv 
of  distorting  and  mistaking  this  plan  (in  repre- 
senting it  as  caprice  without  a  plan)."  Dillm. 
Job'signorantwords  had  "darkened"  God's  plan 
by  obscurinff  or  keeping  out  of  sight  its  intelligent 
benevolent  features].  The  participle  ^I'll/nn  is 
used  rather  than  the  Perf.,  because  down  to  the 
very  end  of  his  speaking  Job  had  misunderstood 
God's  counsel,  and  even  duringElihu'sdiscourses 
he  had  recalled  nothing  of  what  he  had  said  in 
this  particular.  For  to  the  instruction  and  re- 
proofs of  this  last  speaker  he  had  made  no  other 
response  than  persistent  profound  silence.  He 
actually  appeared  accordingly  at  the  moment 
when  Jehovah  himself  began  to  speak  as  still  a 
"  darkener  of  counsel,"  however  true  it  might 
be  that  his  conversion  to  a  better  frame  of  mind 
had  already  begun  inwardly  to  take  place  under 
the  influence  of  the  addresses  of  his  predecessor. 
This  participle  '^'ti^nrD  accordingly  furnishes  no 
argument  against  the  genuineness  of  chap,  xxxii. 
xxxvii.  (against  Ewald,  Delitzsch,  Dillmann, 
etc.):  and  all  the  less  seeing  that  a  direct  inter- 
ruption of  Job  at  the  moment  when  he  had  last 
spoken  contentiously  and  censoriously  in  respect 


602 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


to  God's  plan  (cli.  xxxi.  35  seq.)  by  the  appear- 
ance of  God  cannot  be  intended  even  if  these 
chapters  were  in  fact  not  genuine  (comp.  re- 
marks on  that  passage).  And  especially  would 
the  assumption  that  the  interpolator  of  the  Elihu 
discourses  had  been  prompted  by  this  expres- 
sion, ^'tf'nD,  purposely  to  avoid  introducing 
Job  within  the  limits  of  that  section  as  making 
any  confession  whatever  of  his  penitence,  pre- 
suppose on  the  part  of  the  interpolator  a  degree 
of  artistic  deliberation,  nay  more,  of  crafty  cun- 
ning absolutely  without  a  parallel  in  the  entire 
Bible  literature. 

Ver.  3.  Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a 
man — i.  e.,  in  preparation  for  the  contest  with 
me  (comp.  ch.  xii.  21).  According  to  6  this  con- 
test is  to  consist  in  a  series  of  questions  to  be 
addressed  by  God  to  Job  and  to  be  answered  by 
the  latter  ;  hence  formally  or  apparently  in  the 
very  thing  which  Job  himself  had  in  ch.  xiii.  22 
wished  for ;  in  reality  however  God  so  over- 
whelms him  by  the  humiliating  contents  of  these 
questions  that  the  absolute  inequality  of  the  con- 
tending parties  and  Job's  guilt  become  apparent 
at  once. 

3.  The  argtimenf.  a.  God's  questions  respect- 
ing the  process  of  creation  :  vers.  4-15.  [This  di- 
vision consists  of  three  minor  strophes  of  four 
verses  each,  the  fourth  verse  in  each  forming,  as 
Schlottmann  observes,  a  climax  in  the  thought]. 

a.  Questions  touching  the  foundation  of  the 
earth  :  vers.  4-7. 

Ver.  4.  VThere  wast  thou  when  I  found- 
ed the  earth  ?  (A  question  similar  to  that  of 
Eliphaz  above:  ch.  xv.  7  seq.).  Declare  it  if 
thou  hast  understanding — to  wit,  of  the  way 
in  which  this  process  was  carried  on.  This 
same  IIoio  of  the  process  of  founding  the  earth 
is  also  the  unexpressed  object  of  IJn  "declare!" 
In  respect  to  nr3  VT,  "to  have  an  under- 
standing  of  anything,"  comp.  Is.  xxix.  24 ; 
Prov.  iv.  1;  2  Chron.  ii.  12. 

Ver.  5.  "Who  hath  fixed  its  measure 
that  thou  shouldest  know  it?— J^^'O  '^'  ""'• 
"for  thou  surely  knowest  it"  (Schlottmann) 
[Good,  Lee,  Barnes,  Carey,  Renan,  Elzas],  but 
"so  that  thou  shouldest  know  it"  (O  as  in  ch. 
iii.  12).  [Dillmann  objects  to  the  rendering, 
"  for  thou  knowest,"  that  the  verb  should  be  in 
that  case  i^V.y  ;  an  objection  which  may  also 
be  urged  against  the  rendering  of  E.  V.,  Sept., 
Vulg.,  Umbreit,  Rosenmiiller,  Bernard,  "if  thou 
knowest."  Compare  ^V.T  ^^  in  ver.  4  6.]. 
"The  ^D  inquires  not  after  the  person  of  the 
Architect,  the  same  being  sufiBciently  known, 
but  rather  after  His  character,  and  that  of  His 
activity: — what  kind  of  a  being  must  He  be 
who  could  fix  the  earth's  measure  like  that  of  a 
building?"   (Dillmann). 

Ver.  6.  Whereon  were  its  pillars  sunken 
— i.  e.,   on  what  kind  of  a  foundation?     D'JIX 

•  T  -; 

lit.  "pedestals,"  comp.  Ex.  xxvi.  19  seq.  ;  Can- 
ticles V.  15.  The  meaning  of  the  question  is  of 
course  that  already  indicated  in  ch.  ix.  6,  and 
xxvi.  7,  according  to  which  passages  the  earth 
hangs  free  in  space.  The  question  in  b  refers 
to  the  same  thing:   "or  who  laid  down  her  cor- 


ner-stone?" where  the  "laying  down"  (HT, 
j'acere)  of  the  corner-stone  points  to  the  wonder- 
ful ease  with  which  the  entire  work  was  accom- 
plished. 

Ver.  7.  When  the  morning-stars  sang 
out  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God 
shouted  for  joy. — The  Infinitive  p  is  con- 
tinued in  b  by  the  finite  verb,  as  in  ver.  13,  and 
often.  The  whole  description  determines  the 
time  of  the  fact  of  the  founding  of  the  earth 
{KaTajioTiTj  Kdafiov)  spoken  of  in  ver.  6.  The 
founding  is  here  set  forth  as  a  festal  celebration 
(comp.  Ezra  iii.  10;  Zech.  iv.  7)  attended  by  all 
the  heavenly  hosts,  which  are  here  mentioned  by 
the  double  designation  "sons  of  God"  (comp. 
ch.  i.  6 ;  ii.  1)  and  "morning  stars,  i.  e.,  crea- 
tures of  such  glory,  that  they  surpass  all  other 
creatures  of  God  in  the  same  way  that  the 
brightness  of  the  morning-star  ("lp.3  31)13^ 
/TH,  Is.  xiv.  12,  Lucifer)  eclipses  all  the  other 
stars.  As  another  example  of  this  generic  gene- 
ralized form  of  expression  here  found  in  the 
word  "morning-stars,"  compare  the  D'/'Dp  of 
Is.  xiii.  10,  i.  e.y  the  Orion-like  constellations. 
The  expression  "morning-stars"  moreover  is 
scarcely  to  be  understood  as  a  tropical  designa- 
tion of  that  which  is  literally  designated  by  the 
expression  "sons  of  God,"  that  is  to  say,  the 
angels  (Hirzel,  Dillmann  [Carey,  Wemyss, 
Barnes]  etc.).  Rather  are  the  angels  and  stars 
mentioned  together  here  in  precisely  the  sime 
way  that  in  chap.  xv.  15  "heaven"  and  "the 
holy  ones"  of  God  are  mentioned  together,  this 
being  in  accordance  with  the  mysterious  con- 
nection which  the  Holy  Scriptures  generally  set 
forth  as  existing  between  the  starry  and  angelic 
worlds  (comp.  also  on  ch.  xxv.  6).  Such  a  re- 
presentation of  the  brightly  shining  and  joy- 
ously "jubilating"  stars  (comp.  Ps.  xix.  2; 
cxlviii.  3)  as  present  when  the  earth  was  founded 
by  God  by  no  means  contradicts  the  Mosaic  ac- 
count of  creation  in  Gen.  i.  where  verse  14  (ac- 
cording to  which  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  were 
not  made  umil  the  fourth  day)  is  assuredly  to 
be  interpreted  phenomenally,  not  as  descriptive 
of  the  literal  fact. 

13.  Questions  respecting  the  shutting  up  of  the  sea 
within  bounds:  vers.  8—11. 

Ver.  8.  And  (who)  shut  up  the  sea  with 
doors? — "nO'l,  which  is  attached   to  m'  '0  in 

I'T-  TT 

ver.  6,  is  used  with  reference  to  the  waters  of  the 
sea  in  the  newly-created  earth,  which  at  first 
wildly  swelling  and  raging  had  in  consequence 
to  be  enclosed,  penned  up,  as  it  were,  behind  the 
doors  (comp.  ch.  iii.  23)  of  a  prison  (comp. 
Gen.  i.  2,  9  seq.).  The  second  member  intro- 
duces a  clause  determining  the  time  of  the  first 
which  continues  to  the  end  of  ver.  11. — When 
it  burst  forth,  came  out  from  the  w^omb — 
i.  e.,  out  of  the  interior  of  the  earth  (comp.  ver. 
10).  The  verb  n'J,  which  is  used  in  Ps.  xxii.  10 
[9]  of  the  bursting  forth  of  the  foetus  out  of  the 
womb,  is  explained  by  the  less  bold  word  KX' 
(which  follows  the  Infinitive  in  the  same  way  as 
the  finite  verb  above  in  ver.  7).  The  represen- 
tation of  the  earth  as  the  womb,  out  of  which 
the  waters  of  the  sea  burst  forth,  seems  to  con- 
tradict the  modern  geological  theory,  which  on 


CHAPS.  XXXVIII.  1— XLII.  6. 


603 


tlie  contrary  makes  the  earth  to  emerge  out  of 
the  primitive  sea,  which  enveloped  and  covered 
everything.  But  the  science  of  geology  recog- 
nizes not  only  elevations,  but  depressions  by  sink- 
ing of  land  or  mountain  masses  (comp.  Frledr. 
rtafiF,  Das  Wasser,  Munich,  1870,  p.  250  seq.). 
EspeeipUy  do  the  recent  "Deep  Sea  Explora- 
tions," as  they  are  called,  seem  to  be  altogether 
favorable  to  the  essential  correctness  of  the  bib- 
lical view  presented  here  and  also  in  Gen.  vii. 
11;  viii.  2,  which  regards  the  interior  of  the 
earth  as  originally  occupied  by  water  (comp. 
PfaflF,  p.  90seq.;  Hermann  Gropp,  U titer suchung- 
en  itnd  Erfahrungen  liber  das  Verhalten  des 
Grumlwassers  und  der  Quellen,  Lippstadt,  1868). 

Ver.  9.  "When  I  made  the  cloud  its  gar- 
ment, etc.  A  striking  poetic  description  of  that 
which  in  Gen.  ii.  6  seq.  is  narrated  in  historic 

prose.  In  respect  to  Hinn,  "wrapping,  swad- 
dling-cloth,"  comp.  the  corresponding  verb  in 
Ezek.  xvi,  4.  [By  this  expression  the  ocean  is 
obviously  compared  to  a  babe.  "  God  thus  in 
grand  language  expresses  how  manageable  was 
the  ocean  to  Him."   Carey]. 

Ver.  10.  And  brake  for  it  (lit.  "over  it") 
my  bound,  etc.  The  verb  "^3^  which  is  not 
here  equivalent  to  "lU,  "to  appoint,"  as  Arn- 
heim,  Wette,  Hahn  [Lee,  Bernard,  Noyes,  Co- 
nant,  Wemyss,  Barnes,  Renan]  think,  [or  ac- 
cording to  Rosenmiiller,  Umbreit,  Carey,  "to 
span,"  after  the  Arabic]  vividly  portrays  the 
abrupt  fissures  of  the  sea-coast,  which  is  often 
so    high   and   steep.     Comp.    the   Homeric   knl 

'pTjYfuvL  ■&aAa(jarjQ.  On  pn,  "bound,"  comg.  oh. 
xxvi.  10  ;  Prov.  viii.  29;  Jer.  v.  22.  On  6  comp. 
ver.  8  a. 

Ver.  11.  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  and 

no  further  C^'ph  K'Sl  soil.  X'nS) ;  here  let 
one  set  against  the  pride   of  thy  waves, 

scil.  "  a  dam,  a  bound."     The  verb  D'U'V    "let 

•  T 

one  place"  is  used  passively  [and  impersonally] 
for  "let  there  be  placed"  (comp.  Gesen.  ^  137 
[1 134]  ).  It  is  not  necessary,  with  the  Vulg.  and 
Pesh.  to  read  JT'l^n,  "here  shalt  thou  stay  the 
pride  of  thy  waves,"  or,  with  Codurcus,  Ewald, 
and  others  to  make  Ni3  the  subj.  (in  the  sense 
of  "this  place").  On  the  pride  of  the  waves" 
="  proud  waves,"  comp.  Ps.  Ixxxix.  10  [9]. 

■y.  Questions  respecting  the  regular  advance  of  the 
light  of  morning  upon  the  earth :  vers.  12-15. 
["The  transition  from  the  sea  to  the  morning  is 
not  so  abrupt  as  it  appears.  For  the  ancients 
supposed  that  the  sun  sets  in  the  ocean,  and  at 
his  rising  comes  out  of  it  again."  Noyes.  "Here 
with  genuine  poetry  the  dawn  sending  forth  its 
rays  upon  the  earth  immediately  after  creation 
is  represented  in  its  regular  recurrence  and  in 
its  moral  significance.  This  member  accordingly 
forms  the  transition  to  the  following  strophe;  it 
is  however  first  of  all  the  logical  conclusion  of 
the  first."   Schlottmann]. 

Ver.  12.  Hast  thou  since  thy  birth  (lit. 
"from  thy  days")  commanded  the  morning 
(;.  e..  to  arise  at  its  time),  made  kno^vn  to 
the  dawn  its  place,  (lit.  "made  the  dawn  to 
know  its  place").    Instead  of  the  K'thibh,  Hiijl^^' 


*^nti^  it  is  certainly  admissible  to  read  with  the 

K'ri  "in^n  ^^3'''^  t^®  anarthrous  Ipil  of  the 
first  member  by  no  means  requires  us  to  remove 
the  definite  article  from  the  dawn,  which  is  al- 
ways only  one.  ["The  mention  of  its  ^place' 
here  seems  to  be  an  allusion  to  the  fact  that  it 
does  not  always  occupy  the  same  position.  At 
one  season  of  the  year  it  appears  on  the  equator, 
at  another  north,  at  another  south  of  it,  and  is 
constantly  varying  its  position.  Yet  it  always 
knows  its  place.  It  never  fails  to  appear  where 
by  the  long-observed  laws  it  ought  to  appear." 
Barnes]. 

Ver.  13.  That  it  may  take  hold  on  the 
borders  (or  "fringes")  of  the  earth.  The  sur- 
face of  the  earth  is  conceived  of  as  an  outspread 
carpet,  of  the  ends  of  which  the  dawn  as  it  were 
takes  hold  all  together  as  it  rises  suddenly  and 
spreads  itself  rapidly  (comp.  ch.  xxxvii.  3  ;  Ps. 
cxxxix.  9),  and  this  with  the  view  of  shaking  out 
of  it  "the  wicked,  the  evil-doers  who,  dreading 
the  light,  ply  their  business  upon  it  by  night;" 
i.  e.,  of  removing  them  from  it  at  once.  The  pas- 
sage contains  an  unmistakable  allusion  to  Job's 
own  previous  description  in  ch.  xxiv.  13  seq. 
God,  anticipating  herein  in  a  certain  measure  the 
contents  of  His  second  discourse,  would  give 
Job  to  understand  "how  through  the  original 
order  of  creation  as  established  by  Himself  hu- 
man wrong  is  ever  annulled  again")  Ewald. 
Comp.  also  v.  15). 

Ver.  14.  That  it  may  change  like  signet- 
clay — i.  e.,  the  earth  (y?/  ai/fmv-pig,  Herod.  II. 
38),  which  during  the  night  is,  as  it  were,  a 
shapeless  mass,  like  unsealed  wax,  but  which,  in 
the  bright  light  of  the  morning,  reveals  the  en- 
tire beauty  of  its  changing  forms,  of  its  heights 
and  depths,  etc.  The  subj.  of  132^2^1'  is  to  be 
sought  neither  in  the  "morning"  and  "day- 
spring"  of  ver.  12  (Schultens,  Rosenmiiller), 
which  is  altogether  too  far  removed  from  this 
clause,  nor  in  the  "borders"  of  ver.  13  (Ewald), 
but  in  the  particular  things  found  on  the  earth's 
surface.  The  effect  of  the  morning  on  them  is 
that  "they  set  themselves  forth  (or,  all  sets 
itself  forth)  like  a  garment,"  i.  «.,  in  all  the  ma- 
nifold variegated  forms  and  colors  of  gay  apparel. 

Ver.  15.  Prom  the  w^icked  their  light  is 
withheld — i.  e.,  the  darkness  of  the  night  with 
which  they  are  so  familiar  [and  which  is  to  them 
what  light  is  to  others],  comp.  ch.  xxiv.  16  seq. 
(Delitz.:  "the  light  to  which  they  are  partial" 
\ihr  Lieblingslicht']).  And  the  uplifted  arm 
(is)  broken — i.  e.,  figuratively,  in  the  sense 
that  the  light  of  the  day  compels  it  to  desist 
from  the  violence,  to  fulfil  which  it  had  raised 
itself  (comp.  ch.  xxii.  8). 

4.  Continuation :  b.  Questions  respecting  the 
heights  and  depths  above  and  below  the  earth, 
and  the  natural  forces  proceeding  from  them: 
vers.  16-27. 

a.  The  depths  Mwrfer the  earth:  vers.  16-18. 

Ver.  16.  Hast  thou  come  to  the  well- 
springs  of  the  sea  ? — i.  e.,  to  those  "fountains 
of  the  deep"  of  which  the  Mosaic  account  of 
the  Flood  makes  mention;  Gen.  vii.  11;  viii.  2 
(comp.  above  on  ver.  8).  The  phrase  D^'O^J, 
found    only  here,   is  not,    with   Olshausen  and 


604 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Hitzig,  to  be  changed  into  D^'wDJ,  for  the  root 
T|I1J  is  evidently  only  a  harsher  varication  of  ^OJ. 
and  so  beyond  a  doubt  expresses  the  notion  of 
"welling,  springing."  Thus  correctly  the  LXX: 
■KTiyy  Tt)a?.daa7ic.  [Jarchi,  followed  by  Bernard, 
Lee,  (and  see  Ewald  and  Schlottmann)  defines 
D'DJJ  to  mean  "entanglements,  mazes"  (comp. 
l]i:3);  but  this  meaning  is  less  probable  tian  the 
one  more  commonly  received  after  the  Sept.]  — 
In  respect  to  "Ipn  in   b,  comp.    above,   eh.  viii. 

8;  xl  7. 

Ver.  17.  Have  the  gates  of  death  opened 
themselves  to  thee,  etc. — Comp.  ch.  xxvi.  6, 
where  the  mention  of  the  realm  of  the  dead  fol- 
lows that  of  the  sea  precisely  as  here.  On 
"death,"   as   meaning  the  realm    of  the  dead, 

comp.  ch.  xxviii.  22  ;  and  on  niD7V  in  the  same 
sense,  see  ch.  x.  21  seq. 

Ver.  18.  Hast  thou  made  an  examination 
unto  the  breadths  of  the  earth. — "^p  ponn 
signifies,  as  also  in  chap,  xxxii.  12,  "to  at- 
tend to  anything  strictly,  to  take  a  close  obser- 
vation of  anything,"  the  '^}/  indicating  that  this 
observation  is  complete,  that  it  penetrates 
through  to  the  extreme  limit.    The  interrogative 

n  is  omitted  before  PJJ^jT^H,  in  order  to  avoid 
the  concurrence  of  the  two  aspirates  (Ewald, 
I  324,  b).  On  b  comp.  ver.  4,  T\i3  refers  not 
to  the  earth,  but  in  the  neuter  sense,  to  the  things 
spoken  of  in  the  questions  just  asked.  ["  To  see 
the  force  of  this  (question),  we  must  remember 
that  the  early  conception  of  the  earth  was  that 
it  was  a  vast  plain,  and  thaf  in  the  time  of  Job 
its  limits  were  unknown."  Barnes.  "Too  much 
stress  is  commonly  laid  on  the  fact  that  when 
the  poet  wrote  this,  only  a  small  part  of  the 
earth  was  known.  Unquestionably  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  limitation  of  man's  vision  was  in 
some  respects  strengthened  by  that  fact ;  but  that 
vvhicli  is  properly  the  main  point  here,  to  wit, 
the  inability  of  man,  at  one  glance  to  compass 
the  whole  earth  and  all  its  hidden  depths  retains 
all  its  ancient  stress  in  connection  with  the 
•widest  geographical  acquaintance  with  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth."  Schlottmann]. 

/3.  The  heights  of  light  above  the  earth  :  vers. 
19-21. 

Ver.  19.  What  is  the  way  (thither,  where) 
the  light  dvyells. — On  the  relative  clause 
11K  jl^lt^;  comp.  Ges.  g  123  [§  121],  3,  c.     On  b, 

comp.  ch.  xxviii.  1-12.  The  meaning  of  the  whole 
verse  is  as  follows:  Both  light  and  darkness 
have  a  first  starting  point  or  a  final  outlet,  which 
is  unapproachable  to  man,  and  unattainable  to 
bis  researches.  ["As  in  Gen.  i.,  the  light  is 
here  regarded  as  a  self-subsistent,  natural  force, 
independent  of  the  heavenly  luminaries  by  which 
it  is  transmitted:  and  herein  modern  investiga- 
tion agrees  with  the  direct  observations  of  anti- 
quity."  Schlottm.] 

Ver.  20.  That  Thou  mightest  bring  them 
(light  and  darkness)  to  their  bound  [lit.  "it 
to  its  bound,"  the  subjects  just  named  considered 

Beparately].  '^  as  above  in  ver.  5.  np7  lit. 
"to  bring,  to  fetch;"  comp.  Gen.  xxvii.  13; 
xlii.  16;  xlviii.  9. — And  that  thou  shouldest 


know  the  paths  of  their  house,  i.e.  "to 

their  home,  their  abiding  place"  (comp.  ch. 
xxviii.  23).  It  is  possible  that  by  this  "know- 
ing about  the  paths  of  their  house"  is  meant 
taking  back  [escorting  home]  the  light  and 
darkness,  just  as  in  the  first  member  mention  is 
made  of  fetching,  bringing  them  away ;  for  the 
repetition  of  ''2  seems  to  indicate  that  the  mean- 
ing of  the  two  halves  of  the  verse  is  not  identi- 
cal (Dillmann). 

Ver.  21  is  evidently  intended  ironically: 
Thou  know^est,  for  then  wast  thou  born, 
i.  e.  at  the  time  when  light  and  darkness  were 
created,  and  their  respective  boundaries  were 
determined.  The  meaning  is  essentially  the 
same  as  in  ch.  xv.  7.  On  the  Imperf.  with  IX 
comp.  Gesenius,  §  127  [?  125],  4,  a;  Ewald,  \ 
136,  b. — And  the  number  of  thy  days  is 
many. — The  attraction  in  connection  with  "^3p?p 
as  in  ch.  xv.  20;  xxi.  21.  [The  interrogative 
rendering  of  this  verse,  as  in  E.  V.:  "Knowest 
thou  it,  because  thou  wast  then  born?"  etc.,  is 
excessively  flat.  It  may  be  undesirable,  as 
Barnes  says,  "to  represent  God  as  speaking  in 
the  langunge  of  irony  and  sarcasm,  unless  the 
rules  of  interpretation  imperatively  demand  it." 
But  humiliating  irony  surely  accords  better 
with  the  dignity  and  character  of  the  speaker, 
as  well  as  with  the  connection,  than  pointless 
insipidity. — E.] 

y.  Snow  and  hail,  light  and  wind:  vers. 
22-24. 

Ver.  22.  Hast  thou  come  to  the  treasu- 
ries of  the  snow  ?  Comp.  on  ch.  xxxvii.  9. 
The  figure  of  the  "treasuries"  (m"ll.'i<,  maga- 
zines, storehouses)  vividly  represents  the  im- 
mense quantities  in  which  snow  and  hail  are 
wont  to  fall  on  the  earth;  comp.  Ps.  cxxxv.  7. 

Ver.  23  gives  the  purpose  and  rule  of  the 
Div^ine  Government  of  the  world,  which  snow 
and  hail  are  constrained  to  subserve. — Which 

I  have  reserved  for  the  time  of  distress. — 
Such  an  "Vi  nj7  (comp.  ch.  xv.  24;  xxxvi.  16) 
may  be  caused  in  the  east  not  only  by  a  hail- 
storm (Ex.  ix.  22;  Hag.  ii.  17;  Sir.  xxxix.  29), 
but  even  by  a  fall  of  snow.  In  February,  1860, 
innumerable  herds  of  sheep,  goats  and  camels, 
and  also  many  men,  were  destroyed  in  Hauran 
by  a  snow-storm,  in  which  snow  fell  in  enor- 
mous quantities,  as  described  by  Muhammed 
el-Chatib  el-Bosrawi  in  a  writing  still  in  the 
possession  of  Consul  Wetzstein  (Delitzsch). — The 
second  member  refers  to  such  cases  as  Josh.  x. 

II  (comp  Is.  xxviii.  17;  xxx.  30;  Ezek.  xiii. 
13;  Ps.  Ixviii.  15  [14];  1  Sam.  vii.  10;  2  Sam. 
xxiii.  20),  where  violent  hail  or  thunder-storms 
contributed  to  decide  the  issues  of  war  ia 
accordance  with  the  divine  decrees. 

Ver.  24.  What  is  the  way  to  where  the 
light  is  parted  [where]  the  east  wind 
spreadeth  over  the  earth. — The  construction 
as  in  ver.  19  a.  The  light  and  the  east  wind 
((.  e.  a  violent  wiml,  a  storm  in  general,  comp. 
ch.  xxvii.  21)  are  here  immediately  joined  toge- 
ther, because  the  course  of  both  these  agents 
defies  calculation,  and  because  they  are  incred- 
ibly swift  in  their  movements  [possibly  also 
because  they  both  proceed  from  the  same  point 


CHAPS.  XXXVIII.  1— XLII.  6. 


COj 


of  the  compass].  IIX  scarcely  denotes  tlie 
lightning,  as  in  eh.  xxxvii.  3  seq.  (Schlottmann), 
which  is  first  spoken  of  in   ver.  25,    and   then 

again  in  ver.  35,  and  to  which  the  verb  pSn\ 
"divides,  scatters  itself,"  is  less  suitable  than 
to  the  bright  day-light  (comp.  ver.  13  seq.) 
In  respect  to  j^SH,  se  diffundere,  comp.  Ex.  v. 
12;  1  Sam.  xiii.  8.  [According  to  the  E.  V.  the 
light  is  the  subject  of  both  members:  "  By  what 
way  is  the  light  parted,  which  scattereth  the 
east  wind  upon  the  earth."  But  this  construc- 
tion is  less  probable  and  suitable  than  that 
given  above,  which  recognizes  the  "light"  as 
the  subject  of  the  first  member,  and  the  "east- 
wind"  of  the  second. — E.] 

d.  The  rain-storm  and  the  lightning  considered 
as  divinely  appointed  phenomena  which,  while 
they  inspire  terror,  are  productive  of  beneficent 
results :  vers.  25-27. 

Ver.  25.  Who  hath  divided  a  -water- 
course for  the  rain-torrent,  i.  e.,  conducted 
the  rain  tlirough  the  thick  masses  of  clouds  to 
specific  portions  of  the  thirsty  earth.  H^t^, 
which  of  itself  means  "flood,  torrent  of  waters  " 
in  general,  is  used  here  of  a  down-pouring  be- 
neficent torrent  of  rain  ["  the  earthward  direc- 
tion assigned  to  the  water-spouts  is  likened  to 
an  aqueduct  coming  downwards  from  the  sky;" 
Delitzsch],  and  hence  in  a  different  sense  from 
e.  g.,  Ps,  xxxii.  6.  The  second  member  is  taken 
verbally  from  chap,  xxviii.  26. 

Ver.  26.  That  it  may  rain  on  the  land 
■where  no  man  is;  lit.  "to  cause  it  to  rain," 

etc.  The  subject  of  TtSDri/  is  of  course  God 
who  has  been  already  indicated  by  ""0  in  ver. 
25.  That  it  should  rain  on  a  land  of  "  no- 
man"  (the  construction  as  in  ch.  x.  22),  i.  e.,  on 
a  land  destitute  of  men,  not  artificially  irrigated 
and  tilled  by  men,  is  here  set  forth  as  a  wise  and 
loving  providential  arrangement  of  God's. 
["God  lays  stress  on  this  circumstance  in  order 
to  humiliate  man,  and  to  show  him  that  the 
earth  was  made  neither  by  him,  nor  for  him." 
Renan.  "Man  who  is  so  prone  to  put  his  own 
interests  above  everything  else,  and  to  judge 
everything  from  his  own  human  point  of  view, 
is  here  most  strikingly  reminded,  how  much 
wider  is  the  range  of  the  Divine  vision,  and  how 
God  in  the  exercise  of  His  loving  solicitude  re- 
members even  those  regions,  which  receive  no 
care  from  man,  so  that  even  there  the  possibility 
of  life  and  growth  is  secured  to  His  creatures." 
Dillmann]. 

Ver.  27  then  states  more  definitely  this  benefi- 
cent purpose  of  God:  to  satisfy  the  wild  and 
•wilderness,   (nxVir^oi  T\^'^  as  in  ch.  xxx.  3) 

^     T         :  T  ' 

["  the  desert  is  thus  like  a  thirsty  pilgrim;  it  is 
parched,  and  thirsty,  and  sad,  and  it  appeals  to 
God,  and  He  meets  its  wants  and  satisfies  it," 
Barnes],  and  to  make  the  green  herb  to 
sprout;  lit.  "to  make  the  place  (the  place  of 
going  forth,  XXO,  comp.  ch.  xxviii.  1)  of  the 
green  herb  to  sprout." 

5.  Continuation,  c.  Questions  respecting  the 
phenomena  of  the  atmosphere  and  the  wonders 
of  the  starry  heavens:  vers.  28-38. 


a.  Respecting  rain,  dew,  ice,  and  hoar-frost ; 
vers.  28-30. 
Vers.  28-29.  Is  there  a  father  to  the  rain  ? 

As  this  member,  together  with  the  following  in- 
quires (through  the  formula  ^7""^  '?)  after  a 
male  progenitor  for  the  atmospheric  precipita- 
tions of  moisture,  so  does  ver.  29  inquire  after 
the  mother  of  ice  and  hoar-frost,  for  the  formula 

^17'  ''3  in  b  also  refers  to  the  agency  of  a  mo- 
ther, as  well  as  the  question  in  a.  This  varia- 
tion of  gender  in  the  representation  is  to  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  rjiin  and  dew  come  from 
heaven,  the  abode  of  God,  while  ice  and  hoar- 
frost come   out  of  the  earth,  out  of   the  secret 

womb  of  the  waters  (verse  8). —  7t3  '7JX  in 
ver.  28  b  are  not  "reservoirs  of  dew"  (Gese- 
nius),  for  which  the  verb  Tli^  would  not  be 
suitable,  but  drops  (lit.  balls,  globules  ;  LXX.  : 
[ioiloi)  of  dew,  whether  the  root  7JX  be  asso- 
ciated with  77j,  volvere  (which  is  the  view  com- 
monly held),  or  with  the  Arab,  agal,  retinere,  col- 
ligere  (so  Delitzsch). 

Ver.  30  describes  more  specifically  the  won- 
derful process  which  takes  place  when  water  is 
frozen  into  ice  The  water  hardens  like 
stone.  INSHiT,  lit.  "they  hide  themselves, 
draw  themselves  together,  thicken"  (a  related 
form  is  XOn,  whence  nxon,  curdled  milk). 
The  same  representation  of  the  process  of 
freezing  as  producing  contraction  or  compres- 
sion (a  representation  which  in  the  strict 
physical  sense  is  not  quite  correct,  seeing 
that  water  on  the  contrary  always  expands 
in  freezing — comp.  Pfafi",  in  the  work  cited 
above,  pp.  103,  189  seq.),  was  given  above 
by  Elihu,  chapter  xxxvii.  10,  not  however 
without  indicating  in  what  sense  he  intended 
this  compression,  a  sense  which  is  by  no  means 
incorrect;  see  on  the  passage.  A  similar  inti- 
mation is  conveyed  here  by  the  second  member: 
and  the  face  of  the  deep  cleaves  toge- 
ther, and  thus  constitutes  a  firm  solid  mass 
[contimium),  instead  of  fluctuating  to  and  fro,  as 

in  the  fluid  state.  n32fin  as  in  ch.  xli.  8  [17]; 
comp.  the  Greek  ixea&ai. 

fi.  Respecting  the  control  of  the  stars,  and  of 
their  influence  upon  earth:  vers.  31-33. 

Ver.  31.  Canst  thou  bind  the  bands  of 
the  Pleiades? — ^"^^"^VJ^  here  not  =  amoenitatcs, 
as  in  1  Sam.  xv.  32,  [E.  V.,  "sweet  influences," 
referring  to  the  softening  and  gladdening  influ- 
ences of  spring-time,  when  that  constellation 
makes  its  appearance]  but  vincula  (LXX. :  t'iea/iuv; 
Targ.  '7.'^  ^^=  aeipdg)  as  appears  from  TlVp  "  to 
bind,"  and  the  parallel  niDiyiO  in  b,  and  not 
less  from  the  testimony  of  all  the  ancient  ver- 
sions, of  Talmudic  usage,  and  of  the  Masora.  It 
is  to  be  derived  accordingly  by  transposition 
from  nj^',  "  to  bind  "  (comp.  ch.  xxxi.  3(3)  not 
from  pj^.  The  arranging  of  the  stars  of  the 
Pleiades  (HO'J  as  in  ch.  ix.  9)  in  a  dense  group 
is  with  poetic  boldness  described  here  as  the 
binding  of  a  fillet,  or  of  a  cluster  of  diamonds. 


606 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


(See  a  similar  conception  copied  out  of  Persian 
poets  in  Ideler,  Sternennamcn,  p.  147).  —  Or 
loose  the  bands  of  Orion,  so  tliat  this  bril- 
liant constellation  would  fall  apart,  or  fall  down 
from  heaven,  to  which  the  presumptuous  giant 
is  chained  (comp.  on  ch.  ix.  9).  The  explana- 
tion preferred  by  Dillmann  is  admissible,  and 
even  perhaps,  in  view  of  the  etymon  of  i^OLi'lD, 
to  be  preferred  to  the  one  more  commonly  adopt- 
ed: "Or  canst  thou  loose  the  lines  [German — 
Zugseile,  draw-lines,  traces,  the  cords  by  which 
he  is  drawn  up  to  his  place,  suggested  by  '^U'D] 
of  Orion  (the  giant  suspended  in  heaven),  and 
thus  canst  thou  now  raise,  and  now  lower  him  in 
the  firmament?"  The  reference  of  the  passage 
to  the  Star  Suhfel  =  Canopus  (Saad.,  Gekat., 
Abulwalid,  comp.  also  Delitzsch)  is  uncertain, 
and  conflicts  with   the  well-known  signification 

of  b''D3,  which  is  also  firmly  established  by  ch. 

ix.  9.' 

Ver.  32.  Canst  thou  bring  forth  the  bright 
stars  in  their  time  (inj^3  as  in  ch.  v.  26:  Ps. 
civ.  27;  cxlv.  15).  The  word  Tl'llTD,  to  which 
such  a  variety  of  interpretations  have  been  given, 
which  already  the  LXX.  did  not  understand,  and 
accordingly  rendered  by  fia<yovp6d-  [followed 
herein  by  E.  V.,  "  Mazzaroth  "],  seems  to  be 
most  simply  explained  (with  Dillmann)  as  a  con- 
tracted form  of  iinnjO,  from  IHr,  splendere,  and 
to  mean  accordingly  "  the  brightly  shining,  bril- 
liant stars,"  in  which  case  we  may  assume  the 
planets  to  be  intended,  particularly  such  as  are 
pre-eminently  brilliant,  as  Venus,  Jupiter,  Mars, 
(comp.  Vulg.,  "Luciferum")  [Fiirst:  Jupiter, 
the  supreme  god  of  good  fortune].  The  "  being 
brought  forth  in  (heir  time  "  seems  to  suit  better 
these  wandering  stars  than  e.  g.,  "  the  two 
crowns,"  the  Northern  and  Southern  (Cocceius, 
Eichhorn,  Michaelis,  Ewald,  by  comparison  with 
1IJ)  [these  constellations  being,  as  Dillmann  ob- 
jects, too  obscure  and  too  little  known],  or  the 
twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac  (so  the  majority  of 
moderns,   on  the  basis   of  the   very  precarious 

identification  of  n'n-TO  with  niVlO,  2  Ki.  xxiii. 

^     T  -  T- 

5),  or  the  twenty-eight  stations  (Arab,  men&zil) 
of  the  moon  (so  A.  Weber,  in  his  Abhandlung 
iiber  die  vedischen  Nachrichlen  von  den  naxatra,  oder 
Mondstationen,  1860),  or,  finally,  any  prophetic 
stars  whatever,  afitra  prxsaga,  prsemonentia  (Ge- 
seuius,  who  refers  the  word  to  ITJ  in  the  Arabic 
Bignification).  —  And  guide  the  Bear  (lit., 
"the  she-bear,"  K?'^,  comp.  ch.  ix.  9)  together 

"with  his  [lit.,  her]  young?  i.  e.,  the  constel- 
lation of  the  Bear  with  the  three  stars  forming 
its  tail,  which  are  regarded  as  its  children  (D''J3. 
in  Arab.  niJ3)  ;  see  on  ch.  ix.  9.  The  evening 
star  (vesperus,  Vulg.)  is  far  from  being  intended, 
and  equally  so  the  comparatively  unimportant 
constellation  Capella  (Eichhorn,  Bibliothek,  Vol. 
VII.,  p.  429). 

Ver.  33.  Know^est  thou  the  laws  of  hea- 
ven ?  i.  c,  the  laws  which  rule  the  course  of 
the  stars,  the  succession  of  seasons  and  periods, 
annual  and  diurnal,  etc  ,  (comp.  Gen.  i.  14  seq. ; 
viii.  22). — Or  dost  thou  establish  its  domi- 
nion over  the  earth  ?  i.  e.,  dost  thou  ordain 


and  confirm  its  influence  (that  of  heaven,  here 
personified  as  a  king;  comp,  Ewald,  ^  318  a)  on 
earthly  destinies.  "MSpp,  "dominion,"  is  con- 
strued [with  3]  after  the  analogy  of  the  verbs 

y.  Respecting  the  Divine  control  of  clouds  and 
lightnings:  vers.  34,  36.  On  ver.  34  b,  comp. 
ch.  xxii,  11  b  (which  is  here  verbally  repeated). 
On  ver.  85  comp.  Ps.  civ.  3  ;  xxxiii.  9. 

S.  Additional  questions  relating  to  the  clouds, 
and  their  agencies :  vers.  36-38. 

Ver.  36.  Who  put  ■wisdom  in  the  dark 
clouds,  who  gave  understanding  to  that 
which  appears  in  the  sky  [Germ.  "  Lu/'tgcbilde," 
atmospheric  phenomena]  ;  t.  e.,  who  has  givea 
to  them  an  intelligent  arrangement  and  signifi- 
cance, mnp,  from  ni£3,  signifies  here  as  in 
Ps.  li,  8,  dark,  hidden  places,"  meaning  here, 
as  the  connection  shows,  "  dark  clouds,  black 
cloud-layers  "  (Eichhorn,  Umbr.,  Hirz.,  Stickel, 
Hahn,  Dillmann,  etc.,  by  comparison  with  the 
Arabic  Nnt3,  and  its  derivative  nouns.  In  that 
case  ^13^,  from  the  Hebr.  and  Aram.  T]DW,  "  to 
see,"  (comp.  rWD'^  and  iT3*^p),  signifies  "ap- 
pearance, phenomenon,  form,"  here  according 
to  the  parallelism  of  the  first  member,  "  a  form, 
phenomenon  of  the  atmosphere,  or  the  clouds." 
It  can  scarcely  mean  (the  rainbow  being  cer- 
tainly called  Opp,  Gen.  ix.  13)  •'  an  appearance 
of  light,  fiery  meteor"  (Ewald,  Hahn),  or  "the 
full  moon,"  (so  Dillmann,  at  least  tentatively, 
assuming  at  the  same  time  that  mpip  refers  to 
the  dark  phases  of  the  moon).  At  all'  events  the 
explanation  which  refers  both  parallel  expres- 
sions to  phenomena  of  the  cloud-heavens  is  the 
only  one  suited  to  the  context  (as  was  the  case  with 
the  meteorological  sense  of  "gold"  in  chap, 
xxxvii.  22  ;  whereas  on  the  contrary  the  inter- 
pretation long  ago  adopted  by  the  Vulg.,  the  2d 
Targ.,  and  many  Rabbis  [and  E.  V.]  and  recently 
by  Delitzsch  [Gesenius,  Noyes,  Conant,  Barnes, 
Wordsworth,  Schlottmann,  Renan],  according  to 
which  ninCJ  means  "the  reins,"  or  "entrails," 
(comp.  Ps.  li.  8  [6]),  and  "\2Vt  the  "cock"  [as 
"the  weather-prophet  Kar^  ^^^X^^  among  ani- 
mals," Delitzsch  :  while  Gesenius,  Schlottmann, 
Noyes,  Conant,  Wordsworth,  Renan,  as  also  E. 
v.,  render  by  "heart,  intelligence"]  yields  a 
meaning  that  is  singular  enough,  and  which  is 
made  no  better  when  the  cock  is  regarded  as 
speculator  et  praeco  aurorse,  as  ales  diei  nuntius 
(Prudentius),  or  as  a  weather-prophet  (after  Ci- 
cero, de  divin.  II.,  26),  and  the  reins  are  sup- 
posed to  be  mentioned  because  of  their  power 
of  foretelling  the  weather  and  presaging  the  fu- 
ture. Still  more  singular  and  opposed  to  the 
context  is  the  rendering  of  the  LXX.:  T/f  eiScy 
KEV  yvvaiKi  {/(paa/tarog  aocpiav  Kal  nniKiXrcK?jv  iwta- 
TTjfiTjv  [And  who  has  given  to  woman  skill  in 
weaving,  or  knowledge  of  embroidery]  ?  They 
seem  to  have  read  in  the  first  member  ^\^'\\5,  in 
the  second  niDB',  "embroidering  women,"  or 
r\13ty,   '  to  embroider." 


CHAPS.  XXXVIII.  1— XLII.  6. 


607 


Ycr.  37.  Who  numbers  the  clouds  in 
wisdom. — IflD  as  elsewhere  the  Kal:  "to 
number"  (chap,  xxviii.  27).  And  the  bottles 
of  the  heavens — who  inclines  them — /.  e., 
who  causes  them  to  be  emptied,  to  pour  out 
their  fluid  contents.  The  comparison  of  the 
clouds,  laden  with  rain,  to  bottles,  or  pitchers 
occurs  frequently  also  in  Arabic  poets  (see 
Sohultens  on  the  passage).  [E.  V.  "  Who  can 
elay  the  bottles  of  heaven?"  which  is  less  suit- 
able to  iOt^n,  and  to  the  context.  Jerome,  ta- 
king w^J  to  mean  "harps,"  renders  uniquely: 
et  cnncentrum  ccclorum  quis  dormire  factet?'] 

Ver.  88.  When  the  dust  flows  together 
into  a  molten  mass.  ?^^^,  "fused,  solid 
metal,"  a  word  which  is  to  be  explained  in  ac- 
cordance with  ch.  xxxvii.  18  (not  in  accordance 
with  cfa.  xxii.  16).  XIpV  here,  as  in  1  Kings  xxii. 
35,  to  be  rendered  intransitively:  "When  the 
dust  pours  itself,"  t.  e.,  when  it  flows,  runs,  as 
it  were,  together.  In  respect  to  DOJI7,  "clods," 
comp.  ch.  xxi.  33. 

6.  Continuation  and  conclusion,  d.  Questions 
respecting  the  propagation  and  preservation  of 
wildbeasts  as  objects  of  the  creative  power  and 
wise  providence  of  God.  Chap,  xxxviii — xxxix.  30. 
a.  The  lion,  the  raven,  the  wild  goat,  the  stag, 
and  the  wild  ass:  chap,  xxxviii.  39 — xxxix.  8. 

Ver.  39.  Dost  thou  hunt  the  prey  for  the 
lioness,  and  dost  thou  appease  the  cra- 
ving of  the  young  lions? — Respecting  the 

lion's  names,  N'^;  and  *>^33,  comp.  on  ch.  iv. 
11.  "To  appease  (lit.  to  fill)  the  craving" 
(n'n  t^vip),  means  the  same  as  "to  fill  the  soul " 
WQi  ^D),  Prov.  vi.  80. 

Ver.  40.  When  they  crouch  in  the  dens. 
On  mi:*'  comp.  Ps.  X.  10.  On  niji;7D  lustra, 
comp.  Ps.    civ.   22.     In    respect  to  njp  in  b, 

comp.  "^D,  used  elsewhere  in  the  sense  of 
"thicket,"  Ps.  x.  9;  Jer.  xxv.  38.     On  31X-'1D^, 

.  VIT         : 

which  gives  the  object  of  the  "crouching"  and 
"sitting"  [or  "dwelling"],  comp.  xxxi.  9  b. 

Ver.  41.  Who  provides  for  the  raven  its 
prey,  when  its  young  ones  cry  unto  God, 
[w^ander  v^ithout  food  ? — The  interrogation 
properly  extends  over  the  whole  verse,  not,  as  in 
E.  v.,  over  the  first  member  only,  which  makes 
the  remainder  of  the  verse  meaningless. — E.]. 
1*371,  "to  prepare,  to  provide,"  as  in  ch.  xxvii. 
16  seq.  '3  "  when,"  as  in  ver.  40  a.  The  ra- 
vens are  introduced  here,  as  in  the  parallel  pas- 
sages, Ps.  cxlvii.  9  ;  Luke  xii.  24,  as  objects  of 
God's  fatherly  care,  rather  than  any  other  de- 
scription of  birds,  because  they  are  specially  no- 
ticeable among  birds  in  search  of  food,  by  rea- 
son of  their  hoar?e  cries.  Observe  moreover  the 
contrast,  which  is  surely  intentional  between 
the  mighty  monarch  of  the  beasts,  which  in  ver. 
39  seq.  is  put  at  the  head  of  beasts  in  search  of 
food,  and  the  contemptibly  small,  insignificant, 
and  uncomely  raven.  ["Jewish  and  Arabian 
writers  tell  strange  stories  of  this  bird,  and  its 
cruelty  to  its  young ;  hence,  say  some,  the 
Lord's  express  care  for  the  young  ravens,  after 


they  had  been  driven  out  of  the  nests  by  the  pa- 
rent birds  ;  but  this  belief  in  the  ravens'  want 
of  affection  to  its  young  is  entirely  witliout 
foundation.  To  the  fact  of  the  raven  being  a 
common  bird  in  Palestine,  and  to  its  habit  of 
flying  restlessly  about  in  constant  search  for 
food  to  satisfy  its  voracious  appetite,  mny  per- 
haps be  traced  the  reason  for  its  being  selected 
by  our  Lord  and  the  inspired  writers  as  the  es- 
pecial object  of  God's  providing  care."  Smith's 
Bib.  Diet.  Art.  "  Raven."] 

Chap,  xxxix.  1-4:  Propagation  and  increase 
of  the  wild  goats  (rock-goats,  ibices)  and  stags. 

Ver.  1.  Know^est  thou  the  time  w^hen 
the  wild  goats  bear?  observest  thou  the 

travail  of  the  hinds  ?—SS'in  Inf.  Pilel  of 
7in,  "to  be  in  labor,"  udivecv  (comp.  the  Pulal 
in  ch.  XV.  7),  here  the  object  of  ibiyil,  to  which 
verb  the  influence  of  the  PI  before  DyT   in  the 

-:  T  :  -  T 

first  member  extends. 

Ver.  2.  Dost  thou  number  the  months 
which  they  (must)  fulfil;  i.  e.,  until  they 
bring  forth,  hence  their  period  of  gestation. 
[The  point  of  the  question  can  scarcely  be  that 
Job  could  have  no  knowledge  whatever  of  the 
matters  here  referred  to,  but  that  he  could  have 
no  such  knowledge  as  would  qualify  him  to 
stand  toward  these  creatures  at  such  a  time  in 
the  place  of  God;  or,  as  Carey  expresses  it: 
"  Can  you  keep  an  exact  register  of  all  this,  and 
exercise  such  providential  care  over  these  crea- 
tures, the  mountain  goats  and  hinds,  as  to  pre- 
serve them  from  dangers  during  the  time  of  ges- 
tation, and  then  deliver  them  at  the  proper  pe- 
riod?"— E.].     In   the   second   member  njmb, 

TT  :  • 

with  full-toned  suflBx,  is  used  for  |j^77 ;  comp. 
Ruth  i.  19,  and  Gesenius,  ^  91  [^  89]^  i,  Rem.  2. 
[Green,  §  104,  ff], 

Ver.  3.  They  bow  themselves  (comp.  1 
Sam.  iv.  19),  they  let  their  young  ones 
break  through  (lit.  "cleave;"  comp.  ch.  xvi. 
13),  they  cast  away  their  pains ;  i.  e.,  the 
fruit  of  their  pains,  their  foetus,  for  this  is  what 

73n  here  signifies,  not  the  after-pains,  as  Hirzel 
and  Schlottmann  think.  Comp.  pixpai  u^lva^n 
edere  foetum,  in  Euripides,  Ion  45 ;  also  ex- 
amples of  the  same  phraseology  from  the  Arabic 
in  Schultens  on  the  passage.  It  will  be  seen 
further  that  njnS£3n  (instead  of  which  Olshau- 
sen  needlessly  conjectures   njUvDn  after  chap. 

xxi.  10)  forms  a  paronomasia  with  njri/tyn. 

Ver.  4.  Their  young  ones  become  strong 
(D/n,  lit.  "to  grow  fat,"  pinguescere),  grow  up 
in  the  desert. — "133=Vin3,  or  mty3,  as  often 
in  the  Targ.  [a  meaning  more  suitable  to  the 
context  than  that  of  E.  V.  "  with  corn  "].  They 
go  away,  and  return  not  to  them;  i.  e.,  to 

the  parents.  ID7  however  might  also  be  ex- 
plained after  ch.  vi.  19;  xxiv.  16  as  Dat.  corn- 
modi  :  sibi=sui  juris  esse  volentes  (Schultens,  De- 
litz=ch). 

Vers  5-8.  The  wild  ass,  introduced  as  an  ex- 
ample of  many  beasts,  the  life  of  which  is  cha- 


608 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


racterized  by  unrestricted  liberty,  defying  and 
mocking  all  huni.'in  control  and  nurture. 

Ver.  5.  Who  hath  sent  out  the  wild  asa 
free,  and  who  hath  loosed  the  bands  of 
the  fugitive? — i'lie  words  X^S  (Arab,  fera'; 
comp.  above  ch.  vi.  6;  xi.  12;  xxiv.  6)  and  IH^ 
denote  one  and  the  same  animal,  the  wild  ass  or 
onager  (the  6voc  aypiog  of  the  LXX.,  the  "  Ku- 
lan"  of  the  eastern  Asiatics  of  to-day),  which  is 
characterized  by  the  first  name  as  the  "swift 
runner,"  by  the  latter  (which  in  Aramaic,  and 
particularly  in  the  Targum  is  the  common 
name),  as  the  "  shy,  fleeing  one."  As  to  the 
predicate  accusative  ^li'Sn,  "free,  set  loose," 
comp.  Deut.  xv.  12  ;  Jer.  xxxiv.  14.  As  to  the 
second  member,  comp.  ch.  xxxviii.  31. 

Ver.  6.  "Whose  home  '  [lit.  "house"]  I 
have  made  the  desert,  and  his  abode  the 

salt-steppe. — The  word  "salt-steppe"  (nn7D) 
which  is  here  used  as  parallel  to  "waste,  de- 
sert" (n^l^,  ch.  xxiv.  5  b),  stands  in  Ps.  cvii- 
34  as  the  opposite  of  ■""IS  |*1X  (comp.  Judg.  ix. 
45,  where  mention  is  made  of  sowing  a  destroyed 
city  with  salt).  On  the  preference  of  the  wild 
ass  for  saline  plants,  and  on  his  disposition  to 
take  up  bis  abode  in  salt  marshes,  comp.  Oken, 
AUq.  Naiurgrsch.  Vol.  VII.,  p.  1230. 

Ver.  7.  [He  laughs  at  the  tumult  (E,  V. 
"multitude,"  but  the  parallelism  favors  "tu- 
mult") of  the  city],  the  driver's  shouts  he 
hears  not;  i.  e.,  he  flees  from  the  control  of  the 
drivers,  to  which  the  tamed  ass  is  subjected. 
On  niXir^n,  comp.  ch.  xxxvi.   29. 

Ver.  8.  He  ranges  through  the  mountains 
as  his  pasture. — So  according  to  the  reading 
"'liT  (luiperf.  of  *^^n,  investigare),  which  is  at- 
tested by  almost  all  the  ancient  versions,  by  the 
LXX,  Vulg.,  Targum.  The  Masoretic  reading 
"lliT  is  either  (with  the  Pesh.  Le  Clerc,  etc.)  to 
be  taken  as  a  variant  of  "l^D,  abundantia,  or  as  a 
derivative  of  "^^n,  with  the  meaning,  "  that 
which  is  searched  out"  {invesiigatum,  investiga- 
bile).  But  the  statement  that  "the  abundance 
of  the  mountains  is  the  pasture  of  the  wild  ass" 
would  be  at  variance  with  the  fact  in  respect  to 
the  life  of  these  animals,  which  inhabit  the  bare 
mountain-steppes  (comp.  Oken  in  the  work  cited 
above).  On  the  other  hand  we  should  expect  the 
normal  form  lir*',  following  the  analogy  of  such 
words  as  Dip'  to  have  an  active  rather  than  a 
passive  signification.  ItIV  however  can  scarcely 

mean  "  circle,  compass,"  [E.  V.  "range  "]  here 
(Hahn). 

p.  The  oryx  and  ostrich  :  vers.  9-18. 

Ver.  9.  Will  the  oryx  be  pleased  to 
serve  thee?  —  D'^.,  contracted  from  QX1 
(comp.  the  full  written  form  D"X1,  Ps.  xcii. 
11),  assuredly  denotes  not  the  rhinoceros 
(Aq.,  Vulgate)  [Good,  Barnes],  because  the 
anima,l  intended  must  be  one  that  was  common 
in  Western  Asia,  and  especially  in  the  regions 
of  Syria  and  Palestine.  Comp.  the  reference  to 
it  in  Ps.  xxii.  22  [21];  xxix.  6;  Deut.  xxxiii. 
17 ;  Isa.  xxxiv.  7.  It  would  be  more  natural, 
with  Schultens,  Gesenius,  De  Wette,  Umbreit, 
Hirzel    [Robinson,  Noyes,  Carey,  Wordsworth, 


Renan,  Rodwell,  Conant,  Fiirst,  Smith's  Bib. 
Diet.  Art.  "Unicorn"],  etc.,  to  understand  tho 
bufi^alo  or  wild  ox  [60s  bubalm)  to  be  intended, 
seeing  that  this  animal  is  still  quite  common  in 
Palestine,  and  that  here  a  contrast  seems  to  be 
intended  between  this  wild  ox  and  the  tame  spe- 
cies (see  ver.  10).  But  this  particular  buffalo 
of  Palestine  is  an  animal  which  is  not  particu- 
larly strong,  or  characterized  by  untamable 
wildness,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  it  is  fre- 
quently used  in  tilling  the  land  (Russell,  Na- 
turgesch.  von  Aleppo,  II.  7)  [Thomson's  Land  and 
the  Book,  I.  386,  387].  The  /uovoKtpug  of  the 
LXX.  [E.  v.:  "unicorn"]  (of  which  the  Talmu- 
dic  ty^p  is  a  mutilated  form,  and  the  /)ivo«£p6>f 
of  Aquila  and  Jerome  is  a  misunderstanding) 
points  to  an  animal  which  is,  if  not  always,  yet 
often,  represented  as  having  one  horn,  i.  e.,  aa 
being  armed  with  one  horn  on  the  forehead,  con- 
sisting of  two  which  have  grown  together.  Such 
an  animal  seems  in  ancient  times  to  have  been 
somewhat  common  in  Egypt  and  South-western 
Asia,  the  same  being  a  species  nearly  related  to 
the  oryx — antelope  [Antil.  loucoryx)  of  to-day. 
It  is  represented  on  Egyptian  monuments,  now 
with  two  horns,  and  now  with  one.  It  is  de- 
scribed by  Aristotle  and  Pliny  as  a  one-horoed, 
cloven  hoof  (Aristotle,  Hist.  Anim.  II.  1;  De 
Partib.  Anim.  III.  2  ;  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  XI.  106); 
and  in  all  probability  it  has  been  again  disco- 
vered recently  in  the  Tschiru,  or  the  Antil. 
Hodgsonii  of  Southern  Thibet  (Hue  and  Gabet, 
Journeyings  through  Mongolia  and  Thibet,  Germ. 
Edit.,  p.  323 ;  see  the  passage  quoted  in  Delitzsch, 
II.,  p.  334,  n.  2).  The  name  W"\  in  the  passage 
before  us  is  all  the  more  suitably  applied  to  such 
an  animal  of  the  oryx  species,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  corresponding  Arabic  word  still 
signifies  a  species  of  antelope  among  the  Syro- 
Arabians  of  to-day,  and  that  this  same  oryx-fa- 
mily embraces  sub-species  which  are  particu- 
larly wild,  largely  and  powerfully  built,  and  al- 
most bovine  in  their  characteristics.  Accord- 
ingly, Luther's  translation  of  the  word  by  "uni- 
corn," in  this  passage,  and  probably  in  every 
other  where  DXT  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament, 
supported  as  it  is  by  the  LXX.,  might  be  justified 
without  our  being  compelled  to  understand  by 
this  "unicorn"  a  fabulous  animal  like  that  of  the 
Perso-Assyrian  monuments,  or  of  the  English 
royal  coat-of-arms.  Comp.  on  the  subject  S. 
Bochart,  Hierozoicon,  II.  335  seq.;  Rosenraiiller, 
Bihl.  Alterth.  IV.  2,  288 seq.;  Lichtenstein,  Die, 
Antilopen,  1824;  Lewysohn,  Zoologie  des  Talmicd, 
1858,  ^146,  174;  Sundewall,  Die  Thierarten  des 
Aristoteles,  Stockholm,  1863,  p.  64  seq.;  also  Ko- 
ncr's  Zcitschr,  filr  allgem.  Erdkunde,  1862,  II., 
n.  3,  p.  227,  where  interesting  information  is 
given  respecting  the  researches  of  the  English- 
man, W.  B.  Bailie,  touching  the  existence  of  a 
one-horned  animal  still  to  be  found  in  the  regions 
of  Central  Africa,  south  of  the  Sea  of  Tsad,  dif- 
fering both  from  the  rhinoceros  and  from  the 
unicorn  of  the  British  coat-of-arms,  which  is 
piobablj',  therefore,  an  African  variety  of  the 
oryx — antelope,  and  possibly  the  very  same  va- 
riety as  that  represented  on  the  old  Egyptian 
monuments.  [See  Robinson's  Researches  in  Pa- 
lestine, III.  306,  563;  Wilson,  Lands  of  the  Bible, 


CHAPS.  XXXVIII.  1— XLII.  6. 


GOO 


II.,  p.  107  seq.;  and  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Mason, 
of  the  Assam  Mission,  iu  tlie  Christian  Review, 
January,  185G,  quoted  by  Conant  in  this  verse.] 

"Will  he  lodge  [lit.  "pass  the  night,"  pV]  at 
thy  crib  ? — lit.  "over  thy  crib"  [hence  D'3X 
cannot  be,  as  defined  by  Gesenius,  "stall,  sta- 
ble"], for  the  crib  being  very  low,  the  cattle  of 
the  ancients  in  the  East  reached  over  it  with  the 
head  while  lying  beside  it,  Comp.  Isa.  i.  3  and 
Hitzig  on  the  passage. 

Ver.  10.  Dost  thou  bind  the  oryx  to  the 
furroTiT  of  his  cord? — i.e.,  to  the  furrow 
(comp.  chap.  xxxi.  38)  which  ho  raises  by  means 
of  the  ploughshare,  as  he  is  led  along  by  the 
cord.  Or  will  he  harrow  the  valleys  (Ps. 
IxT.  14)  after  thee  (^"^.n»?),  »•  e.,  while  follow- 
ing thee,  when  thou  seekest  to  lead  him  in  the 
act  of  ploughing  [rather,  as  in  the  text,  harrow- 
ing, nnii^,  to  level]. 

Ver.  11.  'Wilt  thou  trust  him  because 
his  strength  is  great? — i.e.,  will  the  great 
strength  which  he  possesses  awake  thy  confi- 
dence, and  not  rather  thy  mistrust?  On  J^'J/ 
"labor"  ["wilt  thou  commit  to  him  thy  labor"], 
in  the  sense  of  the  fruit  of  labor,  the  product  of 
tilling,  comp.  Ps.  Ixxviii.  46 :  cxxviii.  2.  The 
verse  following  is  decisive  in  favor  of  this  in- 
terpretation of  the  verse  before  us ;  otherwise 
the  word  might,  in  accordance  with  Gen.  xxxi. 
42,  denote  the  labor  or  the  toil  itself. 

Ver.  12.  Wilt  thou  trust  to  him  that  he 
bring  home  thy  sowing? — Pvespecting  '3  as 
exponent  of  the  object,  see  Ewald,  §  336,  b. 
2W^,  if  we  adhere  to  it,  with  the  K'thibh,  is  used 
in  the  transitive  sense,  as  in  chap.  xlii.  10;  Ps. 
Ixxxv.  5.  The  K'ri,  however,  substitutes  for  it 
the  Hiphil,  which,  in  this  sense,  is  the  form 
more  commonly  used.  And  that  he  gather 
(into)  thy  threshing-floor. — -"jJ^J  is  probably 
locative  (='']J"^J3).  It  may  possibly,  however, 
be  taken  as  accusative  of  the  object  per  synecdo- 
chen  coniinentis  pro  coniento  (threshing-floor= 
fruits  of  the  threshing-floor,  yield  of  the  har- 
vest), as  in  Ruth  iii.  2;  ISIatt.  iii.  12. 

Vers.  18-18.  The  ostrich  (lit.  the  female  os- 
trich) introduced  as  an  example  of  untamable 
■wildness  from  among  the  birds.  The  wing 
of  the  (female)  ostrich  w^aves  joyously. — 
CJJ"!,  lit.  "  wailings,  shrill  cries  of  mourning" 
plur.  abstr.)  is  a  poetic  designation  of  the  os- 
trich here,  or  of  the  female  ostrich,  noted  for  its 
piercing  cries.  So  correctly  the  Vulg.,  Bocbart, 
and  almost  all  the  moderns.  The  Targ.  arbitra- 
rily understands  the  bird  designated  to  be  the 
"mountain-cock,"  Kimchi  and  Luther  the  "pea- 
cock"  [and  so  E.  v.:   "Gavest  thou  the  goodly 

wings  unto  the  pea-cocks?"]  As  to  D/J^J,  "to 
move  itself  joyously,"  comp.  chap.  xx.  18;  also 
the  Homeric  expression,  ay aT^Ac a i^ a i  Trrspvyeaaiv. 
Is  it  a  pious  pinion  and  plumage  ? — ;.  e., 
is  the  wing  of  this  bird,  the  waving  of  which 
is  so  powerful  and  wonderfully  rapid,  a  pious 
one,  productive  of  mild  and  tender  qualities, 
like  (hat  of  the  stork?  For  it  is  to  that  bird — 
which  in  its  build  resembles  the  ostrich,  but 
39 


which  is  more  mild  in  disposition,  and  is,  in 
particular,  more  affectionate  and  careful  in  the 
treatment  of  its  offspring — that  the  predicate 
nTDn,  pia,  with  its  double  meaning,  refers 
(which  Delitzsch  accordingly  translates  storch- 
fromm  [stork-pious],  pia  instar  circonix).  Thia 
is  evident  from  the  description  which  follows. 

Ver.  14.  Nay,  she  abandons  her  eggs 
to  the  earth. — "'3  here  "nay,  rather,"  as  in 
chap.  xxii.  2.  The  subj.  of  DTJ,']"!  is  the  D^JJT  of 
ver.  18,  construed  here  as  Fem.  Sing.  The  same 
construction  obtains  in  the  following  verbs  (Ew. 
§318«). 

Ver.  15.  And  forgets  that  the  foot  can 
crush  them.— 113^/^1,  simply  consecutive,  and 
hence  present;  comp.  chap.  iii.  21.  On  the 
sing,  suffix  in  H^/lir^,  referring  to  the  eggs,  see 
Gesenius,  ^  146^  [|  143],  3.  The  fact  here  de- 
scribed, to  wit,  that  the  mother  ostrich  easily 
forgets  her  eggs,  at  least  while  she  is  not  yet 
through  with  laying  them,  as  well  as  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  period  of  incubation,  and  that  she 
leaves  them  unprotected,  especially  on  the  ap- 
proach of  hunters,  is  true  of  this  animal  only  in 
its  wild  condition.  In  that  state  it  shares  these 
and  similar  habits,  proceeding  from  excessive 
wildness  and  fear  of  man,  with  many  other 
birds,  as,  e.g.,  the  partridge.  In  its  tame  I 
condition,  the  ostrich  watches  over  its  young 
very  diligently  indeed, — and,  moreover,  shows 
nothing  of  that  stupidity  popularly  ascribed  to 
it,  and  which  has  become  proverbial  (to  which 
ver.  17  alludes).  Comp.  the  Essay  entitled: 
Die  Zuchtung  des  Straussen  ah  eurcpHisches  llaim- 
thier,  in  the  Ausland,  18G9,  No.  13,  p.  30G.  The 
opinion  moreover,  partially  circulated  among 
the  ancients,  that  the  ostrich  does  not  at  all  in- 
cubate its  eggs,  belongs  to  that  class  of  scientifio 
fables  which,  as  in  the  case  of  those  strange  ani- 
mals the  basilisk,  the  dragon,  the  unicorn,  etc., 
have  been  incorrectly  imputed  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. The  verse  before  us  furnishes  no  support 
whatever  to  that  opinion.  [See  Smith's  Bib. 
Diet.,  Art.  "Ostrich."  "The  habit  of  the  ostrich 
leaving  its  eggs  to  be  matured  by  the  sun's  heat 
is  usually  appealed  to  in  order  to  confirm  the 
Scriptural  account,  'she  leavelh  her  eggs  to  the 
earth;'  but  this  is  probably  the  case  only  with 
the  tropical  birds;  the  ostriches  with  which  the 
Jews  were  acquainted  were,  it  is  likely,  birds 
of  Syria,  Egypt  and  North  Africa  ;  but  even  if 
they  were  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  the  tro- 
pical ostriches,  how  can  it  be  said  that  'she  for- 
getteth  that  the  foot  may  crush'  the  eggs,  when 
they  are  covered  a  foot  deep  or  more  in  sand  ? 
We  believe  the  true  explanation  of  this  passage 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  ostrich  de- 
posits some  of  her  eggs  not  in  the  nest,  but 
around  it;  these  lie  about  on  the  surface  of  the 
sand,  to  all  appearance  forsaken;  they  are  how- 
ever designed  for  the  nourishment  of  the  young 
birds,  according  to  Levaillant  and  Bonjainville 
(Cuvier,  An.  King,  by  Griifiths  and  others,  viii. 
432),"  and  see  below  on  ver.  16]. 

Ver.  16.  She  deals  hardly  with  her 
young,  as  though  they  were  not  hers;  lit. 
"for  not  to  her"  [i.  e.,  belonging  to  her) 
n'i^pn,  lit.  "  Ae  deals  hardly;  '  which,  bearing  in 


CIO 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


mind  ftbe  suffix  in  n'J3,  and!  the  clause  ~it.il 

L  T    VT  J 

n ',  which  immediately  follows,  gives  a  change 
of  gender  which  is  iutolerably  liarsh,  which  we 
may  pei-haps  obviate  (with  Evvald,  etc.)  by  point- 
ing tlTpL?  (Inf.  Absol.,  comp  Ewald,  §280,  a). 
The  correction  n'ti/pPI  (Hirzel,  Dillmann) 
[Merx]  is  less  plausible.  In  vain  is  her  labor 
•without  her  being  distressed  ;  lit.  "without 

fear"  ("ini3~''73),  i.  e.,  her  labor  in  laying  her 
eggs  is  in  vain  (inasmuch  as  many  of  her  eggs 
are  abandoned  by  her  to  destruction),  without 
her  giving  herself  any  trouble  or  anxiety  on  that 
account.  This  unconcern  and  carelessness  of 
the  female  ostrich  touching  the  fate  of  her 
young,  which  stands  in  glaring  contrast  with  the 
lender  anxiety  of  the  stork-mother  (ver.  13  b), 
is  carried  to  such  a  length,  that  she  herself 
often  stamps  to  pieces  her  eggs  (the  shells  of 
which  moreover  are  quite  hard),  when  she  ob- 
serves that  men  or  beasts  have  been  about;  and 
even  uses  the  eggs  which  are  left  to  lie  un- 
hatched  in  feeding  the  young  ones  as  they  creep 
forth.  Comp.  Wetzstein,  in  Delitzsch  II.,  p. 
339  seq, 

Ver.  17.  For  God  made  her  to  forget  wis- 
dom, and  gave  her  no  share  in  under- 
standing.— nU^n  Perf.  Hiph.  with  the  suffix 
n-  from  n^l  (comp.  eh.  xi.  6).  nr33  pSn, 
"to  give  a  share  in  understanding"  (comp.  ch. 
vii.  13 ;  xxi.  25).  For  parallel  expressions  as 
to  the  thought,  to  wit,  Arabic  proverbs  about  the 
stupidity  of  the  ostrich,  see  Schultens  and  Um- 
breit  on  the  passage.  The  only  other  passage 
in  the  Old  Testament  where  the  cruelty  of  the 
ostrich  is  set  forth  in  proverbial  form  is  Lam. 
iv.  8. 

Ver.  18.  At  the  time  'vyhen  she  lashes 
herself  aloft,  she  laughs  at  the  horse  and 
his  rider. — ■H.J^-S,  here  not  "at  this  time,  just 
•now"  (Oesen.,  Schlott,).  but=;"ll^X  r\2;p,  and 
hence  with  an  elliptical  relative  clause  following. 
Respecting  N1D,  which  both  in  Kal.  and  Hiphil 
can  signify  "to  lash,  to  beat,"  and  which  in  He- 
brew is  found  in  this  signification  only  here,  see 
Gesenius  in  the  Lexicon.  The  whole  verse  de- 
scribes in  a  way  which  combines  simplicity  and 
terseness  with  vividness,  the  lightning-like 
swiftness  of  an  ostrich,  or  a  herd  of  such  birds, 
fleeing  before  hunters  on  horseback,  the  run- 
ning movement  of  the  bird  being  aided  by  the 
vibration  of  the  wings.  At  the  same  time  the 
mention  of  "the  horse  and  his  rider"  prepares 
the  transition  to  the  description  which  follows, 
the  only  one  in  this  series  which  refers  to  a 
tamed  animal. 

Vers.  19-25.  The  war-horse — a  favorite  sub- 
ject of  description  also  on  the  part  of  Arabian 
and  other  oriental  poets;  comp.  tlie  "Praise  of 
the  Horse"  in  v.  Hammer — Purgstall's  Dufl- 
k'urner:  Amrul-Keis,  MoaUaknt,  vers.  50,64,  and 
other  parallels  to  this  passage  cited  by  Umhrcit. 
Of  all  these  poetic  descriptions  whioh  have  come 
down  from  antiquity  (to  which  also  may  be 
added  Virgil,  Gcorg.  Ill  ,  75  seq.).,  the  present 
one  is  the  oMest  and  most  beautiful.  ["  In  con- 
nection with  this  description  of  the  war-horse. 


which  among  many  similar  ones  is  the  most 
splendid,  it  has  been  justly  observed  that  to  a 
Hebrew  the  horse  as  a  theme  of  description  must 
seem  all  the  more  noble  in  that  he  was  known 
not  as  a  beast  of  draught,  but  only  as  a  war- 
horse."  Schlottmann]. 

Ver.  19.  Dost  thou  give  strength  (mOJ 
used  specially  of  warlike  strength,  fortiludo ; 
comp.  Judg.  viii.  21;  2  Kings  xviii.  20)  dost 
thou  clothe  his  neck  with  fluttering  hair  ? 
i.  e.,  with  quivering,  waving  mane?  It  is  thus 
that  most  moderns  explain  the  word  no>n,  not 
found  elsewhere,  from  the  root  DJ^"1,  "to  quake" 
(Ezek.  xxvii.  35),  by  comparison  with  the  Greek 
<l>6,3rf  (related  to  tf>6(ioc).  The  signification 
"thunder,  neighing"  (Symmach.,  Theodot.,  Je- 
rome, Luther,  Schlottmann)  [E.  V.]  would  in- 
deed be  etymologically  admissible,  but  it  would 
not  be  suited  to  the  words  "neck,"  and  "clothe." 
Umbreit  and  Ewald,  (§  113,  d)  [the  latter  how- 
ever in  his  Commentary  as  above — "  quivering 
mane"]  explain  it  by  "dignity;"  but  the  iden- 
tity of  noi^T  with  nOX"}  is  questionable,  and 
such  words  as  ("^m,  or  nxtl'  would    have  been 

It  ••  : 

more  naturally  used  to  express  that  idea. 

Ver.  20.  Dost  thou  make  him  leap  like 
the  locust? — i.  e.,  when  he  rushes  along  on 
the  gallop,  like  a  vastly  enlarged  bounding  troop 
of  locusts  (comp.  Joel  ii.  4).  "  What  is  in- 
tended is  a  spiral  motion  in  leaps,  now  to  the 
right,  now  to  the  left,  which  is  called  the  cara- 
col,   a   word  used  in  horsemanship,  borrowed 

from  the  Arabic  har-gala-l-farasu  (comp.  VjiPl), 
through  the  medium  of  the  Moorish  Spanish" 
(Delitzsch).  [The  rendering  of  E.  V.:  "canst 
thou  make  him  afraid  as  a  grasshopper" — is  at 
variance  with  the  spirit  of  the  description, 
which,  in  each  member,  sets  forth  some  trait 
which  commandsadmiration. — E  ].  The  glory 
of  his  snorting  is  a  terror, — or,  "since  the 
glory  of  his  snorting,"  etc.  (descriptive  clause 
without  )).  On  inj  "snorting,"  comp.  the 
Arabic  nachir,  "  the  death-rattle,  snoring," 
Greek,  (ppvayfza,  Lat.,  fremitus,  lin  here  de- 
noting not  a  splendid  appearance,  but  a  majestic 
peal  or  roar. 

Ver.  21.  They  explore  in  the  valley, 
then  he  rejoiceth  in  strength. — The  subject 
of  '"^iJn^  can  scarcely  be  the  hoofs  of  the  horse 
(Delitzsch  ["the  representation  of  the  many 
pawing  hoofs  being  blended  with  that  of  the 
pawing  horse"]),  and  the  use  throughout 
thus  far  of  the  singular  in  speaking  of  the  horse 
(so  also  again  in  tJ^'ty'l)  makes  it  impossible  that 
the  plural  here  should  refer  to  him.  Hence  the 
signification  "pawing"  preferred  here  by  the 
ancient  versions  [and  E.  V.],  and  most  of  the 
moderns  seems  inadmissible,  even  admitting  that 
IDn  is  the  word  commonly  used  for  the  pawing 
of  the  horse  (see  Schultens  on  the  passage). 
We  must  rather  with  Cocceius  and  Ewald  under- 
stand the  subject  to  be  the  riders,  or  the  war- 
riors; "they  take  observations,"  or  "observa- 
tions are  taken  in  the  valley  (while  it  is  uncer- 
tain whether  the  fighting  should  begin):  then 
he  rejoiceth  in  strength."  The  meaning  "to 
paw"  is  to  be  retained  only  in  case   we  adopt 


CHAPS.  XXXVIII.  1— XLII.  6. 


611 


with  Dillmann  [Merx]  the  reacling^Dn\  or  with 
Bottcher  1"^3n\  He  goes  forth  against  an 
armed  host,  lit.  "the  armor;"  pcfj  here  oth- 
erwise than  in  ch.  xx.  24. — On  ver.  22  comp. 
vers.  7  and  18. 

Ver.  23.  The  quiver  rattleth  upon  him ; 
i.  e.  the  quiver  of  the  horseman  who  is  seated 
upon  him,  not  the  hostile  contents  of  the  quiver, 
the  whirring  arrows  of  the  enemy,  as  Schultens 
[Conant,  Rodwell]  explain.  Besides  this  part 
of  the  armor,  the  second  member  mentions  the 
"spear  and  the  lance"  [not  "shield,"  E.  V.], 
or  rather  with  poetic  circumlocution,  "the  light- 
ning (lit.  flame)  of  the  spear  and   the  lance," 

^n?  synonymous  with  p^S,  ch.  xx.  2.5;  comp. 
tanS,  Gen.  iii.  24;  also  Judg.  iii.  22;  1  Sam. 
xvii.  7;  Nah.  iii.  3. 

Ver.  24.  With  rushing  and  raging  he 
swallovrs  the  ground ;  i.  e.  in  sweeping  over 
the  ground  at  full  gallop,  he  swallows  it  up  as 
it  were;  a  figure  which  is  current  also  among 
Arabic  poets  (see  Schultens  and  Delitzsch  on 
the  passage).  The  assonance  of  tyi?"^""TJ"1  may 
be  represented  by  "rushing  and  raging."  — 
And  he  does  not  stand  still  -when  the 
trumpet  sounds. — Lit.  "  he  does  not  show 
himself  fixed,  does  not  stay  fixed,  does  not  con- 
tain himself:"  Vpi^l  accordingly  in  its  primi- 
tive sensuous  meaning;  not  "he  believes  not" 
(Kimchi,   Aben  Ezra)   [E.  V.  i.  e.  for  joy;  it  is 

too  good  to  be  true].  As  to  Vip  comp.  Ewald, 
I  286,/  [adverbial  use  of  np  here=when  the 
trumpet  is  loud].  As  parallel  in  thought  comp. 
beyond  all  other  passages  that  of  Virgil  referred 
to  above  (Georg.  III.  83  seq.): 

....  Turn,  si  qtia  sontim  jtrncxd  arma  dedere, 
Stare  Inco  vescit,  micat  axribus  et  tremil  artus 
Gollectumque  fremens  volcit  $ub  naribtts  ignem. 

Ver.  25.  As  often  as  the  trumpet  (sounds), 
he  says.  Aha!  i.e.,  he  neighs,  full  of  a  joyous 
eagerness  for  the  battle.  On  ^"[^3  qiiotiescunque 
(lit.  "in  sufficiency"),  comp.  Ewald,  §  337,  c. — 
And  from  afar  he  smells  the  battle,  the 
thunder  (comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  29)  of  the  cap- 
tains, and  the  shouting  (the  battle-cries  of 
the  contestants;  comp.  Judg.  vii.  18  seq.). 
Similarly  Pliny,  N.  H.  VIII.  42;  prxsagiunt 
pugnam  :  and  of  moderns  more  particularly  La- 
yard  {New  Discoveries,  p.  330):  "Although  docile 
as  a  lamb,  and  requiring  no  other  guide  than 
the  halter,  when  the  Arab  mare  hears  the  war- 
cry  of  the  tribe,  and  sees  the  quivering  spear 
of  her  rider,  her  eyes  glitter  with  fire,  her 
blood-red  nostrils  open  wide,  her  neck  is  nobly 
arched,  and  her  tail  and  mane  are  raised  and 
spread  out  to  the  wind,"  etc. 

Ver.  26.  The  hawk,  as  the  first  example  of 
birds  of  prey,  distinguished  by  their  strength, 
lightning-like  swiftness,  and  lofty  flight. — Doth 
the  ha-wrk  fly  upward  by  thy  understand- 
ing ? — yJ  (the  "highflyer")  is,  according  to 
the  unanimous  testimony  of  the  ancient  versions, 
the  hawk,  a  significant  bird,  as  is  well  known, 
in  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  which  is  here 
introduced  on  account  of  its  mysteriously  note- 


worthy characteristic  of  taking  its  flight  south- 
wards at  the  approach  of  winter  (Pliny,  N.  H. 
X.  8).  For  it  is  to  this  that  the  apocop.  Imperf. 
Hiph.  "1I3X'  (denominative  from  niDX,  "wing") 
refers:  assurgit,  attoIUlur  alls,  not  to  the  yearly 
moulting,  which  precedes  the  migration  south- 
ward (Vulg. :  plumescit;  in  like  manner  the 
Targ.,  Gregory  the  Great,  Rosenm.).  For  this 
annual  renewal  of  plumage  {nrsfMipvElv,  see  LXX., 
Is.  xl.  31)  is  common  to  all  birds,  and  is  predi- 
cated elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament  only  of 
the  eagle  (Ps.  ciii.  6;  Mic.  i.  16;  Is.  xl.  31), 
not  of  the  hawk. 

Vers.  27-30.  The  eagle,  as  king  of  the  birds, 
closing  the  series  of  native  animals  here  de- 
scribed, in  like  manner  as  the  lion,  as  king  of 
the  mammalia,  had  opened  the  series.  Ityj  is 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament, 
like  asrSg  in  the  New  Testament  (comp.  Matt, 
xxiv.  28;  Luke  xvii.  37),  a  common  designation 
of  the  eagle  proper,  and  of  the  vulture:  and  the 
characteristic  of  carnivorousness  which  is  here 
and  often  elsewhere  referred  to  belongs  in  fact 
not  only  to  the  varieties  of  the  vulture  (such  as 
the  carrion-kite  and  lammergeyer),  but  also  to 
the  more  common  varieties  of  the  eagle,  such  as 
the  golden  eagle  and  the  osprey,  which  do  not 
disdain  to  eat  the  carcasses  of  animals  which 
have  recently  died.  Comp.  Winer's  Rcal-Wor- 
ter-Buch,  under  Adler. — Doth  the  eagle  soar 
at  thy  command?  lit.  make  high  (n'UJ'',  soil. 
^V)  liis  flight;  comp.  ch.  v.  7. — And  build 
his  nest  on  high?  lit.  "is  it  at  thy  command 
that  he  builds  his  nest  on  high?"  Comp.  Obad. 
4;  Jer.  xlix.  16;  Prov.  xxx.  19. 

Ver.  28.  With  the  phrase  yhj?.~\P.^  ^i*-  "tooth 
of  the  rock  "  comp.  the  names  Dent  du  midi, 
Dent-hlanche,  Dent  de  More/c.s,  etc. 

Ver.  30.  And  his  young  ones  lap  up 
blood. — [The  gender  throughout  is  masculine, 

not  fern,   as   in   E.  V.]      U''7J;^'  from  yhx\  an 

abbreviated  secondary  form  of    'J;'.7J^,  Pilp.  of 

/^y,   "to  suck."     Possibly,  however,  we  should 

read  (with  Gesen.  and  Olsh.)  U''?.!;'^',  from  yi;b 

=}JV>,  degliitere.  On  the  sucking  of  blood  by 
the  young  eagles,  comp.  JElian,  H.  anim.  x.  14: 
capiiCiv  yStrat  Bopa  Kai  nivet  al/xa  Kal  to,  veuTTia 
iKTpe(pet  Tolq  avrdlq. 

7.  Conclusion  of  the  discourse,  together  with  J oV s 
anstccr:  ch.  xl.  1-5. 

Ver.  2.  Will  the  censurer  contend  v^ith 
the  Almighty?  to  wit,  after  all  that  has  here 
been  laid  before  him  in  proof  of  the  greatness 
and  wonderful  power  of  God.  Observe  the 
return  to  ch.  xxxviii.  2,  which  this  question 
brings  about.  J'l  Inf.  absol.  of  y]  (as  in 
Judg.  xi.  25)  here  in  the  sense  of  a  future.  The 
adoption  of  this  construction  in  preference  to 
the  finite  verb  gives  a  meaning  that  is  particu- 
larly forcible.  Comp.  the  well-known  sentence: 
mene  incepto  desistere  victum  ?  Also  Ewald,  ^  328, 
a. — He  vrho  hath  reproved  God,  let  him 
ans\7er  it;  i.  e.  let  him  reply  to  all  the  ques- 
tions asked  from  ch.  xxxviii.  2  on. 

Ver.  4.  Behold,   I  am  too  base ;  i.  e.  to 


61: 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


solve  the  problem  presented,  I  !im  not  equal  to 
it. — I  lay  my  hand  on  my  mouth;  i.  e.  I 
impose  on  myself  absolute  silence;  comp.  ch. 
xxi.  5;  xxix.  9. 

Ver.  5.  Once  have  I  spoken,  and  I  ■wrill 
not  again  begin,  will  no  more  undertake  to 
speak;  see  on  ch.  iii.  2.  "Once — twice,"  as  in 
Ps.  Ixii.  12  [11],  are  used  only  because  of  the 
poetic  parallelism  for  "often;"  comp.  Gesenius, 
\  120  {I  118],  5.  The  solemn  formal  retracta- 
tion which  Job  here  makes  of  his  former  pre- 
sumptuous challenges  of  God  marks  the  first 
stage  of  his  gradual  return  to  a  more  becoming 
position  toward  God,  It  is  God's  purpose,  how- 
ever, to  lead  him  forward  from  this  first  stage, 
consisting  in  true  self-humiliation  (in  contrast 
to  his  former  self-exaltation)  to  a  still  more 
advanced  stage — even  the  complete  melting  down 
of  his  heart  in  sincere  penitence.  It  is  the 
realization  of  this  purpose  which  Jehovah  seeks 
in  His  second  and  last  discourse. 


DOCTRINAL  AND   ETHICAL. 

1.  As  a  magnificent  specimen  of  physico-the- 
ological  demonstration  in  poetic  form,  the  pre- 
sent discourse  of  God,  the  first  and  longest 
which  He  delivers,  is  incomparable.  With  won- 
derful symmetry  of  treatment,  it  makes  first  the 
innnimate,  and  then  the  animate  creation  the 
theme  of  profound  contemplation  ;  each  of  these 
domains  being  treated  with  about  the  same  ful- 
ness, and  with  a  homologous  prrangement  of 
strophes  (see  Exegetical  Remarks,  No.  1),  in 
order  thus  to  impress  Job  with  the  highest 
admiration  of  the  divine  power,  wisdom  and 
goodness,  as  these  attributes  are  revealed  in  the 
entire  world  of  nature.  The  First  Long  Strophe 
(ch.  xxxviii.  4-15)  which  makes  the  creation  of 
the  heavens,  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  the  theme 
of  contemplation  serves  to  illustrate  principally 
the  divine  omnipotence,  together  with  the  attri- 
butes most  immediately  related  to  it,  eternity, 
infinity  and  omnipresence,  or  the  divine  being  as 
transcending  space  and  time.  Towards  the  close 
of  this  strophe  the  attribute  ofyMs^/c«  is  also  drawn 
intothe  circle  of  contemplation,  it  being  onechief 
object  of  the  whole  description  to  represent  the 
Almighty  God  as  being  also  just  in  His  vast  ac- 
tivities, always  and  everywhere  just  (see  vers. 
13-15).  The  consideration  of  omnipotence  is 
next  followed  by  that  of  wisdom,  together  with 
the  attribute  of  omniscience  which  stands  most 
closely  connected  with  it,  the  discussion  having 
reference  to  the  hidden  heights  and  depths  above 
and  below  the  earth,  from  which  the  phenomena, 
of  the  atmosphere  and  of  light  proceed  (Second 
Long  Strophe,  ch.  xxxviii.  16  seq.).  Already 
toward  the  end  of  this  description  the  attribute 
of  God's  ^ooQ'n^«»  emerges  in  to  view,  as  it  is  shown 
in  the  beneficent  eflFects  of  the  rain-showers  (vers. 
25-27).  Afterwards  in  the  third  Long  Strophe 
(vers.  28-38)  this  attribute  retires  again  to  the 
background,  while  the  power  manifested  in  the 
heavens,  and  the  wisdom  revealed  in  the  atmos- 
phere, occupy  the  foreground.  All  the  more  de- 
cidedly however  in  the  last  three  Long  Strophes, 
or  in  the  zoological  and  biological  description 
constituting  the  section  which  we  have  marked 
d  (ch.    xxxviii.   39 — xxxix.  30),  is  the  discourse 


again  directed  to  the  goodness  of  God,  or  to  the 
Creator's  fatherly  care,  which  is  most  intimately 
united  with  His  power  and   wisdom,  and  which 
in  the  exercise  of  them  takes  the  most  particular 
interest  in  the  life  of  His  earthly  animate  crea- 
tion.    For  all  that  is  advanced  in  this  section  in 
the  way  of  proof  of  the  wonderful  wisdom  and 
all-penetrative  knowledge  of  the  Most  High  iu 
the  sphere  of  animal  life,  and  of  its  ordinary  as 
well  as  its  extraordinary  phenomena  is  subordi- 
nated to  the  teleologica;!  reference  to  His  special 
providence,  in  view   of  wh'.ch  not  one  of  His 
creatures    is    indifferent    to   Him.     (Comp.  Bo- 
chart's  Remarks  on  ch.   xxxix.  1-4:   The  know- 
ledge here  spoken  of  is  not  passive  and  specu- 
lative simply,  but  that  knowledge  which  belongs 
to  God,  by  which  He  not  only  knows  all  things, 
but  directs  and  governs  them,  etc.).     That  which 
makes    this   purvey   of  the  most   exalted   attri- 
butes of  God  as  reflected  in  the  wonders  of  Hia 
creation   especially  impressive  is  the  accumula- 
tion of  so  many  examples  and  illustrations  from 
the  domain  of  physical  theology,  and  the  won- 
derful art  with  which  they  are  elaborated  in  the 
minutest  detail,  together  with  the  striking  har- 
mony and  consistency  which  their  arrangement 
exhibits,  notwithstanding  all  the  flow  and  free- 
dom of  the  poetic  sweep  of  thought.     Not  one  of 
these  illustrations  from  the  great  book  of  crea- 
tion is  absolutely  new.     Job   himself  has  more 
than  once  in  his  discourses  introduced  brief  re- 
flective  descriptions   of  nature  similar  in  kind, 
and  scarcely  inferior  in  beauty  (ix.  4-10;  xii.  7- 
10,    12-25;  xxvi.    6-14);    even  Eliphaz,  Bildad, 
and  Zophar  have  at  least  occasionally  described, 
not  without  skill  and  taste,  the  divine  power  and 
wisdom,  as  they  are  revealed  in  the  works  of 
His  creation  ;  and  Elihu  near  the   close  of  his 
discourses  dwelt  on  this  theme  at  length,  and 
with  powerful  effect.     The  grandeur  and  supe- 
rioiity  of  that  which  Jehovah  here  advances,  in 
part  confirming,  in  part  going  beyond  those  ut- 
terances of  the  former  speakers,  consists  in  the 
way  in  which,  alike  with  artless  simplicity,  and 
with  harmonious   and  connected  order,  He  has 
accumulated  such  an  array  of  the  most  manifold 
and  luminous  evidences  of  His  majesty  as  revealed 
in  the  wonders  of  nature.     Comp.  Julius  Fiirst, 
Gcschichte  der  biblischcn  Literatur,  etc.,  II.,  p.  418: 
"  The  poet   has  here  artistically  combined  the 
utmost  polish  of  diction,  the  greatest  abundance 
of  natural  pictures,  the  most  thrilling  and  win- 
ning vividness  in  the  succinct  descriptions  given 
of  the  wonders  of  creation  ;  and  the  effect  on  Job 
must  have  been  really  overpowering.   The  reader 
also  finds  the   discourse   distinguished  by  tone 
and   harmony,  by  power,  acutcness,  and  clear- 
ness, by  method,  order,  and  plan,  so  that  it  pre- 
sents itself  as  the  most  beautiful  discourse  in  the 
Old    Testament    Scriptures.     In   this  discourse, 
cast  in  the  form   of  questions,  Jehovah   exhibits 
the  animate  and  inanimate  creation,  the  mani- 
fold   channels  in  which  the  forces  of  nature  se- 
cretly   operate,    its   wonderful    and    mysterious 
phenomena,  as  they  are  held  together  in  glorious 
order  by  His  creative  hand,  as  they  are  ruled  by 
His  nod.     The  eternal  creative   energy,   which 
bears  witness  to  a  wisdom  that  is  unsearchable, 
to  a  providential  love,  to  a  wise  moral   order  of 
the  universe,  appears  to  the  weak  human  sp'rit 


CHAPS.  XXXVIII.  1— XLII.  6. 


613 


as  an  insoluble  mystery,  which  has  for  its  aim  to 
put  Job  to  shame.  In  this  discourse,  embracing 
six  long  strophes,  each  consisting  for  the  most 
part  of  twelve  verse-lines,  the  exhibition  of  the 
transcendent  wonders  of  nature  certainly  im- 
parts indescribable  power  to  the  contemplation 
of  the  greatness  of  the  Creator.  Every  one  must 
see  however  that  these  natural  wonders,  after 
we  have  explained  them  in  their  immediate  foun- 
dations through  our  knowledge  of  natural  laws, 
and  after  we  have  understood  them  from  the  ge- 
neral laws  of  nature,  must  be  understood  accord- 
ing to  the  effects  which  they  produce.  The  next 
thing  to  be  noticed  is  the  poetic  coHception  of 
the  beauty  of  nature,  the  deep  mental  contem- 
plation of  the  Cosmos,  as  it  shows  itself  among 
all  the  civilized  nations  of  antiquity;  and  then 
the  poetry  of  nature  found  among  the  Hebrews, 
considered  particularly  as  the  reflex  of  monothe- 
ism. The  cliaracteristic  marks  of  the  Hebrew 
poetry  of  nature,  as  A.  Von  Humboldt  strikingly 
observes  in  his  Cosmos,  are  that  "  it  always  em- 
braces the  whole  universe  in  its  unity,  com- 
prising both  terrestrial  life  and  the  luminous 
realms  of  space.  It  dwells  but  rarely  on  the 
individuality  of  phenomena,  preferring  the  con- 
templation of  great  masses.  The  Hebrew  poet 
does  not  depict  nature  as  a  self-dependent  ob- 
ject, glorious  in  its  individual  beauty,  but  al- 
ways as  in  relation  and  subjection  to  a  higher 
spiritual  power.  The  natural  wonders  here  sung 
by  the  poet  point  to  the  invariableness,  the  ama- 
zing regularity  of  the  operations  of  nature,  i.  e., 
to  its  laws,  which  lead  us  to  adore  supreme 
wisdom,  power,  and  love,  lead  us  in  a  word  to 
religion.  Finally,  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  century  in  which  the  poet  lived  was  one  of 
the  earliest  in  which  such  questions  were  pro- 
pounded, and  sketches  of  nature  made." — Comp. 
the  still  more  decided  appreciation  of  the  con- 
tents of  our  discourse  as  respects  its  natural 
theology  and  its  sesthetic  features  in  the  book 
of  Jos.  L.  Saalschlitz,  entitled  Form  und  Geist 
der  biblisch-hcbraischcn  Poesie,  Kiinigsb.,  1853, 
(Third  Lecture:  Biblisch- hehrdische Naturanschnu- 
vng  und  Natur-poesic)  ;  also  Ad.  Kohnt's  Alex- 
ander V.  Humboldt  und  das  Judenthum,  Leipzig, 
1871  (Fourth  Part:  Humboldt's Stellung zur  Bibel), 
also  the  striking  observations  of  Reuss,  in  his 
Vortrag  iiber  das  Buck  Job  towards  the  end), 
which  show  with  peculiar  beauty  how  that,  not- 
withstanding the  vast  enlargement  of  our  know- 
ledge of  nature  in  modern  times,  the  larger 
number  of  the  questions  here  addressed  by  Je- 
hovah to  Job,  still  remain  as  unanswerable  as  at 
the  time  when  the  poem  was  composed;  the  fact 
being  that  it  is  only  the  old  formulas  in  respect 
to  particular  mysterious  phenomena  wiiich  have 
disappeared  before  a  clearer  and  fuller  know- 
ledge, not  the  mysteries  themselves,  and  that 
accordingly  even  to  the  naturalist  of  the  present, 
God  remains  a  hidden  God.  See  further  on  this 
subject  in  the  Doctrin.al  and  Ethical  Remarks  on 
the  following  discourse  of  God  (ch.  xl.  41). 

2.  Notwithstan-ding  all  tbe  admiration  which 
this  first  discourse  of  Jehovah  evokes  in  view 
of  the  evidences  here  presented  of  its  beauty, 
and  in  particular  of  the  value  of  its  contribu- 
tions to  natural  theology,  we  might  still  continue 
in  doubt  respecting  its  congruity  to  the  plan  and 


connection  of  the  poem  as  a  whole.  It  might  seem 
singular  and  incongruous:  (1)  That  the  dis- 
course from  beginning  to  end  runs  through  a 
series  of  questions  from  God  to  Job,  calculated 
to  shame  and  humiliate  the  latter,  when  he  has 
already  (ch.  ix.  3)  declared  his  shrinking  from 
such  a  rigid  inquisition,  and  his  inability  to 
answer  even  one  in  a  thousand  of  such  questions 
as  the  Most  High  might  ask  of  him.  (l2)  Fault 
might  be  found  moreover  with  tlie  contents  of 
these  questions,  as  exhibiting  too  little  that  is 
new,  tliat  has  not  already  been  touched  upon,  as 
being  in  too  close  agreement  with  what  has  been 
advanced  by  Job  himself  in  respect  to  the  great- 
ness and  wisdom  revealed  in  tiie  Cosmos,  as 
being  therefore  too  exclusively  physical,  i.  e.  as 
being  too  little  adapted  to  produce  a  direct  im- 
pression on  the  inwnrd  perver.'^ity  and  blindness 
of  him  who  is  addressed  (an  objection  which  has 
in  fact  been  to  some  extent  urged  by  some  expo- 
sitors and  critics,  as  e.  g.  hy  de  Wettc,  Knobel, 
Arnheiin,  etc.).  The  first  of  these  objections, 
however,  is  directed  against  what  is  simply  a 
misconception;  for  that  declaration  of  Job  in 
respect  to  his  inability  to  answer  God  is  made 
only  incidentally,  and  in  no  wise  conditions  the 
final  issue  of  the  action  of  the  poem.  On  the 
contrary  Job  had  in  the  course  of  his  discourses 
wished  often  enough  that  God  might  enter  info 
a  controversy  with  him.  And,  most  of  all,  the 
questions  which  God  puts  to  him,  and  of  which 
he  cannot  answer  one,  are  significantly  related 
in  the  way  of  contrast  to  the  last  of  the  pre- 
sumptuous challenges  which  Job  had  put  forth. 
Whereas  in  ch.  xxxi.  35  he  had  exclaimed: 
"  Let  the  Almighty  answer  me  !"  God  now  ful- 
fils this  wish,  although  in  quite  another  way 
than  that  which  he  had  expected.  He  speaks 
to  him  out  of  the  storm,  not  however  by  way  of 
reply  or  self-vindication,  but  througliout  asking 
questions,  and  so  overwhelming  the  presumptu- 
ous fault-finder  with  a  series  of  unanswerable 
queries,  permanently  silencing  him,  and  com- 
pelling him  at  last  to  acknowledge  his  submis- 
sion. At  the  same  time  the  tendency  of  these 
divine  questions  is  by  no  means  to  stun,  to  crush, 
to  annihilate.  Here  and  tiiere  it  is  true  their 
tone  borders  on  irony  (see  especially  ch.  xxxviii. 
'1\,  iiS ;  xxxix.  1  seq.).  It  never,  however, 
becomes  harsh  or  haughty;  on  the  contrary  it 
is  throughout  affectionately  condescending,  lift- 
ing up  at  the  same  time  that  it  humbles,  gently 
administering  instruction  and  consolation. — ■ 
And  as  with  this  interrogative  form  of  the  dis- 
course, so  also  is  its  natural  theology  thoroughly 
suited  to  the  divine  purpose  in  regard  to  Job. 
That  self-humiliation,  that  silent  submission  to 
the  divine  will  as  being  always  and  in  every 
case  wise,  just  and  good,  wliich  was  to  be 
wrought  in  Job,  how  could  it  have  been  more 
suitably  promoted  than  by  pointing  him  to  the 
visible  creation,  which  already  in  and  of  itself 
is  full,  nay  which  overflows  with  facts  adapted 
to  vanquish  all  human  pride  and  presumption? 
And  especially  may  we  ask  in  respect  to  that 
presumptuous  argument,  on  which  Job  had  con- 
tinually planted  himself  in  opposition  to  God: 
"I  have  not  transgressed;  tiiorcfore  my  grie- 
vous suffering  is  absolutely  inexplicable — nay 
more,  is  unreasonable  and  unjust," — how  could 


G14 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


the  error  and  folly  of  that  position  have  been 
more  effectually  demonstrated  to  him  than  by  a 
reference  to  the  numberless  inexplicable  and 
incomprehensible  subjects  which  continually 
present  themselves  to  us  in  the  realms  of  nature, 
in  its  life,  processes  and  events?  how  could  the 
doubt  respecting  the  logical  and  ethical  grounds 
of  the  apparently  harsh  treatment  to  which  God 
had  subjected  him,  be  more  etfectually  disposed 
of  than  by  bringing  forward  various  phenomena 
of  physical  life  on  earth  and  elsewhere,  each 
one  of  which  stands  before  us  as  an  amazing 
wonder,  and  as  an  eloquent  witness  of  the  un- 
searchableness  of  God's  ways,  who  in  what  He 
does  is  ever  wise,  and  whose  purpose  is  ever  one 
of  love?  Comp.  Delitzsch  (II.,  p.  354):  "From 
the  marvellous  in  nature,  he  divines  that  which 
is  marvellous  in  his  affliction.  His  humiliation 
under  the  mysteries  of  nature  is  at  the  same 
time  humiliation  under  the  mystery  of  his  afflic- 
tion." And  a  little  before  (p.  352):  "Contrary 
to  expectation,  God  begins  to  speak  with  Job 
about  totally  different  matters  from  His  justice 
or  injustice  in  reference  to  his  affliction.  Therein 
already  lies  a  deep  humiliation  for  Job.  But  a 
still  deeper  one  is  God's  turning,  as  it  were,  to 
the  abecedarium  naturse,  and  putting  the  censurer 
of  His  doings  to  the  blush.  That  God  is  the 
almighty  and  all-wise  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the 
world,  that  the  natural  world  is  exalted  above 
human  knowledge  and  power,  and  is  full  of 
marvellous  divine  creations  and  aiTangements, 
full  of  things  mysterious  and  incomprehensible 
to  ignorant  and  feeble  man,  Job  knows  even 
before  God  speaks,  and  yet  he  must  now  hear  it, 
because  he  does  Ko<  ^'jow  ?'<  rightly;  for  the  na- 
ture with  which  he  is  acquainted  as  the  herald 
of  the  creative  and  governing  power  of  God,  is 
also  the  preacher  of  humility ;  and  exalted  as 
God  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  natural  world 
is  above  Job's  censure,  so  is  He  also  as  the 
author  of  His  affliction.  That  which  is  new 
therefore  in  the  speech  of  Jehovah  is  not  the 
proof  of  God's  exaltation  in  itself,  but  the  rela- 
tion to  the  mystery  of  his  affliction,  and  to  his  con- 
duct towards  God  in  this  his  affliction,  in  which 
Job  is  necessitated  to  place  perceptions  not  in  them- 
selves strange  to  him.  He  who  cannot  answer  a 
single  one  of  those  questions  taken  from  the 
natural  kingdom,  but,  on  the  contrary,  must 
everywhere  admire  and  adore  the  power  and 
wisdom  of  God — he  must  appear  as  an  insignifi- 
cant fool,  if  he  applies  them  to  his  limited  judg- 
ment concerning  the  Author  of  his  affliction." 

HOMILETICAL   AND   PRACTICAL. 

In  the  homiletic  treatment  of  this  first  dis- 
course of  Jehovah's,  it  will  be  necessary  of 
course  to  explain  its  position  in  the  structure 
of  the  poem  as  a  whole,  and  the  significance  of 
its  contents  for  the  solution  of  the  problem  of 
the  book.  All  that  pertains  to  this,  however, 
will  evidently  possess  only  a  subordinate  prac- 
tical value.  For  the  practical  treatment,  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  of  ihe  higliest  importance  suitably 
to  set  forth  the  value  of  the  contents  of  the  dis- 
course for  modern  doubters,  or  those  who  after 
Job's  fashion  find  fault  with  divine  providence: 
to  show  accordingly  that  the  questions  contained 


in  it  touciiing  natural  theology  are  si  ill  in  a 
certain  sense  unanswerable,  and  that  the  mys- 
teries to  which  allusion  is  made  ever  remain 
real  mysteries,  even  to  the  greatest  intellects  in 
the  world  of  science.  In  this  connection  use 
might  be  made,  in  the  way  of  illustration  and 
exemplification,  of  the  many  confessions  which 
have  been  made  by  the  greatest  investigators  of 
nature  touching  the  incompleteness  and  limita- 
tion of  all  earthly  knowledge  and  of  all  the  dis- 
coveries which  have  hitherto  been  achieved 
in  the  department  of  natural  science  (espe- 
cially the  confessions  of  astronomers  like 
Newton,  Herschel,  A.  V.  Humboldt,  Laplace, 
and  recently  by  Proctor  \_Olher  worlds  than 
ours,  Preface],  and  also  by  chemists  and  biolo- 
gists, such  as  J.  V.  Liebig,  Darwin,  Laugel,  etc.) 
The  phenomena  described  in  the  first  half  of  the 
discourse  (chap,  xxxviii.  4-38),  derived  from  the 
consideration  of  the  heaVens  and  of  atmospheric 
meteorology,  being  pre-eminently  rich  in  con- 
vincing examples  of  the  mystery  and  unsearch- 
ableness  which  characterize  the  divine  proce- 
dure in  the  economy  of  nature,  also  admit  evi- 
dently of  being  considered  with  particular 
thoroughness  (as  e.  g.,  a  point  which  obviously 
suggests  itself — by  calling  attention  in  connec- 
tion with  such  passages  as  ver.  22  seq.,  ver.  29 
seq.to  the  fruitlessness,  and  indeed  the  hope- 
lessness of  the  attempts  hitherto  made  to  reach  the 
North  Pole).  The  zoological  and  biological  phe- 
nomena, on  the  other  hand,  which  form  the  sub- 
ject of  the  second  half  of  the  divine  description, 
it  will  be  better  to  present  together  in  brief  out- 
line, in  so  far  at  least  as  the  purpose  of  illustra- 
ting the  incomprehensibility  of  the  divine  agency 
in  creating  and  governing  the  universe  is  con- 
cerned. This  second  series  of  natural  facts  on 
the  contrary  are  all  the  better  suited  to  the  basis 
of  meditations  on  the  fatherly  love  of  God  which 
remembers  and  cares  for  all  His  creatures, 
whether  brutes  or  men. 

Particular  Passages. 
Chap,  xxxviii.  4  seq.  Brentius:  The  aim  of 
this  discourse  is  to  show  that  no  one  has  the 
right  to  accuse  the  Lord  of  injustice.  The  proof 
of  this  point  is  that  the  Lord  alone  is  the  Crea- 
tor of  all  things,  which  with  a  certain  amplifica- 
tion is  illustrated  from  various  classes  of  crea- 
tures. .  .  .  From  the  history  of  these  creatures 
God  proves  that  it  is  permitted  to  no  one  to  ac- 
cuse Divine  sovereignty  of  injustice,  or  to  resist 
it ;  for  of  all  creatures  not  one  was  the  Lord's 
counsellor,  or  rendered  Him  any  aid  in  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world.  He  can  without  any  injustice 
therefore  dispose  of  all  creatures  according  to 
His  own  will,  and  create  one  vessel  to  honor, 
another  to  dishonor,  as  it  may  please  Him. — 
Okcolampadius  :  No  other  reason  can  be  given 
than  His  own  good  pleasure  why  God  did  not 
make  the  earth  ten  times  larger.  He  had  the 
power  to  enlarge  it,  no  less  than  to  confine  it 
within  such  narrow  limits;  He  would  have  been 
able  to  make  valleys,  where  there  are  moun- 
tains, and  conversely,  etc.  But  He  is  Lord,  and 
it  pleased  Him  to  assign  to  things  the  length  and 
depth  and  breadth  which  they  now  have. — Cra- 
mer: That  God,  who  has  from  eterniiy  dwelt  in 
inaccessible  light,  has  revealed  Himself  through 


CHAPS.  XL.  6— XLII.  6. 


613 


the  work  of  creation,  receives  its  explanation 
out  of  the  depth  of  His  great  goodness  and 
mercy.  When  therefore  we  treat  of  God,  of  His 
works  and  mysteries,  we  must  do  it  with  beseem- 
ing modesty  and  reverence If  even   the 

book  of  nature  transcends  our  ability  to  deci- 
pher it  fully,  how  much  more  incomprehensible 
and  mysterious  will  the  book  of  Holy  Scripture 
be  for  us.— VON  Gerlach:  The  fundamental 
thought  of  these  representations  which  God 
here  puts  forth  is  that  only  He  who  can  create 
and  govern  all  things,  who  superintends  every- 
thing and  adjusts  all  things  in  their  relation  to 
each  other,  can  also  comprehend  the  connection 
of  human  destinies.  Inasmuch  however  as  fee- 
ble short-sighted  man  cannot  understand  and  fa- 
thom the  created  things  which  are  daily  surround- 
ing him,  how  can  he  assume  to  himself  any  part 
of  God's  agency  in  administering  the  universe? 
Chap,  xxxviii.  16  seq.  voN  Gerlach:  Of  the 
particular  subject  here  referred  to  [scientific 
discoveries  in  the  natural  world],  it  is  true  that 
the  later  researches  of  mankind  have  accom- 
plished much,  only  however  to  reveal  new  depths 
of  this  immeasurable  creation.  In  seeking  to 
penetrate  into  the  meaning  of  these  words,  we 
are  not  to  dwell  on  the  literal  features  of  each 
separate  statement.  It  is  a  poetic  and  splendid 
description  of  the  greatness  and  unsearchable- 
ness  of  God  in  creation,  from  the  point  of  view 
which  men  then  occupied,  a  description  which 
retains  its  lofty  internal  truth,  although  the  let- 
ter of  it,  regarded  from  the  stand-point  of  our 
present  knowledge  of  nature  no  longer  seems  as 
striking  to  us  as  the  ancients.  Indeed  it  may  be 
said  that  this  more  thorough  investigation  of  na- 
tural laws  has  itself  vastly  increased  the  num- 


ber and  greatness  of  such  wonders  as  are  set 
forth  in  this  description  for  him  who  enters  into 
the  spirit  of  it. 

Chap,  xxxviii.  39  seq. ;  xl.  1  seq.  Cramer: 
The  volume  of  natural  history  [das  Thierbicch'] 
which  God  here  writes  out  for  us,  should  be  a 
genuine  text-book  to  all  the  virtues. — Starkk: 
If  animals,  whether  strong  or  despicable,  great 
or  small,  are  embraced  in  God's  merciful  provi- 
dential care,  we  can  regard  their  need  as  a  si- 
lent appeal  to  the  goodness  of  the  Lord,  and  in 
this  sense  even  the  ravens  cry  to  God  when  they 
cry  out  from  hunger. 

Chap,  xxxix.  '.i'Tseq.  Vict.  Andrea:  From 
that  whicli  is  here  intimated  (to  wit,  that  other 
animals  must  sacrifice  their  life,  in  order  to 
satisfy  the  blood-thirsty  brood  of  an  eagle)  do  we 
not  see  tliat  the  suffering  of  a  simple  creature 
might  in  God's  plan  be  designed  to  benefit  other 
creatures  of  God? — So  the  death  of  a  man  may, 
through  the  terrifying  efi"ect  which  it  has  on 
others,  often  be  a  blessing  to  them.  And  how 
often  is  severe  sickness,  wholly  irrespective  of 
the  end  which  the  suffering  may  have  for  the  pa- 
tient himself,  a  most  effective  school  of  sympathy, 
yea,  of  the  most  self-sacrificing  love  for  all  who  sur- 
round the  sufferer.  Very  often  such  a  suf- 
ferer, if  he  diligently  strives  to  exhibit  in 
his  own  person  a  pattern  of  resignation  and 
praise  to  God,  has  been  a  rich  source  of 
light  and  blessing  for  those  who  are  round  about 
him!  How  short-sighted  it  is  therefore  for  the 
sick  to  complain  that  their  life  is  wholly  without 
use,  that  they  are  only  a  burden  to  those  who  are 
about  them,  etc.  In  short  the  majesty  of  God  has 
only  to  question  man,  in  order  to  bring  into  the 
clearest  consciousness  his  narrow  limitations. 


Second  Discourse  of  Jehovah  (together  with  Job's  answer) : 

To  doubt  God's  justice,  which  is  most  closely  allied  to  His  wonderful  omnipo- 
tence, is  a  grievous  w^rong,  which  must  be  atoned  for 
by  sincere  penitence  : 

Chapters    XL.    6 — XLII.    6. 

1.  Sharp  rebuke  of  Job's  presumption,  which  has  been  carried  to  the  point  of  doubting  God's 
justice: 

Chapter  XL.  6-14. 

Ver.  6.     Then  answered  the  Lord  unto  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind,  and  said  : 

7  Gird  up  thy  loins  now  like  a  man  : 

I  will  demand  of  thee,  and  declare  thou  unto  me. 

8  Wilt  thou  also  disannul  my  judgment? 

wilt  thou  condemn  me  that  thou  mayest  be  righteous  ? 

9  Hast  thou  an  arm  like  God  ? 

or  canst  thou  thunder  with  a  voice  like  Him  ? 
10  Deck  thyself  now  with  majesty  and  excellency, 
and  array  thyself  with  glory  and  beauty. 


ei6  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


11  Cast  abroad  the  rage  of  thy  wrath  ; 

and  behold  every  one  that  is  proud,  and  abase  him. 

12  Look  on  every  one  that  is  proud,  and  bring  him  low ; 
and  tread  down  the  wicked  in  their  place. 

13  Hide  them  in  the  dust  together  : 
and  bind  their  faces  in  secret. 

14  Then  will  I  also  confess  unto  thee 

that  thine  own  right  hand  can  save  thee. 

2.    Humiliating  exhibition  of  the  weakness  of  Job  in  contrast  with  certain  creatures  of  earth, 
not  to  say  with  God  ;   shown 

a.  by  a  description  of  the  behemoth  [hippopotamus)  : 
Vers.  15-24. 

15  Behold  now  behemoth, 
which  I  made  with  thee ; 
he  eateth  grass  as  an  ox. 

16  Lo  now,  his  strength  is  in  his  loins, 

and  his  force  is  in  the  navel  of  his  belly. 

17  He  moveth  his  tail  like  a  cedar : 

the  sinews  of  his  stones  are  wrapped  together. 

18  His  bones  are  as  strong  pieces  of  brass  ; 
his  bones  are  like  bars  of  iron. 

19  He  is  the  chief  of  the  ways  of  God  : 

He  that  made  him  can  make  his  sword  to  approach  unto  him. 

20  Surely  the  mountains  bring  him  forth  food, 
where  all  the  beasts  of  the  field  play. 

21  He  lieth  under  the  shady  trees, 

in  the  covert  of  the  reed,  and  fens. 

22  The  shady  trees  cover  him  with  their  shadow ; 
the  willows  of  the  brook  compass  him  about. 

23  Behold,  he  drinketh  up  a  river,  and  hasteth  not : 

he  trusteth  that  he  can  draw  up  Jordan  in  his  mouth. 

24  He  taketh  it  with  his  eyes  : 

his  nose  pierceth  through  snares. 

h.    by  a  description  of  the  leviathan  (crocodile):   Chap.  XL.  25— XLI.  26  [E.  V.  Chap.  XLI.  1-34]. 

E.V.    [Heb.] 
XLI.    [XL.] 

1  [25]  Canst  thou  draw  out  leviathan  with  a  hook  ? 

or  his  tongue  with  a  cord  which  thou  lettest  down  ? 

2  [26]  Canst  thou  put  a  hook  into  his  nose  ? 

or  bore  his  jaw  through  with  a  thorn  ? 

3  [27]  Will  he  make  many  supplications  unto  thee  ? 

will  he  speak  soft  words  unto  thee  ? 

4  [28]  Will  he  make  a  covenant  with  thee  ? 

wilt  thou  take  him  for  a  servant  for  ever? 

5  [29]  Wilt  thou  play  with  him  as  with  a  bird  ? 

or  wilt  thou  bind  him  for  thy  maidens  ? 

6  [30]  Shall  the  companions  make  a  banquet  of  him  ? 

shall  they  part  him  among  the  merchants  ? 

7  [31]  Canst  thou  fill  his  skin  with  barbed  irons? 

or  his  head  with  fish  spears  ? 

8  .    [32]  Lay  thine  hand  upon  him, 

remember  the  battle,  do  no  more. 

[XLL] 

9  [1]     Behold  the  hope  of  him  is  in  vain : 

shall  not  one  be  cast  down  even  at  the  sight  of  him  ? 


CHAPS.  XL.  6— XLII.  6.  Gi; 


2]     None  is  so  fierce  that  dare  stir  him  up ; 

who  then  is  able  to  stand  before  Me  ? 
3]     Who  hath  prevented  me  that  I  should  repay  him? 

whatsoever  is  under  the  whole  heaven  is  mine. 

4]     I  will  not  conceal  his  parts, 

nor  his  power,  nor  his  comely  proportion. 
5]     Who  can  discover  the  face  of  his  garment  ? 

or  who  can  come  to  him  with  his  double  bridle  ? 
6]     Who  can  open  the  doors  of  his  face  ? 

his  teeth  are  terrible  round  about. 
7]     His  scales  are  his  pride, 

shut  up  together  as  with  a  close  seal. 
8]     One  is  so  near  to  another, 

that  no  air  can  come  between  them. 
9]     They  are  joined  one  to  another, 

they  stick  together  that  they  cannot  be  sundered. 
10]  By  his  neesings  a  light  doth  shine, 

and  his  eyes  are  like  the  eyelids  of  the  morning. 
11]  Out  of  his  mouth  go  burning  lamps, 

and  sparks  of  fire  leap  out. 
12]  Out  of  his  nostrils  goeth  smoke, 

as  out  of  a  seething  pot,  or  cauldron. 
13]  His  breath  kindleth  coals, 

and  a  flame  goeth  out  of  his  mouth. 
14]  In  his  neck  remaineth  strength, 

and  sorrow  is  turned  into  joy  before  him. 

15]  The  flakes  of  his  flesh  are  joined  together: 

they  are  firm  in  themselves  ;  they  cannot  be  moved. 
16]  His  heart  is  as  firm  as  a  stone  ; 

yea,  as  hard  as  a  piece  of  the  nether  millstone. 
17]  When  he  raiseth  up  himself  the  mighty  are  afraid: 

by  reason  of  breakings  they  purify  themselves. 
18]  The  sword  of  him  that  layeth  at  him  cannot  hold : 

the  spear,  the  dart,  nor  the  habergeon. 
19]  Heesteemeth  iron  as  straw, 

and  brass  as  rotten  wood. 
20]  The  arrow  cannot  make  him  flee ; 

slingstoues  are  turned  with  him  into  stubble. 
21]  Darts  are  counted  as  stubble  ; 

he  laugheth  at  the  shaking  of  a  spear. 
22]  Shai'p  stones  are  under  him : 

he  spreadeth  sharp-pointed  things  upon  the  mire. 
23]  He  maketh  the  deep  to  boil  like  a  pot ; 

he  maketh  the  sea  like  a  pot  of  ointment. 
24]  He  maketh  a  path  to  shine  after  him  ; 

one  would  think  the  deep  to  be  hoary. 
25]  Upon  earth  there  is  not  his  like, 

Avho  is  made  without  fear. 
26    He  beholdeth  all  high  things  : 

he  is  a  king  over  all  the  children  of  pride. 

3.    Job's  answer :  Humble  confession   of  the  infinitude   of   the  divine   power,  and  penitent  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  guilt  and  folly: 

Chap.  XLII.  1-6. 
1  Then  Job  answered  the  Lord  and  said  : 


2  I  know  that  Thou  canst  do  everything, 
and  that  no  thought  can  be  withholden  from  Thee. 


618 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


"  Who  is  he  that  hideth  counsel  without  knowledge?" 
therefore  have  I  uttered  that  I  understood  not ; 
things  too  wonderful  for  me  which  I  knew  not ; 
Hear,  I  beseech  Thee,  and  I  will  speak  : 
I  will  demand  of  Thee,  and  declare  Thou  unto  me. 
I  have  heard  of  Thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear ; 
but  now  mine  eye  seeth  Thee : 
Wherefore  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent 
in  dust  and  ashes. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  That  the  omnipotent  and  infinitely  wise  ac- 
tivity of  the  Creator  in  nature  is  at  the  same 
time  Just,  was  in  the  first  discourse  of  God  af- 
firmed for  the  most  part  only  indirectly,  or  im- 
plicite.  Only  once,  in  ch.  xxxviii.  13-15,  was 
this  aspect  of  His  character  expressly  presentpd, 
and  then  only  incidentally.  The  second  dis- 
course of  Jehovah  is  intended  to  supply  what  is 
still  lacking  as  to  this  point,  to  constrain  Job 
fully  to  recognize  the  justice  of  God  in  all  that 
He  does,  and  in  this  way  to  vanquish  the  last 
remainder  of  pride  and  presumption  in  his  heart. 
It  accomplishes  this  end  by  a  twofold  method  of 
treatment.  First  by  the  direct  method  of  se- 
verely censuring  the  doubt  which  Job  had  ut- 
tered as  to  the  divine  justice,  and  by  vindicating 
God's  sole  and  exclusive  claim  to  the  power  re- 
quisite for  exercising  sovereignty  over  the  uni- 
verse (first,  and  shorter  part:  chap.  xl.  6-14). 
Next  by  the  indirect  method  of  attacking  his 
pride  through  a  lengthened  description  of  two 
proud  monster-beasts,  mighty  creations  of  God's 
hand,  which  after  all  the  amazing  wonder  which 
their  gigantic  power  calls  forth,  are  nevertheless 
only  instruments  in  the  hand  of  the  Almighty, 
and  must  submit,  if  not  to  the  will  of  man,  at 
least  to  the  will  of  God,  who  crushes  all  tyran- 
nous pride  (second,  and  longer  part:  ch.  xl.  15 
— xli.  26  [34]).  This  second  part,  which  is 
again  divided  into  two  unequal  halves  —  the 
shorter  describing  the  behemoth — ch.  xl.  15-24, 
the  longer  the  leviathan,  ch.  xl.  25 — xli.  26. 
[E.  v.,  ch.  xli.  1-34],  falls  back  on  the  descrip- 
tive and  interrogative  tone  of  the  first  discourse 
of  God;  in  contrast  with  which  however  it  is 
characterized  by  an  allegorizing  tendency.  It 
directly  prepares  the  way  for  Job's  second  and 
last  answer,  in  which  he  renews  the  humble 
submission  which  he  had  previously  made,  and 
strengthens  it  by  a  penitent  confession  of  his 
own  sinfulness. — The  strophic  arrangement  of 
this  second  discourse  of  Jehovah  is  comprehen- 
sively simple  and  grand,  corresponding  to  the 
contents,  which  are  thoroughly  descriptive,  with 
a  massive  execution.  It  embraces  in  all  five  Long 
Strophes,  of  8-12  verses  each,  not  less  than  three 
of  which  are  devoted  to  the  description  of  the 
leviathan  in  ch.  xl.  25— xli.  26,  [E.  V.,  ch.  xli.] 
These  five  Long  Strophes  include  indeed  shorter 
subordinate  divisions,  but  not,  strictly  speaking, 
regularly  constructed  strophes. — Against  the 
modern  objections  to  the  authenticity  of  the  epi- 
sode referring  to  the  behemoth  and  leviathan, 
see  above  in  the  Introd.  §  9,  II.  (also  the  notice 
taken  of  the  peculiar  theory  of  Merx  in  the  Pre- 
face). 


2.  First  Division  (Long  Strophe) :  Severe  cen- 
sure of  Job's  presumptuous  doubt  respecting  the 
justice  of  the  divine  course  of  action:  ch.  xl. 
6-14. 

Ver.  6.  Then  answered  Jehovah  Job 
cut  of  the  storm,  etc. — This  intentional  repeti- 
tion of  ch.  xxxviii.  1  is  to  show  that  God  con- 
tinues to  present  Himself  to  Job  as  one  who,  if 
not  exactly  burning  with  wrath  towards  him, 
would  have  him  feel  His  mighty  superiority. 
That  here  also,  instead  of  mj;D  JD,  the  origi- 
nal text  was  mi^OnjO,  is  evident  from  the  Ma- 

T^  :  - :  •  ' 

sorah  itself.  The  absence  of  the  art.  H.  if  it 
originally  belonged  here,  is  by  no  means  to  be 
explained,  with  Ramban,  as  designed  to  indicate 
that  the  storm  was  no  longer  as  violent  as  before. 
— Ver.  7  precisely  as  in  ch.  xxxviii.  8. 

Ver.  8.  Wilt  thou  altogether  annul  my 
right  ? — HNn  stands  in  a  climactic  relation  to 
Job's  "contending"  (3'^)  reproved  in  ver.  2. 
"To  break"  ("^371)  God's  right  would  be  the 
same  as  "to  abolish,  annul"  the  same  (comp. 
ch.  XV.  4).  Job  was  on  the  point  of  becoming 
guilty  of  this  wickedness,  in  that  he  sought  to 
substitute  what  he  assumed  to  be  right,  his  idea 
of  righteousness,  for  that  of  God,  so  that  he 
might  be  accounted  righteous,  and  God  unjust, 
(see  the  second  member). 

Ver.  9.  Or  hast  thou  an  arm  like  God  ? 
— Dk^l  interrogative,  as  in  ch.  viii.  3;  xxi.  4; 
xxxiv.  17.  The  "arm  "  of  God  as  a  symbol  of 
His  power,  comp.  ch.  xxii.  8  ;  so  also  the  "thun- 
der-voice "  spoken  of  in  the  second  member; 
comp.  chap,  xxxvii.  2  seq. — D^'^i^,  lit.,  "wilt, 
canst  thou  thunder  ?  dost  thou  pledge  thyself  to 
thunder  ?" 

Ver.  10.  Then  put  on  majesty  and  gran- 
deur, as  an  ornament;  clothe,  deck  thyself  with 
these  attributes  of  divine  greatness  and  sove- 
reignty (comp.  Ps.  civ.  1  seq.  ;  xxi.  6  [5].  The 
challenge  is  intended  ironically,  since  it  demands 
of  Job  that  which  is  in  itself  impossible  ;  in  like 
manner  all  that  follows  down  to  ver.  13  (comp. 
ch.  xxxviii.  21). 

Ver.  11.  Let  the  outbreakings  of  thy 
•wrath  pour  themselves  forth. — ]*'3n,  cfun- 
dere,  to  pour  forth,  to  cause  to  gush  forth,  as  in 
ch.  xxxvii.  11  ;  Prov.  v.  16.  ^i"^^.r,  lit.,  "over- 
steppings,"  are  here  the  overflowings,  or  out- 
breakings of  wrath  ;  comp.  ch.  xxi.  30  ;  and  for 
the  thought,  particularly  in  the  second  member, 
comp.  Isa.  ii.  12  seq.  The  fact  that  Jehovah 
ironically  summons  Job  to  display  such  manifes- 
tations of  holy  wrath  and  of  stern  retributive 
justice  against  sinners,  conveys  an  indirect,  but 
sufficiently  clear  and  emphatic  assurance  of  the 
truth   that   He   Himself,   Jehovah,   governs  the 


CHAP.  XL.  6— XLII.  6. 


619 


world  thus  rigiilly  and  justly  ;  comp.  above,  ch. 
xxxviii.  13  seq. 

Ver.  12.  Look  on  all  that  is  proud,  and 
bring  it  lovr. — This  almost  verbal  repetition  of 
ver.  11  6  is  intended  to  emphasize  the  fact  that 
at  the  moment  vvhrn  God  casts  His  angry  glance 
upon  the  wicked,  the  latter  is  cast  down  ;  comp. 
Ps.  xxxiv.  17  [lG].~And  overturn  the  wick- 
ed in  their  place.  '^|]n,  qtt.  ley.,  "  to  throw 
down,"  or  perhaps  "  to  tread  down"  (related  to 
■^in).  In  the  latter  case  the  passage  might  be 
compared  with  Rom.  xvi.  20. — Ou  Onnf)  "  in 
their  place"  [=  "  on  the  spot"],  comp.  chap, 
xxxvi.  20. 

Ver.  13.  Hide  them  in  the  dust  altoge- 
ther; i.  e.,  in  the  dust  of  tlie  grave  (hardly  in 
holes  of  the  earth,  or  of  rocks,  as  though  Isa.  ii. 
10  were  a  parallel  passage). — Shut  up  fast 
(lit.,  "bind,  fetter")  their  faces  in  secret,  i. 
e.,  in  the  interior  of  the  earth,  in  the  darkness 
of  the  realm  of  the  dead;  UDO  here  substantially 

=  liip.  Comp.  the  passage  out  of  the  Book  of 
Enoch  X.  5,  cited  by  Dillmann:  nal  riji'  6ipiv  av- 
Tov  TTujiaaov,  koI  ^cjf  f^irj  ■&EC}peiTu. 

Ver.  14.  Then  will  I  too  praise  thee,  not 
only  wilt  thou  praise  thyself  (comp.  ver.  8)  — 
That  thy  right  hand  brings  thee  succor; 
i.  e.,  that  thou  dost  actually  possess  the  power 
(the  "arm,"  ver.  9)  to  put  thy  ideas  of  justice 
into  execution  with  vigor ;  comp.  the  similar 
expressions  in  Ps.  xliv.  4  [8]  ;  Is.  lix.  18  ;  Ixiii. 
6.  This  conclusion  of  the  rebuke  which  Jeho- 
vah administers  directly  to  Job's  insolent  pre- 
sumption, as  though  he  only  knew  what  is  just, 
prepares  at  once  the  transition  to  the  description 
which  follows  of  the  colossal  animals  which  are 
introduced  as  eloquent  examples  of  God's  infinite 
creative  power,  which  for  the  very  reason  of  its 
being  such  is  of  necessity  united  to  the  highest 
justice. 

3.  Second  Division:  The  descriptions  of  ani- 
mals, given  for  the  purpose  of  humiliating  Job 
by  showing  his  weakness,  and  the  absolute 
groundlessuess  of  his  presumptuous  pride. 

a.  The  description  of  the  behemoth :  Verses 
15-24. 

Ver.  1 6.  Behold  now  the  behemoth. — Even 
Dillm.,  one  of  the  most  zealous  opponents  of  ihe 
genuineness  of  the  whole  section,  is  obliged  to 
admit  that  the  connection  with  what  precedes 
by  means  of  Hiin  is  an  "easy"  one.  Moreover 
it  is  by  no  means  one  that  is  "purely  external," 
for  the  behemoth  is  brought  to  Job's  attention 
for  the  very  purpose  of  illustrating  the  proposi- 
tion that  no  creature  of  God's,  however  mighty, 
can  succeed  against  Him,  can  "with  his  right 
hand  obtain  for  himself  help  against  Him"  (see 
ver.  14  6).  This  is  clearly  enough  indicated  by 
the  second  member:  which  I  have  made 
with  thee;  i.  e.  as  well  as  thee  (DJ7  as  though 
it  were  comparative,  as  in  ch.  ix.  26;  comp.  ch. 
xxxvii.  18).  Job  is  bid  to  contemplate  his  fel- 
low-creature, the  behemoth,  far  huger  and 
stronger  than  himself,  that  he  may  learn  how 
insignificant  and  weak  are  all  created  beings  in 
contrast  with  God,  and  in  particular  how  little 
presumptuous  and  proud  confidence  in  external 
things  can  avail  against  Him  (comp.  the  passage 


of  Horace :  Vis  consili  expera  mole  ruil  sua,  etc.). 
The  name  HIOHS  (which  the  ancient  versions 
either  misinterpreted  as  a  plural  [so  the  LXX. : 
■dr/pia],  or  b'ft  untranslated,  as  a  proper  name 
[Vulg.,  elc-l),  in  itself  denotes,  in  accordance 
with  the  analogy  of  other  plural  formations  with 
an  intensive  signification  :  '^  the  great  beast,  the 
colossus  of  cattle,  the  monster  animal."  The 
word  is,  however,  a  Hebraized  form  of  the 
Egyptian  p-ehe-mau,  "the  water-ox"  (p^the, 
ehe=ox,  mau  or  mou=water),  and  like  this 
Egypt,  word  (besides  which  indeed  the  hiero- 
glyphic apet  is  more  frequently  to  be  met  with), 
and  the  Ital.  bomarino,  it  signifies  the  Nile-horse, 
or  hippopotamus.  For  it  is  to  this  animal  that 
the  whole  description  which  follows  refers,  as 
is  most  distinctly  and  unmistakably  sliown  by 
the  association  with  another  monster  of  the  Nile, 
the  crocodile :  not  to  the  elephant,  of  wliich  it 
is  understood  by  Thom.  Aquinas,  Oecolampadius, 
the  Ziirich  Bib.,  Drusius,  Pfeifer,  Le  Clerc,  Coc- 
ceius,  Schultens,  J.  D.  Michaelis  [Scott,  Henry. 
Good  refers  the  description  to  some  extinct 
pachyderm  of  the  mammoth  or  mastodon  species. 
Lee,  following  the  LXX.,  understands  it  of  the 
cattle,  first  collectively,  and  then  distributively]. 
The  correct  view  was  taken  by  Bochart  {Ilicroz. 
iii.  705  seq.),  and  after  him  has  been  adopted 
by  the  great  majority  of  moderns.  With  the 
following  vivid  description  of  this  animal's  way 
of  living  and  form,  beginning  with  the  mention 
of  his  "eating  grass"  (supporting  himself  on 
tender  plants,  the  reeds  of  the  Nile,  roots,  etc.), 
may  be  compared  Herod,  ii.  69-71;  Pliny  viii. 
25;  Aben  Batuta,  ed.  Defrem  iv.,  p.  426;  among 
the  moderns,  Riippell:  Reisen  in  Nubien,  1829, 
p.  52  seq. ;  and  in  particular  Sir  Sam.  Baker  in 
his  travels,  as  in  The  Nile  and  its  Tributaries, 
The  Albert  Nyanza,  etc,  (See  extracts  from 
these  works,  with  striking  illustrations  of  the 
hippopotamus  in  the  Globus,  Vol.  XVII. ,  1870, 
Nos.  22-24)  [Livingstone,  Travels  and  Researches, 
p.  536]. 

Ver.  16.  Lo  now,  his  strength  is  in  his 
loins,  etc. — JIX  as  in  ch.  xviii.  7,  12.  D''"T'^C' 
in  b,  a  word  found  only  here  (derived  from  the 
root  *1I?,  "lo  wind,  to  twist,"  which  is  con- 
tained also  in  li^,  "navel,"  as  also  in  tJ'^ti'. 
"root"),  cannot  signify  the  "bones,"  of  which 
mention  is  first  made  in  ver.  18  (against  Wetz- 
stein  in  Delitzsch),  but  the  cords,  the  sinews  and 
muscles,  which  in  the  case  of  the  hippopotamus 
(not,  however,  of  the  elephant)  are  particularly 
firm  and  strong  just  in  the  region  of  the  belly. 

Ver.  17.  He  bends  his  tail  like  a  cedar; 
i.  e.  like  a  cedar-bough ;  the  tert.  comp.  lies  in 
the  straightness,  firmness  and  elasticity  of  the 
tail  of  the  hippopotamus  (which  is  furthermore 
short,  hairless,  very  thick  at  the  root,  of  only  a 
finger's  thickness,  however,  at  the  end,  looking 
therefore  somewhat  like  the  tail  of  the  hog,  but 
not  at  all  like  that  of  the  elephant).  1*302,  ^^' 
stead  of  being  translated  "he  bends"  (Targ.), 
may  possibly  be  explained  to  mean  "he  stiffens, 
stretches  out"  (LXX.,  Vulg.,  Pesh.). — The 
sinews  of  his  thighs  are  firmly  knit  toge- 
ther; or  also  "'the  veins  of  his  legs"  (by  no 
means  nervi  testiculorum  ejus,  as  the  Vulg.  and 


C20 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


Targ.  [also  E.  V.]  render  it).  With  ^iy^\ 
"they  are  wrapped  together,  they  present  a 
thick,  twig-like  texture,"  comp.  D'J"^l',  "vine- 
tendrils"  [the  interweaving  of  the  vine-branches 
being  before  the  poet's  eye  ia  his  choice  of  the 
word.   Del.]. 

Ver.  18.  His  bones  are  pipes  of  brass. — 
D'p'iJX  here  "pipes,  tubes,  channels,"  as  in  ch. 

xli.  7;  comp.  /PJ,  ch.  xxviii.  4.  Hti'^n],  a 
word  peculiar  to  our  book,  instead  of  the  form 
which  obtains  elsewhere,  Hti'nj  (comp.  further 
ch.  XX.  24;  xxviii.  2;  xli.  19).  Concerning 
S'Dp,  "staflf,  pole,  bar,"  probably  the  Semitic 
etymological  basis  of  fiETa7JvOv,  comp.  Delitzsch 
on  the  passage.  In  respect  to  the  similes  in 
both  members  of  the  verse,  comp.  Cant.  v.  15  a. 
Ver.  19.  He  is  a  firstling  of  God's  V7ays; 
t.  e.  a  master-piece  of  His  creative  power  (comp. 
Gen.  xlix.  3).  JT'il/X'l  can  all  the  more  easily 
dispense  with  the  article  here,  seeing  that  it 
denotes  only  priority  of  rank  (as  in  Amos  vi. 
1,  6;  comp.  also  "^IDS  in  ch.  xviii.  13,  and  often), 
not  of  time  (as  e.  g.  in  Prov.  viii.  22 ;  Num.  xxiv. 
20).  In  respect  to  "God's  ways"  in  the  sense 
of  the  displays  of  His  creative  activity  in  crea- 
ting and  governing  the  universe,  comp.  ch.  xxvi. 
14.  The  whole  clause  refers  to  the  immense 
size  and  strength  of  the  hippopotamus,  which, 
at  least  in  length  and  thickness,  if  not  in  hciglit, 
surpasses  even  the  elephant,  and  overturns  with 
ease  the  ships  of  the  Nile,  vessel,  crew  and 
cargo.  In  reality  therefore  there  is  no  exagge- 
ration in  the  statement;  and  only  an  exegetical 
misapprehension  of  it,  and  an  idle  attempt  at 
allegorizing  it  (stimulated  in  the  present  instance 
by  the  resemblance  to  Prov.  viii.  22)  could  have 
influenced  the  Jewish  Commentators,  and  those 
of  the  ancient  Church,  to  find  in  this  designation 
of  the  behemoth  as  a  "firstling  of  God's  ways" 
a  symbolic  representation  of  Satan  (comp.  Book 
of  Enoch,  GO,  6  seq. ;  many  Rabbis  of  the  Middle 
Ages;  the  Pseudo-Mclitonian  Clavis  Scripturce 
Sacrse  [in  Piti'a,  Spicileg.  Salesm.  Vol.  II.],  Eu- 
cberius  of  Lyons  in  his  Formulae  mnj.  et  minorcs 
\^Idem,  Vol.  III.,  p.  400  seq.],  Gregory  the  Great, 
and  most  of  the  Cliurch  Fathers  on  the  passage  ; 
Luther  also  in  his  marginal  gloss  on  the  passage, 
Brentius  [see  below.  Doctrinal  and  Ethical  Re- 
marks.— The  same  view  is  taken  moreover  by 
Wordswonh,  wlio  explains:  "  It  seems  probable 
that  Beliemolh  represents  the  Evil  One  acting  in 
the  animal  and  carnal  elements  of  man's  own 
constitution,  and  that  Leviathan  symbolizes  the 
Evil  One  energizing  as  his  external  enemy.  Be- 
hemoth is  the  enemy  u-ilhin  us;  Leviathan  is 
the  enemy  u-ilhout  us"]. — It  only  remains  to 
say,  that  there  is  nothing  surprising  in  the  fact 
tliat  here,  in  a  discourse  by  God,  He  should 
speak  of  Himself  in  the  third  person;  comp, 
above  ch.  xxxix.  17;  xxxviii.  41. — He  who 
made  him  furnished  to  him  his  sw^ord, 
viz.  his  teeth,  his  two  immense  incisors  (which 
according  to  RUppell  in  I.  c.  grow  to  be  twenty- 
six  French  inches  long),  with  which  as  with  a 
sickle  (a  ap-rrrj,  Nicander,  Theriac.  6GG;  Nonnus, 
Dionysiac.  26)    he    mows   down  the    grass   and 


green  corn-blades.  y2}^T\  stands  for  ^nti'^'H, 
"He  who  hath  made  him,  his  Creator"  (the 
article  being  used  as  demonstrative;  comp.  Ge- 
senius  I  109  [^  108,  2,  </]),  and  I^r  elliptically 
for  17  \!}y_,  "brought  near  to  him,  furnished  (o 
him."     The  emendation  suggested  by  Bottcher 

and  Dillmann— ri:?^'n  instead  of  iit'^n  :   "which 

y  '  T 

was    created   [lit.  plur.   'which  were    created'] 

so  as  to  attach  thereon  a  sword"  {Vy_  as  Jus- 
sive)— is  unnecessary,  as  is  also  Ewald's  render- 
ing of  li^'jin  in  the  sense  of  "to  blunt,  to  make 
harmless." 

Ver.  20  gives  a  reason  for  ver.  19  J:  For 
the  mountains   bring   him   forth   food. — 

vO=7=l!!],  produce,  fruit,  vegetation.  The 
clause  is  not  intended  to  describe  the  hippopo- 
tamus as  an  animal  that  commonly  or  frequently 
grazes  on  the  mountains  (in  point  of  fact  it  is 
only  in  exceptional  instances  that  he  ascends 
the  mountains  or  high  grounds,  when  the  river- 
banks  and  the  grounds  immediately  around 
them  have  been  eaten  up).  It  only  intends  to 
say  that  entire  mountains,  vast  upland  tracts, 
where  large  herds  of  other  animals  abide,  must 
provide  for  him  his  food  (see  b). 

Ver.  21  states  where  the  hippopotamus  is  in 
the  habit  of  staying:  He  lies  down  under  the 
lotus-trees,     in  the  covert  of  reeds  and 

fens  (comp.  ch.  viii.  11)  — D'SxV,  plur.  of  SkV, 
or  of  rivNY  (a  word  which  occurs  also  in  the 
Arabic),  are  not  the  lotus-flowers,  i.  e.,  the  wa- 
ter-lilies {Nymphiea  Lotus)  [so  Conant],  but  the 
lotus-bushes,  or  trees  [Lotus  silvestris  s.  Cijre- 
naica),  a  vegetable  growth  frequently  found  in 
the  hot  and  moist  lowlands  of  Egypt,  Cyrenaica, 
and  Syria,  with  thorny  branches,  and  a  fruit 
like  the  plum.  On  b  comp.  the  description  of 
the  hippopotamus  given  h^'  Ammianus  Marcelli- 
nus  (XXII.  15)  :  Inter  arundinrs  celsas  et  squalen' 
ies  nimin,  densitate  htec  belliia  cahilia  ponit. 

Ver.  22.  Lotus-trees  cover  him  as  a  shade. 

—Hl^  (resolved  from  iS^,  like  ib'7J,  ch.  xx.  7, 
from  nJ)  is  in  apposition  to  the  subject,  with 
which  it  forms  at  the  same  time  a  paronomasia. 
Another  paronomasia  occurs  between  ^n3p'  and 
^nsp;  in  b. 

VL'r.  23.  Behold,  the  river  shows  vio- 
lence;  he  trembles  not;  lit.,  "  he  does  not 
spr.ng  up,  is  not  startled.  \T\  at  the  beginning 
of  this  clause  has,  as  in  ch.  xii.  14  ;  xxiii.  8, 
substantially  the  force  of  a  conditional  particle. 
pD'J^  here  without  an  object :  "  to  exercise  vio- 
lence, to  act  violently,"  (diifering  from  ch.  x.  3) 
a  word  which  strikingly  describes  a  river  wildly 
swelling  and  raging  [sweeping  its  borders  with 
tyrannous  devastation.  E.  V.,  following  the  Vulg. 
absorbebil  fluvium  (Targ.  "  he  doth  violence  lo  the 
river  ")  gives  to  Pti'J^  a  meaning  not  warranted]. 
He  remains  unconcerned  (lit.  "  he  is  con- 
fident") when  a  Jordan  rushes  (lit.  "bursts 
through,  pours  itself  forth,"  XVl  as  in  chap, 
xxxviii.    8)   into   his    mouth.      The   Jordan, 


CHArS.  XL.  6— XLII.  6. 


621 


(n"l^  without  the  Art.)  is  used  here  in  an  ap- 
pellative sense  of  a  river  remarkable  for  its 
swiftly  rushing  course,  not  as  a  proper  name, 
for  hippopotami  scarcely  lived  in  the  Jordan. 
There  is  nothing  strange  in  this  mention  of  the 
Jordan  in  order  vividly  to  illustrate  the  descrip- 
tion, the  same  being  a  river  well  known  to  Job, 
and  also  to  his  friends.  It  certainly  cannot  be 
urged  as  an  argument  for  the  hypothesis  that 
the  author  of  this  section  is  not  the  same  with 
the  author  of  the  remainder  of  the  book  (against 
Ewald  and  Dillmann).  ["  The  reason  why  the 
Jordan  is  the  river  particularly  here  used  as  an 
illustrati07i  is,  I  suppose,  because  not  unlikely, 
rising  as  it  does  at  the  foot  of  the  snow-clad  Le- 
banon, it  was  liable  to  more  sudden  and  violent 
swellings  than  either  the  Euphrates  or  the  Nile. 
It  is,  in  fact,  more  of  a  mountain  torrent  than 
either,  and  probably  in  its  irruptions  it  drove 
away  in  consternation  the  lions  and  other  wild 
beasts,  located  in  the  thickets  on  its  banks." 
Carey.  Comp.  Jer.  xii.  5  and  xli.  19]. 

Ver.  24.  Before  his  eyes  do  they  take 
him,  pierce  through  his  nose  ■with  snares. 
— The  position  and  tone  of  the  words  forbid  one 
taking  this  verse  as  an  ironical  challenge: ' '  Let  one 
just  take  him  !"  or  as  a  question  :  "  Shall,  or  does 
any  one  take  him,"  elcJ  Instead  of  VJ'^S  (i.  e., 
"  while  he  himself  is  looking  on,  under  his  very 
eyes  ;"  comp.  Prov.  i.  17),  we  must  at  least  have 
read  Vr^3n.  Moreover  instead  of  the  3d  Pers. 
we  should  rather  have  looked  for  the  2d,  if  either 
of  the  above  constructions  had  been  the  true  one 
(comp.  the  questions  in  ver.  25  seq.)  [Ch.  xli.  1 
seq.].  The  clause  accordingly  is  to  be  taken, 
with  the  ancient  versions,  and  with  Stickel,  Um- 
breit,  Ewald,  Dillmann  [Conant]  as  descriptive 
of  something  which  actually  takes  place,  and 
hence  as  referring  to  the  capture  of  the  river- 
horse.  By  the  ancients  in  like  manner  as  by 
the  Nubians  of  to-day  this  was  accomplished  by 
means  of  harpoons  fastened  to  along  rope.  It  is 
either  to  this  harpoon-rope,  or  to  a  switch  drawn 
through  the  nose  after  the  capture  has  been  ef- 
fected that  the  word  K'PJO  in  b  refers.  It  can 
hardly  mean  a  common  trap  (Delitzsch  ["let 
one  lay  a  snare  which,  when  it  goes  into  it,  shall 
spring  together  and  pierce  it  in  the  nose  "]). — 
Why  does  God  close  the  description  of  the  hip- 
popotamus with  a  reference  to  its  capture  ?  Evi- 
dently because  He  wishes  thereby  to  emphasize 
the  thought  that  this  animal  is  wholly  and  com- 
pletely in  His  power,  that  all  its  size  and  strength 
are  of  no  avail  to  it,  and  that  when  God  deter- 
mines to  deliver  it  into  the  hands  of  men,  its 
pride  is  humbled  without  fail.  Whereas  on  the 
other  hand  the  description  of  the  leviathan  which 
follows  contains  no  such  reference  to  its  capture, 
but  sets  forth  throughout  only  the  difficulty,  or 
indeed  the  impossibility  of  becoming  its  master 
by  the  use  of  ordinary  strength  and  cunning ; 
this  indicates  an  advance  over  what  goes  before. 

4.  Continuation,  b.  First  part  of  tlie  descrip- 
tion of  the  leviathan:  ch.  xli.  1-11  [Heb.  ch.  xl. 
25 — xli.  3]:  the  untamableness  and  invincibility 
of  the  leviathan. — Dost  thou  draw  out  the 
leviathan  with  a  net?  [or  as  E.  V.,  Gesen., 

Fiirst,  eic,  "with  a  hook"].     The  name  j^'w 


denotes  here  neither  the  mythical  dragon  of  hea- 
ven, as  in  ch.  iii.  8  (see  on  the  passage),  nor  the 
whale,  as  in  Ps.  civ.  2G,  but  the  crocodile,  whose 
structure  and  mode  of  life  are  in  tlie  following 
description  depicted  with  fidelity  to  the  minutest 
particular  (comp.  the  evidence  in  detail  in  Bo- 
chart,  Jlieroz.   III.,  737  seq.).     In  and  of  itself 

jiTI;  is  the  generic  name  of  any  monster  capa- 
ble of  tvreathinj  itself  infolds,  in  like  manner  as 
Yiy\  (comp.  Teivu)  may  denote  any  monster  that 
IS  long  stretched  out.  But  as  the  latter  name  is 
become  the  prevalent  designation  of  the  whale, 
(see  on  ch.  vii.  12),  so  the  name  leviatlian  seems 
to  have  attached  itself  from  an  early  period  to 
the  crocodile,  tiiat  particularly  huge  and  terrible 
amphibious  monster  of  Bible  lands,  for  which 
animal  there  was  no  special  name  appropriated 
in  the  primitive  Hebrew,  as  it  was  not  indige- 
nous to  Palestine,  or  at  all  events  was  but  rarely 
found  in  its  waters  (traces  indeed  are  not  abso- 
lutely wanting  of  its  having  existed  in  them  at 
onetime;  seethe  remarks  of  Robinson  in  re- 
spect to  the  coast-river  Nahr  ezZerka,  or  Maat- 
Temsah  ["crocodile-waters"],  and  also  in  re- 
spect to  the  city  Crocodilon,  not  far  from  Cesa- 
rea,  in  his  "  Physical  Geography,"  etc.,  p.  191). 
The  name  leviathan  does  not  involve  the  He- 
braizing of  an  Egyptian  name  of  the  crocodile, 
(analogous  to  that  of  pe-ehe-mou  in  behemoth). 
By  so  much  the  more  probable  is  it  that  in  the 
interrogative  ^ti'Dij^  "drawest  thou"  (without 
n,  see  Ew.,  §  324,  a),  the  poet  intends  an  allu- 
sion to  the  well-known  Egyptian  name  of  the 
animal,  which  in  Copt,  is  temsah,  in  modern 
Arab,  timsah  (Ew.,  Del.,  Dillra.,  etc  ). — Dost 
thou  with  a  cord  press  down  his  tongue? 
i.  e.,  when,  liks  a  fish,  he  has  bitten  the  fishing- 
hook,  dost  thou,  in  pulling  the  line,  cause  it  to 
press  down  the  tongue?  The  question  is  not 
(with  Schult.,  Hirzel,  Delitzsch,  etc.)  to  be  ren- 
dered: "Canst  thou  sink  a  line  into  his  tongue 
[or  "his  tongue  into  a  line"]?  a  rendering 
which  is  indeed  verbally  admissible,  but  which 
yields  an  idea  that  is  not  very  intelligible.  This 
member  expresses,  only  with  a  little  more  art, 
the  same  thought  as  the  first.  It  is  not  at  all 
necessary  to  assume  (with  Ewald,  Dillmann  and 
other  opponents  of  the  genuineness  of  the  pre- 
sent section),  that  the  poet  represents  the  cap- 
ture of  the  crocodile  as  absolutely  impossible, 
thus  contradicting  the  fact  attested  by  Herodotus, 
II.,  7,  that  the  ancient  Egyptians  caught  this 
animal  with  fishing-hooks.  That  which  the  iro- 
nical question  of  God  denies  is  simply  the  possi- 
bility of  overcoming  this  animal,  like  a  harmless 
fish,  ivtth  ordi7iary  craft  or  artifice,  not  the  pos- 
sibility of  ever  capturing  it. — There  is  no- 
thing to  forbid  the  assumption  that  instead  of 
the  Egyptian  crocodile  (or  at  least  along  xoith  it) 
the  author  had  in  view  a  Palestinian  species  or 
variety  of  the  same  animal,  which  is  no  longer 
extant,  and  that  this  Palestinian  crocodile,  just 
because  it  was  rarer  than  the  saurian  of  the 
Nile,  was  in  fact  held  to  be  impossible  of  cap- 
ture, (comp.  Delitzsch  II,  p.  366,  n.  2).  It  is, 
generally  speaking,  a  very  precarious  position  to 
question  the  accuracy  of  our  poet's  statements 
even  in  a  single  point:  compare  e.  g.,  the  per- 


622 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


fectly  correct  mention  in  this  passage  of  the 
tongue  of  the  crocodile,  with  the  ridiculous  as- 
sertion of  Herodot.  (II.  68),  Aristotle,  and  other 
ancients,  thnt  the  crocodile  hax  no  tongue. 

Ver.  2  [XL.  26].  Canst  thou  put  a  rush- 
ring  into  his  nose,  and  bore  through  his 
jaw  (or,  "his  cheek")  with  a  hook  ?— /.  e.. 
canst  thou  deal  with  him  as  fishermen  deal  with 
the  fi«h  captured  by  them,  piercing  their  mouths 
with  iron  hooks  in  order  afterwards  to  thrust 
through  them  rush-cords  [cxoivovq],  or  iron 
rings  (the  fishermen  of  the  Nile  use  the  latter  to 
this  day,  see  Bruce,  Travels,  etc.),  and  to  lay  the 
fish  tlius  tied  together  in  the  water? 

Ver,  3  [XL.  27.]  Will  he  make  many  sup- 
plications to  thee,  etc.,  i.  e.,  will  he  speak 
thee  fair,  in  order  to  retain  his  freedom  ?  The 
question  which  follows  in  ver.  28  enlarges  upon 
this  thought,  with  a  somewhat  different  appli- 
cation. "For  a  servant  for  ever"  is  here  equi- 
valent to  "for  a  tamed  domestic  animal" 
(comp.  ch.  xxxix.  9). 

Ver.  5  [XL.  29].  Wilt  thou  play  with 
him  as  with  a  bird? — 3  pD"^  differently 
from  Ps.  civ.  26,  whore  it  signifies  to  play  in 
something.  By  the  "bird"  here  spoken  of  is 
meant  neither  the  "golden  beetle"  (which  in  the 
language  of  the  Talmud  is  called  "bird  of  the 
vineyard"),  nor  the  grasshopper  (comp.  Lewy- 
sohn,  Zool.  des  Talmud.  §  364).  We  are  rather 
to  compare  with  it  the  sparrow  of  Catullus : 
Passer,  delicim  mex puellse,  and,  as  in  that  poem, 
we  are  to  understand  by  the  nnj-'J  "female 
slaves;"  scarcely  the  "little  daughters"  of  the 
one  who  is  addressed  (as  Dillmann  thinks,  who 
takes  pains  to  exhibit  here  a  new  reason  for  sus- 
pecting the  genuineness  of  this  section). 

Ver.  6  [XL.  30].  Do  fishermen— partners 
trade  in  him?  [do  they  divide  him  among 
the  Canaanites?]  D'"}3n  (different  from 
D"'1Dn  Is.  xliv.  11)  are  fishermen  as  members  of 
a  guild,  or  as  partners  in  a  company  associated 
together  for  the  capture  of  fish;  comp.  Luke  v. 

7,  10,  no;  with  h^l  as  in  chap.  vi.  27,  "to 
make  bargains  for  anything,  to  traffic  with  it;" 
not  "to  feast  upon  anything,  to  make  a  banquet," 
as  the  phrase  is  rendered  by  the  LXX.  [kvacrovv- 
Tai),  Targum  [E.  V.],  Schult.,  Rosenmiiller,  etc. ; 
for  'l^'^2  "to  banquet"  (2  Kings  vi.  23)   agrees 

neither  with  the  construction  with  7^,  nor  the 
mention  of  the  "Canaanites,"  i.  e.,  the  Pheni- 
cian  merchants  (Is.  xxiii.  8 ;  Zech.  xiv.  21  ; 
Prov.  xxxi.  24)  in  the  second  member.  [Gesen- 
ius,  Conant,   etc.,  less   simply  take  iT^3  in   its 

'  '^    "  T    T 

more  usual  sense,  "to  dig,"  i.  e.,  dig  pits,  lay 
snares  for.  Merx.  reads  ^'13'_  from  1"^D,  and 
translates:  The  animal,  against  which  hunters 
go  in  troops]. 

Ver.  7  [XL.  31].  Not  only  is  the  crocodile  un- 
Buited  to  he  an  article  of  commerce,  but  coated 
as  he  is  with  scales,  he  is  equally  unsuited  to  be 
the  object  of  an  exciting  harpoon-hunt.  With 
r\'\2'\D,  "pointed  darts,"  comp.  tlie  Arab,  sauke, 
which  signifies  boMi  "thorn"  and  "spear." 

Ver.  8  [XL.  32].  Remember  the  battle, 
thou   wilt  not  do    it  again — i.  e.,  s>iouldst 


thou  presume  to  fight  with  him  ("^iJT,  not  Infinit. 
dependent  on  ^pin,  but  Imperat.  consecut., 
comp.  Ew.,  ^  347,  b),  thou  wi't  no'  repeat  the 
experiment  (^Din  pausalform  for  Tpin,  see  Ew., 
§  224,  b).  Needless  violence  is  done  to  this 
verse  also,  if  (as  by  Dillmann)  the  attempt  be 
made  to  deduce  from  it  the  idea  of  the  absolute 
impossibility  of  capturing  and  conquering  the 
crocodile.  Let  it  be  borne  in  miud  that  the 
words  are  addressed  to  a  single  individual. 

Ver.  9  [XLI.  1].  Behold,  every  hope  is 
disappointed;  lit.  "behold,  his  hope  is  disap- 
pointed," that  viz.  of  the  man  who  should  enter 
into  a  contest  with  the  monster  (the  use  of  the 
suffix  accordingly  being  similar  to  that  of  chap, 
xxxvii.  12).  Even  at  the  sight  of  him  one 
is  cast  down;  lit.  as  a  question:  "is  one  cast 
down?"  etc.;  i.  e.,  is  it  not  the  fact  that  the  mere 
sight  of  him  is  enough  to  cast  one  down  with 
terror?  On  VX'ID,  which  is  not  plur.  but  sing, 
comp.  Gesenius,  \  93  [^91],  9,  Rem. 

Ver.  10  [XL.  2].  None  so  fool-hardy  that 
he  would  stir  him  up. — X?  is  not,  without 
further  qualification, =rj<  (Hirz.),  but  the  lack- 
ing subj.  is  to  be  supplied  otit  of  the  next  mem- 
ber, and  the  whole  clause  is  exclamatory:  "not 
fierce  (fool-hardy,  rash)  enough,  that  he  should 
rouse  him  up!"  Respecting  "ITDX,  (comp.  chap. 
XXX.  21.  And  who  will  take  his  stand  be- 
fore Me  ? — i.  e.,  appear  against  Me  as  Mine  ad- 
versary; 3y'r\n  here  in  another  sense  than  in 
chap.  i.  6;  ii.  1.     According  to  some   MSS.  and 

the  Targ.  the  text  should  be  VJ37,  referring  to 
the  crocodile:  and  who  will  stand  before  Ai'm .?" 
But  this  would  destroy  the  characteristic  funda- 
mental thought  of  the  verse,  which  consists  in  a 
conclusio  a  min.  admajus:  "If  no  one  ventures  to 
stir  up  that  creature  which  I  have  made,  how 
much  less  will  any  one  dare  to  contend  with  Me, 
the  Almighty  Creator?" 

Ver.  11  [8].  Who  gave  to  me  first  of  all 
that  I  must  requite  it? — i.  e.,  who  would 
dare  to  appear  against  me  as  my  accuser  or  my 
enemy,  on  the  ground  that  he  has  perchance 
given  me  something,  and  is  thus  become  my  cre- 
ditor? (Rom.  xi.  3o).  As  to  the  second  half  of 
the  verse  which  gives  the  reason  for  the  ques- 
tion, in  which  God  claims  all  created  beings  as 
His  property,  comp.  Psalm  1.  lOseq. ;  on  nnn 
D'0iyn~73  see  ch.  xxviii.  24  ;  on  the  neuter  NIH 

•  -    T    ~  T 

seech,  xiii.  16;  xv.  9. — The  general  thoughts 
advanced  in  ver.  2  b,  and  ver.  3  are  a  suitable 
clo.se  to  what  is  said  of  the  invincibility  of  the 
crocodile,  as  a  mighty  illustration  of  God's 
creative  power,  so  that  we  are  required  neither 
to  transpose  the  passage  (as  e.  g.,  by  placing  it 
after  ch.  xl.  14),  nor  to  deem  it  out  of  place  here, 
between  the  description  of  the  leviathan's  unta- 
mableness,  and  that  of  his  bodily  structure 
(against  Dillmann). 

5.  Conclusion ;  c.  Second  part  of  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  leviathan  :  The  bodily  structure  and 
mode  of  life  characteristic  of  the  lcvi:ith.-in,  the 
king  of  all  proud  beasts  :   ch.   xl.  12-34   [4-26]. 

Ver.  12  [4].  I  will  not  keep  silent  as  to 
his  members  (Q"^2,  see  ch.  xviii.  13).     So  ac- 


CHAPS.  XL.  6— XLir.  6. 


623 


cording  to  the  K'thibh  t^^'inx  n"?  ;  the  K'ri  ''h 
Tin  would  give  the  idea  in  the  form  of  a  question: 
"as  to  him  should  I  pass  his  limbs  in  silence  ?" 
which  as  being  a  little  more  difficult  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred. In  no  case  docs  the  clause  deserve  to  be 
called  "a  prosaic  and  precise  announcement  of 
the  subject  to  be  treated  of,"  such  as  would  seem 
to  be  "not  very  suitable"  in  a  discourse  deliv- 
ered by  God  (Dillmann)  :  the  idea  of  the  an- 
cients touching  what  might  be  suitable  and  in 
taste,  and  what  might  not  be  so,  were  quite  dif- 
ferent from  our  modern  notions.  Nor  a3  to 
the  fame  of  his  powers  (so  Vaihinger  stri- 
kingly); lit.  "nor  of  the  word  of  his  powers" 
i.  e.,  of  their  kind  and  arrangement  (Ewald), 
how  the  case  stands  with  respect  to  them  ;  comp. 
"1JT  in  Deut.  xv.  2  ;    xix.  4.     In  the  final  clause 

,      T  T 

13"^^  JTII  the  word  '^'})?  is  in  any  case  equiva- 
lent to  "disposition,  structure"  (Aq.:  ra^tg),  and 
VT]  seems  to  be  a  secondary  form  of  in=come- 
liness,  gracefulness,  with  which  the  tenor  of 
this  description  which  follows  well  agrees,  set- 
ting forth  as  it  does  not  only  that  which  is  fear- 
ful, but  also  that  which  is  beautiful  and  elegant 
in  the  structure  of  the  leviathan.  For  this  rea- 
son it  is  unnecessary  either  with  Ewald  to 
identify  the  word  with  J'TI,  "measure"  (dry 
measure),  or  with  Dillmann  to  amend  the  text 
(to  I'j;?  or  |Dn?) 

Vers.  13-17  [5-9]:  The  upper  and  foreside 
[face]  of  the  crocodile. — Who  has  uncovered 
the  face  of  his  garment?  i.  e.,  no  one  can 
uncover,  lift  up  the  upper  side  (D'J3  as  in  Isa. 
XXV.  7)  of  his  scaly  coat  of  mail;  this  lies  on  his 
back  with  such  tenacity  that  it  cannot  be  re- 
moved, nor  broken.  [Others,  Ewald,  Schlott., 
e<c.,  explain  D'JS  of  the  anterior  part  of  his  gar- 
ment, or  armor,  that  which  pertains  to  the  head 
or  face;  but  this  would  be  less  natural,  and 
would  involve  tautology — the  "  opening  of  the 
jaws"  being refei-red  to  again  in  the  next ver.]. 
— Into  his  double  jaws  w^ho  enters  in  ? — 
Lit.,  "into  the  double  of  his  jaws;"  JDT  here 
accordingly  in  a  diflFerent  sense  from  oh',  xxx. 
11  [where  it  means  "  bridle,"  the  meaning  which 
E.  V.  gives  to  it  here].  The  fact  mentioned  by 
Herod.  II.,  68,  and  confirmed  by  modern  obser- 
vations, to  wit,  that  a  little  bird,  the  plover, 
{Charadrius  jEgyptius,  in  Herod.  Tpox'tTiog)  enters 
the  open  jaw  of  the  crocodile,  in  order  to  look 
for  insects  there,  need  not  be  deemed  unknown 
to  our  author;  only  we  are  not  to  insist  on  his 
having  such  an  incident  in  mind  in  the  passage 
before  us. 

Ver.  14  [G].  The  doors  of  his  face— 
who  has  opened  them?  i.e.,  his  jaws,  his 
mouth,  the  aperture  of  which  reaches  back  of 
the  eyes  and  ears  (comp.  the  well-known  picture, 
taken  from  the  Description  de  VEgyple,  and  in- 
troduced into  several  pictorial  works  on  zoology, 
e.g.,  into  Klutz  and  Glaser's  Lehen  und  Eigen- 
thiimlichkeiten  der  miitleren  und  niederen  Thitrivelt, 
Leipzig,  18(39,  p.  1-5,  representing  the  mouth  of 
a  crocodile  wide  open,  with  a  Charadrius  in  it). 
—  Round  about  his  teeth  is  terror ;  comp. 
ch.  xxxix.  20.  The  crocodile  has  thirty-six  long, 
pointed  teeth  in  the  upper  jaw,  and  thirty  in  the 


lower,  the  appearance  of  which  is  all  the  more 
terrible  that  tiiey  are  not  covered  by  the  lips. 

Ver.  15  [7].  A  pride  are  the  furrows  of 
the  shields  (comp.  ch.  xl.  18),  referring  to  the 
arched  bony  shields,  of  which  the  animal  has 
seventeen  rows,  all  equally  large  and  square  in 
form.  [According  to  this  interpretation  'P'SX 
means  first  channels,  and  then  the  shields  bounded 
by  those  channels.  Others  (Gesenius,  Oonanf, 
etc.)  take  it  as  an  adj.  :=  robusta  {^robora)  scuio- 
rum]. — Fastened  together  like  a  closely- 
fitting  seal;  or,  construing  12f  DDin  not  as 
appositional,  but  as  instrumental  accusative  (ac- 
cording to  Ewald,  ^  297,  b):  "fastened  together 
as  with  a  closely-fitting  seal"  [so  E.  V.].  How 
this  is  to  be  understood  is  shown  by  the  two 
verses  which  follow;  in  which  comp.,  as  to  the 
phrase,  IH'nx^  tr^'N,  Gesen.,  §  124.  [§  122], 
Rem.  4;  as  to  the  verbs  p3T  and  HD/jT,  chap, 
xxxviii.  30,  38. 

Vers.  18-21  [10-13].  The  sneezing  and  breath- 
ing of  the  crocodile. — His  sneezing  flashes 

forth  light  (  /T\r\,  abbreviated  from   /Hn,  Hinh 

of  llT],  comp.  chap.  xxxi.  26) ;  i.  e.,  when  the 
crocodile  turned  toward  the  sun  with  open  jawa 
is  excited  to  sneezing  (which  in  such  a  posture 
happens  very  easily,  see  Bochart  III.,  753  seq.), 
the  water  and  slime  gushing  from  his  mouth 
glisten  brilliantly  in  the  sunbeams.  As  Delitz. 
says  truly  :  "  This  delicate  observation  of  na- 
ture is  here  compressed  into  three  words ;  in 
this  concentration  of  whole,  grand  thoughts  and 
pictures,  we  recognize  the  older  poet." — And 
his  eyes  are  as  eyelids  of  the  dawn  (chap, 
iii.  9)  ;  i.  e.,  when  with  their  red  glow  they  glim- 
mer in  the  water,  before  the  animal's  head  be- 
comes visible  above  the  surface  of  the  water. 
This  cat-like  sparkle  of  the  crocodile's  eyes  was 
observed  from  an  early  period,  and  is  the  reason 
why  in  the  ancient  Egyptian  hieroglyphics  two 
crocodiles'  eyes  became  the  hieroglyph  for  the 
dawn,  according  to  the  express  statement  of 
Horns,  Hierogl.  f.,  68:  eTrei6>)  izpo  Travrbg  c6/ia- 
Tog   C,uov  ol  o<l>S-a?./iol  CK  Tov  fiii^ov  avaipaivovTai.. 

Ver.  19  [11].  Out  of  his  mouth  proceed 
torches;  i.  e.,  not  literal  torches,  but  streams 
of  water  shining  like  torches,  when  the  animal 
emerging  out  of  the  water  breathes  violently. — 
Out  of  his  nostrils  goes  forth  smoke,  like 
a  seething  pot  with  reeds  [lit.,  "  like  a  ket- 
tle blown  and  reeds  "]  ;  i.  e.,  like  a  heated  kettle 
standing  over  a  crackling  and  strongly  smoking 
fire  of  reeds  (Ewald,  Bottcher,  Dclitzsch,  Dillm.) 
[Conant].  The  common  rendering  is:  "as  a 
seething  pot  and  caldron;"  but  |10JX  is  scarcely 
to  be  taken  to  signify  something  else  here  tliin 
above  in  ch.  xl.  26  [xli.  2];  "caldron"  would 
be  px,  Arab,  iggane.  With  the  description  be- 
fore us,  as  well  as  with  the  still  more  strongly 
liyperbolical  description  in  the  verse  which  fol- 
lows, comp.  the  description  of  Bochart,  /.  c.  : 
Turn  spiri/iis  diu  pressus  sic  effervescil  el  erumpit  tain 
violentcr,  ut  Jlammas  ore  el  narihus  videattir  evomere. 
Also  what  the  traveler  Bartrara  (in  Rosenmiil- 
ler's  Alterth.,  p.  250)  relates  of  an  alligator  in 
Carolina,  that  a  thick  smoke  streamed  out  of  its 
distended  nostrils,  with  a  noise  which  made  the 


624 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


earth  shake.  [Schlottmann  calls  attention  to 
the  close  parallelism  betweeu  vers.  18,  19  and 
vers.  20,  21]. 

Ver.  22  [14].  On  his  neck  dwells  (lit., 
"  passes  the  night,  lodges,"  T/'  fs  in  ch-  xvii. 
2)  strength,  and  despair  danceth  hence 
before  him.  |'1T^,  leaps,  springs  up  suddenly. 
Both  members  of  the  verse  refer  to  the  crocodile 
suddenly  emerging  out  of  the  water,  and  terri- 
fying men  or  beasts,  and  particularly  to  the  vio- 
lent movements  of  its  neck  or  head,  which  are 
sufficient  to  overturn  ships,  etc,  ["  The  trepi- 
dation, the  confused  running  to  and  fro  of  one 
who  is  in  extreme  anguish  (comp.  IXDnn^  ver. 
17)  is  compared  to  the  dancing  of  one  who  is 
crazed,  and  this  is  attributed  to  the  PIDXT  as  the 
personification  of  the  anguish."  Schlott. — E.  V., 
less  suitably:  "and  sorrow  is  turned  into  joy 
before  him  "]. 

Yer.  23   [15]   seq.,   describe   the   lower   and 

hinder  parts  of  the  animal. — The  flanks  [''^30, 
the  flabby  pendulous  parts  of  the  body,  especially 
the  belly]  of  his  flesh  are  closely  joined  to- 
gether, are  fixed  fast  upon  him,  are  not 
moved;  ;'.  e.,  they  do  not  shake  with  the  mo- 
tions of  the  body,  being  thickly  lined  with  strong 
scales,  smaller  however  than  those  on  tlie  back, 
pli".  pass,  partic.  of  p)f ,  differing  accordingly 
from  ch.  xxviii.  2;  xxix.  6. 

Ver.  24  [IH].  His  heart  is  firmly  cast  as  a 
stone,  firmly  cast  as  a  nether  millstone, 
[not  as  E.  V.,  "as  a  piece  of  the  nether  mill- 
stone," for  rivS,  as  that  which  is  split  off,  or 
produced  by  cleavage,  refers  to  the  whole  stone  ; 
hence  elsewhere  (Judg.  ix.  53;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  6), 

Dp|l  nSs  for  the  upper  millstone].  It  was  ne- 
cessary that  the  nether  millstone  should  be  par- 
ticularly hard,  because  it  has  to  bear  the  weight 
and  friction  of  the  upper  stone;  comp.  the  Bib- 
lical Archaeologies  and  Dictionaries,  under  the 
word  "Mill."  Besides  the  physical  hardness 
of  the  crocodile's  heart  (in  respect  to  which 
comp.  Arist.  De  partib.  animal.  3,  4),  the  poet 
here  has  in  view  the  firmness  of  his  heart  in  the 
tropical  or  ethical  sense,  i.  e.,  the  courage  and 
fierceness  of  the  beast,  as  the  following  verses 
show  clearly  enough. 

Ver.  25  [17].    At   his   rising    up    heroes 

tremble. — D'/'X,   or,  as  many  MSS.  read  D"'7X, 

"mighty ones,"  from  7^X,  "to be  thick,  strong;" 
comp.  Ex.  XV.  15  with  Ezek.  xxxi.  11;  xxxii.  21. 
^nb^D,  contracted  from  ^flXts'D,  cannot  mean 
here  "before  his  majesty  "  (ch.  xiii.  11;  xxxi. 
23),  but  simply  :  "  at  liis  rising,  when  he  raises 
himself  up." — From  terror  they  miss  their 
aim.  D'T^C'p,  lit.,  "  from  brokenness  [break- 
ings];" not  however  "from  wounds."  Jerome 
correctly:  terrili  (comp.  Isa.  Ixv.  14).  Ntflnnn, 
lit.,  "  they  miss,"  i.  e.,  "their  mark"  (to  wit, 
here,  the  slaying  of  the  monster).  [Gesenius, 
Conant,  etc.,  "  they  lose  themselves  for  terror," 
spoken  of  a  person  in  astonishment  and  terror 
missing  his  way  in  precipitate  flight. — Fiirst: 
"  they  disappear,  i.  e.,  they  cannot  hold  out." — 


E.  v.,  under  the  influence  of  the  Vulg.  and  Targ. 
"  by  reason  of  breakings  they  purify  them- 
selves," which  hardly  yields  an  intelligible 
meaning]. 

Ver.  2(3  [18].  If  one  reaches  him  with  the 
sword,  lit.,  he  who  reaches  him  with  the  sword, 
it  doth  not  hold,  i.  e.,  the  sword,  (lit.,  "it  does 
not  get  up"),  it  glances  off  without  effect  from  the 
scaly  armor  of  the  beast.     As  to  the  construction 

comp'.  Ewald,  g  357,  c  ;  on  the  use  of  'S^  with 
the  finite  verb,  which  occurs  onb/  here,'  Ew., 
I  322,  a.  In  the  second  member,  which  intro- 
duces three  additional  subjects  to  the  verb 
D^pr),  this  'va  is  to  be  again  supplied:  "nor 
spear,  dart,  and  armor." — According  to  the  tes- 
timony of  the  ancient  versions  it  would  seem 
that  n''")tJ'  must  be  rendered  as  a  synonym  of 
JVIIJ^,  "  coat  of  mail,"  although  the  context,  and 
a  comparison  with  the  Arab,  sirwe,  or  surwe, 
"arrow,"  would  favor  rather  the  meaning  "mis- 
sile," either  the  harpoon,  or  some  peculiar  kind 
of  arrow.  For  J'DO  the  definition  "sling- 
stone"  has  the  support  of  the  Targ.,  while  the 
LXX  and  the  Vulg.  associate  the  word  with  the 
preceding  ri'jn  in  the  sense  of  hasta  missilis. 

Verses  27-29  [19-21]  describe  more  at 
length  the  ineffective  rebound  of  ordinary  hu- 
man weapons  from  tbe  armor  of  the  leviathan, 
together  with  the  animal's  fearlessness  in  en- 
countering all  assaults  by  means  of  such  wea- 
pons. Respecting  DE'inj  in  ver.  19,  b,  comp. 
on  ch.  xl.  18.  jl^pl  in  tbe  same  member  is  a 
poetic  form  for  3p"1  (chap.  xiii.  28).  The  "son 
of  the  bow,"  ver.  20  a  is  the  arrow,  as  the  "  son 
of  the  flame"  in  ch.  v.  7  meant  the  spai'k  of  fire. 
The  "  turning  to  stubble,"  ver.  20  b  is  of  course 
to  be  taken  only  in  the  subjective  sense  of  be- 
coming as  it  were  stubble. 

Ver.  29  [21].  Clubs  are  accpunted  (by 
him)  as  chaff;  lit.  "a  club;"  nriin,  as  a  ge- 
neric term,  is  construed  with  the  plur.  On  b 
Win  and  \yV3),  comp.  ch.  xxxix.  23,  24. 

Ver.  30  [22]  continues  the  description  of  the  un- 
der side  of  tbe  body  begun  in  ver.  23  [iG].  His 
under  parts  are  pointed  shards  ;  lit.  "  the 
sharpest  of  shards,"  K/flD  '^^n ;  on  this  mode 
of  expressing  the  superlative,  which  occurs  also 
in  ch.  XXX.  G,  comp.  Gesen.,  §  112  [^  110],  Rem. 
1.  The  comparison  of  the  scales  ou  the  under 
side  of  the  crocodile,  and  especially  on  his  tail, 
with  pointed  sherds,  is  found  also  in  Aelian,  II. 
N.  10,  24.  He  spreadeth  a  threshing  sledge 
upon  the  mire  ;  i.  e.,  by  means  of  those  same 
pointed  scales,  which  leave  a  mark  on  the  solt 
mire,  like  that  made  by  the  iron  spikes  of  a 
threshing-sledge  (comp.  Is.  xxviii.  27). 

Ver.  81  [23].  He  maketh  the  deep  to 
boil  like  a  pot. — On  ri'i^"}^,  "to  cause  to 
seethe,  to  boil  and  foam  violently,"  comp.  chap. 
XXX.  27.  The  "deep"  [nSli'O),  t.  «.,  literally, 
the  deep  of  the  sea  (=D')  is  a  word  which  can 
also  be  applied  to  a  great  river,  like  the  Nile  ; 
comp.  Is.  xix.  6;  Nah.  iii.  8.  The  Bedouins  to 
this  day  call  the  Nile  hahr,  "sea,"  it  being  quite 
like  a  sea  when  it  overflows  its  banks.    He  ma- 


CHAPS.  XL.  6— XLII.  G. 


625 


keth  the  sea  (comp.  ch.  xiv.  11)  like  a  pot 
of  ointment,  i.  c,  ,a3  respects  its  bubbling  and 
foaming.  An  Egyptian  sea  may  here  be  as- 
sumed, standing  in  connection  with  the  Nile,  or 
perhaps  one  of  the  seas  of  the  Jordan,  if  the 
author  took  a  Palestinian  crocodile  as  the  object 
of  his  description.  The  figure  of  the  pot  of 
ointment  can  hardly  allude  to  the  strong  odor 
of  musk  which  the  crocodile  emits  when  playing 
in  the  water  (Bochart,  Del.)  seeing  that  the  poet 
is  describing  here  only  the  visible  effects  of  his 
tumbling  and  rushing  in  the  water. 

Ver.  32  [24].  After  him  he  maketh  the 
path  to  shine,  by  means  of  the  bright  white 
trail  which  he  leaves  behind  him  on  the  surface 
of  the  water,  and  which  in  b  is  compared  to  the 
silver  bright  whiteness  of  hoary  hair  (H^'K'),  in 
the  same  way  that  the  classic  poets  speak  of  a 
noln)  hlq  [It.  I.  350;  Od.  IV.  405),  or  of  a  cane- 
scere  {incanescere)  of  the  waves  (CatuU.  Epithal. 
Pclei;  Manilius,  Astron. :  Ut  freta  canescunt, 
sulcum  ducenie  carina,  etc.). 

Ver.  33  [25]  seq.:  Conclusion  of  the  whole 
description,  repeating  the  affirmation  of  the  in- 
vincibility of  the  leviathan  as  a  proud  tyrant  in 
the  animal  kingdom.  There  is  not  upon  the 
earth  one  who  commands  him  ;  lit.  "  there 
is  not  upon  the  dust  (comp.  ch.  xix.  25)  domin- 
ion over  him,"  comp.  Zech.  ix.  10.  So  correctly 
the  Targ.,  Pesh.,  and  most  of  the  moderns,  while 
the  LXX,  Vulg.,  [E.  V.],  Umbreit,  Delitzsch, 
[Lee,  Noyes,  Merx]   translate:  "on  earth  there 

is  not  his  like.^'  By  itself  l/Ii^O  could  certainly 
be  thus  rendered  ;  but  the  second  member — "  he 
who  is  made  [V\yp'n  comp.  ch.  xv.  22)  [Green, 
^  172,  5]  for  no-fear"  (or  "for,  into  a  fearless 
creature,"  nn~w37) — favor  rather  the  meaning 
j;iven  above. 

Ver.  34  [26].  He  looks  on  all  that  is 
high;  i.  e.,  looks  it  boldly  in  the  face,  without 
tearing  or  turning  back  before  it  (comp.  ch.  xl. 
11).  He  is  king  overall  the  sons  of  pride, 
i.  e.,  over  all  the  huge,  proudly  stalking  beasts 
of  prey  (comp.  ch.  xxviii.  8),  he  is  therefore  a 
tyrant  in  the  midst  of  the  animal  kingdom,  to 
whom  the  larger  quadrupeds  mus't  submit,  espe- 
cially in  consequence  of  the  violent  blows  which 
he  inflicts  with  his  tail  (Bochart,  p.  767  ;  Oken, 
Allgem.  Natiirgesch.,  VI,  654  seq.). 

6.  Job's  ansu'er  and  penitent  confession:  chap, 
xlii.  1-6. 

Ver.  2.  Now  I  know  that  Thou  canst 
do  all  things — now  that  in  these  two  animal 
colossi  Thou  hast  set  before  me  the  most  con- 
vincing proofs  of  Thine  omnipotence,  and  at  the 
same  time  of  the  constant  justice  of  Thy  ways. 
And  that  no  undertaking  (no  thought,  or 
purpose,  which  Thou  dost  undertake  to  carry 
out;  n?3T0  sensu  bono,  comp.  PIST  ch.  xvii.  11) 
is  forbidden  to  Thee  (lit.  "cutoff")  [ren- 
dered inaccessible,  impracticable].  To  these 
thoughts,  which  God  has  the  power  to  execute 
without  condition  or  any  limitation  whatever, 
belongs,  in  the  very  first  rank,  the  appointment 
of  severe  sufferings  for  men  who,  apparently, 
are  innocent.  This  Job  here  recognizes  as  the 
normal  result  of  the  operations  of  the  All-wise, 
40 


All-merciful,  and  Righteous  God  in  His  govern- 
ment of  the  world,  being  just  as  truly  the  result 
of  His  operations  as  the  terrible  forms  and  ac- 
tivities of  the  behemoth  and  leviathan." 

Ver.  3.  "Who  is  this  that  obscureth 
counsel  without  knowledge?"  thus,  namely 
hast  thou  rightly  spoken  to  me.  The  words  of 
God  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  discourse  (ch. 
xxxviii.  2),  are  cited  here  verbally;  and  from 
this  divine  verdict,  as  one  that  cannot  be  as- 
sailed nor  abrogated,  the  inference  which  fol- 
lows is  imrnediatoly  drawn:  thus  have  I 
judged,  w^ithout  understanding,  w^hat  -was 
too  wonderful  for  me,  -without  knovcing  ; 
i.  e.,  the  judgments  which  I  have  heretofore  pro- 
nounced respecting  my  sufferings  as  unmerited 
and  unreasonably  cruel,  were  uttered  without 
understanding  or  knowledge.  To  the  idea,  com- 
plete in  itself,  conveyed  by  "'i^'jJn,  "I  have 
judged  (uttered),"  an  object  is  emphatically 
added  in  the  following  member,  so  that  the  no- 
tion of  judging  passes  over  into  that  of  deciding 
or  passing  judgment  upon  something. 

Ver.  4  contains  another  expression,  cited  both 
from  the  first  discourse  of  .Jehovah  (ch.  xxxviii. 
3),  and  from  the  introduction  to  the  second  (ch. 
xl.  7),  here  however  preceded  and  strengthened 
by  the  short  introductory  clause :  "  Hear,  I 
pray  thee,  and  I  will  speak,"  and  for  this  reason 
to  be  regarded  as  only  a  free  citation,  to  which 
Job  then  appends  the  observation  contained  in 
ver.  5.  This  verse  (4)  is  not  therefore  to  be  re- 
garded as  an  independent  entreaty  on  the  part 
of  Job  to  Jehovah,  framed  however  in  imitation 
of  the  words  of  Jehovah  in  the  passages  referred 
to  (as  Rosenm.,  Stick.,  Hirz.,  Hahn.,  Del. 
[Scott,  Noyes,  Barnes]  think).  The  meaning 
is:  "Thou  hast  demanded  of  me  to  make  my  an- 
swer to  Thee,  as  in  a  judicial  trial ;  my  answer 
can  be  none  other  than  that  which  now  follows 
(vers.  5-6).  [To  the  view  that  this  is  the  lan- 
guage of  humility  on  the  part  of  Job,  seeking 
lor  further  instruction  from  God,  Carey  objects  : 
"  (1)  That  Job  does  not  ask  God  any  particular 
question  on  which  he  requires  information.  (2) 
That  on  the  supposed  view  the  first  clause,  "Hear 
now,  and  I  v/ill  speak,"  would  be  the  formula 
of  an  opening  address,  leading  one  to  expect 
that  that  address  was  to  be  of  some  length,  at 
least,  whereas  no  such  address  does  actually  fol- 
low. (3.)  That  the  words  themselves  would  be 
too  arrogant  for  Job  to  use  in  his  present  hum- 
bled state  of  mind.  (4.)  That  as  ver,  3  is  mani- 
festly a  citation  from  chap,  xxxviii.  2,  and  as 
the  words  in  this  present  verse  occur  in  chap, 
xxxviii.  3,  they  may  reasonably  be  supposed  to 
be  a  citation  also.  (5.)  On  the  supposition  of 
their  being  a  citation,  a  more  natural,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  a  more  pregnant  sense  is  ob- 
tained"], 

Ver.  5.  I  have  heard  of  thee  by  the  hear- 
ing of  the  ear. — "According  to  (7,  as,  e.g.,  in 
chap,  xxviii.  22;  Ps,  xviii.  45)  the  hearing  of  the 
ear,"  i.  e.,  on  the  basis  of  a  knowledge  which  was 
mediate  only,  and  therefore  incomplete,  the  op- 
posite information  resting  on  the  firm  basis  of 
immediate  perception,  observation,  or  expe- 
rience; comp.  Ps.  xlviii.  9.  But  now  mine 
eye  hath  seen  thee — i.  e.,  not  externally,  or 


fi26 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


corporeally,  but  intuitively,  by  means  of  that  in- 
tellectuiil  faith-perceptiou  which,  in  the  visible 
manifestations  of  creation,  beholds  the  Creator 
Himself;  comp.  the  vooviuva  Ka^oparai  of  Rom. 
i.  19;   also  above  on  chap,  xxxviii.  1. 

Ver.  6.  Therefore  do  I  recant — lit.  "I  re- 
ject [repudiate],"  that,  viz.,  which  I  have  here- 
tofore Baid  ;  the  object  omitted,  as  in  ch.  vii.  IG  ; 
xxxvi.  5,  The  LXX.,  Symm.,  and  Vulg.  read 
DNDJ<:  "I  reject, blame,  accuse  myself  "  (Luth.) 
[E.  v.:  "abhor  mysplf"],  vehich  gives  substan- 
tially the  same  sense  with  the  Masoretic  reading 
(for  Bottcher's  rendering  of  this  Niphal — "I  de- 
.spair" — finds  no  conclusive  support  in  chap.  vii. 
5),  but  is  by  no  means  of  necessity  to  be  substi- 
tuted for  the  same.  And  I  repent  (am  sorry, 
'PDnj,  Niph.)  in  dust  and  ashes — ?.  ^.,like 
one  in  deep  mourning,  one  who  feels  himself 
completely  broken  and  humbled ;  comp.  ch.  ii. 
8,  12.  And  so  Job  returns,  as  it  were,  to  his 
heap  of  ashes,  the  symbol  of  his  voluntary  sub- 
mission under  the  mighty  hand  of  God.  He 
perfectly  resumes  that  patient  resignation  to  the 
will  of  God,  out  of  which  he  had  allowed  himself 
to  be  provoked  by  the  accusation  of  the  friends, 
in  that  he  recognizes  the  divine  decree  of  suffer- 
ing as  one  that  has  been  inflicted  on  him  not  un- 
justly, and  holds  his  peace,  until  the  sentence 
of  the  Most  High,  pronouncing  His  blessing 
upon  him,  again  exalts  the  upright  penitent. 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

1.  The  progress  which  this  second  discourse 
of  God,  taken  in  connection  with  Job's  confession 
of  penitence,  marks  in  the  inward  development 
of  the  poem,  is  in  general  clear.  The  destruc- 
tion and  punishment  of  the  proud  self-exaltation 
of  the  presumptuous  censurer  of  God's  ways, 
which  had  constituted  the  aim  and  issue  of  the 
first  discourse  (see  on  ch.  xl.  5),  must  bo  followed 
by  the  entire  overthrow  of  the  ■presumption  in 
Job's  heart,  in  consequence  of  which  he  had  not 
deeply  and  earnestly  enough  perceived  his  sin- 
fulness, had  doubted  whether  the  severe  visita- 
tion which  had  come  upon  him  was  deserved,  and 
had  thus  assailed  God's  justice.  In  addition  to 
the  complete  humiliation  of  Job  it  was  necessary 
Btill  further  to  produce  in  him  entire  contrition, 
the  voluntary  confession  of  his  guilt;  and  this 
is  exactly  what  this  second  discourse  aims  at 
and  accomplishes.  It  accomplishes  this,  as  may 
be  seen  from  the  first  part,  wliich  is  in  the  form 
of  a  direct  rebuke  (ch.  xl.  7-14),  by  the  ironical 
challenge  addressed  to  Job,  to  take  the  govern- 
ment of  the  world  into  his  own  hand,  and  to 
judge  the  proud  transgressors  on  the  earth  (see 
ver.  lOseq.).  This  is  a  challenge  which  shows 
an  advance  beyond  the  series  of  ironical  questions 
in  the  first  discourse,  in  that  it  imputes  to  him 
who  is  addressed  not  merely  the  exercise  of  a 
high,  wonderful,  and  all-embracing  divine  know- 
ledge, but  rather  of  an  omnipotent  activity  resem- 
bling that  of  God,  the  ruler  of  the  universe. 
God  now  no  longer  says,  '-knowest  thou?  '  or 
"  canst  thou?''  but  "doit!  seat  thyself  on  my 
judicial  throne  I"  and  the  stronger  irony  which 
flashes  forth  from  such  appeals  must  in  the  na- 
ture of  things  be  accompanied    by  a  stronger 


power  to  cause  shame  to  him  who  is  addressed, 
so  that  the  last  remnant  of  presumption  in  his 
heart  is  swept  away.  "By  thus  thinking  of  him- 
self as  the  ruler  and  judge  of  the  world,  Job  is 
obliged  to  think  of  the  cutting  contrast  between 
his  feebleness  and  the  divine  rule,  with  which 
he  has  ventured  to  find  fault;  at  the  same  time, 
however,  he  is  tauglit  that — what  he  would  ne- 
ver be  able  to  do — God  really  punishes  the  un- 
godly, and  must  have  wise  purposes  when  He 
does  not,  as  indeed  He  might,  let  loose  at  once 
the  floods  of  His  wrath"  (Del.).  In  other 
words:  Job,  brought  to  the  lowest  depths  of 
shame,  must,  by  that  challenge,  be  made  sensi- 
ble of  two  things  in  one,  the  omnipotence  and 
the  inflexible  justice  of  the  divine  government 
of  the  world.  He  is  compelled  to  see  that  there 
cannot  be,  and  least  of  all  in  the  administration 
of  the  Most  High,  a  "bare  omnipotence,"  dis- 
joined from  justice  and  love. 

2.  So  far  the  purpose  of  this  discourse  is  clear. 
But  is  the  second  part  of  it,  which  is  character- 
ized by  disproportionate  length,  and  in  which 
nature,  or  rather,  more  particularly,  the  animal 
world,  is  described,  in  accordance  with  this  pur- 
pose ?  Are  we,  with  a  number  of  critics  (see 
Introd.  §9)  to  reject  this  part  of  the  book  as  not 
genuine?  Or,  instead  of  resorting  to  this  violent 
operation,  favored  as  it  is  by  uoihlng  in  the  his- 
toric transmission  of  the  text,  are  we,  by  more 
profoundly  fathoming  the  meaning  and  aim  of 
this  wonderful  description  of  animals,  to  exhibit 
its  original  organic  connection  with  its  sur- 
roundings? Obviously  there  is  little  to  be 
gained  from  such  ingenious,  and  yet  at  bottom 
superficial  remarks  as  that  of  Herder:  "Behe- 
moth and  Leviathan  are  the  pillars  of  Hercules 
at  the  end  of  the  book,  the  Non  plus  ultra  of  ano- 
ther world  ;"  and  just  as  little  from  the  flat  and 
shallow  physical  theology  of  the  vulgar  rational- 
ism, which  represents  the  poet  as  finding  in  these 
"prodigies  of  the  amphibious  world"  (ver.  9) 
the  hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile,  "the  power, 
wisdom,  and  goodness  of  God"  (see,  e.g.,  Wohl- 
farth  on  the  passage),  or  from  tlie  downright  al- 
legorizing of  the  Church  Fathers,  who  in  the  le- 
viathan and  also  in  behemoth  found  the  devil, 
with  whom  also  Luther  is  in  accord,  when  he 
says;  "By  behemoth  is  meant  all  the  large  mon- 
ster beasts,  and  by  leviathan  all  tlie  large  mon- 
ster fishes.  But  under  these  names  he  describes 
the  power  and  might  of  the  devil,  and  of  his  ser- 
vants, the  ungodly  multitude  in  the  world."*  On 
the  other  side,  the  opinion  favored  by  most  mo- 
derns, that  the  hippopotamus  and  crocodile,  like 
the  animal  pictures  grouped  together  in  the  first 
discourse  of  Jehovah  (Second  Fart,  ch.  xxxviii. 
39seq.),  are  designed  to  illustrate  the  greatness 
and  wonderful  glory  of  God's  creative  energy, 
and  so  to  present  impressive  pictures  of  created 
existence  mirroring  the  omnipotence  of  God — 
this  opinion  is  far  from  furnishing  a  perfectly 

*  Concerning  Luther's  predecessors  in  this  Satanologicul 
allcgoristic  interpretation  (which  of  hite  H.  V.  Andrea  has 
ajrain  attempteil  to  revive  up  to  a  cctrtain  point,  see  Homile- 
tic  Kemarks  below— bnt  which  the  representation  of  Satan  in 
tlie  prologue  clearly  shows  to  bo  inadmissible),  see  above  oo 
oliiip.xl.  19,  and  comp.  0.  M.  Dursoh,  Si/nibolil.-  der  Chrisilichen 
li'Ahiion,  Vol.  II.  flS.")y).  p.  344setl.  f U'onlsA'orth  also  adopts 
this  allegoristic  interpretation,  and  applies  in  detail  to  Satan 
the  description  oi  botii  behemoth  and  leviathan.] 


CHAPS    XL.  6— XLII.   6. 


627 


satisfactory  explanation  6f  the  poet's  purpose  in 
describing  so  earnestly  and  elaborately  those 
two  animals,  and  in  this  way  dissipating  com- 
pletely the  doubt  whicli  lias  been  raised  touching 
the  genuineness  of  this  section  of  the  book. 
That  which  alone  can  help  us  to  a  correct  appre- 
ciation of  the  poet's  purpose  is  the  truth,  flowing 
from  the  view  of  nature  presented  throughout 
the  revealed  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments, that  the  entire  animal  world  is  a  living 
text-book,  a  mirror  of  morals,  now  tvarninrj,  now 
encourarjing  and  shaming  us,  a  gallerij  of  pictures, 
ethical  and  parenetic,  collected  for  men  hi/  God  Him- 
self; and  that  in  particular  the  animals  distin- 
guished for  ferocity  and  size  are  awe-inspiring 
examples  for  us,  sgmhols,  us  it  were,  or  pictorial 
embodiments  of  the  Divine  Wrath.  Novatian,  in 
his  work  on  the  Jewish  legislation  touching  food 
[De  cibis  Judaicis),  says:  In  animalibus  mores  de- 
pinguntur  humani  et  actus  et  iioluntates ;  and  most 
of  the  Church  Fathers  express  themselves  in 
substantial  agreement  with  this  view  in  respect 
to  the  more  profound  ethical  and  symbolical  sig- 
nificance of  the  animal  world.  So,  e.  g.,  Clement 
of  Alexandrii,  among  whose  utterances  on  this 
subject  {Psedag.  III.  11;  Strom.  II.,  p.  389  C  ; 
405  D,  etc.),  that  which  he  has  said  respecting 
the  sphinx  (Strom.  V.,  p.  561  C)  deserves  to  be 
mentioned  here  as  being  of  special  significance: 
"  the  liuman  half  of  this  creature  teaches  us  that 
God  is  to  be  loved,  the  animal  (to  -di/piuv)  that  He 
is  to  be  feared."  Comp.  also  IreniBus  (Adv.  hser. 
V.  8),  Tertullian  [Adi^.  Marc.  11.18;  IV.  24 ; 
De  Resurr.  cam.  52),  Origen  {Ilomil.  VII.  in  Le- 
vit.),  Gregory  of  Ny.ssa  {0pp.  T.  I.,  p.  165,  166), 
Chrysostom  [Homil.  in  Genes.  XII.),  and  Jerome, 
who  (Comm.  in  Isaj.  1.  VI.  C.  14,  p.  259,  Vail.) 
sets  forth  with  peculiar  vividness  the  ethical  sig- 
nificance of  animals,  especially  of  the  poisonous 
and  ravenous  sort:  Mores  igitur hominum  in  diver- 
sis  animajitibus  monstrantur,  sicut  Pharissei  et  Sad- 
duciei  propter  nequitiam  appellantur  genimina  vipe- 
rarum  et  propter  dolos  IJerodes  vitlpus  diciiur,  etc.* 
Tiiat  this  ethico-symbolical,  or,  if  you  please, 
ctliico-allegorical,  conception  of  the  animal  world 
is  most  deeply  rooted  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
and  especially  in  the  Old  Testament,  scarcely 
requires  to  be  more  particularly  proved.  We 
need  only  refer  to  the  many  passages  where  god- 
less men,  who  have  sunk  beneath  their  proper 
dignity,  are  described  as  "beasts"  (^HDnS),  such 
as  Psalm  xlix.  13  [12],  21  [20];  Ixxiii.  22; 
Jer.  V.  8;  Dan.  iv.  12  seq.;  comp.  also  Ps.  xxxii. 
9;  2  Kings  xix.  28;  Tit.  i.  12,  etc.  Is  it  likely 
that  our  passage,  which,  with  the  most  pene- 
trating sympathy,  describes  two  species  of  wild 
beasts,  whose  ferocity  and  strength  make  them 
dangerous,  setting  forth  their  physical  constitu- 
tion and  mode  of  life,  was  composed  without  any 
reference  to  this  deeper  symbolical  significance 
of  the  animals  for  man  ?  Because  it  has  nothing 
in  common  with  that  archetypal  ideal  significance 

*  AmoiiKlateriidvocateBofthi  same  idea,  comp.,  e.g.,  Peter 
Damiani,  Opvsc.  52:  de  bono  reliriioai  flatus  et  variantm  animan- 
tium  tropologiis ;  Pierre  Xmt.  ^leUtmorphnne  (tirentienne,  Ge- 
neve, 1561 ;  Joti.  Bapt.  Porta  (f  1561),  De  ph!isU,h„jia  hmr.ana  ; 
Jac.  Bolime.  Gnadenw.  VII.  3,  4  ;  V.  20,  elc  ;  .Tolui  liiinvaii,  in 
his  Autobioirapliy  [Works,  Vol.  I.,  ]>.  28,  Ne\vliavei),"lS:il]; 
also  6.  n.  V.  Schubert,  Geschichle  der  Seele,  4th  Ed.,  p.  732  seq.; 
Lot/e,  ilf/lro  io.wios,  II.  p.  108  seq ;  also  my  Tlieol  yaluniUs, 
1.  p.  537  seq.;  541  seq. 


which  belongs  to  those  royal  boasts  whicli  ap- 
pear in  Ezekiel's  description  of  the  cherub,  tlie 
lion,  the  eagle,  and  the  ox,  is  it  therefore  devoid 
of  all  and  every  profoundor  meaning,  and  enti- 
tled simply  to  the  claim  of  being  a  broad,  de- 
tailed, poetic  description  of  natural  objects,  with- 
out any  religious  and  ethical  purpose?  If  the 
passage  did  not  itself  repeatedly  call  attention  to 
the  deeper  meaning  of  that  which  is  described, 
we  might  possibly  entertain  in  regard  to  it  that 
depreciative  opinion  which  regards  it  as  not  ge- 
nuine. But  after  the  repeated  intimations  which 
itself  conveys — especially  in  ch.  xl.  19;  xli.  19; 
2  [10],  3  [11],  14  [22],  17  [25]— concerning 
tlie  presumptuous  pride  and  the  tyrannical 
ferocity  of  the  two  animals  described,  it  is 
scarcely  to  be  doubted  that,  according  to  the 
clearly  defined  and  firmly  maintained  purpose 
of  the  poet,  these  are  to  be  regarded  as  sgjnbols 
not  merely  of  the  power,  but  also  of  the  justice  of 
God;  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  divine  attri- 
bute of  which  the  poet  desires  to  present  them 
as  the  vivid  living  mirror  and  manifesting  n'  - 
diura  is  omnipotence  in  the  closest  union  v  .th 
justice  (more  particularly  with  punitive  ju.-^tice, 
or  wrath),  or  omnipotence  in  its  judicial  mani- 
festations. These  two  pictures  from  the  animal 
world  are  designed  to  hold  up  before  Job  the 
truth  that  all. pride  and  presumption  shown  by 
God's  creatures  towards  Him,  the  Creator,  can 
avail  nothing;  and  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
creation  so  powerful  and  fearful,  or  even  so 
invincible  to  man,  but  that  it  is  compelled  to 
serve  the  wise  and  exalted  purposes  of  God  in 
governing  the  world.  They  are  intended  to 
teach  him  "how  little  capable  of  passing  sen- 
tence upon  the  evil-doer  he  is,  who  cannot  even 
draw  a  cord  through  the  nose  of  the  behemoth, 
and  who,  if  he  once  attempted  to  attack  the 
leviathan,  would  have  reason  to  remember  it  so 
long  as  he  lived,  and  would  henceforth  let  it 
alone"  (Delitzsch). — To  go  further  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  symbolical  and  allegorical  explanation 
of  the  two  monsters,  and  to  find  in  them  emblems 
of  the  world-power  which  is  hostile  to  God,  but 
which  is  powerless  as  against  Him,  would  not 
be  advisable.  At  least  the  description  contains 
no  sort  of  intimation,  pointing  more  definitely 
to  such  an  emblematic  application  to  any  histo- 
rical empires  or  nations;  and  the  pre-eminently 
significant  and  instructive  passage  at  the  clos^ 
of  the  discourse  in  which  the  leviathan  is  de- 
scribed as  "king  over  all  the  proud,"  gives  us  to 
understand  clearly  enough  what  is  the  deeper 
meaning  which  the  poet  wishes  to  put  in  the 
very  foreground  of  his  description.  [See  fur- 
ther the  very  striking  remarks  on  the  view  of 
the  animal  kingdom  conveyed  by  these  descrip- 
tions, in  their  "contradiction  to  those  oriental 
dreams  which  made  the  animal  creation  an 
occasion  of  oifense  to  the  languid,  oriental  devo- 
tee," and  their  "accordance  with  those  juster 
views  of  the  economy  of  the  animal  system  which 
modern  science  has  lately  brought  itself  to  ap- 
prove," in  Isaac  Taylor's  Spirit  of  the  Hebrew 
Poetry,  Ch.  VIII.] 

HOMILETICAL  AND   PRACTICAL. 
It  will  not  be  found  difficult  in  the  homiletic 
treatment  of  this  discourse  rightly  to  apprehend 


628 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


and  profitably  to  apply  both  the  fundamental 
parenctic  thought  which  it  presents  (as  distin- 
guished from  that  of  the  first  discourse  of 
Jehovah),  and  the  allegorical  vesture  and  illus- 
trative treatment  which  it  receives  in  the  second 
longer  part.  The  older  practical  expositors 
indeed  do  not  furnish  much  help,  because  they 
wander  for  the  most  part  into  the  extreme  of 
unhealthy  allegorical  exaggerations,  just  as  the 
modern  scientific  exegesis,  in  the  majority  of  its 
representatives,  strays  into  the  opposite  extreme 
of  a  superficial,  barren,  literal  interpretation, 
A  few  hints  deserving  attention  may  be  intro- 
duced here  from  the  older  as  well  as  the  more 
recent  expositions  of  the  discourse. 

Ch.  xl.  7  seq.  Brentius:  Thus  doth  the  Lord 
Bay  to  Job:  Is  my  judgment,  by  which  I  either 
afl3ict  the  pious,  or  declare  all  men  to  be  liars, 
to  be  made  void  and  of  no  effect  by  thy  opinion  ? 
Does  it  behoove  me  to  be  unrighteous,  in  order 
that  thy  righteousness  may  be  established? 
Thou  art  righteous  indeed,  and  to  this  thou  hast 
.  y  own  testimony  (in  ch.  ii.),  but  thou  art  not 
t^  -refore  at  liberty  to  calumniate  God's  judg- 
mei-tsin  the  afflictions  which  He  sends. — Cra- 
mer: Those  who  ascribe  to  themselves  any 
righteousness  before  God  proceeding  from  their 
own  powers,  they  do  nothing  else  than  condemn 
God,  and  attempt  to  annul  His  sentence,  as 
though  He  had  no  authority  and  power  to  judge, 
and  to  condemn  them  (Rom.  iii.  4)! — Starke: 
God  seeks  to  remind  man,  not  once  simply,  but 
again  and  again,  of  the  sins  which  he  has  com- 
mitted, and  to  work  in  him  thorough  conviction, 
in  order  that  his  repentance  may  be  sincere 
(Matt,  xxiii.  37). — Wohlfarth:  As  God  repeat- 
edly challenges  Job  to  convict  Him,  the  author 
of  his  lot,  if  he  can,  so  does  the  Lord  in  His 
works  and  word  call  upon  us  to  do  the  same. 
And  if  we  do  not  succumb  to  the  power  of  sor- 
row on  account  of  our  sulferings,  if  on  the  con- 
trary we  hearken  to  the  voice  of  divine  truth 
which  everywhere  surrounds  us,  we  shall  be 
constrained  to  acknowledge  that  the  sufferings 
of  the  pious  are  always  under  God's  oversight, 
and  that,  so  far  from  making  the  friend  of  vir- 
tue wholly  unfortunate,  it  is  absolutely  certain 
that  He,  the  Almighty  and  Holy  One,  guards 
innocence,  and  that  if  He  will  not  deliver  it 
here.  He  will  recompense  it  hereafter  for  the 
pain  which  it  has  endured  here  below. 

Ch.  xl.  15  seq.  Cocceius:  It  will  be  easy,  if 
we  wish  to  follow  Scripture,  to  resolve  into  an 
allegory  those  things  which  are  here  spoken  to 
Job,  both  in  general  and  in  detail  (! ),  and  from 
the  physical  object  described  to  learn  a  notable 
lesson.  For  it  is  a  remarkable  feature  of  God's 
plan  that  lie  makes  the  most  savage  of  men  sub- 
serve the  good  of  the  Church,  so  that  although 
they  may  not  love  God  from  the  heart,  nor  un- 
derstand the  truth,  they  will  nevertheless,  not- 
withstanding their  own  wisdom  and  judgments 
be  thereby  condemned,  embrace  the  pious,  hear 
cheerfully  the  word  of  truth,  take  pleasure  in 
the  reputation  of  the  faithful,  ....  so  that  now 
with  the  whole  world  raging  against  the  truth 
of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  it  is  a  great  and  blessed 
dispensation  that  many  vain,  proud,  fierce,  plea- 
sure-loving men  are  so  softened  that  they  will 
endure  the  doctrine  and  reproofs   of  Christ's 


peaceful  ministers,  and  wish  to  be  esteemed 
among  Christ's,  without  being  such,  etc. — V. 
Gerlach:  That  which  this  second  discourse  of 
God  shows  to  Job  is  this,  that  justice  and  omni- 
potence are  inseparable,  and  that  in  order  to 
establish  his  righteousness,  man  must  have  as 
much  power  as  God  himself.  ...  If  any  crea- 
ture feels  that  in  itself  it  is  powerless,  it  thereby 
confesses  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  not  right- 
eous, but  is  in  a  moral,  as  well  as  a  natural 
sense,  dependent.  For  righteousness  is  nought 
else  than  that  which  the  Almighty  has  estab- 
lished as  the  law  after  which  the  world  is 
governed.  In  order  now  to  make  this  principle 
clear  to  Job's  perception,  God  does  not  stop  in 
His  discourse  with  that  which  He  says  to  Job 
with  a  view  to  his  humiliation  and  reconcilia- 
tion ;  but  in  like  manner  as  in  the  series  of 
natural  wonders  presented  in  the  previous  dis- 
course, the  Lord  exhibits  His  surpassing  wis- 
dom, so  by  these  two  most  powerful  beasts, 
which  man  is  unable  to  subdue.  He  exhibits  His 
power,  in  order  to  prove  that  man,  who  is  not 
able  to  tame  these  animals,  is  still  less  able  to 
carry  out  his  will  in  the  government  of  the 
world,  and  to  humble  beneath  himself  the  pride 
of  the  unrighteous. 

Ch.  xli.  1  seq,  H.  Vict.  Andrea:  If  in  what 
is  said  of  the  leviathan  we  find  it  expressly  set 
forth  how  utterly  powerless  in  his  own  strength 
is  man  as  compared  with  him,  we  are  naturally 
led  to  regard  this  leviathan  as  a  type  of  the  evil, 
and  of  the  human  misery  connected  with  it, 
which  existing  on  the  earth  as  they  do  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  divine  decree  and  permission, 
present  in  the  world  without  so  mighty  a  power 
adverse  to  humanity,  that  the  individual  man, 
even  when  in  his  own  person  he  is  able,  as  in 
fact  is  the  case,  inwardly  to  release  himself  from 
their  hold  upon  him  by  dint  of  a  living  faith,  he 
is  nevertheless,  as  regards  his  external  partici- 
pation in  the  evil  which  has  come  through  sin 
into  the  world  subject  to  the  evil  and  the  misery, 
and  seeks  in  vain  to  become  their  master.  At 
the  close  (ch.  xli.  33  [26]),  God  points  as  with 
the  finger  to  the  pride  of  the  leviathan,  and 
characterizes  him  as  king  of  all  the  "children 
of  self-exaltation,"  whose  servants  they  make 
themselves  through  their  own  pride.  .  .  .  Thus, 
at  least  in  general,  does  that  "accuser  [mur- 
derer] of  men  from  the  beginning"  (John  viii. 
44),  in  harmony  with  the  antecedent  scenes  in 
heaven  mentioned  in  the  prologue,  present  him- 
self to  us  here  at  the  close  as  a  highly  expressive 
figure,  nay  as  the  right  key  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  Job's  own  history,  as  well  asof  the  entire 
history  of  humanity. 

Chap.  xlii.  1-6.  v.  Gerlach  :  Job,  in  repeat- 
ing here  the  words  of  God  in  His  first  address 
to  him,  acknowledges  to  his  own  shame  the  truth 
of  that  which  God  had  held  up  before  him. 
God's  incomprehensible  wisdom  and  omnipotence 
have  convinced  him  that  the  ways  of  His  provi- 
dence also  are  inscrutable. — Vilmar.  (^Past.- 
theol.  Bldtt  XI,  70)  :  By  Elihu's  discourses  and 
God's  judicial  manifestation,  and  then  by  the  re- 
pentance which  is  in  this  way  produced  within 
him,  Job  is  brought  back  to  the  stand-point  at 
first  occupied  by  him  (comp.  ch.  ii.  10),  and  the 
close   of  the  book  in  general  must  be  brought 


CHAPS.  XLII.  7-17. 


629 


back  rigidly  to  this  initial  poin^.  The  bodily 
disease  remains  at  first  unrelieved,  but  the  sting 
which  by  the  intervention  of  the  three  friends  it 
had  inflicted  on  the  sufferer,  is  plucked  out  of 
his  soul.     In  a  sense  that  is  absolutely  proper 


the  book  forms  a  Trspm^nc;  after  long  wandering 
the  resignation  to  God  which  marks  the  begin- 
ning of  the  book  reappeai'S  in  the  resignation  of 
its  close.  And  after  that  the  inward  disease  has 
been  overcome,  the  outward  is  also  healed  by  God. 


HISTORICAL   CONCLUSION. 

Chapter  XLII.  7—17. 

1.  Glorious  -vindication  of  Job  before  his  friends  :  vers.  7-10. 

7  And  it  was  so,  that  after  the  Lord  had  spoken  these  words  unto  Job,  the  Lord  said 
to  Eliphaz  the  Temauite,  My  wrath  is  kindled  against  thee,  and  against  thy  two 
friends :  for  ye  have  not  spoken  of  me  the  thing  that  is  right,  as  my  servant  Job 

8  hath.  Therefore  take  unto  you  now  seven  bullocks  and  seven  rams,  and  go  to  my 
servant  Job,  and  offer  up  for  yourselves  a  burnt  offering ;  and  my  servant  Job 
shall  pray  for  you  :  for  him  will  I  accept :  lest  I  deal  with  you  after  your  folly  in 

9  that  ye  have  not  spoken  of  me  the  thing  which  is  right,  like  my  servant  Job.  So 
Eliphaz  the  Temanite  and  Bildad  the  Shuhite  and  Zophar  the  Naamathite  went, 
and  did  according  as  the  Lord  commanded  them :  the  Lord  also  accepted  Job. 

10  And  the  Lord  turned  the  captivity  of  Job,  when  he  prayed  for  his  friends :  also 
the  Lord  gave  Job  twice  as  much  as  he  had  before. 

2.  The  restoration  of  his  former  dignity  and  honor:  vers.  11-12. 

11  Then  came  there  unto  him  all  his  brethren  and  all  his  sisters,  and  all  they  that 
had  been  of  his  acquaintance  before,  and  did  eat  bread  with  him  in  his  house  ;  and 
they  bemoaned  him  and  comforted  him  over  all  the  evil  that  the  Lord  had  brought 
upon  him  :  every  man  also  gave  him  a  piece  of  money,  and  every  one  an  ear-ring 

12  of  gold.     So  the  Lord  blessed  the  latter  end  of  Job  more  than  his  beginning. 

3.  The  doubling  of  his  former  prosperity  in  respect  to  his   earthly  possessions  and  his  offspring: 

vers.  12  b — 17. 

12  b  For  he  had  fourteen  thousand  sheep,  and  six  thousand  camels,  and  a  thousand 

13  yoke  of  oxen,  and  a  thousand  she  asses.     He  had  also  seven  sons  and  three  daugh- 

14  ters.     And  he  called  the  name  of  the  first,  Jemima  ;  and  the  name  of  the  second, 

15  Kezia;  and  the  name  of  the  third,  Keren-happuch.  And  in  all  the  land  were  no 
women  found  so  fair  as  the  daughters  of  Job :  and  their  father  gave  them  an  inheri- 

16  tance  among  their  brethren.     After  this  Job  lived  an  hundred  and  forty  years,  and 

17  saw  his  sons,  and  his  sons'  sons,  even  four  generations.  So  Job  died  being  old  and 
full  of  days. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  The  inward  restoration  of  .lob,  his  deliver- 
ance from  the  errors  which  had  beclouded  his 
heart  and  his  knowledge,  and  his  penitent  sub- 
mission under  God's  righteous  and  gracious  will, 
is  immediately  followed  by  his  outward  restora- 
tion and  redemption,  This  comes  to  pass  in  im- 
mediate connection  with  the  sharp  rebuke  which 
God  visits  upon  them  because  of  their  unreason- 
ably harsh  condemnation  of  Job,  and  also  in  con- 
nection with  the  brotherly  intercession  which 
Job  offers  in  their  behalf,  thus  heaping  coals  of 


fire  on  their  head.  The  brilliant  vindication, 
which  the  sorely  understood  man  thus  enjoys,  is 
accompanied  by  the  not  less  brilliant  restoration 
of  his  external  prosperity,  as  the  result  of  which 
he  is  permitted  even  in  this  life,  sooner  there- 
fore and  more  gloriously  than  ho  had  dared  to 
hope,  to  behold  God  as  his  Redeemer,  and  to 
taste  in  all  its  fulness  His  rewarding  grace  and 
mercy.  As  this  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter 
carries  us  back,  in  respect  to  the  facts,  to  the 
Introduction  (chap.  i.  1  seq.),  so  also  does  the 
external  form  of  the  introductory  narrative  here 
reappear  ;  the  lofty  poetic  style  gives  place  again 
to  simple  prose,  as  the  only  medium  suitable  to 


C30 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


the  simple  but.  weighty  facts,  in  wbicli  the  hero's 
destiny  is  accomplished. 

2  The  vinilication  of  .Tob,  together  with  the 
divine  rebuke  of  the  tliree  friends:  vers.  7-10. 
And  it  came  to  pass,  after  that  Jehovah, 
etc.  inx=1i:/{<  "inJ^,  and  so  conjunctional,  as 
in  Lev,  xiv.  43.  God  addresses  Eliphaz  in  par- 
ticular, as  the  spokesman,  and  leader  of  the 
three,  wlio  shaped  their  opinions.  For  ye  have 
not  spoken  of  me  that  which  is  right,  as 
my  servant  Job.  nJDJ  signifies  not  that 
which  is  subjectively  true,  i.  e.,  honest,  up- 
right (Ewald,  Hirzel,  Schlottmann),  but  that 
which  is  objectively  true,  right  [direcfum),  comp. 
the  Dfj-Beg  of  the  LXX.).  In  respect  to  this  ob- 
jective truth,  pertaining  to  facts,  the  friends  in 
their  speeches  had  either  erred  or  kept  silence, 
inasmuch  as  thpy  had  persistently  refused  to  re- 
cognize Job's  essential  innocence,  his  freedom 
from  sins  of  the  graver  sort,  and  had  assiduously 
endeavored  to  brand  him  as  a  heinous  sinner. 
Job,  on  the  contrary,  had  maintained  that  which 
was  objectively  true,  comparatively  at  least.,  and 
in  substance,  inasmuch  as  he  had  retained  the 
consciousnes-j  of  his  innocence,  and  the  sense 
of  God's  nearness  in  the  heat  of  his  trials.  God 
accordingly  solemnly  recognizes  him  as  "  His 
servant"  (comp.  ch.  i.  8;  ii.  3),  and  fulfils  lite- 
rally the  wish  uttered  by  Job  (ch.  xvi.  21)  that 
he  would  "do  justice  to  a  man  before  God  and 
his  friends." 

Ver.  8.  And  now  take  unto  you  seven 
bullocks  and  seven  rams. — The  same  kind 
and  number  of  animals  for  sacrifice  as  in  Num. 
xxiii.  1 ;  comp.  also  the  use  of  the  number  seven 
above  in  ch.  i.  2;  and  see  Introd.,  §  2,  near  the 

end.  On  Q'7S<,  defectively  written  for  D'/"!;?, 
comp.  Ewald,  §  15,  b.— Dj1;^3  dSi;?,  "a  burnt- 
offering  for  you,"  i,  e.,  to  atone  for  you  ;  comp. 
ch.  i.  5. — Only  to  him  •w^ill  I  have  regard — 
lit.  "only  (DX  '2,  comp.  Ewald,  |  356)  his  per- 
son will  I  lift  up,  will  I  regard  favorably," 
comp.  Gen.  xix.  21.  Job's  essential  innocence, 
purity,  and  irreproachableness  could  not  be 
more  strongly  declared  and  confirmed,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  petty  suspicions  of  the  friends  than 
by  thus  commissioning  him  to  be  a  priestly 
mediator  and  interceder  in  behalf  of  the  three 
who  had  incurred  the  divine  disfavor,  and  by 
thus  directly  verifjnng  what  Eliphaz  had  pro- 
mised him  in  ch.  xxii.  30  (comp.  also  Abraham's 
intercession  for  Abimelech  :  Gen.  xx.  7.  17). — 
That  I  visit  not  upon  you  the  folly :  lit. 
"that  I  may  not  do   (fulfil)  for  you  folly,"  i.  e. 

the  punishment  of  your  folly ;  m^J  here  means 
"reward,  punishment  of  the  folly,"  in  like  man- 
ner as  nxtan  or  |i>'  signifies  tho.  pe?ial!i/  of  sin. 
— For  ye  have  not  spoken  in  respect  to 
me  that  which  is  right,  like  my  servant 
Job. — Some  MSS.  exhibit  both  here  and  in  the 
7th  verse,  where  the  same  words  occur,  the 
reading:  "against  my  servant  Job"  C'^^i^S 
instead  of  ■'■1!i;23) ;  and  so  the  Sept.  also  here: 
Kara  rov  x^t-parrovrdq  iiov  'Iw;'5.  This  change  of 
the  te.\t  is  manifestly,  however,  an  intentional 
correction  iu  both  cases. 


Ver.  9.  Then  went  Eliphaz,  etc.  The  1, 
which  is  wanting  before  "^3"^,  is  supplied  by 
some  MSS.,  but  without  any  necessity;  see 
Ewald,  I  349  a,  2.  [Schultens  on  the  contents 
of  the  ver. — slupenda  converslo  rerum  .'] 

Ver.  10.  And  Jehovah  turned  the  cap- 
tivity of  Job. — Thus  are  Job's  past  sufferings 
described,  in  accordance  with  the  representa- 
tion which  he  himself  has  often  given  of  them 
as  a  state  of  captivity  or  imprisonment ;  comp. 
ch.  vii.  12;  xiii.  27,  etc.;  also  the  familiar 
Pauline  expression :  "  I,  a  prisoner  in  the  Lord  " 
(Eph.  iii.  1;  iv.  1,  etc.)  Taken  by  itself,  this 
phrase  r\^2\y  3^ty  signifies  neither  here  nor  else- 
where, where  it  occurs  (as  in  particular  in  the 
Messianic  promises  of  many  prophets)  "to  turn 
the  imprisonment  of  any  one,"  but  only  "to 
turn  the  turning,  to  cause  an  unfortunate  turn 
of  affairs  to  be  succeeded  by  a  fortunate  one, 
which  puts  an  end  to  the  former."  So  Symma- 
clius  on  this  passage:  ETrscTTpnpe  rrjv  aKoaTpo6t]v 
Tov  'luji;  and  so  also  the  remaining  versions 
outside  the  Targura.  It  might  therefore  be 
translated:  "and  Jehovah  turned  the  misery  of 
Job."  When  he  prayed  for  his  friends. — 
So  correctly  Delitzsch,  Dillmann,  etc. — not  "  be- 
cause he  prayed"  (as  commonly  explained),  or 
"in  return  for  his  praying"   (Hirzel).     For  3 

before  Iv/ann  can  express  only  the  idea  of 
simultaneousness  ("while,  during");  and  there 
is  deep  significance  in  the  fact, that  the  moment 
when  his  disease  departs  from  him  is  the  very 
moment  when,  as  regards  his  friends,  he  com- 
pletely forgives  and  forgets,  notwithstanding 
they  had  so  grievously  injured  him.  The  ori- 
ginal text  properly  reads  in  the  sing.:  "for  his 
friend"  (^HJ^T  "^.i^?)>  which  sing.,  however,  is 
to  be  unf^-erstood  generally,  as  in  ch.  xvi.  21  ; 
comp.  ch.  xii.  4. — And  Jehovah  increased 

all  that  Job  had  twofold;  nri^/pS,  comp.  Is. 
Ixi.  7,  and  the  still  stronger  word  7ro/JM7v?.aGiova 
(referring  indeed  to  the  eternal  recompense 
hereafter)  in  Luke  xviii.  30.  The  description 
which  follows  sets  forth  how  this  doubling  of 
his  former  possessions  (which  of  course  is  not 
to  be  pressed  throughout  with  literal  exactness) 
was  carried  out  in  detail. 

3.  The  restoration  and  (partial)  doubling  of 
Job's  former  prosperity  (vers.  11-17).  Ver.  11 
and  ver.  12  a  narrate  first  of  all  the  restoration 
of  his  former  honor,  authority  and  dignity. — 
Then  came  there  unto  him  all  his  breth- 
ren, etc.  ;  all  those  persons  accordingly,  of 
whose  cold,  heartless  withdrawal  from  him  he 
had  reason  to  complain  so  bitterly  in  his  misery ; 
comp,  ch.  xix.  13  seq.  (from  which  passage 
also  the  term  Vyy,  used  here,  is  derived). — 
And  they  gave  him  each  a  kesita,  and 
each  a  riirg  of  gold. — to  wit,  a  ring  for  the 
car  or  the  nose  (Dtp.),  which  according  to  Ex. 
xxxii.  3  was  a  favorite  ornament  of  both  men 
and  women;  comp.  Gen.  xxiv.  22.  The  Hd'tr^p 
is  a  piece  of  gold  of  the  patriarchal  age,  which, 
besides  this  passage,  is  mentioned  only  in  Gen. 
xxxiii.  19  and  Josh.  xxiv.  32,  signifying  accord- 
ing  to    the   ancient    Versions   a    "lamb,"    but 


CHAP.  XLII.  7-17. 


G.^1 


according  to  the  later,  and  perhaps  the  better 
founded  etymology  a  "piece  weighed  out."  Its 
value,  it  would  seem,  was  four  times  that  of  the 
shekel  (comp.  Qen.  xxxiii.  19  with  ch.  xxiii.  IG). 
At  any  rate  it  is  a  gold  coin  representing  a 
higher  value  than  the  shekel  of  a  later  period, 
and  hence  not  very  accurately  translated  by 
Luther  a  "beautiful  groschen"  [nor  with  suffi- 
cient precision  by  E.  V.  "a  piece  of  money"]. 
F.  Miintcr's  Proij.  ilber  d.  Kcsitah  (Copenhagen, 
1824),  in  which  a  Cyprian  coin,  with  a  lamb 
engraved  on  it,  is  erroneously  identified  with 
the  old  Hebrew  Kesitah,  presents  a  view  that  is 
antiquated,  and  to  be  used  only  with  caution. 
[Carey  also  favors  the  view  that  it  was  a  weight 
in  the  form  of  a  lamb,  like  the  bull's  heads  of 
Egypt,  and  the  lions  and  ducks  of  Nineveh. 
So  also  the  Art.  "Money"  in  Smith's  Bib.  Die.]. 
lu  respect  to  the  custom  of  bestowing  presents 
when  making  a  visit  (either  of  congratulation 
or  condolence),  comp.  Winer's  RealwUrterb.  Art. 
"  Geschenke"  [Smith's  Bib.  Die.  "Gifts"]. — 
And  Jehovah  blessed  the  latter  end  of 
Job  more  than  his  beginning. — r>'"}nH — 
iTii/X^,  the  earlier,  the  later  period;  comp.  ch. 
viii.  7. 

Vers.  12  b-17  describe  the  doubling  of  Job's 
former  earthly  possessions,  to  wit,  in  cattle 
(comp.  ver.  12  b  with  ch.  i.  3),  and  also  the 
restitution  made  to  him  in  children. 

Ver.  13.  And  there  ■were  to  him  seven 
sons  and  three  daughters. — In  this  respect 
accordingly  there  was  no  doubling;  nevertheless 
according  to  the  Old  Testament  view  deceased 
children  were  not  regarded  as  absolutely  lost 
(see  2  Sam.  xii.  23),  so  that  this  new  blessing 
of  children  which  Job  now  enjoyS  is  still  to  be 
regarded  as  signifying  more  than  the  simple 
restoration  of  the  earlier  good.  The  pansal 
iorm  nJi'Dcy  is  not  to   be  treated  as  an  error  of 

T  T :  • 

transcription  for  n>'3!^  (Hirz.,  Olsh.),  but  with 
Ewald,  ^  269,  c,  as  an  obsolete  substantive  }.i^*^t^> 
with  an  unaccented  feminine  ending. 

Ver.  14.  And  the  one  they  called  [or, 
was  called]  Jemima,  etc. — The  subject  of 
N'^P']  is  indefinite,  "  one,  they."  The  names 
here  mentioned  accordingly  are  not  such  as 
were  given  to  the  daughters  by  the  father  him- 
self, but  appellations  which  the  people  of  their 
acquaintance  bestowed  upon  them  on  account  of 
their  beauty.  Of  these  three  names  HO'ip'  seems 
to  signify  the  "dove,"  or  "pure  as  the  dove" 
(possibly  the  "dove-eyed;"  comp.  Cant,  i,  15; 
li.  14;  iv.  1),  unless  we  follow  the  ancient  ver- 
sions, and  bring  the  word  into  connection  with 
D'p^,  "days,"  Arab.  ^^'^\,  explaining  it  to 
mean  "pure,  bright  as  the  day"  (comp.  Diana 
from  dien).  n>^'ii'p=ca.ssia,  is  in  any  case  "fine 
as  the  essence  of  cassia,"  she  who  was  "as  if 
woven  out  of  the  fragrance  of  cinnamon  "  (Del., 
with 'a  reference  to  Cant.  i.  3).  The  third  was 
called ';|=IDn  y\^,  "paint-horn,  box  of  ointment," 
on  account  of  her  graceful  nature  and  action, 
which  served  lo  heighten  her  natural  beauty; 
hence  the  charming  one,  who  spread  her  charm 
all  about  her.  In  respect  to  pp.  "box,  jar," 
comp.  1  Sam.  xvi.  1,   13.     On   the  painting  of 


oriental  women,  sec  2  Kings  ix.  30;  Jer.  iv.  30; 
Ezek.  xxiii.  40;  also  Pioseumiiller,  Monjcnland, 
IV.  209  seq. ;  Hartmann,  Das  Ideal  weiblichrr 
Schonheit,  p.  85  seq.,  307  seq.  [Smith's  Bib.  Die. 
Art.  "Paint"]. 

Ver.  15.  And  their  father  gave  to  them 
their  inheritance  in  the  midst  of  their 
brethren. — Thisact  of  Job's,  which  was  strictly 
at  variance  with  the  regulations  of  the  Mosaic 
law  (see  Num.  xxvii.  8  seq.),  but  which  has  its 
p:irallel  in  certain  family  customs  of  the  Arabs, 
rather  than  in  practices  specifically  Hebrew, 
was  intended  to  make  it  possible  for  the  daugh- 
ters to  continue  to  live  among  their  brothers 
even  after  their  marriage;  it  is  mentioned  ac- 
cordingly as  a  sign  of  the  brotherly  and  sisterly 
concord  which  prevailed  among  these  later  chil- 
dren of  Job  as  among  the  earlier  (comp.  ch.  j. 
4). — The  masc.  endings  are  used  in  DH?  and 
Dn'nx  (referring  in  each  case  to  the  daughters), 
as  in  ch.  xxxix.  3. 

Ver.  16.  And  Job  lived  after  this  a  hun- 
dred and  forty  years. — How  long  he  had  lived 
before  this  does  not  appear  from  what  precedes. 
The  LXX.  arbitrarily  represent  him  as  being 
seventy  years  old  at  the  time  when  his  sore  trial 
befals  him,  as  is  evident  from  their  rendering  of 
this  passage:  i^rjaev  6e  'Iw/3  /xeto,  rrjv  i\:'Ki]yiiv  iri] 
iKurdu  f-.fiSo/j.^KovTa-  to.  6e  Travra  !^fj  stt]  Siaicdtrca 
TEoaapdnovTa  (so  at  least  the  Vatican  text,  while 
the  Cod.  Alex,  and  various  other  MSS.  and  Ed. 's 
add  an  buru  to  the  latter  number,  thus  placing 
the  TxJjjyr]  in  Job's  seventy-eighth  year,  and  re- 
presenting his  entire  age  as  being  two  hundred 
and  forty-eight  yeai-s).  ["  As  we  do  not  know 
how  old  he  was  when  his  affliction  came  upon 
him,  we  cannot  precisely  determine  the  age  at 
which  he  died  ;  but  as  he  had  previously  to  his 
afilictiou  a  family  of  ten  children  all  grown  up, 
he  could  not  have  been  less  than  sixty  or  seventy 
years.  And  as  in  other  respects  God  gave  him 
twice  as  much  as  he  had  before,  so  perhaps  also 
in  this.  The  half,  then,  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  gives  us  seventy,  and  the  two  periods 
united  make  two  hundred  and  ten,  an  age  which 
unquestionably  places  Job  in  patriarchal  times." 
Carey]. — And  saw  his  children,  and  chil- 
dren's children,  through  four  gsnerationa. 
— Instead  of  NT'J  the  K'ri  exhibits  the  unusual 
form  nXV),  preferred  probably  on  account  of 
its  fuller  musical  tone  (comp.  1  Sam.  svii.  42  ; 
Ezek.  xviii.  14).  As  parallels  in  thought,  comp. 
Gen.  1.  23;  Prov.  xvii.  6;  Ps.  cxxviii.  0;  Tob. 
ix.  11. 

Ver.  17.  And  Job  died  old  and  sated 
■with  life. — The  same  formula  is  tound  in  Gene- 
sis iu  recording  the  end  of  Abraham's  life,  and 
of  Isaac's  (Gen.  xxv.  8  ;  xxxv.  29).  Delitzsch 
strikingly:  "The  style  of  primeval  history, 
which  we  here  everywhere  recognize,  is  retained 
to  the  last  words." 

4.  Tlie  Alexandrian  Version  presents  after  ver. 
17  the  following  long  addition  (see  the  same  iu 
the  original,  together  with  the  more  important 
variations  in  Slier  a,nd  Tha'ilc' s  Foli/(/lotten-Bibel, 
III.  1,  C04seq.):  "It  is  written  however  that 
he  will  rise  again  with  those  whom  the  Lord 
raises  up.  This  man  [Job]  is  described  in  [lit., 
intei-preted  out  of  "J  the  Syriac  Book  [Bible] 


632 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


(i.  e.,  is  described  according  to  the  account  of  the 
Ilebreiv  IFoly  Scripture*)  as  livingin  the  land  of 
Ausis  [Uz],  on  the  borders  of  Idumea  and  Ara- 
bia; but  his  name  before  was  Jobab.  And  he 
toolv  an  Arabian  wife,  and  begat  a  Bon  whose 
name  was  Ennon.  But  he  himself  was  the  son 
of  his  father  Zare,  one  of  the  sons  of  Esau,  and 
of  his  mother  Bosorrha  (Bozra),  so  that  he  was 
the  fifth  from  Abraham.  And  these  were  the 
kings  who  reigned  in  Edom,  over  which  land  he 
also  ruled;  first,  Balac.  the  son  of  Beor,  and  the 
name  of  his  city  was  Dennaba  (Dinhaba) ;  but 
after  Balac  Jobab,  who  is  called  Job;  and  after 
him  Asom  (Chusham),  who  was  governor  out  of 
the  country  of  Thaeman;  and  after  Mm  Adad 
(Iladad),  the  son  of  Barad,  who  destroyed  Mi- 
dian  in  the  plain  of  Moab;  and  the  name  of  his 
city  was  Gethaim.  And  the  friends  who  came 
to  him  were  Eliphaz,  a  son  of  Sophan,  of  the 
sons  of  Esau,  king  of  the  Themanites;  Bildad, 
son  of  Ammon,  the  son  of  Chobar,  sovereign  of 
the  Sauchfeans  (Shuhites),  Sophar,  king  of  the 
Minteans  (Naamites).  Theman,  son  of  Eliphaz, 
ruler  of  Idumea.  This  one  is  described  by  [in- 
terpreted out  of]  the  Syrian  \i.  e.,  Hebrew]  Bi- 
ble, as  living  in  the  land  of  Ausis  [Uz],  on  the 
borders  of  the  Euphrates;  but  his  name  afore- 
time was  Jobab;  but  his  father  was  Zareth,  from 
the  rising  of  the  sun  (the  East)." 

Here  evidently  we  have  to  do  with  an  interpo- 
lation, compiled  with  a  good  deal  of  confusion 
and  recklessness  out  of  the  statements  of  our 
book  and  those  of  Gen.  xxxvi.  (especially  vers. 
10,  15,  32-36),  either  by  Hellenistic  Jews,  or 
possibly  even  by  Christian  hands  (as  Hirzel  in- 
fers from  the  allusion  to  the  resurrection  in  the 
introductory  words).  No  sort  of  value  attaches 
to  it,  and  it  was  rejected  accordingly  even  by 
Origen  {Ep.  ad.  African.)  and  Jerome.  Neither 
was  it  introduced  into  the  Greek  versions  of 
Aquila  and  Symmachus,  nor  into  that  of  Theo- 
dotion  except  in  part,  and  so  it  has  always  been 
excluded  from  tiie  authorized  Latin  version  of 
the  Bible. 

DOCTRINAL   AND    ETHICAL. 

It  has  been  justly  remarked  (Del.  II.  392)  that 
a  New  Testament  writer  would  have  closed  our 
book  in  some  otlier  way  than  with  the  recital  of 
an  abundant  temporal  recompense,  such  as  finally 
befel  the  great  sufferer,  of  an  earthly  restoration 
and  an  indemnification  in  material  possessions, 
and  the  prolongation  of  his  life  on  earth;  for  it 
is  certainly  true  that  the  New  Testament  regards 
the  recompense  of  affliction  and  sore  tribulations 
as  belonging  to  the  hereafter,  and  always  points 
tliose  who  suffer  for  Christ  and  the  Gospel  to  a 
future  reward  in  heaven  (comp.  !Matth.  v.  3,  10- 
12;  xix.  29;  Mark  x.  29,  30;  Rev.  vii.  14,  f/c. 
It  would,  however,  be  a  one-sided  inference  from 
the  conclusion  of  the  book  as  it  stands  to  regard 
it  as  ministering  to  an  external,  abstract,  tem- 


*  We  finii  a  lielp  to  tVio  right  pxplariation  of  the  singular 
vorfls  oCto9  (bc.  'Ia>3)  ep/aTji'euerai  ix  t^s  'Xvpiaxrii;  pijSAou 
in  a  rBiuark  of  Ol.vmpiodonis  in  ttie  Vateiui  Pair.  Griti:.  in  1. 
Job,  coll.  Nic^efci,  Loiirl.,  10.37;  2upia«))>'  vvv  ttji'  tmv  'Ej3- 
paiuiv  SiaAeKTo^  Kc\el.  From  this  it  appi>ar.i  tliat  ovtos  re- 
fers not  so  muoti  to  tUe  honk  of  Job  (Uillm.),  but  also  to  the 
person  of  ihc  h-ro,  an'l  that  epurjveiieo-Sai  c/c  is  used  in  the 
sens,-  of  "  being  ri  lateil,  or  lU'Scribed  by." 


poral  theorj'^  of  retribution.  Just  as  decidedly 
to  be  rejected  as  one-sided  is  the  theory  adopted 
by  several  modern  expositors  (comp.  Inlrod. 
§4  a),  that  the  purpose  of  the  book  is  just  the 
opposite,  to  controvert — namely,  the  Mosaic  the- 
ory of  retribution,  and  that  the  contents  of  the 
epilogue,  for  that  reason,  contradict  the  poem 
proper,  and  that  the  genuineness  and  authenti- 
city of  the  former  are  accordingly  to  bc  ques- 
tioned {Introd.  §  8).  That  Job,  after  enduring 
to  the  end  a  trial  of  suffering  of  inexpressible  se- 
verity should  be  rewarded  with  prosperity  in 
this  life,  that  he  should  not  only  receive  a  most 
brilliant  vindication,  and  be  again  honored,  but 
also  be  most  abundantly  indemnified,  this  is,  first 
of  all,  a  feature  of  the  book  which  is  characteris- 
tic of  the  Israelitish  nationality,  which  is  in  har- 
mony with  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  peo- 
ple of  God  (a  feature  which  may  be  compared 
with  that  truly  German  depth  of  feeling  and 
freshness  of  life  which  is  impressed  on  the  well- 
known  bright  conclusion  of  the  Gudrun).  It  is 
in  the  next  place  a  feature  which  harmonizes 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  revelation 
itself,  which  is  most  deeply  grounded  in  that  re- 
velation, in  which  the  faith  of  believers  before 
the  coming  of  Christ  in  the  unchangeable  wisdom 
and  righteousness  of  God's  dealings,  found  one 
of  its  most  glorious  witnesses.  This  close  of  the 
narrative,  indeed,  has  nothing  to  say  of  that 
whicli  took  place  in  heaven  after  Job's  victorious 
struggle  of  faith;  neither  does  it  undertake  to 
furnish  any  prophetic  descriptions  of  Job's  own 
entrance  into  the  communion  of  the  holy  and  the 
blessed  in  the  life  beyond.  All  the  more  fresh 
and  true  to  nature,  however,  are  the  colors  with 
which  it  pictures  the  restored  earthly  prosperity 
of  the  sufferer,  and  it  visibly  refrains  from 
causing  the  wishes  and  hopes  which  Job  had 
frequently  uttered  (especially  in  chaps,  xvii.  and 
xix.)  for  a  vindication  from  God  in  the /i</«re life 
to  be  transcendently  surpassed  and  eclipsed  by 
the  splendor  of  that  which  in  part  he  enjoyed 
here  on  earth.  Without  this  conclusion,  the 
heart's  need  of  Old  Testament  believers  would 
have  found  no  true  satisfaction;  the  issue  of  the 
conflict  of  doubt,  excited  by  the  peculiarly  severe 
and  hard  to  be  understood  visitation  of  Job, 
would  have  remained  more  or  less  undecided ; 
those  children  of  God  who  were  limited  to  the  anti- 
cipatory and  typical  _^c?es  Veteris  Te>itamenliv/on\'\ 
not  have  been  able  to  derive  from  the  book  per- 
fect and  true  consolation.  Nevertheless  it  re- 
mains no  less  true  that  the  consolation  ministered 
by  the  book,  according  to  its  inmost  essence,  is 
not  different  from  the  consolation  of  the  children 
of  God  under  the  New  Testament.  The  Book  of 
Job  is  a  genuine  "Cross  and  Comfort  Book"  for 
us  who  are  Christians,  as  well  as  for  Old  Testa- 
ment believers,  as  surely  as  that  it  teaches  un- 
conditional submission  to  God's  holy  will,  and 
childlike  resignation  to  His  merciful  Fatherly 
love  as  the  only  true  source  of  religious  blessed- 
ness and  real  peace  of  soul,  and  presents  in  Job 
the  example  of  a  sufferer,  whose  suffering  has  a 
twofold  aim,  on  the  one  side  to  prove  his  inno- 
cence, on  the  other  to  tempt,  i.  e.,  to  reveal  his 
inmost  secret  sinfulness,  who  accordingly  has  a 
twofold  typical  significance  as  sufferer,  being 
typical   of  Christ,   who  through  suffering   was 


CHAPS.  XLTI.  7-17. 


C33 


perfected  as  Mediator  and  High-Priest  of  the 
New  Covenant,  and  typical  also  of  Christians, 
whose  sufferings,  like  those  of  Job,  ever  present 
the  double  aspect  of  probational  and  castiga- 
tional  visitations  of  God. 


HOMILETICAL   AND    PRACTICAL. 

In  the  homilelic  treatment  of  the  epilogue,  spe- 
cial attention  should  be  devoted  to  the  thought 
last  emphasized,  to  wit,  the  character  of  Job's 
suffering,  as  intended  both  for  probation,  and 
also  for  chastisement  or  purification.  The  most 
suitable  opportunity  for  presenting  this  thought 
will  be  in  connection  with  the  rebuke  of  the 
friends,  which  Jehovah  proceeds  to  administer 
immediately  after  that  true  and  complete  repent- 
ance has  been  wrought  in  Job  (vers.  7-10).  For 
it  is  at  this  point  that  Job's  comparative  inno- 
cence is  definitely  declared  on  the  one  hand,  at 
the  same  time  that  it  is  only  where  Job  has  been 
humbled  m  sincere  heartfelt  penitence,  that  he 
is  solemnly  pronounced  righteous  by  God, — nay 
more — that  it  is  only  when  in  fervent  brotherly 
love  he  intercedes  for  his  opponents  that  his  bo- 
dily suffering  is  removed  (see  on  verse  10), 
wherein  it  is  most  clearly  intimated  that  sin  is 
to  be  included  as  one  cause  of  his  suffering.  It 
is  to  this  description  of  Job's  justification,  which 
furnishes  occasion  for  a  concise  recapitulation 
of  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  whole  dialogue, 
(especially  of  the  discourses  of  Elihu  and  of 
God),  that  the  practical  expositor  should  most 
of  all  give  his  attention,  while  what  is  said  con- 
cerning the  restitution  and  doubling  of  Job's  ex- 
ternal possessions  need  occupy  only  a  secondary 
place. 

Particular  Passages. 

Ver.  7  seq.  Brentius:  The  three  friends 
spoke  ill.  Job  well ;  while  at  the  same  time  Job 
argued  ill,  the  friends  well.  For  the  friends 
thought  wickedly,  when  from  the  affliction  they 
decided  that  God  was  angry,  and  Job  wicked, 
although  they  discourse  excellently  concerning 
the  omnipotence  and  wisdom  of  God.  Job  on  the 
other  hand  speaks  well  when  he  continually  af- 
fii-ms  that  afflictions  had  befallen  him  not  be- 
cause he  had  deserved  them,  and  that  they  were 
not  evidences  of  his  wickedness,  and  of  an  angry 
God.  But  he  speaks  ill  when  he  impugns  God's 
decree,  and  blasphemes  God.  Now  since  Job 
has  a  good  cause  as  against  the  friends,  although 


he  sins  in  the  management  of  his  cause,  while 
the  friends  are  at  fault  touching  the  merits  of 
his  cause,  the  Lord  pronounces  sentence  for  Job 
against  the  friends;  for  He  had  previously  re- 
buked his  blasphemies. — V.  Geri.ach:  Inasmuch 
as  Job,  although  guilty  of  speaking  foolishly, 
nevertheless  gave  utterance  to  his  sense  of  the 
contradiction  which  tortured  him,  in  that  he  re- 
tained the  consciousness  of  his  fellowship  with 
God  in  the  midst  of  his  feeling  of  God's  wrath, 
he  was  nearer  the  solution  of  the  enigma  than 
the  friends. 

Ver.  10  seq.  Brentius:  You  now  see  by  the 
fact  itself  what  is  the  issue  of  trial ;  for  God  in- 
flicts nothing  on  any  one  in  order  that  He  may 
destroy  him,  but  that  He  may  restore  much 
more;  "  Ye  have  heard  of  the  patience  of  Job, 
and  have  seen  the  end  of  the  Lord,"  etc.  (James 
V.  11). — Starke:  God  causes  the  temptation  of 
His  saints  to  work  a  good  end  (1  Cor.  x.  13); 
He  lays  a  burden  on  us,  but  He  helps  us  again, 
(Ps.  Ixvi.  10  seq.;  Ixviii.  20).  After  the  trial 
comes  the  revival ;  after  the  cry  of  distress  the 
gracious  hearing ;  after  the  sowing  in  tears  the 
reaping  in  joy  (Ps.  cxxvi.  ;  Tob.  iii.  22)  .... 
(on  ver.  11)  :  As  the  swallows  depart  before  the 
winter,  but  return  again  with  the  summer,  so  is 
it  with  the  friendship  of  men.  When  tribulation 
has  been  endured  to  the  end,  and  when  days  of 
prosperity  and  abundance  of  riches  return, 
friends  immediately  make  their  appearance  (Sir. 
vi.  8;  xii.  8seq.). — V.  Gerlach:  It  was  neces- 
sary that  Job  should  be  purified  inwardly  from 
a  mercenary  spirit,  from  self-righteousness,  and 
selfishness  in  its  more  refined  forms.  This 
having  been  accomplished,  he  now  appears  ia 
possession  of  honor  and  riches,  a  conspicuous 
memorial  of  God's  recompensing  love,  recog- 
nizing all  that  he  receives  and  enjoys  as  from 
God,  and  honoring  Him  far  above  His  gifts.  His 
life  accordingly  ends,  having  received  its  full 
completion;  there  remains  in  it  nothing  more 
that  is  obscure  or  inexplicable;  it  is  full  of  pro- 
mise for  all  God's  struggling  ones  under  the  Old 
Dispensation  ;  it  is  a  type  of  the  Perfectly  Holy 
One,  who  humbled  Himself  to  the  death  of  the 
Cross,  who,  although  a  Son,  yet  learned  obedi- 
ence by  the  things  which  He  suffered,  and  who 
has  therefore  received  a  name  which  is  above 
every  name— that  Jesus  Christ  may  be  Lord  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father. 


BS1415.Z85 
The  book  of  Job. 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00032  6266 


